Dimpled Bullet Spoof Continues to Fool Web Readers
More than a week after we ran the story as an April Fool’s hoax, our feature about U.S. Army testing of dimpled “golf-ball” bullets at Aberdeen Proving Ground continues to delude readers on dozens of web forums. This is the spoof that won’t die. Posters on numerous websites continue to be “suckered-in” by this story despite many obvious “clues” that the story is a hoax. An active debate still rages on one forum as to whether the dimpled “golf-ball bullet” complies with the terms of the Hague Convention on munitions. On the Gunsnet Forum some posters have gone to great length to prove the dimpled bullets really work. One duped reader posted: “Looks awesome… where can I buy them?” Another lamented that this was “another example of great technology monopolized by the military, but not available to civilians.” But, eventually, in most of the threads, savvy shooters saw through the hoax. One reader asked: “Will Army snipers now get to claim a 2-shot handicap?” Another clever poster wrote: “I have been shooting [dimpled bullets] for years… as long as there’s no water or sand traps around they work[.]” On the Handloads.com Forum, a reader quipped: “I wonder if you can chip, slice or put backspin on these rounds?”
| .338 Projectile with MIM Exo-Jacket (3D-CAD Artist’s Rendering) |
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If you want to have some fun, check through these forums and read some of the posts by folks who remain convinced that dimpled bullets are real…
FOOLED FORUMS…
Many Obvious Give-Away Clues Overlooked
The golf-ball-bullet story had some clues that should have tipped off smart readers to the fact that it was an April 1st spoof. First, the last name of the development team leader was “Eldrick”. Hmm… sound familiar? Google “Eldrick”. That’s right, “Eldrick” is Tiger Woods’ actual first name. At the end of the story we quoted a make-believe Capt. Sarazen. Well, again, “Sarazen” is the last name of golf legend Gene Sarazen. We published a photo of what was purported to be “advanced Doppler Radar”. In fact, the equipment shown is a battlefield sonic sensor array (sort of electronic ears) that has nothing to do with radar. Interestingly though, some readers thought the story was false because Doppler Radar wouldn’t be used to clock bullet speeds. In fact, Doppler Radar IS used to measure bullet speeds over long range, and it is probably the most sophisticated system currently available for this task. Lapua recently released Coefficient of Drag (Cd) data for its bullets; this data was compiled by “continuous Doppler radar measurements”. CLICK HERE for explanation of Doppler-derived Cd with sample charts.
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Tags: bullet, Golf, Tiger Woods
fooled again! haha nice take on the dimples. its all real in photoshop.
WHAT?!? It’s fake? I just got done ball-peening my car to improve my gas mileage…
I think you have lost some forum credibility by wasteing time and energy on April fool jokes. What about all the rest of the April first posts ? Are they to be trusted ?
That is awesome!
too funny.
http://www.freshpatents.com/Dimpled-projectile-for-use-in-firearms-dt20060112ptan20060005731.php
so can anyone tell me why the theory of a dimpled bullet is unsound?
Funny,
The reason that I found the article on a dimpled bullet was that I had given the concept some thought myself. There is a little truth even in jest. Ha Ha Ha!(With one eye open)
I have a much better idea that actually reduces the ballistic coefficient to a marked degree:
Remember the old gramophone needles of long ago,well, if you drill a small hole in the tip of a bullet,and insert the gramophone needle,the ballistic coefficient will be greatly increased. You don’t believe me?, then just try it.
John Sadler.
Caddyshack 2: Back to Baghdad…
The concept of a dimpled bullet might actually be sound, if you look at the super computer calcs of golf ball physics. That being said, the only way it could actually work with a bullet is reverting back to a musket ball. An elongated bullet with dimples would end up tumbling, which would increase drag, reduce speed, and put accuracy in the trash.
There is a similar thing I read about with respect to black powder lead balls. Its called “screening” where lead balls are rolled between metal plates with metal window screen on them to imprint the screen pattern into the lead balls. The principle is sound, but the problem might be that since the ball is spinning in flight, the ball might veer off in the direction of spin similar to the way a golf ball flies upward when a backspin is put on it. On the other hand, one might be able to shoot around obstacles.