BULLET DISCHARGE

[PFISTO]

OK I realize that this could be a stupid question but I work with some very interesting people. So here it goes. What would happen if you placed a live round in a vice and discharged the bullet. would the round be dicharged with any significant velocity. No I have not nor will I try this myself.

Thanks Mike

[get2now]

Yep. See this thread and the pictures. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...ic=56656&hl=

[GentlemanJim]

It will just blow up in your face...depending how lucky you are ...and if you try it with a rifle round...it could kill you.

Firearms and ammunition are serious business...hypotheticals should be avoided.

Jim

[Alan Meek]

...hypotheticals should be avoided.

Jim

Unless of course you have aburning desire to be the Darwin Award Winner for the year

Alan

[PFISTO]

It will just blow up in your face...depending how lucky you are ...and if you try it with a rifle round...it could kill you.

Firearms and ammunition are serious business...hypotheticals should be avoided.

Jim

Well I guess thats my answer it will blow up. Are you certain of this?? I kinda thought that it may very well blow up but also is there any chance that the bullet would discharge from the case and only go a small distance??

[JThompson]

I don't think this question makes a lot of sense to most of us... We tend to think more along the lines of how to prevent it rather than wonder what part will go where if one were stupid enough to wack it with a hammer.

[GentlemanJim]

I cant believe we are having this discussion

YES it will blow up...and yes the bullet will leave the case...in what direction and with what velocity is totaly unpredictable(what does it matter)

The whole idea is DANGEROUS!!!!

Jim

[oldtrooper]

I'm glad PFISTO cleared the air by saying he would never try this but if someone did there is nothing to worry about. Anyone that would seriously consider clamping a round in a vice and hitting the primer to see what would happen would have their head so far up where "THE SUN DON'T SHINE" their eyes would be in no danger.

[kevin c]

Adam: "Kids, don't try this at home."

Jamie: "EVER!"

The Mythbusters gang, however you judge their sanity, science and methodology, did do something like this a while back - heating live loose centerfire ammo in ovens and in an open fire. Rounds uniformly went boom. Bullets did move, but, interestingly enough, if the case didn't burst (and my impression was that it usually did not under the conditions tested) what moved at the greatest velocity and caused the most damage was the case flying in the opposite direction of the generally much heavier bullet.

General theorizing: The bullet reaches high velocity by being pushed down the gun barrel by the burning powder gases, which have that push because they are contained within the barrel. The equal and opposite push on the case is soaked up by the whole gun because the case is held by the chamber and breech. Without the gun barrel, the expanding gases don't have their push concentrated behind the bullet so it doesn't move as far or as fast (still potentially dangerous, of course). Without the breech and chamber to hold the case, the burning powder inside turns it into a high power bottle rocket.

I would guess if you clamped the case in a vise with the bullet and case head free, and smacked the primer, setting off the round, the bullet would step out lively, but not reach expected muzzle velocity because of the loss of pressure once the bullet leaves the case mouth. The case might stay put, might pull free of the vise, moving in the opposite direction, or might just blow up.

In any case, you'd be insane to try anything remotely like this.

Edited November 28, 2007 by kevin c

[chuckbradley]

Well not so insane for a 6 year old.

Yes I took a 22 LR over to the park, Some of you will know the park- Stonehurst park in Sun Valley, Ca. They had these big rock BBQ's. I found a rock and proceeded to see what would happen if I smashed it with the rock on one of the BBQ's. I cant say where the bullet went, I was too busy digging a piece of brass case out of my arm. I was lucky it didnt get an eye. There have been plenty of stories of premature case detonation where the bullet just falls to the ground and the case peppers whoever is around.

[Allgoodhits]

OK I realize that this could be a stupid question but I work with some very interesting people. So here it goes. What would happen if you placed a live round in a vice and discharged the bullet. would the round be dicharged with any significant velocity. No I have not nor will I try this myself.

Thanks Mike

In essence a cartridge when fired by a locked breach in a chamber which surrounds the brass, will cause the bullet to exit the opening provided, i.e. the barrel and muzzle.

In essence a cartridge when fired (ignited) when not contained with a locked breach and a chamber is a bomb or more accurately described as a grenade. Depending on the weight of the bullet, and the burning rate of the powder, the bullet may hardly travel at all. However, it wouldn't matter since you would likely be pulling brass schrapnel out of your face for quite some time.

[wide45]

LAKE LUZERNE, New York (AP) -- A young man shot himself without using a gun.

Damion M. Mosher, who put bullets in a vise and whacked them with a hammer to empty the brass shell casings, was hit in the abdomen by one of the shots, authorities said.

Warren County deputies said they were called to Mosher's home in Lake Luzerne on Saturday afternoon after one bullet went about a half-inch into his abdomen. He was treated at Glens Falls Hospital and was released. No charges were filed.

Mosher, 18, told authorities he was trying to empty the .223-caliber rounds to collect the brass casings for scrap.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...

[SV_shooter]

wouldnt a case supported by the headspace in the barrel keep the brass from distorting or exploding? Hence why when chuck tried it, by banging it with a rock unsupported, he caught shrapnel? I would think a centerfire case would blow up like a grenade and toss the lead out the way. I could only imagine what a bottleneck case would do. without the pressure and support of the barrel, I cant suspect the bullet to go very far, but the brass to really destroy something. Sorry I was one of those unsupervised after school special type kids that had way too much access to 231, hi skor, green dot, shotgun primers and plumbers fittings and cannon fuse.... not to mention a very inventive, yet destructive sense of imagination

[Front Man]

LAKE LUZERNE, New York (AP) -- A young man shot himself without using a gun.

Damion M. Mosher, who put bullets in a vise and whacked them with a hammer to empty the brass shell casings, was hit in the abdomen by one of the shots, authorities said.

Warren County deputies said they were called to Mosher's home in Lake Luzerne on Saturday afternoon after one bullet went about a half-inch into his abdomen. He was treated at Glens Falls Hospital and was released. No charges were filed.

Mosher, 18, told authorities he was trying to empty the .223-caliber rounds to collect the brass casings for scrap.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...

Benosverse deserves a link to THAT story!

FM

[PFISTO]

I would like to thank everyone for thier input to this, Yes I KNOW most of us here view this discussion as something very ignorant and stupid and a waste of our time. But it was a serious question in a discussion about mythbuster's type stuff and I did not know the answer and I figured this would be the best place to get intelligent answers. So thanks again

[SA Friday]

The basic principle of all explosives is turning a solid (or liquid) into large amounts of gas. Controlling (or the manipulation of) those gasses is the key to understanding an explosion. There is an infinite amount of results possible from detonating a cartridge in a vise, but the portion of the casing supported by the vise jaws will fragment the least. The gasses will expand in the case essentially in a spherical shape. The supported portions of the case with redirect the gasses to areas of the case where they can continue to expand, and ultimately rupture outward from the case. This will also include where the bullet is seated into the case. Depending on the power type and amount, how the cartridge is in the vise, and how fast the case ruptures and vents the burning gasses, the bullet may or may not be propelled at efficient speeds to cause injury. What is guaranteed is the cartridge WILL fragment when venting and the parts of the cartridge will become fast moving sharp fragments. The case head may also become a projectile. With the lower mass and faster speed, the fragments will have enough kinetic energy to inflict damage from minor contusions to major injuries. A secondary danger is contusion from gasses completing their burn cycle while outside the cartridge causing burns and possibly even ripping soft tissues apart.

Attempting this rates on the stupid scale right up there with eating cow dung to see what it tastes like. We all do stupid stuff in our lives sooner or later. Fortunately, I have not done either of the above mentioned

[chrisa006]

A kid I went to 2nd grade with 45 years ago was blind in one eye from doing it in a vice with a 22

[bkeeler]

OK I realize that this could be a stupid question but I work with some very interesting people. So here it goes. What would happen if you placed a live round in a vice and discharged the bullet. would the round be dicharged with any significant velocity. No I have not nor will I try this myself.

Thanks Mike

Send this to mythbusters and let them try!

BK

[el pres]

Hey I got a real stupid one, a co-worker story.

The conversation went something like this.

Oh you shoot a lot huh, when we were kids we used to

tape a marble to the primer of a shotgun shell, throw

it in the air as high as poss and run like hell!!

Its unbelievable what stupid things people do, some

people are just asking for it!!!

Yes, I'm sure it will blow up in your face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!