Author Topic: hot bullet? (Read 445 times)

jd45 · « **on:** November 18, 2004, 07:39:12 AM »

Happy Thanksgiving to all & Hooray for President Bush!
I was looking at a book on the 101st Airborne Brigade (or Division as you prefer), at Border's yesterday & in it was an account of a sargeant who was hit in the forearm by an almost spent armour-piercing bullet from an M-1 that had, supposedly, traveled a mile before it struck him. He grabbed it between his thumb & forefinger & pulled it out. The account said it was hot to his touch. Is this possible? I know it heats up as it goes down the bore, but shouldn't a ride in the air a mile long cool it off? I'm curious & would appreciate anyone's feedback. Thanx. jd45.

Patriot_1776 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 18, 2004, 11:27:33 AM »

Even going through a mile's worth of air, it would still retain an amount of heat. The air friction would contribute to the heat as well. It has been reported the now retired British Airways' Concord underwent the same effects of air friction during supersonic flight. The skin of the aircraft would become very hot, and the skin's design allowed for the expansion. Secondly, they stated it was an armor-piercing round. The steel core inside (or steel jacket, I don't know) would also hold high temps for a considerable time. Third, a round from a 30-06 can travel a mile in under 7 sec. That would be pretty fast to me, and hardly enough time elapsed to where the bullet would become "cooled." Although, I wouldn't think it was sizzling hot. As an example, I recovered two Barnes TSX bullets from my 300 Weatherby fired into dirt at 100yds. After about 5 or so min. of waiting time until the cease-fire the range I go to has, I was able to find them. At first, they were pretty hot, enough to cause a slight burn if contact was prolonged. So if a bullet from my magnum could retain that much heat under the circumstances, and the other bullet traveling a mile, it would seem safe to ascertain the bullet was still very warm, if not hot, to the touch.

Patriot

papajohn428 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 21, 2004, 09:17:58 AM »

I decided to test some bullets for accuracy years ago, they were 180 grain round noses fired from a 7.7 Arisaka at 100 yards. I fired two groups of five shots each, probably took under 2 minutes to shoot both groups. The backstop was a dirt bank surrounded by railroad ties, and it was a wet day. After firing, I cleared the rifle, put it in the rack, and ambled downrange to check the targets. The first thing I noticed was that there were two small steam clouds above the backstop......one each coming from holes in the railroad ties where the bullets had stopped! I was able to dig most of the bullets out with a knife in a couple minutes, and they were still pretty darn warm. Getting shot with one would not just hurt, it would burn, too!

PJ

jd45 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 21, 2004, 12:31:35 PM »

Thanx, you guys..........I'm now a believer, where before I was skeptical. jd45.

Hildy · « **Reply #4 on:** November 27, 2004, 05:03:09 AM »

Yes, bullets get hot...

I shot a 300 Win Mag into a 5 gallon bucket of water at 75y with a backstop at 100y. Well, after the bullet struck the bucket, which was a sight, it continued into the wood backstop. I went to the backstop and the bullet was only sticking into the wood slightly. I went to pull it out and the sucker was a mini stove.

De41mag · « **Reply #5 on:** November 27, 2004, 09:50:47 AM »

It was said that the SR-71 Blackbird the Air Force had , once it landed, it took 3 hours for the plane to cool before anyone could get close to it. The pilot had to remain in the plane for that peroid of time.

Dennis

Lone Star · « **Reply #6 on:** November 27, 2004, 12:29:26 PM »

Skin temperatures of the SR-71 Habu exceeded 550F in flight. Of course, it was considerably faster than a speeding bullet - any speeding bullet - after the first second or two....