Hollywood Gun Question: Mr. Brooks

[Waingro]

I just saw Mr. Brooks and I noticed he used something that looks like a PPK with a silencer to kill. He shot the people in the head around 10 feet away. The police said, "He even dug the slugs out of the wall."

I was researching buying a PPK so I know it is a .32 (didn't buy one), as most of you told me, not a very powerful round. I would imagine a silencer would slow the bullet down even more. Is it possible for the bullet to go through the the skull and into the wall?

Man, SEE WHAT THIS SITE DOES TO ME!? Can't even enjoy movies anymore.

[ViPER395]

I have a PPK in .380Auto.

[Prc329]

The use of a freezer bag was very interesting.

[Blacky]

I was wondering what that guy in 'No Country For Old Men" was shooting. Not the air gun but the rifle with the giant can. Hollywood... you never know if its just a prop or if they did their homework.

[At a gun store]
The Terminator: The .45 Long Slide, with laser sighting.
Pawn Shop Clerk: These are brand new; we just got them in. That's a good gun. Just touch the trigger, the beam comes on and you put the red dot where you want the bullet to go. You can't miss. Anything else?
The Terminator: Phased-plasma rifle in the forty watt range.
Pawn Shop Clerk: Hey, just what you see, pal.

[Prc329]

That was a shot gun in No country.

[ohsmily]

I would imagine a silencer would slow the bullet down even more.

The vast majority of suppressors do not function this way. Read up on them.

[Waingro]

I have a PPK in .380Auto.

Sorry I meant .380 I posted late and tired.

[WolfMansDad]

.32acp has fine penetration with the right load. Fiocchi fmj's out of a kel-tec p32 penetrate 15.0" in ballistic gelatin. The ppk, with it's longer barrel, will do better. A ppk in .380, of course, will do better yet.

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/32acp/gel32acp.htm

Compare with 9mm.

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/9mm/gel9.htm

ETA: Back when I carried a .32, Fiocchi fmj's were my choice, both for penetration and reliability.

[ar15barrels]

I would imagine a silencer would slow the bullet down even more.

Sound suppressors generally make the bullet go faster as there is still gas pressure behind the bullet after it leaves the barrel, but before it leaves the can.

[Blacky]

Since were talking about Hollywood - I saw an episode of CSI where they were able to determine that the bullet was shot through a suppressor/silencer by finding traces of fiber and grease (or something like that) on the bullet.

[Ech0Sierra]

Fake silencer, probably potato or soda bottle or something else completely untrue.

[Shane916]

Since were talking about Hollywood - I saw an episode of CSI where they were able to determine that the bullet was shot through a suppressor/silencer by finding traces of fiber and grease (or something like that) on the bullet.

If it's on CSI it must be true

[NeoWeird]

Seeing enough foresnics pictures I can tell you that there are ways to tell when a suppressor has been used, as well as if the weapon was bare muzzle, fluash suppressor, muzzle brake, etc. This all goes away after range however because the number one way to tell is the burn pattern and intensity of the burn. One particular case that I have seen was where a FAL rifle was used for suicide and the long grenade launching suppressor pattern was very apparent on the throat and chest. Suppressors will blow a cone of intensly hot gas and will causes a circle or sometimes halo around the entrnace hole. At distance these go away and you can't tell.

As for grease and fiber, that doesn't mean anything. Some suppressors use an ablative media to cool the expanding gases, water being prefered (which is why people talk about suppressors being used wet or dry) but some people use grease/oils as they are more viscous and stick in the suppressor better, but these burn and give off a foul odor. If you've seen videos of suppressors online where they are shooting in relatively warm dry climates and the suppressors start smoking excessively it's because it's the grease/oils burning off. If it starts steaming that's the water, although they will softly smoke or steam lightly under normal use, but they will do more so with these ablative medias. I'd imagine that these residues could stay on the bullet, but I'd imagine they would burn off or get whiped off during entrance to the wound, but I'm no expert and I wouldn't be surprised if they would stay on.

Lastly, the fiber thing is just BS. Most suppressors are solid metal by design because anything else will start on fire or melt, blast away if it's anywhere near the blast chamber, or disintegrate from the heat. A particular WWI era pistol used leather baffles but these proved ineffective. Some homebrew suppressor designes use steel wool but these usually blast away from the blast they get imparted. Modern suppressor designs used baffles and chambers to contain and slow the gas - no fiber present. So unless the killed pulled out a 70 year old suppressor fresh from the wrap then I doubt any fiber would be found and even then the suppressor would be good for a half dozen uses at most.

And as said, suppressors don't slow bullets, they can actually increase velocity. By design the suppressor doesn't touch the bullet and it never should (doing so will throw off impact or create a psuedo fragmentation grenade in front of the shooter if it's real bad). Firearms that shoot super sonic rounds either use suppressors as protection for the shooter, not concealment, or they have redesigned barrels, such as porting or ribbing, to let off gas pressure and slow the round down before it enters the suppressor.

Now you know; CSI is a show made by idiots who don't know better for idiots who don't know better to further scare the masses into conformity...and it works.

[FEDUPWBS]

Wonder what our resident suppessor builder thinks?

[CALI-gula]

...I was researching buying a PPK so I know it is a .32 (didn't buy one), as most of you told me, not a very powerful round. I would imagine a silencer would slow the bullet down even more. Is it possible for the bullet to go through the the skull and into the wall?...

Your questions and posts always remind me of Tony Segreto.

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