It is well known that if an ordinary fowling-piece, charged with shot or ball, have touched the ground or snow, so as to close the muzzle of the gun, or if the muzzle of the gun be in any way artificially closed with grease or other substances, the fowling-piece is certain to burst at the muzzle when it is discharged. In a remarkable case of serendipity, the next evening I was browsing the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and came across an article with the title, “On the bursting of firearms when the muzzle is closed by snow, earth, grease, &c.”! The article, by Professor George Forbes, is a theoretical explanation of the bursting of firearms and was published in the 1878-1879 session of the Royal Society, meaning that Forbes’ investigation was some 130 years before the Mythbusters! The calculation and explanation are short and entertaining, and I thought it would be fun to take a look at them. An updated investigation two years later, however, demonstrated that a rifle barrel could be split if sufficiently weakened by use.
One of the episodes that played during the marathon contained the “finger in the barrel” myth - the idea that a person can stick a finger in the barrel of a rifle or shotgun as it fires, causing the barrel to split like a banana peel without harm to the finger! The initial investigation of the ‘busters clearly demonstrated that a finger would certainly be lost in the attempt, and that a barrel would not split in the manner suggested. Fortunately, there was a Mythbusters marathon on the Discovery Channel at that time, so I was able to keep myself marginally sane by watching the ‘Busters abuse places, things, and themselves for the cause of science. During my first evening in San Antonio, I sequestered myself in my hotel room to polish up my presentation.
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