From: callison@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu (James P. Callison)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: 9mm shootings (2)
Date: 12 Dec 92 00:19:52 GMT
Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

In article <RTARAZ.92Dec10140734@bigwpi.WPI.EDU> rtaraz@bigwpi.WPI.EDU (Ramin Taraz) writes:
##>>>> On 10 Dec 92 05:27:09 GMT, callison@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu (James P. Callison) said:
#
#callison> In article <77841@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt4458c@prism.gatech.edu
#callison> (John Stephens Cronin) writes: # #I have a few stories that
#callison> confirm the power of blanks.  For those of #you familiar
#callison> with the M16 cleaning kit, we would regularly drop one
#callison> section #of the cleaning rod in front of a blank and then
#callison> shoot it 3-4 inches deep #into an oak tree.  Also, I have
#callison> dropped 6 penny nail in front of a .30-06 #blank, and then
#callison> shot said nail all the way through a bar stool, part of #a
#callison> wall, and one layer of sheet rock.  Suffice it to say,
#callison> BLANKS ARE EX- #TREMELY HAZARDOUS.

WHOA, hold on a minute here. Re-check the attributions. _I_ didn't
say that (although blanks _are_ extremely dangerous).

#Come on, of course if you put something in the barrel or at the end of
#itand shoot a blank, the (what-ever-in-the-barrel) will fly, kinda
#like a bullet!! 
#the gases comming out of a blank probably have the same speed and
#pressure as a regular bullet shooting out a bullet, the only
#difference is that they dont shoot anything. 
#now, stand a few feet (maybe a few yards) away from the barrel and you
#wont feel a thing,  other that the sound and maybe a shockwave!
#please correct me if I am wrong.

OK. You're wrong. :-)
Blanks contain, if I'm not mistaken, a wad to take up the space
normally taken up by the bullet. This wad is then fired out of
the barrel at a velocity higher than said missing bullet (due to
its significantly lower mass). So, in a .44Magnum blank we're talking,
what, 2000fps? That's about a mile every 2.5 seconds or so (I think;
I never did learn feet->miles conversions...), or is it a mile every
1.5-2 seconds? Anyhow, it's _fast._ It's much faster than the winds
in a tornado (about 150mph, give or take, for a decent sized 
twister), and a tornado is capable of sending a daisy through a
telephone pole. (I had a friend who'd actually seen this, when he
went on a damage survey after a fairly average size tornado. He
was suitably impressed :-) If you get hit with a projectile of
any size at that velocity, it's gonna hurt. Now, since it's not
a very hard substance, it's _probably_ not going to penetrate
very well (the daisy has the advantage of being a thin, stiff
projectile), but if it hits a weak spot, say, your temple, at
close range, watch out...
Besides, at close range, you're going to get a non-negligible
powder burn from the escaping gases/burning residue...

				James

James P. Callison       Microcomputer Coordinator        OU Law Library 
Callison@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu   /\    Callison@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu
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DISCLAIMER: I'm not an engineer, but I play one at work...
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	Please! Let's call it "informationally impaired."
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