One of the most interesting gun-related experiments often conducted is seeing how far a bullet can travel through every day objects. During a life or death situation, it can sometimes be valuable to know that hiding behind a dresser or using a desk for protection are viable options in protecting yourself from gunfire.
If you happen to have a whole bunch of footballs that you can line up in a row, that also might be enough to stop a bullet too.
A 2016 video posted to YouTube pits some footballs up against a handgun, and the results are pretty interesting. Check out the video below:
YouTube user Edwin Sarkissian put together twenty footballs in a makeshift wooden brace for the experiment. His weapon of choice was the Glock 19, and he loaded the weapon with 9mm HST hollow point rounds.
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YouTube user Edwin Sarkissian attempts to find out how man footballs stop a speeding bullet. (Edwin Sarkissian/YouTube)
Sarkissian decides to fire from just a few feet away, no doubt putting the footballs to the ultimate test. As the gun fires and the bullet travels through the line, a handful of footballs can be seen moving ever so slightly, but the damage is not immediately obvious.
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YouTube user Edwin Sarkissian attempts to find out how man footballs stop a speeding bullet. (Edwin Sarkissian/YouTube)
Upon further inspection, Sarkissian finds a clear and clean bullet hole in the first football which has now become flat. He then begins to go through all the balls one by one, each sporting a bullet wound of their own.
By the fifth ball, the once perfectly round bullet hole has now become little more than a tear in the pigskin leather. As he counts all the way down to the ninth football, a shake of the ball reveals the bullet’s final resting place.
“OK, there’s a big piece in here,” Sarkissian says to the camera. After a few moments of ripping open the football, Sarkissian finds the mangled but still recognizable remnants of the bullet.
“Whoa. That’s cool. There it is!” he says with a smile. The bullet now resembles a discarded banana peel.
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YouTube user Edwin Sarkissian attempts to find out how man footballs stop a speeding bullet. (Edwin Sarkissian/YouTube)
While impractical, it is interesting to know that it takes just nine regular footballs to stop a bullet from point-blank range. Sarkissian conducts other similar firearm tests on his YouTube channel which has amassed more than 2.4 million subscribers.