Foo - Bar Plugs

I posted this in the Industry forum...but Foo deserves to appreciate this too:

A customer dumped off a totalled Cannondale F-1000 in the hopes I'd give him some shop credit. Thing is, it looked like it was run over by a car...twice. Although there was very few usable parts left, I took it anyway and today when removing the barends noticed this very interesting bar plug substitute:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/IMAG0050.jpg

After prying it out I was amazed:

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/IMAG0052.jpg

Yep, that's a live 16GA shotgun shell used as a plug. Heaven forbid you ever crashed and landed on it! :twitchy:

my first thought when seeing the picture was "WOW! Thats a live primer".........i guess that rednecks live everywhere

lol i wonder if it would fire out of the other end

Oh that's funny.

lol i wonder if it would fire out of the other end

There was one in the other end too.

Now I want to figure out a way to remote detonate and film it to see what happens to the bars. :eek:

Mythbuster's anyone ?

and here I thought the myth of the idiotic cyclist was just that ... a myth. Apparently not. Did you happen to find any fingers jammed in the handle bars?

yikes.

There was one in the other end too.

Now I want to figure out a way to remote detonate and film it to see what happens to the bars. :eek:

With the other end plugged up, my guess would be that it would shoot out backwards, and "banana peel" the bar end at the same time. The other side might well become a projectile as well from the pressure, but I doubt it would go off.

The thing is - the case head is not supported, so the brass might just split and become shrapnel. that's where the powder is, and it needs to be in a pressure vessel (barrel or barrel substitute) to send the pressure out the other end.

To set it off and see - how good are you with a quality (10 meter?) air rifle? :)

With the other end plugged up, my guess would be that it would shoot out backwards, and "banana peel" the bar end at the same time. The other side might well become a projectile as well from the pressure, but I doubt it would go off.

The thing is - the case head is not supported, so the brass might just split and become shrapnel. that's where the powder is, and it needs to be in a pressure vessel (barrel or barrel substitute) to send the pressure out the other end.

To set it off and see - how good are you with a quality (10 meter?) air rifle? :)

So...you're saying I should put the bar end back on before detonating the primer? I agree. :D

The bar is a lightweight CODA Expert flatbar. It appears that the original plugs are pressed deep into the bar (By pounding in the shells? Could be...), blocking a through path. I may remove those first before setting the bike up again (the bike would add a nice visual as well as make a decent stand), building some cover for both myself and the camera (I'm thinking polycarbonate sheet), then using either the Daisy Red Ryder lever action or the Crosman pump BB/pellet rifle at a suitable distance. This could really be fun!

Make sure to drink a lot before go time.

Make sure to drink a lot before go time.

I'll use the empty cans for sighting in, then say, "Hey, watch this!"

Promise you will record this so we all can see?

Reminds me of the pipe bombs I made as a kid. My bro had a shotgun shell reloader. I'd cut the round end off of a CO2 cartridge and punch the valve out of the other end. Then use model rocket fuse with some "borrowed" gunpowder along with BB's or pebbles with a penny superglued to the cut end. Like little grenades. Those babies scared the beejeebus out of me.

I'll use the empty cans for sighting in, then say, "Hey, watch this!"

I'd say that covers your due diligence.

send it to the GA ballistics lab and still in AllenG's back yard.

Promise you will record this so we all can see?

I certainly do plan to catch this on film.

"Jerry, that's youtube GOLD!"

So...you're saying I should put the bar end back on before detonating the primer?

Well..... DUH. :) What would be the point, otherwise? :D Be sure to put some sort of blast shield in front of the one on the other side, though. If it comes out in a hurry, remember - it's pointed in your direction.

Well..... DUH. :) What would be the point, otherwise? :D Be sure to put some sort of blast shield in front of the one on the other side, though. If it comes out in a hurry, remember - it's pointed in your direction.

I was thinking the other one is a bit redundant for the experiment. The chances of a double detonation are too slim and really wouldn't reflect the reality of showing what would happen if someone did crash with shotgun shells as bar plugs. Yeah, it's completely stupid...but so was using them as plugs in the first place.

A simple plug on the opposing side should be sufficient to generate the pressure needed to explode the bars....if all goes as expected.

Perhaps it was some sort of forgotten/abandoned zip-gun prototype.
I can't wait for the video.

by the way , have you got a large,good life insurance policy and am I the benificary? :D

I'll use the empty cans for sighting in, then say, "Hey, watch this!"

We should switch usernames. :)

I don't know where that bike you took in on trade went Eric. It was here one minute and then it took off like a shot. - spoken by the new powder residue covered wrench at The Hub of Pagosa.

Was the owner thinking (or not thinking) "Hmmmm...this doesn't seem like such a great idea, but I DO ride on the tops/hoods almost exclusively. It should be fine."

This just has Wiley E Coyote written all over it.

http://www.pathf.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/wile-e-coyote.jpg

Definitely put the shell back in and find a way to detonate it.

Was the shell a tight fit? How would you "pound" it in without detonating it?

There was one in the other end too.

Now I want to figure out a way to remote detonate and film it to see what happens to the bars. :eek:

Were there kosher salt crystals or thumbtacks rolling around in the bar too?

oh my...

Sometimes you need to work with what you have and improvise!:twitchy:

Definitely put the shell back in and find a way to detonate it.

Was the shell a tight fit? How would you "pound" it in without detonating it?

It's not very tight, but both of them were somewhat corroded into place. One came out fairly easy, the other took some twisting with channellocks. Kinda scary.

I think on principle you need to have them both in there, even if only one goes off. Be sure to have a camera from your perspective, and one at 90*.

I was thinking the other one is a bit redundant for the experiment. The chances of a double detonation are too slim...

I didn't make myself clear..... I agree that a double detonation is a very remote likelihood. What is likely however is that whatever is plugging the bars opposite of the one you set off will become a projectile, and if it does it will be coming post-haste in your direction. Whether it is the original shot shell or another plug you substitute, it's probably going to become unstuck in a big hurry and its' flight path and velocity will be fairly unpredictable. Put something sturdy between it and you - plywood and cinder blocks, for instance.

Might be a good idea to leave the bars in the stem, put the stem in a fork, and pound the fork into the ground. It'll give you an idea of what would happen to the bike/rider. :)

While it might not get you out of the flight path, couldn't you shoot at it from a 45* angle and still set it off?

So, you don't think the barricade of empty beer cans will be enough?

Dress as Elmer Fudd whatever you end up doing.

In every pic of Wordbiker I have ever seen, he is already dressed as Elmer Fudd.

Well, except one...

send it to the GA ballistics lab and still in AllenG's back yard.

There really is a still in my backyard.
It's made out of an old, top loading, washing machine--one of those kind that had the clothes ringer on top.

When I was a kid I heard a big boom in the woods so I went looking for what happened.
I came into my neighbor's backyard (which is now my house) and he was stomping around mad as hell, and every tree within a hundred yards had sour mash splattered on one side.

The still is still there and so are several hundred glass clorox bottles that he used to bottle his lightnin'.
The top of the still is peeled open like a tulip dropping its petals.

So, you don't think the barricade of empty beer cans will be enough?

If you're gonna video it, you need more visual appeal for the viewers. Glass beer bottles would fit the bill. Use cheap beer.

Be sure and drink the beer from the glass beer bottles.

We wouldn't want sobriety to cloud your ability to make foggy irrational decisions.

Think "path of least resistance". When the primer fires and ignites the powder, the pressure will escape the easiest way it can. In this way the case head of a shotgun shell is very lightly constructed and it would let go first. If the case was not a tight fit in the end of the bars, the end of the shell would come out and probably wouldn't split anything other than maybe the plastic case. But the OP said one was rusted in place. If it was pretty tight then the brass over the end might split. It isn't likely that enough pressure would build up to create any serious shrapnel, but use these stories as reference points.

1. My uncle said onetime they found a shotgun shell, so they set it on the ground and shot at the end of it with their BB guns. Once they managed to hit the primer, it fired and came out the back of the case, heading for them. One of them was hit in the hand and had a small cut. No part of the shotgun shell split or exploded.

2. There are lots of "myths" about using .22 cartridges as fuses in pickups. The myth goes that the cartridge fired and the bullet damaged one of the driver's prize body parts. Before our modern crazy myths, there were concerns about hunters that would carry spare cartridges in a shirt pocket, and what would happen if a cartridge fell out and was fired. Well Army General Julian Hatcher got interested in this and did some scientific tests. (It seems that I've seen similar tests on TV, maybe by Mythbusters.) Any Gen. Hatcher put a cartridge in a big cardboard box and rigged the cartridge to fire electrically. The bullet is the heaviest piece, so it usually sits still and the case itself moves. In no test was the cardboard box penetrated, just slightly dented inside.

3. After hearing my uncle's story, we decided to repeat the incident ourselves but with precautions to protect ourselves. (This was about 40 years ago.) We buried a shotgun shell in the ground, with the case head facing up. We put a board over it with a hole in it, then put the barrel of a bb gun over the hole and shot the primer. The primer came out of the cartridge and dented the end of the bb gun barrel. The shotgun shell did not split or rupture in any way.

That's all well and good, but the scenario of the bike falling over and the handlebar end striking a rock wouldn't allow the brass to go anywhere. Impromptu zipgun, but very difficult to replicate without actually being on the bike...not going there, even with a sharksuit.

I have considered gluing the cartridge in with J B Weld, but it would probably do very little under those pressures. I will certainly clamp the barend down hard enough to put some pressure on the shell, though again it might not be enough and certainly wouldn't equal being backed up by steel as with a proper gun.

If all that happens is the bike gets blown over by the recoil...that'd still be pretty cool. :)

Here's some pics of the mangled bike.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/IMAG0053.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l156/Wordbiker/IMAG0054.jpg

Hmm. Perhaps you mentioning it looks like it's been run over wasn't an exaggeration.

Doubter.

That WILL buff out.