What’s the typical speed of a handgun bullet? Rifle? Also, what is the fastest (top speed) of any bullet we have, and how does that compare to the speed of sound (roughly, under ambient air conditions…afterall, this isn’t rocket science! :D)?
- Jinx
This is speaking just roughly off the top of my head - and these are all RIFLE velocities.
A .22 caliber bullet travels at about 1,000 feet per second (and maybe a bit faster). The speed of sound is roughly 1,000 feet per second.
I believe the fastest commercially available round is the .17 caliber which screams out of the muzzle at 4,200 feet per second.
I shoot .308 rifles, and I believe the muzzle velocity is around 2700 F.P.S.
Handgun bullets are slower. I believe the typical 9 mm bullet clocks in at around 1250 F.P.S.
My lab shares the same building with another R&D lab that builds two and three-stage gas guns. They recently shot a small projectile (about the size of a pencil eraser) to a velocity of 8 kilometers / second under controlled laboratory conditions. That’s fast.
And to make comparisons easier, here’s a good velocity converter:
http://www.1728.com/convvel.htm