For muskets loaded with lead balls, accuracy can be improved by drilling a hole in the base of the ball and inserting a short wire tail and securing it with melt heat or by peening it into place. In flight, the tail will project behind the ball stabilizing it. Glass bullets, such as beads and marbles, are lethal due to their fragmentary propensities. Also, it is impossible to trace such bullets within a victim's body except with X rays. Plastic, although lighter; has the same effect. All ballistic experts suggest that hollowpoint ammo should be used in preference to military ball. When this is not possible, the ball ammo should be deformed to induce aerodynamic instability for short-range buzz-saw and irregular in-flight tumbling, i.e., keyhole effect, in wounds. This, of course, brings to mind the 'dumdum' bullet of infamy and much fiction. A true dumdum bullet requires that at least one deep slot be cut into the tip to induce flattening of the projectile after it enters flesh. Cutting an 'X' slot produces fragmentation of the bullet, creating a very nasty wound. Filling a standard hollowpoint bullet with strychnine or cyanide has been done, as hi adding a common BB shot to help split the bullet as it enters the body. The mercurial droplet a la the Jackal is another touch, as is the old Sicilian trick of packing the bullet cavity with garlic or fecal matter. I interviewed one former terrorist, now in prison, who told of improvising explosive ammunition using a standard rifled slug or shotshell lead ball. He placed a .22-caliber blank cartridge in a well drilled in the nose of the host projectile. This causes deformation of the slug when the blank detonates upon hitting a bone. 'This results in some really spectacular and very ghastly body damage,' he added. An American Special Forces veteran of Vietnam, El Salvador, and Desert Storm told me of creating 'experimental' rounds by placing large pistol primers in the wells of issue hollowpoint ammunition. He said he saw the idea fieldtested in several theaters in 38 Special, 9mm, and .45 ACP.