I’ve been through half a dozen major homicide investigation and officer-involved shooting investigation courses and several shorter ones. In many of those, forensic pathologists showed us pictures of corpses made dead by bullets that “fell from the sky.” Some cultures, including some subcultures in the US unfortunately, shoot joyously into the air in what is known as “celebratory gunfire.” The Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve are particular spike points for this sort of reckless stupidity.
From the Mythbuster’s TV show to General Julian Hatcher in the past tests have been done which purport to show that the falling bullets don’t have the power to kill.
Unfortunately, no one ever told the bullets. Thanks to Greg Ellifretz, one of the great self-defense trainers of our time, for calling our attention to this.
It is true that a bullet fired STRAIGHT UP will come back down at its terminal velocity (at which air drag matches the force of gravity) which will typically be somewhere around 200 to 300 ft/sec. Once the bullet has finished its upward climb, its velocity is zero (aside from minor wind drift). It’s also typically no longer spin-stabilized, and just falls like any other object. If you took the bullet up in a helicopter to the same height where it ended its ascent and simply dropped it to the ground, the effect would be exactly the same. About the only way it could kill someone is if they were looking up and it happened to hit them in the eye.
Any projectile fired off vertical is going to be a completely different matter. Even firing at a 45° angle that thing is going to hit with some, and probably lethal, retained velocity. Ellfretz is referencing “stray bullets”, not “bullets fired vertically”.
I just wanted to clarify the difference between the two things. That being said, “celebratory gunfire” is still a completely asinine thing to do for obvious reasons.
Nor that I’ve ever had the urge to stand under one, but I have to admit I’ve always wondered what the terminal velocity of a falling bullet might be. OK, it’s going to vary somewhat, due to shape and distance falling. I’ve forgotten the formula to calculate the acceleration of gravity and that wouldn’t factor in drag.
I’ve always presumed that many serious training facilities are located in the middle of miles and miles of empty space (or surrounded by substantial hills) for good reason.
More pertinent resource info than you ever wanted to read. Endlessly interesting, IMO.
http://www.nennstiel-ruprecht.de/bullfly/