Ballistics A High Caliber Project.

History of Ballistic Mechanics

The Vaso In a book called De Officiis Regum (On the Duties of Kings), published in 1326, there were references of the earliest known ballistic weapon, the vaso.

The Vaso Through out the 14th century, similar weapons to the vaso were made, primarily in Germany, Italy and France and of bronze.

Cannons A cannon is defined as being a piece of artillery that usually uses gunpowder to fire a projectile. This type of cannon was used throughout the 16th century to today.

Mortars and Howitzers Howitzers and mortars are cannon that shoots high trajectory arcs over short distances.

Match Lock This was one of the first handheld firearms that used a lock system. This consisted of a hammer, pan, fuse, and trigger. This was in use throughout the 15 and 16th centuries and became less popular around the beginning of the 17th century.

Wheel Lock This was the next breakthrough in lock mechanisms. It was the first hand gun that used a lock mechanism. Instead of the hammer coming to the pan to make the sparks, a piece of iron would slide against the wheel making sparks. These were popular and went out of style around the same time as the matchlock.

Flint Lock The flint lock was most used on musket rifles and early pistols. It used the lock mechanism showed before

Magazines A magazine is defined as a holding and feeding casing that can be attached or removed from a firearm. attached to a firearm. This uses springs to feed the bullets into the chamber of a gun. Automatic, semi-automatic, and bolt action all use this. These were in use from the early 19th century to today.

Bolt Action This is a fire arm in which a bullet is placed directly into the barrel by using a bolt. These were in use from the early 19th century to today.

Bolt Action Mechanics Grns (start at 00:17) Grns

Semi-automatic This is type of gun that only requires that you cock it once then all tasks (ejecting used cartridge and loading new bullet into the camber) are automatically preformed. This uses a glock mechanism (See glock animation). These started being used around the late 19th century and are in use today.

Automatic These are firearms that will automatically fire new rounds, like a semi- automatic. Also the rounds will only stop when the trigger is released. (Seehttp:// X2HNT54) These started being used in the beginning of WWI and are in great use today.

Ballistic Stages

Internal Ballistics The study of the initial acceleration of the projectile. In the case of firearms, this occurs in the barrel.

External Ballistics The study of the projectile’s motion. In the case of firearms, the movement through the air (i.e. Gravity’s effect, wind resistance, RPM caused by rifling)

Terminal Ballistics The study of a projectile as it impacts a target. In the case of firearms, the impact on a target and the reaction of both the bullet and target.

Internal Ballistics The rapid acceleration of a projectile in a firearm is caused by the extreme pressure built up by an explosion behind it. This occurs in the barrel. A report suggested that gunpowder can increase its volume 1500 fold in a fraction of a second. In the next frame, we will see an example of the extreme amount of gas produced by one of these explosions.

Internal Ballistics

Early firearms, such as the hand cannon (shown below), simply used powder behind the projectile in a smooth barrel to launch it forward.

Internal Ballistics Modern firearms are often more efficient in their design, featuring compact cartridges (as shown below) and rifled barrels. The rifling of barrels creates an extremely rapid spin on the projectile, providing it with greater accuracy.

Internal Ballistics This is a rifled barrel: This rifling can cause the bullet to spin at a rate of over 300,000 RPM (5,000 per second), around 100 times faster than a piston aircraft engine.

Visual Demonstration: Glock Animation: AR-15 Animation:

External Ballistics Once the bullet has left the barrel, external ballistics begin to be applied.

External Ballistics It is well known that bullets travel extremely quickly. According to an article in The World Book Encyclopedia, bullet speeds range from 600 fps (feet per second) to 5,000 fps. In mph this ranges from around 409 mph to 3,409 mph, approximately 5.6 times the max speed of a Boeing 737.

External Ballistics As a bullet moves through the air, several forces are acting on it. Gravity will pull the bullet down as it moves through the air.

External Ballistics Along with the force of gravity, both wind resistance and the spin on the bullet caused by rifling can affect its motion through the air. When aiming, the projectile’s FPS, size, rifling and the external conditions should be considered.

Firearm Caliber A weapon’s caliber can be described as the length of the ammunition used. The length is usually measured in millimeters (mm) or inches (in). Caliber in firearms can range from.17 to.95 (smaller and larger calibers are rarely used)

Firearm Caliber Following are some standard rounds:

Firearm Caliber The following is one of the largest firearm calibers used (.95 caliber): Each bullet can weigh over ½ lb.

Firearm Caliber In addition to standard rounds, there are: Hollow Point Rounds (JHP or HP) Expand on impact. This inflicts maximum damage upon target Full Metal Jacket Rounds (FMJ) Encased in hard metal. Usually inflict more damage than normal rounds.

Firearm Caliber Teflon-Coated Rounds Known as “Cop-killer bullets”. Coated in Teflon. These bullets can sometimes pierce ballistic vests. Some of the rounds mentioned before are illegal in certain states. There are several other specialized rounds that are manufactured.

Terminal Ballistics When a projectile impacts a target, impact ballistics begin to be applied.

Terminal Ballistics The force a bullet carries is often measured in foot pounds, or the number of pounds the force could move one foot. This varies depending on the size and speed of the bullet itself. Following are some examples of the foot pounds generated by different rounds.

Terminal Ballistics.177 Caliber Air gun: Long Rifle Pistol: Millimeter Pistol: ACP Pistol: x 39mm (AK-47 round): 1, Caliber BMG: 11,091

Terminal Ballistics In the next slide we will see an example of a Hollow-Point bullet. These controversial projectiles are designed with a hollow point which cause them to expand after impact, allowing more kinetic energy to be transferred to the target.

Terminal Ballistics An expanded 6.5 x 55mm

Terminal Ballistics The following is an example of a hollow- point bullet. The first bullet fired is standard, the second is hollow-point. (NOTE: Start video at 0:22)

Firearm Related Injuries and Deaths In 1997: 32,436 firearm-related deaths occurred in the US. 64,207 firearm-related injuries occurred in the US. Firearms were the second leading cause of death in the US. Firearm related deaths and injuries have been generally decreased in the past 15 years. Most accidental firearm related injuries occurred: Among males aged Were self-inflicted Were associated with hunting, shooting targets, cleaning, handling or loading a firearm In New York City, around 45% of all law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty were killed by a firearm. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control)