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Mythbusters Episode #67
Original Air Date: November 29, 2006 Firearms Folklore/Exploding Hammer
"Firearms Folklore"
The Myths:
1. Backwards Bullet
Can a bullet fired from a semi-automatic pistol be lodged into the cylinder of a revolver?
The Experts:
Sgt. Alan Normandy, South San Francisco Police Dept.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
"That would be kinda stupid...one of us would get badly hurt" - Jamie
"It should...heh heh! Heh heh! It *should* work!" - Adam
Adam & Jamie seem to be really excited about these myths. Jamie starts off with the Backwards Bullet, which Adam explains happened during a police shootout in Seattle. Apparently, one of the perpetrator’s bullets lodged itself in one of the police officer’s revolvers, so, naturally, the guys want to see if such a feat is even possible.
It's just a short trip to the South SFPD Firing Range, where Sgt. Alan Normandy states that his department has been doing research on this myth and that he's "really excited about this experiment."
The guys waste no time setting it up. They place two guns in special clamps on their shooting apparatus. One clamp has a Glock semi-auto in it, and the other has a police-style .38 revolver. They also go to painstaking lengths to insure precision aiming with laser-aimed boresighting mechanisms. But Alan suggests they test their aim first on a paper target. With the Glock set up as the "shooting gun", Alan staples a target to a piece of plywood as the guys dial in the laser-aimed boresight to the bullseye.
With the Glock set up only five feet from the target, Alan expresses some trepidation as to the accuracy of the bullet’s trajectory. Once the shooting gun is aimed absolutely precisely, Adam, Jamie, and Alan retreat to safety and take some test shots at the target.
With Rob explaining about the Seattle shooting incident, the guys' test shots show that their Glock is aimed as close to center as they can get it, so they proceed with the experiment. They set up the revolver at the opposite end of their shooting apparatus, and break out the boresight again to aim the Glock right down one of the empty chambers on the cylinder.
The first shot knocks the cylinder out of the revolver, with Adam expressing disbelief. "Is that as bad as I think it is?" he asks.
The high-speed camera shows the Glock's bullet disintegrating on the revolver's cylinder, with the impact knocking the cylinder loose. Alan concludes their aim was a bit high, so they try again. Bringing the Glock's aim down a bit does produce a result, though not quite what they want. They do get the bullet to go down into the cylinder, but, like the first shot, all they get out are some small fragments.
Rob and Adam seem to come to the same conclusion...the Glock bullet (9mm) is slightly larger than the revolver's (.38 caliber) cylinder bore. Jamie expresses some frustration in accomplishing this task, finally concluding that "these guns just aren't designed for that."
They soldier on, despite the odds. Shot after shot, aiming and adjusting, they finally accomplish the impossible. One might say "third time's the charm", but in this case, it was the fifth time that brought home The Holy Grail.
Jamie, Adam, and Alan are very pleased with the results, even if it took Jamie 15 minutes to remove the Glock's bullet from the revolver.
Backwards Bullet - CONFIRMED
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2. Sniper Scope
Can a military sniper actually shoot and kill an enemy sniper by shooting through the scope?
The Experts:
Sgt. Alan Normandy, South San Francisco Police Dept.
Gunnery Sgt. Carlos "White Feather" Hathcock (deceased), Viet Nam era sniper with 93 confirmed kills
Mike Fournier - Firearms dealer at The Gun Exchange
Memorable Quotes:
"So, is that a good rifle?" - Jamie
"Ohhhh, man..." - Mike Fournier
"Yeah...good shootin' there, Tex!" - Jamie
"I think *that* was the money shot!" - Adam
The next myth is another one that Adam is very excited about. He talks about a scene from a movie where one sniper kills another by shooting through the scope, but then says the insurance company might be a little upset about one of them being the sniper's victim. They decide to make a ballistics wax bust of Grant to stand in for the sniper's victim.
As Adam melts down the wax, Rob explains that the myth came from the Viet Nam War, where Gunnery Sgt. Carlos "White Feather" Hathcock was reported to have killed an enemy sniper by shooting him through the scope. In the meantime, Jamie goes to The Gun Exchange and talks to Mike Fournier, a firearms dealer, to secure a couple of sniper-type rifles and a few sniper-type scopes. Mike explains that one could "hit a fly at 500 yards" with the rifles Jamie finally settles on.
Back at M5, Adam finishes the ballistics bust of Grant, then proceeds to build the target rig for the bust to sit on. Once that's accomplished, they load up the Seagate truck for the trip to the local rifle range, where Sgt. Normandy is waiting for them.
Alan explains the range is 100 yards wide, from the bench to the target area, and that for an expert marksman, the distance is well within the realm of possibility. He further explains that during World War II, marksmen were trained to shoot at the glint coming from the enemy's scopes.
While Alan seems rather optimistic about a result, Jamie expresses trepidation in actually accomplishing this task. His concern is the optics in the scopes could deflect the bullets in such a way that it may actually protect their victim from getting shot.
Alan takes a few test shots at a paper target, sights the rifle in to center, then Adam and Jamie take a few shots for themselves. Once that's accomplished, they set up their target rig and start the experiment.
A coin flip decides Jamie shoots first. He takes aim and fires...but, as he feared, the scope deflects the bullet. Adam's turn at the rifle produces the same result, as does Alan's. With nothing left to lose, the guys try one last attempt at point-blank range. Even though the impact knocks the enemy scope off the rifle, it's the same result.
Adam explains that, without the scope that Gunny Hathcock shot through to prove the myth, they have to call this one BUSTED (much to Jamie's chagrin, as he says he doesn't want to make a lot of snipers angry).
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3. Fused Bullets
Can two fired Civil War-era bullets actually fuse in midair?
The Experts: none
Memorable Quotes:
"Disco Sucks!" - Adam's MBFC T-shirt
"I heard that bounce around!" - Jamie
"They're kinda going *psshew!* *psshew!*" - Adam
"It's like herding cats!" - Jamie
Adam wants to see if it's even possible for two fired Civil War-era bullets to fuse in midair. Jamie acknowledges that this might be the trickiest myth to tackle, explaining that the bullets might go every which way but into each other. Adam concurs, but still expresses an interest in pursuing it.
They start off with Adam casting what are known as 'minie-balls' out of pure lead. Jamie has the task of securing two Civil War-type rifles to shoot their ammunition at each other.
Adam suddenly has a brainstorm of "Crimes & Myth-Demeanors" proportions. He suggests using the "Magnetic Hockey Pucks Of Death" to secure the rifles into place in their bunker. He further explains that, because there are so many variables, from their digital timers, to the way the bullets are loaded in the rifles, to the particulars of the black powder and caps, this myth may not be very easy to test.
Not letting uncertainty put a damper on their enthusiasm, they set up in the bunker, secure the rifles, and proceed with the experiment. Adam uses the laser boresighting mechanism from "Backwards Bullet" (and a pair of deflection collars on the rifles' muzzles) to line up the rifles to dead center. Inserting a sheet of bulletproof plastic between the two rifles, the guys clear out and take a test shot.
The timing is off by a few milliseconds, as is evident on the high speed. One rifle fired just ahead of the other, knocking one of the bullets out of the plastic. Adam seems rather pleased that his aiming efforts were dead on, so they take a few more test shots before they remove the plastic and proceed with the actual test.
But, try as they might, they just can't get their timing right. One rifle keeps firing just ahead of the other, so a fused bullet seems unreachable...until Adam has another brainstorm. He enlists Tory's aid with the holder the younger man built for the "Shooting A Silver Dollar" from the "Gunslinger Myths". Adam takes the holder to the bunker, secures one of the minie-ball bullets in it, loads one of the rifles, and retreats to safety.
"Kaaaa...POW!" as Adam says, and a quick search of the bunker produces Civil War-era gold. The two bullets have fused, as if they were flying toward one another.
Fused Bullet:
PLAUSIBLE.
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"Hammer vs. Hammer"
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The Myth:
Can hitting two hammers together cause the heads to explode?
The Experts:
Scott Thomas - Blacksmith
Memorable Quotes:
"It'll be like *ka-BLAMMO!*" - Grant
"It'll be like *bla-DOWWW!" - Tory
"Unbreakable...under normal conditions" - Kari
"Who had the 20 ounce claw hammer...medium?" - Grant
The Build Team decides to take on the viewers in this myth. Tory explains that some viewers seem to think that Jamie uses his hammers unsafely, as demonstrated in a short "Barrel Of Bricks" clip. Kari wields a couple of ball-peen hammers, thinking the myth is totally bogus, but Grant sides with the fans, stating that it could be "a little dangerous".
So, what to do? Build a hammer-swinging robot, of course. Tory examines a few hammers, noting a safety warning on one orange-colored hammer, before he sets out to build the robot.
Kari ventures forth to visit Scott Thomas, a blacksmith who makes, among other things, hammers. He explains that smacking two hammers together could be bad, as they might chip, fracture, or break.
Back at M7, Tory has designed and built the robot, complete with pneumatic actuators, so they put couple of wood-handle claw hammers on the rig, and swing them together.
Something breaks, all right...but not the heads. It was the handles, giving way at the pipe clamps holding the hammers onto the rig.
Rob states that some hammers are tougher than others, so Kari brings in two all-steel ball-peen hammers. The inevitable collision between the two (as the high-speed camera shows) reveals that the handles are springier than expected, but one hammerhead does have a noticeable dent on the face.
But, Grant thinks the robot isn't fast enough, so they take a moment for some re-thinking, and decide to see how hard and fast a person can swing a hammer.
Tory's up first. He tries to drive a nail into a thick 4X4, but misses the head by mere millimeters, putting a nice dent in the board. His second shot does no better, as he hits the same spot. Grant takes the opportunity to razz Tory about that...but he soon regrets it. Tory's next swing hits something, all right...Grant's foot. It seems that Tory lost his grip on the hammer and dropped it on the follow-through.
In response to "Butterfingers" Belleci's latest slip, everyone backs away (with Grant hiding in the bunker) as Tory finally drives the nail into the board. The result proves that the robot is, indeed, swinging their hammers at the same velocity as a human, so they go back in with some used hammers this time. The theory behind this is that over time, the hammers may have been tempered and become more brittle.
Nope...same result. The handles seem to be absorbing a lot of the impact.
So...how about freezing a hammer? Nope. All they manage is a dented face.
The team seems to be headed down the dead-end road to Busted-ville, until Jamie stops by and offers an alternative. Superheat the hammerheads, and then quench them in used motor oil.
Jamie's theory (as explained by Kari) seems to be that superheating the heads to red- or white-hot, and then immersing them in motor oil will help the heads absorb more carbon and make them more brittle so that they should explode.
Tory secures a panful of used motor oil, then he and Grant fire up the barbecue to heat some of their hammers to red-hot. Kari takes one of the hammerheads to the oil pan and drops it in. Instantly, the oil catches fire as the head is submerged.
Tory seems to be having a problem putting the fire out, but they finally manage to extinguish the blaze, and retrieve their hammers, before it gets too far out of control. Then, he has a brainstorm. Securing one of the robot's arms, Tory places an anvil in the rig.
Grant arms the robot, then clears out.
But, even with the added carbon in the hammer, swinging it against the anvil results in a bent handle at about a 30 to 45 degree angle...with the head completely intact.
Hammer vs. Hammer:
BUSTED.
But, Rob cautions that it's never a good idea to hit two hammers together anyway.
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Episode Descriptions 
