1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,560 Remember, don't try this at home. 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:09,560 We've got years of experience that keeps us safe. 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:14,800 This episode of Mythbusters might best be described as high impact. 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,440 It'll be like bling-dow! 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:22,640 Adam and Jamie are hell-bent on busting three of the biggest real-life gun myths of all 6 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,640 time. 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,680 Slugs down sniper scopes. 8 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:30,760 It's either him or me. 9 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:32,640 I think that was the money shot. 10 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:36,640 Backwards bullets. 11 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,000 And a Civil War legend that's never been proved. 12 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Like this. 13 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,400 And it's hammer time for Tori, Grant and Kerry. 14 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,320 Could the simplest of all tools really explode in your hand? 15 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:51,320 It'll be like cup-a-lammo! 16 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,080 With danger at every turn. 17 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,720 This test becomes a battle for survival. 18 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,120 Who are the Mythbusters? 19 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,840 Adam Savage. 20 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,200 And Jamie Heineman. 21 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:09,920 This is gonna kill you. 22 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,600 Between them more than 30 years of special effects experience. 23 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:15,760 That's what I'm talking about! 24 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:17,760 Joining them, Tori Belleggi. 25 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:19,560 Very excited about this. 26 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:20,560 Kerry Byron. 27 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:22,280 Look, he cracked into his skull. 28 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:23,280 And Grant Imahara. 29 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:24,480 Don't say anything. 30 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,480 They don't just tell the Myths. 31 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:32,480 They put them to the test. 32 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,880 After all the gun myths that we've tested, what could be left? 33 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,960 I call this one the mystery of the backwards bullet. 34 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:52,480 Oh, I think I heard about this one. 35 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:57,400 Supposedly there was a shootout in Seattle between some cops and a perpetrator. 36 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,680 And the perpetrator's bullet was later found lodged backwards in the policeman's gun barrel. 37 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:03,680 Well, close. 38 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,160 Actually it was in the cylinder. 39 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:06,440 It was a revolver. 40 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:16,240 But that's what the myth is and I think we should test it. 41 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,000 Their best shot at success is to test this myth indoors with an old friend. 42 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,120 We're here to have a shootout. 43 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,480 Alan Normandy is one of South Frisco's finest. 44 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,520 One round 9mm pistol fired from an MP5. 45 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:37,600 And he's already guided the team through a dozen gunshot tests. 46 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:45,360 Some of those gun myths came from the movies, but this one's from real life. 47 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:50,200 Something like firing a bullet down the barrel of another gun, which is why it ends up facing 48 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:51,400 backwards. 49 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:56,720 But in this case, a bullet fired by a criminal in Seattle is said to have scored a direct 50 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,840 hit on the empty chamber of a police revolver. 51 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:01,280 You've heard of it then? 52 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:03,240 Yeah, I have actually. 53 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:04,760 Just recently we're doing some research on that. 54 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,040 I'm actually very excited about this particular experiment. 55 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,040 They're firing the same types of guns used in the Seattle shootout. 56 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,040 The suspect pulled a pistol on two officers. 57 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,960 Then they drew their 38 Colt revolvers. 58 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:26,000 Of course, we'd love to reenact this shootout by Adam and I facing off and seeing what happens 59 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:27,000 with it. 60 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:32,040 That'd be kind of stupid because one of us would get badly hurt. 61 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:34,640 So what we've done is we set up a rig. 62 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:39,000 We've got a board that will line these two guns up at a precise distance. 63 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:44,080 We've got a way of aiming them precisely, including some laser sights. 64 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:49,360 And we've got special made holders for the guns that we'll be able to hook a string onto 65 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:54,360 and fire the guns safely and remotely from the other side of the range. 66 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,040 The shooting gun is a Glock. 67 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,960 The receiving gun is a Colt police positive 38 special. 68 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:08,040 And we've got it mounted here into a basically a clamp that won't allow this gun to move. 69 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:10,040 Glock's mounted in the same thing. 70 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:14,480 It should just be a matter of sighting these up, firing them and seeing what the result 71 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:15,480 is. 72 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:20,680 To replicate this one in a million shot, they're fitting a laser sight inside the Glock's barrel 73 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,680 to light up on the empty chamber. 74 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:29,680 But bullets don't fly as straight as a laser beam, so Alan suggests a target test to calibrate 75 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:31,680 the trajectory. 76 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:36,960 Turns out the bullets don't always leave the barrel of a gun and stay on perfect columnar 77 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,480 center of that barrel. 78 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:40,720 That's something I had no idea about. 79 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:46,480 Look, I mean all these things are million to one shots, which means that getting it 80 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,760 is exceedingly difficult and requires a really high degree of precision. 81 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,640 The laser is aimed at the heart of the bullseye and Alan's betting none of the test shots 82 00:04:55,640 --> 00:05:01,000 will hit the mark, even from a range of just five feet. 83 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,000 Fire the hole, prepare to fire. 84 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,000 Alright, firing in. 85 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Three, two, one. 86 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:14,520 The first bullet went through top hole and the second and third bullets both went through 87 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,480 this bottom hole. 88 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:18,520 So do we just split the difference between them? 89 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:19,520 Absolutely. 90 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,520 Three more shots should help refine the aim. 91 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:32,320 We need to make one little final tweak of an adjustment and I think we're in. 92 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:37,160 The Seattle Backwards Bullet became instant firearms folklore. 93 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:41,360 Preparations of the incident were widespread, but you can't believe everything you read 94 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:42,520 in the papers. 95 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:48,160 So Adam and Jamie are set to look this myth straight down the barrel. 96 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,560 We've got our Glock aimed down at the 38 special, right down the cylinder. 97 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,320 It's all been aimed up and it should work. 98 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:03,480 Our goal here is to end up with a backwards bullet lodged in the cylinder of the 38 special. 99 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,160 Test number one, hopefully the only test. 100 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:11,160 Firing in three, two, one. 101 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,160 Oh, is that as bad as I think it is? 102 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:19,840 Maybe not, but it seems the sight correction was a touch off beam. 103 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:24,640 Well, there's no bullet in any of the cylinder or any of the chambers. 104 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,920 My first thought is maybe the bullet bounced out of there. 105 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:29,920 Certainly possible. 106 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,720 I'd like to see what the high speed says. 107 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:39,720 The high speed camera shows the bullet did hit the gun, but just missed the chamber. 108 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:40,720 It's high. 109 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:41,720 It's way high. 110 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:42,720 Look at this. 111 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:43,720 It's just flattering. 112 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:45,720 The piece is coming out of the back even. 113 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,240 That is crazy. 114 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,600 After all this effort, it's definitely worth another try. 115 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:53,600 Fire in the hole. 116 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:58,600 Firing in three, two, one. 117 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:02,000 Hey. 118 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:03,000 That looks a little better. 119 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:04,000 That looks a lot better. 120 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,000 I'm provisionally excited. 121 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:14,000 One minute adjustment and the bullet is all over that chamber, though you really can't 122 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:15,600 call it a bullet anymore. 123 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,160 There's nothing but little pieces there. 124 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:23,400 The bullet did go into the chamber, but it's not left there as a chunk of a bullet. 125 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,280 And that may just be the way that it works. 126 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:27,640 I think we ought to try it again. 127 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:32,600 I'm just not sure from this distance that that bullet's going to be anything but munched 128 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,680 like scrap. 129 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:40,680 It's a tougher shot than anyone imagined, and one of the reasons is all too obvious. 130 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:47,280 The 9mm bullet is slightly bigger than the .38 caliber chamber. 131 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,120 First of all, the bullet is larger than the cylinder bore, which means when it's hitting, 132 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:53,840 parts of the bullets are stripping off, but on the high speed, it just looks like the 133 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,280 bullet's disintegrating into powder, practically. 134 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,760 Well, it's a little frustrating at this point. 135 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:06,920 We keep lining it up dead on with lasers and very carefully finessing it into position, 136 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:12,400 and these guns just aren't designed for that. 137 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:18,800 Coming up, Tori Grant and Kerry put the world's oldest tool to the ultimate safety test, while 138 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:27,600 Adam and Jamie hone in on a most unlikely gunshot. 139 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:37,120 Alright, so this next myth actually comes from a viewer complaint. 140 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,880 A lot of people feel that Jamie is using hammers unsafely. 141 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:46,360 A lot of people feel that when he's shaping metal with two hammers like that, they feel 142 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,640 like there's a potential to crack the heads or even explode the heads. 143 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:50,640 Well, this seems easy enough. 144 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,240 Why don't we just bang them together and find out what happens? 145 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:58,960 Well, if it's really as lethal as a fan say, I think that could be a little dangerous. 146 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:04,960 Now hammers aren't normally sold with instructions, but some do have warnings that give this myth 147 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:06,760 plenty of street cred. 148 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:13,000 Never strike the tool with or against another striking tool, hard and nail or other hard 149 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:20,360 objects as chipping can occur, possibly resulting in eye or other injury. 150 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:25,040 But is this tall tool tail really a serious threat to life and limb? 151 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:30,080 So far it's done Jamie no harm, but maybe that's why he wears the hat. 152 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:34,200 Time to consult an honest to God old fashioned blacksmith. 153 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:39,440 Scott Thomas doesn't just use hammers, he makes them. 154 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:44,800 Have you heard that slamming two hammers into each other is dangerous? 155 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:46,240 It can be bad. 156 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,040 Generally because hammers are both made out of hardened steel and when you strike two 157 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,480 pieces of hardened steel together, something's going to give and you're usually going to 158 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,040 get chips or one might even break or fracture on you. 159 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:01,360 Straight from the horse's mouth or at least the guy who makes their shoes, Scott thinks 160 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:03,860 testing this myth will be risky business. 161 00:10:03,860 --> 00:10:07,840 So Tauri's designed a, what do you know, hammer smashing robot. 162 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,920 When I'm going to build it's just, you know, it'll be like a little triangle frame with 163 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:19,200 two arms and the arms will be on two axes, kind of like this, so that when they both 164 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,560 reach the bottom, the two hammer heads will strike against each other. 165 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:29,200 We're probably going to have to use some pneumatic actuators just to get the kind of speeds that 166 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:30,840 we want. 167 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,740 Actuators are simply devices that make something move. 168 00:10:33,740 --> 00:10:39,620 These rotary models use compressed air to rotate at high speed through 90 degrees. 169 00:10:39,620 --> 00:10:44,780 They should give the robot arms the mechanical muscle needed to simulate a swinging human 170 00:10:44,780 --> 00:10:45,780 arm. 171 00:10:45,780 --> 00:10:51,540 It's ironic how I'm using a hammer to make this and this is going to be the same thing 172 00:10:51,540 --> 00:10:53,020 that destroys the hammer. 173 00:10:53,020 --> 00:10:56,020 It'll be like cup of lamo. 174 00:10:56,020 --> 00:10:58,900 It'll be like bled out. 175 00:10:58,900 --> 00:11:00,700 Well let's just wait and see. 176 00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:05,460 Tauri sets up in the blast chamber and for the first test he's fitting brand new wooden 177 00:11:05,460 --> 00:11:06,940 handled claw hammers. 178 00:11:06,940 --> 00:11:10,780 We have two hammers set up on the rig that Tauri built with the pneumatics that Grant 179 00:11:10,780 --> 00:11:11,780 has added. 180 00:11:11,780 --> 00:11:15,980 They're basically just going to come together at a very high velocity which we will measure 181 00:11:15,980 --> 00:11:18,420 with our scale and our high speed camera. 182 00:11:18,420 --> 00:11:21,420 Okay here we go in three, two, one. 183 00:11:21,420 --> 00:11:22,420 What happened? 184 00:11:22,420 --> 00:11:23,420 It broke both hands. 185 00:11:23,420 --> 00:11:37,580 The speed was fast, around 16 meters per second from each arm, but the timber handles took 186 00:11:37,580 --> 00:11:39,100 all the impact. 187 00:11:39,100 --> 00:11:42,700 Still, some hammers are tougher than others. 188 00:11:42,700 --> 00:11:48,780 These are double tempered steel handles, unbreakable under normal conditions. 189 00:11:49,460 --> 00:11:53,500 Okay these are far from normal conditions, but that's the point. 190 00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:57,940 These toughened steel handles should at least put the pressure back on the hammer heads. 191 00:11:57,940 --> 00:11:59,780 Alright, we ready? 192 00:11:59,780 --> 00:12:00,780 Yeah! 193 00:12:00,780 --> 00:12:04,780 Here we go in three, two, one. 194 00:12:04,780 --> 00:12:10,780 Very bendy, gumby hammer happening. 195 00:12:10,780 --> 00:12:11,780 Whoa. 196 00:12:11,780 --> 00:12:15,780 This face right here has a dent, but that's about the worst off. 197 00:12:15,780 --> 00:12:16,780 No strapping? 198 00:12:16,780 --> 00:12:18,620 There's no chipping, it's just denting. 199 00:12:18,620 --> 00:12:19,620 It's all intact. 200 00:12:19,620 --> 00:12:26,660 Well, there's your two basic hammer types, bashed and bent, and still no blinding shards 201 00:12:26,660 --> 00:12:27,660 of steel. 202 00:12:27,660 --> 00:12:35,900 Perhaps they're just not hitting hard enough. 203 00:12:35,900 --> 00:12:39,540 Adam and Jamie are just as frustrated with their backwards bullet. 204 00:12:39,540 --> 00:12:42,500 Is that as bad as I think it is? 205 00:12:42,500 --> 00:12:47,620 They want to confirm the story that a criminal's bullet hit and lodged in the empty chamber 206 00:12:47,620 --> 00:12:48,620 of a police revolver. 207 00:12:48,620 --> 00:12:53,660 So far, the messy results don't quite match the myth. 208 00:12:53,660 --> 00:12:55,580 Maybe the bullet bounced out of there. 209 00:12:55,580 --> 00:13:00,980 After some tiny adjustments to the pitch of the guns, they stand back, block their ears, 210 00:13:00,980 --> 00:13:02,500 and give it their best shot. 211 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:06,100 Scylder test number five, trying to get a one in a million shot, a fifth try. 212 00:13:06,100 --> 00:13:07,100 Here we go. 213 00:13:07,100 --> 00:13:11,620 In three, two, one. 214 00:13:11,620 --> 00:13:15,060 The aim looks good, but they're chasing perfection. 215 00:13:15,060 --> 00:13:19,780 It's just a sliver straighter than the last shot, and that's all it takes. 216 00:13:19,780 --> 00:13:25,060 Incredibly, most of the bullet is still intact, and it's a very close match to the police photos. 217 00:13:25,060 --> 00:13:28,740 There's a hell of a lot of shrapnel at the bottom of the very chamber we were shooting 218 00:13:28,740 --> 00:13:32,900 into, and if you look in this way, you can see the copper jacket. 219 00:13:32,900 --> 00:13:36,380 That's a bullet lodged the wrong way in. 220 00:13:36,380 --> 00:13:40,180 This is the ballistics equivalent of a hole in one. 221 00:13:40,180 --> 00:13:41,180 Perfect. 222 00:13:41,180 --> 00:13:43,900 It's just perfect as we can possibly make it. 223 00:13:43,900 --> 00:13:47,180 It's a tight fit, as no one knows better than Jamie. 224 00:13:47,180 --> 00:13:51,140 It takes him 15 minutes to prize the bullet loose from the chamber. 225 00:13:51,140 --> 00:13:52,900 There wasn't much left of it. 226 00:13:52,900 --> 00:13:58,900 I had to saw and pry and finagle the thing out of the back of the gun, and a lot of it 227 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:04,740 had actually gone into the cylinder and then kind of sprayed out the back and the gap between 228 00:14:04,740 --> 00:14:09,100 the cylinder and the rest of the gun, but it was an honest to goodness bullet, and it 229 00:14:09,100 --> 00:14:10,100 was in there. 230 00:14:10,100 --> 00:14:15,580 It looks just like the picture that we had from the report we saw. 231 00:14:15,580 --> 00:14:16,580 It's perfect. 232 00:14:16,580 --> 00:14:17,580 I couldn't be happier. 233 00:14:17,580 --> 00:14:18,900 I'm calling this one confirmed. 234 00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:23,340 It's totally possible that you can shoot your bullet down the cylinder of another person's 235 00:14:23,340 --> 00:14:24,700 gun. 236 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:33,660 I'm calling this one confirmed, 100%. 237 00:15:03,660 --> 00:15:08,500 Really send deadly shards of steel whizzing around the workplace. 238 00:15:08,500 --> 00:15:14,380 Some tool makers take the myth seriously, but so far, Tari's hammer smashing robot has 239 00:15:14,380 --> 00:15:16,500 barely made a dent. 240 00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:21,100 Well clearly we're not in any imminent danger based on these few tests here, so we're going 241 00:15:21,100 --> 00:15:26,540 to step away from the robot and give it a crack ourselves. 242 00:15:26,540 --> 00:15:31,940 Grant's concerned that the robot arms might simply be too slow to cause the fabled fracture. 243 00:15:31,940 --> 00:15:37,380 So with a high speed camera and a calibration board, you'll soon find out who's fastest, 244 00:15:37,380 --> 00:15:40,780 man or machine. 245 00:15:40,780 --> 00:15:51,220 Tari thinks you'll drive the nail with one strike, but that was a tad optimistic. 246 00:15:51,220 --> 00:15:55,220 I was just like inches away from hitting the nail. 247 00:15:55,220 --> 00:15:56,460 Just inches. 248 00:15:56,460 --> 00:15:57,460 Inches. 249 00:15:57,460 --> 00:15:58,900 I was just inches away. 250 00:15:59,020 --> 00:16:02,500 To the plate at its swing and a miss. 251 00:16:02,500 --> 00:16:03,500 You know. 252 00:16:03,500 --> 00:16:05,500 Look I hit the same spot as last time. 253 00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:07,660 Why did she put the nail there? 254 00:16:07,660 --> 00:16:11,660 It's worth noting that a smart remark rarely goes unpunished. 255 00:16:11,660 --> 00:16:12,660 Oh! 256 00:16:12,660 --> 00:16:13,660 Are you okay? 257 00:16:13,660 --> 00:16:14,660 Oh my god. 258 00:16:14,660 --> 00:16:15,660 Oh. 259 00:16:15,660 --> 00:16:16,660 You missed the steel cap. 260 00:16:16,660 --> 00:16:17,660 You hit me on the side. 261 00:16:17,660 --> 00:16:18,660 You guys might want to like... 262 00:16:18,660 --> 00:16:19,660 Oh. 263 00:16:19,660 --> 00:16:37,420 The advice is well taken and in due course, Tari finally hits the nail on the head. 264 00:16:37,420 --> 00:16:40,980 Where is it? 265 00:16:40,980 --> 00:16:41,980 Yeah. 266 00:16:41,980 --> 00:16:42,980 You got it? 267 00:16:42,980 --> 00:16:43,980 One shot. 268 00:16:43,980 --> 00:16:49,060 At least we have plenty of information on his velocity, not his accuracy. 269 00:16:49,060 --> 00:16:54,940 High speed replays clock Tari's mighty swing at 16 meters per second, which is no faster 270 00:16:54,940 --> 00:17:00,420 than the robot, so speed at impact clearly isn't the problem. 271 00:17:00,420 --> 00:17:05,180 With our last round of human testing, we were successful in that we confirmed our robot 272 00:17:05,180 --> 00:17:09,020 as well in the realm of human capacity. 273 00:17:09,020 --> 00:17:13,540 In a desperate effort to prove the legend of spurting shrapnel, they try again with 274 00:17:13,540 --> 00:17:16,260 two of Adam's old, pre-loved hammers. 275 00:17:16,660 --> 00:17:21,220 It's a possibility that over time, the constant hitting of those hammers maybe tempers them 276 00:17:21,220 --> 00:17:24,060 in some way and makes them more brittle so they might shatter. 277 00:17:24,060 --> 00:17:30,660 This is Adam's old hammer versus Adam's old hammers. 278 00:17:30,660 --> 00:17:33,700 Once again, no shards. 279 00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:36,660 Looks like the handle's bent, but no shattering. 280 00:17:36,660 --> 00:17:40,180 So what about a pair that spent a whole night in the freezer? 281 00:17:40,180 --> 00:17:50,900 Well, these are our best quality hammers kept overnight at minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit. 282 00:17:50,900 --> 00:17:56,140 And you can tell right here closest that we've gotten to a chip. 283 00:17:56,140 --> 00:17:58,300 Still, no explosion. 284 00:17:58,300 --> 00:18:00,980 Okay, so where to from here? 285 00:18:00,980 --> 00:18:02,540 Maybe Jamie has the answer. 286 00:18:02,540 --> 00:18:04,980 Jamie, we've been doing this all afternoon. 287 00:18:04,980 --> 00:18:06,420 We've been smacking hammers together. 288 00:18:06,420 --> 00:18:11,100 We haven't gotten anything more than a little tiny spray of particle dust. 289 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:14,820 And you're sort of the subject of this whole myth and you're the reason that we're visiting 290 00:18:14,820 --> 00:18:15,820 it. 291 00:18:15,820 --> 00:18:23,260 I think if a hammer head is really hard, like if it's just super hard, it's going to be 292 00:18:23,260 --> 00:18:28,660 brittle, that you would do by getting the hammer head really hot, like red or white 293 00:18:28,660 --> 00:18:29,660 hot. 294 00:18:29,660 --> 00:18:33,220 As hot as you can get it without melting it and then quenching it and used motor oil 295 00:18:33,220 --> 00:18:39,620 because it absorbs a lot of the excess carbon in there. 296 00:18:39,620 --> 00:18:44,020 It's called case hardening and here's why it could work. 297 00:18:44,020 --> 00:18:46,540 Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. 298 00:18:46,540 --> 00:18:51,140 The more carbon you add to the mix, the more brittle the steel. 299 00:18:51,140 --> 00:18:54,460 So Tori taps into the nearest source of free carbon. 300 00:18:54,460 --> 00:18:58,180 That's some dirty oil. 301 00:18:58,180 --> 00:19:04,660 The used motor oil is full of carbon, which is introduced into the hot metal and it's 302 00:19:04,660 --> 00:19:08,700 supposed to make this a much stronger hammer. 303 00:19:08,700 --> 00:19:14,900 But in taking away some of its softness, which absorbs shock, we are making it more brittle. 304 00:19:14,900 --> 00:19:17,180 At least that's the idea. 305 00:19:17,180 --> 00:19:21,940 And that calls for a down home myth buster style barbecue. 306 00:19:21,940 --> 00:19:24,740 Who had the 20 ounce claw hammer? 307 00:19:24,740 --> 00:19:25,740 Medium? 308 00:19:25,740 --> 00:19:26,740 Okay. 309 00:19:26,740 --> 00:19:27,740 Medium on this one. 310 00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:33,020 Once the hammers are heated to a healthy red glow, they're all set to suck up the carbon 311 00:19:33,020 --> 00:19:35,180 from that second hand motor oil. 312 00:19:35,180 --> 00:19:39,740 When they've cooked and cooled, we might just have the explosive hammers we've been looking 313 00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:40,740 for. 314 00:19:40,740 --> 00:19:48,380 Still to come, Adam and Jamie face off to see who gets to play Super Sniper. 315 00:19:48,380 --> 00:19:50,140 Give us a break. 316 00:19:50,140 --> 00:19:52,780 Don't try what you're about to see at home. 317 00:19:52,780 --> 00:19:59,380 Back at Myth Busters HQ, Adam and Jamie are ready to test their next classic gun myth. 318 00:19:59,380 --> 00:20:00,700 I've seen this in the movies. 319 00:20:00,700 --> 00:20:05,460 It's one sniper taking out another sniper and the final thing is the guy who's about 320 00:20:05,460 --> 00:20:10,980 to be killed sees the first sniper in his eyepiece and gets shot right through his scope, through 321 00:20:10,980 --> 00:20:12,420 his eye, through his head. 322 00:20:12,420 --> 00:20:13,420 That's it? 323 00:20:13,420 --> 00:20:14,420 That's it. 324 00:20:14,420 --> 00:20:17,980 I don't think that the insurance company is going to let you or I be the sniping victim 325 00:20:17,980 --> 00:20:18,980 in this. 326 00:20:18,980 --> 00:20:22,700 I think we should ask Grant if he's willing to do it. 327 00:20:23,620 --> 00:20:29,540 Sadly, Grant's too busy bashing hammers to accept the invitation, but he has offered 328 00:20:29,540 --> 00:20:31,860 his likeness in the name of science. 329 00:20:31,860 --> 00:20:37,140 Well, the stuff that I'm making it out of is a ballistics media that's actually based 330 00:20:37,140 --> 00:20:39,380 on animal protein. 331 00:20:39,380 --> 00:20:44,780 So it's perfect for us in seeing a real damage assessment to muscle tissue. 332 00:20:44,780 --> 00:20:51,060 That's exactly what this equates to when it's dry, is muscle tissue. 333 00:20:51,060 --> 00:20:55,940 Just like the backwards bullet, this myth wasn't invented by a script writer. 334 00:20:55,940 --> 00:21:01,700 The legend stems from the Vietnam War, when a US Marine sniper named Carlos Hathcock killed 335 00:21:01,700 --> 00:21:07,340 his VC counterpart with one shot straight down the scope. 336 00:21:07,340 --> 00:21:10,700 Jamie's first job is to track down a similar rifle. 337 00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:13,220 This is a new gun that just came out. 338 00:21:13,220 --> 00:21:19,060 This is the actual 100% true copy of a Vietnam sniper rifle. 339 00:21:19,060 --> 00:21:21,060 So is that a good rifle? 340 00:21:21,060 --> 00:21:27,820 Oh man, you could hit a fly at 500 yards of this if you're a good sniper. 341 00:21:27,820 --> 00:21:34,660 All they need now is a victim, and Adam delivers a bouncing ballistics baby named Grant. 342 00:21:36,660 --> 00:21:39,340 Beautiful, look at that. 343 00:21:40,220 --> 00:21:41,220 That. 344 00:21:45,980 --> 00:21:46,980 That's great. 345 00:21:47,900 --> 00:21:49,900 This ought to be not so hard. 346 00:21:49,900 --> 00:21:51,700 Look at that. 347 00:21:51,700 --> 00:21:56,820 That's easy, I can do that with a piece of bailing wire. 348 00:21:56,820 --> 00:22:02,700 Always a bear for detail, Adam hitches a lift to raid Jamie's wig wardrobe. 349 00:22:02,700 --> 00:22:03,700 That's it. 350 00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:08,340 Now at least we'll have a snappy sniper. 351 00:22:08,340 --> 00:22:13,580 A little cosmetic surgery to accommodate the rifle rig, and they're ready to go. 352 00:22:13,580 --> 00:22:14,580 I guess we're all set. 353 00:22:14,580 --> 00:22:16,340 Let's go do some sharpshooting. 354 00:22:17,980 --> 00:22:24,100 Jamie and Adam have brought their two sniper rifles and a rubbery likeness of Grant to 355 00:22:24,100 --> 00:22:25,780 a local rifle range. 356 00:22:25,780 --> 00:22:28,460 There's our sniper. 357 00:22:28,460 --> 00:22:33,020 They want to see if one sniper could kill another by shooting a bullet straight down 358 00:22:33,020 --> 00:22:34,020 the enemy scope. 359 00:22:34,020 --> 00:22:35,940 I look forward to seeing if we can make that shot. 360 00:22:35,940 --> 00:22:37,980 What is it from here to the end of the range? 361 00:22:37,980 --> 00:22:43,500 It's 100 yards, which for a sniper or precision marksman is not really that far. 362 00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:45,820 So you think this is totally possible? 363 00:22:45,820 --> 00:22:51,460 Apparently back in World War II, when marksmen were first used for this type of activity, 364 00:22:51,460 --> 00:22:55,060 they were trained to aim at the glint of the opponent's scope. 365 00:22:55,060 --> 00:22:58,860 So in bright sunlight, they saw a little reflection to aim at that glint. 366 00:22:58,860 --> 00:23:02,420 And that's why there's really potential for this myth to be seen today. 367 00:23:02,420 --> 00:23:05,060 I think we can knock this out today. 368 00:23:05,060 --> 00:23:07,140 But Jamie has his doubts. 369 00:23:07,140 --> 00:23:10,900 The question is, what will happen to that bullet when it hits the scope? 370 00:23:10,900 --> 00:23:15,060 Is it actually going to penetrate all the way through and hit the other sniper in the 371 00:23:15,060 --> 00:23:19,300 eye or is the scope going to serve as some sort of a shield? 372 00:23:19,300 --> 00:23:23,740 Jamie's worried about the half dozen or so glass lenses inside the scope. 373 00:23:23,740 --> 00:23:29,140 They're not especially robust, but any one of them could still deflect a speeding bullet 374 00:23:29,140 --> 00:23:33,180 and stop it from bursting out the other end. 375 00:23:33,180 --> 00:23:40,980 Once again, Allen needs to sight in the rifle by taking test shots at a target. 376 00:23:40,980 --> 00:23:45,820 Here's the center of the group, right? 377 00:23:45,820 --> 00:23:49,380 They're going to move in one click left and one click down. 378 00:23:49,380 --> 00:23:50,380 And that's it. 379 00:23:50,380 --> 00:23:55,140 Once we know that it's reasonably centered in that fashion, you guys can start shooting. 380 00:23:55,140 --> 00:24:04,740 Now's the chance for Adam and Jamie to get their fingers on the trigger. 381 00:24:04,740 --> 00:24:06,260 Good job, young man. 382 00:24:06,260 --> 00:24:10,500 Yeah, good shooting there, Tex. 383 00:24:11,500 --> 00:24:15,820 There's a myth that I'm looking to bust today, which is that somehow Jamie is an incredible 384 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:18,340 shot and I'm a terrible shot. 385 00:24:18,340 --> 00:24:20,020 It's not that I feel competitive. 386 00:24:20,020 --> 00:24:24,420 Just, you know, I happen to be a myth buster. 387 00:24:24,420 --> 00:24:30,420 Bullseye right down the middle. 388 00:24:30,420 --> 00:24:32,420 Perfect shot. 389 00:24:32,420 --> 00:24:38,360 Jamie's grouping is close to perfect, but then Adam's effort wasn't exactly scattershot. 390 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:40,880 There can only be one fair decision. 391 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,160 They both get to shoot Grant. 392 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:44,960 I think it's time to set up our sniper target. 393 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,320 I think it's time to set up our sniper target as well. 394 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,400 This might be a good time for Grant's mom to turn off the TV. 395 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:59,880 Our floppy facsimile is carefully positioned behind his rifle out at the 100 yard mark. 396 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:02,800 Heads, tails. 397 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:03,800 Jamie goes first. 398 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,240 Jamie wins the coin toss and the right to shoot first. 399 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:11,320 I don't know whether I'm going to hit the guy behind the scope or not, but I'm going 400 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:13,480 to pretend it's either him or me. 401 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,860 We want to hit smack dab in the middle because we want that bullet to go all the way through 402 00:25:17,860 --> 00:25:21,000 the scope and into our sniper. 403 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,540 Confidence is high that this myth could be proved with a one hit wonder. 404 00:25:25,540 --> 00:25:28,040 And there's no doubt that Jamie's got his eye in. 405 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:40,680 I think that was the money shot. 406 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,800 It's a direct hit from a distance of 100 yards. 407 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:49,360 The scope is history, but gunman Grant lives to snipe another day. 408 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:52,200 It didn't make it through to his eye. 409 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,080 It didn't even make it to the back of the scope. 410 00:25:54,080 --> 00:26:00,120 I do say this guy would be kind of upset, but his eye is still intact and the scope 411 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:03,160 acted effectively as a shield. 412 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:05,720 It looks like Jamie's fears were well founded. 413 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,760 The optic elements jam the bullet, but with three more scopes to destroy, they can still 414 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,640 turn this myth around. 415 00:26:15,360 --> 00:26:20,080 Well it's up to Adam to see whether he can best this shot and that's going to be a pretty 416 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:21,600 tall task. 417 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,720 The fate of the squad rests with Sergeant Savage. 418 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:30,840 I'm happy with that shot. 419 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,120 Let's see how it is. 420 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:38,600 It's another clean hit, unleashing a river of pulverized glass, but it's Adam who's 421 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:39,840 truly shattered. 422 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,720 It doesn't look like I made it. 423 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,720 Nope, similar deal. 424 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,760 No, it doesn't even look like it made it as far. 425 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,840 Look, we have two hits, neither of them are kill shots, but there's no reason to call 426 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,040 this one busted yet. 427 00:26:54,040 --> 00:27:00,080 Jamie or I have been firing sniper rifles for all of four hours. 428 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:04,600 I think it might be time to bring in our ringer and ask Sergeant Normandy to take the shot 429 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:05,600 for us. 430 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:11,600 They're hoping for one expert shot that hits and shatters those lenses dead level, dead 431 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:15,240 center with no deflection. 432 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:20,320 So a new scope is fitted and the master marksman takes aim. 433 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:28,880 I don't think I got it. 434 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,760 In fact, he did get it, but once again, the bullet stopped short of ruining Grant's good 435 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:34,760 looks. 436 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,960 No, didn't make it through the back. 437 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:39,520 It's the same deal as before. 438 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,160 I don't see a hole all the way through. 439 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:43,000 I see everything collapsed inside. 440 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:47,520 Yeah, look, I think this just, I mean, to me, this just keeps on explaining that it's not 441 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:48,720 about marksmanship. 442 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,000 It's about a ridiculously lucky shot. 443 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:52,000 It's not plus or minus. 444 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:53,000 It's like threading a needle. 445 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:54,000 A half inch. 446 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,560 Yeah, it's like threading a needle from 300 feet away. 447 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:01,720 There's only one scope left, so they decide to stack the odds and make this last test 448 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,760 up close and lethal. 449 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:09,360 What we're doing now is we're setting up a point blank shot so that there's no kind 450 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:11,400 of trajectory involved. 451 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:17,640 We've determined that the power of the bullet, the difference from the distance is negligible. 452 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,920 So if this doesn't do it, then we'll be able to say something definitive about whether 453 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,280 the myth is possible or not. 454 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:30,000 It's literally their last shot at this myth, and Alan has the honors. 455 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:36,640 One, two, three. 456 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,520 The impact is strong enough to knock the scope from the rifle. 457 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,200 It's a fitting end to a myth that's been all but blown away. 458 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,840 Oh man, looks like the same as the others from 100 yards. 459 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:50,920 It's deflecting off the convex lens. 460 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:52,640 Exactly the same deal. 461 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:57,480 If you're a sniper and you're looking down the barrel of another sniper's gun and you 462 00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:02,000 see this blint, I'd take the shot. 463 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,720 First off, you're going to ruin the guy's scope and he's not going to be able to shoot 464 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:07,360 back very accurately. 465 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,160 Secondly, you're probably going to make him clear out of there. 466 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,520 He's not going to be a very happy camper. 467 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:17,800 And then thirdly, I mean, if you miss, you're going to hit his head. 468 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:19,920 It's a one in a billion shot. 469 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,960 He might have been the best marksman in the world and might have never made that shot. 470 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:28,440 If the sun and moon and stars aligned and maybe one of the lenses was weak and maybe 471 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:33,840 the sniper had removed an element because he had some better focusing thing, maybe then 472 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,720 the bullet could have gone through. 473 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:40,720 We don't have the scope that Gunny Hathcock shot at, so we can't know for sure. 474 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:47,000 I say we have to call this myth busted. 475 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,800 Next up, the legend lights up in exploding hammers. 476 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:52,200 Everything's under control. 477 00:29:52,200 --> 00:30:00,440 And our last gun myth shapes up as a civil war meltdown. 478 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:05,680 Tory Grant and Kerry are testing the myth that smashing hammers together could be extremely 479 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,520 bad for your health. 480 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,440 So far, they've hardly scratched the surface, but according to Jamie, high heat followed 481 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:21,920 by a carbon rich oil bath should make the steel much more brittle and much more flammable. 482 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:23,800 Well, that's interesting. 483 00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:24,800 That's cool. 484 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:25,800 I didn't expect that. 485 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:27,200 I didn't either. 486 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,640 More steel and more flames. 487 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,040 This backyard Barbie is getting way out of control. 488 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:34,400 You're spilling it on the wood pallet. 489 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,240 I'm getting a fire extinguisher. 490 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:48,840 The extinguisher works briefly, but it's no match for flaming oil. 491 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:49,840 Everything's under control. 492 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,680 That always sounds so easy in those do-it-yourself manuals. 493 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:59,040 This case hardened solid steel hammer is ready to be put to the sword. 494 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:03,760 And this time, they've decided to crash it into something that's guaranteed not to bend 495 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:04,760 or break. 496 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:09,440 What we're going to do is we're going to put to rest one of these arms. 497 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:14,880 We're just going to have the hammers crash into the anvil. 498 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:18,200 So we are moving onto a test that possibly could be the grand finale. 499 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:22,600 This could be the shattering hammer that we've been waiting so patiently for. 500 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,040 Systems arm let down. 501 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,080 Just got a limbo my way out. 502 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:28,080 All right. 503 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:29,560 So this is the final test. 504 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:37,080 Harden hammer against anvil in three, two, one. 505 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,560 The result is totally unexpected. 506 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:45,000 The carbon-soaked head failed to shatter, but the softer shaft has a serious case of the 507 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:46,000 bends. 508 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,000 That was the part that wasn't hardened. 509 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,000 That's true. 510 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,520 That's the part that wasn't hardened. 511 00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:52,520 Dang! 512 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:54,680 Yeah, that was the part that wasn't hardened. 513 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,080 That's pretty cool. 514 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,280 This here is our case, hardened hammer, which we did on our last test. 515 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:08,080 Now the hammer's so hard, and this is so soft that the neck completely bent. 516 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:12,120 Those flying fragments are just flaky residue from the barbecue. 517 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,840 The head itself is completely undamaged. 518 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:22,440 Conclusion, it's never wise to bang two good tools together, but the chances of a hardware 519 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:26,840 store hammer exploding are virtually zero. 520 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:29,080 So are we in agreement? 521 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,400 Hammer versus hammer, busted? 522 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:31,960 Yeah, it's busted. 523 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:39,280 Totally busted. 524 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:44,760 Coming up, Jamie and Adam are well on target to test one of America's oldest gun myths. 525 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:50,200 Three, two, one. 526 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:55,160 Jamie and Adam have already proved that a fired bullet could end up in another gun's 527 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,160 empty chamber. 528 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:02,560 As for killing the enemy by shooting down his sniper scope, well, Grant survived without 529 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:03,680 a scratch. 530 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:08,560 But this last gun myth might be the toughest test of all. 531 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,160 Now I've got one that I've been wanting to try. 532 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:17,560 About two Civil War soldiers who fired at each other and their bullets fused together 533 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,240 in midair and dropped to the ground below where they hit. 534 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:22,840 It sounds like a classic myth. 535 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:28,400 It also sounds like one that might be a little trickier than we think to pull it off. 536 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,720 They're going to want to go, and every plays butt like that. 537 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,440 This is definitely a one in a million shot, but we've got to try this one. 538 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,640 It's one of my favorites. 539 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:47,360 One famous fused bullet myth became folklore at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862. 540 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,960 These primitive rifles shot rounds called mini-balls. 541 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:55,800 Slightly pointed, 58 caliber slugs of solid lead. 542 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,400 The recipe is simple. 543 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:05,960 Melt some lead pellets, pour the liquid into the mold, and then cool it. 544 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:12,040 Now that is perfect. 545 00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:18,640 Meantime, Jamie sourced two near-perfect replica rifles to fire those mini-balls. 546 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:23,400 What we're going to do is take these rifles and put them in our bunker at opposite ends. 547 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:28,680 We'll probably screw them down onto a table and we'll line them up with laser sights. 548 00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:34,080 We'll use the adjustable qualities of these clamps to precisely dial them in, and we're 549 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:35,840 good to go. 550 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:39,160 But this is shaping up as one very tricky test. 551 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:43,040 These rifles need to be fully adjustable for fine tuning. 552 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,680 But once they're set, they can't move a fraction of an inch. 553 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:50,200 I've got an idea which I think you're going to like. 554 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:55,880 You know the really, really huge hockey puck magnets of death? 555 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:58,920 How could anyone forget? 556 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:03,440 Jamie used his mega magnets to climb up the inside of a metal duct. 557 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:08,000 Thor, the god of thunder is trying to enter my building. 558 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,760 And they could make or break this rifle rig. 559 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,000 These magnets are like the most diabolical things you've ever seen. 560 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,560 They're like straight out of a science fiction movie except they're real. 561 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,160 And on a side note, they actually provide us a lot of the adjustability we'd be looking 562 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:23,160 for. 563 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,320 I mean these guns aren't going to go anywhere with two of these magnets on them. 564 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:31,480 Mounting the magnets to the frame involves a fair degree of strength and patience. 565 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:35,080 There we go. 566 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:38,320 But the key to testing this myth is timing. 567 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:43,840 Two actuators linked up to digital timers should ensure a simultaneous trigger. 568 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:46,480 That's no guarantee of success. 569 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:52,440 We've got a hammer that hits a cap that ignites the powder that sets the bullet off on its 570 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:53,440 path. 571 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,040 One bullet could be packed a little tighter. 572 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,200 One bullet could have a little more wadding. 573 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:00,280 One black powder might have a drop of someone's sweat in it. 574 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:04,880 One cap, I don't even know what the manufacturing standards on these caps are. 575 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:09,280 All these factors could really get in our way of being able to get these bullets to 576 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,160 fire simultaneously and hit in midair. 577 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:20,680 They're setting the guns just six feet apart, hoping the laser sights ensure a hit. 578 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:25,720 In case the aim is a skew, they've fitted circular collars to the end of both barrels 579 00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:28,160 to limit the damage to the rest of the gun. 580 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:34,560 In order to align the two barrels directly down each other's throat, we've got these 581 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,600 which are in-barrel laser sights. 582 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:42,320 Basically, I put this in the barrel and I screw it in and it pulls this little thing 583 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,840 down, expands this collet to fit the barrel. 584 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:50,600 And then I know that this laser is dead center of the barrel pointing exactly where that 585 00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:52,320 barrel's going to shoot. 586 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:56,160 Line both of these up across the same center and we should get two bullets meeting. 587 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,560 But the biggest concern is timing. 588 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:05,120 Jamie's actuators are precise to the millisecond, but 19th century firing caps and gunpowder 589 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:08,080 aren't so reliable. 590 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:14,360 So Adam's running a test with a slab of bulletproof plastic to see if both rifles fire in perfect 591 00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:15,360 unison. 592 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:18,880 Alright, I'm just about to put the caps in and we should clear all non-essential personnel. 593 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,280 Okay, I'm out. 594 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:21,280 Alright. 595 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:23,600 Okay, range is going hot. 596 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:25,600 Clear the range. 597 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:33,320 Three, two, one. 598 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,520 I heard that bounce around. 599 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:39,720 And I also heard that it wasn't quite exactly the same hit. 600 00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:44,760 There's only one slug embedded in the plastic and it takes a minute to figure things out. 601 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:50,480 No, that's the bullet from this side because there's still a barrier. 602 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,960 Yeah, I think they both just kind of bounced off. 603 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,600 This one didn't quite bounce as far as the other one. 604 00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,160 Hey, how good is the aim? 605 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:00,160 It's perfect. 606 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,200 I can't tell, is it? 607 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:03,200 Yeah. 608 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:04,920 That is very, very cool. 609 00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:06,120 Let's check out the high speed. 610 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,880 The high speed camera confirms the theory. 611 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:14,200 One bullet popped out the other because one gun fired a fraction of a second later. 612 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:21,680 Which means we now want to set this one to fire 62 milliseconds before that one. 613 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:23,560 Well, I've got it set for delay. 614 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:26,480 So I'll delay that one 62 milliseconds. 615 00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:27,480 Yes. 616 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:32,840 Six hundreds of a second might not sound much, but that tiny delay could be catastrophic 617 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:34,760 in a real test. 618 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:39,040 It's way more time than it takes for one bullet to get from one gun to the other. 619 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:42,200 So that would have been one bullet all the way down the barrel of the other gun. 620 00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:47,800 Our biggest worry is that this black powder stuff is so unreliable that we may get some 621 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:52,960 totally different result next time, but at least we're dialing in on it. 622 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:56,520 The odds against perfect synchronicity are enormous. 623 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,680 The gun powder is just too unreliable. 624 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:05,480 So they might as well bite the bullet, lose the plastic, and do this test for real. 625 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:10,520 In three, two, one. 626 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:15,440 Oh, collar got knocked up. 627 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,720 That hammer is down. 628 00:39:17,720 --> 00:39:20,600 Interesting. 629 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:27,080 Test after test proves that timing is still the problem, and there's no way to fix it. 630 00:39:27,080 --> 00:39:31,960 One rifle always fires fractionally before the other, and they take turns jumping the 631 00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:33,120 gun. 632 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,920 Any delay Jamie dials in is pure guesswork. 633 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:42,880 You can in the high speed camera clearly see one bullet moving across frame, and then another 634 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:46,400 bullet moving across frame in that kind of time period. 635 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:50,000 So it's not like they're like this. 636 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,680 They're kind of going. 637 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:54,400 We're not sure how to get there. 638 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:57,240 These bullets are little rascals. 639 00:39:57,240 --> 00:39:59,400 They're like, you know, it's like herding cats. 640 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:00,400 They're not behaving. 641 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:05,320 So we need to come at it from a different angle, and I'm not sure what that is right 642 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:06,320 now. 643 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,160 The solution might involve some lateral thinking. 644 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:11,360 Hey, Tori. 645 00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,960 And there's no doubt that Adam's brain often works sideways. 646 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:15,960 This is perfect. 647 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:18,360 I want to put a bullet in there. 648 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:22,120 Just hold it ever so lightly enough that it stays there, and I can shoot it with another 649 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:23,120 bullet. 650 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,000 You're trying to shoot silver dollars, right? 651 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:26,760 Yeah, and that's what was designed. 652 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:29,600 So there's no resistance whatsoever. 653 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:35,200 It's basically just a two but three long screws mounted in it that hold the bullet very gingerly. 654 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:39,800 The thing that it does is holds it completely stationary, so we're guaranteed to hit it. 655 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:44,520 If those bullets completely disintegrate and don't fuse at any speed, then this myth is 656 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:45,920 busted. 657 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:51,760 If we are able to get those bullets to fuse at some speed, well then we're going to say 658 00:40:51,760 --> 00:40:53,640 it's plausible. 659 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:59,000 With one mini-ball held fast in the frame, they compensate by cutting the charge to just 660 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,600 20 grains of gunpowder. 661 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:07,640 It's a fairly realistic battlefield scenario, and their last chance to turn two bullets into 662 00:41:07,640 --> 00:41:09,120 one. 663 00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:15,520 Powders in, bullets in, safety's on, target bullets in, lights are on. 664 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:20,360 I'm going to climb out and put in the cap, and we'll be able to close the doors and fire. 665 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:26,520 Bring in three, two, one. 666 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:27,960 That was such a delay. 667 00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,360 It was like, capow. 668 00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:35,720 Jamie always says the simplest rigs are the most effective, and once again, he's proved 669 00:41:35,720 --> 00:41:37,720 the point. 670 00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:42,520 Oh, Jamie. 671 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:49,480 If you and I had hired a sculptor, we couldn't have asked him to do a better proving of plausibility 672 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:50,480 than that. 673 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:52,520 Yeah, that's pretty elegant. 674 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:55,560 It does not get any better than that. 675 00:41:55,560 --> 00:41:58,280 Dude, that is fusion. 676 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:03,800 There's no doubt that these two lethal chunks of lead have hit and fused. 677 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:08,320 The high-speed camera can't clearly show the melting moment, but so what? 678 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:10,400 Oh, you can't see it. 679 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:11,400 It's already gone. 680 00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:12,400 Oh, well. 681 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,400 I thought the evidence would be on the high-speed, but no. 682 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,320 We have physical evidence. 683 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:19,360 Who cares about the high-speed today? 684 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:21,280 It's not me. 685 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:28,760 When you think about what's required to make this happen in real life, I mean, it's a 686 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,360 freak accident. 687 00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:31,600 I am so happy about this. 688 00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:35,080 This is one of the most beautiful objects we have yet made on the show because of how 689 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:36,280 unexpected it is. 690 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:38,560 I would have to call this one plausible. 691 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:42,480 However unlikely, it is in fact plausible. 692 00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:46,920 All right. 693 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:48,520 Time to call it. 694 00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:50,440 First one up, mystery of the backwards bullet. 695 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:51,440 What do we say? 696 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:52,440 That would be confirmed. 697 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:56,320 It is possible to fire a bullet down the cylinder of another gun. 698 00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:58,800 The fused bullets from the Civil War. 699 00:42:58,800 --> 00:42:59,800 Plausible. 700 00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:01,920 It worked. 701 00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:03,480 And sniper scope. 702 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:06,520 Oh, we kind of have to say busted, I think. 703 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:09,600 I mean, as much as I don't want to make a bunch of snipers angry. 704 00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:11,600 No, I don't either. 705 00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,640 It's busted. 706 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:14,640 We couldn't make it happen. 707 00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:15,640 No.