Wax In Hollow Point, Why?

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jtmckinney

New member
I was watching Jaws 2 (released 1978) a couple nights ago and the Sheriff was shown melting candle wax into the hollow point cavity of his 357 Mag ammo when one of his deputies walked in on him. He quickly covered the ammo with a cloth he had handy and refused to talk to the deputy about what he was doing. Except for some very poor gun handling by the Sheriff a little later it never came up again.

I was in my early 20's at the time but seem to recollect that being something that was talked about. Was wax in the cavity supposed to make the bullet more effective in some way? I am sure there was some anti gun message from Hollywood, no surprise there but it was pretty subtle.

I am aware of the ammo available today with the cavities filled with polymer.

Anyway just something I was curious about.

Have a great day!
James
 
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g.willikers

New member
You don't really expect to learn much of anything useful or realistic from a movie, do you?
Plugging the hollow point either increases the penetration or the expansion of a bullet :)confused:), depending on what material is used and other characteristics of the caliber.
 
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Hammerhead

New member
Urban legend was it would make the hollow point nearly explosive. Mercury was supposed to be even more effective. IIRC both have been dis-prooved.

I think in reality wax only serves to make the expansion of the hollow point more reliable if it's shot into materials that would otherwise clog the hollow point like heavy clothing or heavy hide with hair. The wax behaves like a liquid at high speeds and starts the expansion of the HP.

It wouldn't make any difference in a target that would normally expand a bullet like water, ballistic gel, or thin skinned animals.
 
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BarryLee

New member
When they are on the boat he puts on his gun belt and fires at the shark with his service revolver. Is it possible he was using the wax to waterproof his ammo?
 
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jmr40

New member
It's been a while since seeing the movie. But iirc he is putting poison in the hollow points and sealing it with the wax to keep the poison sealed inside until it enters the shark
 
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jtmckinney

New member
Putting cyanide into hollow points and sealing it with wax.
Click to expand...

Okay, that makes sense. Guess I should have rewound it and looked closer. It wasn't until later that I started to wonder about it.

Thanks for the replies!
James
 
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g.willikers

New member
Can you imagine how much poison it would take to impress a giant shark?
The amount a hollow point bullet could hold wouldn't even make the critter burp.
Movies!
 
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Drm50

New member
Waxed HPs

I have filled HPs with wax. Modified hp mold, with excessive cavity to reduce
bullet weight. I have had some success making bullet more accurate wax filled.
These are large cal bullets fired from revolvers. Under 750fps it serves no purpose.
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
I think the reasoning behind it was that Brody figured that if he couldn't stop the shark with a shot (or the whole cylinder), poisoning it couldn't hurt, and it might swim off and die, ending the problem.

However, he wasn't an expert to be able to calculate dosages, so he just did what he could, hoping for the best. Of course, that's just a guess on my part.

Another of the classic myths is the drop of mercury in a hollowpoint (sealed with wax), causing the HP to "explode" when it hit. I used to think the BS behind this was that the sudden "stop" slamming the mercury into the bullet would cause this, but now I think the possible reason for the origin of this one is that mercury likes to eat lead.

That would make the bullet thinner inside, and more likely to come apart, doing more damage. Plus, mercury is a poison. I've never seen any tests where this actually worked, but the myth still persists, and has become an almost ingrained feature of certain kinds of fiction.
 
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CajunBass

New member
I'm not sure but didn't he do that in the book also? It's been a long time since I read the book though.

Can you imagine how much poison it would take to impress a giant shark?
The amount a hollow point bullet could hold wouldn't even make the critter burp.
Movies!
Click to expand...

Brody was scared to death of that shark (and of the water really). He was ready to try anything to kill it. A few drops of poison weren't going to help it anyway.
 
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jtmckinney

New member
I always thought mercury sealed into the bullet came from the book "Day Of The Jackal". I know I read this book at least once and probably twice back in those same years. The Jackal was making an assassins bullet shot from a rifle. I always thought BS on the way the book described how the mercury would work but it was after all a work of fiction.

Again, Thanks for the replies and my question has been answered.

Have a great day!
James
 
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Jim Watson

New member
Mercury is pretty bogus given its ability to amalgamate lead into a semi-liquid mush.
But there have been bullets with "hydraulic expansion." There was one old brand of rifle bullet formed as a hollowpoint, the hole filled with grease, and the nose swaged closed over the cavity.
Lyman made some experimental moulds for large hollowpoints meant to be filled with water or oil and capped with smaller caliber gas checks.
 
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Bob Wright

New member
There was then the theory of "hydraulic expansion" being more reliable.

Problem was, the spin of the bullet often flung the material out of the bullet cavity long before reaching the target.

Bob Wright
 
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