Mythbusters and molten lead

[Quoheleth]

Did any of you see the Mythbusters episode last night (Mini Myth Mayhem) where Jamie and Adam were testing the myth that if one dips a hand in a bucket of water first, that same hand can be dipped very quickly into 800 degree molten lead without suffering damage?

They field-tested the myth first with breakfast sausage (what a horrible waste of pork sausage!), dunking it in water and then quickly giving it a hot dip in the lead. With the sausage apparantly unharmed, Jamie gave it a whirl, dunking his pinky in the water and then in the lead. Twice. First, a little dip (less than an inch) and after a successful attempt, did it again, this time going in up to the knuckle. Not to be outdone, Adam did it with all four fingers, almost all the way up to the palm. His comment was "It was warm and I could feel the water boiling off of my fingers."

What mornons! I realize they tested on sausage first, but don't they know water + molten lead = thermonuclear type explosion? They had no protective gear on at all - had the lead popped with the water, they would have had SERIOUS burns. Not to mention, playing with molten lead is bad ju-ju in the first place.

I usually like Mythbusters, but this one was in bad taste and in bad judgement.

By the way...I checked their website. Unless a video was uploaded overnight, this clip was not there last night.

And, to keep this in the reloading category, another myth they worked on IS on their website, making a home-made cannon out of bamboo with home-made black powder. The powder burned but did not produce enough explosive to launch the cannon ball. Real BP, however, succeeded in blowing up the bamboo cannon. That was kind of cool.

Q

 

[rcmodel]

I noted they flung all the excess water off their hand before sticking it in the lead.

However, I thought they should have at least mentioned the possibility of a steam explosion blowing the contents of the pot all over you if you get water in the pot.

"Don't try this at home" doesn't seem to be nearly a strong enough warning!

rc

 

[04whtrubicon]

I used to do this when I was younger working for Boeing. We wave soldered circuit boards, so there was plenty of molten solder lying around in pots. I never tryed with wet hands, but the solder didn't stick to your hand dry either. My boss was less than amused.

 

[Quoheleth]

I noted they flung all the excess water off their hand before sticking it in the lead.

Not to pick a fight, but Adam's comment was "I could feel the water boiling off my fingers."

Speaking for myself, ("Mr. Sweaty Palms"), I have enough moisture on my skin at any given time that even shaking them "dry" still leaves them moist.

Q

 

[Nate1778]

I would not go "Thermonuclear", I have had a visit from the tinsel fairy and it is nothing more than tinsel in the air. Don't get me wrong I would not want my face over it but it ain't like having a whole tray of primers go off. I have heard you can do that though, not that I am going to rush home and give it a go.

 

[Walkalong]

"I could feel the water boiling off my fingers."

It had a way out. It followed his hand out. If water gets under the lead, with no escape, a really dangerous emptying of the lead pot will occur. Ask any old plumber, or bullet caster.

"Don't try this at home" doesn't seem to be nearly a strong enough warning!

Absolutely.

 

[Cosmoline]

"Don't try this at home" doesn't seem to be nearly a strong enough warning

You really think so? To keep people from sticking bare flesh into molten lead? I don't think any warning is actually needed. If you're stupid enough to try it you deserve what you get.

 

[Gryffydd]

You really think so? To keep people from sticking bare flesh into molten lead? I don't think any warning is actually needed. If you're stupid enough to try it you deserve what you get.

Yup. Warnings are wasted on idiots anyway. Kind of like gun control laws, they only affect those inclined to follow them.

 

[EddieNFL]

I stopped watching these guys when they declared Hathcock's "shot through the scope" a myth. Just because they do not possess the skills to duplicate an event doesn't mean it didn't happen.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

They did a repeat, due to viewer demand, and used the same model of Russian scope as used in the actual incident, and successfully replicated the shot.

In the first attempt they had used a modern commercial hunting scope, not the classic Russian sniper scope.

If folks raise questions with the Mythbusters, sometimes they will prove themselves wrong. Often their experimental methods leave something to be desired, but they will admit to error. Calling Hathcock's story a myth did grate.

 

[rcmodel]

The whole problem with the sniper scope testing was, they did it all at 20 - 25 yards.

Hathcocks shot was several hundred yards, and the bullet was fully stable and slowed way down by the time it hit the scope. So it drilled on through, instead of blowing up on the glass.

A wobbling bullet at full muzzle velocity is not going to shoot through much of anything hard.

Hatcher's notebook shows an Ordnance test of the 30-06 using 150 grain FMJ bullets.
At 50 feet, the bullet had not stabilized fully and only penetrated 11 1/4" of solid oak.
At 200 yards the same load penetrated 32 1/2" of solid oak.

The same would be true of a snipers scope at 25 yards or several hundred yards.

rc

 

[JimKirk]

How about the episode later last night about the ricochet bullet coming back to kill the shooter? They've never been hit by a ricochet .22 like I have.

Jimmy K

This was a old show but some how I had missed it.

 

[jerkface11]

That myth was about the bullet ricocheting 3 times and killing the shooter.

 

[dagger dog]

I was casting out on the patio one summer after noon and spilled a dipper full on the concrete floor which immediatley exploded leaving a 1/2" deep crater about 4" in diameter. The water from the afternoon rain shower was enough to cause the explosion it had soaked in and had not puddled but was enough moisture to cause the steam explosion.

 

[ranger335v]

""Don't try this at home" doesn't seem to be nearly a strong enough warning!"

I dunno. Seems like a good way to help clean the gene pool?

 

[rcmodel]

Naw!
It would just burn them all over.

And then us tax payers would have to pay the hospital bills.
While they stayed home from work and reproduced!

rc

 

[Walkalong]

Yep, a no win situation for taxpayers.

 

[qajaq59]

Every so often people do stupid things that can get someone, especiallly a child, hurt. This time it was the Myth Busters. It was a really dumb move and I suspect they have really heard about it.

 

[Cosmoline]

Call be cold hearted, but I do not buy that argument. Children shouldn't be allowed to cast molten lead anyway, certainly not without supervision. The whole point of the MythBusters is that they pull dumb moves so we don't have to. The list of highly dangerous activities that crew has subjected themselves to is a yard long. Thus "don't try this at home." What more needs to be said?

 

[Navy_Guns]

That segment gave me total heart burn last night!

A molten lead shower may not be enough figurative chlorine to remove someone from the gene pool, but it may leave them disfigured and ugly enough to make it more difficult for them to further contribute to said gene pool... I say difficult because man has invented alcohol to ease such challenges.

On a gun-related note, I thought the 3x ricochet and the Star Trek cannon were great!

 

[MrWesson]

I saw a video of someone doing it on youtube a few months ago. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

 

[481]

The molten lead "experiment" was ill-advised to be sure. Those brash enough to tempt fate rarely get away with it for very long and the unanticipated consequences are often catastrophic.

The 3x ricochet was also a neat little demonstration, but what I found really interesting the effect obtained by shooting the .45 bullet through the curved tube and being captured in the gelatin block at the end of its travel.

I know that they never actually specified what bullet weight they were using for that part of the test, but would anyone know what .45 ACP bullet weight (185 gr.? 230 gr.?) they used for that particular portion of their experimentation? Looked short enough to be a 185 gr. FMJ to me, but it was hard to tell.

 

[rogn]

Do any of us remember being teenagers or young adults--one of the curses of the human race is that we insist on making our own mistakes. Remember how your parents gave you good advice which you/we promptly ignored?? most of us after enough pain and embarassment finally figured what the message was and started to listen--the ones who didnt are probably lookin' at grass roots. So Id betwithin a week of so of that show someone had their fingers in a hot puddle-hopefully not to serious detriment...

 

[Jesse Heywood]

I saw the lead dipping on another show on Discovery. It was a high school science teacher doing it. Neat trick, but not for me. The secret is an ultra-thin layer of water that insulates. Too much water and it will go bang.

They also did one on burning sodium and phosphorous, which we did in high school chemistry. Our results were far more spectacular, but our materials were old an unstable.

As for the sniper, there was a recent episode on the history channel about snipers. They tested with a Russian single power scope. The bullet went right through the lens elements and out the other end, right into the bad guy.

I like Mythbusters for the entertainment value. Watching them build stuff fascinates me.

 

[EddieNFL]

As for the sniper, there was a recent episode on the history channel about snipers. They tested with a Russian single power scope. The bullet went right through the lens elements and out the other end, right into the bad guy.

Saw that. As I recall, those guys were shooters, not TV personalities.