[circlecity]

I wonder what the result would be if you shot down into the water from about 8 feet away. Would the bullet travel farther if it had a chance to develop some velocity in the air?

[jimtorr]

Would the bullet travel farther if it had a chance to develop some velocity in the air?

Bullets develop velocity in the barrel, and begin slowing down as soon as they leave it.

[Mycroft Holmes]

I wonder what the result would be if you shot down into the water from about 8 feet away. Would the bullet travel farther if it had a chance to develop some velocity in the air?

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The bulled doesn't develop any additional velocity in the air. It's top speed is when it is just leaving the muzzle of the weapon and declines in speed from there, modulo gravity.^*

*In flight gravity accelerates the bullet down at ~10m/s²

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[ctdonath2]

The transition from air to water is too much a shock for the bullet to handle beneficially; some will shatter on impact.
Best performance comes from the barrel being completely filled with and submerged in water.
But that’s all ONLY for FMJ rounds.
Hollow points et al are a different story though, expanding immediately and losing energy fast (doing so in the barrel is...problematic).

[CodeToad]

“I wonder what the result would be if you shot down into the water from about 8 feet away. Would the bullet travel farther if it had a chance to develop some velocity in the air?”

Nope. Mythbusters did a great show on that. All bullets stopped within a few feet in water.