How far will a 9mm bullet travel through water?

Question

You've all seen the movies and TV shows that show swimmers dodging and out swimming bullets, I know that water slows a bullets speed greatly but at what depth would I be safe from a 9mm round?

Answer 1

from penetration tests for 9mm that ive seen they only travel up to 30 inches in water.that is also water in baggs, as stated above , straight down in a pond or lake it would be alot less, also do not try to fire weapons underwater, im sure chamber pressures would be increased due to the barrel being filled with water

Answer 2

As Kar already mentioned ricochet is a factor. Your question involves a lot of variables: What kind of .9mm? A subsonic round? A +P? A +P+? A 158 grain submachine gun solid round?

If the bullet strikes the water at an angle and ricochets then you are safe but others are possibly in harm's way. Hollowpoints have the best chance of deforming upon striking the water and expending all their energy before reaching you. The solids, especially the ultra powerful 158 grain submachine gun round, have the best chance of reaching down and getting ya.

To answer your question, I believe you would have to be at a depth of one fathom to be safe. Relax, a 'fathom' is only: A unit of measure equal to 6 feet (or 1.83 meters).

H

Answer 3

a hollow point will explode almost on impact. a good full metal jacketed bullet will mushroom and may even pop back out of the water somewhere close. when the bullet enters the water it will start to tumble and make make a u- turn and come back out. it is highly unlikely but it is possible. with a hollow point the pressure from the water will cause the bullet to explode into many fragments most of the time, but not always. it may sometimes just mushroom and sink but it will stop very fast. a bullet will penetrate about half the distance in water than it will in a flesh simulating gelatin. sounds crazy but its true. most people do not believe this because of false testing. when you test a bullet for water penetration using a gallon jug full of water, you have to consider the physics of it. when a bullett hits a plastic jug of water, the impact of the bullet on the jug causes it and the water inside to explode and creates a tunnell through the water as it explodes giving the bullet less resistance and allowing for more penetration. when shot in standing water, the water does not explode out of the way and will stop the bullet very quickly.

Answer 4

The guys on Mythbusters did a test of that, and it appears that the bullet will shatter on impact with the waters surface due to the high veolcity and the surface tension of the water. If the bullet is fired straight down, then you can be certain of dying. If the bullet is fired at an angle closer to level with the water (they used 23 degrees if I remember correctly), then the bullet will shatter on impact with the waters surface. You would only have to be a couple feet under the surface according to the test that they did.

Answer 5

A 9mm round will loose it's velocity after 35 cm. At a depth of 1 m you will be save from any fire-arm {handguns or rifles}

Answer 6

That is false. If you fire a bullet into water the impact will slow the bullet down and it may travell 10 ft at best!

Answer 7

Be very careful, bullets have been known to ricochet off the water.

I learned that in the St. Louis, Missouri Police Academy when I attended.

But, why would you want to fire a 9mm into the water???
Shooting fish?

Answer 8

First off a 9mm won't shatter at all. Who ever said that needs to put the crack pipe down. If it is a JHP it will expand which will make it slow down faster. If it is a FMJ it will loose speed slower but still will not be able to cause a casualty for any great depth.

Answer 9

Underwater very safe from a 9mm bullet, unless it is fired from a gun.
Not safe underwater for long, unless you have a source of air.

Answer 10

all the way to the bottom.