Recently there was some discussion of handgun (HG) and rifle bullets impacting at the same velocity. HG bullets can be described as short, fat and blunt, while rifle bullets are usually long, slender and pointy.
Rifle and HG bullets do NOT necessarily behave the same way when they impact at the same velocity.
The drag of the bullets passing through tissue will be different due to the way tissue flows around the bullets. Also, the rifle bullet's drag will be farther forward of it's center of gravity, making it want to yaw more than the HG bullet.
This raises the question of kinetic energy. What if the rifle and HG bullets have the same weight and velocity? Their kinetic energies will be the same but will they have the same effectiveness? No, they will probably differ. Kinetic energy is like money...what you get depends on how you use it.
Rifle and HG bullets do NOT necessarily behave the same way when they impact at the same velocity.
The drag of the bullets passing through tissue will be different due to the way tissue flows around the bullets. Also, the rifle bullet's drag will be farther forward of it's center of gravity, making it want to yaw more than the HG bullet.
This raises the question of kinetic energy. What if the rifle and HG bullets have the same weight and velocity? Their kinetic energies will be the same but will they have the same effectiveness? No, they will probably differ. Kinetic energy is like money...what you get depends on how you use it.