What does an expansive bullet do to flesh. "Dum-dum" - a legend from India

Recipes 09.08.2019

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The answer to the question “which bullets are better for self-defense?” To be honest, depends on many factors. The aggressor's weapons and protective equipment, the presence of states of altered consciousness, the aggressor's goal (to kill or simply injure), personal shooting skills, available caliber, weapons, and much more.

FMJ(Full Metal Jacket) - all-metal bullet. JHP(Jacketed hollow point) - expansive bullet.

Therefore, in some situations, an all-metal bullet will have an advantage, and in another, an expansive one. And now we will try to figure out when and what is more convenient.

Full Metal Bullet

If the target is protected by a bulletproof vest, then it is possible to inflict damage on it with expansive bullets, but only on unprotected parts of the body. And this requires high shooting skills.

A bullet with an all-metal jacket, in section.

But solid metal bullet can cause significant harm, up to rib fractures and pneumothorax, even if it hits a bulletproof vest. In addition, if the target actively shoots back and hides behind cover, the chance of being hit by an all-metal bullet will be higher, since it will be able to save some of its kinetic energy even if it ricochets.

If you have to use a large caliber, then the striking ability of a conventional bullet with an all-metal jacket is almost as good as the effect of an expansive one.

But on this, perhaps, the advantages of an all-metal bullet for self-defense end.

Full-metal-jacketed bullets that shot through a thick telephone directory.

Expansive Bullet

It has a high stopping power, almost no ricochets, gets stuck in the target and does not risk hitting someone behind it.

Cartridge 9mm with an expansive bullet, in a section.

An expansive bullet gives a large wound channel with massive internal damage and a high chance of arterial bleeding.

An expansion bullet is technically designed to kill.

Therefore, it is actively used by hunters and intelligence officers, for whom it is important to destroy the target as quickly as possible, and not just inflict some damage on it.

Expansive bullets 147 Federal HST Expansion (bottom center - unfired bullet).

As experiments and studies have shown real cases shooting, sometimes you have to fire 5 or even more all-metal bullets to stop a person in a state of altered consciousness. Or two expansion bullets.

Much more often for a civilian, a situation arises in which it is necessary to somehow fight off an “inadequate” body, and quickly, and not engage in a shootout. So, purely theoretically, an expansive bullet better performs the main task of self-defense - to eliminate the threat by 100 percent.

Expansive bullet in ballistic gel.

Another thing is that the use of expansive bullets almost always gives a corpse or severe disability. Do you know how legislation usually works - "If there is a corpse, someone should sit down." And here the dialogue moves to another plane.

But as it seems to us personally, if you have already started shooting, then make sure that the target does not tell anything to anyone. Still, it's easier to fight off ballistics and the results of the study of records taken from street cameras than from smart-ass lawyers for a villain who suddenly became a "victim".

So our conclusion is expansion bullets best suited for self defense. What do you think?

Among the wide variety of weapons created by man, there are many prohibited types. Such a weapon existed before, only few people know about it. In the Middle Ages, the obligation to ban this or that weapon was assumed by the church, which she simply “cursed”. Nowadays, there are various conventions, acts and agreements prohibiting the use of weapons mass destruction and other inhumane weapons. It is about prohibited weapons that will be discussed further.

According to historians, the first flamberg sword was forged in the 15th century and around the same time it was “cursed” catholic church like an inhumane weapon, unworthy of a Christian

The soldiers' instructions of some countries clearly stated: "Any enemy soldier caught with a wave-like blade must be executed on the spot without trial"

Due to the shape of his blade, the flamberg easily cut through armor and shields, leaving lacerated wounds on the body that even modern medicine can not cope with easily.

In fact, "flaming" blades became the first weapon banned from use during hostilities.

Expanding bullets. Expansive bullets are ammunition that, when hitting a target, increase their lethality by increasing their diameter.

These bullets were developed at the end of the 19th century by British Army Captain Neville Bertie-Clay to fight "savage fanatics" during the colonial wars.

Today, these ammunition are banned from use in military weapons, as they cause excessive damage. However, they are allowed for hunting and self-defense.

The heart of a wild boar through which an expanding bullet of 9 mm caliber passed

Anti-personnel mines. Anti-personnel mines can be various shapes, have a different principle of operation and installation method, but they are all aimed at destroying enemy manpower

In 1992, with the assistance of six non-governmental organizations, a international movement by prohibition anti-personnel mines

On December 3, 1997, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use and Stockpiling of Anti-Personnel Mines was signed in Ottawa. The illustration shows a map of countries where there is a threat of unexploded mines

According to 2012 statistics, every month more than 2,000 people become victims of unexploded landmines. In wars at the end of the 20th century, mines accounted for 5-10% of the total number of losses

Napalm. Napalm was invented by the Americans during World War II. In fact, this is just condensed gasoline with additives that increase the temperature and time of its burning.

apalm is almost impossible to remove from the skin. During combustion, it not only burns the skin, but also releases a large amount of carbon monoxide.

In 1980, a protocol was adopted banning or restricting the use of incendiary weapons. According to this protocol, napalm is forbidden to be used only against the civilian population.

The United States, although it has acceded to the treaty, allows itself to apply incendiary weapon on military installations located among the accumulation of civilians

After it became possible to manufacture and store a sufficient amount of poisonous substances, the military began to consider them as a means of warfare. In 1899, the Hague Convention banned the use for military purposes of ammunition, the purpose of which is to poison enemy personnel.

Chemical weapon- the only remedy mass destruction, which was banned even before its use

Despite all the prohibitions, toxic substances have been used, are being used and will continue to be used, as this is a cheap method of destruction and intimidation.

Cluster bombs are munitions filled with explosive, incendiary or chemical submunitions, which increase the area of effect and damage.

American cassette system CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon with homing submunitions

Russian cluster bomb RBC-500. The illustration shows a modification equipped with fragmentation submunitions. There is also anti-tank with homing submunitions

In May 2008, a convention was issued to ban the use of cluster munitions. However, it is absolutely useless, since the largest holders of such bombs (USA, Russia and China) did not sign it.

Biological weapons are considered the most ancient means of mass destruction. Sick people were sent to the camp of the enemy or sources were poisoned fresh water

The most "famous" in the field of experiments with bacteria and viruses received Detachment 731. These Japanese scientists killed thousands of prisoners of war and civilians in the course of their experiments.

In Geneva, in 1972, a convention was agreed on a ban on the development, stockpiling and use of biological weapons and toxins. And all available substances had to be destroyed

The worst thing about this type of weapon is its uncontrollability. Bacteria and viruses released into the wild can begin to mutate, which leads to irreparable consequences.

Blinding laser weapon. On October 13, 1995, the Convention on the Prohibition of laser weapons, the main or one of the main tasks of which is to cause irreversible damage to the eyes of the enemy

According to the American version, on April 4, 1997, a Chinese ZM-87 laser was fired at a Coast Guard helicopter from a Russian ship passing along the Canadian-American border. As a result, the pilot suffered a severe retinal burn.

The most attractive thing about blinding lasers is that you don’t need sniper skills to shoot from it, because its beam has no mass and is very long-range, and it takes a minimum of energy and time to completely burn out the retina

Today, more “humane lasers” (dazzlers) are being actively developed, which only temporarily blind the enemy and do not cause irreparable damage to the visual organs.

Climate weapons. On October 5, 1978, an unusual convention came into force prohibiting any change in the structure, composition and dynamics of the Earth for military purposes.

The United States had plenty of time to experiment with nature in the 60s. They sprayed over Vietnam a composition that enhances monsoon showers, tried to artificially create a tsunami and even control typhoons.

Although climate weapon never officially invented, on June 5, 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity was signed (and supplemented in 2010), which further limited interference in the affairs of nature

Despite the reasonableness of such preventive measures, it seems extremely doubtful whether any country can prove that it was hit by a climate weapon.

Space-based nuclear weapons. Development outer space always had a military mission. The militarization of outer space has been and remains the cherished dream of the military of all countries with their own space program

On October 10, 1967, an agreement drawn up General Assembly UN, on the principles of the activities of states in the exploration of space and space bodies

According to this document, it was forbidden to place nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit. However, the placement of less dangerous weapons is not prohibited.

In fact, now there are things more important than the militarization of space. First you need to clean up all the garbage that we have already sent there.

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No matter how good the weapon, the lion's share of its fighting qualities are the characteristics of the cartridge. You can't make a good shot with a bad bullet. And the topic of this article will be an expansive bullet - a real record holder in terms of damaging effect.

A bit of history

The achievements of chemists led to the creation of smokeless powders, which allowed weapon designers to switch to new level, creating breech-loading rifles that fire unitary cartridges. The caliber of hand weapons has decreased significantly, and the accuracy and range of combat have also improved significantly. In order to perfect the ballistic properties of the bullet, it was placed in a metal shell. And that's where the dissatisfied came in. For the first time, English soldiers spoke about the insufficient lethal force of new bullets during an expedition to Chitral (Pakistan). Using Lee Metford 1889 rifles, they noticed that the bullets of the Lee Spide cartridge (7.71 mm) did not have an immediate stopping effect on the enemy. They had something to compare with, because they were shot from old muskets with 20-30-gram pieces of lead, and the wound from the lead ball looked incomparably more terrible than the "hole" from the English bullet. The exit was quickly found, and right on the spot. The bullets of the Lee-Spide cartridge were simply filed. The “notched” bullet, when it hit the body, opened up, greatly increasing the wound channel, more than covering the requirements for lethal force. This is how the first expansive bullet appeared. The British put the sawing on stream in the workshops of the town of Dum Dum, located near Calcutta. Hence the name - "dum-dum bullet".

Modern expansion bullet

Since the end of the nineteenth century, many variants of such a bullet have been invented. Conventionally, they are divided into deformable, semi-collapsing and completely collapsing.

Deformable, which, by the way, includes the “dum-dum bullet” described above, when it hits the target, they crumple and increase in diameter. This is achieved either by the complete absence of the shell, or only part of it. Semi-collapsible and collapsing bullets have transverse shell folds or funnel-shaped depressions. Such bullets are torn apart when they hit the body, and their effect is comparable to fragmentation projectile. Of course, the expansion bullet does not have an ideal ballistic shape, and therefore is effective only at relatively short distances. In order to eliminate this shortcoming, plastic liners are used in modern bullets, which give it the necessary streamlining, and at the moment of impact they do not interfere with “opening up”. In addition, the so-called gravity, about which there are many legends, has become widespread. Meanwhile, the principle of their operation is very simple: due to the center of gravity shifted to the end, these bullets tend to tip over when they hit an obstacle, which is how their high damaging effect is achieved. True, they have unsatisfactory accuracy (at long distances) and poorly penetrate protection.

Scope of application

The ability to instantly stop an attacker with an excluded ricochet or penetration is most in demand in law enforcement agencies. It was there that expansive bullets were most widely used. with such a "present" he is able to knock anyone down with one shot. In addition, they are actively used in hunting large game. And in recent times even expansive bullets for pneumatics appeared, making it possible to effectively use such systems in hunting.

expanding bullet ), - bullets, the design of which provides for a significant increase in diameter when it enters soft tissues in order to increase the lethality and / or reduce the penetration depth. Respectively, expansiveness- the ability of a bullet to expand, increase its diameter when it enters a soft environment.

There are various design solutions that can provide such behavior of the bullet. As a rule, allocate:

Such bullets are currently prohibited for use in military weapons, but are very widely used for hunting and self-defense. For example, almost all hunting bullets are expansive - the use of non-expansive full-shell military-type bullets in hunting is usually considered unacceptable.

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Story

For centuries in manual firearms soft jacketless lead bullets were used relatively large caliber. When they hit soft tissues, they flattened out, increasing their diameter. Due to this, they effectively transferred their energy to the target, inflicting relatively severe injuries. In view of this ability to expand somewhat when hitting a target, it can be said that in those years, in fact, all the bullets used were of the expansive type to some extent, and there was no need to increase their expansivity further.

True, the historian of weapons V. E. Markevich mentions the so-called “whistling bullets”, which had a through hole in the center and due to this they were able to deform more than usual in wound channel inflicting more severe injuries. This, apparently, was a side effect - the main one was considered to be the whistle that occurred in flight, demoralizing the enemy.

The cylindrical-conical or cylindrical-animal bullets that replaced the spherical bullets, also all-lead, devoid of a shell, such as the Minier bullet, retained this tendency to flatten out in the wound channel, respectively, can also be classified as expansive.

The situation began to change towards the end of the 19th century, after the transition in military weapons to small-caliber rifled barrels (in those years, calibers that are now considered normal - 6.5-8 mm were considered small) and smokeless gunpowder . Soft shellless bullets could not withstand the pressure created in the barrel by smokeless powder, and often fell off the rifling. In addition, they heavily leaded the channels of small-caliber rifled barrels. This forced the designers to switch to the use of bullets that had a shell of a harder metal (usually copper, brass, tombac, cupronickel or steel) over the lead core, which reliably went along the rifling and almost did not contaminate the barrel.

However, it quickly became clear that the damaging and stopping effect of the new bullets was much lower compared to the old shellless ones, which was especially sensitive for the armies participating in the colonial wars against the so-called "wild" peoples. For example, during the Chitral campaign of 1895, a strong belief arose among the British that the bullets they used were ineffective, and the enemy would continue to fight, even when wounded, since shell bullets that were not able to deform in the wound channel and, due to this, effectively transfer their energy to the target, They “flashed” it right through, leaving a neat inlet and outlet, and inflicted fatal damage only when it hit the vital organs.

As a result, the British military leadership set the task of developing a bullet that:

In accordance with this setting, in the early 1890s at the British Royal Arms Factory (Eng. British Royal Artillery armory), located in the working-class suburb of Calcutta Dum-dum (more correctly ladies ladies, because in the original ), British Army officer Captain Neville Bertie-Clay developed expansion bullets for the .303 British cartridge, which was used in Lee-Metford and, later, Lee-Enfield rifles. Their sock was devoid of a shell - that is, they belonged to the type of bullets now called semi-shell, or soft point (SP).

According to the place of development and production, they began to be called "dum-dum bullets".

Later it turned out that when firing with such bullets, there is a risk of tearing off the incised shell from the lead core, so revolving bullets appeared .455 Mk. III Manstopper, as well as bullets for the cartridge .303 British Mk. III, IV and Mk. V, arranged according to a different principle, today denoted hollow point (HP), that is, with a cavity in the bow. Since by the time they appeared, the term "dum-dum" has already become a widely used informal designation for all expansive bullets for military cartridges in general, they also began to be called so, although they were developed and produced in the UK itself, and not at the Arsenal in Dum-dum.

Such bullets with a cavity had long before been used in the so-called "expresses" - hunting rifles (more precisely, fittings) of a very large caliber with increased initial speed bullets, for which it was facilitated by this very cavity. The increase in the already enormous expansion of such bullets was in this case only side effect. There were also hunting bullets with an X-shaped slit in the head, the meaning of which was the same - to “open up” when it hit the target. Subsequently, after the official prohibition of "dum-dum", with the help of cruciform incisions, shell bullets were "finalized" in the troops in order to increase their striking ability, such "modified" bullets on the ground were also often called "dum-dum".

During field tests of these types of bullets during the Boer War, 1899-1902, the commander of the Middlesex Regiment, Colonel Hill, stated that it was better to be wounded by two Martini-Henry bullets than one of these. It was also stated that a bullet hit "led to incredible damage to bone and flesh". Moreover, during the parliamentary debate, Lord Hamilton said that anyone with a knife can convert ordinary bullets into dum-dum in a matter of seconds.

However, there was another point of view, which consisted in the fact that the increased expansion of the new bullets only compensated for their smaller caliber, being noticeable only in comparison with the shell bullet of the same caliber, and was inferior to the shellless bullets of such old rifles as Martini-Henry, Snyder or Enfield.

One way or another, the use of these bullets caused protests from the international community as "inhumane" and "violating the laws and customs of war", and soon - in 1899 - expanding and deforming bullets were banned for military use by the First Hague Peace Convention. The Second Hague Convention in 1907 confirmed the ban. Paradoxically, this ban is still strictly observed by all countries, at least with regard to ammunition types officially adopted, despite the fact that other "prohibitions" of the Hague Convention have mostly remained on paper (a ban on the use of military poisonous substances, "throwing projectiles and explosives from aircraft and many others).

As a result of these discussions, in 1979 International Conference The United Nations on Prohibiting or Restricting the Use of Certain Weapons That May Be Considered Excessively Injurious or Indiscriminate adopted a resolution asking all governments to exercise caution when developing small-caliber weapons systems, and also calling on wound ballistics experts with a strong recommendation on the need to develop a standardized international methodology for assessing and monitoring ballistic parameters and the damaging effect of high-velocity and small-caliber bullets.

However, similar accusations soon followed against the new Soviet cartridge 5.45x39 mm after its use in the Afghan war, although its bullets do not fragment in the wound channel, but only “tumble” due to low stability (however, to a certain extent, this behavior is typical generally for any oblong bullet). Clear criteria regarding compliance with the norms of the Hague Convention for such ammunition have not yet been established.

Also, the use of shotguns for military purposes raises big questions, since the cartridges for them filled with lead shot or buckshot may well be equated with expansive ammunition with deformable shellless bullets.

The ban on the use of expansive bullets applies only to regular armies. This type of ammunition is widely used by police, hunting and for self-defense due to the reduced risk of ricochet and high stopping power when firing at a live unprotected target, and in many countries it is freely available on a par with other types of bullets.

expanding bullet) - bullets, the design of which provides for a significant increase in diameter when it enters soft tissues in order to increase the lethality and / or reduce the penetration depth. Respectively, expansiveness- the ability of a bullet to expand, increase its diameter when it enters a soft environment.

There are various design solutions that can provide such behavior of the bullet. As a rule, allocate:

Such bullets are currently prohibited for use in military weapons, but are very widely used for hunting and self-defense, as well as in special forces. For example, almost all hunting bullets are expansive - the use of non-expansive full-shell military-type bullets in hunting is usually considered unacceptable. The fact is that large animals are hunted with a bullet. In order to prevent the danger posed by wounded animals to humans, as well as for humane reasons, hunters tend to never leave wounded animals.

Story

All-lead bullets, due to the softness of the material, initially had some ability to expand when they hit the target, that is, they were expansive to a certain extent.

Crumpled in the body of the victim, soft lead bullets of large caliber often inflicted severe injuries.

For centuries, relatively large caliber soft, jacketless lead bullets have been used in handguns. When they hit soft tissues, they flattened out, increasing their diameter. Due to this, they effectively transferred their energy to the target, inflicting relatively severe injuries. In view of this ability to expand somewhat when hitting a target, it can be said that in those years, in fact, all the bullets used were of the expansive type to some extent, and there was no need to increase their expansivity further.

True, the historian of weapons V. E. Markevich mentions the so-called “whistling bullets”, which had a through hole in the center and due to this they were able to deform more than usual in the wound channel, causing more severe injuries. This, apparently, was a side effect - the main one was considered to be the whistle that occurred in flight, demoralizing the enemy.

The cylindric-conical, or cylindric, bullets that replaced the spherical bullets, also all-lead, devoid of a shell, such as the Minier bullet, retained this tendency to flatten out in the wound channel, respectively, can also be classified as expansive.

However, it quickly became clear that the damaging and stopping effect of the new bullets was much lower compared to the old shellless ones, which was especially sensitive for the armies participating in the colonial wars against the so-called "wild" peoples. For example, during the Chitral campaign of 1895, a strong belief arose among the British that the bullets they used were ineffective, and the enemy would continue to fight even when wounded, since shell bullets, which were not able to deform in the wound channel and thereby effectively transfer their energy to the target, They “flashed” it right through, leaving a neat inlet and outlet, and inflicted fatal damage only when it hit the vital organs.

As a result, the British military leadership set the task of developing a bullet that:

Cartridges of caliber .303 British with semi-shell bullets, similar in design to “dum-dum” bullets (modern hunting ammunition).

According to the place of development and production, they began to be called "dum-dum bullets".

Later it turned out that when firing with such bullets, there is a risk of tearing off the incised shell from the lead core, so revolving bullets appeared .455 Mk. III Manstopper, as well as bullets for the .303 British cartridge Mk. III, IV and Mk. V, arranged according to a different principle, today denoted hollow point (HP), that is, with a cavity in the bow. Since by the time they appeared, the term "dum-dum" has already become a widely used informal designation for all expansive bullets for military cartridges in general, they also began to be called so, although they were developed and produced in the UK itself, and not at the Arsenal in Dum-dum.

Such bullets with a cavity had long before been used in the so-called "expresses" - hunting rifles (more precisely, fittings) of a very large caliber with an increased initial velocity of the bullet, for which it was lightened due to this very cavity. Increasing the already huge expansion of such bullets was in this case only a side effect. There were also hunting bullets with an X-shaped slit in the head, the meaning of which was the same - to “open up” when it hit the target. Subsequently, after the official prohibition of "dum-dum", with the help of cross-shaped incisions, shell bullets were "finalized" in the troops in order to increase their lethality. Such “modified” bullets on the ground were also often called “dum-dum”.

Comparison of cartridges for rifles Snyder, Henry-Martini (two options) and Lee-Enfield. The first three have large-caliber lead-free jacketed bullets, the last one has small-caliber full-shell bullets.

During field tests of these types of bullets during the Boer War of 1899-1902, the commander of the Middlesex Regiment, Colonel Hill, stated that it was better to be wounded by two Martini-Henry bullets than one of these. It was also stated that a bullet hit "led to incredible damage to bone and flesh". Moreover, during the parliamentary debate, Lord Hamilton said that anyone with a knife can convert ordinary bullets into dum-dum in a matter of seconds.

One way or another, the use of these bullets caused protests from the international community as "inhumane" and "violating the laws and customs of war", and soon - in 1899 - expanding and deforming bullets were banned for military use by the First Hague Peace Convention. The Second Hague Convention in 1907 confirmed the ban. Paradoxically, this ban is still strictly observed by all countries, at least with regard to ammunition types officially adopted, despite the fact that other "prohibitions" of the Hague Convention have mostly remained on paper (a ban on the use of military poisonous substances, "throwing shells and explosives" from aircraft, and many others).

German leaflet from World War I accusing the French of using the "infamous" expansion bullets.

As a result of these discussions, in 1979, the UN International Conference on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Weapons Which May Be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects adopted a resolution requesting all governments to exercise caution in the development of small-caliber weapons systems. , and also - an appeal to specialists in wound ballistics with a strong recommendation on the need to develop a standardized international methodology for assessing and monitoring ballistic parameters and the damaging effect of high-velocity and small-caliber bullets.