Bullet deflection and ricochet

[TargetTerror]

I haven't seen this topic come up much, but I'm curious. I understand that shooting through thin barriers, such as glass or metal, will deflect a bullet, but I haven't heard the principles behind what governs the deflection.

So, first, are there are any "laws of deflection?" I'm sure there are any number of intervening factors that could make predictable deflection a crapshoot, but can certain bullet behavior be expected most of the time in certain situations?

Regarding ricochets, my CHL instructor said that bullets ricochet parallel to the surface that they strike. So, if you shoot at hard ground (concrete), the bullet will basically skim along the ground. He said that police can do this with shotguns for riot control. Is this accurate? Do bullets ricochet differently off of different materials?

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Check out these tests: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/thebuickotruth.htm
I don't think there are hard and fast rules about where something will hit accurately but general trends concerning angles and materials. I saw a video someone posted here a while ago that was a police or fbi training vid that covered the ricochet issue your instructor mentioned and it was something I didn't know. They seem to skim close to the surface they struck rather than bouncing off at the same angle they hit with like a pool table would. Maybe somebody will post that up.

 

[highorder]

according to the book "The Ultimate Sniper",Maj. John L. Plaster, USAR (Ret.) notes that bullets that transit glass tend to deviate at an acute angle due to the drag on the bullet from actually touching the glass

 

[Geronimo45]

Projectiles in motion tend to want to take the path of least resistance. The round shape the bullet helps cause deflection. A flat-tip wadcutter would possibly have less deflection than a round-nose bullet. A cue ball should have more deflection than a bullet do to it (cue ball) being a complete sphere.

Yes, bullets will generally skim the surface when not fired straight-on. They want to retain momentum, and the rounded shape helps direct them in that direction, while retaining some velocity. The greater the change of angle, the less velocity you're likely to get. That's why it's used for riot control - causes pain and some suffering, but less likely to cause death. Otherwise they'd just plop down Ma Deuce and have at 'em.

Some bullets may shatter when you try to bounce them off concrete (very likely with high velocity, IIRC). Others may ricochet just fine.

 

[bwavec]

I am sure there is some lab science that could tell you where a given bullet will go, within a given set of parameters. But once you start to deviate from that, your results will change more and more. This is something where you quite possibly have infinite combinations of variables that will yield infinite results.

 

[45crittergitter]

Angle of incidence = angle of refraction, or something like that.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Regarding ricochets, my CHL instructor said that bullets ricochet parallel to the surface that they strike. So, if you shoot at hard ground (concrete), the bullet will basically skim along the ground. He said that police can do this with shotguns for riot control. Is this accurate? Do bullets ricochet differently off of different materials?

It is inaccurate. Many variable influence ricochets.

The shotgun shots for riot control are where rubber bullets are shot at the ground in front of rioters. The balls hit the ground, bleed off some energy in the process, and then bounce up and a very similar angle to which they hit the ground (assuming the "ground" is a hard and flat surface).

If bullets only ricocheted parallel to the surface they struck, then there would be no danger in shooter steel targets straight on and up close since the bullets would ricochet on the plane of the target face. Unfortunately, bullets often bounce back from steel and so caution needs to be used.

Simply put, your instructor WAY over simplified what happens during some ricochets and largely mischaracterized the process.

If your instructor was right, then this could not happen...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc&feature=related
It is the .50 BMG ricochet we have all seen.

 

[jrfoxx]

Just to add an interesting addition to "controlled ricochet", I dont recall who it was (is), or where I saw it (I think it was a special on discovery or history channel last year) where on of the modern trick shooters (one of the handful of fairly famous ones), had a trick where he'd shhot at an angled steel plate on the ground with his revolver, and could pretty darn consistantly hit a tethered balloon like 25yds or so away (the plate being about halway to the balloon.I'm pretty sure the same guy also did the old trick shooting an axe blade head on, splitting the bullet, which then hit 2 baloons (one on either side of the blade.) Pretty neat stuff.Wish I remember who it was, but someone here will know him and post it, I'm sure.Point being I guess, that if known factors are used, you can reliably control ricochet, other than that, I'd say ricochets will be pretty random and uncontrollable in real life,non-staged, trick shooting situations.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

When you shoot at the ground the bullets will furrow a very long path. When shooting hard targets it is unpredictable. BTW Soldiers are trained to shoot into concrete at a single point until it is breached and then the ricochets will then do the killing. I have been deployed to places where I have seen where foeces have simply shot through the walls that were around the windows and the doors to get at the defensive forces.