Bullets changing direction after hitting bone
- Thread starter dand883
- Start date
hitting the spine at an oblique angle can cause the bullet to do interesting things, and to destroy a lot of loin
I shot a med sized mulie buck at about 450 yards with a 130gr .270 win @ 3000fps allowing for a 30" bullet drop .He was ambling across a field looking for love mid rut in the morning hoar frost . With a solid rest off a big bale I touched one off and you could hear a distinct twang of electric wire. A splat noise echoed back and he was dead in mid stride. Never dawned on me but upon walking up to him you could see the copper mark on the top strand and frost missing -30F . The bullet had key holed 20 yards striking the deer in the spine. Hitting the deer wasn't really a surprise but I could never hit the wire again in 1000 years.
I think it has to do with “every action has equal and opposite reaction” principal.
For example…you kick a soccer ball straight into a wall and that ball will bounce right back to you. The moment you start changing angles of the kick or angels of the ball hitting an object, the reflection angles also change.
With bullets it is a bit more complex because other factors come into play, such as bullet loosing part of it will change the balance and that will affect its flight, same with bullet getting flattened will change the balance and that will affect the reflection and flight. Other factors such as bullet getting stuck in the medium it hit, bullet tumbling because of mentioned factors.
So, it has to do with “every action has equal and opposite reaction” plus all the factors I mentioned and possibly ones I forgot to mention.
That is my take on this…am I correct? People with better physics knowledge could shed some light on the subject.
For example…you kick a soccer ball straight into a wall and that ball will bounce right back to you. The moment you start changing angles of the kick or angels of the ball hitting an object, the reflection angles also change.
With bullets it is a bit more complex because other factors come into play, such as bullet loosing part of it will change the balance and that will affect its flight, same with bullet getting flattened will change the balance and that will affect the reflection and flight. Other factors such as bullet getting stuck in the medium it hit, bullet tumbling because of mentioned factors.
So, it has to do with “every action has equal and opposite reaction” plus all the factors I mentioned and possibly ones I forgot to mention.
That is my take on this…am I correct? People with better physics knowledge could shed some light on the subject.
Cow moose shot broad side high in the neck at 40 yds. Bullet touched the spine turned 90' right and traveled through the neck exited through the throat, entered the base of the tongue, traveled half the length of the tongue. Turned 90' straight up through the roof of the mouth went into a sinus cavity and turned 90' again and traveled to very front end of the moose's nose and stopped just under the skin of the bulbous part of the nose.
Took two of us over an hour following this bullets strange path dissecting the head as we followed the bullets trail. A 165gr. Nosler partition from a 30-06. This is the very weirdest unexplainable bullet path I have seen in my 51 yrs. of hunting.
Took two of us over an hour following this bullets strange path dissecting the head as we followed the bullets trail. A 165gr. Nosler partition from a 30-06. This is the very weirdest unexplainable bullet path I have seen in my 51 yrs. of hunting.
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
Many moons ago I would help a friend run hunts on his pheasant hunting operation. I've been privy to two incidents. Of course we are talking shotguns here running #7.5 shot not rifle bullets. First incident a fellow shot a pheasant coming toward him straight on. Part of the pattern struck a spruce tree 30 yards from the shooter behind the bird. Another fellow standing about 30 yards to his right dead in line with him took a pellet that ricocheted off the spruce tree to the adams apple. The other incident a bird flew between two hunters and both stupidly opened fire on it as it passed between them about 6' off the ground. The two were about 80 yards apart and one took three pellets to the face. One hit his safety glasses shattering but not penetrating through the left lens A second pellet hit and lodged in his top lip and the third hit his left ear lobe and travelled up and around the cartilidge of the ear stopping at the very front of the ear in the cartilidge of the ear canal. I've heard alot of 22 rounds ricochet off a gophers skull when head shot.
I too have encountered this type of phenomena and always wrote it off to precession because of the spinning bullet, this is something that I learned many moons ago in rotary wing theory of flight, take a bicycle wheel in two hands by the axle and get it spinning good, then have some one give it a poke along the plane of rotation, the resultant effect occurs 90 degrees later in the plane and in the same direction. Manufacturers design helicopter controls taking this phenomena into consideration. Thats my .02 on the subject.
Gyroscopic precession is the resultant action or deflection of a spinning object when a force is applied to this object. This action occurs approximately 90° later in the direction of rotation from the point where the force is applied.
Gyroscopic precession is the resultant action or deflection of a spinning object when a force is applied to this object. This action occurs approximately 90° later in the direction of rotation from the point where the force is applied.
Non rotating bullets out of smooth bores deflect too.
Twist rates on impact have an effect though. Take a 45/70 with a standard twist of 1-20". It can stabilize any bullet that you can chamber at black powder velocities. Why does a 458 Win mag have standard 1-16" to shoot the same weight and basic shape bullets at higher velocities? The answer to that is the much higher rotational speed is to provide more bullet stabilization in the target. That has been understood for way more than a century; though of course the 458 has only been around for 65 or so.
Twist rates on impact have an effect though. Take a 45/70 with a standard twist of 1-20". It can stabilize any bullet that you can chamber at black powder velocities. Why does a 458 Win mag have standard 1-16" to shoot the same weight and basic shape bullets at higher velocities? The answer to that is the much higher rotational speed is to provide more bullet stabilization in the target. That has been understood for way more than a century; though of course the 458 has only been around for 65 or so.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I always wondered how the effect of fast twist on long bullets compared to the effect of slow twist on short bullets when compared to their effect IN game after hitting hide, and flesh, and bone, and such. I suspect fast twist/long bullets perform most predictably and best, based on my experience. Anybody have some good facts and data to back this up or refute my assumption?
Bell used a term concerning Elephants and 6.5 MS..."Bending of the Bullet" perhaps? I think this might be what you are thinking of?
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Actually the opposite. One of the reasons I believe ( without the science to back it up) that Bell was successful on elephant with the 7x57 was the long, heavy with high sectional density 7mm 175 gr. bullets that he used. They were spun fast and maintained their direction point-on. He went too far with the little 6.5, which had just as long, but slimmer bullets that just couldn't stand the strain of hitting bone, even with their high RPM's. The bullets bent and veered off course.
prairie lover
CGN Regular
- Location
- southern MB
Shot through a little brush and willows at a 150 yard moose. Picked the clearest shot i had which was right where the neck and chest joined. Off a good solid rest at that. Moose dropped right there. The 140gr nosler e-tip hit further forwards about mid neck. Went in his spine and disappeared. Couldn't find it when skinning and it didn't exit.
Cutting the moose up a week later we found the bullet in the shoulder blade. It took a hard left after going through the spine and turned 90 degrees, went through at least a foot of neck meat and was actually poking through the shoulder blade. It never opened right the nose was bent over. I emailed nosler a pic and they said it would have had to be tumbling or yawing when it hit. I did shoot through some light willows and it didn't hit where it was supposed to so it all made sense. Never seen any other bullet deflect so severely.
Cutting the moose up a week later we found the bullet in the shoulder blade. It took a hard left after going through the spine and turned 90 degrees, went through at least a foot of neck meat and was actually poking through the shoulder blade. It never opened right the nose was bent over. I emailed nosler a pic and they said it would have had to be tumbling or yawing when it hit. I did shoot through some light willows and it didn't hit where it was supposed to so it all made sense. Never seen any other bullet deflect so severely.
