Gabbin' about Guns :)

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On momentum and kinetic energy:

My small scale testing showed that no matter the weight of the projectile, when the energy was the same, the penetration was the same (in the gel).

You can have twice the mass, and moving proportionally slower to equivocate the kinetic energy of the lighter projectile, and the penetration is equal.

My idea as to why the more massive projectile performs better in certain conditions, e.g. when hitting a hard substance, is simply that mass and velocity are 'equal' in the momentum scale, and with kinetic energy , velocity is squared and the mass value is halved.

So any slow down of the lighter projectile, as when hitting bone, the penetration would fall dramatically due to this relationship or effect of velocity squared : i.e. the more kinetic energy gained by velocity (vs. mass), the less the penetration.

Under these conditions: Due to momentum, the heavier projectile would lose velocity at a slower rate than the lighter, yielding more kinetic energy, hence moving deeper into the target.

Any thoughts?

i think i should've paid more attention in physics..
thanks for the info though, Mdyar