WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.940 Imagine holding this this tiny little brass cylinder 00:00:02.940 --> 00:00:06.440 in your hand and You know in a fraction of millisecond. 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:09.500 It's gonna contain up to like 65 ,000 pounds 00:00:09.500 --> 00:00:11.400 of explosive pressure per square inch, which 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:13.580 is just an unbelievable amount of force, right? 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:15.439 It's enough force to instantly blow your hand 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:18.320 apart if the containment fails Yeah, but the 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:21.460 crazy thing is it doesn't fail it operates perfectly 00:00:21.460 --> 00:00:24.399 millions of time today all over the world So 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.480 welcome to today's deep dive glad to be here 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.780 for this one. Yeah today we are unpacking the 00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:33.159 Really the incredibly misunderstood anatomy of 00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:36.060 ammunition. We're drawing on this super comprehensive 00:00:36.060 --> 00:00:38.899 Wikipedia article that breaks down, well, the 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:40.960 history, the mechanics, and all the weird quirks 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:42.899 of the firearm cartridge. And there are a lot 00:00:42.899 --> 00:00:45.820 of quirks. So many. Our mission today is to decode 00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:47.939 this tiny package for you. Because understanding 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:50.979 this, it isn't just about guns. It is a master 00:00:50.979 --> 00:00:54.359 class in how solving a single seemingly simple 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:56.340 problem, which was basically how to shoot faster 00:00:56.340 --> 00:00:59.329 in the rain. literally forced humanity to push 00:00:59.329 --> 00:01:02.189 the absolute boundaries of metallurgy, chemistry, 00:01:03.729 --> 00:01:06.189 and fluid dynamics. Yeah, it really touches on 00:01:06.189 --> 00:01:09.250 almost every hard science. Exactly. Okay, let's 00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:12.030 unpack this because most people hold up one of 00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:13.890 these little brass cylinders and they just call 00:01:13.890 --> 00:01:16.170 the whole thing a bullet, but technically the 00:01:16.170 --> 00:01:18.090 bullet is just the tip of the iceberg, right? 00:01:18.090 --> 00:01:20.870 Right. Calling the whole cartridge a bullet is 00:01:20.870 --> 00:01:23.010 kind of like, it's like pointing to a steering 00:01:23.010 --> 00:01:24.890 wheel and calling it a car. That is a great way 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:27.700 to put it. And that distinction is really the 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:29.719 foundation of everything we're looking at today 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:32.239 because the bullet itself is merely the payload 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:36.480 of a highly integrated four -part microsystem. 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:39.900 What you're actually holding is a cartridge or 00:01:39.900 --> 00:01:42.620 a round. So before we get into how this little 00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:45.239 mechanical marvel completely reshaped global 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.340 history, we need to understand the miniaturized 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:52.340 system at work. Like, if I'm holding a modern 00:01:52.340 --> 00:01:54.900 centerfire cartridge, I'm basically holding a 00:01:54.900 --> 00:01:57.579 microscopic, single -use rocket ship. I like 00:01:57.579 --> 00:02:00.140 that analogy. To push that rocket ship idea further, 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.819 the entire launch sequence we're about to describe, 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:05.180 it happens in the blink of an eye. Literally 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:08.159 a microsecond. Exactly. So the first component 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:10.639 is the case, which is the brass fuselage holding 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.060 everything together. Inside that case sits the 00:02:14.060 --> 00:02:18.240 propellant, the rocket fuel, which is modern 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:20.719 smokeless powder. Right. Not the old black pattern. 00:02:20.979 --> 00:02:22.840 Right. And then at the very bottom of the case 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:25.599 is the primer, the ignition spark. And sitting 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:27.939 at the top is the projectile, the actual bullet. 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:30.740 So when the trigger is pulled, a mechanical firing 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:33.139 pin strikes the primer at the base of the cartridge 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:35.800 with a very specific amount of force. Now what 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:38.139 happens inside that primer, it isn't just a simple 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:41.699 spark, right? The firing pin physically crushes 00:02:41.699 --> 00:02:44.639 this tiny pocket of highly shock -sensitive crystals, 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:48.039 usually some kind of chemical compound like lead 00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:49.400 stiffening. Yeah, that's the most common one. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:51.680 And the violent friction of those crystals just 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.599 being crushed together. It creates this microscopic 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:56.520 shower of sparks that shoots through a flash 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:59.599 hole into the main case, and it instantly ignites 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:01.879 the propellant powder. And see, the physics of 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:04.460 what happens next is crucial. The powder inside 00:03:04.460 --> 00:03:07.569 the case, it does not detonate. It deflagrates. 00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:09.789 Deflagrates, that's a great word. It's an important 00:03:09.789 --> 00:03:13.270 distinction. Detonation is a supersonic shockwave. 00:03:13.810 --> 00:03:16.150 If the smokeless powder actually detonated, it 00:03:16.150 --> 00:03:18.930 would act like a high explosive. It would completely 00:03:18.930 --> 00:03:21.009 ignore the path of least resistance and just, 00:03:21.009 --> 00:03:23.810 it would shatter the gun's steel chamber into 00:03:23.810 --> 00:03:26.030 shrapnel. Which we definitely do not want. Right? 00:03:26.649 --> 00:03:28.930 Deflagration, on the other hand, is subsonic. 00:03:29.050 --> 00:03:32.689 It's this incredibly rapid exothermic burning. 00:03:32.810 --> 00:03:36.030 It converts solid powder into a massive volume 00:03:36.030 --> 00:03:38.949 of highly energetic gas in an instant, building 00:03:38.949 --> 00:03:41.569 up that immense 65 ,000 pounds of pressure we 00:03:41.569 --> 00:03:44.669 mentioned. And all that expanding gas needs somewhere 00:03:44.669 --> 00:03:47.270 to go. So it pushes against the base of the bullet, 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:49.469 overcomes the friction holding in the top of 00:03:49.469 --> 00:03:51.889 the case, and just violently forces the payload 00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:54.449 down the barrel. Exactly. But wait, if there's 00:03:54.449 --> 00:03:56.939 65 ,000 pounds of pressure expanding in every 00:03:56.939 --> 00:03:59.560 single direction simultaneously, why doesn't 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:03.159 that blindingly hot gas just blow backward out 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:05.360 of the breach and like right into the shooter's 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.460 face? What's fascinating here is a mechanical 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:10.740 concept called obturation. This is the true hidden 00:04:10.740 --> 00:04:13.219 genius of the modern cartridge. Obturation. OK, 00:04:13.259 --> 00:04:15.699 break that down for us. So the brass case isn't 00:04:15.699 --> 00:04:18.319 just a convenient cup for holding powder. It 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:22.379 acts as a dynamic physical seal. In the microsecond 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:25.180 that the powder deflagrates, that intense pressure 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:28.439 forces the brass case to elastically expand outward. 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:31.600 Like a balloon. Basically, yeah. It swells up 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:33.800 and slams tightly against the steel walls of 00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:36.800 the gun's chamber, sealing off every possible 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.779 rearward exit. So the gas has absolutely no choice 00:04:39.779 --> 00:04:42.199 but to push forward, driving the bullet out. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.589 Wow. So it's like a high pressure gasket that 00:04:45.589 --> 00:04:48.050 literally creates itself at the exact millisecond 00:04:48.050 --> 00:04:50.589 you need it and then instantly relaxes. That's 00:04:50.589 --> 00:04:52.689 exactly it. Because, I mean, if you've ever watched 00:04:52.689 --> 00:04:55.290 an action movie and seen a slow motion shot of 00:04:55.290 --> 00:04:57.930 Enki brass shells flying out of a gun, you're 00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:00.029 actually watching the aftermath of this elastic 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:01.709 process. Yeah, you are. Once the bullet leaves 00:05:01.709 --> 00:05:03.689 the barrel and the pressure drops back to zero, 00:05:04.129 --> 00:05:07.470 the brass case slightly contracts. It pulls away 00:05:07.470 --> 00:05:09.689 from the chamber walls just enough so the gun's 00:05:09.689 --> 00:05:11.470 mechanical extractor can grab it and throw it 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:14.139 out. Right, and if the metal used for the casing 00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:17.839 lacked that very specific elasticity, that ability 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.519 to violently expand and then immediately spring 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.560 back, modern repeating firearms simply would 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.399 not function. They'd just lock up entirely. Yeah, 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:28.879 the case would weld itself to the inside of the 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:31.000 chamber under the heat and pressure, jamming 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.699 the weapon permanently. That perfect dynamic 00:05:33.699 --> 00:05:37.490 seal is a modern marvel. But, you know, to truly 00:05:37.490 --> 00:05:39.649 appreciate it, we really have to look at the 00:05:39.649 --> 00:05:42.790 clumsy, vulnerable systems it replaced. Because 00:05:42.790 --> 00:05:45.949 for centuries, soldiers just relied on muzzleloaders. 00:05:46.149 --> 00:05:48.269 Oh, the logistics of a muzzleloader are just 00:05:48.269 --> 00:05:50.389 staggering when you consider the stress of combat. 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:52.970 I mean, a soldier had to carry their raw gunpowder 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:55.730 in a flask or a horn, their lead balls in a heavy 00:05:55.730 --> 00:05:59.069 pouch, and their cloth or paper wadding in a 00:05:59.069 --> 00:06:02.029 separate pocket. Picture being a soldier in like 00:06:02.029 --> 00:06:03.970 the 18th century, right? You are standing in 00:06:03.970 --> 00:06:05.769 an open field. You have to pour loose powder 00:06:05.769 --> 00:06:07.810 down the front of the barrel, stuff a lead ball 00:06:07.810 --> 00:06:10.269 and some paper into the muzzle, pull out a long 00:06:10.269 --> 00:06:12.490 rod and ram the whole mess down to the bottom. 00:06:12.550 --> 00:06:15.089 While people are shooting at you. Exactly. It 00:06:15.089 --> 00:06:18.490 is agonizingly slow. You're completely vulnerable 00:06:18.490 --> 00:06:21.529 to a charging enemy cavalry unit the entire time. 00:06:21.790 --> 00:06:24.850 And the ultimate fatal flaw is the sky above 00:06:24.850 --> 00:06:27.519 you. Because if it starts to rain... Your powder 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:29.639 turns to sludge. Yeah, and you are essentially 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:33.459 holding a very heavy, totally useless metal stick. 00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:35.920 Right. The weather was really the great neutralizer 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:39.079 of early warfare. Ignition on a musket relied 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:41.420 on an exposed flash pan on the outside of the 00:06:41.420 --> 00:06:43.860 gun. A spark from a piece of flint would light 00:06:43.860 --> 00:06:46.620 a tiny puddle of priming powder, which then burned 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:48.779 through a small touch hole drilled into the side 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:50.779 of the barrel to reach the main charge. And if 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:53.220 it's humid? If the air was highly humid, the 00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:57.269 exposed powder wouldn't spark. Period. So, understandably, 00:06:57.670 --> 00:06:59.550 soldiers desperately wanted to package things 00:06:59.550 --> 00:07:02.149 together to speed this up. And the article mentions 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:05.170 that by the late 1500s, armies were issuing paper 00:07:05.170 --> 00:07:07.970 cartridges. A huge step forward. Right. A soldier 00:07:07.970 --> 00:07:09.970 would bite the end off a twisted paper tube, 00:07:10.430 --> 00:07:12.209 pour the pre -measured powder down the burl, 00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:14.629 and then shove the paper in the ball down as 00:07:14.629 --> 00:07:17.689 wadding. It shaved off a few seconds, but, and 00:07:17.689 --> 00:07:20.189 here's the kicker, it still didn't solve the 00:07:20.189 --> 00:07:22.670 exposed ignition problem. The rain could still 00:07:22.670 --> 00:07:26.129 ruin your day. Which brings us to 1807. Ah, yes. 00:07:26.689 --> 00:07:29.850 The true leap forward required a Scottish clergyman. 00:07:30.089 --> 00:07:32.889 Reverend Alexander John Forsyth. He was a hunter 00:07:32.889 --> 00:07:35.470 and he was frustrated by birds spotting the puff 00:07:35.470 --> 00:07:37.790 of smoke from his flash pan and flying away before 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:40.430 the main charge of his gun actually fired. That's 00:07:40.430 --> 00:07:42.649 hilarious. So he invented modern ammo to hunt 00:07:42.649 --> 00:07:46.050 birds. Basically. He patented the use of shock 00:07:46.050 --> 00:07:48.269 -sensitive fulminates, completely eliminating 00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:51.089 the need for an open flame. And this eventually 00:07:51.089 --> 00:07:53.350 evolved into the percussion cap, which is just 00:07:53.350 --> 00:07:55.810 a tiny copper cup filled with a chemical that 00:07:55.810 --> 00:07:57.949 sparks internally when struck by a mechanical 00:07:57.949 --> 00:08:00.230 hammer. Which brings us to a massive milestone. 00:08:00.790 --> 00:08:03.850 In 1808, in Paris, there's this Swiss gunsmith 00:08:03.850 --> 00:08:07.170 named John Samuel Pauley. And he utilizes this 00:08:07.170 --> 00:08:09.959 new internal spark technology. He teams up with 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:13.060 a French gunsmith to create the very first fully 00:08:13.060 --> 00:08:15.480 integrated cartridge. It was revolutionary. It 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:17.720 really was. It had a metal base, an integrated 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.860 primer, a bullet, and a casing. You didn't load 00:08:20.860 --> 00:08:22.720 it from the front anymore. You slid it into the 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:25.240 back of the gun, the breech, closed the mechanism, 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:28.980 and fired. Weatherproof and fast. But looking 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:31.480 at the timeline, the muzzleloader stuck around 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:34.629 for decades after this. I mean, if the injured 00:08:34.629 --> 00:08:37.210 cartridge was so vastly superior, why didn't 00:08:37.210 --> 00:08:39.889 the world's militaries adopt it overnight? Well, 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:43.149 if we connect this to the bigger picture, overcoming 00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:44.990 the weather problem with the self -contained 00:08:44.990 --> 00:08:48.669 metal case created a brand new massive mechanical 00:08:48.669 --> 00:08:51.789 nightmare. Which was? Extraction. Ah. Getting 00:08:51.789 --> 00:08:54.129 the empty piece of trash out of the gun. Precisely. 00:08:54.450 --> 00:08:56.730 Think about the muzzleloader. After you fire 00:08:56.730 --> 00:08:59.610 a musket, the gun is immediately empty. The powder 00:08:59.610 --> 00:09:02.129 burned, the ball left, the paper burned up. It's 00:09:02.129 --> 00:09:04.720 ready for the next shot. Right. But with an integrated 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:06.700 metal cartridge, after you pull the trigger, 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.559 you now have a blisteringly hot, expanded piece 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.340 of metal physically wedged inside the chamber. 00:09:13.500 --> 00:09:16.460 Which you have to get out somehow. Exactly. To 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:19.240 remove it, generals and inventors realized they 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:22.000 had to design firearms with complex, fragile 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.779 moving parts. Extractors, ejectors, hinged breech 00:09:25.779 --> 00:09:29.399 blocks. Many 19th century military leaders actively 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:31.320 resisted this complication. They didn't want 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:34.019 the hassle. Right. They argued that the advantages 00:09:34.019 --> 00:09:36.500 of a weatherproof case didn't justify putting 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:39.139 easily breakable machinery into the hands of 00:09:39.139 --> 00:09:41.720 an average infantryman. And the article talks 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:44.059 about how they spent decades experimenting with 00:09:44.059 --> 00:09:46.039 all sorts of self -consuming paper and linen 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:48.759 cartridges just to avoid having to extract a 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:51.899 metal case. But eventually, the sheer reliability 00:09:51.899 --> 00:09:54.700 of the brass case won the debate. It was undeniable. 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:57.139 Yeah. Overcoming those extraction hurdles meant 00:09:57.139 --> 00:10:00.169 perfecting the fuselage itself. And the metallurgical 00:10:00.169 --> 00:10:02.809 choices made back then, they dictate how modern 00:10:02.809 --> 00:10:05.610 militaries and civilians operate today. We keep 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:07.549 mentioning brass because it is the absolute gold 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:10.049 standard, right? It really is. Brass is highly 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:12.190 corrosion resistant, which solves a long -term 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:15.490 storage problem. But its true superpower is ductility. 00:10:15.870 --> 00:10:18.480 The manufacturing process of a brass case is 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.179 an incredible feat of metallurgy. Well, it's 00:10:21.179 --> 00:10:23.279 essentially one piece of metal baked to have 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:26.480 two entirely different physical states. The base 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:28.360 of the case, where the primer sits and where 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:30.960 the extractor claw grabs it, is work hardened. 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:34.419 It is hammered and forged to be as tough as an 00:10:34.419 --> 00:10:36.460 anvil. Oh, so the mechanical claw doesn't just 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:38.399 rip the rim off when it's yanking it out of the 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:41.179 chamber. Exactly. But the top part of the case 00:10:41.179 --> 00:10:43.769 has to do the complete opposite. Right. It has 00:10:43.769 --> 00:10:46.350 to expand. Yes. The neck and body of the case 00:10:46.350 --> 00:10:48.769 are annealed. They're heat treated and cooled 00:10:48.769 --> 00:10:51.129 in a way that makes the metal soft and malleable, 00:10:51.370 --> 00:10:54.509 almost like clay. This allows it to easily swell 00:10:54.509 --> 00:10:57.149 and seal against the chamber walls during obturation. 00:10:57.370 --> 00:10:59.889 That dual nature is just brilliant. And it's 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:01.909 why civilian shooters can actually collect their 00:11:01.909 --> 00:11:04.309 empty brass casings and reload them multiple 00:11:04.309 --> 00:11:06.769 times. Yeah, a lot of people do that. You just 00:11:06.769 --> 00:11:09.210 run the brass through a resizing die to squeeze 00:11:09.210 --> 00:11:11.950 the neck back down, pop in a new primer, add 00:11:11.950 --> 00:11:15.230 powder, and seed a new bullet. But brass is heavy. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:19.240 And it's expensive. The text details how militaries, 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:21.460 particularly the former Warsaw Pact nations, 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.679 leaned really heavily into steel casings instead. 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:27.399 Yeah, from a logistical standpoint, steel makes 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:30.419 a lot of sense. It is far cheaper to stamp out 00:11:30.419 --> 00:11:33.600 by the millions, and it's lighter. For a single 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:35.759 soldier carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.139 on their chest, saving just a fraction of an 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:40.620 ounce per cartridge translates to pounds of saved 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:42.840 weight. So what does this all mean for the person 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:44.860 actually pulling the trigger? Does the gun care 00:11:44.860 --> 00:11:47.700 if it's steel or brass? It cares a lot. Steel 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:51.100 has severe drawbacks. First, it rusts rapidly, 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:53.460 so it has to be coated in a protective lacquer 00:11:53.460 --> 00:11:56.600 or polymer. But more importantly, steel is structurally 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.759 rigid. It lacks that natural fluid elasticity 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:02.940 of brass. It just doesn't expand and contract 00:12:02.940 --> 00:12:05.539 perfectly during firing. Which creates a massive 00:12:05.539 --> 00:12:08.279 geopolitical design ripple effect. Because the 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:10.759 Soviet military relied so heavily on cheap steel 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:13.759 cases, the steel neck wouldn't seal perfectly 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.730 against the chamber wall. So blisteringly hot 00:12:16.730 --> 00:12:18.909 high -pressure carbon gas would leak backward 00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:21.750 past the neck and bake into a solid, gritty residue 00:12:21.750 --> 00:12:24.169 on the chamber walls. Which is a recipe for jamming. 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:27.649 Exactly. And because of this constant internal 00:12:27.649 --> 00:12:31.330 fouling, Soviet firearms, most notably the AK 00:12:31.330 --> 00:12:34.210 -47, had to be engineered with incredibly loose 00:12:34.210 --> 00:12:36.889 chamber tolerances. They literally needed extra 00:12:36.889 --> 00:12:39.809 room inside the gun just so the steel cases wouldn't 00:12:39.809 --> 00:12:42.019 jam in all that carbon buildup. It's amazing. 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:44.899 The economic choice of the ammunition directly 00:12:44.899 --> 00:12:47.000 dictated the mechanical engineering of one of 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.419 the most famous rifles in the world. It really 00:12:49.419 --> 00:12:52.779 is wild. We also see plastic cases, mainly used 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:55.379 for shotgun shells, and modern companies are 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:57.480 experimenting with polymer -cased rifle ammo 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:00.340 to shave off even more weight. But let's shift 00:13:00.340 --> 00:13:03.620 our focus from the fuselage to the payload. The 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:05.960 bullet. Yes, let's talk about what is actually 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:08.019 flying out of the barrel at supersonic speeds 00:13:08.019 --> 00:13:10.539 and the extreme physical limits of those materials. 00:13:11.419 --> 00:13:13.679 Traditionally, lead has been the go -to material. 00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:16.559 Lead offers a trifecta of benefits for ballistics. 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:19.299 It's extremely dense, meaning a small projectile 00:13:19.299 --> 00:13:21.779 retains a lot of mass. This helps it maintain 00:13:21.779 --> 00:13:24.039 momentum and resists being blown off course by 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:27.029 the wind. Makes sense. It's also highly malleable, 00:13:27.250 --> 00:13:29.590 allowing it to easily grip the spiral grooves, 00:13:30.149 --> 00:13:32.370 the rifling inside the gun barrel, to impart 00:13:32.370 --> 00:13:35.490 a gyroscopic spin for accuracy. And of course, 00:13:35.590 --> 00:13:38.149 it's incredibly cheap to mine and mold. But pure 00:13:38.149 --> 00:13:40.490 lead has a dramatic failure point, right? Right. 00:13:40.830 --> 00:13:43.210 Once you pack enough modern smokeless powder 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:46.509 behind a lead bullet to push it past speeds of 00:13:46.509 --> 00:13:49.769 like 300 meters per second, the physics just 00:13:49.769 --> 00:13:52.419 break down. They completely break down. The immense 00:13:52.419 --> 00:13:54.820 friction and heat generated inside the barrel 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:57.759 literally melt the outer layer of the lead. Wow. 00:13:57.899 --> 00:14:00.539 It smears all over the inside of the steel barrel, 00:14:00.940 --> 00:14:03.039 filling up the rifling grooves in a process called 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.600 fouling. And once those spiral grooves are filled 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.100 with smeared lead, the barrel loses its ability 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:10.799 to grip and spin the next bullet. Accuracy is 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:12.940 completely destroyed, and the buildup can even 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:15.039 create a dangerous bottleneck for the high pressure 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:17.740 gas. So engineers had to innovate to protect 00:14:17.740 --> 00:14:20.610 the lead from the friction. Early solutions included 00:14:20.610 --> 00:14:23.029 the gas check, which is a tiny cup of harder 00:14:23.029 --> 00:14:24.850 copper placed at the base of the lead bullet 00:14:24.850 --> 00:14:27.590 to act as a heat shield. And today we frequently 00:14:27.590 --> 00:14:30.110 see lead bullets coated in a protective polymer 00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.429 powder coat. But the most universal solution 00:14:32.429 --> 00:14:35.110 for military and high -velocity ammunition is 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:37.549 metal jacketing. You take the soft lead core 00:14:37.549 --> 00:14:40.990 and entirely encase it inside a thin, rigid exterior 00:14:40.990 --> 00:14:44.429 layer of a harder metal, typically a copper alloy. 00:14:44.769 --> 00:14:47.149 Which creates the Full Metal Jacket, or FMJ. 00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:50.129 The copper jacket protects the lead from melting, 00:14:50.529 --> 00:14:52.649 completely eliminating barrel fouling, regardless 00:14:52.649 --> 00:14:54.690 of the velocity. But there's a trade -off. A 00:14:54.690 --> 00:14:58.149 big one. An FMJ bullet is so rigid that it tends 00:14:58.149 --> 00:15:01.309 to punch a clean, narrow, ice -pick -like hole 00:15:01.309 --> 00:15:03.389 straight through a target without deforming. 00:15:03.690 --> 00:15:05.610 In contexts like hunting, where the goal is a 00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:07.889 rapid transfer of kinetic energy to ensure a 00:15:07.889 --> 00:15:10.529 humane dispatch, punching a tiny, clean hole 00:15:10.529 --> 00:15:13.149 is often, well, ineffective. And the military 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:15.690 actually ran into this exact problem in the late 00:15:15.690 --> 00:15:18.620 19th century. The Indian Army, stationed at the 00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:21.299 Dum Dum Arsenal near Kolkata, developed a compromise. 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:25.200 The Jacketed Softpoint, or JSP. They kept the 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:27.379 copper jacket on the sides of the bullet to protect 00:15:27.379 --> 00:15:29.539 the barrel from fouling, but they left the soft 00:15:29.539 --> 00:15:31.980 lead nose completely exposed at the tip. Right. 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:34.039 And when it struck a target, the soft lead would 00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:36.600 flatten and expand, transferring its energy rather 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:38.639 than passing straight through. It was a perfect 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.879 balance. Reliable internal ballistics, what the 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:44.559 bullet does inside the gun, and devastating terminal 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:46.779 ballistics, what it does when it hits the target. 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:49.080 And here's where it gets really interesting. 00:15:49.799 --> 00:15:52.259 The modern evolution of this concept is the jacketed 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:56.159 hollow point, the JHP. Engineers literally drill 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:58.860 a cavity out of the nose of the bullet. The fluid 00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:01.259 dynamics here are just wild. They really are. 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:03.379 When the hollow point strikes a fluid -filled 00:16:03.379 --> 00:16:05.919 medium, the hydraulic pressure rushes into the 00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.960 cavity and violently forces the lead to peel 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:11.399 open like a mushroom. But the source material 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:13.820 notes a bizarre vulnerability regarding personal 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:17.720 defense. heavy clothing. Yeah, like denim. Exactly. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:20.240 Thick denim can actually clog that hollow cavity 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.500 before the bullet has a chance to expand. It's 00:16:22.500 --> 00:16:24.559 like imagine stepping on a suction cup on a dirt 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.820 floor. If the cup fills with mud first, it can't 00:16:27.820 --> 00:16:30.240 flatten out and grab the surface. The denim turns 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:32.580 the hollow point back into a solid shape and 00:16:32.580 --> 00:16:35.120 it fails to expand entirely. It's like a parachute 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:37.600 failing to deploy because a single stray leaf 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:39.879 got stuck in the ripcord mechanism. That's a 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:42.500 great analogy. It demonstrates how incredibly 00:16:42.500 --> 00:16:45.659 sensitive terminal ballistics are to tiny environmental 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:48.820 variables. And depending on the goal, the projectile 00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:50.840 design changes drastically, like consider the 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:52.940 wadcutter. The wadcutter? Yeah, it's a purely 00:16:52.940 --> 00:16:55.259 cylindrical bullet, completely flat on the front. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:59.750 It resembles a tiny flying soup can. Aerodynamically, 00:16:59.990 --> 00:17:02.429 it is atrocious. I can imagine. It bleeds velocity 00:17:02.429 --> 00:17:05.490 instantly. But it's designed solely for competition 00:17:05.490 --> 00:17:08.269 target shooting. Because the front is a flat, 00:17:08.470 --> 00:17:11.470 sharp edge, it punches perfectly neat circular 00:17:11.470 --> 00:17:14.349 holes in paper targets, making it infinitely 00:17:14.349 --> 00:17:17.150 easier for judges to score a match accurately 00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:19.710 compared to the ragged tearing holes left by 00:17:19.710 --> 00:17:21.430 a pointed bullet. Oh, that makes so much sense. 00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:23.950 Now all of this precision, the metallurgical 00:17:23.950 --> 00:17:26.349 balancing of the brass, the fluid dynamics of 00:17:26.349 --> 00:17:28.750 hollow points, the exact friction limits of leaded 00:17:28.750 --> 00:17:30.930 implies that organizing and naming these cartridges 00:17:30.930 --> 00:17:34.089 must be a highly scientific standardized process. 00:17:34.789 --> 00:17:37.259 But historically... Cartridge nomenclature is 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:40.539 an absolute mess. It really is absolute madness. 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:43.380 The naming conventions are this chaotic blend 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:46.420 of marketing, historical leftovers, and arbitrary 00:17:46.420 --> 00:17:49.039 inventor preferences. The name of a cartridge 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.660 rarely gives you a clear mathematical picture 00:17:51.660 --> 00:17:54.240 of its dimensions. Let's take the 0 .3 of 006 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:56.140 Springfield, one of the most famous hunting grounds 00:17:56.140 --> 00:17:59.420 in the world. The 0 .3 URI refers to the bullet 00:17:59.420 --> 00:18:02.980 diameter, 0 .3 area caliber, but the 0 .6 That 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:04.559 has nothing to do with size. It just means the 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:06.480 US military adopted the cartridge in the year 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.799 1906. Right. And then you have the legendary 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.819 .38 Special. You would reasonably assume it fires 00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:14.839 a .38 caliber bullet. It doesn't. The bullet 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.990 is actually .357 inches in diameter. And the 00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:20.869 history behind that specific discrepancy is fascinating. 00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:23.549 Early revolvers used cap and ball technology, 00:18:23.829 --> 00:18:25.490 where the lead bullet sat on top of the casing 00:18:25.490 --> 00:18:28.150 completely exposed. Imagine a bottle of wine 00:18:28.150 --> 00:18:30.309 where the cork is the exact same width as the 00:18:30.309 --> 00:18:32.410 outside of the glass bottle itself. That is called 00:18:32.410 --> 00:18:34.930 a heel -based bullet. The outside of the casing 00:18:34.930 --> 00:18:37.730 on those early revolvers was 0 .38 inches in 00:18:37.730 --> 00:18:40.170 diameter, so the bullet was two. But then engineers 00:18:40.170 --> 00:18:43.049 realized that exposing the lubricated lead bullet 00:18:43.049 --> 00:18:45.569 to dirt and grit in your pocket was a terrible 00:18:45.569 --> 00:18:48.529 idea. So they decided to slide the bullet inside 00:18:48.529 --> 00:18:51.789 the brass case to protect it. Exactly. To fit 00:18:51.789 --> 00:18:54.869 inside the .38 inch brass case, the bullet itself 00:18:54.869 --> 00:18:58.769 had to shrink down to .357 inches. But from a 00:18:58.769 --> 00:19:01.069 marketing standpoint, manufacturers didn't want 00:19:01.069 --> 00:19:03.309 to confuse customers who were used to buying 00:19:03.309 --> 00:19:06.630 .38 caliber ammunition, so they just kept the 00:19:06.630 --> 00:19:09.250 old name. It sounds like ordering a quarter pounder 00:19:09.250 --> 00:19:11.710 at a restaurant, realizing the meat only weighs 00:19:11.710 --> 00:19:14.990 .22 pounds, and the manager explaining that the 00:19:14.990 --> 00:19:17.589 word quarter actually refers to the year the 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:19.450 grill was invented. That's exactly what it's 00:19:19.450 --> 00:19:21.970 like. It's pure historical inertia. We see it 00:19:21.970 --> 00:19:26.220 with the .218b, too. which uses a .224 inch bullet. 00:19:26.660 --> 00:19:28.940 The numbers 218 don't reflect any physical dimension 00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:31.119 at all. The Inventor just, well, like the name. 00:19:31.500 --> 00:19:33.519 And the term magnum that we see everywhere in 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:35.920 pop culture. It generally just denotes a longer 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:38.759 brass case capable of holding more powder, allowing 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.099 it to operate at a higher pressure than the standard 00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:43.380 cartridge it was based on. But this raises an 00:19:43.380 --> 00:19:45.819 important question regarding safety. Because 00:19:45.819 --> 00:19:48.599 this chaotic naming system presents a very real 00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:52.460 danger. If a 0 .38 special isn't actually 0 .38 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:56.079 caliber and a high pressure 0 .357 magnum bullet 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:58.900 is the exact same physical diameter as a low 00:19:58.900 --> 00:20:01.819 pressure 0 .38 special bullet, what stops someone 00:20:01.819 --> 00:20:04.079 from mixing them up? And this is where standardizing 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:07.200 bodies step in. Sammie in the United States and 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.059 the CIP in Europe, they act as the absolute law 00:20:10.059 --> 00:20:13.450 for these dimensions. They publish massive manuals 00:20:13.450 --> 00:20:16.470 detailing the exact microscopic tolerances for 00:20:16.470 --> 00:20:19.029 chamber dimensions, maximum allowable pressures, 00:20:19.490 --> 00:20:21.890 and cartridge lengths. And those standards are 00:20:21.890 --> 00:20:24.180 unfortunately written in blood. Because the names 00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:26.579 are arbitrary, a person might easily drop a high 00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:28.599 -pressure magnum cartridge into a gun chamber 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:30.900 built a century ago for a low -pressure standard 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:32.759 round. And it might fit. It might physically 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:35.000 fit perfectly. But when the trigger is pulled, 00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:37.859 the 65 ,000 pounds of pressure instantly exceeds 00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:40.380 the metallurgical limits of the old steel. The 00:20:40.380 --> 00:20:42.539 gun will catastrophically detonate in the shooter's 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:44.539 hands. So we have all these strict standards 00:20:44.539 --> 00:20:47.259 to keep the gun from exploding. But what happens 00:20:47.259 --> 00:20:50.200 when the chemistry itself fails? Let's talk about 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:53.319 the misfires and the mechanical nightmares. First, 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:56.539 we really need to separate a blank, a dud, and 00:20:56.539 --> 00:20:59.660 a squib. Okay, so a blank is an intentional design. 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:02.240 It's a live cartridge with a functioning primer 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:04.660 and powder, but there's no metal projectile. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.599 The brass neck is simply crimped shut or sealed 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:10.720 with paper to contain the powder. A dud, however, 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.740 is an unintentional chemical failure. You pull 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:16.259 the trigger, the firing pin strikes the primer, 00:21:16.700 --> 00:21:19.039 but either the primer compound is dead or the 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.559 powder is compromised by moisture and absolutely 00:21:21.559 --> 00:21:24.220 nothing ignites. Just a click. Right, just a 00:21:24.220 --> 00:21:26.700 click. But the squib, understanding the physics 00:21:26.700 --> 00:21:29.359 of a squib is terrifying. A squib load happens 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:31.519 when the primer successfully ignites, but the 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:33.480 main propellant powder charge either doesn't 00:21:33.480 --> 00:21:36.680 ignite or is severely underloaded. The tiny explosion 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:38.940 of the primer alone has enough kinetic force 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:41.470 to pop the bullet out of the brass casing. But 00:21:41.470 --> 00:21:43.450 it lacks the sustained pressure to push the bullet 00:21:43.450 --> 00:21:45.730 all the way out of the barrel. So the lead bullet 00:21:45.730 --> 00:21:48.329 gets permanently wedged halfway down the steel 00:21:48.329 --> 00:21:51.109 tube. Yes. It is arguably the most dangerous 00:21:51.109 --> 00:21:53.509 mechanical malfunction a shooter can experience. 00:21:53.950 --> 00:21:56.049 Because if the shooter hears the quiet pop of 00:21:56.049 --> 00:21:58.690 the primer, assumes it was just a dud, manually 00:21:58.690 --> 00:22:00.950 cycles the gun to load a fresh cartridge and 00:22:00.950 --> 00:22:04.000 pulls the trigger again. The results are devastating. 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:06.920 Because now you have a fully powered bullet accelerating 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:10.059 toward a massive steel blockage. It is worse 00:22:10.059 --> 00:22:12.900 than just a blockage. As the second fully powered 00:22:12.900 --> 00:22:15.039 bullet travels down the barrel at supersonic 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:18.140 speed, it rapidly compresses the column of air 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:20.319 trapped between itself and the stuck bullet. 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:22.839 Oh, well. Yeah. In a fraction of a millisecond, 00:22:22.940 --> 00:22:25.640 that trapped air compresses so densely that it 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:27.819 acts like a solid wall of friction and pressure. 00:22:28.059 --> 00:22:31.339 The expanding 65 ,000 pounds of gas behind the 00:22:31.339 --> 00:22:33.359 second bullet suddenly has absolutely nowhere 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.079 to go. The steel barrel must yield to the pressure, 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:38.859 peeling open like a banana or shattering violently. 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:42.000 And this precise sequence of mechanical failures 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.380 is what caused the tragic onset death of actor 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:49.859 Brandon Lee in 1993. A squib load had gone undetected 00:22:49.859 --> 00:22:52.380 by the prop crew, lodging a real bullet inside 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:55.079 the barrel of a prop revolver. Later in the scene 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:57.640 a blank cartridge, which still produces immense 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:00.779 forward gas pressure, was fired behind it. The 00:23:00.779 --> 00:23:02.779 expanding gas from the blank was enough to act 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:05.559 like a live propellant charge, driving the stuck 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:08.059 bullet out of the barrel with lethal force. It's 00:23:08.059 --> 00:23:10.240 awful. Even without a traditional setup, the 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:12.920 physics of trapped, expanding gas must be respected. 00:23:13.180 --> 00:23:15.460 Absolutely. So to avoid all these mechanical 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:17.819 extraction failures, the jamming, the heavy brass, 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:20.700 engineers have spent decades trying to reinvent 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:22.319 the wheel completely. They want to eliminate 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:24.839 the casing. Caseless ammunition. Yes, it sounds 00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:27.180 like science fiction. The text highlights attempts 00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:29.680 in the 1980s and 90s, like the heckler and co 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:32.710 - G11 and the Vor rifle. The engineers literally 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:35.349 molded the case out of a solid block of nitrocellulose 00:23:35.349 --> 00:23:37.549 propellant. The primer and bullet are embedded 00:23:37.549 --> 00:23:40.089 directly into the explosive block. You fire it, 00:23:40.230 --> 00:23:42.410 the entire block burns up, the bullet flies out, 00:23:42.589 --> 00:23:44.170 and there is absolutely nothing left behind. 00:23:44.529 --> 00:23:46.970 Sounds perfect on paper. Right. No heavy brass 00:23:46.970 --> 00:23:50.230 to extract, no mechanical claws required. So 00:23:50.230 --> 00:23:54.470 if we cracked caseless ammo 40 years ago, why 00:23:54.470 --> 00:23:57.890 are military still lugging around millions of 00:23:57.890 --> 00:24:00.519 heavy brass casings today? Because the history 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:03.380 of engineering is cyclical, caseless ammunition 00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:05.980 ultimately failed because it crashed right back 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.700 into the exact same physics problem that plagued 00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:11.400 the very first paper cartridges used in the Sharps 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:14.279 rifles back in 1848. Wait, really? What was it? 00:24:14.299 --> 00:24:16.740 The problem of obturation. The expanding gasket. 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:20.640 Exactly. Because there is no brass case to violently 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:23.380 expand and seal the chamber walls, the ultra 00:24:23.380 --> 00:24:25.740 -hot high -pressure gas simply leaks backward 00:24:25.740 --> 00:24:28.160 through the microscopic mechanical gaps in the 00:24:28.160 --> 00:24:30.579 gun's breech mechanism. Oh, so the gas just comes 00:24:30.579 --> 00:24:34.059 right back at you. Precisely. Without that temporary 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:36.980 brass seal, the expanding gas acts like a plasma 00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:39.559 torch, blasting backward into the delicate moving 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:42.559 parts of the firearm. Over a very short amount 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:45.559 of time, this gas erosion just destroys the mechanics 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:48.380 of the gun. Despite all our modern polymers, 00:24:48.819 --> 00:24:50.680 advanced electronic ignition systems, and space 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:53.359 age chemistry, we still haven't fully escaped 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:55.700 a fundamental physics problem from the 19th century. 00:24:55.950 --> 00:24:58.329 The brass cartridge case. For all its added weight, 00:24:58.529 --> 00:25:01.150 its extraction complications, and its wild nomenclature, 00:25:01.710 --> 00:25:04.009 it remains the single most reliable solution 00:25:04.009 --> 00:25:06.430 to sealing high -pressure gas that humanity has 00:25:06.430 --> 00:25:09.190 ever managed to mass produce. It is an incredible 00:25:09.190 --> 00:25:11.750 journey. It really is. For you listening, the 00:25:11.750 --> 00:25:13.569 next time you see an empty cartridge case lying 00:25:13.569 --> 00:25:15.630 on the ground or ejecting in slow motion in a 00:25:15.630 --> 00:25:17.869 movie, remember what it actually represents. 00:25:18.369 --> 00:25:20.369 It isn't just a simple chunk of stamped metal. 00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:22.849 It's a meticulously controlled pocket -sized 00:25:22.849 --> 00:25:25.980 explosion. It relies on a perfect millisecond 00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:28.559 synergy of chemistry to ignite, metallurgy to 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:30.740 stretch without breaking, and fluid dynamics 00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:33.099 to create a temporary life -saving gas seal. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:35.680 And yet the pursuit of an alternative remains 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:37.859 the great white whale of ballistics engineering. 00:25:38.250 --> 00:25:40.849 If creating a perfect expanding gas seal without 00:25:40.849 --> 00:25:43.630 relying on a heavy metallic case is the true 00:25:43.630 --> 00:25:46.450 holy grail, I mean a puzzle unsolved since 1848, 00:25:46.930 --> 00:25:49.009 what happens when advancements in 3D printed 00:25:49.009 --> 00:25:51.650 polymers or completely new undiscovered synthetic 00:25:51.650 --> 00:25:54.670 materials finally crack the code? Will the iconic 00:25:54.670 --> 00:25:56.990 brass casing, which has single -handedly dictated 00:25:56.990 --> 00:25:58.910 the mechanical design and physical weight of 00:25:58.910 --> 00:26:01.990 every firearm on earth the last 150 years, suddenly 00:26:01.990 --> 00:26:04.839 become as obsolete as the lead musket ball? The 00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:06.779 steering wheel of our microscopic rocket ship 00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:09.200 might just disappear entirely, forcing us to 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.279 redesign the entire machine from the ground up. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:13.579 Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into 00:26:13.579 --> 00:26:15.880 the hidden anatomy of ammunition. Until next 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:16.779 time, stay curious.