SpudFiles

Hey guys - this question is for the ballistics experts among you,

I found these damage pics from earlier this year, you can clearly see in the last picture that the bottom of the can (which seems pretty tough) bulges out. Was this caused by hydrostatic shock, and if is so, is the rippling pattern the result of the shock wave passing through the can? I thought HS was only possible with high velocity rifle bullets, not low velocity homemade airguns.

n05gr0th wrote:I thought HS was only possible with high velocity rifle bullets, not low velocity homemade airguns.

Water is incompressible at any velocity. That's why belly-flopping stings quite so much.

Certainly, a high velocity rifle bullet will cause a greater pressure spike when it impacts the water (enough to shatter many rifle bullets - pistols will often penetrate deeper through water for this reason), but spudguns can easily have enough velocity to shred a tin-can or milk bottle.

Great responses, thank you both!