Michael Briggs also did some experiments with silver bullets compared to lead bullets. After making a custom mold to ensure that the sizes of the silver bullets were comparable to the lead bullets, he fired them. He found that the silver bullets were slightly slower than the lead bullets and less accurate.

The silver bullets serve several purposes for the Lone Ranger. First, they are his calling card. Even in disguise the Ranger can be identified by friends when he presents a silver bullet. Honest lawmen know that help is near when they find one.

a quick solution to a difficult problem.

While the belief in magical silver weapons dates back to the Ancient Greeks, it came into common fictional use during the nineteenth century as a way to vanquish werewolves and other evil entities. In the 1930's, the phrase was tweaked to represent a quick solution to a difficult problem.