cristomeyers
Feb 8 2007, 09:42 PM
No, designed to take knights off of horseback. The shock of impact usually killing the rider and leaving the expensive plate mail largely intact was just a bonus.
HullBreach
Feb 9 2007, 12:06 AM
| QUOTE (Austere Emancipator) |
| Hydrostatic shock is utter BS, no such thing exists when talking about terminal ballistics. Shockwaves in general are usually impossible as well, because nearly all projectiles fired at fauna are too slow to cause them. However, high velocity projectiles, especially when they yaw or deform, do create a large temporary cavity and pressure waves as they eject tissue sideways out of their path, but most tissues are tough and elastic enough to simply "bounce" right back without suffering any serious damage. |
This is true for the most part, and I am glad to see the Hydrostatic shock argument killed before it started.
When dealing with extremely high velocity projectiles the wounding mechanism is not the projectile itself but the shockwave of its passing. When you are dealing with this level of concussive force you start to see wounding that has less in common with gunshot wounds and more in common with the internal injuries caused by proximity to a powerful explosion.
The Israelis call this the 'butterfly' as when the person is X-rayed, despite usually have minimal or no visible wounds, they are dieing or dead from massive internal bleeding. This is commonly seen in the aftermath of bombings in enclosed spaces.
Flesh is VERY elastic, amazinly so, but even elastic tears once stretched too far. These wounds are caused by soft tissue being distorted so much that a sort of biological delamination occurs and widespread internal bleeding occues.
Now it should be noted that the velocities were talking about here are extremely difficult to obtain even under laboratory conditions and,to the best of my knowledge, there are no weapons currently feilded capable of inducing wounds like this via kinetic projectile.