Can a bullet really be stopped by a Bible?
Thursday, 17 April 2008 | 109 readers so far
It’s an old urban legend that the Mythbusters should investigate - they’ve done gun stuff before though. You’ve probably seen it happen in a Western or two. You may have heard of it happening on the battlefield. A Bible in someone’s pocket stops a bullet.
I’ve decided to find out if such an event could really happen and I’m going to do so on video and post my results here. To keep things fair, I will perform my tests on both a Bible and a Koran using various calibers of pistols and rifles. Since I would probably have a hard time getting a live volunteer to hold the holy books, I’ve ordered a mannequin for the purpose.
I’m thinking I’ll start with a .32 ACP, then go to a .40 S&W followed by a .45 ACP. Finally, I’ll cap off the tests with some high velocity .223 rounds. These will be fired from my Bushmaster Varminter.
I realize some people will inevitably be offended by the thought of shooting bullets at books which are considered holy. I am privileged enough to live in a nation where I am free to engage in such activity, at least for the time being. And in the interest of science and out of sheer curiousity, I plan to exercise my freedoms, not out of disrespect, but out of a long held self-imposed desire to explore questions and answers.
I plan to use an educational textbook as a control. All three of my test books will be hardcover. Whether or not divine intervention will play a role in saving my mannequin remains to be seen.
Here are some reports of such events taking place:
Bible stops bullet in Rustamiyah, Iraq
Trash carrying man saved by Bibles
I couldn’t find any incidents of a Quran stopping a bullet using either common English spelling, although I would guess that legends of such an event or events circulate in the Arab and Muslim dominated parts of the world.
1 April 17th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
kitanis says:
I always take the mythbusters with a grain of salt.. some of their “busted” myths where they claim that “its not possible” have come from real life stories… For instance the bullet shot in the air theory. Two instances in Iraq and six in the United States proved otherwise.
How about the story from history where Colonel Joshua Chamberlain was hit on Missionary ridge and survived it with a bruise to the leg during the battle of Gettysburg. The mini-ball hit the then Colonels sword scabbard.
So why not a bible? Or a Textbook? If the bullet has traveled far enough.. the Foot Lbs at the point of impact could in theory be stopped by a book…
2 April 17th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Trevor says:
Very true, there are always exceptions to the rule. And I know bullets falling from the air happen because half the armored SUVs in Iraq had bullet holes in them from bullets that fell out of the sky after being fired straight up.
3 April 17th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
T F Stern says:
I’m a retired cop and a fellow officer friend of mine got shot in the chest. All in all he came out lucky with only a bruise because he had one of those pocket hair comb/brushes, the kind that are made of flexible plastic in the shape of an oval with a place to put a finger through in the middle. The bullet was deflected and didn’t get through the comb/brush.
4 April 18th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Trevor says:
TF, Too bad you don’t have a picture of that. Was the comb damaged by the bullet? I have a hard time imagining the bullet was anything more than a richochet if it was stopped by a plastic comb.