Possible Antique Bullet Extractor? - Medical

Jim McDougall · 28th January 2017, 11:35 PM

In the Wild West, the old images of the fancy dressed gamblers wearing silk vests in the saloons made them look dandy. Truth was that it had been realized that silk was powerfully resistant to many bullet types, especially the cap and ball with lower velocity.
Most guns in the 70s and 80s west in towns and saloons were basically lower caliber and smaller 'pocket' type pistols as the wearing of guns openy was typically prohibited in town.

In the early 20th the military was interested in developing bullet resistant vests and material using silk, however it was not pursued, probably cost?

In one shooting instance in a saloon in c. 1880s, the attending doctor was astonished that a silk handkerchief on the victim had been carried into the wound, and surrounded the bullet but did not penetrate the silk.
Unfortunately the wound was fatal, but bullet came out handily.

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28th January 2017, 11:35 PM	#13
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,278	In the Wild West, the old images of the fancy dressed gamblers wearing silk vests in the saloons made them look dandy. Truth was that it had been realized that silk was powerfully resistant to many bullet types, especially the cap and ball with lower velocity. Most guns in the 70s and 80s west in towns and saloons were basically lower caliber and smaller 'pocket' type pistols as the wearing of guns openy was typically prohibited in town. In the early 20th the military was interested in developing bullet resistant vests and material using silk, however it was not pursued, probably cost? In one shooting instance in a saloon in c. 1880s, the attending doctor was astonished that a silk handkerchief on the victim had been carried into the wound, and surrounded the bullet but did not penetrate the silk. Unfortunately the wound was fatal, but bullet came out handily.