Glocks fire underwater?

A

Apeach

New member
One of my friends was trying to tell me yesterday that Glocks fire underwater, and although I've never tried to shoot a glock underwater, all prior knowledge says that this is impossible. Unless I'm mistaken, the pistol cartridge needs oxygen to be able to burn, and underwater it can't get any oxygen (correct me if I'm wrong-the propellant could be oxidized and then it wouldn't need an outside source of oxygen). It's just that I've never heard this claim elsewhere, and I wanted to know if it's true.
 
No, gunpowder has both fuel and oxygen in it in some form making it readily available for rapid oxidation (read: "boom"). There are many problems with making a gun function underwater, but lack of oxygen isn't one of them.

FWIW, the first round would undoubtedly fire. What happens from there is questionable. I have a few ideas, and none of them are good for the gun. ;)

Mike
 
True.
Somewhere on the internet are the details along with pictures to prove it. It requires a special hollow firing pin, and the entire gun has to be submerged.

Here ya go for a good explanation:

www.topglock.com/info/faq.htm

*My hollow firing pin above is really a set of what are called Maritime cups.

Smokeless powder generates it's own oxygenas it "burns".
 
I remember an episode of "Sea Hunt" from about 1960 where they filmed a diver shooting at another underwater with a revolver. The bullets came out at full speed with a trail of bubbles, but only stayed at speed for a fraction of a second. At even a very short range they just bounced off the target.

It was not a Glock though.
 
There was an article in Handguns magazine a while back about a guy who did this to his G17 out in Hawaii. Part of his little Glock torture test.

Edit: Wrong model :D
 
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Thanks for the info and clearing up this little rumor for me. So basically, the facts are that about any pistol can fire once underwater, but Glocks, with some small modifications, can fire underwater multiple times reliably. This helps a lot, and I'll explain this to my friend so he knows what he's talking about now.
 
One thing to remember when it comes to projectiles (torpedoes, bullets, harpoons, ect) and water - Water Does Not Compress.
 
There was a link over on glocktalk.com that showed someone shooting his G19 underwater...3 or 4 rounds if I remember correctly. I think a couple mods were made, but basically a stock pistol. You may want to try a search over there to check it out.
 
This has been experimented with in swimming pools by slightly less than sober gun enthusiasts a few times. Personally I would never try it.

Most any semi auto gun will function (sorta reliably) under water. Provided that the gun is totally submersed and there are no air pockets in places like the bbl. Bullets will rapidly slow down and bounce off of the opposite wall of a swimming pool. Keep in mind that the gun has to be totally submersed, if you just stick the muzzle into the water and fire it will explode.

Not to insult you Glockers, but the "experiment" that I heard about was done with a Browning Hi-Power.
 
Apeach,
Does you friend want to buy a Glock and go fishing? Sharks?
Shoot well
I am just curious why the hell someone would wonder if a gun
would fire under water?
 
Side bendfit to shooting under water........easy to keep even the hottest loads subsonic. Sound in water around 5,000 fps. He he he.

Water IS compressable, just not very.

Sam
 
I got a new silencer for my glock...its called the ATLANTIC model..lol

Headline.." Scubadiver mugging crime spree halted by Surfer with
Glock" Film @ 11....Shoot well
 
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Sam,
Soldids and liquids, to include water, do not compress. Any jr. high science book will tell you that. If you can cite data indicating otherwise, I'd appreciate a link to it.
 
Golgo-13...here is a quicky link that refers to the compressability of water. Noting that warm water is less compressable than cool water. http://polymer.bu.edu/~fstarr/water.html

"Growth of Isothermal compressability on cooling (cold water is more "sqeezeable" than warm water) "


Compressability of fluids is taken into account in hydraulic system design, oceanography, echo ranging (SONAR) in fluids etc etc.

Some carrier aircraft use the compressability of liquid to make very compact springs for landing gear struts. One example being the Liquid Spring useage by Kaman Aircraft on the UH-2 series.

Sam
 
Water will not compress in liquid form to any degree likely to be measurable.

Water in gaseous form will, but then again, that's because steam is mostly air (which is entirely compressible).

This best sums it up from an edu source-

There are a few important differences between water and air. Air is a gas, and is therefore what we call a compressible fluid. This just means that if you squeeze on a packet of gas its volume will shrink (imagine being able to squeeze on a balloon). Water is a liquid, and is an incompressible fluid, ie. if you squeeze on water, its volume doesn't change. Well, it doesn't change much--it actually changes a tiny bit, but the shrinkage is almost impossible to measure.
Click to expand...
 
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Snowdog:

Gasseous water will compress because it is a gas, not because it is "mostly air"

There aint no air in gasseous water, but there may be gasseous water in air.
 
The compression of water is measurable. Just takes more sensitive measuring equipment. It is measured and the amount of compression is used to calculate the compensation required to accurately (or more accurately) estimate the speed of sound in water. Thermoclines and salinity of seawater raise hob with SONAR. It is not directly the temperature differences that alter the speed of transmission, it is the density. Depth and temperature are used to estimate density. If dense, is compressed.

Meanwhile back to the liquid springs. A small needle forced into a contained liquid will tend to spring back just as if it were being returned by a metalic spring. Can get a lot more spring in a given space is the upside. The down side is extremely high pressures are involved and the container and it's seals are pricey.

Sam
 
Sam,
Obviously you have a far more in-depth knowledge of the properties of water, whereas I am just relying on what I learned in school years ago.
I just tend to get a little antsy when what I believed as conventional wisdom is challenged. :D
 
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