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HOW DOES A RICOCHETCOME
OUT OF THE GROUND AGAIN?
When firing from an elevated
position, the shooter must be
particularlycarefulbecauseevena
shot fired into soil that seems loose
and soft can end fatally. The reason:
Stones hidden under the surface of
the earth can make a bullet rebound
at any angle and so, in any direction,
including right back where it came
from.Infact,therehavebeencases
ofaprojectilepenetratingnearly
2 feet into the ground and
still re-emerging in the
form of a ricochet.What goes up must at some
point come back down—in
the case of a 9mm projectile fired
vertically at 1,150 feet per second,
that happens at a height of about
3,600 feet. The falling projectile will
become almost 33 feet per
second faster with every
second that passes
thanks to the Earth’s
gravitational pull,
but as a result of
the air resistance
it only reaches a
maximum speed
of around 330 feetper second
the ground
If a person
at this spo
shatter his
are regularl
or ceHOWDANGEROUS
BULLETSIN THE AI
If fi red vertically
into the air, a 9mm
bullet will have reached
the ground after aroun
42 seconds. Such a hi
would be fatal.A bullet can even bounce off several
stones on its way through the earth.
So a steep shooting angle such as
the one shown in the graphic below
can be dangerous for the hunter.BOOMERANG
A shot from his
own gun hits the
ear protectors of
this shooter as a
strike point ricochet.ricochetLAB