.38 Special versus armadillo: ricochet fractures man's jawbone, armadillo escapes

[BK]

This is one of the more odd stories I've read.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/texas-man-shoots-armadillo-gets-hit-face-bullet-214656503.html

"His wife was in the house. He went outside and took his .38 revolver and shot three times at the armadillo," Rowe said.

The animal's hard shell deflected at least one of three bullets, which then struck the man's jaw, he said.

The man was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where his jaw was wired shut, according to Rowe.

Ol' man Murphy at it again.

Having my own experience with armadillos, I was more than surprised that the round would ricochet and not penetrate the animal's armor. Except I didn't use a 38.

 

[Stony]

No way....no way in Hades is an armadillo going to deflect a bullet 180 degrees back at a shooter. He might have hit a rock under it or something like that, but an armadillo shell is not THAT tough. A guy can't believe all he reads on the internet !

 

[Walkalong]

But it could have glanced off, hit something else, and come back to hit him pretty easily.

 

[Lord Teapot]

the BBC is calling him a 'gunman'

http://www.bbc.com/news

 

[Deaf Smith]

Stupid is as stupid does.

Deaf

 

[nugun55]

"We didn't find the armadillo" I think I would have questioned the wife a little further.

 

[TwinReverb]

What did he try to shoot that thing with? Wadcutter?

 

[shootniron]

Armadillo shell has not deflected a .38 bullet...no way that incident happened as it is described.

 

[Bama Drifter]

Calling a spade a spade:
this guy more than likely had a few too many beers and saw a very realistic armadillo shaped rock. No way you ricochet a .38 off one of those critters. Shot my fair share of them using Rough Rider .22LR loaded up w/ Stingers. They soak up a few .22s but die soon enough. "Why shoot them?" one may ask. Answer: momma likes her azaleas and iris flowers.

 

[Wishoot]

Just a matter of time before the armadillo's family sues.

 

[Archie]

The Possibilities are Endless...

I agree, B. K.; this is pretty odd. On a number of levels.

1. What motivated the gentleman in question (the shooter, not the armadillo) to fire upon the armadillo? The article seems to leave this portion missing.

1a. Are they good eating?
1b. Does anyone mount the heads or score them with Boone and Crockett?

2. What sort of ammunition was employed in the action? A round that bounces off an armadillo shell (if indeed it did) will bounce off a wood target support. I will cross it off my list.

3. Is anyone studying the composition of armadillo shell? This could be a breakthrough in personal armor technology. (Or not.)

This article also makes me regret my decision not to follow a career as a stand up comedian. With a little effort, this could be the jumping off lead for a twenty-minute routine.

I noted one of the comments following the article; the writer was wondering if the man in question was related to Wile E. Coyote. He wasn't channeling the road runner at least.

 

[PO2Hammer]

.38 LRN is notorious for glancing off human skulls instead of penetrating, so I'm not surprised. (google Jim Cirillo).
How it managed to come straight back at him is puzzling, must have been a second object.

Shot my fair share of them using Rough Rider .22LR loaded up w/ Stingers

They have the velocity you need to penetrate hard surfaces.

 

[Monac]

I had often heard about 25ACP failing to penetrate a skull, PO2Hammer, but I am surprised it is also true of the 38 Special. Was it the effect of 2-inch barrels, or the use of wadcutters or something?

And being from the Midwest, I am woefully unfamiliar with armadillos. Is their shell harder than a turtle's? Because except for giant sea turtles, I can't picture the shell of one stopping a bullet, let alone causing a 38 Special to bounce off.

 

[Drail]

I can believe it. I have have seen plenty of light .38 loads bounce back to the line from a bowling pin - and the bullet didn't even penetrate the thick nylon cover on the pin. I have also seen plenty of .45 bullets only go halfway into a pin with the butt of the bullet sticking out.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Not sure of the barrel lengths, but Jim Cirillo was a member of the NYPD stake out squad and on more than 1 occasion had 158 LRNs fail to stop opponents with a head shot. They just glanced off the skull. Other had the same thing happen.

The low velocity coupled with the round nose allow the LRN to skid off hard object where a faster JHP will catch an edge and 'dig in'.

IIRC, that lead to experimenting in the '70s with very light, high speed hollow points and even some tubular shaped bullets pushed by plastic wads. IIRC that was done by Super Vel ammo company.

Eventually they came to the conclusion that a mid weight +p JHP was the best all around compromise for the .38.

 

[Monac]

Thanks, PO2Hammer!

 

[Deaf Smith]

When I was 15 or so I used my grandmothers Colt .32 auto to kill 2 armadillos.

Took 7 shots of fmj.

Deaf

 

[silicosys4]

I believe it. I can watch my .38 wadcutter loads fly downrange when I'm in good sunlight, and they are running right around 750fps. It doesn't take much to make them deflect or to stop them.
I've literally watched them bounce off of bowling pins as well.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

I have shot my share of dillas with a .38 loaded with wadcutters from a 1 7/8" and all were a complete pass thru. I'm waiting for the rest of the story.

 

[BSA1]

It's possible.

Years ago I worked for a P.D. in a small Midwestern town. We had regular calls to kill opossums. Folks would leave dog food in bowls on their back pouch for their dog and opossums would come and eat the food. If Fido objected the opossum would chew up Fido which the owner objected to and call us to kill the critter.

Opossums also had a habit of getting into trash cans that were not covered.

One night I had a call to kill a opossum the owners had trapped in the trash can. Since this was in a mobile home park I choose to use 148 gr. full wadcutter target ammo we keep in the patrol car instead of my magnum rounds. I drew a bead on the critter right between the eyes from 2' away and pulled the trigger. The bullet bounced harmlessly off it's head! Man, did that the opossum ever get MAD! It reared back hissing bareing all of it's teeth.

I dispatched it with a second shot through it's spine. Even then it took it's time dying.

 

[earplug]

Don't blame the 38 spl.

Anti tank rounds have been known to glance off tanks.
Get the angle wrong and you might as well plan on a bank shot.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Anything is possible, but for the bullet to come back with enough force to require a man's jaw to be wired shut, plus the fact that he was airlifted makes me wonder if there is more to the story.

 

[PO2Hammer]

Wadcutters have a square edge, less likely to glance off.

If you hit them square on, just about anything should penetrate, it's glancing shots that need sharper, faster bullets.

But yeah, there must be more to the story.

 

[barnbwt]

"the BBC is calling him a 'gunman'"
because #armadillolivesmatter?

Yeah, not buying the story. A pellet rifle is very nearly enough to do a dillo in. Any scenario involving a ricochet had very little to do with that thin layer of leathery bone-scale. Guy was definitely shooting at something he shouldn't have been and caught a bounce-back. Either that, or it's a domestic incident and he's covering for the actual shooter that grazed him. A 38spc shot at an adult male, and failing to do more than breaking the jaw in a glancing blow is a far more plausible tale.

TCB

 

[Crayfish]

I use hard cast wadcutters (standard pressure) as my defensive load in a snub because they penetrate anything I have shot with a nice wide hole. Maybe soft lead would be a different story but, hard cast just keeps on going. I mean through both car doors on old real steel automobiles,etc. No way an armadillo stops it. LRN maybe or target loadings but, I doubt the story as told.