Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

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surprise_i'm_armed
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Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#1

Post by surprise_i'm_armed »

The idea of an ice bullet is an intriguing one. I don't know whether I heard this from
someone who read it in a spy novel, or if the CIA/somesuch has actually developed an ice bullet.

If such a bullet exists to assassinate an enemy of the United States, it would have to leave a large
enough wound channel to 86 the bad guy, but the deceased's body temperature would quickly melt
the projectile, leaving no metal bullet for forensic examination.

Why would an ice bullet even be preferable to a real metal bullet? The shooter could use a regular
gun without a serial number and dispose of it after the hit.

"Wet work" is the euphemism for an assassination.

What kind of propulsion system would be needed for an ice bullet? CO2?

If the ice bullet was hit with a striker or a hammer, it would shatter the bullet before
it leaves the weapon.

Also, an ice bullet would have to be carried in some container with dry ice, in order
to remain frozen until the shot was fired.

I throw this topic out to the crowd. Has anyone heard of ice bullets?
Feel free to think out of the box on this issue.

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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#2

Post by jmra »

I think MythBusters did a couple episodes on ice bullets. They considered it Busted both times:
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#3

Post by Skiprr »

jmra wrote:I think MythBusters did a couple episodes on ice bullets. They considered it Busted both times:
I believe one was their very first full episode.
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#4

Post by treadlightly »

I'm tempted to mention pykrete, but as an international man of intrigue and shadow, I do not share tradecraft.

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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#5

Post by puma guy »

When I was about 6 or 7 a friend of my dad's who was semi-famous in Hartford, CN for his outdoor sports and shooting radio show visited us. My dad had recently purchased a Silvertone reel to reel tape recorder from Sears Roebuck and asked his friend Jack to say a few things on the recorder. He put on his radio voice and recorded a few comments for posterity and then he asked us kids if we wanted to hear about his Kodiak bear hunt in Alaska. It was quite a tale and I won't attempt to relay it, but the gist was he was using a muzzle loader and had no ball to load as the charging bear was closing the distance. He loaded a frozen bead of sweat from his forehead into his rifle. When he fired the frozen bead bullet melted, but miraculously it froze when it hit the frigid Arctic air. Thinking he was saved he watched it melt once more from the bears heated breath. Fortunately the bear turned his head slightly and the now thawed bead of sweat entered his ear, killing him. Wait for it............he died of water on the brain.

Now the story of Jack visiting and entertaining us is absolutely true, the story of the bear I leave up to you.
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#6

Post by TreyHouston »

puma guy wrote:When I was about 6 or 7 a friend of my dad's who was semi-famous in Hartford, CN for his outdoor sports and shooting radio show visited us. My dad had recently purchased a Silvertone reel to reel tape recorder from Sears Roebuck and asked his friend Jack to say a few things on the recorder. He put on his radio voice and recorded a few comments for posterity and then he asked us kids if we wanted to hear about his Kodiak bear hunt in Alaska. It was quite a tale and I won't attempt to relay it, but the gist was he was using a muzzle loader and had no ball to load as the charging bear was closing the distance. He loaded a frozen bead of sweat from his forehead into his rifle. When he fired the frozen bead bullet melted, but miraculously it froze when it hit the frigid Arctic air. Thinking he was saved he watched it melt once more from the bears heated breath. Fortunately the bear turned his head slightly and the now thawed bead of sweat entered his ear, killing him. Wait for it............he died of water on the brain.

Now the story of Jack visiting and entertaining us is absolutely true, the story of the bear I leave up to you.
... :shock: :leaving (that is all)
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#7

Post by mojo84 »

puma guy wrote:When I was about 6 or 7 a friend of my dad's who was semi-famous in Hartford, CN for his outdoor sports and shooting radio show visited us. My dad had recently purchased a Silvertone reel to reel tape recorder from Sears Roebuck and asked his friend Jack to say a few things on the recorder. He put on his radio voice and recorded a few comments for posterity and then he asked us kids if we wanted to hear about his Kodiak bear hunt in Alaska. It was quite a tale and I won't attempt to relay it, but the gist was he was using a muzzle loader and had no ball to load as the charging bear was closing the distance. He loaded a frozen bead of sweat from his forehead into his rifle. When he fired the frozen bead bullet melted, but miraculously it froze when it hit the frigid Arctic air. Thinking he was saved he watched it melt once more from the bears heated breath. Fortunately the bear turned his head slightly and the now thawed bead of sweat entered his ear, killing him. Wait for it............he died of water on the brain.

Now the story of Jack visiting and entertaining us is absolutely true, the story of the bear I leave up to you.
I bet he was also famous for being able to spin a story. Makes for some good fantasy.
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#8

Post by puma guy »

mojo84 wrote:
puma guy wrote:When I was about 6 or 7 a friend of my dad's who was semi-famous in Hartford, CN for his outdoor sports and shooting radio show visited us. My dad had recently purchased a Silvertone reel to reel tape recorder from Sears Roebuck and asked his friend Jack to say a few things on the recorder. He put on his radio voice and recorded a few comments for posterity and then he asked us kids if we wanted to hear about his Kodiak bear hunt in Alaska. It was quite a tale and I won't attempt to relay it, but the gist was he was using a muzzle loader and had no ball to load as the charging bear was closing the distance. He loaded a frozen bead of sweat from his forehead into his rifle. When he fired the frozen bead bullet melted, but miraculously it froze when it hit the frigid Arctic air. Thinking he was saved he watched it melt once more from the bears heated breath. Fortunately the bear turned his head slightly and the now thawed bead of sweat entered his ear, killing him. Wait for it............he died of water on the brain.

Now the story of Jack visiting and entertaining us is absolutely true, the story of the bear I leave up to you.
I bet he was also famous for being able to spin a story. Makes for some good fantasy.
Beside being an outdoors man the man was a champion skeet and trap shooter that my dad met while hunting and took a liking to my dad. Jack taught WWII aerial gunner trainees how to lead using shotguns until he lost an eye in a mishap on the training field. He was quite wealthy and his radio program was more of hobby. Very interesting guy and you're right he could spin a yarn.
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#9

Post by TreyHouston »

sbrawley wrote:
jmra wrote:I think MythBusters did a couple episodes on ice bullets. They considered it Busted both times:
You are correct, they did bust the ice bullet. It melted before leaving the barrel. OTH, I believe they found that a frozen meat bullet was plausible.
Just got finished watching the episode. Yes, i think there is something there, but nothing like your thinking. It would not be make of frozen H2O, but of some liquid with a higher solid state temperature...
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#10

Post by CleverNickname »

Even if the melting problem wss solved, another problem is that water isn't as heavy as lead, so the bullet won't be nearly as effective.
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#11

Post by bblhd672 »

treadlightly wrote:I'm tempted to mention pykrete, but as an international man of intrigue and shadow, I do not share tradecraft.

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And then there's "paper patching bullet".
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#12

Post by Diesel42 »

I heard about frozen blood bullets from a Charlie Chan movie: Black Magic aka Meeting at Midnight (1944).

Very entertaining, but it's fiction.
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#13

Post by bblhd672 »

If silver bullets kill werewolves, is it safe to assume a wooden bullet will kill a vampire? :biggrinjester:
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Re: Ice bullets: Fiction or developed by CIA for "wet work"?

#14

Post by mrvmax »

I'm not going to describe it here but Explosive Ordnance Disposal units use a "disruptor" that uses water. If you accelerate water fast enough it will penetrate metal easily so penetrating human organs would not be a problem.
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