7/31/2019 U.S. Army Team Tests Radical New Dimpled Bullet

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7/31/2019 U.S. Army Team Tests Radical New Dimpled Bullet

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AccurateShooter.com how the radical bullet was conceived: During our

initial design work, we wanted the benefits of a high-BC, pointed bullet,but in a design that could be mass-produced and could work as a tracer.

We consulted some of the top civilian bullet experts, including ballistician

Bryan Litz of Berger Bullets. Mr. Litz really got the ball rolling. He

suggested that the next big step in bullet design would involve the

turbulent boundary layer over the body of the bullet. Litz told us that

pointing bullet tips will take you only so far think about optimizing the

airflow over the entire bullet. That made a lot of sense to us. When you

design a race car to be aerodynamic, you sculpt the whole body, not just

the front bumper.

Lt. Col. Eldrick continued: It turns out Litz was right on the money. By

employing a golf-ball type dimpled surface, we were able to optimize the

turbulent boundary layer on the bullet body. This reduced the

low-pressure wake zone behind the bullet significantly, resulting inreduced base drag. As a result the bullet experiences much less overall

drag, effectively raising the BC. The Army team had discovered that what

works for golf balls also works for bullets.

After testing a series of

prototypes, the Aberdeen

bullet design team settled

on a copper-jacketed bullet

with dimples about 0.5 mm

in diameter. The first-

generation bullets were

formed in special binary

impact swages that press-form the dimples after the bullets were pointed

up in conventional dies. Future production bullets will be made with an

advanced metal-injection-molding (MIM) process that forms the dimples

directly into the surface of the bullets. Rather than simply wrap the core

material (which is classified), the MIM is molecularly bonded to the core.

The Aberdeen LRPP team calls this Exo-Jacket construction, as in

Exo-Skeleton.

Higher

Velocities

Achieved

There was a

surprise

benefit of the

dimpled bullet

design

higher muzzlevelocities.

Given the

same powder

charge,

dimpled

bullets exit

the muzzle

faster because

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7/31/2019 U.S. Army Team Tests Radical New Dimpled Bullet

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they produce

less in-barrel

friction than

do

conventional

bullets. This is because the recessed dimples effectively reduce the metal-

on-metal bearing surface. Lt. Col. Eldrick revealed: the added velocity

was an unexpected bonus. With equal-pressure loads, dimpled .308

bullets will fly about 80 fps faster than normal .308 bullets. With the large

.338-caliber projectiles, the difference is even greater we can pick up

nearly 150 fps. Given the observed velocity gains achieved with dimpled

bullets, Aberdeen designers are now working on dimpled shell casings for

larger artillery projectiles.

Dimpled Jacket Delivers Explosive Fragmentation

While the internal design and core materials of the new dimpled bullet

remain classified, the design team revealed that the terminal performance

of the new bullet has been spectacular. The bullet penetrates like a FMJ

but then explosively fragments, resulting in a devastating energy release

in the target. According to Capt. Jack Sarazen, an Aberdeen engineer,

the enhanced terminal performance of the dimpled bullet was

unanticipated. This was a serendipitous effect of the slight thinning of the

jacket material where the dimples are pressed. Sarazen explained: Most

FMJ bullets break along the cannelure and then fragment into two or three

large pieces. With the dimpled bullets, you have multiple fragmentation

points so the bullet literally blows up like a grenade in the target.

Comments (14)

14 Comments

I curious how it would perform with moly coat.

Comment by foster April 1, 2009 @ 9 am

Reply

1.

Guaranteed Moly will add another 75 fps to the dimpled bullets.

Comment by Jerry Tierney April 1, 2009 @ 10 am

Reply

2.

I do this everytime I moly-coat my bullet with the molyed steel

shot applcation, just cant see the dimples with the naked eye.

RANDY

Comment by rewinder April 1, 2009 @ 11 am

Reply

3.

Please splain to me how the vastly diminished jacket surface area

might withstand the gas-cutting effects of propellant combustion?

4.

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7/31/2019 U.S. Army Team Tests Radical New Dimpled Bullet

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Or is the classified jacket material some kind of Unobtainium

alloy from the planet Krypton?

Comment by Steve Clark April 1, 2009 @ 11 am

Reply

If you waisted the bullet you could reduce drag by another 20%and at the same time provide a marker for crimping.

Comment by steve podleski April 1, 2009 @ 11 am

Reply

5.

APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Dasher April 1, 2009 @ 11 am

Reply

6.

April fools

Comment by daniel April 1, 2009 @ 2 pm

Reply

7.

Its april first guys..

Comment by Ron April 1, 2009 @ 4 pm

Reply

8.

Happy April Fools Day!

Comment by Rick Ashton April 1, 2009 @ 4 pm

Reply

9.

do not forget the nine iron brass alloy cartridges.

Comment by nofoooolu April 1, 2009 @ 5 pm

Reply

10.

Well you could make the tail end looking like the nose. Basically

like a football then you add a flat heal to it. The bullet starts off

looking like a flat base bullet but after going through the barrel the

heal separates something like what a sabot does and journeys on

like a football.

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7/31/2019 U.S. Army Team Tests Radical New Dimpled Bullet

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Comment by Brandon April 1, 2009 @ 7 pm

Reply

Absolutely awesome

Comment by timnuccio April 3, 2009 @ 12 pm

Reply

April Fools!!!!!!

Comment by blah February 16, 2010 @ 5 pm

Reply

12.

The last thing a terrorist hears is FORE!!!

Comment by LJ Farris February 19, 2010 @ 9 am

Reply

13.

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