Ice Bullets

[Timthinker]

Recently, I watched a strange sci-fi movie that might provide some amusement to our readers. This film concerned a group of futuristic time travelers who went on a prehistoric hunt armed with some unusual rifles. According to the film, these rifles fired nitrogen ice bullets capable of killing large creatures. Yes, the idea of ice bullets is an old urban legend, but I thought it might provide a useful diversion from some of our more serious topics. So, quit worrying about the 5.56mm round and place your order for a real man's gun. After all, if an ice bullet can stop a dinosaur, then it can satisfy your needs.


Timthinker

 

[Big Boomer]

On one episode of Mythbusters they busted it...

 

[the naked prophet]

Wasn't that "the sound of thunder" or something like that? Lamest movie ever.

 

[RKBABob]

Yeah, Mythbusters already tried the ice bullet... as well as frozen meat bullets.

Cool show.... check it out.

Ice Bullet Part One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ov1gNP_h2M
Ice Bullet Part Two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZu1fyukxro&mode=related&search=

 

[Novus Collectus]

I think he is talking about solid Nitrogen. Nitrogen freezes at 63 Kelvin. I believe it is much lighter than ice and it might be much more brittle as well. Frozen Krypton might be better because it is heavier.

 

[.45Guy]

Pykrete works with super colibri type loads:

 

[esmith]

I saw this in a tv show once. They used it to kill someone so when they got shot it melted so there wasn't a trace to the killers.

 

[Bartkowski]

Can't watch the videos on youtube posted, didn't they prove it to be false?

 

[eldon519]

Pykrete in a sabot would work. It's just saw dust and water, but it's much tougher and stays frozen longer. The US looked into making a aircraft carrier out of it.

And don't rely on the Mythbusters to disprove things. They may prove things are possible from time to time, but just cause they can't get something to work, it doesn't mean it can't be done.

 

[Novus Collectus]

I think pykrete would leave wood pulp as evidence.
Frozen Nitrogen or frozen Krypton would most lilkely not show up because Nitrogen is in the atmosphere in abundance and Krypton is chemically inert which means once it sublimates it should escape into the atmosphere leaving little or no evidence.

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Ice and wax both work with primers for practice loads. Jordan did the wax and I tried both.

 

[RKBABob]

Can't watch the videos on youtube posted, didn't they prove it to be false?

Yup, they busted it. They used normal water, frozen in a liquid nitrogen bath. Problem was, by the time the bullet hit the target it was reduced to a spray of icy water.

They also tried frozen gel, and frozen ground beef, figuring that either of these items could also 'disappear' and not be noticed as evidence... but this caused little more than a flesh wound in their ballistic jello dummy.

Thn they went off on a weird tangent, and began developing compressed air umbrella guns.

 

[Big Boomer]

They might fire but the point was could they be deadly?

Answer: No

A blank to the temple would be more effective.

 

[zxcvbob]

Mythbusters used a small caliber rifle to test the ice bullet thing. A better test would be a .44 or larger pistol bullet.

 

[Timthinker]

Naked Prophet, you should be a movie critic. Yes, the movie was A Sound of Thunder and it proved a box office flop. But the point that amused me the most was the notion that frozen nitrogen bullets could inflict massive damage. If you recall, a member of the time travelers exploded a solid block of metal with a single shot. Small wonder I call Hollywood by another name: Hollyweird.

If any of our members can recall another outlandish movie plot involving sci-fi guns, I would appreciate reading it. A little humor is good for the soul.


Timthinker

 

[Jim K]

When you folks develop the time machine, let me know. I don't want to hunt dinosaurs, but I want to have a chat with Sam Colt about buying the old junk from the Paterson factory.

Jim

 

[NeoSpud]

The US looked into making a aircraft carrier out of it

According to the History Channel, it was Britain.

 

[goldshlagerxx]

I have a one experience w/ ice projectiles. When I was in undergrad my roomates and I wrapped duct tape around a toliet paper tube, filled it w/ water and froze it. We then shot it out of our 'tater cannon and it punched a hole through both sides of our shed (which potatoes would just dent) and knocked a hole through our fence. I have a lot of respect as to what an ice projectile can do.

 

[Novus Collectus]

If any of our members can recall another outlandish movie plot involving sci-fi guns, I would appreciate reading it. A little humor is good for the soul.

Runaway with Tom Selleck and Gene Simmons. The movie was based around robots, but it featured robot "smart" bullets.

 

[Dithsoer]

I once read of a similar idea using a tooth as a bullet, the idea being a hit man could shoot someone in the face with it and the "bullet" would just show up as one of the victim's blown-out teeth. Another idea used a shotgun shell with a frozen payload of blood and hair, the hair added I presume for strength. Check out this one: the same source mentioned shooting someone with a piece of meteorite muzzle-loaded in a b.p. gun! I guess in hopes of fooling investigators into thinking that it was a natural accidence.

 

[Novus Collectus]

How about a champaigne cork? That will really make them scratch their heads.

 

[chris in va]

Funny you guys mentioning this. I just read a book by Dan Brown called Deception Point. The villain 'special forces' unit carried firearms that used ice bullets derived from the snow around the area. Grab a handful, somehow the guns made the rounds.

 

[230RN]

Dumb comments from 230RN:

You suppose you could use ice bullets to clean the corrosives out of yer BP gun?

Somewhere I read a story where the victim was stabbed with an icicle. Puzzled the investigators no end.

Did the dinosaurs die from the bends?

Imagine lead-free shotgun shells with ice pellets? H3ll, it's cold enough goose-hunting anyhow, right?

Rock salt? We doan need no steenkin' rock salt!

(Figured I'd throw those out now so I could take the heat instead of some other poor schnook getting all embarrassed and ridiculed.).

 

[Novus Collectus]

Imagine lead-free shotgun shells with ice pellets?

Shhhhhhh, keep it down, California might get new ideas......

 

[Jim Watson]

Well, it wasn't ice, but I recall a story line from the old Kerry Drake comic strip, of all things. A mobster managed to get a bullet shot from the hero's gun; patched it, loaded it in a smoothbore muzzleloader, and shot a competitor with it. Voila, instant incriminating ballistics frame job. I think that one could work if CSI didn't find the patch.