bullet ricochets?? please answer?

Question

i was watching a video on youtube..and the guy shot from a 50 cal sniper rifle..and it ricocheted off something, came back, and broke the air muffs off his head


what exactly causes a bullet to ricochet..and come BACK? i dont get it..on impact, dont bullets usually flatten or shatter?

Answer 1

Military ammunition is supposed to be full metal jacket, so that it won't flatten or mushroom like a bullet from a deer rifle. When a bullet hits a hard surface or even the ground at a shallow angle, it can bounce off. It's rare for a bullet to come back at the shooter, but it's possible. Generally, you'd avoid shooting at a hard, flat surface that would put you at risk. The .50 cal rifle might have fired an armor piercing round with a very hard inner core. Even if the bullet shatters, pieces of it can still be dangerous. An intact .50 cal bullet, even after being slowed down by riccocheting off something, could be deadly.

Answer 2

Hello,,ricochet depends on the object it hits and the angle of deflection, if the object is very hard,smooth and sets at an angle the projectile will deflect off the object and continue its travel. the shape of the bullet and the composition of that round ,say armor piercing, is very hard with a steel core and is not designed to change its shape when hitting the target. A softer lead type projectile will flatten out and cause a different effect when it hits the target. Hollow point projectiles will expand and sometimes become several projectiles causing multiple paths of destruction.

Answer 3

I saw that one. First of all that round was probably a full metal jacket. Less likely to flatten out. A bullet can ricochet for several reasons, like the surface it hits, the shape and makeup of the target etc. That round hit the ground and bounced up. If it had come straight back the guy would have been seriously injured or killed,

Answer 4

There is no fixed angle, Brandon. There are many variables that determine whether a bullet will ricochet. In the video below you can see some of the tracers ricocheting off of the ground from a pretty high angle.

Answer 5

That would have to have been a double or triple carrom... you know, it ricochets off a couple of tightly placed objects, like stones in a stone wall.

I guarantee if you found the bullet skids you'd see it in a place like a hard cranny. I once had a 22 bullet come back at me when I was shooting cans off a stone wall. Stone wall could easily cause that...

Answer 6

It depends on what the round is made of.

Answer 7

Doubt it was actually the projectile.

Answer 8

Newton's second law.