What happens when you replace a hammer with a 9mm bullet?
It sounds simple to hit the nail dead center and let the bullet’s energy do the rest.
Turns out, it’s anything but simple.
In this Ballistic High-Speed experiment, Bryce and Adam try to drive a nail into wood using a 9mm, capturing every impact in ultra-slow motion.
The first attempts are chaos. Bullets glance off the nail head. Nails bend like bananas. Some bounce straight out of the wood. Others get sliced, buckle, or shatter partially.
And hitting a target roughly the size of a bullet? That becomes a challenge of its own.
Then Bryce steps up.
After switching to a fresh board, he lands an almost perfect shot. The high-speed footage catches the impact in incredible detail, showing the bullet hit the nail, shear across the head, and transfer its energy through the shaft.
But there’s another problem. The smaller nails simply aren’t strong enough.
So they bring out much larger barn-style nails and try again. The thicker shafts hold up better, and this time they manage to visibly drive the nails deeper into the wood, including one shot that pushes a nail roughly an inch and a half farther in.
The takeaway?
It’s not just about hitting the nail.
The nail has to survive the hit long enough to transfer that energy into the wood. And watching that happen at extreme high speed is seriously satisfying.
Watch the full experiment to see if a 9mm can really become the world’s most overpowered hammer.
