Can you shoot a wet gun?

Answer 1

yes. gunpowder can not fire wet, so it is isolated in a metal jacket. whrn a weapon is fired, a hammer hits the bullet igniteing the gunpowder and fireing the bullet. unfortuneattly, most common guns use gravity to have the empty shells fall out. underwater, you only have one shot. yes. gunpowder can not fire wet, so it is isolated in a metal jacket. whrn a weapon is fired, a hammer hits the bullet igniteing the gunpowder and fireing the bullet. unfortuneattly, most common guns use gravity to have the empty shells fall out. underwater, you only have one shot.

[Notes Below by: Bill]

The above answer is not quite correct. The hammer never gets anywhere near the bullet. Anyone who understands the construction of a cartridge would know that the hammer (or striker - not all guns have hammers!) hits a firing pin which then hits the primer of a cartridge. This causes a small spark to ignite the gunpowder. The expansion of the gases from the fast burning gunpowder causes the bullet, or projectile, to be pushed out of the casing, or shell, at a very high velocity. The primer may be a separate piece of the cartridge, as in center fire ammunition, or may be embedded at the very base inside the cartridge, as in rim fire ammunition.

To even say that the hammer touches the bullet makes me wonder if the author of the answer understands anything at all about how a cartridge of ammunition works.

Also, guns do not use gravity to eject spent casings. In a semi-automatic pistol, the explosion causes the slide to move backward. The slide has a metal piece called an extractor which has a hook on the end and is located on the right side of the pistol. In the first position, where a round is loaded and the slide moved into the forward firing position, the extractor catches on the lip of the shell. As the slide is forced back from firing it pulls the shell with it. On the frame, on the left side, is a piece of metal protruding upward. This piece is called the ejector. As the casing is pulled back by the extractor it hits the ejector causing the casing to "fling" to the right out of the ejector port. This is not gravity my friend!

In the case of a revolver the casings aren't ejected at all. One may use gravity to eject them out of the cylinder, after unlocking the cylinder and rotating it out of the frame. Or one may use the ejector rod, a metal rod extending forward toward the front of the muzzle that uses a spring and human force to eject the shells. (Actually, the spring keeps the ejector rod in the forward position and the shells are ejected by pushing on the spring.) Forces from springs (or pushing springs) are not gravity, either!

So who is this author and why does this person think they are AT ALL knowledgeable about guns? My answer is, the author is full of BS!

To answer the original question, the answer is YES! And it's possible to fire more than one round. Of course, gunpowder cannot burn when it's wet. But it's not easy for water to get inside a round either. The round would have to be submerged for a while - and how long that while is depends on various factors. If you just jumped in the water and began to shoot, you may be successful in firing a full magazine. I wouldn't trust the gun to fire after an hour of Scuba diving with it, though. =) Also, and this is critical, if you DO shoot underwater make sure the bullet leaves the barrel before firing another shot. If a bullet is lodged in the barrel, called a squib, and another shot is fired afterward the collision will cause the barrel to explode. The water _may_ help minimize the risk to the shooter, but the gun will surely be destroyed. And if a bullet does become lodged, and the gun taken out of water to fire the next shot, there is a HIGH risk of danger to the shooter.