APS underwater rifle - photo

[Jon]

Underwater firearm developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s.



More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APS_underwater_rifle


Previously:

Submarine cutaway - photo
Submarine cable cross-section - photo
steam-powered submarine
The H.L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a warship

[Frank S]

Ir looks like something out of a James Bond movie,
Even with the dart like projectile the range would be severely limited do to the density of water. The diver firing it would be at a greater risk of injury than the person he would be shooting at. if not from the extremely high pressures of the cartage being fired the percussion wave could damage his ear drums. Fire any high powered rifle or pistol into the water and the projectile looses as much as 80% of its energy in the first few feet. The long slender darts would do much better but I still doubt if even the most powerful charges would be very effective over around 20 meters if that

[suther51]

As per a mith busters episode the lower powered fire arms performed better underwater than higher powered fire arms. Performed as in bullet traveled farther and had better penetration. Their explanation was that the harder a bullet pushed against the water the harder the water pushed back. I always felt the explanation was a bit lacking, but many of their conclusions ect seemed to be also.
Eric