HORN%HYDRA%sdi.polaroid.com@RELAY.CS.NET (01/11/90)
From: HORN%HYDRA%sdi.polaroid.com@RELAY.CS.NET There were some firing range tests made with shots in the air. I have to do this from memory because my copy of the report is in storage. I believe it was Aberdeen that made the attempt. They were unable to get any measurements because they were unable to compensate for the wind drift well enough to find the bullets when they fell. This does place an upper bound on the speed in that the bullets did not raise enough dust to be located. Since it was a rather pointless test, they just gave up. The terminal velocity will depend on two major factors: the bullet size and weight, and whether it is tumbling. If you avoid tumble, then terminal velocity should be above 50 m/s and below 400 m/s. Depending upon the bullet and where it hits these speeds are high enough to cause injury, but few injuries will be serious. If the bullet has tumbled, the speeds drop a lot. The real danger is from the sloppy definition people use of ``in the air''. In a NY case, some years ago, the ``in the air'' turned out to be at 20 degrees above horizontal and normal bullet drop brought it back down before the speed had dropped below dangerous levels. Rob Horn horn%hydra@polaroid.com