| Few
people have the need to fire underwater, but those who do may have
a serious need, and this limited experiment may provide some useful
information. So, in line with other extreme reliability testing conducted
at D&L Sports™ Inc., here are the test parameters: |
| •
Fire handguns underwater at a depth of two feet below the surface
in freshwater. |
| •
Fire at a submerged and soaked 1.5" thick pine board from a distance
of 4 feet. |
|
| Several
handguns will be tested: |
| •
Glock .45 |
| •
Glock .40 |
| •
Colt 1911 with DLS professional model package of custom upgrades and |
| •
D&L Sports™ signature grade 5" 1911 .45 ACP |
|
| A
reliability track record was established with each pistol for 1000
rounds on dry land before the water testing was attempted. Both Glocks
were factory stock pistols. The Glock .45 demonstrated a 86% reliability
rating (14 malfunctions per 100 rounds) during the 1000 round dry
land test. The Glock .40 cal demonstrated a 92% reliability rating
(8 malfunctions per 100 rounds) during the 1000 round dry land test.
Both custom 1911s were highly tuned for reliability (not stock pistols)
and demonstrated 100% reliability during the dry land test prior to
the underwater test. The dry land testing was conducted to determine
what additional malfunction rate the water submersion would cause. |
|
| Several
types of ammo were used: |
| •
Federal Ball |
| •
Federal Hydra Shock JHP |
| •
Winchester SXT JHP and |
| •
Remington Golden Saber JHP |
|
| Initial
testing was done by submerging each pistol into the tank with the
slide locked open and one round in the magazine. Once the pistol was
filled with water, the slide was released and the chamber loaded.
The pistol was then left in the tank for one minute prior to firing. |
|
| The
first shot of ball ammo fired from the Glock .45 fired, but failed
to lock the slide to the rear. Additional single round testing from
the Glock .45 resulted in several "no fires" due to light
strikes on the cartridge's primer. It should again be noted this pistol
was factory stock, and did not have the underwater firing pin assembly
installed. |
|
| The
Glock locked open after the shot was fired only about 50% of the time.
This was not a problem during the dry land 1000 round test, so it
can probably be attributed to the slide being required to operate
against water resistance. The same intermittent slide lock problem
was noted with all types of ammo tested in the Glock .45. |
|
| All
ammo tested in the Glock .45 underwater demonstrated signs of excessive
pressure on the cases and primers. However, no case head separations
were experienced. No excessive pressure signs had been experienced
during the 1000 round reliability test. |
|
| Attempts
to fire multiple rounds in succession with the Glock .45 were about
60% reliable. Multiple failures to feed occurred, but this was also
a problem with this particular Glock during dry land testing. The
pistol continued to be erratic about locking the slide open after
the last shot while submerged. Additional testing would be required
with a more reliable pistol of this type before even a preliminary
conclusion could be formed. |
|
| Testing
of the Glock .40 cal was suspended after the first shot due to a complete
case head separation. The high pressure .40 cal cartridge does not
appear to be a cartridge which tolerates the additional pressure added
by submersion. However, additional controlled testing would need to
be done before drawing a final conclusion. |
|
| Testing
of the two 1911s underwater resulted in the same outcome. Both pistols
would reliably fire to slide lock during single shot tests. |
|
| All
ammunition fired while submerged in both 1911s displayed signs of
high pressure on both the cases and primers. Pressure signs on +P
ammunition was much more noticeable than on standard Federal 230 grain
ball ammo at 850 F.P.S. No case heads separated, and no case webs
blew out, but aluminum pistol grips are a wise precaution. Wood grips
tend to splinter dangerously when cases rupture. |
|
| The
1911s also demonstrated complete reliability when shots were fired
in rapid succession underwater. However, all cases and primers continued
to exhibit signs of high pressure. |
|
| Firing
from 2 feet underwater resulted in water spouts on the surface above
the muzzle. These spouts were approximately 5-6 feet high and very
noticeable. |
|
| Muzzle
blast noise was certainly noticeable, but muffled when compared to
an open air shot being fired. |
|
| The
theory of zero drain time was also tested with the 1911s, i.e. complete
submersion of the loaded pistols, then firing immediately as the pistol
is raised out of the water. The pistol and barrel are actually still
full of water when the firing begins, but the pistol is out of the
water. The barrels used in both the 1911s were stainless steel D&L
Sports™ barrels. |
|
| This
testing resulted in 80 rounds being fired with 100% reliability from
both pistols. High pressure signs were absent from both cases and
primers during this test. The spent casings looked the same as other
cases fired in a standard open air environment. No degradation was
noted in ballistic performance. |
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