What happens when two bullets strike each other?

What happens when two bullets strike each other? - Two Lesbian Women Standing Face to Face and Looking at Each Other with Affection

In Preacher S04E01 during the fight between Lara and Tulip, they shot each other and their bullet strike each other and fall down.

woman holding what is left of the bullets

Is this depiction realistic? Can this happen in the same way in reality?



Best Answer

It's not really an exact scenario, but it should provide enough evidence to support the theory.

This SlowMo Guys video captures paintballs being fired at each other in slow motion, and while both the paintballs are different quality, and the collision angle isn't always perfect, the paint explosion shows a consistent opposed force.

this shows that two projectiles, when they collide with the same force, they will "stop" (i.e all exerted force from one projectile should negate the opposing projectile).

In addition to this, there is evidence of bullets "fusing" together when they collide in midair:

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What If 2 Bullets Hit Each Other?




More answers regarding what happens when two bullets strike each other?

Answer 2

If I'm wrong, please correct me!

Bullet A: size, chemical composition, speed Bullet B: size, chemical composition, speed

If (aSize = bSize, aComp = bComp, aSpeed = bSpeed)
   if (speed = fast enough)
     They should melt and fuse because of the chemical reaction from using 
     high velocity + massive heat from the force of the metal strike, then fall down. 
     in fact, this can happen even if the conditions aren't perfect. 
   if (speed = too slow)
      They should bounce off each other in a random direction

If (any of the above conditions are not equal then)
   if (aComp is tougher than bComp)
      if (aSpeed = moving close to bSpeed)
         bulletA should bounce the other bullet like a billiard ball smacking another slower ball. 
         The ricochet direction being random, but in the same general direction 
         that bullet was originally flying in.
If (material other than bullets is fired at each other)
  It either explodes, fuses, ricochets, pierces, or explodes the target.

Since this is a movie-the bullets hitting each other and dropping is plausible. I never saw it-but if the bullets fused, that would be more plausible. If you fired 100 bullets at 100 bullets you'd get different results some percentage of the time. It's a neat effect either way. And I think the Mythbusters used a stationary bullet and a moving one because the rifles didn't fire at the same time. Never saw it either just looked it up.

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: RODNAE Productions, RODNAE Productions, Марина Вотинцева, Pavel Danilyuk