This electronic flyer highlights our capabilities and activities in Small Arms Testing. Please sign our guestbook. For additional information, e-mail Donald J. Grosch, Southwest Research Institute®.

Small Arms Testing 

Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) operates a Ballistics and Explosives Range and a Small Arms Test Facility. SwRI engineering dynamics experts are noted for their ability to effectively combine experimentation and numerical simulations to provide customers with answers and solutions to problems in penetration and armor mechanics.

The Small Arms Test Facility contains a control/instrumentation room, a gun room, and three target rooms. The target rooms are located so that targets can be positioned at about 20 feet, 50 feet, and 150 feet from the gun. Adjustable target fixtures are available which provide quick vertical and horizontal adjustments of the target position.

Many different types of small arms projects have been conducted over the past 20 years, from complex programs involving considerable experimentation, materials evaluation, and computations to simple, quickly executed projects that require only ballistic testing.

Capabilities

  • Universal gun system (receiver and barrels) fabricated to SAAMI/ANSI specifications
  • Barrels including .22 long-rifle, .380 ACP, 9-mm Luger, 40 S&W, .357 Magnum, 7.62-mm NATO, and .30-06 Springfield
  • Numerous handguns and rifles of various calibers
  • All standard cartridge reloading equipment
  • High-speed digital video of impacts up to 100,000,000 frames per second
  • Nicolet Multipro© high-speed data acquisition up to 200 MHz
  • Laser-based gun alignment system
  • Test fixture fabrication, machine shop, and welding
  • Institute ISO-compliant QA
  • Computational impact simulations
  • Generation and storage of classified documents, materials and targets

Small Arms Test Facility (left to right: Control Room, Gun Room, Target Room #1, Target Room #2)

Experience

  • Ultra-lightweight body armor design and development – DARPA/US Army Natick
  • Modeling and testing of fabrics and ceramic- faced armor – US Army Natick
  • Enhanced concealed armor: analysis, modifications and testing – U.S. Secret Service
  • Evaluation and development of projectiles and/or armor systems – DOD and private industry
  • Shooting of various protective structures such as windows and doors – Commercial clients

Universal gun system and various test rounds

  

Facilities

  • Indoor ballistics range
  • Fully equipped instrumentation trailer
  • Outdoor test areas up to 1,000 yards.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes are used to simulate fuel release and mixing under failure (on-pad and in-flight) scenarios. Hydrocodes are used to simulate detonation of fuel plumes, resulting over-pressure, and fragment formation in support of crew escape studies.

 

Ultra-high-speed image of a 7.62-mm bullet impacting a ceramic tile, showing formation and growth of cracks including the fracture conoid

  

Side and back views of the deformation of a ballistic fabric after impact (the grid structure on the fabric is used to assist in deformation-time measurements)


This flyer was published in April 2009. For more information about Small Arms Testing, contact Donald J. Grosch, (210) 522-3176, or Erick Sagebiel, (210) 522-3695, Mechanical Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510.

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