Bullets bouncing offa water
 

In my thread about target shooting on the water, someone mentioned
bullets bouncing back and had a vid of this happening when a .5 cal
bounced from a steel plate.

First, some easy to remember physics: Light things do not transfer
energy to heavy things well, that is why the bullet bounced back from
the steel plate. Heavy things do transfer energy to light things well
which is why sand absorbs energy from a bullet so well.

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

Frogwatch wrote:
In my thread about target shooting on the water, someone mentioned
bullets bouncing back and had a vid of this happening when a .5 cal
bounced from a steel plate.

First, some easy to remember physics: Light things do not transfer
energy to heavy things well, that is why the bullet bounced back from
the steel plate. Heavy things do transfer energy to light things well
which is why sand absorbs energy from a bullet so well.

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.
A friend of mine learned about bullets bouncing back and geometry all in
about a second. There was a bridge that crossed the creek at a sharp
angle which created a pocket that was a triangle between the abutment
and the bridge. He decided that was a perfect place to put the cans he
was shooting at. He lined up the rifle and shot. The bullet left the
gun, hit one side of the triangle, then the other side, came right back
along the gun barrel, enter his skull just above the eye but below the
bone, and passed out through his temple. Fortunately he did not plan it
otherwise he would have been dead, since he could not have set up the
shot so perfectly.

I think it is physically impossible for a bullet to make a 180 when it
hits the surface of the water. To make a 180 it would have to hit
something like steel or concrete that would reflect the bullet back on
its original path.

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

Frogwatch wrote:
In my thread about target shooting on the water, someone mentioned
bullets bouncing back and had a vid of this happening when a .5 cal
bounced from a steel plate.

First, some easy to remember physics: Light things do not transfer
energy to heavy things well, that is why the bullet bounced back from
the steel plate. Heavy things do transfer energy to light things well
which is why sand absorbs energy from a bullet so well.

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.


Have one of your relatives call us from the ER when you manage to shoot
yourself. Here's a hint: make sure the hole in the barrel is pointed
away from you. I mention that because you seem to have extraordinary
problems with ordinary objects.

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

On Nov 16, 12:40 pm, Boater wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
In my thread about target shooting on the water, someone mentioned
bullets bouncing back and had a vid of this happening when a .5 cal
bounced from a steel plate.

First, some easy to remember physics: Light things do not transfer
energy to heavy things well, that is why the bullet bounced back from
the steel plate. Heavy things do transfer energy to light things well
which is why sand absorbs energy from a bullet so well.

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.

Have one of your relatives call us from the ER when you manage to shoot
yourself. Here's a hint: make sure the hole in the barrel is pointed
away from you. I mention that because you seem to have extraordinary
problems with ordinary objects.

OK. here is how you could get a 180 degree bounce from water. You
need a very large breaking wave and I do mean large as the angle for
reflection is less than 20 degrees meaning you need 9 reflections from
the braking part to get your 180 degrees

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

Frogwatch wrote:
On Nov 16, 12:40 pm, Boater wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
In my thread about target shooting on the water, someone mentioned
bullets bouncing back and had a vid of this happening when a .5 cal
bounced from a steel plate.
First, some easy to remember physics: Light things do not transfer
energy to heavy things well, that is why the bullet bounced back from
the steel plate. Heavy things do transfer energy to light things well
which is why sand absorbs energy from a bullet so well.
Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.
Have one of your relatives call us from the ER when you manage to shoot
yourself. Here's a hint: make sure the hole in the barrel is pointed
away from you. I mention that because you seem to have extraordinary
problems with ordinary objects.

OK. here is how you could get a 180 degree bounce from water. You
need a very large breaking wave and I do mean large as the angle for
reflection is less than 20 degrees meaning you need 9 reflections from
the braking part to get your 180 degrees


You know what? I play around with handguns quite a bit at the range, and
before I start shooting, I spend a few minutes thinking over gun safety
and looking around to make sure I've done everything possible to
minimize the possibility of an accident.

You seem to approach life's dangers from an opposite point of view. If
it is foolhardy, risky, and it presents a possibility of serious injury
or death, you're all for it. You would last maybe five minutes at the
outdoor gun range I frequent before the range officer would ban you for
life.

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:00:03 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

On Nov 16, 12:40 pm, Boater wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
In my thread about target shooting on the water, someone mentioned
bullets bouncing back and had a vid of this happening when a .5 cal
bounced from a steel plate.

First, some easy to remember physics: Light things do not transfer
energy to heavy things well, that is why the bullet bounced back from
the steel plate. Heavy things do transfer energy to light things well
which is why sand absorbs energy from a bullet so well.

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.

Have one of your relatives call us from the ER when you manage to shoot
yourself. Here's a hint: make sure the hole in the barrel is pointed
away from you. I mention that because you seem to have extraordinary
problems with ordinary objects.

OK. here is how you could get a 180 degree bounce from water. You
need a very large breaking wave and I do mean large as the angle for
reflection is less than 20 degrees meaning you need 9 reflections from
the braking part to get your 180 degrees

Much easier to take your copper jacketed. 22 out on the ice and
shoot.

Neat thing happens - you shoot the ice at a slight angle and the
bullet enters the ice and travels a bit until the steam builds up
enough - the bullet will come screaming back out of the hole and at
pretty decent velocity. :)

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:18:39 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.

Think corner reflector, it takes a double bounce from a 90 degree
angle.

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:57:30 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:18:39 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.

Think corner reflector, it takes a double bounce from a 90 degree
angle.

Geez, it's like nobody here ever shot some pool.
If you can make it bounce, you can do anything.

--Vic

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

On Nov 16, 6:26 pm, Vic Smith wrote:
On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:57:30 -0500, Wayne.B

wrote:
On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:18:39 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Although a bullet will bounce at a shallow angle from water or sand, I
doubt it is possible for a 180 degree bounce to happen. OK, it is
"possible" but it is probably more likely you will get hit by a
meteorite twice.

Think corner reflector, it takes a double bounce from a 90 degree
angle.

Geez, it's like nobody here ever shot some pool.
If you can make it bounce, you can do anything.

--Vic

Shooting at ice, weird concept, I mean the part about ice being
outisde of ones freezer.
Yur not gonna get a 180 reflection of a bullet from liquid water, not
gonna happen.
Yes, being an optics guy, I know bout corner reflectors.

Bullets bouncing offa water
 

On Sun, 16 Nov 2008 17:19:42 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Shooting at ice, weird concept, I mean the part about ice being
outisde of ones freezer.

Yes, you could really make a mess of your drink that way.