Bullet Speed In Perspective

[birch]

Well, I have that bad cold/flu that is going around and I was doing what I always do when I am feeling down to help me feel better--thinking about guns. I started thinking about this factory 9mm ammo I have that moves at 1300 fps. I then started thinking about how fast this really is.
The world record 1/4 mile time for a top fuel dragster is 4.42 seconds at 336mph.
My 9mm projectile moves 1300 fps, and a 1/4 mile is exactly 1,320 feet.

It is amazing that a car can move 1/4 the speed of a 9mm bullet hauling the mail!
I just find this amazing and thought i would send my revelation out to all of you. The guys that build up those hot rods must be very proud of themselves.

[JeffinNZ]

What is more impressive is to consider how little powder it takes to create that 1300fps.

[Edubya]

Well, I have that bad cold/flu that is going around and I was doing what I always do when I am feeling down to help me feel better--thinking about guns. I started thinking about this factory 9mm ammo I have that moves at 1300 fps. I then started thinking about how fast this really is.
The world record 1/4 mile time for a top fuel dragster is 4.42 seconds at 336mph.
My 9mm projectile moves 1300 fps, and a 1/4 mile is exactly 1,320 feet.

It is amazing that a car can move 1/4 the speed of a 9mm bullet hauling the mail!
I just find this amazing and thought i would send my revelation out to all of you. The guys that build up those hot rods must be very proud of themselves.

I'll bet that you would be ten times more likely to survive a direct hit with that 9mm bullet than a ton of metal at the same speed.
Bwaha ha! What a thought...

EW

[dverna]

Probably not a good idea to post while on meds.

[mikeym1a]

Well, I have that bad cold/flu that is going around and I was doing what I always do when I am feeling down to help me feel better--thinking about guns. I started thinking about this factory 9mm ammo I have that moves at 1300 fps. I then started thinking about how fast this really is.
The world record 1/4 mile time for a top fuel dragster is 4.42 seconds at 336mph.
My 9mm projectile moves 1300 fps, and a 1/4 mile is exactly 1,320 feet.

It is amazing that a car can move 1/4 the speed of a 9mm bullet hauling the mail!
I just find this amazing and thought i would send my revelation out to all of you. The guys that build up those hot rods must be very proud of themselves.

Except! The dragster is accelerating the whole time. The projectile begins to slow down shortly after leaving the muzzle.

[303Guy]

That hot rot gets up to over a third the speed of the 9mm bullet. 1300 fps is 886 mph and that hot rod does 336 mph. Mind you, if you want something really mind boggling, try a battleships main guns. "A 16" Mark 8 APC shell weighs 2,700 lbs. (1.35 US tons) and the muzzle velocity when fired is 2,500 feet per second (new gun)." These things have a range of 37km (40,500 yds).:holysheep

[birch]

"Except! The dragster is accelerating the whole time. The projectile begins to slow down shortly after leaving the muzzle."

Yup, that is something that I didnt think about. The bullet's 886 MPH is a median speed spread out over ignition and the finish finish line.
i cannon even begin to comprehend the chamber pressure that must be generated by that battlesip gun. That is an awesome

[felix]

The chamber is the whole barrel! Just look at the burning powder at the muzzle(s), not to mention the effects of the massive shock wave hitting the water. What would a suppressor/silencer/muffler look like for just one of these barrels? ... felix

[popper]

8/55 has ~ 1/2 that weight, goes ~ 11 Nmi and doesn't make much noise or fire. Not even much smoke. ~ 25' plume when it hits water. Don't know why you'd want a muffler on them.
64803
Now that is a bore snake.

[popper]

64804
Not much worse than CBs with LLA.

[303Guy]

Chamber pressure is around 18 tons per square inch - same as the 303 Brit.

[birch]

Well, I guess you cant really argue with math can you?! It is weird that math and logic are sometimes so distorted. Math tells me that the chamber pressure is the same as a 303 brit. Logic tells me that it is a whole lot more. I guess there is a reason I am a history major instead of a math major.

[milrifle]

What even more impressive is that the 16" gun will hold less than 1 MOA, according to an article I read many many years ago in Firepower Magazine about the USS New Jersey.

[Tatume]

Except! The dragster is accelerating the whole time. The projectile begins to slow down shortly after leaving the muzzle.

More impressive is just the opposite observation. The bullet accelerates from zero to 900 mph in four inches. Try that in a car!

Take care, Tom

[popper]

200" @10 Nmi. Not bad. We repeatedly put 8" through the middle of a 20' target @ 11 Nmi. with a mechanical FC computer.

[ghh3rd]

I've put bullet speed into perspective for friends a few times at the range. When the sun is just right, I have them watch someone shooting a pistol or revolver from a slight angle behind the shooter. By staring about halfway to the target, you can see the bullet blur toward the target, especially easy to see a .45 cal.

They easily saw my .38 wadcutters over 2.7 of Bullseye. In fact they made fun of them :-/ I did the same with my .22 rifle... and watched the bullet travel downrange.

Bullets go fast, but you can still see them.

[Silver Eagle]

Position yourself at the right angle behind a high speed rifle round and the "contrail" in the air behind it is real impressive!

[felix]

What even more impressive is that the 16" gun will hold less than 1 MOA, according to an article I read many many years ago in Firepower Magazine about the USS New Jersey.

Yep, a football field is dead meat at 26 miles. ... felix

[garandsrus]

What's amazing to me is that a plane like the F-15 can fly faster than a bullet...

[303Guy]

Yep, a football field is dead meat at 26 miles. ... felix
And considering that a battleship isn't much smaller than a football field, the chances of being hit by a salvo is quite high. Hood was hit with the first salvo from Bismark at about that distance and just that one hit blew her to bits! It was a bad hair day for those poor lads. :dung_hits_fan:

[popper]

And Bismark targeting was all optical. That is a feat, moving ships and a rolling deck. No GPS or active radar/laser systems there. Battle ships are larger than a FB field, the Hood was a cruiser, still pretty good size.

[303Guy]

An Israeli F15 flew home and landed safely on only one wing! That was during an exercise in 1983 when a Skyhawk clipped it. An awesome plane!

[BAGTIC]

The peak chamber pressure of the 16 inch gun was 37,000 psi. Less than a 30-30. OTOH the powder charge was 660 pounds and the bullet travel in bore was 800 inches. It is not all about p[eak pressure it is a matter of average sustained pressure over time.

Far less than 5% of battleship shells hit the target and against moving targets less than 2% and that was at all ranges. How myths do grow over the years.

HMS Hood? The 'golden bullet'. Don't think about the most amazing shot you ever made. Think about what you can reliably depend on making. Are you confident enough to wager everything you have that you will make the next shot. 'Possible' is not synonymous with 'probable'.

Range? The 120 mm tank gun on an M1 can fire farther than the 16 inch battleship gun. IIRC its maximum ballistic range is 70,000 yards or so.

[303Guy]

Yikes! Can it hit an aimed at target at that range? The Hood was unlucky, yes. The shell only penetrated the rear deck because it hadn't been hardened as planned and Hood was just making its turn for broadsides. Purely chance, that shot was. Just dumb bad luck!