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Exploding .58 Minies ?

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Ok. Old guy trying to recall where I read this....If one would bore an appropriate sized hole in the tip of a .58 Minie to insert a .22 blank or .CB cap, insert said thing, and fire .....will it explode when it hits a hard object? Soft object? Deer? Tree stump?

Additionally ....should the answer be a "why, yes, it does"...what about adding a bit of a powder charge beneath the blank? Tannerite?

There were probably good reasons Dad checked on me at his workbench as a kid.
"Teach a boy to fish, he'll fish all his life. Turn him loose making his own fireworks....you best check on him often."
 
I tried that and impact was no different then without it. Sorry, it’s just what us kids wished and found out that it only works in hollywood.
Thanks, Phil Coffins. Saved me from another "project". Too much time on my hands. Best go sort round balls with a micrometer...oh joy.
 
The exploding minnie bullets , was an item in the back Turner Kirklin's Dixie Gun Works Catalog. Drill hole in nose of bullet , insert .22 blank ctg. , load carefully and fire for effect. Turner said ,you can see the puff of smoke when it hits. :dunno: I never tried it , but Turner said so , what else do ya need ta know................oldwood
 
was an item in the back Turner Kirklin's Dixie Gun Works Catalog. Drill hole in nose of bullet , insert .22 blank ctg. , load carefully and fire for effect.
Hmmm, I`spose it would work if shooting at a hard surface, like rocks or a rock wall canyon type stuff.
With most of us today being raised and trained to shoot into soft soil backstops and to be aware of our down range,, we wouldn't consider it.
Interesting concept,,
 
That’s where I got the idea, my test of this was a 475 grain bullet in a fifty Sharps with a 22 casing, the hole was filled with 4fg . The impact on boards, dirt and rocks didn’t make puff at all.
 
I tried that and impact was no different then without it. Sorry, it’s just what us kids wished and found out that it only works in hollywood.
I think that the lead being soft, that it absorbs to impact & renders it useless!
 
NECCHI...........I never made any of those Turner Kirklin exploding bullets ,even though I did have a home built 1862 Springfield musket, cobbled up from DGW parts. I was too new in the M/l mystery's to experiment with bullets. . I was soooooo impressed with the power of a .58 Minnie ball. A guy I worked with had lost his dad ,and in the aftermath , invited my Son and I over to his camp , There was an old abandoned out house there , and my friend elected to put a target on the side of it for us to try the .58 out on it. My son fired the first shot with good effect on the target , then we heard a strange hissing sound coming from the building. We opened the door , and found a pile of Herculite glass . I guess my friend didn't know his dad had stored about 18 or so truck windshields in the toilet. LOL.......Operative word is "had"........The .58 slug ,pushed by 60 gr.FFG , collapsed all. Impressive........oldwood
 
Exploding Minnies were issued during the War Between the states, and consisted of a small charge capped with a musket cap. There was no real study done on the actual effectiveness of the concept. As noted, loading such a projectile was done CAREFULLY!
 
The exploding minnie bullets , was an item in the back Turner Kirklin's Dixie Gun Works Catalog. Drill hole in nose of bullet , insert .22 blank ctg. , load carefully and fire for effect. Turner said ,you can see the puff of smoke when it hits. :dunno: I never tried it , but Turner said so , what else do ya need ta know................oldwood
And I believe he even sold .58 minnies with the hole already drilled. Never tried it myself. LOL
 
For kicks, I bought a few of these in the 1960's from Dixie when ordering some needed parts. After getting them, I thought better and never fired them with a blank. I think I shot them unloaded sometime in the 70's when I ran out of
Screen Shot 2022-04-01 at 11.13.06 AM.png
standard mini balls
 
When I was much younger and more foolish. I made exploding mini's by drilling a 3/16 hole about .250. deep in the point of some mini's, put in a few grains of black powder and topped it of with a percusion cap. I made a special ramrod tip for loading them. They really did a number on blocks of wood and one blew apart a medium sized deer. I figure I wasted about twenty lbs of meat.
 
As referenced by other members, in 1863 the Union Army issued what was called the "Gardiner Musket Shell" — a .58 minie bullet with an explosive charge inside. The idea was if fired over the heads of dug-in troops, it would explode over their heads and shower them with bullet fragments. Further, it was thought that a soldier hit by such a bullet in a place that would only wound — was more likely to be killed if the bullet then exploded inside his body. In any case, there was no way to control when or where such a fired bullet would explode. The idea was very unpopular with the men.

One of my great great grandfathers served in the Second N.H. Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. Here is an excerpt from the regimental history that describes what happened to a couple of the men in The Peach Orchard during the Battle of Gettysburg when they came under Rebel artillery fire:


…Several cartridge boxes were exploded. A shell struck and burst on the box of Corporal Thomas Bignall, of Company C. The cartridges were driven into his body and fired, and for nearly half a minute the devilish " musket shells " issued at Washington were exploding in his quivering form. But death was mercifully quick. The next moment a fragment of shell explored the cartridge box of Sergeant James M. House, of Company I. The rapidity with which he tore off the infernal machine hanging by his side was astonishing, and he escaped with only a severe wound…”
 
When I was much younger and more foolish. I made exploding mini's by drilling a 3/16 hole about .250. deep in the point of some mini's, put in a few grains of black powder and topped it of with a percusion cap. I made a special ramrod tip for loading them. They really did a number on blocks of wood and one blew apart a medium sized deer. I figure I wasted about twenty lbs of meat.
who would want to blow up a deer? oh I know.
 
Thinking they'd go off if they hit a steel plate target. Not something for a close-up experiment, though, nor as previously posted - by ramming down the barrel. Dixie catalog was where I remember this from, now that it was posted.
 
As kids we saw too many Japanese monster movies and shot round ball into the sand bars beneath the turtles so we could see one fly. Just as well we didn't know about the Gardiner Musket Shell.
 
Ok. Old guy trying to recall where I read this....If one would bore an appropriate sized hole in the tip of a .58 Minie to insert a .22 blank or .CB cap, insert said thing, and fire .....will it explode when it hits a hard object? Soft object? Deer? Tree stump?

Additionally ....should the answer be a "why, yes, it does"...what about adding a bit of a powder charge beneath the blank? Tannerite?

There were probably good reasons Dad checked on me at his workbench as a kid.
"Teach a boy to fish, he'll fish all his life. Turn him loose making his own fireworks....you best check on him often."
IIRC Sir Samuel Baker wrote about exploding projectiles for use on Elephants with notable success.
 
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