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GUNS FIRED UNDERWATER. . . . .

     In the first experiment, a service automatic pistol cal. .45
M1911 was used.  The bullet was removed, the powder dumped, and
the primer flash hole covered with a disk of tape to keep out the
water.  The primed case was inserted in the gun, the barrel was
filled with water, and the gun was fired holding the muzzle
upwards.  There was a mild "splat" and the water was blown upward
against the ceiling.
     The next question was whether the firing mechanism would be
made so sluggish by being underwater that the primer might not
fire.
     To test this, the pistol was loaded with a primed but
otherwise empty case, and the gun was fully submerged and fired.
There was no noise, but a spurt of what looked like ink was
ejected from the muzzle to a distance of about a foot.
     Thus reassured that the mechanism would acctually fire under
water, the same pistol loaded with a service ball cartridge was
fastened in a heavy vise on the bottom of the tank, measuring
40"x24"x24", filled with water.  Care was taken to assure that
the pistol barrel was filled with water.  On firing (by remote
control), there was quite a disturbance, with a lot of water
being splashed out of the tank.  The bullet passed successively
thru 16" of water, a 7/8" soft pine board, 6" more of water, and
finally came to rest against a second board, making a deep dent
in it.  The pistol did not quite eject the empty cartridge, but
jammed with the slide part way open and the cartridge caught in
the ejection opening.  The pistol was not damaged.
     Next, a cal.  30.06 model 1903A3 service rifle (with the
stock removed)  was placed in the vise on the bottom of the tank
and loaded with an M2 service round (152-gr. bullet, about 2800
fps muzzle velocity).  As there was only about 6" of tank, no
attempt was made to place anything inside the tank to gauge
penetration, but rather, four soft pine boards 7/8" thick were
placed outside the end of the tank and in line with the bore.
     When the rifle was fired (remotely), the bullet penetrated
about 6" of water, the 3/64" steel side of the tank, all four
boards, and disappeared inside a solid oak plank to a depth of
about 2".
     the bolt could not be opened by hand, but yielded easily to
a few light taps with a rawhide hammer.
     The case just back of the cannelure had expanded by about
.032" and the primer pocket had opened up from the standard
.209 to .228" and the primer was punctured so that a quantity of
black smoke was observed to excape from the surface of the water
near the breech when the gun was fired.  The case and primer
pocket expansion noted above are greater than those usually seen
when a 70,000 psi high preasure teast cartridge is fired in the
same type of gun, so the preassure was probably quite a bit
higher than 70,000 psi.  This is understandable, as the bore full
of water would weigh about 385 gr. , which is equivalent to
adding 2 1/2 additional bullets  to the mass that the powder has
to move.
     In spite of this additional resistance, the rifle showed no
buldging of the barrel or other damage.
     While this limited test is interesting, it should be borne
in mind that it is not definitive.  The results could be
different if the same test were to be tried with a higher
intensity cartridge, such as the  .220 Swift or some of the
magnum cartridges with extra large case capacity.
                             JULIAN S. HATCHER