Posted on 04/14/2012 10:51:03 AM PDT by JoeProBono
MODESTO, Calif., April 13 (UPI) -- Police in California said a man with a gunshot wound to his shoulder said he accidentally shot himself by dropping a dumbbell onto a bullet.
Modesto Police said the 56-year-old man, whose name was not released, told them he was working out Wednesday night when he accidentally dropped a dumbbell on a rimfire .22-caliber bullet, causing the propellant powder in the bullet to be activated and sending it into his shoulder, The Modesto Bee reported Friday.
Officer Chris Adams said police found the story suspicious, but not impossible. He said investigators did not find any guns in the house and witnesses did not report seeing anyone else leave. Adams said officers did find the casing for the bullet.
Adams said the case was closed as a suspicious circumstance investigation.
Note to self: Keep ammo and weight training equipment in separate rooms.
More than one dumbbell in this story.
I’ve got five bucks that says, recover the bullet and you’ll find rifling marks. There was a gun involved!
That’s a pretty freak accident.
Had it been a centerfire cartridge, it probably wouldn’t have gone off.
I have been hit by a .22LR exploding in a trash fire from about 5 feet away. It (actually the casing) hit me right between the eyes but only stung a tiny bit and left a light red mark which was gone by the end of the day.
This guy is simply covering up something.
Dumbbells and ammo... another combination that doesn’t work well.
Dumbell shoots dumbbutt.
Without a chamber or barrel to develop pressure, the bullet wouldn't have enough velocity to penetrate his shoulder.
Time for Mythbusters. They disproved the ole .22 short in the cars fuse block shooting a driver in the leg crap.
I would be willing to wager that he really ticked off the woman in his life.
Either the investigators didn't look hard enough or the witnesses are lying. The investigators should have patted down the witnesses.
“I’ve got five bucks that says, recover the bullet and you’ll find rifling marks. There was a gun involved!”
I’m not taking that bet because odds are you’re right.
A .22 calibre cartridge when set off outside a gun will not penetrate anything. When I was a boy, we used to shoot at the primer end of 22 with a bb gun to make them fire. (you can also throw them in a fire) The projectile won’t penetrate anything. This story is fishy.
I have a distant relative who dared his then angry wife, who was holding a distant.22 rifle to and I quote “Damn woman! If you’re gonna hold the thing in your hand you have to mean it!!!”
So he pulled the barrel toward his belly and stepped up to it, so it touched him, in the belly button.
He then yelled “Alright! Go ahead! I dare you! If you were a man I’d say you don’t have the balls!!!
She pulled the trigger.
He now has a scar running from his sternum to his pelvic bone from where the doctors opened him up to stop the bleeding.
Guy’s a moron and I never could stand him.
He passed away a couple of years ago. I think from acute stoopitity.
Darwin won again.
This is another one of those occasions when the jokes just write themselves.
.
Me, too.....an unchambered shell - especially a .22 wouldn’t have that much directional power, unless it went through his eye.
This is precisely why I never exercise .... burp !
The Democrats must have looked at the polling data and figured out that Obama is going to lose. They’re pulling out all the stops for gun control. I wonder why they don’t want American civilians to have firearms?
I call “bull”, too. My dad told me about a neighbor kid who smashed a live .22 shell with a big rock. The bullet didn’t go anywhere but they were picking bits of brass shell casing out of his hide. If a cartridge isn’t chambered when it ignites the case will rupture so that the force of the combustion isn’t directed directly against the bullet.
Those must be .11-caliber cartridges in your picture.
I think that’s correct.
What a load of crap. Usually when a cartridge fires when not contained by a barrel the case splits and the bullet has very little power behind it. Someone shot this guy and he is covering up for them.
The proper headline would have been: Man claims to drop dumbell on bullet, shoot self.
1. ALWAYS keep your dumbbells pointed in a safe direction.
2. ALWAYS keep your fingers on the dumbbell until ready to shoot.
3. ALWAYS keep the weight room unloaded until ready to shoot.
Assuming the cartridge was on the floor at the time the dumbbell landed on it, putting aside all the other discrepancies, how did the bullet end up in his shoulder? His foot, maybe, his shoulder, no.
The author's statement, "Man drops dumbbell on bullet, shoots self."
The jerk doesn't know the difference...
.
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Bingo! My thoughts exactly. What condition was the casing in when it was recovered? While I can't be sure, I'd expect that a loose cartridge would be torn apart without a chamber around it to contain the pressure.
Without a chamber or barrel to develop pressure, the bullet wouldn't have enough velocity to penetrate his shoulder.
Agreed. Depending on the load either the primers blow or the brass flies across the room.
In addition, here you see brass rupture from the older Glocks with unsupported chambers.
Did anything happen with the wife? She DID pull the trigger of her own volition, and it did wound the guy. Then again, women never seem to get convicted in these things.
Dumbbell shot by dropping dumbbells alert.
Or, “Liar Shot By Dumbbell He’s Covering Up For,” more likely.
It happens all the time. There is even a warning sheet describing the risks when you buy a pair of dumbbells (or a single one, if you happen to be missing a arm.)
I call “bull”, too. My dad told me about a neighbor kid who smashed a live .22 shell with a big rock. The bullet didn’t go anywhere but they were picking bits of brass shell casing out of his hide. If a cartridge isn’t chambered when it ignites the case will rupture so that the force of the combustion isn’t directed directly against the bullet.
They made up some story about him putting the gun down on a bench for cleaning and leaning over “and for some reason he pulled the trigger, shooting himself”.
Believe me, this guy was a messed up unit.
Like he’d been kicked on the head by horse kinda Stoopit and then left with a disconnected brain stem.
Couldn’t stand him but for some reason he could always get hot chicks to gathering gs and parties and I left with most of them.
I’m trying to remember this really dumb story he was trying to convince me of one day. Something about we are all just giant magnets with legs.
I don’t remember exactly what it was but he made everyone visualize a horseshoe shaped magnet and I told he number than a horseshoe.
Everyone was laughing to the point of tears and he just stood not getting the joke. Smiling a little and looking puzzled. made it even funnier
I agree, the brass portion of the cartridge is a lot lighter then the lead bullet. If you were to toss .22LR ammo into a fire the case will split and go flying off and the bullet will just lay there. And yes, the flying brass might sting a bit if it were to hit you. Without the confining chamber and barrel of a gun there is nothing to "focus" the force of the expanding propellant gasses on the base of the bullet and it will just stay put.
I would not recommend doing this with centerfire ammunition as the heavier brass might actually break your skin.
Regards,
GtG
Agree with you, and not buying this story. Sounds like an urban legend - or at least how one gets started.
Isn’t distance grand?
When I was a kid, the kids that lived behind my Grandmas home had a paved courtyard with a tree in the center.
We’d place 22’s on the courtyard, climb the tree and drop bricks on them.
No one was injured.
They’d POP. Thats all.
Adams said the case was closed as a suspicious circumstance investigation.
Was the Case mashed?
I once dropped a dumbbell on my toe, but nothing exploded!
Reads as though PFC Al Gore was adjusting his sling again.
Do dancing cartridges come in rimfire?
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