Looking To Buy My First Rifle...

[Growler]

Originally Posted by Feuer Frei!

http://yarchive.net/gun/ammo/mercury_in_bullet.html

The theory or rather concept behind this is to increase its lethality by poisoning.
As the projectile impacts it expands and breaks up and deposits the mercury.
I'm assuming it gives it a slightly higher impact energy, since mercury is heavier than lead.
Certainly negligible though.
But then again wouldn't the mercury vaporize as it exited the barrel?

A mercury load would be encapsulated in a sheath of metal, likely copper/lead. Upon impact with a target (body, wall, etc) the bullet begins to deform, breaking the integrity of the capsule and allowing mercury out.

Also, watch a high-speed camera in slo-mo, where a water balloon hits someone and explodes. Watch how the force is distributed against the target by how the balloon deforms. Fill a bullet tip with a liquid like mercury, and think of that as a small-caliber water balloon.