Can a 357 SIG make a bowling pin explode?

[Joe Demko]

Well then, couldn't you make the bowling pin explode just by shooting the battery that powers the antimatter container electromagnets? Especially if we are talking about typical flashlight batteries, they aren't nearly as tough as the coating on a bowling pin.

 

[litework]

I really don't know much about bowling pins, but if it is covered in a plastic coating, I believe soaking the pin in ZAR would remove that coating. If you could time it just right, you could probably weaken the plastic enough to get the results you want. Just wear gloves and use it in a ventilated area. ZAR burns the skin in its concentrated state.

 

[lycanthrope]

Shot one twice with a .460 Weatherby magnum. Didn't blow it. Drilled a large hole, though.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Litework,

I believe the standard coating for bowling pins is about 3 mm thick, and is EXTREMELY tough.

It's less a plastic coating than a plastic encapsulation.

 

[litework]

I guess the ZAR is a long shot. I've removed thicker plastic off of fiber optic cables using it, but I could actually let the product soak in it. The plastic would probably become too soft to support the powder anyway. ZAR doesn't do to well on nylon material either.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've never heard of ZAR, but it sounds nasty. How would it work on marketing managers?

I've been trying to find the official specifications for bowling pins, but so far nothing.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Bowling pins are almost impervious to normal gunfire. So, when I need to go tactical, as when exfiltrating down to the local stop-and-rob for a slushie after my Camelback runs dry, I duct tape four bowling pins across my chest, and another four across my back. This gives me Level X body armor.

 

[Flashpoint]

You want something fun to shoot? Try VHS tapes. If you line them up to where you can see the white part of the spool reel, then hit that spool reel the case explodes and tape goes streaming through the air. Super fun reactive target.

 

[BrokenPaw]

Unfortunately, the reaction will continue until all the anti-matter has reacted with all other types of matter in the area, so you could end up wiping out one or two counties.

Not so. The reaction would continue until the anti-matter had reacted with an equivalent mass of matter. Thus, if you charged the bowling pin with 1 gram (15.432 grains) of antimatter, it would only continue to react until it had consumed an equivalent gram of bowling-pin material (or what-have-you).

In the process of doing this, of course, it would release 1.8x10^14 Joules of energy, roughly equivalent to 43021.03 tons of TNT. So maybe one county, but probably not more than that.

-BP, pondering tactical[0] anti-tank bowling pins.

[0] That raises an entirely separate issue:what would Skunkabilly do, if confronted with a carbon-fiber accessory that was actually made of anti-proton/positron carbon? Would he self-destruct? Discuss.

 

[Frohickey]

An anti-matter carbon fiber accessory...

If Skunky ever finds this anti-matter carbon fiber accessory, it would come along with an anti-matter anti-Skunky from a parallel universe... with a beard of course.