Explosive rounds

[south.texas.dead.I]

Has anyone ever tried loading hollowpoints with a primer dropped in the hole of the bullet cap outwards then maybe seal it with a little candle wax? I just thought about this maybe itd make some cool effects hitting a plate? It's sounds kinda risky so I posted here to see what y'all think

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[Dr. Strangelove]

You'll shoot your eye out kid...

[Jimro]

Years ago there was a company that sold the type of ammo you are talking about, but also added a small charge of black powder under the primer. They went out of business if I recall correctly.

Jimro

[Mike Irwin]

It's not very effective, and with laws, and interpretations of laws, the way they are today, it might not be the smartest thing in the world to try.

I believe Hoxie was one company that used to make bullets like this. They were active in the transition age between black powder and smokeless.

They touted the bullets as being very effective on buffalo and other big game, but apparently they really weren't.

[Sid]

Here is something that is not generally known. Exploding bullets were used in substantial numbers during our Civil War. They were manufactured by the North but the Confederates captured quantities of them and then used them against the Federals.

[snuffy]

You can't load this stuff yourself, but it IS still available.

http://www.firequest.com/DV45.html

Best to check local and state laws, it MAY be ILlegal.

I was given some 45 acp's, I suspected it was explosive tipped. So I asked this group, answer was quick as always;

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=610945

[snuffy]

To add to the original topic, I once did an experiment doing exactly what was proposed, well almost exactly.

I had a 45 colt Ruger blackhawk. I also had a bunch of 250 grain Hornady hollow points. The HP was quite shallow, but chucking them in the lathe allowed me to drill them deeper. The plan was to use a BP #11 PERCUSSION cap to be the igniter. I used a drill that made for a tight fit for the percussion cap. Then I filled the cavity under the cap with 30-06 blank powder.

They worked, BUT they had to be fired at something hard. I never tried them in soft material, or hunted with them, clearly illegal anywhere. Fired into firewood end grain, there was a wift of smoke drifting out of the bullet hole. Splitting the firewood at the hole revealed the bullet had penetrated about 4 inches, and was pretty well disintegrated. Fired against the concrete backstop for the 600 pits, they made a nice pop and puff of smoke.

[Crankgrinder]

i do not know if it is possible or not one guy her says he has done this before and it worked for him but what would happen if by chance say one of those primer concoctions went off inside your gun barrel?

[publius]

I filled an aluminum arrow with blackpowder and glued a primer in the end with a BB glued to the primer. Shot it against the blade of my bulldozer, unfortunately didn't work.

[Ideal Tool]

Hello, guys. Well you jogged the o'l memory bank..And SID..That C.W. fact is what got me experimenting. I was still in high school, I had made a little .22single cavity bullet mould for my reloaded rimfires (that is another story!). I took this little 40gr. bullet & chucked it up in a bench lathe collet. Using a drill that was a press fit for a #4 lead shot, I drilled as deep as I dared. This cavity was filled with powder from those plastic toy caps & shot pressed in..I shudder today when thinking how I crammed as much of that powder I could in there & pressed that shot in place..I had a miniature bomb in front of my face!
I used to get back 50 to 100yds & fire these into a stack of 2x4 blocks. The first block would always be penetrated, They never made it out of the
2nd. Spliting block open, there would be a blackened walnut sized cavity filled with tiny lead shards & a flattened bullet base.
I always wanted to shoot one of these into a gasoline can..but figured that dad would give me hell! They were pretty impressive when fired against an iron plate at dusk!
Now please guys..don't go trying this stunt..I was mighty lucky that thing didn't go off cramming that powder & shot in there!

[Uncle Buck]

what would happen if by chance say one of those primer concoctions went off inside your gun barrel?

More than likely: Nothing. The barrel should contain any explosion and the blast would exit the barrel. The open end of the barrel, unless somehow restricted, would allow the gases to escape.

I was always told these type of bullets were illegal to make. Never followed up on it and never really had the gumption to try it myself, although they do look cool.

Florida Lawyer: http://www.crimdefend.com/lawyer-attorney-1163804.html says they are illegal.

Texas supplier has Starburst Incendiary ammo: http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/index....g38379ttu99mn6


Local Laws? Federal Laws?
Maybe they are only available in certain states or to certain agencies.

[Edward429451]

Who hasn't got into their old mans primers & powder and made their own devastators? I did when we was kids. I used Silvertip 45's, a pinch of BE, and small pistol primers IIRC. We shot them and they went bang at the gun. Who knows what happened down range?

How could they be illegal? I thought you had to have 1/4 oz or more of material before it was considered explosive or DD or whatever...

[sc928porsche]

Reminds me a bit of my young "stupid" period. Decided I wanted to make a rocket. I needed an engine and what better than an empty CO2 cartridge?

Ok, so I drilled out the hole just a little. Hummmmm.......what do I use for powder???????? oh wait, how about the fuse????????

Ok, hobby store for jet-x fuse. Had to drill larger size to stuff fuse in.
Powder is just too expensive, oh yeah, Matches!!!

Box of book safety matches (everyone smoked then and they were really cheap). Tap off match heads with small brass hammer and make into fine powder.

Fill CO2 cartridge up with "fuel" and shove in fuse.

Put CO2 cartridge into vise, light fuse, and step out of garage.

Buy dad a new vice and window for garage!
No priviledges for 2 weeks including TV and Radio.

[Uncle Buck]

How could they be illegal? I thought you had to have 1/4 oz or more of material before it was considered explosive or DD or whatever...

I do not know. I was always told it was illegal and I never looked it up for myself. I do remember some people also using the 1/4 ounce reference also, so you may very well be correct.

Our explosives as kids were limited to black powder, rocket engines and acetylene. We could devastate wood chuck holes!

[jmorris]

I have some 50 bmg API that has quite a bit of thump.

You can't get these results with just a primer.

[Sky Master]

Jimro is correct, in fact I have one cartridge that's loaded in 9mm. Kept it just for a keepsake.

"Years ago there was a company that sold the type of ammo you are talking about, but also added a small charge of black powder under the primer. They went out of business if I recall correctly."

[Hardcase]

In the late 80s and early 90s, we had explosive .50 cal rounds for our M2A machine guns on the ship. They were pretty old - somebody said that they were WWII era, but I can't attest to that.

What I can attest to, though, is that when we fired them, we suited up in flack jackets, kevlar helmets and eye protection because those nasty little things would occasionally detonate just a bit past the muzzle.

[m&p45acp10+1]

If you are just looking for a real cool neat show I would recomend bottles of water, and something like V-Max, or Nostler Ballistic Tip, or Barnes Varmint Grenades. They make one heck of an exlosive splash without all of the trouble. (Note Make sure the jugs have tight fitting caps, and are complletly full for the best effect.)

[Sid]

Many years ago Turnerbird Kirkland had instructions on how to make these in his Dixie Gun Works catalogue. If my memory serves me correctly, here is what he recommended. His instructions for exploding bullets were meant to be used with Minie balls in muzzle loading Civil War Muskets. First you drill out a hole in the nose of the Minie ball which is the same diameter and length as a .22 Short blank. Second, remove the powder from the blank and put the primed case in the nose of the Minie ball with glue. Third, he recommended firing them against the tree. The impact would set off the priming compound in the blank which would then explode the Minie ball. I never tried this because I felt it was too dangerous. I was afraid that the heat from the initial detonation of black powder in the chamber of the musket would set off the primer in the blank and then cause an explosion in the barrel as the Minie ball expanded. Just my $.02.

[wncchester]

Making explosive projectiles is illegal, has been for a very long time. Laws haven't stopped a lot of things, including this one...

I'm 70,. When I was in my mid-20s I knew an ol' dude, like I am now, who was a part time machinest, gun enthusist/reloader and salt water fisherman. He hated the sharks that often herded up and grabbed his fish before they could be taken on board. Idea light bulb!

He had a Springfield 45-70 trap door and used big cast bullets in it. So,he bored a "hollow point" cavity in the nose of his bullets that snuggly fit a .22 RF case. Pulled the bullets from .22 shorts, put shaved particles of 'strike anywhere' matches in it the large cavity, sifted in the .22 powder, seated the primed case on top. It detonated on impact and worked quite well on surfaced sharks. Not like a stick of dynamite but it could blow a grapefruit size surface wound in a shark's head.

I can safely tell this story now, the old guy's long dead, I can't even remember his name. So, the black suited, jack booted Feds can't make me reveil who did it and they can't dig him up and send him to prison for a hundred years anyway.

[TXGunNut]

Looks like fun, bound to be illegal. And no, don't have any now, never did....wonder how it would work with FFg under that primer cap?

[wncchester]

"..wonder how it would work with FFg under that primer cap?

I do too but 4F would surely be better. Anyway, the old guy also had black powder available and I suspect he experimented enough to know the shaved match heads were more effective.

(To the Feds; I do not now nor have I ever owned a .45-70 so I really don't know any more than what I said above so keep your jack boots off my neck.)

[TXGunNut]

No habla 4f.

[1SOW]

If the primer went off during/after penetration, I would think the hollow point might open up faster

[carsinc]

Sounds like this activity has some potential for a Darwin Award.

Seems like I remember a few years back there were some hunting arrows that could loaded with a .22 lr round.