In Bruges and dum-dum bullets

[sanjuro]

One of the characters acquired dum dum bullets, and proceeded to shoot someone 3 times center mass without putting him down. One of the bullets passed thru him and killed someone else.

Someone else was shot in the foot with a dum-dum and he was still able to walk.

Now I know that this makes for better drama, but since the film made a big deal about getting dum-dums, this is totally inaccurate, right?

[$tinkle]

is this some scottish dice game played around old stone fences with goat menstrual blood?

[sanjuro]

And I thought someone was going to answer my question...

[gonefirefightin]

rubber bullets and bean bags will leave one hell of a mark but is a pretty rare scenario for full body penetration.

[MikeD]

A "dum-dum" to my knowledge is pretty much an improvised version of a modern hollowpoint bullet. It's a round with the bullet cropped to a flat point, which is intended (as I understand; ballistics aren't my field) to cause expansion inside and transmission of energy to the target rather than allowing the bullet to pierce through and exit the target.

No handgun of any kind with any ammo will reliably put someone down without going into the brain. (And sometimes a single .22 short will kill...it's a crap shoot. And if you carry a .45, you tend to be convinced that your target will disappear in a red puff if your bullet passes anywhere nearby, and that the spirit of John Browning will apparate and gobble down the remaining flesh scraps after the shot.)

If they were rifle bullets, dum-dum or not, it's a better bet to get a one-shot-stop with a center mass hit or to render a limb/extremity totally destroyed or useless. But still, nothing's written in stone and no two gunshots (or shoot-ees) are alike.

I'd say the exaggeration in the movie was about the effects of the alternate ammunition; people being shot and continuing to move/fight/live is pretty common. (Ed: Although 3 CoM hits would probably be bad news for anyone...I wouldn't expect them to fight on for very long or to live unless they got medical care right away...) Likewise, the characters being convinced that they had some sort of ultimate weapon which didn't prove out is common in real life as well.

However, if you're gonna shoot a living thing, it IS best to use ammo that likes to do as much damage as possible to the target. (ie, I'd shoot someone with a 9mm hollowpoint round over a .45 ball round any day...)

[ultraNoob]

However, if you're gonna shoot a living thing, it IS best to use ammo that likes to do as much damage as possible to the target. (ie, I'd shoot someone with a 9mm hollowpoint round over a .45 ball round any day...)

how bout a .45 copper hollow point?

[MikeD]

I could use it to shoot the center of that red "X"...

[ultraNoob]

I could use it to shoot the center of that red "X"...

Red X? I think your reticle is broken.

[KW Driver]

as was stated, dum dums predated hollow points.

they generally started as a wad cutter, or semi-wadcutter in pistols, or were filed down for rifles.

most often they had an x or similar cuts filed into the flattened portion so they would spread or break into frangible spall as it went through the body.

how effective they were is up to debate. they had to have done ok, because they were used pretty frequently by line troops of all the sides during the WWI, and subsequently outlawed in the Geneva Conventions.

[ultraNoob]

as was stated, dum dums predated hollow points.

they generally started as a wad cutter, or semi-wadcutter in pistols, or were filed down for rifles.

most often they had an x or similar cuts filed into the flattened portion so they would spread or break into frangible spall as it went through the body.

how effective they were is up to debate. they had to have done ok, because they were used pretty frequently by line troops of all the sides during the WWI, and subsequently outlawed in the Geneva Conventions.

Hellofuh first post there. Welcome to Ridemonkey

[$tinkle]

Hellofuh first post there. Welcome to Ridemonkey

beware the beard

[skatetokil]

as was stated, dum dums predated hollow points.

they generally started as a wad cutter, or semi-wadcutter in pistols, or were filed down for rifles.

most often they had an x or similar cuts filed into the flattened portion so they would spread or break into frangible spall as it went through the body.

how effective they were is up to debate. they had to have done ok, because they were used pretty frequently by line troops of all the sides during the WWI, and subsequently outlawed in the Geneva Conventions.

I thought the ball ammo convention had more to do with fragmentation and subsequent lead poisoning with dum dums than immediate effects of the bullets.

[dante]

One of the characters acquired dum dum bullets, and proceeded to shoot someone 3 times center mass without putting him down. One of the bullets passed thru him and killed someone else.

Someone else was shot in the foot with a dum-dum and he was still able to walk.

Now I know that this makes for better drama, but since the film made a big deal about getting dum-dums, this is totally inaccurate, right?

Maybe they were ich luge bullets?

[Lowlight7]

I'm a little late to the party, forgive me.

Dum Dum bullets are named after the Dum Dum Arsenal in Calcutta.

When the British Army changed the .303 Enfield round from black powder to cordite (early smokeless powder, although not technically "powder"), velocity increased. A thin copper jacket around the bullet was called for to prevent deformation. Because of the increased protection from the jacket, it was felt that they could use a poorer quality lead. Some genius got the idea to peel off the copper jacket...

A modern hollowpoint expands to create a bigger wound channel; it's still circular and fairly clean. DumDums, on the other hand, fragment and create funny shapes and thus weird wounds that are difficult to treat even with modern medicine. When they strike bone they tend to shatter and splinter it, making it all but impossible to heal later. This poor quality lead was the same reason there were so many amputations from extremity wounds during the U.S. Civil War.

DumDum, is, however, just a colloquial term. The Imperial German Army were using an expanding bullet designed for hunting at the same time the British Army were jerry-rigging (pun intended) their bullets to do the same.

There is alot of confusion between DumDums and so-called "Devastator" bullets, which were .22 hollowpoints filled with lead azide and capped with aluminum, designed to explode after they hit their target.

[stevew]

And if you carry a .45, you tend to be convinced that your target will disappear in a red puff if your bullet passes anywhere nearby, and that the spirit of John Browning will apparate and gobble down the remaining flesh scraps after the shot.)

belly laughs.