Would a cast iron cooking item stop a flintlocks bullet?
Answer Jean – Normally, a soft lead bullet fired from a black powder flintlock would most likely fragment and vaporize against cast iron at close distances, and just ricochet off at greater distances. The distance where that transition takes place would depend on the speed of the bullet. Smaller diameter bullets fired from rifles tend to have a higher velocity, whereas large bullets go much slower. Higher velocity bullets vaporize, slower bullets ricochet. I have done a lot of target shooting with steel and iron silhouettes and lead round musket balls. Unless the cast iron is very thin and brittle, it would most likely escape unscathed, sans a silvery “smear” where the bullet hit it. In a worst case scenario it might shatter. Cast iron would make a good shield, or 18th century body armor, but it’s awfully heavy. Even today, studies have been done with high-velocity .44 magnum bullets against cast iron engine blocks. The blocks usually win with grazing hits at angles, and only crack the
