AFTE Store - The Application of Doppler Radar to Bullet Ricochets from Water

The possibility of a fatal injury from a common 9mm pistol bullet ricocheted from the surface of a small lake was evaluated and ultimately excluded through the application of a ballistic Doppler radar system to the post-impact behavior of these bullets ricocheted from water. This system allowed the determination of impact velocity, velocity loss during the water ricochet process, post-impact bullet stability, and a measurement of the effective ballistic coefficient of the destabilized bullets. These measurements, in turn, allowed reasonable estimates of a 9mm bullet’s impact velocity at the victim’s location on the opposite side of the lake. These results were compared to the bullet’s calculated impact velocity for a direct shot. Only the latter would explain the gunshot wound sustained by the victim. This article provides a step by step description of how the author arrived at these conclusions.