L abor at o r y

Of Un deat h

Modification of Standard 9mm Bullets for Effective Field Use

Against The Legions of The Dead

C.L. Brooks, A. van Helsing, R. O’Connel, E. Brooks

Laboratory for the study of the Undeathly, secret underground bunker, Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH1
1UG UK

Abstract
The undertaking of combat against the Legions of the Dead, or Undead, is a subject
on which many articles and texts have been published, and for which a wealth of
information exists both in print and online. The aim of this review paper is to draw
together this information for the purpose of munitions adaptation, and in doing so
detail the ways in which selected measures can be implemented to create a standard
modified bullet which is able to destroy or impair the abilities of a wide variety of
Undead.
This review describes the process necessary to modify a 9mm bullet for effective use
against commonly encountered Undead creatures, the modified bullet being
particularly effective against zombies, werewolves, vampires and mummies, and
maintaining a degree of effectiveness against ghouls, banshees, and liches. 1
The modified bullets were capped with solid silver (including religious carvings) and
charged with a pentaerythritol tetranitrate (main) and lead azide (fuse) encased in a
rosewood splinter vessel.
For legal purposes, the authors of this article wish to point out that this article is
provided as a reference only, and make no claims as to the total effectiveness of any
or all of the modifications given below against a new or previously unencountered
form of Undead. 2

Schematic: 9mm modified bullet

Lead azide fuse Rosewood casing

Silver coating
Bullet casing
Base cap PETN charge
Choice of bullet

This article will detail the modification procedure for a solid 9 mm (.354in) diameter
pistol bullet, (cartridge) length 18.50mm (.728in), rim/base/neck 9.50 (.374in) with no
shoulder and a overall case length of 26.16mm (1.03in), with a copper jacket. This is
a standard ‘Ultra’ design (9mm x 15mm) which is the compatible with a greater
number of pistols than any other design of bullet, and is of roughly median size.
However, although the dimensions given above are used in the procedures detailed in
the review, they apply equally well to bullets of different dimensions- although it has
been noted that for some designs of pistol the dimensions can be altered by the
modification process to unacceptable sizes, particularly vulnerable to this are the
shoulder and rim, where jamming can occur when a modified bullet swells to a size in
excess of the recommended minimum windage. It is recommended that you check
with your supplier before any modifications are carried out.

Note:
Do not use bullets which have a pre-installed explosive or incendiary charge. Use
only solid core bullets, as the core can be removed safely and be replaced, whereas
with pre-installed cores there is danger of explosion when removing the base screw.

Disassembly of the clip

A 9mm Ultra en bloc clip contains 14 bullets, and is mainspring loaded. Withdraw the
bullets by sliding each out of the front of the clip. The mainspring will deploy the next
bullet after the withdrawal of the last. After modification, these can then be reinserted
in a similar manner. However, if the unmodified bullets are flush against the clip wall,
it may be necessary to file it to some degree before reinsertion.

Note:
For variants of the en bloc clip, such as the stripper clip, it may be necessary to obtain
loose bullets from your supplier, and fix these to the clip after modification.

Application of holy water

Throughout this review holy water will be used in the cooling of the coated silver, the
manufacturing of lead azide, and the rosewood mulching process. Effective use of
holy water will add potency to the final bullet, and increase the accuracy of the bullet
through the concentrated grace of god.3

Water which has been blessed by a priest or bishop is classed as holy water, and this
chemical has a great many applications in combat against the undead.3

If holy water is unavailable, exorcism water can be created by a non-ordained person,

for although it will be less potent than properly shriven holy water, it is of particular
use against possessed creatures (including the gamma and delta grades of zombie).

Pour 100 – 1000ml of water obtained from a clean stream or river into a container
(preferably of a natural material such as leather, pottery or wood) and bless it using
the following incantation:
Exorcizo te, creatura aquæ, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in nomine Jesu
Christi, Filii ejus Domini nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti: ut fias aqua exorcizata
ad effugandam omnem potestatem inimici, et ipsum inimicum eradicare et explantare
valeas cum angelis suis apostaticis, per virtutem ejusdem Domini nostri Jesu Christ:
qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos et sæculum per ignem

Translation: I exorcise thee in the name of God the Father almighty, and in the name
of Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Ghost, that you may
be able to put to flight all the power of the enemy, and be able to root out and
supplant that enemy and his apostate angels; through the power of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.

Note:
Undiluted Holy water may be diluted by any volume of unblessed water and will still
retain the same concentration of holiness until a greater volume of water is added than
was in the original sample, at which point the water will lose its holy properties.3
When using holy water from an unknown source it is highly recommended that you
do not dilute it unless absolutely necessary.

Preparation of the bullet

The following process is given for a single clip of bullets, but can be scaled up to
include any number of bullets.

Removing the base screw

The base screw of the bullet was then removed by unscrewing, and the solid core
removed by sharp tapping against a surface. For the Ultra 9mm, this can be done by
hand, but for other manufactured types of bullet it may be necessary to use special
tools. In most cases it is not advisable to use pliers for this, as they may break the cap
or detonate the mercury fulminate charge.

Silver coating

Silver metal (Ag) was melted down using a furnace and a thin, even layer was applied
directly to the bullet

Note:
Particular care should be taken at this stage to avoid igniting the charge in the bullet.
It is recommended that the silver coating stage is undertaken before any modified
charges are inserted into the bullet.

Preparation of liquid silver

100g of solid silver metal was heated in a 300ml deep furnace crucible until melting
occurred at 962˚C. The molten silver was slowly heated to 1100˚C, and this
temperature was maintained. It was important to exceed the melting point of silver, as
in the process of transfer the silver will solidify, and it must be kept at a high
temperature to ensure that this does not occur before the silver has been evenly
applied.
Particular care was taken to keep the temperature below 1357˚C, which is the melting
point of copper. Applying molten silver which is close in temperature to this value
will result in the bullet casing melting (or warping) which will detrimentally affect
accuracy of the modified bullet at the very least, and may cause jamming.

A flat steel tray of height/length/depth (150mm/40mm/10mm) was then heated to a

temperature of 900˚C in the furnace.

Application of liquid silver

The tray was placed next to the furnace, and molten silver was poured into it. A single
bullet was held in tongs, and rolled through the molten silver once. The bullet was
then held in the tongs for ~ 1 minute to allow the silver to cool. The bullet was then
doused liberally in holy water.

Filing of the area where the silver coating ends is necessary at this stage in order to
maintain accuracy of the final bullet.

The process was then repeated for all bullets.

Note:
Care should be taken to ensure that the layer of silver is not too thick. This will
involve running the bullet through the metal with pressure sufficient to leave silver on
the bullet, but not so much as to cause an uneven build up of silver.

Carving of protective symbols and malign runes

Using a sharp carbon steel scalpel, symbols were carved into the silver coating. The
following symbols are carved around the circumference either as solid carvings or
outlines (Diagram 1).

Note:
The symbols add potency against undead specific to particular religions, and inclusion
of these symbols maximises the effectiveness of the bullets against undead of the
most common religions. 4

Diagram 1:

Creation of the explosive charge

An explosive charge was created by using a lead azide fuse and a pentaerythritol
tetranitrate (PETN) main charge. These two chemicals were packed into a mulched
rosewood vessel within the casing of the bullet.

PETN can be obtained commercially as a white crystalline powder. It can also be

manufactured, but this process is irrelevant to this review. The authors refer you to the
literature. PETN has a velocity of detonation (density of 1.7 g/cm³) of 8,400 m/s. The
heat of explosion is 5,862 kilojoules per kilogram, or 1.5 times that of TNT.

Lead azide may also be purchased commercially, but in this review article the process
of preparation is undertaken to allow the chemical to be prepared in a holy
environment which greatly increases its effectiveness.

Note:
The two explosives used for the charge, Lead azide and PETN, were chosen because
they are both relatively easy to manufacture and because they complement each other
as standard explosive rounds in a 9mm shell, and as such their chemical-explosive
properties (Heat of explosion, velocity of detonation, relative effectiveness factor) are
well suited to the scale involved. Alternative explosives may be used if either lead
azide or PETN is unavailable, and the authors refer you to the literature. 5

Rosewood casing
Rosewood casing is used to contain the explosive charge, as when a bullet detonates
the casing will splinter and impel slivers of rosewood into the target. When used
against a vampire the shrapnel will cause extreme pain and disablement or, if a
splinter pierces the heart, termination of unlife. 6

Thin slivers of rosewood were shaved from a sample, and these were mulched to a
paste-like consistency by the addition of small volumes of holy water (~5ml at a time)
as necessary, using ~20ml for each 100g sample of rosewood. A single clove of
mulched garlic was added to the paste at this stage. The rosewood was then pressed
into the bullet casing and allowed to dry naturally for one hour. It was then removed
and heated at 60˚C for a further hour.

After this time the casing had hardened, and was hollowed using a standard 4mm
right angling drill, leaving 1mm of rosewood casing after drilling.

Note:
The casing also performs the role of physically blocking the lead azide from the
copper casing, and should therefore be totally sealed. Contact of lead azide with the
casing will cause formation of copper azide, which will explode with little
provocation, and care should be taken to make sure that this does not occur.

Synthesis of lead azide

For this process, it is necessary to have access to sodium azide, sodium hydroxide,
lead nitrate and dextrin. If unavailable in its pure form, sodium azide can be
synthesised from sodium metal, ammonia and nitrous oxide, and for this process the
authors refer you to the literature.
2.3g of sodium azide and 0.058g of sodium hydroxide were dissolved in 70ml of holy
water by shaking in a separatory funnel. This was labelled solution A.

6.9g of lead nitrate and 0.35g of dextrin were dissolved in 90ml of holy water in a
~250ml container, and 2 drops of sodium hydroxide were added to bring the pH to ~5.
This was labelled solution B. solution B was heated 60°C in a water bath and agitated
with a rosewood stirring rod. The stirring was as efficient as possible to avoid forming
large crystals, and did not rub the walls of the container. The friction may cause some
crystals to explode.

Solution A was added dropwise to solution B while stirring, the addition taking
around 10 minutes. The beaker was removed from the water bath and was stirred as it
cooled, a process which takes approximately 1 hour. The precipitate of lead azide was
collected through filtration, and 150ml of holy water was added to wash the crystals
in 50ml increments.

The sample was then dried for 8 hours at 65°C, forming spherical, opaque lead azide
crystals. The yield was 5g. This was then mixed (gently) with 5g of dextrin to reduce
its sensitivity. When storage is necessary, the lead azide was stored moist in a rubber
stoppered shriven beaker.

Addition of explosives to the bullet casing

100mg of lead azide/dextrin was packed tightly into each rosewood casing, followed
by 300mg of PETN, leaving enough room to replace the base cap.

Notes: It is important to avoid getting crystals (of either explosive) into the thread of
the screw of the base cap. This may cause a premature detonation of the bullet when
the cap is re-attached.

Conclusions

The modified 9mm bullets are vastly superior to the unmodified variety in the field.
They contain a concentration of base holiness which will kill most common swarm
undead, and specific targeted elements for use against more powerful undead: Silver
for werewolves; rosewood slivers for vampires; incendiary explosives for mummies.
6,7

The physiological effect of the bullets on partially decomposed flesh of the undead (of
varying degrees of dessication) is described elsewhere, but in most cases it can be
supposed that a bullet striking the core of a body will blow a fist sized chunk out of
the undead creature at concusive velocities, and even a peripheral strike is still likely
to shear off a limb. 4,6

Notes on field application

The authors wish to make it clear that they appreciate that in many field situations,
where supplies are not readily available, it can be difficult to obtain many of the
chemicals listed above, or perform some of the processes. The chemicals were chosen
with this shortage of choice in mind, as most are common and most can be replaced
by alternatives if necessary. Specific issues associated with the use of alternatives are
covered elsewhere in the literature. 5

Note:
The authors recommend that when it appears that field combat of the undead is likely
to be a feature of an expedition, you should prepare these chemicals in advance, or
carry vials of each in your baggage. 8

References

1. Variation within the Legio Necros,1909, M. Shelley, Combat of the Dead, 16(2),
12-167

2. Mut. Effects of modern chemicals and natural evolution of the Creatures of Dread,
1996, Dark Science, 165(2), 34-68

3. Holy water: Chemical properties and the effect of variation of concentration on

holiness, 2002, C. von Dracula, Unnature, 234(3), 12-15

4. Combat use of religion against the Undead monsters, 1996, Necromancy today,
1235(3), 124-156

5. Listing and tabling of chemicals referenced in use against the Deathly Hordes,
2003, Journal of unnatural sciences, 134(1) 11-57

6. Physiological effects of holy woods on the cardiology of vampires, 1934, Necrotic

News, 146(1), 36-39

7. Destruction of the Dread Commanders, 1998, Undead journal (monthly), 1567(2)

17-25

8. Revyue of persnel effycts of necesity for the persuit of the hunt-eternal of the
Undeathly, 1789, Wytchfynder tomb & tomb, 1021, 2-5