Colliding bullets?

[The Heretic]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Firearms/comments/1dvdbjn/colliding_bullets

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Firearms/comments/1dvdbjn/colliding_bullets/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

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[Andy54Hawken]

There is a famous picture of two Civil War Mine Ball that are fused together...
I think there are also some on display at the Battle of Gettsyburg site.
Andy

 

[Knobgoblin]

 

[TTSX]

That's not the result I expected

 

[CountryGent]

There is a famous picture of two Civil War Mine Ball that are fused together...
I think there are also some on display at the Battle of Gettsyburg site.
Andy

I saw something similar on the Smithsonian site:

 

[The Heretic]

I saw something similar on the Smithsonian site:

View attachment 1911139

Kind of like the infinity monkey theorem; if you have enough bullets flying thru the air in opposite directions, sooner or later, two of them will collide head on.

 

[Flopsweat]

Probably from this video:

View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ikHuPQFDVBA


Smarter Every Day did it before them (My favorite)

View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tcQVrD7RnNI

Slow Mo Guys

 

[Nosferatu]

I think Mythbusters covered this.

 

[Flopsweat]

I think Mythbusters covered this.

They did probably half a dozen different gun myth shows, including a ricochet, but I don't think they ever did bullets colliding.

 

[Nosferatu]

They did probably half a dozen different gun myth shows, including a ricochet, but I don't think they ever did bullets colliding.

A quick search turned up this:

During the Civil War, two soldiers' bullets collided in midair and fused together.

PLAUSIBLE

The MythBusters first tried to mount two Civil War rifles in front of each other so that when fired, the bullets would collide in midair. However, this proved impossible because they were unable to get the guns to fire at the same time. Instead, they aimed a single rifle at a bullet suspended in the air. The fired bullet hit dead center, and the MythBusters found that both bullets had fused together into a single mass. Though incredibly unlikely, it is possible for two bullets to collide and fuse together in midair.

MythBusters Episode 67: Firearms Folklore

The MythBusters test if a bullet can be shot into the chamber of another gun, if a sniper can shoot through another sniper's scope, if two civil war bullets fused in midair, and if hammers will explode when struck together.

mythresults.com

 

[Flopsweat]

A quick search turned up this:

During the Civil War, two soldiers' bullets collided in midair and fused together.

PLAUSIBLE

The MythBusters first tried to mount two Civil War rifles in front of each other so that when fired, the bullets would collide in midair. However, this proved impossible because they were unable to get the guns to fire at the same time. Instead, they aimed a single rifle at a bullet suspended in the air. The fired bullet hit dead center, and the MythBusters found that both bullets had fused together into a single mass. Though incredibly unlikely, it is possible for two bullets to collide and fuse together in midair.

MythBusters Episode 67: Firearms Folklore

The MythBusters test if a bullet can be shot into the chamber of another gun, if a sniper can shoot through another sniper's scope, if two civil war bullets fused in midair, and if hammers will explode when struck together.

mythresults.com

That makes sense. You'd have a rough time getting two black powder guns to fire at the same time. It's only half the impact velocity, but I they probably shot from pretty close. If the two rifles that produced the fused bullet were far enough away from each other, the velocity of each might drop by half before contact.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Pop quiz, What is different about one of these 2 bullets?

 

[Flopsweat]

Pop quiz, What is different about these 2 bullets?

View attachment 1911250

They're made of different materials? Are they from the same time period?

 

[ilikegunspdx]

They're made of different materials? Are they from the same time period?

Probably, but not the answer.

 

[Flopsweat]

Probably, but not the answer.

One's got a hole in it!

 

[Nosferatu]

That makes sense. You'd have a rough time getting two black powder guns to fire at the same time. It's only half the impact velocity, but I they probably shot from pretty close. If the two rifles that produced the fused bullet were far enough away from each other, the velocity of each might drop by half before contact.

When I have some time, I'll look up that episode. A written summary doesn't typically surmise their entire test.

 

[JohnnyMac]

Pop quiz, What is different about one of these 2 bullets?

View attachment 1911250

One failed to yield...

 

[The Heretic]

And yet, Hollywood would have us believe it happens a lot more frequently.

I seem to recall this happening at least several times in different movies/etc.

 

[kmk1012]

Pop quiz, What is different about one of these 2 bullets?

View attachment 1911250

One has rifling

 

[ilikegunspdx]

One has rifling

Ding ding ding we have a winner! So the second bullet was stationary and since its world war 1 could have been in a bullet pouch or ?

Social media says they collided midair, then that gets repeated a gazillion times.

I noticed this miniball collision photo which may be the one @Andy54Hawken was talking about? Looks like even expansion on both sides so these may very well have met midair (looks to me that way anyway).