Bullet Deflection Against Hard Surfaces

[JJVP]

Interesting. Bullets might not deflect as you would expect after hitting a hard surface.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=7wHu7YsKrho[/youtube]

[Heartland Patriot]

Thank you for posting, I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't what actually happened. Very interesting.

[The Annoyed Man]

In both the book and the movie "Black Hawk Down," the author describes this phenomenon on the streets of Mogadishu. The younger 82nd Ranger troopers kind of idolized the Delta operators they worked with, for their cool, macho, and professionalism. During the individual street battles which preceded and followed the downing of the choppers, culminating in the infamous "Mogadishu Mile," the tendency of the young troopers was to hug the walls as they advanced down a street. The Delta operators advised them to stay a couple of paces out away from the walls because the street acted as a funnel for bullets coming from downrange, and those bullets would tend to skim along the walls once they made contact with them. Apparently, the odds of getting hit were much higher if you hugged the walls than they were if you stayed a few feet out from the walls.......counterintuitive at first, but it makes perfect sense when you look at it. I would argue though that it would be far better to be on the far side of that wall......but then I'm a scaredy cat.

[WildBill]

Thank you for posting, I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't what actually happened. Very interesting.

It always good to see demonstrations or experiments to prove or disprove theories. I think that most of us, at least me, would envision a perfect collision and rebound, like on a pool table where the angle of rebound equals the angle of incidence.

[Heartland Patriot]

Thank you for posting, I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't what actually happened. Very interesting.

It always good to see demonstrations or experiments to prove or disprove theories. I think that most of us, at least me, would envision a perfect collision and rebound, like on a pool table where the angle of rebound equals the angle of incidence.

Indeed...I always have the video in mind of that guy somewhere in the Southwest shooting a .50 BMG rifle (IIRC) and it comes bouncing back and takes out his hearing protection (ear muff type), a real near-miss of death...a real ricochet, too...I guess that's actually kind of rare.

[tacticool]

Thank you for posting, I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't what actually happened. Very interesting.

It always good to see demonstrations or experiments to prove or disprove theories. I think that most of us, at least me, would envision a perfect collision and rebound, like on a pool table where the angle of rebound equals the angle of incidence.

Indeed...I always have the video in mind of that guy somewhere in the Southwest shooting a .50 BMG rifle (IIRC) and it comes bouncing back and takes out his hearing protection (ear muff type), a real near-miss of death...a real ricochet, too...I guess that's actually kind of rare.

It's more common for the lead to come off the plates within 15 degrees of the plate surface. That's true shooting at an angle too. I haven't tested it but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened with other hard flat surfaces like concrete.

I don't know about ash fault.

[erick619]

Thank you for posting, I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't what actually happened. Very interesting.

It always good to see demonstrations or experiments to prove or disprove theories. I think that most of us, at least me, would envision a perfect collision and rebound, like on a pool table where the angle of rebound equals the angle of incidence.

[Excaliber]

Most of the impacts on the target in the video were from bullet fragmentation, not whole round deflection off the surface.

The highest danger area is 4 to 8 inches from the surface. Most intact rounds will follow the surface within this zone.

This fact can be used defensively as well. The last bandit in the North Hollywood Bank Robbery shootout was neutralized on the far side of a vehicle by rounds deliberately skipped off the asphalt underneath.