I've been kicking this idea around for a long time, but I never really had the guts to give it a shot.
I currently do not own any guns, and I'm no expert on the subject of making exotic bullets, but I've got some experience in the field of ballistics - just the basics or common knowledge. When I was little, I built a breath-powered dart blowgun that fired darts, and I've built a few 'experimental' rounds for it, including a sabot round fashioned from a steel spike that was able to punch through four layers of corrugated cardboard and still overpenetrate.
What I did was simple;
Tip....................End
<-----------------|<-
At the '|' line, I taped the cone, so it could slide up to the middle of the dart, but go no further. When it left the barrel, the cone would stay with the dart and guide it - not like a sabot round which breaks away upon leaving the barrel. But when the dart smacked the cardboard, it would penetrate up to its cone, and then the cone would simply slide off the end of the dart and remain in the hole torn by the spike or bounce off. The spike of course, free of the cone, would continue to go through. On some occasions, I aimed it at an angle, which caused the spike to 'tumble' as it passed through the cardboard, which made huge jagged rips in the cardboard.
Now, the question is this. I intend to take an ordinary, perfectly legal jacketed hollow point bullet, and then take a nail that would be able to fit inside the cup, and then cut off the length of the nail, leaving only the tip, and force it inside the cup so the tip is 'hidden' inside the cup of the bullet, and held inside with friction. There wouldn't be any protrusion. Or, if not a nail, a ball bearing or two.
My objective is to create a special hunting bullet that will behave similarly to the dart I built for the blowgun. I want the bullet to cradle the nail tip, and upon impact, I want the hollow-point bullet to create a wide entry wound for the nail to enter. Once the bullet encounters resistance and begins to flower and expand as all hollow-tips do, the nail will be released and go smashing through bone and tissue to cause further damage to kill the animal faster. This would mean less chance of merely wounding the animal and watching it get away and slowly bleeding to death, or in the event of being faced with a charging moose, better chance of killing it faster.
Now, I need to know these questions. I've never tried this in a real gun before, and...
One - ...I don't know if it will be legal. Canada's prohibited ammunition types are not listed under the Firearms Act, and are simply left up to the courts to decide. I know armour-piercing rounds got banned, and so did fire-setting or explosive rounds as well. I'm not sure if this round could pierce armour - if it can, I'm scrapping it. I'm not a criminal.
Two - ...I don't know if it will work as planned, provided the bullet even leaves the barrel. Will I just end up with a hollow-point round that happens to break apart, or will the nail cause the bullet to break apart in flight? Will it become a sabot or a waste of good money and a once-in-a-lifetime deer? Or will it just perform like a regular bullet or like a Glaser Safety-Slug and waste me a good lot of time and effort?
Well, your comments are welcome!
- Dave.
I currently do not own any guns, and I'm no expert on the subject of making exotic bullets, but I've got some experience in the field of ballistics - just the basics or common knowledge. When I was little, I built a breath-powered dart blowgun that fired darts, and I've built a few 'experimental' rounds for it, including a sabot round fashioned from a steel spike that was able to punch through four layers of corrugated cardboard and still overpenetrate.
What I did was simple;
Tip....................End
<-----------------|<-
At the '|' line, I taped the cone, so it could slide up to the middle of the dart, but go no further. When it left the barrel, the cone would stay with the dart and guide it - not like a sabot round which breaks away upon leaving the barrel. But when the dart smacked the cardboard, it would penetrate up to its cone, and then the cone would simply slide off the end of the dart and remain in the hole torn by the spike or bounce off. The spike of course, free of the cone, would continue to go through. On some occasions, I aimed it at an angle, which caused the spike to 'tumble' as it passed through the cardboard, which made huge jagged rips in the cardboard.
Now, the question is this. I intend to take an ordinary, perfectly legal jacketed hollow point bullet, and then take a nail that would be able to fit inside the cup, and then cut off the length of the nail, leaving only the tip, and force it inside the cup so the tip is 'hidden' inside the cup of the bullet, and held inside with friction. There wouldn't be any protrusion. Or, if not a nail, a ball bearing or two.
My objective is to create a special hunting bullet that will behave similarly to the dart I built for the blowgun. I want the bullet to cradle the nail tip, and upon impact, I want the hollow-point bullet to create a wide entry wound for the nail to enter. Once the bullet encounters resistance and begins to flower and expand as all hollow-tips do, the nail will be released and go smashing through bone and tissue to cause further damage to kill the animal faster. This would mean less chance of merely wounding the animal and watching it get away and slowly bleeding to death, or in the event of being faced with a charging moose, better chance of killing it faster.
Now, I need to know these questions. I've never tried this in a real gun before, and...
One - ...I don't know if it will be legal. Canada's prohibited ammunition types are not listed under the Firearms Act, and are simply left up to the courts to decide. I know armour-piercing rounds got banned, and so did fire-setting or explosive rounds as well. I'm not sure if this round could pierce armour - if it can, I'm scrapping it. I'm not a criminal.
Two - ...I don't know if it will work as planned, provided the bullet even leaves the barrel. Will I just end up with a hollow-point round that happens to break apart, or will the nail cause the bullet to break apart in flight? Will it become a sabot or a waste of good money and a once-in-a-lifetime deer? Or will it just perform like a regular bullet or like a Glaser Safety-Slug and waste me a good lot of time and effort?
Well, your comments are welcome!
- Dave.
