Bullet Wounds.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 47, 19 June 1917, Page 2

Bullet Wounds.

Medical observation is exercised over the facts that in all bulletwounds it has been found that the aperture which the bullet has made increases in proportion to the length of range of fire, and that when the bullet goes right through the body or limb the aperture at the exit is considerably larger than at the entrance. A bullet at 200 to 400 yards makes a passage smaller than itself. Over 1,000 yards it exceeds the diameter of the bullet, and when the bullet is nearly at the end of its range the wound is very large.

The explanation is quite simple. The spiral- rifling in the barrel causes the bullet to spin, and the spin is maintained throughout its course. But the resistance of the air pressing on the point of the bullet in front tends to slow it, while the momentum of the back part of the projectile flushes it forward. This causes a wobble in the bullet, the point of which soon begins to describe a small circle in the air.

At short range there is little time for this aberration to develop appreciably, hence the bullet only makes way for its own cross section, but at long range the aperture has to be wide enough to accomodate the bullet and its arregular motion.