Need help identifying "wire" bullet, please

[Preacherman]

I had a query forwarded to me by a member of the API List. He's trying to identify a rather strange bullet found at the scene of an investigation. Here's what he had to say:

So now that I have the bullet in my hands I can tell you a few more things about it.

The rear of the bullet is not solid copper like Tom told me. The "wires" are also not steel like he thought. They are not lead nor aluminum, they appear to be a stiff alloy that is not magnetic. I tried to scrape them with a knife blade and they are very hard. I also measured the bullet diameter with my calipers and took several readings at the base and about 1/4" from the base, I came up with three readings of .350, .351 and .352.

The jacket is scored by the 5 groove rifling from the base to approx .365" forward of the base. By now you've noticed the "wires." This bullet consists of 7 "wires" forming the core which is spirally wrapped by 5 more "wires" that are the wire fingers you see sticking out, one of which is broken off. The bullet as you see it weighs 92 grains.

<snip>

One thing I don't see is any traces of lead. In looking down between the wires with a magnifying glass and bright flashlight I can't see any lead, just wood fibers and the wires. I'll wait a few days and see what sort of replies I get, then I'm going to try to re-wrap the outer wires and push the jacket back in place and then see what it looks like. If I get a wild hair I think I might even slice the jacket with my dremel and peel it of to see what the base of the core looks like.

Let me know what you guys think.

From the description and attached photograph, I'd surmise this is a bullet fired from a .355 to .357 caliber weapon - maybe .38 Special, .357 Magnum, or any of the 9-millimeter rounds. Can anyone help identify it?

Thanks for your help.

EDITED TO ADD: The "wood fibers" that he refers to are due to the fact that this bullet, and others like it, hit a tree. I would assume that being of swaged wire construction, the front of the bullet (presumably round or pointed) was abraded away by the tree, and the wires spread out by the impact.

 

[P95Carry]

Holy Moley! That is one wicked bullet. I wonder if the ''wires'' are stainless steel .... could explain non-magnetic and hardness.

Hard to even see a special bullet swaging press forming that one at all easily but - has to be ''home grown'' I'd fancy. Be intrigued to learn more about it.

 

[USP45usp]

, where can I get a box!

Wayne

PS, have no clue as to what it is

Wayne

 

[41mag]

I've a few questions.

1)Are those exposed wires that stiff that a frontal impact w/a tree didn't bend them?

2)If the wires are fully seated in the base of the case then the bullet looks to be about 3 x diameter long.Making that really the remains of a +/-250ish grain rifle bullet?

3)What else was in the hole this thing was pulled out of?(copper jacket/wire/pixie dust/etc.)

Looks like a lot of work if swaged by hand.

 

[entropy]

I'll take some, too! They look homemade, and it looks like a lot of work to make them, you'd have to have some way of holding the stainless pieces in place while pouring the lead in the jacket or in the mold if the jacket is swaged. Some wicked looking round, though!

It looks kinda like the 'toxic dart' Boba Fett uses to silence the hit girl trying to kill Amidala in Star Wars II. (My kids were watching it and just at that part.)

 

[mete]

I'd agree it's homemade and the wires are stainless steel. But like many home brew ideas probably doesn't do any better than factory stuff....I wonder if he was trying to make fleshette rounds ?? You can buy them at least for 12 gage.The fleshettes of course have to separate from the jacket.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Preacherman,

I'd check with the folks at Corbin on this one.

http://www.corbins.com/

That's a weird one all right.

lpl/nc

 

[Glock19Fan]

Hello.

There is a guy who tests ammo in water, and I remember seeing a bullet that sounded similar to that. There were several "wire" shavings with the recovered bullet, and IIRC, the metal was zinc. The bullet weight was somewhere around the weight you decribed.

I think it was something like stevespages.com but I cant recall the exact URL. I will look around and when I find it I will post it.

 

[Glock19Fan]

Heres the website I saw it at.

Heres the picture of the bullet that might be the one you recovered. All of the wires were ripped off, but it was tested in water so it might not be as drastic in real life.

http://stevespages.com/jpg/wp-federal-browninghipower-475-1224.jpg

Its made by Federal. Its called JCQT, is 9mm in diameter, and starts off weighing 100 grains. It did loose more weight by loosing the wires, but the wood material that was mentioned probably raised it back up.

 

[griz]

All the wire rope that I have seen, stainless or not, used round wires to make the cable. The ones in the picture look square in cross section. That's weird enough to narrow it down I would think.

 

[BHPshooter]

I think Glock19Fan has the best answer...

Keep us updated, Preacherman?

Wes

 

[DRZinn]

Does that come in .45?

 

[Shovelhead]

After "Google-ing"

http://www.miragetechnologies.net/Federal Ammunition.htm

BALLISTICLEANâ„¢
BallistiCleanâ„¢ Because training should be as safe and as realistic as possible.

BallistiClean is the only non-toxic line of ammunition that’s made to the same performance standards as duty ammunition. Felt recoil, accuracy and point of impact are all comparable to service ammunition. For environmental safety, BallistiClean features a Toxic-Metal Free™ and barium free primer with a non-lead bullet that eliminates airborne lead and helps reduce barrel fouling. Range operators have no hazardous waste disposal problems and it meets or exceeds all OSHA and EPA standards. BallistiClean is available in our jacketed, stranded zinc core bullet– designed to break up on hard targets–and in our Close Quarter Training (CQT) round. CQT bullets breakup immediately upon contact with metal targets, significantly reducing ricochet and backsplash danger. A copper-plated primer and an “NT†(non-toxic) head stamp identify BallistiClean as a training round at a glance, eliminating confusion with duty rounds

 

[mete]

That is weird.!!

 

[BluesBear]

Does that come in .45?

YES!

And .357
and .38+P
10mm
.40 S&W
.380
as well as 9mm


I't s a lousy anti-personell round though. It needs a hard target to break up.