What Happens if You Fire a Gun Underwater (5 photos)

In movies, we often see underwater shootouts using the most common weapons. Many people don't believe that you can fire a pistol or machine gun in water the same way you can in air. In fact, it is possible to shoot underwater, but there are several important nuances worth remembering.





If you decide to test whether a pistol will fire underwater, remember one important rule. When firing, the weapon must be completely submerged in water, with no air inside. If only part of the barrel is submerged or air is left inside, there's a high risk of the weapon simply exploding.



Water is almost incompressible, so the bullet will encounter a water pocket at the moment of firing. This will slow it down and possibly even stop it. However, the propellant gases behind the bullet will continue to expand in the confined space and destroy the barrel. However, things are quite different when the gun is completely submerged in water.





When fired underwater, the gun is completely filled with water, and its pressure is the same in front of the bullet in the barrel and outside it. Water is 770 times denser than air, but the pressure will still increase uniformly after firing. The barrel will not burst because the water surrounding the barrel compensates for the pressure exerted by the gases inside. The least resistance to pressure will be on the side of the bullet, and the propellant gases will push it out.



The spectacle will be spectacular, as evidenced by the photos of the underwater shot, as well as the mesmerizing videos. However, the effectiveness of such a shot, due to the dense medium, will be extremely low, and the bullet is unlikely to cause any harm.



That's why, for over a hundred years, various countries have been developing specialized weapons capable of hitting targets in aquatic environments. Soviet designers have always been leaders in this field, but now the Norwegians have taken the lead. The USSR also created a revolver that shoots... alcohol.