Bullet in my frikin wall!!!

[Newt]

OK... I got some pics last night. I can honestly say I've never seen a 22 bullet shaped like this one. It's almost square.

I looked all around the outside of the house and nada. A friend and I both looked and came up empty handed as far as holes go.

Someone said to stick a straw or something straight in the hole... this isn't possible to determine trajectory. You'll see, and as I said before, the bullet seems to be running the same direction as the wall. Strange... very strange...

1 of 3

 

[Newt]

Please keep in mind... these pics with the bullet in them are of an interior wall. The bullet would've had to pass through an exterior to reach this wall. The groove in the wall is painted paneling, so the groove is vertical.

 

[Newt]

And the last pic. I'll be looking forward to hearing discussion on this after you see the pics.

 

[who me]

Are you sure it's a .22. From the pictures it almost looks like a pellet from an air rifle. I don't know. Weird how it got there though.

 

[Newt]

Just to set the record straight, I'm sure it's a 22 bullet. You can even see in the last picture some of the rifling's marks on the bullet. I dunno if pellet guns have riflings in them or not, but this is a 22 bullet and it sure has rifling impressions in the bullet.

 

[middy]

Almost looks like someone pounded it into the wall with a hammer.

The cylindrical shape is rather odd.

Weird.

 

[JamisJockey]

I'd have to guess it went through a window or door. It was probably tumbling and no longer flying straight to impact like that, probably hit something first (tree branch, etc) to start it tumbling.

 

[OtG]

What does the hole look like with the bullet removed?
Can you see daylight?


<speculation>
The way it was stuck in looks like it may have ricocheted off something then hit the wall sideways from the inside.
</speculation>

Is there a window in the wall opposite the bullet-hole?

-Owen

 

[sturmruger]

Wow that is strange!!

 

[Newt]

Yes, there is are 2 windows in the wall opposite the bullet, but it's under my front porch. My overhang from my roof on my front porch comes down to something like chest level when standing inside the house. I checked the screens on the windows. One window screen has no holes. The other screen had holes in it when I bought the house, so I don't know if there are any new holes in it or not. I've got another pic that I need to put up that may show an impact/trajectory better.

 

[Newt]

here's the pic I was talking about in the above post...

You can easily see in this pic which way it pushed the splinters out. If I were to guess, it would've came from the right side of the pic which is where the window with the holes in the screen is. Maybe???

 

[Lonestar.45]

I'd bet just about anything that it's a .22 pellet from a pellet gun. Barrels in them are almost always rifled, and many of them reach .22lr velocity. I'd be on the lookout for neighborhood kids w/ a pellet gun.

 

[jdkelly]

It look like it came from the lower right to the upper left. It also looks like it came in backward, if the base is to the left.

Let us know what you find out.


Respectfully,

jdkelly

 

[one-shot-one]

if it is a pellet it will have a hollow base if the base is solid it is a 22 with the point flattened it looks like it was tumbling before it hit,

 

[Johnny Guest]

My best bet: Plain lead .22 LR bullet

Interesting how differently various observers interpret the same image - - -

Lonestar.45, I respectfully differ with your opinion. I believe this is a bullet from a .22 Long Rifle cartridge.

For some reason it appears clear to me that the photo, bullet3.jpg, depicts the bullet pointing to our right. The bullet nose is deformed into almost a wadcutter configuration, and you can see the rifling impression (engraving of the barrel lands) on the left end.

In the image, bullet4.jpg, the bullet nose is pointing to our upper left. Impact with the wall is almost a 90-degree keyhole. The bullet had struck (and almost certainly passed through) something before embedding itself in the wall. I can’t tell if the bullet was a hollow point or not. I’d guess it was. If you weigh the bullet, I’d bet it weighs between 35 and 37 grains. If it was NOT a HP, it would weigh right around 40 grains. I conclude this from the apparent length-to-width of the image. Bullets from the .22 Short and .22 Long cartridges are almost always 29 grains in weight. The .22 rimfire magnum bullets are mostly jacketed, or heavily plated or copper washed.

An image of the base of the bullet (again, the end with the rifling marks on it) will show a concave surface - - Hardly an actual hollow base.

Most airgun pellets have a deep hollow base. It is normally termed a “Skirted†design, and almost all the .22 pellets sold in the USA have a distinctively wasp waisted configuration.

Best,
Johnny

 

[Newt]

All I have to say is... WOW!

Johnny, you nailed it on the head. I got curious as to the weight of the bullet and weighed it here at work on our postal scales, then converted oz. to grains. 36 grains. When you said between 35 & 37 grains you weren't kidding.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Thanks, Newt - -

Glad to have my deductions confirmed. Sometimes, even the ole blind hawg finds an acorn!


Johnny

 

[Mal H]

That bullet wasn't going very fast when it hit the wall. So it either traveled a good distance or it went through or bounced off something. I'm betting all three things happened in its travel.

It had to have come through the window. Look closely at the screen and see if one of the holes doesn't have shinier wires on the edge of the hole than the others. That one would be the new hole.

 

[dav]

bullet_3 looks dirty. Is that just wood splinters?

Or could a kid have found this in the street old and run over by cars and shot it in a slingshot?

It had to have been barely moving when it hit that wall, paneling like that isn't known for it's ability to withstand being punctured.

 

[Rimmer]

That's an impact. The wall around it is pushed in not out.

It does look more like a pellet than anything in rimfire with one exception.

Ever see an Aguila SSS round. 60 grains at about 550/600 FPS. They are about half the velocity of most pellet guns and are a so-so squirrel round out to 25/30 yards. And they are very quiet. Further they won't penetrate through a 5/8 sheet of plywood.

I'm thinking this round was fired inside the house and possibly bounced off something to flatten the nose before it tumbled into the wall.
In the photo the round on the left is a standard Winschester t-22 round. On the right is the Aguila SSS.

 

[Majic]

Don't forget the old trick of filing the round nose .22lr bullet flat to make a semi-wadcutter of it for small game hunting. It could be an example of that.

 

[KMD]

Time to call CSI and get the experts in there

 

[Newt]

KMD,

What are you talking about?... We are the experts!

 

[bamawrx]

Can you draw a diagram of the room layout with windows etc? Indicate height of impact and location too.

What we know:

.22 projectile not air propelled

Not micro-grooved rifling so offending rifle was not a Marlin

Came to rest while traveling in unstabilized flight

Projectile shows previous damage to front of projectile occurring during stabilized flight.

Projectile contacted wall at VERY near 90 degrees.


The key to finding the origin of the projectile is to map the path at near 90 degrees perpendicular from the resting place and see what you find.