I had actually never heard of shots heating up in the air, but the discussion is interesting... Just one comment on that, if the below quote is true and the bullets supposedly only get as hot as a human heart (if I am reading that right), then It really wouldn't be that hot, they could conceivably get that hot on a hot day. I've burnt myself on rocks that were left out under the sun. Perhaps these tales stuck around not because the heat made a real difference in fighting, but because it was just really intimidating to pick up a shot that was just fired at you and find it to be hot...
AussieJohn wrote on Mar 4
th, 2011 at 10:08am:
* One of the references in the interview was to Ovid, the Latin poet, saying in a poem that someone's heart was likened to the heat of a sling bullet thrown by a Balearic slinger.
One other thing, remember that not all metal of the time was created equal. Slight differences in thickness and composition could make or break a breastplate (so to speak). Also, the angle at which an 'almond' shaped bullet hits the metal could also factor in...
That's all, Eo out.