Sniper on the loose down the street

[Powderkeg]

I have an extensive knowledge of firearms and can safely say that ballistics show that glass is one of the few surfaces that send bullets in a completely unknown direction along with the surface of water. As for completely stopping a round, that's highly unlikely unless it was either a .22 or lower, but I know for a fact .22's can easily go through glass, unless it had somehow lost a great deal of velocity, like ricocheted off one surface then hit the glass.

I'll add to that by saying that a lot of it depends on the type of rifle used (Caliber and load) and which window it hit.

First you have to consider the type of round fired. Small caliber rounds have very little mass, and thus, very little penetration power. This can be offset to a degree by using a high powered "load" (more gunpowder) to increase the velocity of the round, but generally a big heavy bullet will do more damage than a small light one.

You also have to consider the type of round fired. Full metal jacket rounds tend to stay intact, providing great penetration at the cost of area damage. Hollowpoints will damage a large area by spreading or fragmenting on impact, but this reduces penetration. A hollowpoint would be more likely to bounce off a windshield.

And finally you have to take into consideration where the bullet actually hit. A bullet will go through a side window without a whole lot of trouble, but front windshields are amazingly sturdy. Bullets have a very hard time penetrating the dual pane, laminated windshields found on most cars.

Likewise, a head-on shot is much more likely to penetrate glass than a round shot at an angle. The steeper the angle the more likely the round is to be deflected.


Other factors also come into play, such as range between shooter and target, wind speed and direction, and even the recoil (Kick) of the weapon. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so, if the recoil moves the shooter or weapon back 5 feet the bullet would have a lower muzzle velocity than if the same round was fired from the same gun with a recoil movement of only 3 inches. The more the weapon moves backwards the less energy is used to puch the bullet forward.



That said, it is surprisingly difficult to shoot through car windshields. Quite often it's actually easier to penetrate the door panels.

 

[digitalwanderer]

When I read it I figured some kid with a BB gun felt like scaring people, but I figured a .22 or something could be deflecting off a windshield if it hit at a steep angle.

Either way, I'm still avoiding Cline...I don't really use it much anyways.

 

[Geo]

Some interesting info here: http://www.trmagonline.com/Winter04/winter04ammotacop.htm on bullet penetration and glass.

Just happened to run across it because the incident at the top, Good Guys electronics store in Sacramento, was something I was in the area for and remember very vividly.

 

[Dresden]

Some interesting info here: http://www.trmagonline.com/Winter04/winter04ammotacop.htm on bullet penetration and glass.

Just happened to run across it because the incident at the top, Good Guys electronics store in Sacramento, was something I was in the area for and remember very vividly.

Glass is always a problem. I remember one of my policing instructors commenting on an incident his partner was involved in concerning a suspect slapping a civil lawsuit on him claiming it was "unlawful use of force" when he deliberately rammed his car into the parked cruiser said officer was in, who then retaliated by firing a warning shot through his windshield, I don't remember the caliber exactly but I think it was .40. While the point of entry was probably three feet from the suspect, the ballistics of the impact on the glass sent the round rocketing into the neck of the suspect.