Saturday, June 22, 2013

Slices of ammo?


Photographer Sabine Pearlman has taken a series of images of 900 rounds of sectioned ammunition in a bunker in Switzerland.




I presume the rounds were sectioned by Swiss armament technicians, investigating their construction and components.




She writes:  "I was originally intrigued by the ambiguous nature of the subject matter.  The cross-sections reveal a hidden complexity and beauty of form, which stands in vast contrast to the destructive purpose of the object.  It's a representation of the evil and the beautiful, a reflection of the human condition."




There are more images at the link, and at Ms. Pearlman's Web site.  Interesting viewing.

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  An interesting technical detail is that these pictures illustrate the difference between Berdan priming (used in most non-US military ammunition, and illustrated in the top picture above) and Boxer priming (illustrated in the bottom two pictures).  Note the different primer anvil and flash hole configurations.

2 comments:

SiGraybeard said...

A group of fascinating images which would be helped enormously by some descriptions, scales or anything to help add context. Your bottom image looks like a fairly conventional rifle round; the middle one like some sort of pistol round with shotgun shot? The top is unlike any rifle round I've seen.

She has some rounds in her collection that are extremely bizarre - one looks more like a MIRV warhead than an ammo round.

Rivrdog said...

Assuming the photos have not been modified or shot with a lens which commpresses the subject in any way...

The top round is a rifle round with a solid-rocket type of propellant. The middle round is unusual in that it's not legal under Geneva Convention for military use, and the third round is NOT typical, with the hull being very wide in aspect compared to the bullet. This round would produce HUGE pressure when fired, and it is difficult to feed as well.