Other than round projectiles?

T

TXAZ

New member
Other than some of the cubic EM rail guns, is anyone aware of a firearms projectile that isn't round?

If the goal of a self defense round is to open as large a wound as possible, wouldn't a similar mass like a spinning saw blade create a larger wound?

I also have to believe there are probably some legal reasons prohibiting such rounds (ala NJ hollow points)?

Clearly there are some issues in developing the weapon itself.

Just curious,
TXAZ
 
www.hi-vel.com/Catalog__25/Specialized_Shotshell_Ammuniti/specialized_shotshell_ammuniti.html

"12 GAUGE CUBIC SHOT
THESE SHELLS CONTAIN PELLETS EXTRUDED AND CUT INTO SMALL UNIFORM CUBES, RESULTING IN A FAST OPENING LETHAL PATTERN, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME REDUCING THE POSSIBILITY OF RICOCHETS."


www.mackspw.com/Item--i-GRID000801

"The new Winchester Blind Side Steel Shot 12 Gauge Shotgun Ammunition combines ground-breaking, stacked HEX Shot technology and the new Diamond Cut Wad"

And Orvis used to sell spreader shells loaded with flattened (disc) shot.
 
Don't forget the "tround".......triangular shaped projectile.

220px-Dardick_tround_pat_2865126_fig4.png
 
The issue with anything other than a cylindrical projectile is it has to be loaded into the magazine and then chambered ina particular orientation other wise you get a jam. Cylindrical projectiles can be turned in whatever way you wantas long as the nose and tail are pointing the right way.
 
The English Whitworth rifle used hexagonal projectiles and was reasonably popular with Confederate Sharpshooters during the Civil War. The Whitworth, however, failed to supplant the rifled muskets that were its contemporaries because it was both more prone to barrel fouling and much, much more expensive to produce (a Whitworth cost approximately four times as much as a P1853 Enfield rifled musket).
 
loading/chambering problems could be solved with a sabot. The round cross-section solves problems associated with wind resistance of a spin stabilized projectile. "other than rounds" could be stabilized but would lose energy faster due to increased friction … whether you increase drag at the tail relative to it’s mass, use angled fins to impart spin, or a combination of both. Also, complex shapes often perform radically differently at supersonic speeds than they do at subsonic speeds…. Not to mention the projectile would be a pain in the butt to make compared to a regular round.
 
There have been several shotgun rounds designed with flat, square, diamond shaped pellets and on and on - anything to try and get some open patterns for old tightly-choked guns

Flechettes are a projectile that aren't round either (also not good for anything)
 
In many parts of the world, garnet crystals have been used in place of round lead balls in blackpowder firearms. They aren't round, excactly, unless you took a round ball and shaved of 12 faces. They are rhombic dodecahedron-shaped.

http://www.alaskagarnetmines.com/images/GarnetCrystals/0045.htm

This could be a box of ~.50 cal balls!
http://www.alaskagarnetmines.com/images/GarnetCrystals/0040.htm


Way back in one of my early college geology classes, we were taught that Native Americans used them in place of lead when they could not get lead. Crystals that remained intact after firing would produce nasty wounds, apparently shattering to sharp edged fragments upon hitting a person.

I have never been able to verify this.

According to some, in 1892 the king of Kashmir used garnet bullets against British army on the Kashmir frontier.
http://www.gehnabazaar.com/gemstones/58/garnet-group.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_6121985_interesting-garnet.html

During the 1800's Navajos in this locale used the water-worn and rounded ant Hill garnet crystals as bullets.
http://www.azgem.com/garnet.html
 
depending on the intent and distance of course trajectory may not be all that important... I could see a case made for odd shaped shell shot in impovised shells... In some sort of lead free world..
 
I remember my father working on an idea for a caseless type of ammunition. I don't recall off hand the bullet configuration though.
 
I seem to recall the British Army, or perhaps the British Indian Police, using a non-standard, non-round ammunition in thier weapons so that if said weapon was stolen, the public miscreant who made off with it could not use it with hostile intent.
 
Non-standard, yes. You will still see 14 gauge Martini actioned riot guns coming up for sale. Odd gauge and in most cases a triple pronged firing pin that will only fire a shell with a deep groove around the primer.

Non-round, no.



Accuracy trumps terminal effects and a cylindrical or even spherical projectile can be made to fly the straightest. Nasty wounds is what expanding bullets are for.
 
Triangular firing pin....there you go. I was thinking that the rounds were like an early version of the "Tround"

I recall Sportsmen's Guide was selling those for the longest time since the ammo was non-existent.
 
The hex bore Whitworth is famed in song and story, largely because of the hundred or so sniper rifles that made it through the Federal blockade to the Confederacy. There are two things not well known about it, though:

1. It was soon found that a cylindrical bullet would slug up to fit the hexagonal bore without the expense and trouble of a fitted hexagonal bullet.

2. The Whitworth was largely outclassed within five years as land and groove rifled barrels matched its .451 caliber and fast twist. Gibbs, Henry, and Metford rifling ruled from about 1865 until the advent of the breechloaders. You will see that a Gibbs repro by Pedersoli is the only production target muzzleloader in contention.
 
Another thought regarding round vs. not and ballistics... If for some reason (whatever that reason may be) the not round projectile were desired, the aerodynamic issues could be solved all the way to the target with a non-discarding sabot.
 
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