Is it possible to rig a handgun so that it explodes when fired? I'm
thinking of a Colt Cobra Elite but I can substitute any handgun. In
addition, is there a firing mechanism which can be removed? I'm
writing a film script and I don't want to goof on this. Many thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 13 Oct 2004 09:19 PDT

Howdy courcy-ga,

In the plot of a movie, there would be ways to 1) have a handgun, such as a
Colt Cobra revolver, explode when fired or 2) be modified so that the handgun
would not fire.  As part of the plot, would the handgun have to be operating
(firing) just before the handgun either explodes or doesn't fire, or is it a
situation similar to where someone is given or takes the gun from someone else,
so we have not seen the handgun operational right before the "malfunction" of
the handgun?  Thanks for any clarification you can provide.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by courcy-ga on 13 Oct 2004 11:16 PDT

Hi, here is the clarification you asked for hopefully.
Character A knows that when he enters a particular room he is going to
be in a tricky situation because character B intends to kill him with
his own gun. (I've chosen a Colt Python Elite in my scenario but in
fact it could be any handgun which is more adaptable to the situation
because of its mechanism). Character A therefore prepares himself
beforehand.

Character B who had engineered this situation in advance, had already
sneaked into Character A's home and removed the firing pin thinking
Character A would not be aware of this. Now Character A enters the
room now, pretends to attempt to shoot Character B who knows the
firing pin is missing. Character B now disarms Character A because he
is bigger and stronger. (It is essential that Character A should be
killed with his own gun, the Colt Python. Character B makes the gun
serviceable again menacingly before Character A by restoring the
firing pin and tells Character A it is time for him to die. He puts
the gun to Character A's head and fires; the gun explodes (in my
present scenario) in Character B's hand because Character A had
previously blocked ('spiked' is the word I used) the gun barrel. (I
had Character A use a fastdrying super-glue before he allowed himself
to get into the situation. It is meant to be a battle of wits between
the two men. I do hope this makes sense.

Do feel free to ask me anything else on the subject as I want to get
this right. Many thanks.  Courcy

Wow - convoluted.  Couple points:

1) Most handguns do not have easily removable firing pins.  20 minutes
of disassembly to get to the point where you can remove / disable the
firing mechanism.  It's not going to be something that can be
re-enabled during a fistfight.

2) 'spiking' the barrel will cause most guns to KaBoom.  Mostly not
fatal in the real world, but often painful, and always disorienting. 
Superglue (TM) would be overkill; something as simple as a wooden rod
in the proper diameter to jam in the barrel would do it.

3) Firearms with rapidly changable firing mechanisms are bolt action
rifles.  The character could put the bolt in sans-firing pin, and when
he gets the weapon, remove the disabled bolt and replace it with a
known working one from his pocket.

4) On another line, you could have the character fiddle with the
ammunition - load the pistol with dud rounds, then after he gets it
back, reload it.

5) Following that line of thought, he could load the pistol with dud
rounds, except for good (working) primers.  A primer without gunpowder
has enough force to push the bullet into the barrel, but not expel the
bullet.  Then, that would create the barrel obstruction that causes
the fatal KaBoom when the real ammunition is fired.  (Hoist on his own
petard, as it were).

I'm guessing that you are referring to a Colt Revolver in a heavy
caliber, like .357 magnum or .44 magnum.  I have not found a pointer
to a Cobra Elite revolver.  Just in case, tho, here is reference info
on the Colt automatic pistols:

Colt 1911 Auto Pistol manual:
http://www.coltautos.com/pdf/Colt_ModelO_MKIVS70.pdf

You can see that this typical semi-auto pistol has, well, a lot of
parts.  Parts 9 and 10 are the firing pin and spring, which is hit by
the hammer, part 13.  Lots of parts between the trigger and hammer.

The Colt Python revolver should be close to your Cobra Elite; they are
both similar revolvers.

Colt Python Parts diagram:
http://www.gunsworld.com/colt/pyth_parts_us.html

Again, you can see there are a heap of small parts between the trigger
and hammer.  The hammer does not have a firing pin on it, it acutally
hits a captive pin in the back of the gun.  Removal of the pin will
take some time.

I'd suggest a post to the Usenet Newsgroup, rec.guns with your
questions; there are many, many experts on that group, and you will
get some quality opinions and suggestions.

I hope this helps!

Search Strategy:

colt python disassembly
://www.google.com/search?q=colt+python+disassembly&hl=en&lr=&start=20&sa=N

pistol disassembly diagram
://www.google.com/search?q=pistol+disassembly+diagram&sourceid=mozilla-search&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

kaboom group:rec.guns
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&q=kaboom+group%3Arec.guns&btnG=Search

fwiw, Revolvers are valued for their simplicity and reliability.  I
liked the spiked barrel idea, especially if the barrel can be spiked
with an item that fits well in the script.   It only takes a split
second to spike the barrel.  Just about anything would do, as least to
be believeable to most moviegoers: a rock, a pen, a crayon, a clod of
dirt or stick, lipstick...

That's a big sturdy gun.  
http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976411672.htm

Good luck with your movie.