[gamachinist]

Video clip of a 50cal Browning firing at the edge of a Katana sword.

The slow motion shots from the side are interesting!


http://www.compfused.com/directlink/608

Edited to add:
I'm not sure of the bullet type,I am sure they aren't AP.
Incendiary or tracers would have been really interesting!

[jefnvk]

Pretty sweet!

[esldude]

Nice video. thanks for the link.

[whm1974]

I call fake. A .50 BMG round would have broke the sword on the first shot even if the bullet was pure lead.

-Bill

[gamachinist]

I can't disagree with you on the fake.
I am a little unsure how the aim could be held that close,especially under full auto fire.
I would think most any bullet that size would have knocked it over at the very least.

[Cesiumsponge]

It's pretty interesting; I've seen the video before. I won't call either way but I'll give it a little diagnosis.

Katana swords have a lot of myth and mystery but it's simply a differentially tempered blade. The edge is tempered to a higher hardness up to the temper line (hamon) whereby it transitions to the softer, and more flexible spine of the blade. If one looks carefully, it appears not all the bullets are split down the middle each time. You can also see the higher hardness (and thus more brittle) steel at the edge get chipped away from subsequent strikes.

There is also a video floating around where someone shoots a .45ACP into a similar sword in a similar setup. I believe both have been around for at least 6 months as I saw it late last year. Both videos might be from the same originators.

[wasrjoe]

Copper and lead are much softer than hardened steel...

[c_yeager]

Decent swords are made to flex significantly without breaking, this is the real difference between cheap swords and 'real' swords. Ive seen some really interesting slow-motion footage of quality swords in action, and the amount of movement the blade undergoes in a swing is quite impressive (like how a baseball flattens out against a bat). What im saying is that actually breaking a quality made sword of any type is extremely difficult and they are made from good steel which is an order of magnitude harder and more flexible than lead.

[hammer4nc]

Q: You must have big rats, you need Hattori Hanzo steel! A: Huge!

[Tman]

Looks pretty cool to me. Now, if he had used a light saber, then...... :p