Defensive Carry banner

Did the Hg bullet ever exist?

9K views 25 replies 16 participants last post by  ann 
#1 ·
Discussing this with a buddy this evening - and while I seem to recall mercury filled bullets in novels - not sure if they ever were for real.

Anyone know?
 
#4 ·
Well - it sure turned up in one or two movies - that was probably one then too, IIRC ''Day of the Jackal'' - Edward Fox had some ''special'' ammo.
 
#5 ·
I read somewhere- I think in an article on guns in movies- that this was totally bogus, and no such ammo exists, nor would it be useful. Problems like that are why Ian Fleming wound up using Geoff Boothroyd as his advisor, hence the "Armourer to James Bond" tag he often got. Of course, many have criticized Boothroyd's advice that Bond have a PPK. I suspect it wouldn't be the same if James pulled out a S&W bodyguard, although that might make more sense...:smile:
RB
 
#6 ·
In several of the NOVELS 007 did use other brands of firepower and in at least one instance it was a Smith & Wesson revolver (DR NO, IIRC).
 
#7 ·
Bud White said:
Isnt that what Chief Brody was making up in the bathroom in Jaws?
Jaws II and I think he was adding poison and covering with wax?

I think you'll find mercury bullets next to the freezer where they sell ice bullets.:danceban:
 
#9 ·
Because mercury is a toxin when introduced to the human body, I think that the case could be made that there exists specific intent to commit premeditated first degree murder. At least that's what a prosecutor once told me. So, even a valid self defense shooting would become a murder charge because you were acting in a proactively aggressive manner in creating the load to start with.

IIRC the DiNero character Travis Bickle created some mercury loads in the movie Taxi Driver.
 
#10 ·
(cough, cough) Not commercially. But, if you have access to numerous old wall-mount blood pressure cuffs, you can obtain the Hg. Speer .45 HPs, and Barnes .44 mag HPs hold the biggest payload. Seal with a dollop of gasket seal. Pretty much the kind of thing you mix up right before you go to the range, or coyote calling, as I wouldn't trust the gasket seal to hold for long, in a mag.

VERY spectacular in watermelons and milk jugs.:biggrin2:
 
#11 ·
mercury bullet

Doesn't anyone remember the assination on Pres. Reagan ?? He was shot with a 'mercury bullet' by Brinkley that day in 1981 .

I searched to verify my memory of that bullet and found some info, one of which follows :

Division of Forensic Pathology, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester, Royal Infirmary, PO Box 65 Leicester LE2 7LX, UK

True exploding bullets were first described over a century ago and, although not actually in use at that time, were prohibited under the St Petersburg Declaration of 1868, which states that explosive or inflammable projectiles, with a weight of less than 400 g, should never be used in the time of war. Examples include the Russian 7.62 mm x54R machine gun ammunition with an internal charge of tetryl and phosphorus, and later handgun cartridges containing Pyrodex charges, with or without mercury additives.2 It should also be noted that individuals can easily obtain instructions for the creation of their own bullets. The most infamous use of such bullets was the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981 by John Hinckley, who used "Devastator" bullets (Bingham Limited, USA) composed of a lacquer sealed aluminium tip with a lead azide centre designed to explode on impact. Although frequently referred to in works of fiction, they are rarely encountered in forensic practice, because sales have been restricted following the incident in 1981. Projectiles that have failed to detonate are also not as sensitive to movement and heat as mentioned in the article; the author refers to an article on this topic, but fails to acknowledge a follow up letter correcting Knight’s original mistakes.2,3 Burton has, unfortunately, reproduced these errors in his text. In addition, unexploded bullets are safe on exposure to x rays and ultrasound.4 The quantity of explosive is small and, if it fails to detonate on high velocity impact, is unlikely to explode during postmortem examination. We would indeed agree with the assertion that safety glasses should be used during necropsy examination of ballistic victims; however, as Burton himself details within his own book, such eye protection should be routine practice, regardless of the cause of death.
 
#12 ·
Thx for the research KY.

And Ex - yes sir - I can but imagine a prosecutor's field day if one of those was used in SD, yes sirree Bob :wink:
 
#13 ·
In the Patty Herst kidnapping (if memory serves me correctly) they used cyanide filled bullets. Not at all hard to do, get large hollow point , make larger with a drill bit if needed (can grind off nose of rifle FMJ, drill to neck of case), fill with desired substance (glycerin, paraffin etc) solder over the opening, it’ll make a believer of ya fo sure :danceban: :danceban:
 
#14 ·
Quote

from David Penn, Keeper of the Department of Exhibits and Firearms at the Imperial War Museum, London, quoted on page 160 of Murder Ink (Dilys Winn, Workman, 1984)
"In The Day of the Jackal, Forsyth arms his assassin with bullets specially loaded with a mercury blob in a cavity, alleged to have a wondrously mind-blowing effect on their victim. Far out, but no way would they work."
I suspect that Mr Penn is referring to any special effect from mercury, as opposed to some other material of equal weight. Mercury is very toxic, of course, and very soft (liquid at normal temperatures).
RB
 
#15 ·
Mercury

I cannot see as how Mercury inside a hollow bullet cavity would have any sort of practical Self~Defense application.
Mercury also needs to be "built up" in the human body as a metallic toxin...so it would not even add any immediate Stopping Power...as a poisoned bullet...not to mention the added STIFF penalties that the defensive shooter would be facing (as ExSoldier has already mentioned above.) ~
I'm best guessing that shooting a person with any bullet that contained any intentional poisonous substance would be an automatic felony.

People used to take Mercury orally to cure Syphilis. I guess it got rid of the disease and then the infected person shortly thereafter.

I also think Kennedy was shot with a Mercury filled bullet. Or one rifle in .223 caliber was a "back up" rifle & it was loaded with Mercury filled bullets.

Remember the Earliest Glaser Safety Slugs contained tiny lead shot or lead powder mixed with liquid Teflon? I think.:confused:
 
#16 ·
Take a Hornady,.458cal.,300grHP. Bore out the cavity with a inside neck deburing tool(so it weights approx. 281grs). Take a Fed 215 primer and seat it in the cavity with the firing pin side faceing outward. Put a very small bit of wax over it. Take an ordenary BB and set it ontop the primer. Then cover the entire opening with wax. Shoot it outta a Ruger #1H at 3000fps. Now that's EXPOSIVE !! (But I never did this.......I promise. ----------
 
#17 ·
The Mercury KY is writing about is Mercury Fulminate (or some related compound) originally used for blasting caps. The liquid mercury filled bullets would be hard to use safely, as their weight would be much higher than lead (mercury is much denser than lead), leading to dangerously high pressures. Mercury is also very chemically active, combining with most organic compounds and many metals, so I think a bullet filled with it and capped with wax would start breaking down almost immediately.
 
#19 ·
And I would think that liquid mercury, if you had a true stable way to put it inside a bullet, would have a negative effect in the accuracy because, IMHO, it would interfere with the rotation of the bullet.
 
#21 ·
Bruces45 said:
I perfer to use silver to fill my hollow points, just in case I run into a warewolf. Maybe even cast some pure silver rounds for those full moon nights. You can never be to prepared ya know:blink:
Lemme guess, it is a jungle out there, right?:danceban:
 
#22 ·
QKShooter said:
I cannot see as how Mercury inside a hollow bullet cavity would have any sort of practical Self~Defense application.
Mercury also needs to be "built up" in the human body as a metallic toxin...so it would not even add any immediate Stopping Power
I seem to remember the purpose (and this is probably urban legend) of the mercury was to cause the slug to expand or fragment more than usual (Being liquid, and non-compressable). It had nothing to do with being toxic.

People used to take Mercury orally to cure Syphilis. I gues it got rid of the disease and then the infected person shortly thereafter.
If I was home I'd check an old medical book, but I don't think the mercury actually cured as much as masked the symptoms.
 
#23 ·
AutoFan said:
The Mercury KY is writing about is Mercury Fulminate (or some related compound) originally used for blasting caps. The liquid mercury filled bullets would be hard to use safely, as their weight would be much higher than lead (mercury is much denser than lead), leading to dangerously high pressures. Mercury is also very chemically active, combining with most organic compounds and many metals, so I think a bullet filled with it and capped with wax would start breaking down almost immediately.
You're right re the fulminated mercury. I remember during the Reagan asassination attempt that they decided the bullets were 'fulminated mercury' filled to be explosive and then a little later on no mention was made again of the 'special' bullet formulation. I think they decided to hush the bullet description to keep others from getting the same ideas and information. I wonder also to this day if the mercury components in Reagans system maybe caused or contributed to his Alzheimers disease. I think I remember hearing that all the bullet material was never extracted from him ?????
 
#24 ·
Kentucky said:
You're right re the fulminated mercury. I remember during the Reagan asassination attempt that they decided the bullets were 'fulminated mercury' filled to be explosive and then a little later on no mention was made again of the 'special' bullet formulation. I think they decided to hush the bullet description to keep others from getting the same ideas and information. I wonder also to this day if the mercury components in Reagans system maybe caused or contributed to his Alzheimers disease. I think I remember hearing that all the bullet material was never extracted from him ?????
IIRC, the Reagan hit attempt was made not with mercury, but rather a commercial brand known as "Exploders" and consisted of taking a hollowpoint and putting a sort of primer inside, depending on the impact to set it off. IIRC it usually worked well when it struck something like wood but it was problematic in flesh. I remember the Docs saying that the exploder tip hadn't gone off. I don't recall what caliber was used on Reagan, but it came hair line close to a major artery. The Angels sure rested on Ronnie's shoulders!
 
#25 ·
Remarkably, the DIA study by Vedder B. Discoll, Colonel, US Army, Chief of the Soviet/Warsaw Pact Division of the Directorate for Intelligence Research, arrives at many of the same conclusions. It also finds (a') the driver having slowed the vehicle and endorses a three-shot scenario even while rejecting the notion that JFK was shot from above and behind. (b') Thefirst shot (to the throat) came from the right front, the second (to Connally) from above and behind, and the third (to the right temple) from the front, using a .223 calibre weapon loaded with a mercury-filled bullet. And (c') that a CIA evaluation of Oswald convinced them that he would be the perfect pseudo-defector
 
#26 · (Edited)
I dont want to post INFO that is going to get me locked again ,like in link below....but here goes.

http://www.combatcarry.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=65979#post65979

I have built mercury filled bullets and It does not work well at all. I filled a standard RUN OF THE MILL lead hollow point with mercury.

I sealed the top with JB Weld .
12 hours later after the epoxy should have cured, I found
I had a silver, not lead-colored bullet and the epoxy
had fell into the cavity.

That was the start of my study into "amalgams":
or the alloys of mercury with other metals.

Mercury goes into solution with a number of metals at room temperature, lead
being one of them along with silver, tin, copper, zinc, aluminum, and a host
of other metals. This is the reason you can use mercury to dissolve any leading
in your barrels. Dont handle mercury with a gold ring on...you will be sorry.:aargh4:

Back to the issue, the reason the bullet surface was a bright silvery color
was that the mercury had migrated along the free surface of the cavity and
reacted with the fresh lead along the way. I guarantee that if you put mercury
in a hollow point lead bullet without first coating the lead in some way you will
wind up with a fairly brittle homogenous bullet that will not "explode" . It will instead fracture.

I did work out a method to make a mercury filled bullet but why ???? Their is no use for them and they are not that cool anyway, so I will not post the recipe.:rolleyes:

I have some before,after and during "mercury" bullet build pics someplace.

I think a MUCH better way to go is to use OIL or Grease and fill the hollow point bullet and seal it in.

Silicone works so-so .

Their was a commercial .22lr load called hydro-core that used this type of design.

These hydro type design rounds do work.




BTW...EXploding bullets work excellent if they are built right(their are many ,many types),they will detonate everytime in gelatin as low as 800 fps and maybe a tad less.

I think the most INSANE round I have seen was the "LAST GASP" cyanide filled rounds,or maybe the GARLIC filled rounds used in the 1920s by gangsters.

I say skip ALL the EXOTICS of any type and use GOLD DOTS or RANGER T just my .02
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top