Development of a Ballistics Range for the Assessment of Small Arms Ammunition

For research and development work on the terminal ballistics aspects of small arms ammunition, an accurate knowledge of projectile positions and attitude in space and time is essential. This type of information may be obtained in a ballistics range which permits accurate radiographs and photographs of projectiles to be taken. As part of the Australian programme of studies in wound ballistics, a facility has been developed at the Materials Research Laboratory, Melbourne, in which the phenomena associated with the penetration of small arms ammunition through tissue simulants can be investigated. The object of the range instrumentation is to record the trajectory, yaw and velocity of a projectile prior to target impact and to study its behavior while it is passing through and exiting simulated targets. Initially, work to assess the accuracy sabot launched steel spheres 6 mm in diameter.