Bullet question

[MasterBlaster]

I've been seeing trailers for George Clooney's movie The American. It shows him filing the point of a rifle bullet, making it flat.

What does doing that do? Not penetrate the body because it would fragment upon impact, due to friction?

I may have answered my own question...

 

[lumberjack]

Usually a bullet made with a larger metplat (that flat portion of the bullet) penetrates deeper.

What year/decade is the movie set in, do you know?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Present day, I 'spect.

 

[MasterBlaster]

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[lumberjack]

If it's current day, he's is futzing for the camera.

The only time I know of when you mess with the metplat of modern bullets with good reason is in high precission shooting, trying to make the metplat a consistent size/shape. Certainly not done with a file.

One exception is when using target bullets for shooting animals. Some will widen the metplat making the hollow point larger to peel the jacket off when it hits the game, doing more damage. IMO that's not good reason, it's poor bullet selection. If you're shooting game and you have time to prepare, select a bullet for that job. If you're trained up on the target bullet and can only use those, put the bullet in the head/spine and negate the need for the bullet to not do it's job.

Target rounds (Hollow Point Boat Tails) have very thin jackets, btw. Enlargening the metplat increases the diameter of the hollow point, but the results are largely unpredictable, and it effects accuracy.

 

[lumberjack]

I watched it three times and didn't see bullet filing?

 

[MasterBlaster]

It must be another trailer. Man, can you grab your feet like that, when he stretched? I tried and could barely grab my feet.

 

[lumberjack]

If I was as thin as him I could. No different than putting your nose to your knee/shin while standing.

 

[stehansen]

I thiink the bullet would expand more when it hit. The only other reason is if it is a centerfire and is going to be put into a tubular magazine. So it won't fire off the bullet that is in front of it in the magazine.

 

[wiley_p]

throws the BC off quite a bit.
Carl hit it right. Learn how to shoot, and bullet placement will trump design every time.

 

[GASoline71]

I would think it would mess with the BC too... making it very inconsistent at long range.

The modern rifle bullets that are available in this day and age are remarkable. No need to mess with them at all. There is a bullet for every single application you could think of that doesn't have to be modified. Whether it's target shooting, killing Alaskan Brown Bear, people, or rabbits... the options are limitless.

Gary

 

[Newfie]

It must be another trailer. Man, can you grab your feet like that, when he stretched? I tried and could barely grab my feet.

Can't answer the bullet question, but the other thing is a matter of stretching. Stretching is just as important as your treadmill. I may be tubby still but I am limber. I can touch my toes right now with legs locked out straight, someday for the ankle grab.

 

[jefflovstrom@sb]

Makes a big ugly hole!
Jeff

 

[Stumper]

It's just Hollyweird. Those Dumbdumbs heard of DumDums and then show their "expert" doing something stupid. As Carlito mentioned , proper bullet performance for any task is obtained by selecting the proper bullet. Altering a jacketed bullet with a file is a dandy way to degrade its performance but is unlikely to enhance anything.

BTW, Michael Medved reviewed that film today. He said that it was beautifully filmed ,competently acted and utterly vacuous. (But there is a lot of full frontal nudity of a gorgeous Italian chick if you can stomach that sort of thing.)

 

[stehansen]

I could force myself.

 

[Al Smith]

A little history of the "dum dum " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_bullet

Early on about cival war time hollow based "mini" balls "came into use .They left huge gruesome wounds when fired from those 58 cal rifled muskets .The expanding base would flatten out to about 1" in diameter and thus turn the impact of the slug into kinetic energy in the form of hydrastatic shock .I won't go into detail but that war left the most amount drug dependant veterans of probabley any act of war because of the massive amounts of amputees caused by ammunition of that type .
For example a 58 cal solid slug 320 grain will blow clear through a 55 gallon drum like it was paper .A 58 maxi ball which weighs 580 grain will punch one side, leave an impression like the other where hit with a sledge hammer and knock the barrel over .

The movie thing though was just hollywood hype to make an interesting story ,no doubt .