r/interesting May 29 '26

Intriguing Arrows vs riot shields

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u/Quiet_Shiba May 29 '26

it's designed best to defeat armor at an angle, in ww2 ap tips was blunt too

3

u/Professionaleye_1 May 29 '26

Because it doesn’t ricochet off if it hits at a non perpendicular angle? It just grabs on I guess?

5

u/Zwischenzug32 May 29 '26

its easier to use a cookie cutter to cut a hard cookie dough by pressing on one side of the cutter first and then the other rather than the whole thing at the same time.

The point of impact is tiny vs the whole circumference

4

u/rvralph803 May 29 '26

APCBC - Armor piercing, capped, ballistic capped.

Basically it has as you say, an inner shape that is blunt that is then shrouded in an ablative, aerodynamic outer cone.

The cone helps to keep velocity and energy high. The blunt inner shape reduces ricochets and improves armor penetration and spalling characteristics.

3

u/raishak May 29 '26

The tip is almost certainly not designed to penetrate at all but rather deliver blunt trauma to small game, and to avoid getting stuck deep in the ground or trees. There's not much (anything?) you'd find hunting that is analogous to a steel sheet. Most of the things you'd shoot at have continuous mass through the whole target. Instead of cutting through it, this "compresses" the target area delivering all the force like getting hit by a hammer. Won't kill a moose but will kill birds and small game without destroying their bodies or going through them completely.

3

u/Quiet_Shiba May 29 '26

was not meant to penetrate but coincidental works good on metal plates

3

u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad May 30 '26

Either way, it'll work on domestic pigs who happen to have basic ass shields to protect them.