Hey, it’s me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day. Ten years ago, I visited the American Museum of Natural History, a Smithsonian Museum, and saw something that changed the way I think about bullets and ballistics. It was two mini ball bullets from the Civil War that had met nose to nose.

I’ve seen many attempts to try to reproduce this, but they all fail. So I’m going to try this today. It’s going to take a little engineering, but let’s give it a shot. I’ve had some internal conflict about making this video because I don’t want to sensationalize it, but I want to take you along with me.

I worked for 15 years as a missile flight test engineer, so I’m familiar with safety processes. That being said, please never do this. I had a team of four helping me with this project: Ernie, an electronics designer; Jeremy Fielding, an educator and mechanical designer; and my buddy David, a mechanical designer and ammunition reloader. We slowly worked on this project in the background for years. So now, we have our two guns bolted down, and the first gun is unblocked.We’re ready to go.

We even used the shield as part of the supersonic baseball cannon video. We decided on the 45 long colt cartridge for this experiment due to its straight wall design, being easy to work with and its old-fashioned look. We thought about molding our own bullets using an authentic civil war bullet mold, but it was more convenient to use the 45 long colt.

We then had to establish the center of the earth, declaring a spot of dirt as the center and using an I beam as a datum. We then bolted the guns to the I beam and took a look at the mechanics of how a normal gun works. We discussed the “lock time” and the “bullet dwell time” and how we could control the lock time by replacing the mechanical trigger system with an electrical one.

We then loaded the bullets and discussed the elevation technique, which was primitive stuff with a jam screw. My buddy Jeremy Fielding then designed a CNC plasma to help with the loading process. Finally, we had our two guns bolted down and the first gun unblocked, ready to go. Cool! I know, right?! [laughter] After making sure all the hardware was working and that our safety procedures were in place, we were ready for our first shot.We tested each gun independently to make sure all the hardware worked, and to ensure our checklist ran smoothly.We then shot at a piece of foam board to align both guns to the same point in space, and tested our background colors to see what would work best for the high speed camera.We also discussed and implemented a misfire procedure for each possible scenario. Finally, we were ready to take our first shot! David and Destin were looking at scrap paper when they realized that the holes were slightly off. To fix this, they decided to use a laser and move the south gun, rather than the north gun which they had planned to use as a datum. After a tense silence, they went through their procedures and loaded the north and south guns. On the third try, they were able to successfully fire two bullets which collided in mid-air with a loud bang and fragments of bullet flying around. David and Destin were left speechless in pure excitement. They then decided to use a slow motion camera to zoom in and get a better feel for what was going on. After turning the high speed camera over and analyzing every variable they could find, they were able to successfully fire two bullets which collided in mid-air. The sound of bullets hitting in slow motion like a gong, followed by gun fire, made us aware that our shots were inconsistent and needed to be addressed. We initially hadn’t destroyed the other gun yet because the guns were offset by about one degree, which had worked in our favor. We decided to purchase shorter brass cartridges in order to fill them to the top with powder, in order to get a consistent velocity. We 3D printed a section of our barrel and filled the cartridges with gunpowder. We noticed that the shorter cartridge was full, while the longer one had a slump of powder. We also realized that the bullet was engaging the riflings, but there was a gap between the front of the bullet and the back of the riflings. We thought this gap was causing an inconsistent burn and velocity. We then noticed that the elevation control of the north gun was moving during the firings, making it difficult to aim. We eventually figured out that the long cartridges worked better and got into a rhythm. When the bullets collided, the tangent points defined a plane of fragmentation which could be seen in a three dimensional plane. We then rotated the high speed camera to see what the back of the bullet looked like. We had been firing normal lead bullets and Full Metal Jacket ones, which is just a copper sheath on the outside of a lead bullet. When we shot the Full Metal Jacket bullets against each other, something incredible happened; David saw them hit and Destin was amazed. It seemed like the bullets had fused together and Destin exclaimed that it was like you froze it there. However, upon further inspection, they realized that it was just two pieces of copper in the middle of the bullets.

They then decided to load super slow bullets with the least amount of powder they thought possible and fired them. It seemed like they had a Squib on the other side, meaning it didn’t exit the barrel, so they loaded just a little bit more powder and gave it a couple of more shots. Unfortunately, they still couldn’t get the bullets to fuse together and Destin concluded that it was because of the type of lead they were using. It looks like we can’t fuse the bullets with the lead we made and purchased. So, we need to find a way to shoot them slower to better mimic terminal velocity. We also have to change the metal composition. But, I have something else to show you that’s pretty fun. I may have accidentally shot the coolest ad I’ve ever made on Smarter Every Day, and I’m excited to share it with you. It’s for Ridge wallet.

They sponsored Smarter Everyday, and I was hesitant to try their wallet. But, I put my cards in it and put it in my front pocket and I loved it. I even noticed my lower back pain went away. So, I called Ridge back and asked if I could give away an air tag money clip with every order. They agreed and I made a video.

I shot a really cool promotion for Ridge using different materials like Damascus steel, titanium, and aluminum. I even used my own wallet for the last shot. Surprisingly, the bullet went through the aluminum wallet.

If you want to try this, go to Ridge dot com slash Smarter. They have a 99 day money back guarantee and a lifetime warranty. They also have a Father’s Day sale with up to 40% off. Go check it out! It looks like that bullet fell straight down and ended up right at the bottom under the tripod. How crazy is this? It’s possible that there’s more than one bullet - one weighed 14 grams and the other weighed 22 grams. Destin believes that the aluminum might have slowed them down just enough so they would fuse.

Destin is grateful to everyone who supports him on Patreon. He offers a baseball to those who sign up, and a holographic sticker to those who stick with him for a year. He’s thinking of having a “bullet versus bullet” team this year. He also has an email list for those who don’t want to miss out on new videos.

Destin loves doing this and is grateful for everyone who watches his content. He wants to thank everyone for consuming the content he and his buddies spend so much time building.

Have a good one! You’re getting Smarter Every Day.