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Weightlifter says dumbbell fell on bullet that shot him in shoulder
April 13, 2012 | 8:21 am

A 56-year-old weightlifter in Modesto reportedly shot himself after dropping a dumbbell on a bullet.
Modesto police officers responded to the call Wednesday night and found the man wounded in the shoulder.
He told police he was lifting dumbbells when he accidentally dropped one on a .22 caliber bullet in his apartment.

Did I read correctly -- a "dumbbell" tripped over a .22 round, resulting in the bullet wounding him in the shoulder?

Uhm... Great excuse for accidentally shooting himself or possibly upsetting the significant other...

PBratton wrote:Uhm... Great excuse for accidentally shooting himself or possibly upsetting the significant other...

A not so good excuse, IMO, but most people from Modesto aren't too bright. I don't believe it happened that way.

Seems to me 'Myth Busters" tried to "cook off" various rounds in ovens and camp-fires. About all they got was shrapnel from ruptured shells. Think about it, you have a heavy bullet and a light shell. Without a chamber to contain the shell, and a barrel to concentrate the energy and direct the bullet, the bullet stays pretty much where it is, and the shell goes flying, and possibly ruptures.

sjfcontrol wrote:Seems to me 'Myth Busters" tried to "cook off" various rounds in ovens and camp-fires. About all they got was shrapnel from ruptured shells. Think about it, you have a heavy bullet and a light shell. Without a chamber to contain the shell, and a barrel to concentrate the energy and direct the bullet, the bullet stays pretty much where it is, and the shell goes flying, and possibly ruptures.

Never seen that episode, but I do agree conceptually with the results. Hopefully they can at least get the guy with filing a false police report or whatever they call it (lying to the police).

And who works out with loose rounds laying on the floor?

MasterOfNone wrote:And who works out with loose rounds laying on the floor?

uh....dumbbells?

Oldgringo wrote:

MasterOfNone wrote:And who works out with loose rounds laying on the floor?

uh....dumbbells?

We have a winner!

The man’s account was strange, but it is possible that when the weight fell on the rim of the bullet, it caused it to discharge, said Officer Chris Adams.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing, but some have,” Adams said.

Me neither. I just took a .45 caliber bullet I had laying around out to the driveway and mashed it flat with repeated blows from a ball-peen hammer, and it refused to discharge. I made sure that I paid particular attention to the rim of the bullet at its base. It still wouldn't go off. Thank God I'm not dumb enough to do the same to a .45 ACP cartridge.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

The man’s account was strange, but it is possible that when the weight fell on the rim of the bullet, it caused it to discharge, said Officer Chris Adams.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing, but some have,” Adams said.

Me neither. I just took a .45 caliber bullet I had laying around out to the driveway and mashed it flat with repeated blows from a ball-peen hammer, and it refused to discharge. I made sure that I paid particular attention to the rim of the bullet at its base. It still wouldn't go off. Thank God I'm not dumb enough to do the same to a .45 ACP cartridge.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

The man’s account was strange, but it is possible that when the weight fell on the rim of the bullet, it caused it to discharge, said Officer Chris Adams.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing, but some have,” Adams said.

Me neither. I just took a .45 caliber bullet I had laying around out to the driveway and mashed it flat with repeated blows from a ball-peen hammer, and it refused to discharge. I made sure that I paid particular attention to the rim of the bullet at its base. It still wouldn't go off. Thank God I'm not dumb enough to do the same to a .45 ACP cartridge.

I can't help it, I just have to ask... was that bullet you mashed one that you unloaded from a clip?

If he dropped the dumbbell on a bullet, it would just squash. If he dropped it on a loaded round, it might, very unlikely, but might go off.

But then, as you say, what kind of a dumb bell scatters ammo around on the floor?

The Annoyed Man wrote:Me neither. I just took a .45 caliber bullet I had laying around out to the driveway and mashed it flat with repeated blows from a ball-peen hammer, and it refused to discharge. I made sure that I paid particular attention to the rim of the bullet at its base. It still wouldn't go off. Thank God I'm not dumb enough to do the same to a .45 ACP cartridge.

Ok TAM, you got me. I was reading that and thinking 'No way ... not TAM ... he's not dumb enough to try to prove a point that way!'

I remember making a statement on this forum that dropping a cartridge on it's primer from a height of 3 feet would not be enough to make it go off. I was told that it would. Therefore, dropping even a 5 pound dumbell would have enough energy to set it off.