Muzzle Velocity (was: High resolution sleep (Linux)

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Tue, 08 May 2007 17:59:13 +0000, Dennis Lee Bieber wrote:

>> Did you know that the first military smokeless powder
>> round was for the French Lebel? - It threw a bronze 
>> ball, and could punch through a single brick wall.
>>
> 	Well, extreme high speed wouldn't help for that -- just get a
> surface splatter. Heavy and slower... (or some sort of solid core --
> depleted uranium with a teflon coating)

I remember a MythBusters episode that had the guys testing the old
Hollywood staple of somebody trying to escape gunfire by swimming
underwater. To their surprise, they found that modern high-velocity rounds
basically hit the water and stopped dead, hardly penetrating at all, while
an old musket shot they found actually penetrated the water furthest.

Hmmm... musket? I may be confabulating that last bit, the rifle may not
have been that old. World War One vintage perhaps? But it fired a heavy
slow round, and everybody predicted it would penetrate the water the
least, but it was the opposite.

Anyway, the myth was confirmed. I guess that's why people don't go fishing
with shotguns.


-- 
Steven.