[TML] NY Reload

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 3/3/08 1:02 PM, "Knapp" <magick.crow at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was once told by a firefighter that cartages (is that the right
> term? Bullet and shell?) are not very dangerous because the bullet
> needs a barrel to get up to speed in. Is this the same for these guns?

Yes and no.  It needs the barrel to get up to speed to fly 100's to 1000's
of feet.  It doesn't need it to be dangerous.  Kind of like the difference
between shooting a spitwad* from your lips vs. a straw.  The straw (barrel)
gives you much better distance & control.

But think of it this way: the bullet is held to the shell with significant
force (just try pulling one off with your finger sometime!).  So, the
exploding gunpowder is going to achieve significant pressure before it
knocks it off.  All that pressure is on the back end of the bullet, for it's
going to fly off pretty fast.

For the record, the chunk of lead at the end is the bullet.
The metal body is the cartridge, casing, or shell (although shell also
refers to the flying body of an explosive artillery round).
The explosive propellant inside is the charge.
All together, they make a round.

Often, the terms are abused, ie. bullet to mean the round, etc.


* Small wet ball of paper, for people who were never American boys.  I don't
know the equivalent term in the rest of the world