Ever wonder why vehicles aren’t more susceptible to fire from a few stray rounds of .50 BMG?
Surely a couple of .50s will have fuel spraying around everywhere
looking for an ignition point.
The answer is self-sealing fuel tanks. The tanks are a rubber/fabric composite and
insoluble to the fuel used, except for one layer which swells when exposed to
gasoline or other fuels. The swelling polymer plugs the hole. The next
question is how fast do they seal? Again
having even a little fuel spraying around a hot engine is a formula for disaster.
I found this video at www.robbietanks.com/multimedia/videos. Select the one called .50 cal tumbled
Robertson Improved HMMWV Tank or Improved LAV Tank. What I think is really cool is the bullet exits the
tank backwards and sideways.
I expected the .50 to just drill its way through the tank
and exit point first. A .50 cal BMG
leaving sideways… Talk about wound
channel!!!
As I thought about it, I guess it makes sense. Traveling blunt end first, the bullet makes a
shock wave expanding the material away from the bullet’s leading edge. The point acts as a trailing edge to stabilize
the motion. Kind of like the pre-shuttle,
onetime-use space capsules on reentry.
I wonder if my .223 boat tail would duplicate that
motion? It probably doesn’t have the
mass, and therefore energy to keep plowing through material until some form of equilibrium
stability is achieved.
Of course, the bullet may just tumble without
any rhyme or reason and it was just caught that way on tape.
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