Why did Travis carve the top of a bullet with a knife?
Was this to help it expand in the body or make it more lethal somehow?
shareExactly, he wanted the bullet to have effects similar to a hollow point round. I've been told this can be dangerous though, as this can lead to some of the bullet shedding from the rest of it and getting stuck in the barrel, and causing the next round fired exploding in the barrel.
shareYes that does sound dangerous indeed! Good old Bickle, keeping things interesting.
shareExactly, he wanted the bullet to have effects similar to a hollow point round. I've been told this can be dangerous though, as this can lead to some of the bullet shedding from the rest of it and getting stuck in the barrel, and causing the next round fired exploding in the barrel.
Yes, but why didn't Travis just buy hollow point rounds to begin with? share
I think they are illegal to buy. At least in nyc.
shareHe bought the guns illegally... But to answer the other question. I'm guessing he didn't have any to sell.
shareI know that gun and ammo laws are very restrictive today in New York State generally and NYC in particular. Was this the case as far back as the 1970's? Even if it were so, I'd be surprised if they had specific restrictions on hollow point ammo, since I've seen hollow point ammo sold pretty much everywhere that ammo of any kind is available.
My guess is that Travis wanted to keep his activities under wraps even if the legal purchase route was open to him, so he bought both his guns and his ammo on the black market and worked with what was available to him.