# Help me hammer on a bullet w/o killing myself. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609 "2009-12-01T18:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/21 "2009-12-02T17:05:00Z")
SS Tubing…just put a bevel on the edge u want to cut. Disassemble bullets LEAD first and pointed…Dat Way! ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/22 "2009-12-02T17:29:38Z")
And just as an FYI. The correct way to disassemble a bullet without firing it is with a [bullet puller](http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=215517). The principle is that you attach a weight to the slug and use inertia to pull it out. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/23 "2009-12-02T17:35:55Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Go to harbor freight and [buy a leather punch](http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=leather+punch&Submit=Go). $3? I feel ripped off now. Of course, I bought my rotary punch 20 years ago, so I probably _did_ pay $3 for it. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/24 "2009-12-02T19:08:43Z")
> [@Qwakkeddup](#): > > And knock knuckles out of alignment…410 shell… I was 14. > [@Magiver](#): > > I can tell you from childhood experience that the primer in a 12 gauge will blow a hammer out of your hand. I think youth and time have perhaps altered your recollections. A primer is not even as energetic as a normal black cat style firecracker. A primer only cartridge for most rifles won’t even unseat the bullet. If you were playing with an emptied shell, the odds are you didn’t get it empty enough. But a primer alone isn’t too nasty unless you chain them in the tube or something. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLV4icjzzFY&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLV4icjzzFY&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/25 "2009-12-02T20:19:31Z")
Here’s how [NOT to do it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snVoxwVSGhc) (see 6:05 in the video). ---
**Author:** ![Testy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@Testy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Testy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/26 "2009-12-02T20:26:39Z")
**handsomeharry** I would **not** use a bullet-puller on a .22 rimfire as this may deform the primer. IIRC, bullet-pullers are only for use with centerfire ammo. As an OBTW, why not just put a scrap of 2 X 4 lumber on the floor and then hammer a phillips-head screwdriver through the belt and into the wood. I did this a few nights ago for someone and it worked fine. Regards Testy ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/27 "2009-12-02T21:56:43Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I can tell you from childhood experience that the primer in a 12 gauge will blow a hammer out of your hand. Lucky you! When I was a kid, I found out that a 12 ga shell fit nicely into the opening of by bicycle handlebar. I had an almost overpowering urge to hit it with a hammar to see if the bird shot would come out the other end of the handlebar. Fortunately, I am not as stupid as I look, so never did it, but I still wonder what the result would be. Anybody care to try this and let me know what happens? That is after you get out of the ER 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/28 "2009-12-02T22:42:25Z")
Back in my “young and stupid” days, I set up some 12-gauge shells on a rock, backed up 25 yards, and shot at them with a BB gun until I managed to actually hit the primer and make it go _boom_. Don’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/29 "2009-12-03T00:55:40Z")
> [@ivn1188](#): > > I think youth and time have perhaps altered your recollections. A primer is not even as energetic as a normal black cat style firecracker. A primer only cartridge for most rifles won’t even unseat the bullet. > > If you were playing with an emptied shell, the odds are you didn’t get it empty enough. But a primer alone isn’t too nasty unless you chain them in the tube or something. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLV4icjzzFY&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLV4icjzzFY&feature=related) snicker… and you think that wouldn’t blow a hammer out of your hand? I’d suggest you prove me wrong but that would be cruel and irresponsible. I consider it a teaching moment. ---
**Author:** ![Qwakkeddup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Qwakkeddup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwakkeddup)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/30 "2009-12-03T01:52:35Z")
It is kinda hard to forget seeing and resetting the dislocated joints in two fingers. I am purty darn sure it was the primer, there wasn’t anything else left to go boom. The proof is in the fact, I have never done it again. Nor will I. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/31 "2009-12-03T03:10:32Z")
You’re both mistaken then. I haven’t been dumb enough to hit a primer with a hammer, but I have set off shotgun primers, rifle primers, and pistol primers, both on purpose and by accident. I was also not in my early teens. The pop from a primer is much less than from ordinary fireworks. If you watch the video, if doesn’t even kick the sand more than a foot. A lowly firecracker will pop sand quite a bit further, but won’t shoot a tin can more than a few inches in the air. There is simply no way a plain primer is going to break your hand unless you freaked out and wrenched your hand trying to pull it back or you got some powder in there, which is a _lot_ more energetic. I’ve shot primer-only blanks, there is zero kick. If there was enough force to throw a couple lbs of hammer around enough to wreck your hand, it would be enough for me to feel a kick. Hell, a fully hot round doesn’t have enough kick to break my hand, even in a big-ass pistol. I also know for a fact that getting all the powder out of a shell or cartridge is difficult; there will always be powder residue with either black or nitro powder. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609/32 "2009-12-03T03:29:25Z")
It doesn’t matter now, what with the $3 punch solution, but a .223 casing with the primer popped out would be a better choice than a 22 LR. Enough brass to hold on to and beefy enough to take the blows from a mallet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-hammer-on-a-bullet-w-o-killing-myself/519609.md?page=1)