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Old September 22, 2014, 02:25 PM   #1
Sue S.
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Is this a bullet?

Does anyone think this is a bullet? I found this on my brick wall the other day. I thought I heard a gunshot the other day too. I know the pictures are not clear, but if you can all give me your opinion that would be good. Thanks!IMG_0035 sm.gif

bull coll sm 2.gif
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Old September 22, 2014, 02:28 PM   #2
P5 Guy
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Could be.
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Old September 22, 2014, 02:30 PM   #3
Sue S.
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How do we know?

How do we know? how can we tell?
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Old September 22, 2014, 02:32 PM   #4
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brick ...

I have heard some people say a bullet would not penetrate brick. I have heard others say the brick would be shattered more.

In this case, the bullet, if that is what it is, looks to be mostly intact. My theory is, it hit the mortar line below, and ricocheted up on the surface.
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Old September 22, 2014, 02:38 PM   #5
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To my eye it doesn't appear to be a bullet. I can see no impact mark etc., and to have it imbed itself into a brick without cracking it I serously doubt it. Looks more like a impurity of some kind in the brick itself. Scrape it with a screwdriver or something and see it if scrapes off easily like lead would.
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Old September 22, 2014, 02:41 PM   #6
Sue S.
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I have tried to scrape it off a little bit. I poked at it around the sides and it seems to flake off easily. Like crumble into a powder. I thought a fragmenting bullet maybe. So I stopped trying to take it out, because I did not want to break it.

Yes good point about impact marks though. I guess we should see more of that.
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Old September 22, 2014, 03:05 PM   #7
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If it were a real/jacketed bullet, it would not flake or crumble at all.
It would instead act like (well) a chunk of lead*... which when
scraped by a knife tip leaves a very bright line that looks just
like polished silver. Unmistakable.

Instead, it just looks like something in the brick/clay that was left in
the mix when the brick was formed/cast

*If it were a frangible (fragmenting) bullet, it would just
leave a pock mark in the brick, and disintigate.

* If it were just the copper jacket left in the brick, scraping it with a
knife would again leave a very bright/polished copper line

Last edited by mehavey; September 22, 2014 at 03:15 PM.
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Old September 22, 2014, 03:18 PM   #8
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My SWAG is; Yes ???

Hard to tell as more information is needed. I'd guess that it is and that is based on a 50/50 possibility. ....

Be Safe !!!
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Old September 22, 2014, 03:53 PM   #9
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Maybe .
There is an insert to put a screw into brick or concrete It's made of lead or plastic.It could be that .Has anyone fastened something to the brick ? Is your lead just grey lead or is there white coating anywhere on the lead ? That would indicate that it's been there for a while.
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Old September 22, 2014, 04:02 PM   #10
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Doesn't look like a bullet strike to me, appears more like Panfisher said, an impurity. Could even be mold, lead might flake off but shouldn't turn to a powder. (Maybe I replied just to hear myself talk since I really don't know either.)
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Old September 22, 2014, 04:06 PM   #11
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Looks like a screw insert. Try putting a thin stick or punch into it; see how far it goes.
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Old September 22, 2014, 04:08 PM   #12
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Get a test kit and see if you can determine if it’s even lead.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_61899-98-LC-...ductId=3580850
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Old September 22, 2014, 04:13 PM   #13
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Uncle Ed nailed it

I have put hundreds of those in to fasten things to brick walls. The person that drilled the hole and installed this one did not know what they were doing because you do not install them in the groute.

That is a lead brick molly used to fasten meaning screw things to a brick or other masonry wall.
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Old September 22, 2014, 04:24 PM   #14
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def not a bullet
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Old September 22, 2014, 07:21 PM   #15
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Well that piece only goes back a half inch deep. Also you can see the piece tilts straight up. Also you can see the brick shards on the top, which shows the piece drove straight up.This piece is about one or two feet down from my ceiling line. So there is just one of my rooms behind it. Like,the piece does not go to my attic.

But thanks you all for your responses. So again I see some say maybe, some more say no.

I might try testing it for lead though, that might be good.
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Old September 22, 2014, 07:49 PM   #16
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The picture is pretty poor and out of focus, but I would say it is a hollow base bullet, probably a .38 Special wadcutter (assuming standard size bricks). When a bullet hits something solid, like a brick, its energy is instantly converted to heat and it can partially melt into the target, as it looks like that one did.

(If it is an anchor, it sure doesn't look like any I have driven in, and I have driven a lot of them.)

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Old September 22, 2014, 08:23 PM   #17
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Thanks James K. Yes the bullet does look melted in the center. Like it is molten. I think it looks strange too, as in, unlike an anchor.

Also, if you saw it in person you would see the edges are very thin. Like eggshell thin.

Hmmm. I am having trouble getting police to give it a diagnosis. Budget cuts I guess. But something strange about this piece, I think.
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Old September 22, 2014, 08:43 PM   #18
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Is it metal? Dig into it, scratch at it, see if it shines. Lead
oxidizes on the surface anywhere from whitish to almost black,
but it should be shiny if you break through the oxide.
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Old September 22, 2014, 08:44 PM   #19
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From a distance it look dull and dark. But if you put the flashlight on it, it shines super bright silver. Like I said, it looks kind of molten in the center. Like wrinkly and bubbly. But it is really shiny, like a mirror, in the back center.
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Old September 22, 2014, 08:49 PM   #20
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"Lead oxidizes on the surface anywhere from whitish to almost black, "

Well I did not know lead oxidizes. The fact that this piece is still so shiny, makes me think it is new. I did not see any spider webs or dust on it either.

Here is a pic of appx position of piece.

bullet house sm.jpg
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Old September 22, 2014, 11:45 PM   #21
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If it were a bullet it wouldn't be hollow, as it appears to be.

Even if it is a bullet, it wasn't shot into the brick

It was either there when the brick was made, or was inserted into a drilled hole

I suspect it's the former, and is simply a piece of trash that was in the clay when the brick was molded
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Old September 22, 2014, 11:49 PM   #22
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No spiders ? You were cheated ! LOL
That location would be similar to radio antennas and a few other things.
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Old September 22, 2014, 11:56 PM   #23
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Nope, I don't think so.

Some type of metal slag or something embedded when the brick was made.

The trough below the metal is too uniform for this to be bullet impact. Get a magnifying glass or jeweler loupe and see if there are small pieces of lead or gilding bronze in the trough. I suspect you'll not find any there.

The angle of a projectile would be too shallow to cut the trough and then bury into the top side of the brick. The shallow angle required to cut the trough, would almost certainly cause a high velocity projectile to skip off the hard surface.

The projection of flakes of brick over the metal tends to rule out an anchor or fastener. Drilling holes for leadheads, redheads, potmetal zinc, etc. anchors – the mouth of the hole is often enlarged. Try to drill at too shallow an angle and the hard brick will pop apart above the bit.
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Old September 23, 2014, 01:30 AM   #24
Sue S.
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Well we seem to have two other possibilities besides a bullet. Some sort of anchor. Or an impurity in the brick.

As to an anchor, I think the poster above me commented that an anchor could not go in at that steep shallow level. As you can see the brick shards above it.

As to a brick impurity, this piece shines silver and looks like metal to me. If you have a piece of metal, in a brick, in a brick furnace, that metal piece is not going to come out hollow, or like a cup, with thin jagged edges, out of that hot furnace. The metal will melt into a glob. So it was something that was put in AFTER the brick was made.

So still a bit of a mystery.
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Old September 23, 2014, 02:52 AM   #25
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Kinda looks like a pellet from a pellet gun. General see them embedded into wood not brick.

Jim
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