Utility of bullet holes

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herrwalther

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I was watching a show the other night, Alaska the Last Frontier, where they were constructing a smokehouse. After it was built they decided it needed more "ventilation" and decided to put some holes in it using firearms, namely a shotgun. This started me thinking if anyone else has used firearms for a utility purpose (other than hunting, plinking and anything else we use firearms for)

Side bar question. I am considering using a firearm to put some holes in a new barrel I picked up for burning trash. Anyone know if .22LR will do the job, I don't want to attract too much neighbor attention. I am rural enough to do it in my backyard just not that rural.
 
Some people trim trees with shotguns. I've always wanted to try CCI shotshell loads in a .22 rifle to take out pesky carpenter bees. I don't think that really counts as hunting LOL! I'd imagine it would work pretty well.
 
45 years ago, I used to shoot off the annual Christmas tree in the woods with a .357 Magnum.

As a kid, the old bee-keeper I worked for shot off out of reach tree limbs with bee swarms hanging on them with a 12 ga Model 12 shotgun.

I did the trash burn barrel thing a few times for my mom as a kid in 1950 something.
The problem is the fact that the .22 exit holes leave a jagged sharp edge on every one that will eat you up if you brush against the while dumping the trash!

Plus also the fact the .22 holes are too small to provide aduquate ventilation to keep a good hot fire burning in the barrel.

But the biggest problem with that now is the cost of ammo.
An electric drill & a 1/2" or 5/8" bitt is cheaper, and leaves cleaner holes for better fire ventlation.

rc
 
Side bar question. I am considering using a firearm to put some holes in a new barrel I picked up for burning trash.
Click to expand...
I shoot holes in my burn barrel all the time. Sort of a multiple purpose thing. Additional vent holes, load testing, and fun. :)
 
I drilled a hole in an outhouse a few years ago to install an anchor bolt for a guy wire. A 45 hole worked just about right.

I've ventilated a couple of burn barrels with 45's.

I was building a house once, the roof was sheathed but no roofing on yet. We had a week or more of rain, the sub-floor had standing water on it. I was worried about it soaking and drooping between the floor joists and the sheet edges swelling. I was going to drill holes, then thought about the k-22 in the truck. I used up a box of shorts shooting drain holes in the sub-floor. It worked fairly well, the floor came through OK, I didn't hit anything in the crawl space that was important.

I've also discovered that a 30-30 hole in a skunk makes a mobile nuisance that can affect my dog into a stationary stinky annoyance.
 
A .22 is pretty good for harvesting mistletoe at Christmas time. That was a long time ago when I lived in the country...
 
Originally posted by Tommygunn
I'd have thought a .30-30 would reduce a skunk into a fine red mist
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It wasn't a fine red mist, it did seem to have pretty well turned it inside out. The neighbor a 1/4 mile away could smell the resulting mist effect though.
 
Helped a guy break up a boulder for a footing.we were building a roof over the firing line.he used 30-06 ap to get a crack started in the boulder and I would jump into the hole with a bar and pry the broken rock apart and throw out the chunks.worked pretty good.I was able to pick up a few of the bullet cores.After penetrating several inches into the solid rock,they were still needle sharp.
 
A few rounds from a 12 gauge will get rid of bag worms hanging in a branch that's out of reach. My dad and I got rid of a few that way when I was a kid.
 
If you have an acetylene torch or plasma cutter, that is far more effective, safer and cheaper.

Also, as RCmodel said:

The problem is the fact that the .22 exit holes leave a jagged sharp edge on every one that will eat you up if you brush against the while dumping the trash!
Click to expand...

We've used 55 gallon barrels as target holders, and in a very short time, there's no safe way to grab them.
 
If you have an acetylene torch or plasma cutter, that is far more effective, safer and cheaper.
Click to expand...

That depends on what was left in the barrel from it's prior use...

After they were rinsed (and still full of water) my dad would have us take the top off with a cold chisel. Then we'd drive the chisel through the sides a couple dozen times between the bottom and first ring to drain it and provide ventilation.
 
saw this for sale on facebook, and thought it might make a good chainsaw...

10363352_10204054201219506_6025401097068303061_n.jpg
 
a pick-axe is the quick and dirty method of ventilating a metal burn barrel. not as much fun as a firearm, but gets the job done right and right now.

murf
 
In my early 20's I built a remote cabin (read shack) at a lake. When it came to installing the kitchen sink I needed to put a hole through the floor for the drain pipe. The brace and bit had been left behind---so--- I went over to my next door neighbor, borrowed his 12 gauge, stood on a chair and fired through the floor. All that was left to do was to trim the hole with my key-hole saw.
 
My uncle used to use an old fridge as a smoker when I was a boy, and he CLAIMED he used a 12gauge to put the vent holes in it. It always struck me as most likely a statement filled with what a cow makes patties from, but I was too young to prove him wrong. lol
 
My current drill is a pitiful excuse for said tool. At 7.2V it could not drill vent holes in the burn barrel. Adding to that watching the TV show was how I got the idea.

thefish said:
No. But don't be this guy.


http://m.kmbc.com/Man-Installing-Sat...-Wife/12338176
Click to expand...

I don't even see how he expects to get away with that as an excuse.

rcmodel said:
The problem is the fact that the .22 exit holes leave a jagged sharp edge on every one that will eat you up if you brush against the while dumping the trash!
Click to expand...

Good point but not as big of a concern to me. What I lack in tools for the drill department I make up in having more than my share of files. Wouldn't take long to file down any exit holes that could be a finger problem.
 
Never used a gun for ventilation purposes.

We used to take shotguns out and shoot mistletoe down to hang around the house at christmas. I guess that's all the non traditional uses for a gun I've ever took part in.
 
Industrial shotguns (usually 8 Gauge) are used to knock slag off the walls of blast furnaces. Rifles and cannons have been used to shoot lines from ship to ship.
 
After Chernobyl the Russians used AK-47s to drill a hole through some concrete so an RC toy truck with a wireless camera could do some inspections. Things were too radioactive to get close and use normal tools.
 
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