Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hinckley's "Devastator" bullets

The death of James Brady yesterday reminded me about the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley on March 30, 1981 at the Washington Hilton. (I was actually a few blocks from there at the time it happened.)

Here's an excerpt from a report in the New York Times, April 3, 1981:

I have never heard of these "Devastator" bullets. They supposedly have within the bullet a small amount of aluminum and lead azide explosive charge designed to explode on contact. Here's my problem:

Hinckley shot 6 bullets -- emptied the revolver.
No shot hit Reagan, except by ricochet.
They are designed to explode on contact, but none exploded on contact.
The one that hit Reagan hit his limo first, and didn't explode then.
The one that hit Brady exploded after it penetrated his skull. Surgeons found four bullet fragments.
If "Anything can make them go off, like heat or pressure or impact," the fact is nothing made them go off. Not the heat generated in the revolver, not the pressure pushing it out the barrel, not the instant reduction of pressure as it leaves the barrel, and not the impact.
The bullet that hit Reagan failed to explode because it impacts something hard which cause the failure when it hit something soft?

I could go on and on, but these were certainly not reliable. Were they really as dangerous as the media proclaimed? Who has experience with such things?

Steve.

Well apparently, the ammo exist and can be purchased today.

http://www.firequest.com/devistator-ammo.html

IIRC, Hinckley did his shooting with a .22LR revolver. If he'd been using the .38 that he was also found carrying, the outcome would likely have been much different for both Reagan and Brady.

As to the bullet. I've never heard of a Devastator bullet either and while I can't imagine getting enough of any explosive into the nose of a .22LR to create an explosion, even a tiny explosion inside a bullet is going to create more damage than a bullet alone.

I don't recall Reagan's bullet being a ricochet, but I do remember seeing a doctor or surgeon showing an X-ray of Reagan's chest and describing how this .22 caliber bullet bounced around inside his chest cavity as .22 rimfire bullets are known to do, and coming to rest not too far from his heart.

You are working with a .22LR. Even when they do work, you still not going to get much lead azide in a .22LR hollow point.

Originally these rounds were designed for Sky Marshals for use inside aircraft, the theory being it would increase lethality while decreasing chances it would penetrate the aircrafts' skin.

Heard of the Air Marshal's use of Glaser Safety Slug ammo, but not the Devastator stuff.

I believe that the shortened barrel of the revolver "snub nose" was insufficient for the velocity it required to "explode" there fore it did not go as planned for Hinkley.

Although they were designed for Sky Marshal, I'm not positive they ever deployed them. As mentioned in the OP, this ammo has a reputation for not performing as designed at pistol velocities.

Yeah -- and what's funny about that is that "experts" said the bullet inside Reagan and in the DC policeman who was shot could explode at any time. Just sitting there, maybe touched by a scalpel or lightly grabbed by a forceps, BOOM! Bye-bye surgical team.

The fact that they took 4 bullet fragments out of Brady's head was the basis for saying that bullet exploded. Nevermind the fact that a hollowpoint going through a bone will likely fragment.

Steve.

Reagan walked into the hospital under his own power then collapsed. His blood pressure reading was 0. There's no proof but it's possible that the 0 BP was at least partially responsible for his dementia later in life.

Reports vary. Some say it wasn't measurable. I'm not sure you can have a BP of zero. But even if you can that's only one number. His systolic pressure was 60 (78 in other reports). Normally it was 140 for him. He lost about 50% of his blood, including the time he was in surgery.

Steve.

I remember they said that the devastator bullets were basically a hollow point .22 with a small rifle or pistol primer inverted in the cone. I thought that was cool as beans at the time so I tried it. It did go pop when it hit the backstop. I don't know if it would work if it something soft.

Apparently they aren't very devastating if you can take one to the head and live.

They've been around a loooong time with one explosive or another. Remember reading about putting primers in the nose of a .22.

Reagan had a second surgery to remove a small amount of explosive they missed first time as the feared it might explode.

So the compound in the point is percussion-sensitive? Is that how it works? What keeps it from detonating in the chamber or barrel from the percussion of firing?

Frequently a handgun bullet will penetrate its target to a distance greater than the length of the handgun barrel, which means that the bullet experienced a greater impact on starting than it did on stopping.

To quote Mikey from the cereal commercial, I'm still skeptible.

I suspect it was made up by the powers that be.

Me too. It sounded like BS then, and it still sounds like BS now.

A wave of the hand over the google keyboard turned up this item. I have no idea if this is what Hinckley used. DEVASTATOR If you open the link, notice that the ad is for 22LR but the package clearly says 9mm.


$19.99 $14.99 On Sale!

This ammo is restricted in the following cities and/or states: All of Alaska; All of CA; All of HI; All of IL; All of MA; NYC , NY; Bronx, NY; Brooklyn, NY; Manhattan, NY; Staten Island, NY; Queens, NY; Washington D.C., APO & FPO Addresses, No PO boxes.

It's Awesome! It's Powerful! It's the Ultimate in Self-Defense ammo! Devastator ammunition is designed to produce one shot stops and eliminate the dangers of pass through shots. Its devastating knockdown power comes from the hollow point cavity in each round being filled with a special Detano-Expanding compound. Devastator ammo grossly expands on impact to insure 100% maximum energy is delivered to the target and reduces the chance of a pass through. This makes Devastator with Detonating Tips the ultimate ammo for home defense, personal protection and law enforcement applications. Six rounds per pack.

I knew at one time people tried using aluminum arrows with the shaft filled with powder and the tip replaced with a primer instead of a arrow head (modified Dukes of Hazards)? but it had to hit something relatively hard to detonate it?

That was my question the first time I heard of these so-called exploding bullets. The stress of zero to 1000 fps in a nanosecond, the stress of expanding gas inside the barrel, the stress of engraving from the lands, and the instant relief from stress -- if an exploding bullet could keep from exploding to that point, I figure it will keep from exploding no matter what.

Steve.

Yeah. Boy, those exploding bullets could go off at any time. Don'tcha wonder what kept the these hyper-sensitive explosives from exploding inside the package?

Steve.