4 ms·

Minor additional point - if you're trying to create dangerous shrapnel, don't you pick something angular & sharp like crushed gravel, nails or even hex nuts, in

Minor additional point - if you're trying to create dangerous shrapnel, don't you pick something angular & sharp like crushed gravel, nails or even hex nuts, instead of nice round ball-bearings?

ashark 9y ago
Better range/higher velocity with something more aerodynamic, maybe?
maxerickson 9y ago
It's the energy that matters. A famous military anti-personnel mine, the claymore, uses spherical shrapnel. I guess that lines up with the other reply about the shrapnel being aerodynamic, something with less air resistance will have more range.
korethr 9y ago
Quite probably, and it'd probably be cheaper too; ball bearings are kinda precision things and the processes that make things like gravel or nails probably cost less. That said, if someone was really set on creating the opening scene of the movie Swordfish, they could make those ball bearings deadly if they got them going fast enough. A 3/8" ball bearing moving at a few hundred meters per second has enough energy to fuck up persons and property. I didn't pick those numbers completely at random -- 3/8" is about 9.5mm and common 9mm handgun rounds have velocities in the 300-400 m/s range. Edit: I want to call attention to other replies to this comment pointing out that ball bearings can be good shrapnel for other reasons I'd not considered. Today I learned a thing.
agumonkey 9y ago
That's assuming a rational customer ;)
s_m_t 9y ago
The chance of your nail hitting pointy side first is very low. A ball bearing, being spherical, will always deliver maximum energy to the smallest point possible.
mmirate 9y ago
To use anything that's less symmetrical than a sphere as shrapnel, the munition must be designed to propel the shrapnel facing exactly one specific angle, because the shrapnel will have a bigger impact profile at any other angle. Ball bearings do not require such considerations.
thaumaturgy 9y ago
And now for the follow-up from Channel 4 and other media outlets: "hacker forum tries to find the best shrapnel for home-made explosives".
- chris_wot 9y ago
  They should really report on how dangerous our wild speculation is.
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  Would running a computer simulation for that be classified as terrorism?
influx 9y ago
That's literally the design of a Claymore mine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Claymore_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Claymore_mine

Minor additional point - if you're trying to create dangerous shrapnel, don't you pick something angular & sharp like crushed gravel, nails or even hex nuts, instead of nice round ball-bearings?

ashark 9y ago

Better range/higher velocity with something more aerodynamic, maybe?

maxerickson 9y ago

It's the energy that matters. A famous military anti-personnel mine, the claymore, uses spherical shrapnel. I guess that lines up with the other reply about the shrapnel being aerodynamic, something with less air resistance will have more range.

korethr 9y ago

Quite probably, and it'd probably be cheaper too; ball bearings are kinda precision things and the processes that make things like gravel or nails probably cost less. That said, if someone was really set on creating the opening scene of the movie Swordfish, they could make those ball bearings deadly if they got them going fast enough. A 3/8" ball bearing moving at a few hundred meters per second has enough energy to fuck up persons and property. I didn't pick those numbers completely at random -- 3/8" is about 9.5mm and common 9mm handgun rounds have velocities in the 300-400 m/s range. Edit: I want to call attention to other replies to this comment pointing out that ball bearings can be good shrapnel for other reasons I'd not considered. Today I learned a thing.

agumonkey 9y ago

That's assuming a rational customer ;)

s_m_t 9y ago

The chance of your nail hitting pointy side first is very low. A ball bearing, being spherical, will always deliver maximum energy to the smallest point possible.

mmirate 9y ago

To use anything that's less symmetrical than a sphere as shrapnel, the munition must be designed to propel the shrapnel facing exactly one specific angle, because the shrapnel will have a bigger impact profile at any other angle. Ball bearings do not require such considerations.

thaumaturgy 9y ago

And now for the follow-up from Channel 4 and other media outlets: "hacker forum tries to find the best shrapnel for home-made explosives".

chris_wot 9y ago
They should really report on how dangerous our wild speculation is.
TeMPOraL 9y ago
Would running a computer simulation for that be classified as terrorism?

influx 9y ago

That's literally the design of a Claymore mine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Claymore_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Claymore_mine