Re: [guns] Cs core ammo

Michael S. Lorrey (mike@lorrey.com)
Mon, 07 Jun 1999 17:58:13 -0400

Eugene Leitl wrote:

> Michael S. Lorrey writes:
>
> > > I have occasionally wondered about the idea of caesium-core bullets.
> > > Do we have any ammunition experts on the list?
> > >
> > > (Reason for caesium: (1) it's denser than lead, and (2) it has an
> > > interesting tendency to react with water.)
> >
> > I'm sure its not allowed or wouln't be because of its toxicity.
>
> Oh, you need a lot of CsCl to kill a person. It's just expensive.
> Cs is also very soft, and reacts violently with water and can ignite
> on air. I'm sure that any damage due to its reaction with
> water/resulting alcali will be eclipsed by the dumdum effect.

Thats what I thought, but I was thinking of the problems with manufacturing and disposing of waste... Of course, the fact that the explosive effect exceeds its toxic effects would not hinder any protester from noting this fact and claiming it violates some law or human rights treaty or some such nonsense. You can never confuse those folks with the facts.

Mike Lorrey