The Old Exploding Bullet

[Carolina Drifter]

Was watching CSI NY last night and had a good laugh (at least I think I'm right) about this kid (sniper) loading a bullet cavity with nitro. My first thought was heat, pressure, boom as soon as the trigger is pulled. Not being an expert I really want to know if I'm right. Yeah, I know it's TV.

 

[fineredmist]

Nitroglycerin is extremely unstable and very sensitive to shock. It is used in dynamite but it must be stabilized to make it useable. Filling a cavity in a bullet with nitro is done in movies as anything is possible there. I think the result would be a double boom as the nitro explodes in the barrel.
Just my .02.

 

[Prion]

All the CSI series are pure stupidity.

 

[mbopp]

Sounds like a good candidate for "Myth Busters" - firearms and explosives.

 

[jerkface11]

It would probably go off before you could load it into the mag.

 

[rcmodel]

Question = How much nitro could you put in a .30 cal bullets HP cavity?
Answer = Not enough to do anything the HP wouldn't already do without it.

I have seen old dynamite sweating nitro.
My dad, being a miner in his youth, wiped it off with his fingers, and flung the result on the ground right at our feet.

It made little snapping sounds like those little kiddy's 4th of July Snappers.

At one time, I had a 45-70 bullet mold that cast 500 grain HP bullets.
The HP cavity was wide & very deep.
Just right to fit some Bullseye pistol powder and a Lg Rifle primer in the nose.

Testing I did with them indicated they expanded just the same, with or without the powder & primer.

rc

 

[Carolina Drifter]

I think they were insinuating more than the HP cavity. What worries me is some fool will probably try it.

 

[wally]

It would probably go off before you could load it into the mag

Classic chem lab experiment from the 30's -- make a very small amount of nitro and put it carefully onto a metal plate -- boom! Metal catalyzes the detonation, Nobel "tamed" it by making industrial quantities in a wood lined (no plastics back then) production system and stabilized it by adsorbing in into a porous clay to invent dynamite. Never had any real military usage as it was still too sensitive and easily detonated when hit with a rifle bullet.

 

[highlander 5]

Back in the 70s there was a movie called "Day of the Jackal" based on the attempt to assassinate Charles DeGaulle using the same plot device. Looks good in the movies but in real life a waste of time and nitro. Most writers of fiction that involves firearms haven't a clue on how they function and there lethality.

 

[TonyT]

When I saw the lab teck dipping his eyedropped into a glass stoppered bottle labelled nkitroglycerin iI stopped watching. This episode of CSI NY was so blatantly inaccurate that I stopped watching the episode and decided to stop watching the show.

 

[antiquus]

Classic chem lab experiment from the 30's -- make a very small amount of nitro and put it carefully onto a metal plate -- boom! Metal catalyzes the detonation, Nobel "tamed" it by making industrial quantities in a wood lined (no plastics back then) production system and stabilized it by adsorbing in into a porous clay to invent dynamite. Never had any real military usage as it was still too sensitive and easily detonated when hit with a rifle bullet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite_gun

 

[788Ham]

Sort of like the myth of drilling out the hollow point a little deeper, and filling it with mercury, dripping molten wax over it, then shooting someone with it, causing mercury poisoning besides the bullet wound.

 

[Bigdog57]

I'm still chuckling over the episode of "House" where the good Doctor fired a JHP bullet from his .357Magnum into a corpse, and put the body into an MRI machine - suddenly the NON-FERROUS bullet is ripped out by the magnetics and goes zinging around the room.......
Great fun for TV - pure BS in reality.

Some TV shows are so far 'out there' as to be ridiculous.

And I am still trying to find the ammo that the vapid news reporters said the Beltway Killers used - that .223Rem that was deadly and super accurate out to 5,000 yards! I NEED some for my rifle.......... got this pesky squirrel in the next county.........

 

[RTC]

Exploding Ammo????

When you find the super accurate 5000 yard 223 ammo, check to see if the dealer has any of the Walker - Texas Ranger 9mm that causes pickup trucks to roll and explode. I'm still looking for a box or two of that!

 

[Clifford]

I would think any bullet stuffed with nitro would be problematic for loading and firing. If the weapon used was an autoloader the round would likely detonate during it's rough trip from the magazine into the chamber.

If it managed to survive the loading cycle, firing the round would be dangerous. First off the primer detonating would be enough of a shock to detonate the nitro. Even if the primer didn't set off the nitro the powder burning would.

Even if one were to insulate the nitro from the heat of the burning propelant I would bet that the pressure from accelerating the bullet from 0 to 2900fps in the barrel would detonate the nitro.

I can't imagine that the nitro detonating in the barrel would be good for the barrel or gas system. I would think the cartridge case would rupture or at least spit the primer out due to pressure as well.

 

[jluther820]

I knew there would have to be a thread about this episode...how do they expect you to believe that firing the bullet would not set off the nitro, but touching it with tweesers would cause it to detonate...This kind of deleted -- <Sam> is how we get dumb gun laws from people who believe this is possible. I think I need to go change my DVR to skip that show.

 

[RandyP]

Dang it!.....Does this mean I should stop searching for that Western pistol ammo that makes bad guys fly through the air through a saloon window?

Rats!

lol

 

[LiveLife]

As to the intent of CSI episode of delayed nitro bullet exploding in the body, I think this definitely belongs to the Mythbusters as:
- Nitro could be made more stable by compounding with some other material/chemical to be fired without detonating
- Bullet could be frozen to further stabilize the bullet to survive the shock of firing
- Have the tip of the bullet capped so it won't expand upon impact to human body

So, IF the frozen compounded nitro bullet survives the firing/travel down the barrel and don't expand upon impact to the body, it may explode later in the body?

I think it's highly unlikely as the bullet has to be lodged in the body - Now, how do you do that? Even with a heavy and slow rifle bullet, shot placement must be exact to embed the bullet in the body ...

As to .223 bullet traveling 5000 yards, didn't Remington make .223 sabot bullet into 30-06 that produced over 3500 fps? Probably not practical to hit a human target at that distance as shot placement will be very questionable to properly embed the bullet in the body, but maybe Mythbusters could test that too!

 

[ambidextrous1]

For several years, I have contemplated drilling a hole in the front of a 12 gauge slug and inserting a .22 rimfire cartridge into the hole with the primer at the front.

I haven't tried this - and don't think I will; but that idea keeps popping up every so often...

 

[awgrizzly]

As to the intent of CSI episode of delayed nitro bullet exploding in the body, I think this definitely belongs to the Mythbusters as:
- Nitro could be made more stable by compounding with some other material/chemical to be fired without detonating
- Bullet could be frozen to further stabilize the bullet to survive the shock of firing
- Have the tip of the bullet capped so it won't expand upon impact to human body

So, IF the frozen compounded nitro bullet survives the firing/travel down the barrel and don't expand upon impact to the body, it may explode later in the body?

I think it's highly unlikely as the bullet has to be lodged in the body - Now, how do you do that? Even with a heavy and slow rifle bullet, shot placement must be exact to embed the bullet in the body ...

Would seem more practical to offer a person a nitro popsicle and then punch him in the stomach.

When I was a kid I used to crush match heads, wrap them it tin foil and shoot them in a BB gun... they exploded on impact.

 

[Slamfire]

Maybe CSI will use the Birdman Nuke 50 in a future show.



http://www.biggerhammer.net/videos/birdman_nuke50.wmv

I am still trying to find that factory installed altimeter on my vehicle. You know, the altimeter that activates the explosive charge when your car goes airborne, like off a cliff, and blows your car into pieces.

Must be there, can’t be a Detective Episode go by without someone getting blowed up by that altimeter device.

If anyone knows what it looks like, please post a picture, so I can remove it.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

quote: When I was a kid I used to crush match heads, wrap them it tin foil and shoot them in a BB gun... they exploded on impact.

If you watch in the TV/movies where bullet impacts cause sparks, that is exactly what the special effects guys are doing. There is an outtake in the Firefly DVD where the bad guys fire at one of the good guys and sparks fly off the walls and the seat of his pants from the popper rounds fired from air guns.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

I have a friend who works for 911... it makes me worry about the human race due to the number of times they hear "Why can't you do it like in CSI? They did this and that and this blah blah..."

 

[LiveLife]

When I did Jury Duty earlier this year (They must've been desperate because I made it to first round jury selection - I got kicked off by the defense attorney), the District Attorney told us:

"You all watch CSI and Law & Order? I want all of you to know that in REAL LIFE(she really added emphasis) police work, we are not that perfect and sometimes make mistakes. I am telling you this so that your expectations of REAL LIFE(emphasis again) police work and crime scene investigation are not at the level that you see on television. Do you all understand?

Am I clear about REAL LIFE and television shows?

<We all nod and some of us even smile/smirk>

<DA looks around and with a stern face states> "Thank you."

 

[Iron Sight]

Maybe they are Hornady V-MAX? "Rapid, explosive expansion."