When the gun misfired on Mathilde at the end...what exactly was that? Did the bullet just go the reverse of how it was supposed to or what happened exactly? Because if it wasn't that, I'm not sure how a small explosion inside the chamber could have done much more than knock her back. Did the bullet come out the back of the gun instead of the front?
shareI think George's character realised he was the target and rigged the gun. Don't know how you would do that, though.
shareI think George's character realised he was the target and rigged the gun. Don't know how you would do that, though.
My speculation is that he put a plug in the barrel just ahead of the chamber so that the bullet couldn't go forward. Since the charge is behind the bullet, it can't go backwards, at least, not in an intact state. However, there were earlier scenes showing him working on the rifle that (at the time) didn't make an impression on me. He was probably weakening the rear of the rifle so that the explosion would send metal fragments from the bullet and rifle parts backwards. If you recall, her right eye was pretty much blown away. The bones behind the eyes are very thin, so shrapnel probably ended up going into her brain as well.
shareIf you all didn't fall asleep or twiddle your smartphones constantly, then you would have remembered George filling the hollow point bullets with mercury, the ones he gave the assassin (a very nice one BTW). Presumably that would destabilize the bullet as it spun down the rifle barrel.
You may have also missed the full frontal nudity. Go back and watch it again.
I remember that, but was thinking that the mercury filled bullets were meant to kill a normal target, rather than explode in the face of the shooter. There was an episode of "The Unit" where they used mercury filled bullets and the explanation given was that when the bullet hit its target, two things would happen: 1) the mercury would spray out upon impact and cause damage and 2) reduce the mass of the bullet to keep it from exiting.
Thought the FFN was great - we're not *that* blind! ;-)
I saw a YouTube guy that does firearm experiments drill a hole into a .22 cal hollow point round. Filled it with water, plugged it up with #7 shot, and fired it into a giant gummy bear (convenient substitute for ballistic gel). The expansion was amazing - the water forced the bullet to expand well beyond the original diameter.
"...and Mrs. Taylor sure seems to use a lotta ice, whenever he's away."
If you all didn't fall asleep or twiddle your smartphones constantly, then you would have remembered George filling the hollow point bullets with mercury, the ones he gave the assassin (a very nice one BTW). Presumably that would destabilize the bullet as it spun down the rifle barrel.Um, if you were paying attention, you would remember that she asked for exploding bullets and he asked of mercury was okay and she said enthusiastically yes. So mercury wasn't the issue with the misfire at all. It was when he realized that he was her target, so he then rigged the gun to misfire. Time to watch it again.
Be sure to proof your posts to see if you any words outshare
It looked like he was filing the sear for some reason. I'm pretty familiar with the mini 14, m14, & m1 rifles, to make the rifle self destruct like that you would need to block the barrel close to the receiver, weaken the locking lugs on the bolt, & weaken the receiver itself. Those rifles have a lot of meat behind the bolt.
Most automatic rifles that self destruct, usually blow up out of the magazine well, it causes the magazine to fall out with a big explosion.
One of the Mauser brothers was trying to develop an automatic rifle in the early 1900s, there was an explosion & it put one of his eyes out. They were know to use a type of system where the bolt comes out of the receiver where the action is cycling. Just like the K98.
When Mathilde requested "exploding rounds", Jack asked her if "mercury would be OK"?
The mercury has nothing to do with the gun exploding - Jack had spiked it mechanically.
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When people say a gun "backfired" do they literally mean the bullet went out the wrong end of the gun? I don't see how that's possible but is it possible? That's what it looked like in this movie and I wondered if it's something that's really possible in rifles or handguns?
shareThe barrel was blocked and the bolt filed in such a way so that it would not lock closed when fired, therefore the explosion would not propel the bullet forward but propelled the bolt backward. Yes, it is possible.
What I have a problem with is that the girl has a hole in her head, falls off the roof to the pavement below ----- is still conscious and feels threatened by a man waving a gun. She can clearly hear him and can reason intelligent thoughts enough to answer him.
Right?! Exactly my thoughts.
shareRemember that Mathilde wanted explosive rounds? Jack apparently rigged the gun, perhaps jamming an explosive round in the chamber--who knows? The damage done to Mathilde doesn't appear to have been done by a simple exploding round. Had to have been done by an explosive round.
shareOne way he could've done this was to remove normal propellant and fill the cartridge with explosive. This, coupled with a weakened bolt, could easily produce serious injury.
Adding mercury alone to the bullet would accomplish nothing of sorts that happened to her.
The mercury doesn't make the bullet explode, it causes he bullet on impact to spread out, causing a greater cutting wound. To rig the gun to kill Mathilde, he probably plugged the barrel/breach causing it to explode when fired. The damage done to Mathilde's head was from the gun not the bullet itself. Her remaining conscious and aware after that wound is a bit of movie magic IMHO.
"Remember, you have to make it home to get paid" (The Dogs of War)
He also replies to Mathildes explosive bullets request with "will mercury do?"
this is when they sit near the pic nic basket
I don't think he could plug the barrel, she would be expected to take it out and sight it in, so there would be at least 3-5 shots fired through it.
However, she *may not* do that with the homemade silencer in place. Something like that silencer would probably not be useful for more than a handful of shots, so she wouldn't be using it 'til needed, perhaps..?
So, all he had to do was use materials that would facilitate massive failure on the first shot; low grade metals, something that would expand instantly from the heat and cause horrific damage.
That's my 2ยข worth, anyway.
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