This look like a bullet hole to you??

[doublet2a]

Found close to old RR tracks
Only writing I can find is the # 74 on the shackle part
Made of brass, appox. 2 & 1/4 In, tall
Could this be an old train robbery victim


Tim

 

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[Monty]

Well, after much eyeballing and studying I don't see a bullet impact on this lock. And I have shot a lot of stuff in my life time including the bull. The only lock I have ever seen opened with a bullet was with a .30 06 armor piercing bullet from a good distance because of richchets from lead, jacket material and pieces of the lock. It made a nice neat round hole with ragged edges and the lock popped open and went flying. Like one of the other guys said, it looks like a switch lock to me. My wife retired from a railroad company and if they lost the key, they didn't shoot it off but gave it a good rap with a spike mall. Opens 'em right up. Monty

 

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[l.cutler]

Hard to say but, I was told by an old railroad worker that they would often just use a bar or hammer on a switch lock instead of going for a key. They had plenty of locks so they would break it open then replace the lock.

 

[GL]

Looks bullet holey to me.

 

[doublet2a]

I think I am going to have to go with the pick-hammer idea
Sure was fun thinking about a train robbery or something anyway
If my grand kids ever ask, that's what I'll say!!
Think I'll mark this one solved,, Thanks all


Tim

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I think locks need to be shot at very close range for maximum effect. Im sure the payphone robber shot very close. However, very dangerous. You also have to know exactly where to hit it. IMO. Also all locks are not created equal.
As was stated earlier, a lock can be opened with one sharp pick blow, if you know exactly where to hit it.

 

[Fast_Dave]

The guy in the video should try a 30-30 with a 170 grain silvertip, it works wonders with padlocks. Did anyone else want to hunt around that fallen house he was using as a backdrop for his shooting? Probably full of lead now, but it looked intriguing...

If you're curious about how bullets penetrate things like metal, walls, water and Kevlar check out this website. http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/theboxotruth.htm
It's a couple of guys who have a lot of fun testing myths about shooting and what will stop a bullet ( check out the Buick o' Truth and you'll never watch a police drama again without laughing- you know, the ones where they crouch behind car doors as cover). They've had so much publicity that people send them things to shoot at, like bulletproof vests, bulletproof glass and, yes, locks, although a much stronger type than pictured here. It's a real hoot when they haul out the heavy caliber stuff, like testing wall penetration with a .45-70(Don't get in any gun fights with buffalo hunters. There ain't no such thing as cover. )

 

[vhs07]

Keep in mind that the lock case is cast brass, not steel. I would think that the cracking would be expected.

Charles

 

[Fast_Dave]

Keep in mind that the lock case is cast brass, not steel. I would think that the cracking would be expected.

Charles

Hmmm, interesting point. I've shot steel, copper, copper-nickel, iron and some other alloys, but I can't remember ever trying cast brass. It might have a different effect.

 

[Monty]

When I retired from the Pd, the kevlar in my vest had expired, yes the have a date on them just like food. Anyway, I tested it with various calibers and most pistol bullets would not penetrate, but all, I said all rifle bullets penetrated front and back layers! There was steel inserts you could get for them but it was so heavy and uncomfortable not many officers used them except maybe the SWAT team. We were trained to not ever depend on a door stopping a bullet and even one officer sustained wounds from hiding behind his car door. A .357 magnum went right through the door and him too! He had to take an early retirement because of it. We were taught to get behind the off side behind the engine block or behind opposing wheels. Way off subject but someone brought it up? Monty

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

When I retired from the Pd, the kevlar in my vest had expired, yes the have a date on them just like food. Anyway, I tested it with various calibers and most pistol bullets would not penetrate, but all, I said all rifle bullets penetrated front and back layers! There was steel inserts you could get for them but it was so heavy and uncomfortable not many officers used them except maybe the SWAT team. We were trained to not ever depend on a door stopping a bullet and even one officer sustained wounds from hiding behind his car door. A .357 magnum went right through the door and him too! He had to take an early retirement because of it. We were taught to get behind the off side behind the engine block or behind opposing wheels. Way off subject but someone brought it up? Monty

it is on subject. TY Monty.

 

[shaun7]

that definately looks like a rusty bullet hole!

 

[greydigger]

In the movies hiding behind couches always works.

Looks like a bullet dent to me.

 

[doublet2a]

I will have to add,


I didn't find any signs of lead inside??

Thanks for all the help, you guys are amazing!!!!!


Tim

 

[GL]

The guy in the video should try a 30-30 with a 170 grain silvertip, it works wonders with padlocks. Did anyone else want to hunt around that fallen house he was using as a backdrop for his shooting? Probably full of lead now, but it looked intriguing...

That's a fallen "corn crib" circa @ 1900 or so. It collapsed about 8 years ago after some degenerate stole the floorboards and has been my backstop ever since. After renting a detector I have determined my yard has a foot thick layer of solid rust and iron starting about 5 inches down. My kid found cool money but all I found was a few dimes and some pennies.

 

[Monty]

I give up! I have blown this up, made it a negative and changed the color to different shades and I still am not seeing anything that looks like a bullet hole! It's making me crazy! Monty

 

[woody50]

Well my two cents worth would say a rifle bullet... but I have been known to be wrong.
I have seen two padlocks that WERE shot off something, that in Bodie, a managed ghost town on the dry side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and I must say YEARS ago. But if I remember good, they looked quite like to this damage. But, like doublet2 says, there should be, or might be something left of the bullet.

Just for fun here shooting at a lock with a hand gun....
The lock :"MintCraft, 2 inch Laminated Padlocks", a knock-off of Master type locks. They were heavy-duty.

-Hand Gun 1 Shot the lock with 9mm ball. You can see that it flattened out and dented the lock. It froze-up the lock and it could not be unlocked. But it held tight.
-Hand Gun 2 Shot the same lock with a 9mm JHP. As you can see, it dented the lock, but bounced off.
-Hand Gun 3 Next, it was time for John Browning's finest, the .45 ACP. The .45 ball flattened out against the lock, but the key would still open it. Not much effect.
-Hand Gun 4 So, it was time for the .44 Magnum, "The most powerful handgun in the world and capable of blowing your head clean off!", at least according to Dirty Harry. I used a 240 grain JHP. I'll admit to a bad shot that only hit the bottom of the lock, but the second one centered it just fine. You can see where one of the pins on the lock was blown upwards. The lock was frozen shut. But the lock held like a rock.

And here are some shooting at the lock with a rifle
-Rifle 1 First, an AR-15 shooting XM193 Ball. The 5.56 went through the lock like a hot knife through butter.
-Rifle 2 Here's the exit on the back of the lock. The lock was frozen, but still held. We also tried a round of Remington .223 Soft Point, with the exact same results
-Rifle 3 Next, we shot the FAL, with Australian M1A2 .308 Ball. Here's the lock. I am holding the new lock on the right just to compare. The .308 blew the bottom half of the lock off. But, once again, the lock held and did not come off, even when pulled. I also loaded up a round with a pulled .30 AP bullet and got the same results.

Now a shotgun
Shotgun 1 We were not able to get a "Breeching round" for a shotgun, but a friend had sent me a sample 12 gauge Brennke slug to test and this seemed like a good time to use it. It blew it to pieces!
Shotgun 2 Where we found the biggest piece of the lock, 50 feet behind the target
Shotgun 3 The rest of the lock......

Sorry about the small photos, there were just that size...

So now you know how that feels! (if you are a lock)..

Conclusion
The question is, those locks back then were much lighter and made from brass.....
Me, Myself and I think its possible to shoot off a lock if you aim from above and break the lock joint. But not a modern one...


[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[shaun7]

Well my two cents worth would say a rifle bullet... but I have been known to be wrong.
I have seen two padlocks that WERE shot off something, that in Bodie, a managed ghost town on the dry side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and I must say YEARS ago. But if I remember good, they looked quite like to this damage. But, like doublet2 says, there should be, or might be something left of the bullet.

Just for fun here shooting at a lock with a hand gun....
The lock :"MintCraft, 2 inch Laminated Padlocks", a knock-off of Master type locks. They were heavy-duty.

-Hand Gun 1 Shot the lock with 9mm ball. You can see that it flattened out and dented the lock. It froze-up the lock and it could not be unlocked. But it held tight.
-Hand Gun 2 Shot the same lock with a 9mm JHP. As you can see, it dented the lock, but bounced off.
-Hand Gun 3 Next, it was time for John Browning's finest, the .45 ACP. The .45 ball flattened out against the lock, but the key would still open it. Not much effect.
-Hand Gun 4 So, it was time for the .44 Magnum, "The most powerful handgun in the world and capable of blowing your head clean off!", at least according to Dirty Harry. I used a 240 grain JHP. I'll admit to a bad shot that only hit the bottom of the lock, but the second one centered it just fine. You can see where one of the pins on the lock was blown upwards. The lock was frozen shut. But the lock held like a rock.

And here are some shooting at the lock with a rifle
-Rifle 1 First, an AR-15 shooting XM193 Ball. The 5.56 went through the lock like a hot knife through butter.
-Rifle 2 Here's the exit on the back of the lock. The lock was frozen, but still held. We also tried a round of Remington .223 Soft Point, with the exact same results
-Rifle 3 Next, we shot the FAL, with Australian M1A2 .308 Ball. Here's the lock. I am holding the new lock on the right just to compare. The .308 blew the bottom half of the lock off. But, once again, the lock held and did not come off, even when pulled. I also loaded up a round with a pulled .30 AP bullet and got the same results.

Now a shotgun
Shotgun 1 We were not able to get a "Breeching round" for a shotgun, but a friend had sent me a sample 12 gauge Brennke slug to test and this seemed like a good time to use it. It blew it to pieces!
Shotgun 2 Where we found the biggest piece of the lock, 50 feet behind the target
Shotgun 3 The rest of the lock......

Sorry about the small photos, there were just that size...

So now you know how that feels! (if you are a lock)..

Conclusion
The question is, those locks back then were much lighter and made from brass.....
Me, Myself and I think its possible to shoot off a lock if you aim from above and break the lock joint. But not a modern one...

woody you are a very eccentric man with far too much time on his hands

 

[Monty]

Don't worry woody, I do the same type of things just out of curiosity, ie: me shooting up the "bullet proof" vest. I've even tried to shoot holes in coins like they do in the old westerns, and couldn't get any modern handgun to penetrete the half dollars. And I lost a few coins that went flying of into the weeds and grass! Not one handgun would put a hole in a half dollar! A .44 mag bent the coin double but didn't knock a hole in it. Rifles were much like the locks you shot, went right through the coin easily. So, what does all that prove? Nothing I guess, but it's interesting. Monty

 

[greydigger]

Nice post Monty

 

[woody50]

woody you are a very eccentric man with far too much time on his hands

Well I guess you could be right Shaun... retired 12 years ago (after working with computers since 1959, and just can't leave them alone any more), so I have time but never know it because I never wear a watch.....

About the eccentric part... gads! I am just a plain Californian, I just don't understand all the words Cru and yourself are throwing at me. Had to look this one up too...

ECCENTRIC
Synonyms are aberrant, abnormal, anomalous, beat, bent, bizarre, capricious, characteristic, cockeyed, crazy, curious, droll, erratic, far out, flaky, freak, freakish, funky, funny, idiosyncratic, irregular, kooky, nutty, odd, oddball, offbeat, off-center, off the wall, out in left field, outlandish, peculiar, quaint, queer, quirky, quizzical, singular, strange, uncommon, unconventional, unnatural, way out, weird, whimsical, wild.

So.... I have colored the ones I think fit me... aberrant I had to look up (differing from the normal or accepted way) that's me, and anomalous also (not fitting into a common or familiar type) that's me again...

Oh yea, before I forget, the color codes... red = me blue = a little me green = a bit like me navy = yes yes yes

JEEZE Shaun, I guess they ALL are me... your are correct again!

Nice to have a laugh and fun, thanks.