Stangely shaped spent bullet: Trench Art?

[Jean-Loup]

Over the years of metal detecting, I have recovered hundreds or thousands of fired bullets. The condition ranged from mangled fragments to perfectly new looking, depending on how they had been fired. None however ever looked like this. This bullet is very interesting in that it was clearly fired. However, it seems that later on someone picked it up and did something with it, bending it in this simetrical and regular way.
Has anyone ever seen something similar? Would giving this shape to the bullet have some sort of purpose?

Thanks for your thoughts.

JL

[me6_130]

Looks like a hunting bullet, really strange. When I was a kid, in England, we would go to an abandoned school that had been a WWII bunker or AA shelter. Someone found a bullet that had been shot across by another bullet.


Carles

[Jean-Loup]

I didnt post a scale, but the caliber is approx 7-8mm, and the construction a typical of a military full metal jacket bullet (except for the tip where the lead is visible, but this seems to be part of the modification that was done to it after it was fired....)

JL

[Jean-Loup]

Here are some better photos if it can help someone have an idea.

[Jean-Loup]

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[Alan Smith]

Jean-Loup,

To me, this looks like a situation where the projectile was at or near the maximum range of its flight path (so that much of its energy had been expended) when it hit a solid object. With much of its energy already expended it did not "mushroom", but did have enough remaining energy to deform itself when the lead core was propelled forward into the copper jacket upon impact with the hard surface.

I'm not a ballistics expert, but I have done plenty of recreational shooting in prior years and always enjoyed digging out/recovering the spent projectiles (so I've seen a lot of different types of projectile deformation).

Just food for thought . . . .

[scottr]

This projectile indeed is very odd looking. However, I see no tool marks which leads me to believe the damage is natural and a result of unusual striking against a hard surface. Perhaps just enough velocity and momentum to collapse the tip, producing annular bulging and not enough to fragment the jacket.

[jujuy]

that's what happened.

Jean-Loup,

To me, this looks like a situation where the projectile was at or near the maximum range of its flight path (so that much of its energy had been expended) when it hit a solid object. With much of its energy already expended it did not "mushroom", but did have enough remaining energy to deform itself when the lead core was propelled forward into the copper jacket upon impact with the hard surface.

I'm not a ballistics expert, but I have done plenty of recreational shooting in prior years and always enjoyed digging out/recovering the spent projectiles (so I've seen a lot of different types of projectile deformation).

Just food for thought . . . .

[Jean-Loup]

Indeed, there are no tool marks visible, but I have a bit of difficulty believing that this is simple deformation due to impact.
If anyone has a similar bullet picked up at the range, I would be interested to see it.

JL

[Jean-Loup]

After finding this bullet, I have to agree with you guys that the first one posted must have been deformed in that way by chance.

JL