So you are into reloading and you wonder how well that little package with 77 grains of IMR 4350 powder behind a 300 grain round nose, full metal jacket bullet will do. Well, you can do two things, a little bit of physics calculations, or go out and touch it off, hoping that it doesn’t explode in the barrel! I would choose to do a little physics myself… By using some basic physics equations, you can figure out just about any part of the rifles ballistics data. For instance, if you know a few variables, you can predict range with physics, or if you like you can figure things like drag on the bullet, pressure and expansion values inside the gun, on the bullet and much more, all from physics.
So, lets take a look at both the potential and kinetic energies of the .338 Winchester magnum. I will use a load given by the Winchester Reloading manual, which can be found online at:
http://www.winchester.com/reloader/index.html
This load is a 300 grain bullet, using 59.8 grains of Winchester 760 powder, and this gives a muzzle velocity of 2285 ft/sec.
For potential energy we know that PE=mgh, where PE= Potential Energy, m=mass, g=acceleration due to gravity, and h=height.
So for a 300-grain bullet, the potential energy is calculated by first finding the mass. To do this, take 300grains/7000grains/pound. This gives you a value of .042857lbs. Then we need to convert pounds to slugs (slugs are the units of mass…) .042857lb/32.2ft/s^2=.001331slugs. Now we can calculate the potential energy of our 300-grain bullet. We will assume that h=six feet, since that is roughly the height of the barrel when I shoot from a standing position. So, since PE=mgh, we get PE=(.00133slugs)(32.2ft/sec^2)(6ft)=.256956lbft. The answer is pretty much nothing and so we can pretty much ignore the potential energy of that bullet sitting at six feet in the air, but now lets look at the Kinetic energy of this bullet when shot. Since this bullet will be twisting when it flies, it will have rotational kinetic energy, but I really don’t want to get into those calculations and from what I have read, the amount of energy given by rotation versus that of the charge behind the bullet is really insignificant so I will only calculate the KE as if the bullet is not rotating. The formula is KE=1/2mv^2.
The amount of ammunition that is allowed by law to be loaded into a firearm criminalize many popular handguns, even those used by the military like the Beretta m9 9mm, which is the standard issue side arm of the United States military that has an ammo capacity of a whopping 15 bullets. 16 bullets if one is locked in the chamber. According to this new law only seven are allowed to be loaded at any given time except when in a competition on a range.
From the bar chart, we see that the potential energy in general agrees with the case above, i.e. it increases up to the particle’s maximum height and decreases from that point on. The kinetic energy, on the other hand, behave significantly differently than expected. Rather than decreasing form the beginning to the maximum height and then increasing, the kinetic energy appears to fluctuate in a somewhat random manner. This can be best understood by treating the experiment as a closed system, where energy (but not mass) can leave the system and enter the surroundings. As the projectile moves through the air, it collides into air particles, imparting some of its energy to these particles in the form of friction, heat and sound, thus losing energy in the process. We therefore would expect the sum of the potential energy and the kinetic energy to decrease over time as the projectile loses energy to its surroundings. However, from the data from document , this also does not seem to be the case. This discrepancy can be explained by including experimental uncertainty, where errors in our measurements can lead to unjustified conclusions. In order to reduce the sources of these errors, the experiment should be run multiple times in ideal conditions, averaging over the results and calculating the resulting averaged energies.
Soldiers were ordered to load and they would take a cartridge and rip it open. Sometimes they would open them with their own teeth. After they opened it, they poured powder into the pan of the firing mechanism to fill it up. They would pour the main portion of the powder down into the barrel, and then they folded paper and put it into the barrel and dropped the ball at the top. They used the ramrod under the barrel of the musket to...
The Repeating Rifle was used during the Civil War by 1863. These guns could fire more than one bullet before they needed to be reloaded. The most popular one was called the Spencer Carbine and it could shoot seven shots in 30 seconds. The Minie bullet was Claude-Etienne Minié created this bullet. This also used, and the new rifling or grooves in the musket’s barrel made these bullets spin and travel up to 900 feet. They increased the range and accuracy of the muskets these bullets did a lot more damage to bone. .(Judy,2012) (Falton, 2001).
This was the self contained brass cartridge. It contained an ignition source called a primer, an amount of powder and a bullet. Early cartridge guns were converted percussion rifles. The first repeating rifles were the Henry and Spencer, the Henry had a fifteen shot internal magazine and the Spencer a seven round removable magazine this meant multiple could be carried. Repeaters were not limited to rifles though handguns such as the famous Colt Single Action Army were a common favorite among both civilians and military personnel. The industrial revolution boosted the firearms industry. It allowed gunsmiths who formerly would cut rifling and make parts by hand using saws and files to now use vertical mills and lathes to improve both output and precision. Barrels became easier to rifle and take to size using lathes and mills allowed sights to be manufactured much easier. The next major evolutionary step in the firearms industry was the bolt action rifle. A bolt action provides a tighter seal at the breach than other actions allowing higher pressure cartridges and a farther effective range do to increased velocity The first bolt action used by the U.S. military was the Krag-Jorgensen a Norwegian rifle with a internal side loading magazine. It was thought by many that the Krag was was an exceptional piece of equipment but during the Spanish - American War it was proved otherwise. Spaniards armed with German Mausers a rifle with a
The M1 Carbine was a unique weapon that was very helpful in World War II to American soldiers that had them. This was a .30 caliber weapon that had two types of cartridges. There was one that held fifteen rounds and another that held thirty rounds. It was very lightweight and gas operated and air cooled. M1 Carbines were first issued in 1941 for so...
If there was no weapon found at the scene and there are other evidence clues that lead to a suspect, and if the suspect had a firearm the forensics team would get a warrant to retrieve the weapon so it could be tested. When the weapon is being tested, it will allow the the bullet have individual marks that will be compared to the ones found at the scene. All of these comparisons are done under a microscope since technology has improved and it is easier to make matches. According to Young & Ortmeier (2011) “class characteristics include weight of the projectile, direction of twist of the riffling, degree of twist of riffling, number of lands and groves, and width of lands and groves.” Even though guns from the same manufacture will never have the same riffling, lands or grove. When evaluating two cartridge casings the examiner will be looking for manufacture, the size of the firing pin as well as the location. The FBI has made a integrated ballistic identification system (IBIS) it's a database that helps crime labs with comparisons where it proves one gun being used in many crimes. In addition, gunshot residue is helpful solving crimes because gunshot residue can be chemically tested. If an individual has gunshot residue it doesn't prove he or she shot the victims, it just means that they were along the premises while the gun was fired. Another
The primary long gun of the Union Army was the M-1861 Springfield Rifle. The 1861 Springfield was a .58 Caliber, muzzle loading, single-shot rifle. The 1861 Springfield rifle used the 500 grain .58 caliber bullet and 60 grains of powder. It had a muzzle velocity of 950 Fps and was accurate up to 300 yards with a maximum range of 500 yards. The 1861 Spring...
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When a suspect’s weapon is examined in the lab, it will be test fired into a box filled with cotton or a tank of water to provide the examiner with the bullets and cartridges with a known history. Using a microscope, the known cartridges are compared with the ones in question. With some patience, skill, and a little luck, experts can definitively say that a certain firearm and no other fired this bullet, or ejected this cartridge.
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