Mythbusters and guns :-)

[Marbles]

I love it when Mythbusters conducts firearm related tests.

1. First one: Bullets cooking in an oven.
2. Second one: Can an oven door stop a bullet?
3. Third: Can you kill someone by shooting through their scope?
4. Fourth: Revisted version of the previous shoot-through-scope kill.
5. Fifth: James Bond blows up a propane tank with a P99 9mm. Is it really possible? Part One,Part Two..
6. Sixth: The Lone Ranger used silver bullets...are they any good?
7. Seventh: Can a machine gun chop a tree down?
8. Eighth: Minigun versus barrel of water.

Spoilers:

1. Bullets cook off at about 475ºF. The casing fires off, not the bullet, unless it's in a firearm.
2. Glass with a heavy caliber is no problem. The steel door is a bit resistant, but not with long guns.
3/4. Scopes actually stop bullets pretty well, even with rifle rounds. Armor piercing rounds can get the job done.
5. Pistol rounds won't penetrate a tank out of a pistol. Use a shotgun with slugs or a rifle. A minigun is even better, but you'll need tracer rounds to blow it up, otherwise it just lets all the gas out.
6. Stick with lead. Silver is lighter than lead.
7. Sure, with enough rounds. Use rifle rounds.
8. Hah!

I believe the Discovery Channel episode on tree chopping with a real MG expert was better though.See here.

I couldn't find the rest of the "obliterating fish in a barrel" material before they used the minigun. But there you are.

 

[2Lman]

Concerning the tree cutting down with machine gun episode... I don't know which of the following is hotter...

1. The minigun... I would love to have one of those mounted on my vehicle.
2. Kari... need I say more?
3. Kari... shooting the minigun at the tree, cutting it down... wow!
4. All of that brass piling up by the second around Kari's feet?
5. Did I just say Kari?

Kari may have a definite career in action movies!

 

[Big Duke Six]

I'm with you 2L....must be that "girls and guns" thing....

 

[cpttango30]

For the most part they make my brain hurt when they deal with firearms myths. But that MG vs Tree was a good one.

 

[RLsnow]

well tango, they ARE for entertainment...

(atleast they dont whisper...)


and Jamie is a good shot (i think)

 

[rodregier]

MG vs tree was reminicent of the "Stake Shoot" event with semi-auto pistols at some matches. I don't think the forestry industry is ready to make the switch from chain saws just yet

 

[TCB in TN]

One thing that I do give the MB at least a LITTLE credit for, is that they usually try to contact at least 1 person who they feel would be an expert on issues that they know nothing about. Sometimes their experts are not much more knowledgeable than they but it is at least better than the media!

 

[Blackbeard]

Don't forget:

A) "Will hiding underwater protect you from bullets?"
B) "Can you use a .22LR cartridge as a fuse?"



Answers:

A)It will, if you're about 2 feet under.
B)Yes, but if you have a short in your system the shell will fire.

 

[jad0110]

Also don't forget Blown Away, and Blown Away revisited. These episodes showed that even a 50 BMG at point blank range won't throw a person backwards.

 

[RyanM]

The actual specific gravity difference between lead and silver isn't that great. It was mostly the shrinkage issue, which probably also caused gas blow-by, etc., to greatly reduce the velocity.

Pure lead is 11.34 g/cm^3, common lead alloys are around 10.9 (jacket bullets are also around 10.9 on average), and silver is 10.49.

So a silver bullet that is dimensionally identical to a 255 gr pure lead one, should still weigh 236 gr. Was definitely a shrinkage issue there.

 

[jlday70]

Concerning the tree cutting down with machine gun episode... I don't know which of the following is hotter...

1. The minigun... I would love to have one of those mounted on my vehicle.
2. Kari... need I say more?
3. Kari... shooting the minigun at the tree, cutting it down... wow!
4. All of that brass piling up by the second around Kari's feet?
5. Did I just say Kari?

Kari may have a definite career in action movies!

Kari has got to be one of the hottest women on tv...

 

[Devonai]

I would like to see them do a runaway machine gun. A quick search of the forums revealed that this has already been suggested.

As a soldier, I've heard stories of runaway M60s but I've never seen it happen myself. Even though it's not really a myth, it would be interesting to see if Adam and Jamie could get one to do it.

 

[Hazel]

Don't forget:

A) "Will hiding underwater protect you from bullets?"

Yeah, though I was both disappointed and laughing my a** off when they tried the shotgun in the tank.

 

[CheyennePilot]

I don't have experience in cutting down trees with bullets, but I have cut 2x4's down with a M1carbine when I was in the service. We had to qualify with a .38, a 12Ga. and .30 cal . I soon got bored with shooting the target faces, soooo, when I was firing semi auto with the M1A1, I aimed alittle lower. Figured it was more of a challenge to splinter the wood. It didn't take long cut it down. I did get into a trouble with the instructor though. somehow he failed to see the humor in it.

 

[Otahyoni]

One i'd like to add.

Powder Trail

 

[Crosshair]

Yeah, though I was both disappointed and laughing my a** off when they tried the shotgun in the tank.

Yea, I saw that coming a mile away when that episode first aired. I sat there thinking, "They're gonna blow the tank shooting that 12 gauge with the muzzle inside the tank." They fired and I was proven right.

 

[novaDAK]

They lost a lot of credit points with me when they said a 9mm was actually larger than a .38spl (when trying to shoot a glock at a Police Positive .38)

They probably just mixed it up, because in actuality, 9mm is .355" while .38spl is .357"

 

[Otahyoni]

nova,

I really wouldnt worry about .002"...

Just sayin...

 

[George Hill]

Kari is indeed a Geek Goddess... I think she is adorable... and she does have fun with the toys. But she does have certain political views that I find distasteful. Other assets that are quite tasty.

 

[RebelKangaroo]

I like how they don't have an anti-gun agenda on the show too. It seems like all of them are proficient with firearms and try to be as safe as possible when doing those myths especially. Responsibility ftw!

Oh, and while the show is still entertainment (it succeeds) they still do pretty well with the actual science behind the myths and stick to the scientific method. The show is like Bill Nye unleashed.

 

[MilsurpShooter]

They lost credit with me on the shot through scope, gained back some of it when it was revisited however. And yes, I watch it for Ms. Byron

 

[loud-mouth shnook]

"I would like to see them do a runaway machine gun. A quick search of the forums revealed that this has already been suggested.

As a soldier, I've heard stories of runaway M60s but I've never seen it happen myself. Even though it's not really a myth, it would be interesting to see if Adam and Jamie could get one to do it."
__________________


Hey Devonai: A while back, I had the honor of meeting a WWII P-38 Lightning pilot by the name of Yeager (not Chuck, of course) who was the last pilot to take off from Clark Field in the Phillipines as the japanese were firing on his aircraft.

Anyway, he said they'd had one incident with a runaway nosegun on one of the P-38's. It was a 20mm cannon! Mr. (didn't get his rank) Yeager said noone was hurt except one man who was hit by a cannon shell and killed. The poor guy was THREE AND A HALF MILES AWAY!
*edited to add: I initially neglected to mention that the P-38 was on the ground with engines off. It was during the testing of its guns that the runaway incident occurred.*

That gentleman was either the most unlucky fellow ever born or it's a helluvan argument for, "When it's your time to go..."

 

[catfish101]

As a soldier, I've heard stories of runaway M60s but I've never seen it happen myself. Even though it's not really a myth, it would be interesting to see if Adam and Jamie could get one to do it.

When I was in Germany in the late 80's we had a bunch of rounds to get ride of. We were in Graf. and we had a 60 cook-off. It didn't take that many rounds to do it either. When it happens just brake the belt several rounds from the gun. That thing will jerk it out of your hands in a hurry. We also had like 10,000 rounds of .50 to get ride of. I had an M2 on my track and I shot probably 2000. Never had it cook-off but I was watching it. The 60 we put about 25 feet of rounds together and it went. It was a very unofficial range trip.

 

[ke6guj]

They lost a lot of credit points with me when they said a 9mm was actually larger than a .38spl (when trying to shoot a glock at a Police Positive .38)

They probably just mixed it up, because in actuality, 9mm is .355" while .38spl is .357"

nova,

I really wouldnt worry about .002"...

Just sayin...

Actually, they were using a .40 Glock in that experiment. The nararator was correct in saying that the bullet fired was bigger than the chamber of the revolver, just mispoke on the actual size. The sergeant involved clarifed that on ARFCOM, IIRC.

 

[jeepmor]

Kari has got to be one of the hottest women on tv...

She's cute, but not that cute. However, her demeanor shown on TV is probably very close to reality, hence more appeal.

Considering they're all from California, I think their focus on guns is intentional. I've seen a lot of "gun myths" lately.