EXPANSION (MUSHROOMING) OF 9 MM LUGER CALIBRE JACKETED HOLLOW POINT BULLETS DURING PENETRATION OF A WATER OBSTACLE

The firing of a shot by an officer in a public place, during an operation to apprehend a criminal,involves the risk of shooting bystanders in dynamic situations, which can occur in public placesor in flats and homes. Therefore, it is important to reduce the likelihood of such situations, andtherefore the development of a bullet design with a penetration depth of about 30 cm (in ballisticgelatine) and a reduction in ricocheting was initiated. The aim of this article was to find whetherthe size and shape of the air void in a JHP bullet design determines the size and manner ofexpansion. In this article, the authors presented the design of such bullets, discussed the principleof operation and conducted a ballistic experiment on the behaviour of JHP bullets in a denserthan-air environment. The chosen method (ballistic experiment) allowed the authors to obtainresults on the expansion of such bullets, provided information on energy transfer or the mode ofpenetration (movement of the bullet) in a denser-than-air medium. The choice of JHP-type bulletsused in the study was limited due to the availability of a commercially available range.