# Bullets shot downwards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 3, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310 "2006-09-03T20:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310/1 "2006-09-03T20:12:38Z")
In [this](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a950414b.html) column, Cecil discusses the effects of upward shot bullets and whether they can kill on return to earth. From it, I gather, that the “terminal velocity” of a bullet is less than the speed its speed when it exits the muzzle. So I wonder: does a bullet, shot down straight from the sky (say, a zeppelin) actually slow down? Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310/2 "2006-09-03T20:46:34Z")
Yes. As long as air resistance is more than the weight, it will slow down. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310/3 "2006-09-05T02:13:53Z")
Kinda foils your plans for an evil zepplin fortress of destruction, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310/4 "2006-09-05T05:33:00Z")
Nah, it just means you need to use some non-bullet-based weapon. “Sheesh… I can build a zepplin-mounted death ray; you’d think I could program a stupid camcorder…” ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310/5 "2006-09-05T11:57:03Z")
Mythbusters covered this recently. However, their testing rig shot directly up into the air. The bullets reach a point where they tumble and keep tumbling on their way down. Their estimated speed is based on this state. However, if you were to fire them at an angle, I suspect they could maintain their nose-forward stabalized orientation throughout the flight, increasing the ballistic efficiency, reducing the effects of drag, and having a higher terminal velocity. The same would apply to bullets shot downward. I suspect they would hit the ground at significantly higher speed, even from considerable height, than a bullet fired straight up. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310/6 "2006-09-05T23:45:50Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] “Sheesh… I can build a zepplin-mounted death ray; you’d think I could program a stupid camcorder…” [/QUOTE] Is that a 1920’s style zeppelin-mounted death ray? Because that would be the perfect style to mount on a zeppelin. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullets-shot-downwards/371310/7 "2006-09-06T02:59:18Z")
The exact quote is “What kind of world is it where a man who can build a **zeppelin-mounted death ray** can’t even operate a **simple camcorder?** ”. No decade specified, but I suppose it might be 1920s-style.