The most amazing part of this hour-long show was the final short segment where the filmmakers showed the guns that are being worked on right now. Those include guns which can shoot around corners; guns which fire multiple bullets in the air and stop at a certain distance and rain down on the victims; guns with options in it for lethal or non-lethal bullets; a machine-gun like box capable of firing up to one million bullets per minute, etc! It's incredible.
We already have the "frangible" bullet which penetrates skin but does not seriously hurt the target. That's the ultimate goal of police: stop people in their tracks but don't kill them. The problem, as so evidently shown in the North Hollywood shootout in 1997, is that the criminals often have superior firepower or bullet-proof armor.
Technology in bullets and guns today are producing more new things in the last few years than in the thousands of years prior to today. Heck, it took five hundred years to change the bullet from a small round ball to the conical shape.
The Modern Marvels episode details the history of the bullet, all the trouble people had to contend with to fire it and how and why a bullet comes speeding out of a gun, in the first place. Some of these things are basic to gun owners, but to a novice they were interesting. Some of the key inventions in the 19th century - which changed things radically from the past - were not only the shape of the projectile but better rifles (cutting down on residue, which would render guns useless after about 10 firings), self-continued ammunition/smokeless powder, and more.
At the end of the century, the machine gun was developed. Progress made a big leap, as often the case, in a war. During World War I, the British had tanks so the Germans countered with armor-piercing bullets. We were now into the "Full Metal Jacket" era. "Hollow points" and tons of other advancements (see above) have been made since. Even bullets have been highly-affected by the Computer Age. so Lord knows what's next.
We already have the "frangible" bullet which penetrates skin but does not seriously hurt the target. That's the ultimate goal of police: stop people in their tracks but don't kill them. The problem, as so evidently shown in the North Hollywood shootout in 1997, is that the criminals often have superior firepower or bullet-proof armor.
Technology in bullets and guns today are producing more new things in the last few years than in the thousands of years prior to today. Heck, it took five hundred years to change the bullet from a small round ball to the conical shape.
The Modern Marvels episode details the history of the bullet, all the trouble people had to contend with to fire it and how and why a bullet comes speeding out of a gun, in the first place. Some of these things are basic to gun owners, but to a novice they were interesting. Some of the key inventions in the 19th century - which changed things radically from the past - were not only the shape of the projectile but better rifles (cutting down on residue, which would render guns useless after about 10 firings), self-continued ammunition/smokeless powder, and more.
At the end of the century, the machine gun was developed. Progress made a big leap, as often the case, in a war. During World War I, the British had tanks so the Germans countered with armor-piercing bullets. We were now into the "Full Metal Jacket" era. "Hollow points" and tons of other advancements (see above) have been made since. Even bullets have been highly-affected by the Computer Age. so Lord knows what's next.
