Can Cartoon Tricks Actually Work In Real Life? | MythBusters

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:04]Finger in a barrel. I knew we were going to have to revisit this one. That's the one where a gun barrel can explode into a banana peel. Just like in the cartoons.

[00:00:13]>> This one's well worth a revisit, if only so we can catch up with our friends, the myth tunes. They're a gun barrel of laughs.

[00:00:22]When our familiar foes come face to face, there's plenty of animated animosity.

[00:00:30]But instead of saying his prayers, our cheeky red-haired rodent forces his finger into the barrel, and the hunter's bestlaid plans backfire big time.

[00:00:42]The Mythbusters tried to get the same result in real life. They took modern rifles and plugged ballistics gel fingers into the barrels.

[00:00:53]>> The bullets won hands down.

[00:00:55]>> Look at the very darn. And while they got one or two bulges in their barrels, nothing could trigger that famous cartoon banana peel.

[00:01:05]>> I don't want to count our chickens before they hatch, but I think we may end up revisiting this one. Well, Adam, those chickens have now hatched, and they're coming home to roost. Since busting the myth, fans have been firing a volley of suggestions.

[00:01:20]>> First, we should try this.

[00:01:22]>> It's an older gun with a Damascus barrel.

[00:01:24]>> And what is that? Well, up until the 20th century, they were making Damascus barrels, and that's where they would take alternate strips of steel and iron, twist it around a rod, and then weld it together. So, it wasn't one piece of metal. Okay, so let's get that straight.

[00:01:37]A Damascus barrel was made by taking strips of iron and steel and welding them together. According to fans, those weld points weaken the structure, and if the barrel is blocked, they'll give us our cartoon peel back. Oh, it looks like I need to go dig out the hand molds we used last time.

[00:01:55]>> And I'll work on a remote trigger because if this does indeed work, it could very well explode.

[00:02:02]>> While the guys get to work, let's revisit the science behind this cartoon caper. Pull the trigger of a gun and there's a small explosion.

[00:02:12]The expanding gases propel the bullet through and out the barrel. Block the barrel, however, and the gas has nowhere to escape. The pressure builds and gun ruptures.

[00:02:24]Some fans might rupture too when they see what the Mythbusters are going to do with this collector's item.

[00:02:30]>> Boy, you better marry my daughter.

[00:02:34]>> This 10 gauge shotgun had both barrels fashioned Damascus style.

[00:02:38]>> This one was made in 1877, so it's an antique. And we're going to destroy it.

[00:02:46]Grant mounts the shotgun on Jaime's special rifle rig and wires up a remote trigger. I >> have a radio control system that transmits a wireless signal to the receiver. The receiver sends a control signal to the servo. It's going to turn the head of the servo which pulls a string. String goes around the trigger and is captured on the other side by a hose clamp. And then that fires the gun.

[00:03:11]3, two, one.

[00:03:16]>> There you go.

[00:03:18]>> Meanwhile, you got to hand it to Carrie.

[00:03:20]She's got hand making down pat.

[00:03:23]>> So, here we have a ballistics gel hand with a skeleton cast inside. It's been sitting up overnight, and the nervous part is over because it came out of the mold and looks all right.

[00:03:36]Out in the Mythbusters purpose-built bunker, the rifle rig is screwed down and Carrie fits the finger into the Damascus barrel.

[00:03:45]Another thing that I read off the message board was people were complaining that we didn't have a skin layer on the outside of our our ballistics gel. So, I've been recommended to use a finger from a glove to create a skin layer, which will make an extra seal. Here we go. One skin layer. an extra bit of authenticity and at least one audience member, if not many, much more satisfied with our results.

[00:04:12]>> Hey, Al.

[00:04:13]>> Overseeing the experiment, firearms specialist Sergeant Alan Normandy. He always rides shotgun when the guys go busting gun myths.

[00:04:22]>> So, we have the shotgun set up. What kind of ammo are we using today?

[00:04:25]>> Well, today we're going to go with maximum power. So, we're going with a 3 and 1/2 in magnum 10 gauge rifled slug.

[00:04:33]It's a big bullet. It's a big shell.

[00:04:37]>> It's the first round this museum piece has seen in quite a while. This shotgun is absolutely unsafe with modern ammunition.

[00:04:48]>> FANTASTIC.

[00:04:49]>> PERFECT.

[00:04:50]>> FANTASTIC.

[00:04:51]>> All right.

[00:04:55]>> Tori, Carrie, and Grant are revisiting the finger in the barrel myth. Fans say this antique shotgun with its old-fashioned welded Damascus barrel will give them a result worthy of Toontown.

[00:05:08]>> In three, two, ONE.

[00:05:15]>> WOW.

[00:05:16]>> HEY, we got something.

[00:05:21]>> The hand's gone.

[00:05:22]>> Dang. I think the gun's ruined. That's pretty good. It's better than what we got last time.

[00:05:28]>> First time round. All they got was a little barrel bone.

[00:05:32]This time, the Damascus barrels torn open and peeled back like cardboard.

[00:05:38]That's a better result, but it's still not the full banana.

[00:05:43]And unlike the cartoons, the guy who pulled the trigger still has a face.

[00:05:48]>> Our shooter doesn't look harmed at all.

[00:05:50]>> But the guy with the finger little worse for wear, wouldn't you say?

[00:05:54]>> Not so good. It's obvious a flesh and bone finger isn't strong enough to cause a barrel to explode. So Tori wants to take a slight detour on the road to Damascus barrel busting.

[00:06:07]>> I found this piece of steel. It fits perfectly in the barrel like so. I'm just going to cut off a little piece and then I'm going to sculpt it to look like a finger just because I can.

[00:06:21]Being the model model maker that he is, Tari is pretty handy at making a finger.

[00:06:28]>> And there's my steel finger >> at Tari. That needs to go into another orifice. Thank you. I am going to weld in the steel finger that I made into the good barrel. This way, we're sure that it's not going to pop out when we take a shot.

[00:06:47]The barrel is now well and truly blocked. Back in the bunker, the shotgun is remounted and Carrie loads another shell.

[00:06:57]>> Okay, we're hot.

[00:07:00]>> We're set for a cartoon catastrophe.

[00:07:03]>> Fire in the hole. 3 2 1 >> The shotgun suddenly becomes a sawnoff.

[00:07:16]>> That's not a banana peel. That's like loss of tip. That just total shattered the end off.

[00:07:22]>> But where's the finger?

[00:07:23]>> Wow.

[00:07:24]>> The end is gone.

[00:07:25]>> We've wrecked the gun.

[00:07:27]>> You steel finger.

[00:07:29]>> Gone.

[00:07:29]>> Gone.

[00:07:30]>> All right, we'll find the finger later.

[00:07:32]>> Our suit hunter has suffered no ill effects. But the Damascus is done for.

[00:07:38]>> So, in our second test with the steel plug welded into the Damascus barrel, we didn't get any banana peeling effect.

[00:07:45]Now, this piece may look like it's a banana peel, but it's not actually a part of the barrel. This is just a detailed piece that goes between the two barrels of this double-barreled shotgun.

[00:07:57]Once again, the finger myth gets the thumbs down.

[00:08:09]Don't believe the cartoons, friends.

[00:08:12]Shoving your finger in the barrel of a gun won't make the gun explode. Your hand, however, will.

[00:08:21]>> The guy with the finger. Little worse for wear, wouldn't you say?

[00:08:24]>> Not so good.

[00:08:26]>> But that's not all, folks. Having busted the myth a second time, the mythbusters now want to find out what will make a barrel bend back like a banana peel.

[00:08:36]>> That's like loss of tip.

[00:08:38]>> And the fans have a surefire suggestion.

[00:08:41]So, next test is somebody was shooting a 30 odd 6 with a bore cider still in the barrel and that thing ripped to shreds.

[00:08:49]>> I'm extremely familiar with the pictures of that. I have had so many emails sent to my inbox going, "Look, banana peel."

[00:08:57]>> We got the same exact gun that that happened with. So, we're going to set that up and try it the same way.

[00:09:02]>> I really want to find out if that's real.

[00:09:04]>> Do these photos show a real deal peel?

[00:09:07]Are they smoking gun evidence?

[00:09:10]The Mythbusters have their sights set on finding out.

[00:09:14]>> With the boresider, you put it in, you turn on the laser, and where the laser goes, that's where the bullet should go.

[00:09:20]Then you get your scope and you put your crosshairs on that laser point.

[00:09:25]>> Of course, you're supposed to take the bore out of the barrel before pulling the trigger. Something our unfortunate marksman apparently forgot to do.

[00:09:34]>> Next, >> Sergeant Normandy's got a theory as to how this scenario might work. Perhaps the little rubber gaskets on the borsider create such an adequate seal on what is a fairly small diameter for the bullet that it creates so much pressure in the barrel that it blows it up.

[00:09:49]>> Containment, combustion, explosion.

[00:09:52]>> Exactly. Okay, then let's see.

[00:09:55]>> Okay, we are loaded.

[00:09:57]>> They've got a brand new 30 odd 6 hunting rifle with a bore stuck in the barrel.

[00:10:03]>> 3 2 1 Oh.

[00:10:08]>> Oh, what the heck?

[00:10:15]>> I think the boresider bounced off the bullet catcher and hit the light.

[00:10:20]>> Oh, wait a minute. We got a split.

[00:10:23]>> Did we?

[00:10:24]>> Yeah, it split the barrel. Wow.

[00:10:26]>> That's about a 3-in split. The barrel separated from the stock.

[00:10:31]>> The bore ciders in bits, but still no banana peel. Well, I'm feeling like it is possible. I mean, we have never gotten any kind of damage like this before where it's actually splitting down the length of the barrel.

[00:10:43]>> Think about it. This has got to be a one ina- million shot to create that banana peel effect. We've got a crack up the barrel. We've got the stock separated. I mean, under the perfect circumstances, that photo could be that one in a million shots.

[00:10:58]>> Also, we don't know what the age of the gun was, what kind of abuse it might have gone through. This is a brand new gun. That's a totally valid point. It's like he could have had that gun for years and it was already stressed.

[00:11:10]That's a great point. All right. So, I guess we call this one plausible.

[00:11:14]>> Plausible.

[00:11:15]>> I agree.

[00:11:29]>> You know what? It's always the little ones. You think you've tested them thoroughly, but the fans, they still complain about it. It's exploding hammer.

[00:11:36]>> Oh, you know, I really thought we nailed that one.

[00:11:42]>> I think we did, too. But the people disagree.

[00:11:44]>> Why?

[00:11:45]>> Why don't we let the narrator explain?

[00:11:48]>> Oh, okay then. Well, see, it all started when Jaime innocently used one hammer to bang another. Don't do that, fans exclaimed. A hammer can explode if struck by another hammer. Well, of course, that sparked a frenzy of flailing tools as the Mythbusters tried to blow a hammer sky high without success.

[00:12:10]Looks like the handle's bent, but no shattering.

[00:12:12]>> But according to fans, they got one or two things wrong. For a start, the modern hammers they tested were too soft. And when they fired up the homemade forge to try and harden a hammer, they didn't get the temperature right. Nag, nag, nag. And to top it all off, the anvil they used wasn't a real anvil. What?

[00:12:34]>> It was what blacksmiths call an aso or anvil-shaped object.

[00:12:40]>> So, it looks like we need to get some preWorld War II hammers. Some modern day hammers that we can get all the way to transition temperature and then quenched. And finally, I think we need to get ourselves a real anvil.

[00:12:51]>> Sounds like another trip to the blacksmith.

[00:12:53]>> You got it.

[00:12:54]>> So, the guys are going to take another swing at this one.

[00:12:58]First, they'll take two modern commercial hammers, have them super hardened by a blacksmith, and see if it's crunch time.

[00:13:06]>> Wo!

[00:13:08]>> Then they'll try it with antique workh hardened hammers.

[00:13:11]>> Let's see if the fans are right.

[00:13:13]>> And finally, they'll put the antique tools up against a real anvil.

[00:13:18]>> One.

[00:13:19]>> Now, last time around, Tori put together a top hammer swinging rig >> like ammo. It'll be like blood down.

[00:13:28]>> Which he promptly destroyed after the myth had been busted.

[00:13:32]>> We need the hammer rig. Unfortunately, I've chopped it up and turned it into a chopsaw table.

[00:13:39]>> You think we would learn?

[00:13:41]>> While Tori puts the rig back together, Carrie and Grant are off to forge a relationship with a blacksmith. You >> even look like a blacksmith. Amazing.

[00:13:50]>> Well, thank you. As president of the California Blacksmithing Association, Herb Upam knows a thing or two about swinging steel.

[00:13:59]>> See here, where a rather large piece has broken free from the top and has probably flown off at nearly the speed of sound.

[00:14:08]>> Really?

[00:14:08]>> Really?

[00:14:09]>> Are you serious? The speed of sound.

[00:14:11]>> The speed of sound.

[00:14:12]>> And he has one or two hammer horror stories.

[00:14:15]>> The chip flew off the hammer head and cut the artery in their left arm.

[00:14:20]>> Oh my god. So, what happened?

[00:14:24]>> They needed a some immediate first aid because the artery where it was severed was squirting blood directly out of their arm.

[00:14:32]>> Modern hammers are a blend of metals, including tungsten and chrome, which softens the tool, making it less likely to chip and shatter.

[00:14:42]To make a hammer harder, you heat it to the point where the metal loes its magnetism. That's called the transition temperature. Then when the steel cools, it's harder and so the theory goes, more likely to shatter.

[00:14:56]Now, the Mythbusters tried this last time, but their homemade forge just wasn't hot enough.

[00:15:04]Herbs propane fueled forge is a different beast.

[00:15:08]>> Herb, that's like the Easy Bake oven from hell.

[00:15:11]>> Yes, it will toast your waffles to uh almost 3,000°.

[00:15:17]The brand new hammers are given the heat treatment. And when they no longer hold any attraction for a magnet, they're quickly cooled.

[00:15:26]>> This hammer is now as hard as it's ever going to get.

[00:15:30]>> All right.

[00:15:31]>> But has the process made it any more shatterprone?

[00:15:34]>> It's in the danger zone. This if you struck it or hit it on something, it would have a very high likelihood of shards coming off, shattering, and doing some real damage.

[00:15:46]>> Great.

[00:15:46]>> Excellent. Danger.

[00:15:48]>> We'll take two.

[00:15:50]>> Back at Hammer headquarters, Tori's reassembled the rig. It's powered by compressed air and a pair of pneumatic actuators.

[00:15:58]>> In three, two, one.

[00:16:03]Still works.

[00:16:07]Out in the blast chamber, it's hammer time. The bang of the bang of the bang of the >> Herb's heat treated modern hammers are about to swing. If the fans are right, we should be in for a smashing time. I'm going to attach them to the rig closer to the head. So that way there's no chance of bending. All that energy will take place at the hammerheads. First time round, the guys worked out that a top human hammer swing hits with a force of around 50 lb per square in. 50 PSI works out to be 795 in lb of torque.

[00:16:40]Will that be enough to make those hammers explode?

[00:16:44]>> We should probably define what an explosion is before we do this test.

[00:16:48]>> Did you see the Death Star when it went out?

[00:16:51]>> I want to see that like but like it's a hammer.

[00:16:53]>> We want a shattering of hammerheads.

[00:16:55]Yeah.

[00:16:55]>> We want it to look like it was it was made of rock candy.

[00:16:58]>> Here we go. In three, two, one.

[00:17:04]>> Wa.

[00:17:06]>> You broke off the handle.

[00:17:08]>> Yeah.

[00:17:11]>> Well, it busted, but it didn't explode.

[00:17:15]>> No. In fact, there's no damage to the head. If these hardened hammers won't explode, there's no way a hardware store hammer is going to even think about going west.

[00:17:26]>> These are modern hammers with modern alloys that are specifically made not to shatter. They're made not to break into pieces. I mean, they're extra extra hardened. So, if if it's not going to happen with our hard hammers, it's not going to happen with a modern hammer.

[00:17:41]>> High five.

[00:17:42]>> Don't get too cocky, guys. You might have hammered home the point on the modern tools, but antiques and anvils are still waiting in the wings.

[00:17:55]The mythbusters have shown that a modern hammer, even a heat treated one, isn't about to explode in the user's face.

[00:18:02]>> There's no damage to the head.

[00:18:05]>> So Jamie was never in any real danger.

[00:18:08]But what if our berade banger had been using historic hammers?

[00:18:14]Before World War II, hammers were fashioned from straight steel.

[00:18:18]Theoretically, the high carbon content makes them more brittle and therefore more likely to explode on impact.

[00:18:27]Tori takes the heads of two antique tools and welds them onto the swinging ring.

[00:18:33]>> This next test should address two issues. One, preWorld War II hammers, which means they should have a higher carbon content. And secondly, they are seriously workh hardened. Blacksmith work hardened, not just our shop work hardened.

[00:18:47]>> Let's see if the fans are right. In three, two, one.

[00:18:52]>> The hammers go head to head.

[00:18:55]>> Oh, that was a massive hit.

[00:18:57]>> But apparently even old hammers die hard.

[00:19:01]>> Obviously neither of these exploded.

[00:19:04]>> No, >> not even that ship.

[00:19:06]>> No. Not content with sending an email, one blacksmith named Dorothy has actually sent in some preWorld War II hammers for the guys to test. She's sure her antique tools will give the guys their big break.

[00:19:21]>> These have been work hardened over many years and she's actually retired them because she feels they're too unsafe.

[00:19:28]>> Are these modern alloy hammers or these preWorld War II?

[00:19:32]>> These are old hammers.

[00:19:34]>> They're ready to go.

[00:19:35]>> All right. So are we.

[00:19:36]>> Here we go. Oh, wait. I don't need this.

[00:19:40]>> Don't worry, Grant. Never can be too safe.

[00:19:43]>> All right. In three, two, one.

[00:19:51]>> Whoa. Well, it looked like they hit right on the face.

[00:19:54]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:19:56]>> And what do you know? One of Dorothy's retired tools has given this myth its best crack at success. gets a chip and a crack.

[00:20:05]>> Yeah, that's not bad.

[00:20:07]>> She wasn't lying. They're ready to go.

[00:20:09]>> Surely if it's subjected to a second blow straight away, it'll shatter like honeycomb.

[00:20:14]>> You know, this is probably our best chance of getting an exploding hammerhead.

[00:20:18]>> That's true. It's got some serious fissures and weaknesses in there.

[00:20:21]>> Yep. This is it. Here we go. In three, two, one.

[00:20:28]That hammer's lost its head, but still no explosive shattering. And >> if you hit a hammer and you saw a crack like that, you would obviously stop using it.

[00:20:39]>> Absolutely.

[00:20:42]>> You ready?

[00:20:43]>> Yeah.

[00:20:43]>> Tori, Carrie, and Grant are still trying to make a hammer explode. They've really been putting their heads together, but to date, their best result has been a single fracture.

[00:20:55]>> I think that does it for hammer versus hammer. Yeah, >> maybe Grant, but fans want one more test. Hammer versus anvil. And they want to see a real anvil this time, not the lightweight copy it tried to pass off in the original story.

[00:21:10]>> This is 260 lb worth of heat treated tool steel that um is a real anvil.

[00:21:18]>> Now they're looking for a way to slam a hammer down on it. The sharpest tool in the shed's been struck >> by an idea.

[00:21:27]>> Decapitation hazard, everybody.

[00:21:29]>> This powerful rotating rig was once used to cut a sword with a sword.

[00:21:37]>> What I need to do is rotate it 90°. So that way instead of doing this, the rig will do this.

[00:21:47]This new hammer heaven hunk of metal will also be powered by compressed air.

[00:21:53]The >> really good thing about it is that it can be scaled up. We can start out at human pressure, but then it has the ability, thanks to huge actuator, to go to superhuman strength. Tori attaches an antique hammer. Remember, the older and more work hardened the tool, the harder and more brittle the steel.

[00:22:14]>> All right, you guys ready? In three, two, one.

[00:22:19]>> Does that look like anything happened?

[00:22:21]>> Hammer hits anvil with maximum human force. 795 inb torque. Holy crap.

[00:22:30]There's a huge crack in the head of this. It's very faint, but you can see right along there is a hairline crack.

[00:22:40]Maybe, but there are no chips, no steel shards, and definitely no explosion.

[00:22:46]>> All right, let's wrap it up. Superhuman strength. You got it.

[00:22:51]>> Grant ups the air pressure to 100 PSI.

[00:22:54]The rig will now deliver more than 1,500 in lb of torque.

[00:22:59]>> Way faster, way stronger than any human could possibly swing a hammer.

[00:23:03]>> 3 2 1.

[00:23:09]The god of thunder himself couldn't have connected any harder.

[00:23:13]>> Well, the head didn't explode. Yeah, that was a massive hit.

[00:23:18]>> I thought that was going to be it. I mean, we took every single factor into account. Work harden. PreWorld War II real anvil. Superhuman strength.

[00:23:26]>> Do you want to stop talking for a sec?

[00:23:28]Look at that. It opened the crack up bigger.

[00:23:30]>> That is no chip even. That's not an explosive shattering. I would have thought this would have done it.

[00:23:36]>> Time to down tools, people.

[00:23:39]This myth has gone under the hammer.

[00:23:42]>> I feel like we really busted this one the first time and I think that still stands. I totally agree. Hammerheads will not explode if you hit them against each other or on an anvil whether the anvil's real or not.

[00:23:53]>> Yeah. And we've never denied that the chips can fly off the hammer and those chips can be extremely dangerous and potentially lethal as we've heard in some cases. But as far as an an explosive shattering, it's just not going to happen.