Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Bullets and Their Work

Here is a description of bullets.  Here is a description of entry and exit holes, illustrated with paper and other materials that are not as messy as flesh. 

Notice how many of these bullets flower into an irregular or regular broad mass.  Basically you have a choice: you can use a bullet that holds its shape well and penetrates a lot, or one that deforms greatly so it will tear things up a lot but not punch through very far.  It depends on whether you expect to shoot through things, such as doors, in which case you can still hit a target behind it but with a through-and-through wound that might not do as much damage -- or whether you want bullets to stay in the body where you put them, in which case you can't shoot through walls but the tumbling metal flower will shred the hell out of your target.

These are also crucial considerations if you are shooting at exotic targets such as zombies, vampires, dragons, aliens, or other beings whose physiology differs radically from those which bullets are designed to affect (humans, deer, pheasants, etc).  You may need to think about things such as toxins, explosives, or other fancy stuff.  But the first consideration is always whether you'll get more stopping power from penetration or spread.  Usually for armored targets (encounter suit, chitin, dragonhide) you need penetration while for softer targets you need spread.  Even unkillable targets may be greatly hindered by blasting apart their physical support structure; to wit, shoot out the zombie's knees or the hinge of the dragon's jaw.

Take responsibility for what you write and/or shoot.  Weapons can do major damage in very short order; do it justice, because it's not a joke.  Know your gun; know your ammo; understand what they do.  Then you can arm your characters properly when you write, or yourself if the world really goes to hell.
Tags: networking, reading, science, writing
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  • 6 comments
polydad

polydad

July 14 2013, 02:16:26 UTC 7 years ago

Additional data: I have witnessed first-hand exactly one shooting, with a .22 rifle at extreme (~1.5 mile) range. It was an accidental shooting; some kids shooting at cans on a hillside forgot that if a bullet goes *over* the hill, it'll keep going. My neighbor Dave got it in his right lung, fell over on the spot, and if it weren't for fast ambulances and good modern medical procedures would have been dead later that afternoon.

Great big guns and fancy bullets *aren't* necessary to kill everything, and a lot of things -- humans, for example -- are a lot more fragile than we'd like to think.
ysabetwordsmith

Wow!

ysabetwordsmith

July 15 2013, 07:56:03 UTC 7 years ago

Thanks for sharing that story. It's a lot more serious damage than I would have expected of such small caliber, especially at that range. Humans can be incredibly durable, or alarmingly delicate.

Deleted comment

cat_sanctuary

cat_sanctuary

July 14 2013, 18:26:28 UTC 7 years ago

I like stories where nobody dies, myself. Or at least where nobody gets murdered. My husband classified that kind as children's stories.
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

July 14 2013, 21:10:13 UTC 7 years ago

There is a category of such for adults called "gentle fiction," which contains no violence, sex, or vulgar language. It is a challenge to write well, because the vast majority of stories involve people getting hurt and/or laid, but it's worth pursuing.

I like a wide range of stories myself.
siliconshaman

siliconshaman

July 14 2013, 12:03:30 UTC 7 years ago

There are also hybrid rounds. There is the sabot round, which is basically a frangible round with a penetrator core, something like a soft copper bullet with a tungsten rod running through it. They're not common because generally targets fall into the categories you described and seldom do you need to do both types of damage.

The more common type of hybrid round is designed to penetrate armour, then fragment and produce a hail of shrapnel that pings around inside. Typical they have a hardened nose, and a soft or frangible body that separates on impact. [the results of which can be described as purée.] That's the sort of round you'd use for hunting dragons... small hole in your valuable dragon hide, and massive internal injuries so you don't have to worry about hitting soft squishy and vulnerable vital organs. [also handy against armoured vehicles, for much the same reasons.]
ysabetwordsmith

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

July 15 2013, 06:41:13 UTC 7 years ago

Combination rounds can be really useful! Good point about dragons.