Interesting hit by a German bullet

[zimmerit]

I think a sniper could make the shot if the tank was actually aiming at him. But it’s a 30-06 round hitting the projectile of a tank shell. It’s like driving a Honda headlong into a train....nothing will happen.

[Alan Smith]

The destroyed SMLE looks like a situation where the Commonwealth soldier did not realize that his rifle's muzzle had been struck (and plugged) by the enemy round; when the Commonwealth solder fired his next .303 round, the pressure from the plugged barrel caused the barrel to fail at the chamber end, with resulting damage to the receive and nearby areas of the wooden stock.

[Admiraal]

Here is an iconic item i found in Normandy. It could also be shrapnel damage.
I hope the soldier survived!

[Gran Sasso]

Here is an iconic item i found in Normandy. It could also be shrapnel damage.
I hope the soldier survived!

Nice - my german version:

[TWS]

Sorry but i have to ask a maybe dumb hypothetical question, I was watching Saving Private Ryan last night for about the 20th time . In the scene where the american sniper is in the church bell tower ,and the German tank is raising its gun to fire,would it be possible for him to fire down the barrel of the tank and cause the shell to explode in the barrel ? Thought of this when i was reading this post.Sorry again for going astray ,but who else can i ask?????

In addition to the problem with angles etc. as others have pointed out:

Setting the movie and it's unique situation aside, just talking in general:

If the tank had an HE (high explosive) round loaded in the breech with a point fuse on the tip, then theoretically it's possible. However, unlikely and difficult.

If the tank had a kinetic round (ie, an anti-armor round) loaded then it's impossible to cause the shell to explode because it's not an explosive shell. The bullet would just hit the solid metal of the projectile head and nothing further would happen.

[HENRY BUCKI]

https://youtu.be/CGypoXVt31k?t=253 he was a pretty good shot in the movie.