16-year-old strikes .45-caliber slug he found in back yard

[NineseveN]

I don't buy it.

 

[Kurush]

When I find .45 caliber slugs in my back yard I just sprinkle salt on them. Hitting them with a screwdriver would work too but who wants to clean slug-goo off of it?

 

[Blackhawk 6]

If you are dumb, you have got to be tough.

 

[Brandon]

stupid hurts

I teach a machine tool/welding class...

The instructor previous to me told me a story about a kid who bored a piece of steel rod four inches long in a lathe to hold a .410 shell.

The kid took it home, stuck a shell in it and hit it with a hammer. Steel went one way, hammer sprained his wrist and he had flash burns and bruises on his abdomen. (he did it on a picnic table)

We pay really close attention when they learn enough to be real precise on the lathe now....

Under the right circumstances I believe this story has some credibility, crazier things have happened.

 

[mole]

My grandfather told me that once he and some guys went camping. One guy threw a handful of .22lr into the fire to prove that nothing would happen. Several minutes later one poped and a peice of the brass shot out and hit the thrower in the ear giving him a small cut (serves him right huh?) Seems to me that there wouldn't be much pressure. When will people learn that it's all about shot placement.

An older friend of mine said that he would somehow crimp a .22lr with wire cutters and then hit it with a hammer on an old table. He said they would fly across the room, but not with much force. Of course, this is when I notice that he's missing part of his middle finger on his left hand....

 

[gunsmith]

huh?

"It's like lighting a firecracker and throwing it, then going to pick it up when it doesn't go off," Boland said.

"It could blow up in your hands."

I don't get it. Is the officer saying that my ammo can with the thousands of rounds in it is in danger of blowing up?

 

[Chawbaccer]

My guess is it was the primer that got him, probably the most dangerous part of an unchambered cartridge.

 

[Grumulkin]

The Primer Got Him

It has been a long time ago, but I removed a shotgun primer from a person in similar circumstances. I vote for the primer getting him. Pounding on a live cartridge is not a good thing to do but is unlikely to have fatal consequences unless one is very unlucky. Serious, though nonfatal injuries, such as damage to eyes, nerves and blood vessels could easily happen though.

 

[Zundfolge]

I see some work cut out for the Box of Truth guys or maybe even the Mythbusters guys.


If I had someplace to set up this experiment I'd do it myself.

 

[MrTuffPaws]

I really don't see how a bullet can get much velocity without a barrel.

The kid was probably hit by cartridge case shrapnel if anything.

Anyone have experience with rounds going off outside of a gun?

Yeah, actually I do. When i was around 8 years old, I took a 22 short blank and did the hammer and nail thing. The casing exploded and sliced my leg. Luckily, all I need was a bandaid. Man did my father ever go balistic on that one.

 

[nfl1990]

Jose Delgado played with the .45-caliber bullet shortly before noon at his house in the 1400 block of Tropical Drive in Lake Worth before using a hammer and screwdriver to hit the back of the bullet. The bullet fired and hit him in the abdomen, police said.

How would hitting a bullet do anything, and how would a bullet fire?

 

[yomama]

Don't think it was anything but shrapnel. When I was younger there was a .22lr bullet that got thrown in the fireplace. My mom opened the door to the fireplace to turn the logs a bit and BOOM! The bullet got so hot it combusted. Shrapnel took a nice chunk of skin out of her hand. Nothing to go to the hospital for, but it left a nice scar. I don't see how this kid actually got lead inside of him. Has to be just brass.

 

[TallPine]

16 is too old to be that dumb

 

[RaySendero]

If true, I’m leaning more toward the shrapnel theory.

Had a neighbor years ago that served in the Korean War. He claimed that he and his buddies would use an 06 round to clean out the chimney pipe on an old wood-burning stove they scrounged for their tent. 1) Open door 2) toss in a live round 3) close door quick. Said it worked well with plenty of force to blow the soot out the top!

 

[AZ Jeff]

Back in the 1930's, Julian Hatcher did some tests on igniting small arms ammunition when outside the chamber of the barrel.

He used electric ignition to get the primers to go off, and thus set off the propellant.

The result were that, as long as the cartridge case was TOTALLY UNRESTRAINED (not held in vise, etc.), the case would rupture, and propellant gases would discharge thru the rupture. The end result was possibly a burn from the propellant gases, but NOT a serious penetration of flesh.

There was ONE EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE: the .22 rimfire round. The brass casing on these cartridges often ruptured in such a way as to send small shards of brass many feet, resulting in small bits of shrapnel. Even then, these small projectiles were not lethal in most case, provided they were removed to prevent sceptic shock.

Stories of "bullets" flying long distances when discharged outside firearms is B.S., in general.

 

[Zrex]

Could someone tell me which of my organs aren't vital. I could stand to lose a few pounds and I thought I would start there.

Gall bladder definitely. I am so much better off since I had that little bastard removed!

 

[TMM]

they're all stupid.

first, the reporters need to get thier terminology straight.

secondly, the kid is a dumb piece.

thirdly, BS. it's all Newton. the heavy bullet will more ot less stay in the same place, and the lighter case will rupture and fly about for a bit. and as mentioned earlier .45ACP isn't that high pressure.

~TMM

~TMM

 

[Soybomb]

they're all stupid.

first, the reporters need to get thier terminology straight.

secondly, the kid is a dumb piece.

thirdly, BS. it's all Newton. the heavy bullet will more ot less stay in the same place, and the lighter case will rupture and fly about for a bit. and as mentioned earlier .45ACP isn't that high pressure.

~TMM

~TMM

Its not all about weight though, I think its about holding power. If the primer goes off, you're turning the round into a little pressure chamber right? The weakest part of it is now going to come apart when it can no longer contain the rising pressure. Thats either going to mean the bullet will pop out of the casing, the primer will shoot out the back, or the casing will rupture potentially sending shrapnel flying. If you tested a variety of rounds I don't know if you'd see a clear pattern of behavior of what happens. But thats just a wild guess.

And assuming he might have been holding the casing or something to allow the bullet to move if it was indeed the projectile. I would think it could be something other than the bullet itself that wound up in junior.

 

[MNgoldenbear]

16 is too old to be that dumb

You've obviously not been near any high school students lately.

Anyway, I'd still vote for case fragments or primer components causing the damage.

 

[Berek]

Yeah, you think?

Ya beat me to it...

 

[joab]

What if you place the round gently in a vice, just enough to hold the case in place.
With the cartridge possibly angling slightly toward you as you hit it with the screwdriver, or nail.

But I was only about 10.

I saw a Lone Ranger cartoon where he held the cartridge in a pair of ChannelLocks and hit it with a hammer, it worked well for him

 

[DevLcL]

I see some work cut out for the Box of Truth guys or maybe even the Mythbusters guys.


If I had someplace to set up this experiment I'd do it myself.

How exactly would you set this up? I'm thinking stick the bullet in the mudd and bury it and also bury part of a nail or screw so that it stands up ready to hit the primer on its own. Then somehow setup a string attached to a hammer or something and from a safe distance... bingo.

The reason I ask is because I have a place where I could do such a thing if I really wanted. Start with 9mm maybe? HAHA

-Dev

 

[Deavis]

When he crushed it with the hammer, the bullet struck him in the leg and traveld about 5" into his thigh. He went to the ER and the doctors removed the slug with long forceps and treaed the puncture wound.

BS. Go read Julian Hatcher's work with military rifle rounds (mentioned above already). He stated that the round barely dented cardboard. Your friend is either a liar or the 1 in 1000000000000000000000 possibility. I'm not saying it couldn't happen but in this world, faced with overwhelmingly good scientific evidence to the contrary, it is remote. 5" of penetration from an unconstrained round? Only if his body was made of aerogel.

 

[Zedicus]

Calling BS on this one, aint possable...

 

[MICHAEL T]

So that's where the vital organs are.

I always thought they were where I sit My X always told me I had my head up my A## So I just figured everthing was their.

I an so glad the Police are so well trained in these different subjects Their knowledge never ceases astonish me.