|
Post by gopher in heat on Nov 30, 2008 19:15:00 GMT -5
It seems like the inventive little concoction Mike creates to escape his bedroom could feasibly be done. But really... could it? He seems to do everything that's necessary to make a shotgun shell go off... although it seems like he'd have a better chance of blowing his hand off than making a hole in the door. Quick related side note... does anyone else cringe a little when after he's put the tack in the shell it falls over? Man, I do it every time.
|
|
|
Post by OblivionGoon on Dec 1, 2008 8:44:24 GMT -5
Well, yes and no.
Technically, any pointy object that comes into contact with a bullet/shotgun shell should cause the round to fire. In prison, many handmade guns use this very idea. A nail attached to a stiff spring is used as a firearm. Now the big issue with this is the door. In the film, the door gets a hole blown in it. In reality, the buckshot would have blown out in a sideways pattern. If there were no barrel to control the direction, then there would have been no single spot of impact. The same goes for a regular bullet. When bullets are caught in a house fire, they don't fire off straight, they go willy-nilly. Sideways, up, down, wherever. It also depends on the size of the round and the amount of grain inside of the cartridge. I think that the shotgun shell Mike used was center fire (has a nipple in the middle, which is the charge that ignites the gunpowder), if it was rim fire (flat on the bottom, the pin usually hits the outside "rim" of the round) it would have been much harder to fire the shell.
|
|
|
Post by DustinM on Dec 1, 2008 9:22:48 GMT -5
Well, yes and no. Technically, any pointy object that comes into contact with a bullet/shotgun shell should cause the round to fire. In prison, many handmade guns use this very idea. A nail attached to a stiff spring is used as a firearm. Now the big issue with this is the door. In the film, the door gets a hole blown in it. In reality, the buckshot would have blown out in a sideways pattern. If there were no barrel to control the direction, then there would have been no single spot of impact. The same goes for a regular bullet. When bullets are caught in a house fire, they don't fire off straight, they go willy-nilly. Sideways, up, down, wherever. It also depends on the size of the round and the amount of grain inside of the cartridge. I think that the shotgun shell Mike used was center fire (has a nipple in the middle, which is the charge that ignites the gunpowder), if it was rim fire (flat on the bottom, the pin usually hits the outside "rim" of the round) it would have been much harder to fire the shell. Best explanation ever. Love it.
|
|
|
Post by gopher in heat on Dec 1, 2008 10:29:51 GMT -5
Yeah man, great explanation! You sure seem to know what you're talkin' about.
|
|
|
Post by OblivionGoon on Dec 1, 2008 10:37:54 GMT -5
I love firearms. The knowledge of them that I have is mandatory for someone who owns, carries and discharges them. I have my concealed-carry permit. I had to take a state mandated gun safety course, I learned qute a bit.
I think someone should contact Mythbusters about this issue. I think that Grant could whip up some contraption to set off a shotgun shell in a safe way, kind of like the pad lock episode.
EDIT:
I am in the process of submitting this to Mythbusters.
|
|
|
Post by gopher in heat on Dec 1, 2008 10:51:01 GMT -5
Awesome man. I love Mythbusters, and they quite often do "movie myths".
Hopefully this makes it on there at some point.
|
|
|
Post by OblivionGoon on Dec 2, 2008 8:27:15 GMT -5
Someone beat me to the punch. There was a post made about this very issue over a year ago. I made a general reply to bump it back up.
|
|
|
Post by 1hearseman on Dec 2, 2008 17:45:27 GMT -5
I'm no gun expert by any means, but I remember years back showing P1 to a friend who did own some firearms and knew about them and he said technically it wouldn't have worked. It would be hilarious to see one of the mythbuster guys dressed up exactly like Mike, jean jacket and all with a corner set of Mike's bedroom w/door testing the theory!
|
|
|
Post by postmortem on Dec 5, 2008 22:25:28 GMT -5
This is a cool topic! One I've pondered for decades. My dad brought home some cartridges when I was a teen, then tied them to a twig during Christmas of 1979 and called it a "Cartridge in a bare tree." Yup, that's where I inherited my weirdness all right! As a newbie "Phantasm" fan, I had to smirk. I kept studying one of them up in my room, wondering how Mike pulled it off, but never with the guts to do an experiment myself. I'm probably alive today, able to write this because of that very cowardice! Say... um... OG. Why do you need to carry a concealed weapon? There's obviously a story there that's begging to be told!
|
|
|
Post by OblivionGoon on Dec 7, 2008 14:00:19 GMT -5
Say... um... OG. Why do you need to carry a concealed weapon? There's obviously a story there that's begging to be told! Really not much of a story. Just exercising my Constitutional rights. Plus... the murder rate down here has tripled, and there have been about 90 Walgreens hold-ups since January. Crime has gotten really bad. I loathe the day that I actually have to use a firearm to protect myself or others. Many people think that us firearm carriers walk around waiting to shoot someone, simply not the case. In my firearms class, the instructor told us that every time we pull the trigger with the gun pointed at someone, it will cost us $30,000. That is the average cost that someone will face if they use a weapon for self protection.
|
|
|
Post by 4barrelhemi on Dec 31, 2008 1:01:10 GMT -5
I've always wanted to try that and building a 4 barrel shotgun but was always afraid of it blowing up on me.
|
|
|
Post by OblivionGoon on Dec 31, 2008 9:46:08 GMT -5
I think it's possible, 4barrel. The main thing would be the marriage between the two stocks and the trigger assemblies. It could be done with some ingenuity. Start sketching stuff out. If you want to make one that won't blow you to bits, go buy the cheap airsoft shotguns and do it that way, plus being that they are plastic, you could easily make one with the help of JB Weld and sand paper.
|
|
|
Post by scubasteve on Jan 2, 2009 17:31:15 GMT -5
A friend of mine managed to get a blank SA80 cartridge (that's a british military rifle ammunition) and he wanted to set it off with his brother. So he went into his dad's garage and placed the bullet in a vice with the percussion cap exposed. He then got a hammer and chisel and hit the end of the bullet. It of course exploded as it should, but it nearly took the skin of his hand off, because the explosion was not directed and contained.
I would imagine that the shotgun shell thing would be similar if not identical. I would not recommend it at all!
|
|
|
Post by OblivionGoon on Jan 2, 2009 18:39:20 GMT -5
Wowser, Scuba. Thats... um... well... a big tardbag move.
I can see how that would happen. Imagine putting your hand in front of a gun's muzzle and taking the flash that is expelled. Forget the round that is coming out a a few thousand feet per second. Talk about a burn... ouch. The only thing that *might* be different with a shotgun is the casing. You might have a chance with a slug, but buckshot or birdshot is gonna be messy. You would probably have hamburger for hands.
|
|
|
Post by scubasteve on Jan 3, 2009 14:24:44 GMT -5
Yes, that was indeed a 'tardbag' move as you put it. As for the quad shotgun, that would be awesome. If it could be physically made, you'd have to take into account laws about modifying guns. I know there are laws over here about sawing off the ends of shotguns, so making a quad barrell would I'm sure be pretty illegal too.
|
|
|
Post by The Never Dead on Mar 11, 2009 10:12:30 GMT -5
When watching that scene, it made me wince some when Mike put the thumbtack(I think that's what it was) in the shotgun shell. It's crazy because I was thinking "don't blow up" or something along those lines. Funny since I've seen Phantasm many times & knew it wouldn't blow up. It would suck if it did though.
|
|