[time-nuts] How are you going to spend your extra second?

Robert Darlington rdarlington at gmail.com
Thu Dec 25 16:44:12 UTC 2008


Hey, I just wanted to clarify a statement I made, in particular the
first one.  I stand by it, but put it in the context that stray
bullets falling rarely hit anybody.   Of those that do come down,
large caliber rounds certainly can cause trauma, but even then usually
not enough to cause death.  The statistical blip mentioned in the
Wikipedia article probably has some merit, just not enough for me to
worry about.  The smaller caliber rounds (pronounced "lighter" or
"less massive") that we would typically see in the USA are of
extremely low concern when compared to the larger .30 or .50 cal rifle
rounds you might see elsewhere during celebrations.  I'm certainly not
saying it doesn't happen, I'm saying it's rare.  Focus on eating less
cheeseburgers or wearing seat belts more often if you want to save
lives!

As for me, I will be driving to the target range today while wearing a
seat belt, shooting my .308 in the cold, and won't be eating a burger
-but I had one yesterday!

On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 6:59 AM, Robert Darlington
<rdarlington at gmail.com> wrote:
> Bullets falling from the sky are almost never fatal.  Remember, we're
> not in a vacuum so there is friction with the atmosphere.  They slow
> down on the way up due to both gravity and friction, and then fall
> back down reaching a terminal velocity where the bullet is in
> equilibrium on the way down (no acceleration).   I've heard of one
> case where a bullet falling was fatal when it landed on an infant's
> "soft spot" on top of the head where the skull had not yet fused.  One
> other recent case where a bullet landed on a lady's shoulder and left
> a nice bruise.  I found this descriptive blurb on the net with some
> real numbers:
>
> For further insight, we turn to Hatcher's Notebook (1962) by Major
> General Julian S. Hatcher, a U.S. Army ordnance expert. Hatcher
> described military tests with, among other things, a .30 caliber
> bullet weighing .021 pounds. Using a special rig, the testers shot the
> bullet straight into the air. It came down bottom (not point) first at
> what was later computed to be about 300 feet per second. "With the
> [.021 pound] bullet, this corresponds to an energy of 30 foot pounds,"
> Hatcher wrote. "Previously, the army had decided that on the average
> an energy of 60 foot pounds is required to produce a disabling wound.
> Thus, service bullets returning from extreme heights cannot be
> considered lethal by this standard."
>
>
> I for one wouldn't want to be hit by a falling bullet, but I'd sure
> take that over one being fired directly at me!
>
> -Bob
>
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 10:00 PM, Mark Sims <holrum at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hello Chuck,
>>
>> You must not be reading the same papers as me (or live in Dallas)...    Google "dallas new years gunfire" to get 63,900 hits.  The Wikipedia article has an interesting statistic...  bullets falling from the sky are 5-15 times as likely to be fatal as direct gunshot wounds.  A couple of articles to start with:
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebratory_gunfire
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2002/12/31/New_Years_Eve_gunfire_may_bring_jail_time/UPI-67071041369090/
>>
>>
>> http://cbs11tv.com/local/Dallas.Police.Warn.2.620823.html
>>
>>
>> ------------
>>
>> Really?  I would think it would make the papers... but for
>> some reason, it doesn't.
>>
>> -Chuck Harris
>>
>>
>> _________________________________________________________________
>> Send e-mail anywhere. No map, no compass.
>> http://windowslive.com/oneline/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_anywhere_122008
>> _______________________________________________
>> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
>> To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
>> and follow the instructions there.
>>
>




More information about the Time-nuts_lists.febo.com mailing list