remember John Hinkley?

[tonelar]

I was reading an old article about his attempt on Reagan's life and noted a reference to his using explosive tipped bullets. Was this just another instance of the press running wild with hearsay and conjecture? Or is there really such an animal?

[FlyingPen]

I can't wait till the press say "bullets that contain highly flammable explosives in the casing"

[Saigon1965]

Friggin FUD.

[duenor]

Not exactly.
Hinkley used Devastor .22LR rounds. While not explosive in the HE sense, they do "explode"... they are designed to fragment on impact. I think the closest you can come to them today (for obvious reasons Devastators quickly became scarce) are CCI Quik-Shots that are also designed to split.

[hawk1]

Not FUD, it's true. They were called Devastator bullets. Google it...

http://www.azstarnet.com/subsections/includes/reagan/shooting.html

[tonelar]

So fragmentary would have been the correct term.

They actually made a big deal saying it caused the doctors trouble as they were afraid one might explode during the surgery.

[duenor]

The problem wasn't that it might blow up.
The problem is that the bullet fragment would turn into thin discs that are really hard to find. IIRC The doctors didn't even know that Reagan still had a bullet fragment in him six or seven hours after initial surgery. By that time it had perforated one of his lungs.

[ohsmily]

Fragmentation, even complete and violent fragmentation due to impact, is not "exploding." I certainly wouldn't say that they were exploding bullets. Now, the varmints you hit with high velocity fragmenting bullets do explode when you hit them; the bullet fragments and expands, the varmint explodes.

[AJAX22]

I thought devestator bullets had lead azide-filled centers within lacquer-sealed aluminum tips.

i.e. they really were exploding ammunition


edit: Found a link to the court documents regarding devestators, yes they really were exploding rounds

http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/724/724.F2d.921.82-8588.html