Explain this

[Militarypol21]

What kind of bullet is this and what is it fired out of? Is it really explosive or are they just "blowing smoke"?

Video:
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

There are some up-caliber HE rounds out there...

Anti-armor type stuff...

Hard to tell how big the thing is, though. Doesn't look quite big enough to be a 40mm round from like a "grenade launcher". 30mm?

It's a wonder that the impact of something that big didn't kill the guy in the first place. Hard to imagine something going fast enough to embed itself in a skull but not cause enough blunt-force trauma to be DRT?

-J-

 

[shooter521]

Hard to tell how big the thing is, though.

At one point, Dr. Gupta puts the bullet against a ruler; it appears to be about 2-3/4" long. I'm thinking 12.7mm (.50BMG) or Russian 14.5mm?

It's a wonder that the impact of something that big didn't kill the guy in the first place.

Given the angle of entry (almost perpendicular to the ground) and the relatively shallow penetration depth, my first thought was that he ate a ricochet or a round that was falling after being fired wildly into the air, or something.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

At one point, Dr. Gupta puts the bullet against a ruler; it appears to be about 2-3/4" long. I'm thinking 12.7mm (.50BMG) or Russian 14.5mm?



Given the angle of entry (almost perpendicular to the ground) and the relatively shallow penetration depth, my first thought was that he ate a ricochet or a round that was falling after being fired wildly into the air, or something.

Guess I didn't watch the clip long enough to see the measurement.

The CT scan images had the projectile looking pretty "stubby"... Aren't "50 cal" rounds typically longer than that? Perhaps, though, that explosive rounds are different construction...

And yes, ricochet or otherwise deflected, almost certainly. I'd think that an un-deflected projectile like that, no matter the ballistic trajectory, would probably still have the inertia to kill...even if it went, perhaps, 2-3 miles?

But...what do I know? All we're doing is speculatin'!

 

[shibumiseeker]

It looks like a Mk211 Mod 0 (Raufoss). OAL is about right and the xray had the right configuration. If so it's not a true HE round but dangerous enough, though I wouldn't be turning off critical surgical equipment.

 

[shibumiseeker]

It's a wonder that the impact of something that big didn't kill the guy in the first place. Hard to imagine something going fast enough to embed itself in a skull but not cause enough blunt-force trauma to be DRT?

-J-

It wasn't in the skull, it was between the skull and the skin. It did cause a depression fracture, but it looked like to me from the ct scan that it came in oblique.

 

[herby31]

too long to be any fifty cal round i know of. might have been something exotic for the dishka(russian 50 cal, i dunno it's real nomenclature). i'm guessing something fired from an aircraft, or an anti-armor round. armor piercing and incendiary rounds are commonly marked with different color tips so that you can tell what you are loading up to send downrange. no color on the tip makes me wonder if the bombsquad stuff was just precautionary. i suspect it might have been a typical "ball" round and the surgeons took precautions, and cnn over-reacted.

oh and for whoever asked about the 40mm grenade launcher, that and the m2 50 cal fall under my mos in the corps. its not 40mm.

 

[CountryBoy19]

too long to be any fifty cal round i know of. might have been something exotic for the dishka(russian 50 cal, i dunno it's real nomenclature). i'm guessing something fired from an aircraft, or an anti-armor round. armor piercing and incendiary rounds are commonly marked with different color tips so that you can tell what you are loading up to send downrange. no color on the tip makes me wonder if the bombsquad stuff was just precautionary. i suspect it might have been a typical "ball" round and the surgeons took precautions, and cnn over-reacted.

oh and for whoever asked about the 40mm grenade launcher, that and the m2 50 cal fall under my mos in the corps. its not 40mm.

Shibumiseeker normally knows what he is talking about, and he should certainly know in this case. It is very likely a .50 cal round.

It looks like a Mk211 Mod 0 (Raufoss).

 

[herby31]

Shibumiseeker normally knows what he is talking about, and he should certainly know in this case. It is very likely a .50 cal round.

didn't mean to sound like i was dismissing what he said, it just looks awfully long to me.

 

[HICKMAN]

is it me, or does it just look like a hollow point rifle round?

They are talking like it's some unexploded piece of ordnance...

 

[Militarypol21]

is it me, or does it just look like a hollow point rifle round?

They are talking like it's some unexploded piece of ordnance...

A agree it does look like a hollow point round. Working in a hospital, Emergency Rooms, do have a tendancy to over react. I don't see how a CT Operator could tell it was an unexploaded bullet just by looking at the results. You would think if it was going to "explode" it would have done so on impact. I don't see how pulling it out of the guys head would make it "explode" if it didn't already.

I do say the whole "turning off all the electronics" in the room is complete BS.

 

[Bendrx]

The reporter enjoyed calling it a cartridge so I think it's safe to say that there is much confusion on the medias part as usual. He also said something about the detonator still being visible - I couldn't see it. No munintions expert myself, not even close, but looks like a longer rifle HP to me. Good find.


"The 14.5mm round of ammunition became lodged in the man's skull during a bomb explosion, Sky News reports."
Odd - News - Live bullet 'removed from soldier's head' - Digital Spy

 

[Cat-Herder]

i've got a box of rocks somewhere that can outwit those talking heads any day of the week. what complete sensationalist dolts.

 

[451_Detonics]

here is the bullet in question...

Perhaps it was an incendiary round that hadn't ignited?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Shibumiseeker normally knows what he is talking about, and he should certainly know in this case. It is very likely a .50 cal round.

Awww shucks. I just try to keep my trap shut and learn when I don't know much about something. Makes me look smarter than I am

I was wrong about the round not containing any HE, some of the bursting charge is either Comp A or PETN. I am pretty sure that it doesn't contain a primary explosive, but I'm not 100% about that.

didn't mean to sound like i was dismissing what he said, it just looks awfully long to me.

The picture the media showed was distorted (stretched), probably to make it look more impressive or to make reading the tape easier for viewers. The tape showed it at about 2-3/4".
A standard M33 ball .50bmg is about 2-1/4" and I have 800gr boreriders that are a hair under 2-3/4".

I may be mistaken but the xray of the bullet itself made the interior look a lot like the xrays of raufoss rounds I've seen. There's a lot of fake ones on the civilian market since they go for $60-100@: the only way to tell if it is real, short of firing, is to xray it.

I too am just speculating though. It most certainly did not look like a complete cartridge.

 

[herby31]

can u school me, shibumi? what is a raufoss round? (sincere question)

 

[shibumiseeker]

can u school me, shibumi? what is a raufoss round? (sincere question)

It's a HEIP (high explosive incendiary penetrator). Basically a .50bmg round that uses a pyrotechnic initiator along with a base charge of a secondary explosive and an indendiary agent, backed up by a tungsten penetrator. It's the most effective .50bmg round against anything the .50 can hit (equipment or personnel). The penetrator goes through light armor and the HE and incendiary is good inside against fuel or personnel. As I understand it the secondary explosive is most likely set off by the action of the penetrator compressing it against the pyrotechnic initiator since there is no primary explosive involved. So against soft targets (personnel) it won't set off the base charge.

They are legal for civilians to own but fiendishly difficult to get since they can only be legally obtained through very limited means, hence the $60-100 cost. The military uses them more often, but it's not the most common .50bmg by far they use.

 

[herby31]

thanks. i can't beleive i thought slap rounds were the coolest. should have known there was a 50 that actually exploded. now that just makes me want to buy something that shoots 50 bmg.