Goin' Ballistic

November marked another semester's ES300 ballistics lab, but this semester there was a twist. Instead of the typical lecture and demo period in the Bancroft Hall Rifle Range, ES300 students got to fire a potato gun. For those not familiar, a potato gun is made from readily available PVC pipe, and is fired using any number of household aerosols, including hairspray and deodorant to propel the common Idaho spud to distances exceeding 200 yards. Gun construction is very simple and involves a hacksaw and PVC cement. The real trick is getting the correct fuel-air mixture, and igniting it with sufficient spark to get good combustion. This year's lab succeeded on all counts, launching potatoes from 1st class parking, all the way across Hospital Point into the Severn.
After the potato gun lab, students were brought down to the range and given a demo on interior, exterior and terminal ballistics. The indoor range cannot handle the energy from a rifle round, so only handguns were tested, including .22, 9mm, .40 and .45 pistols. Impact media included ballistics gel (just like in Mythbusters), Kevlar armor, and some proprietary molded armor from a company called MACRO Industries. The intent was to show how combat ammunition performs on various targets and in different scenarios. Students gained an appreciation for the marksmanship skills necessary to effectively dissuade the enemy from pursuing a negative course of action.