fact or fiction... - Page 2

Bezoar · October 18, 2013, 02:55 AM

yes and no.

in short the practice does have some merit, but not much when you study the issues.

-to much cutting on a fmj of open base jacket will often leave a copper jacket stuck in the barrel, chanber, throat.

-often on internet photos all that happens is small pieces break off and leave you with a wadcutter once it hits target.

-on solid lead bullets

if alloy is to soft for velocity shot at, they fragment fast when they hit
if alloy is to hard they dont distort at all.

sure you can get 22lr ammunition that is designed to split into 3 or 4 pieces but thats only useful in certain instances.

mikld · October 19, 2013, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Umm...im not running around my garage trying to brain storm crazy ways to make bullets do things, if you read my original post, i stated, i was talking with someone who said you do this and i had no intentions of screwing around with the ammo i spend time to reload. I simply wanted to know if anyone heard this before and if this guys statement held water.

Yep heard of it.
Bubba-ing bullets goes back to Civil War times, and prolly earlier.
Most results are hit-or-miss, at best...

skizzums · October 19, 2013, 11:59 PM

if you really wanna make some interesting bullets, get some depleted uranuim. it can defeat any kind of armor on the market with enough powder behind it. it's actually legal to own up to 15(maybe 25, don't remember) pounds of DU. you can buy chunks of it at www.unitednuclear.com for very cheap. like a 2 pound chunk for 35 bucks. it would take a ton of work to cast a bullet with it though.

James K · October 20, 2013, 12:13 AM

To make an ordinary lead bullet expand at normal velocities, you would have to cut pretty deep, 1/4 inch or so on a .38 bullet. IMHO, that kind of thing originated in fiction and has been perpetuated there, along with smearing garlic on a bullet to poison the victim (Garlic isn't a poison and the bullet would kill the guy before any poison would work).

One real neat idea was actually patented back around 1900. It involved a cannonball with a battery inside. According to the inventor, as the cannonball passed through the body of the enemy soldier, it electrocuted him. Of course, no battery of that size in existence, then or now, could electrocute anyone, DC current won't hurt anyone, and the cannonball would kill the poor slob without assistance from the battery. But what inventor worries about the details when he has a great idea?

Jim

JustSomeGuy · October 20, 2013, 02:03 AM

Gee... electric bullets work in the Zombie games I have.

The depleted uranium thing though... forget that. Melting down radioactive material in the home? Uhmm... disaster waiting to happen. Just how "depleted" do you think it is?

Chuck Dye · October 20, 2013, 02:24 AM

The Box O' Truth has an interesting writeup, 'though the sample size is too small and little was done to standardize the bullet mods. Looks fun to play with, a poor idea for practical purposes, except, perhaps, where they loaded bullets base forward.

SL1 · October 20, 2013, 09:50 AM

It is probably illegal to cut the X in bullets in New Jersey.

It might be illegal in a lot of places to make a bullet with a "penetrator" inside.

I would experiment with lead alloys and duel alloy bullets to be on the legally safe side if I wanted to mess with penetration and expansion in home-made bullets.

SL1

October 19, 2013, 11:59 PM	#28
skizzums Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2013 Location: Douglasville, Ga Posts: 4,615	if you really wanna make some interesting bullets, get some depleted uranuim. it can defeat any kind of armor on the market with enough powder behind it. it's actually legal to own up to 15(maybe 25, don't remember) pounds of DU. you can buy chunks of it at www.unitednuclear.com for very cheap. like a 2 pound chunk for 35 bucks. it would take a ton of work to cast a bullet with it though. __________________ My head is bloody, but unbowed

October 20, 2013, 02:03 AM	#30
JustSomeGuy Member Join Date: October 2, 2013 Location: Oregon Posts: 49	Gee... electric bullets work in the Zombie games I have. The depleted uranium thing though... forget that. Melting down radioactive material in the home? Uhmm... disaster waiting to happen. Just how "depleted" do you think it is? __________________ I, Procrastitron will destroy evil.... eventually.

October 20, 2013, 02:24 AM	#31
Chuck Dye Senior Member Join Date: June 28, 2002 Location: Oregon-The wet side. Posts: 949	The Box O' Truth has an interesting writeup, 'though the sample size is too small and little was done to standardize the bullet mods. Looks fun to play with, a poor idea for practical purposes, except, perhaps, where they loaded bullets base forward. __________________ Gee, I'd love to see your data!

October 18, 2013, 02:55 AM	#26
Bezoar Junior member Join Date: October 19, 2004 Location: michigan Posts: 578	yes and no. in short the practice does have some merit, but not much when you study the issues. -to much cutting on a fmj of open base jacket will often leave a copper jacket stuck in the barrel, chanber, throat. -often on internet photos all that happens is small pieces break off and leave you with a wadcutter once it hits target. -on solid lead bullets if alloy is to soft for velocity shot at, they fragment fast when they hit if alloy is to hard they dont distort at all. sure you can get 22lr ammunition that is designed to split into 3 or 4 pieces but thats only useful in certain instances.

October 20, 2013, 12:13 AM	#29
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	To make an ordinary lead bullet expand at normal velocities, you would have to cut pretty deep, 1/4 inch or so on a .38 bullet. IMHO, that kind of thing originated in fiction and has been perpetuated there, along with smearing garlic on a bullet to poison the victim (Garlic isn't a poison and the bullet would kill the guy before any poison would work). One real neat idea was actually patented back around 1900. It involved a cannonball with a battery inside. According to the inventor, as the cannonball passed through the body of the enemy soldier, it electrocuted him. Of course, no battery of that size in existence, then or now, could electrocute anyone, DC current won't hurt anyone, and the cannonball would kill the poor slob without assistance from the battery. But what inventor worries about the details when he has a great idea? Jim

October 20, 2013, 09:50 AM	#32
SL1 Senior Member Join Date: November 8, 2007 Posts: 2,001	It is probably illegal to cut the X in bullets in New Jersey. It might be illegal in a lot of places to make a bullet with a "penetrator" inside. I would experiment with lead alloys and duel alloy bullets to be on the legally safe side if I wanted to mess with penetration and expansion in home-made bullets. SL1