Quality steel for splitting bullets in half..

by Hataro
(Thailand )

It's might sound funny but i saw people test the Katana with bullet and split bullet in to 2-3 pieces. What kind of steel do they use? Can a high carbon steel do that? It's depend on the steel or the person who forge the blade ?

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A cheap sword can do it too..!
by: Paul

I know the video, but do not believe the hype..

While a Katana is a fanastic and very effective sword, the bullet splitting thing is not that impressive. I first learned this years ago when "Shootermike" Harris who is a qualified firearms instructor, set up a $150 Hanwei Banshee sword (basically a Burmese Dha) and split bullets with it the same as Nihonto 30 times the price..

But THIS video shows that the famous "splitting a bullet in half" stunt is just that..

If a butter knife can do the same thing, well..

Essentially, bullets are quite soft while steel is hard, so when they hit a thinner piece of steel, the bullet will split in half..

Nothing against Katana - but there are a lot of myths build up around them (such as cutting through stone, cutting other swords and gun barrels in half) etc that are just that, myths..

Why? My theory is that because a good katana in the hands of a skilled swordsman can perform a kesa giri cut, which basically splits a human being in half from the shoulder through to the hip - we rightfully fear and respect that kind of cutting power. So we imagine that things that are less important than human life should also be able to be cut in half like that.. But physics is physics and the katana is specialized to cut flesh and bone.. Trees are MUCH more cut resistant than human flesh and bone, and if you tried to actually cut a gun barrel in half, you had better be wearing some good protective gear because you will almost certainly shatter the blade..

Question
by: Boris

After reading steel 101 ! I can't figure out which is the strongest toughest and durable steel of all ! Do you know which one that can cut the same katana without damaging the blade ?

No such blade..
by: Paul

Hi Boris,

It is not really an easy question to answer. Each steel has its application and there is no "one steel to rule them all" kind of thing. It is a balance thing - the harder and sharper you make a sword, the more brittle it is. The softer you make it, the less likely it is to break, but it cannot be incredibly sharp and will bend rather than break.

Also, some sword steels are better than others for different types of swords. Medieval swords and Japanese beater Katana tend to be really good when made from 1060, 1075, 5160 or 9260. Traditional Katana with real hamon tend to do well with T10 tool steel, 1095 carbon steel or Swedish Powder steel. No sword can cut another sword in half unless there is something seriously wrong with the sword being cut - so it does not show the strength of the sword breaking another one but rather the weakness of the bad sword being cut (i.e. maybe a brittle stainless steel sword can be cut in half, but if they hit edge to edge, both will be damaged - basic physics of steel).

In short, there IS no perfect steel - just different strokes for different folks, and no sword can cut another in half. Historically they can lop off an arm, but if two swords clash, they would both going to get damaged.

I concur with Paul
by: Bookie

Being a gun maker for 40 something years and shooting all those years, I've pulled my share of trick shots, too. You can split a bullet with a strand of fencing wire if you position it right. My little Case Mini-Trapper pocket knife is a case i n point. Still have it. Still intact and still use it. Nothing special about the steel.