Handgun Urban Legends/Myths/Rumors

The .357 cracking an engine block story began almost at the time the caliber was introduced. I believe it may have been started by S&W themselves, based on testing they did, and in fact it can happen, even with today's less powerful .357. An engine block wall is not very thick and the old ones were cast iron, so cracking the wall or the water jacket doesn't require much force. And a hit in the valve train will stop any engine pretty quickly. I once did some testing on engine blocks using hot 357's loaded with 125 grain FMJ 9mm bullets. They cracked engine water jackets, broke rocker arms and camshafts, and did carburetors no good at all.
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Not on the family car I hope.
 
The ad Tom linked to here...http://lonelymachines.org/guns/nemesis.jpg

brings to mind another myth or urban legend...

That all caliber handgun rounds were loaded to much higher power levels "back in the day".

The old pre-war ad for the S&W .357 Magnum revolver mentions that the gun...

"astounded the firearms world by delivering 1510 foot-seconds muzzle velocity and 800 foot pounds muzzle energy with the full 8 3/8 inch barrel..."

This was true and likely with a 158 gr. bullet from an unvented test barrel. Which was the type commonly used at the time.

But many folk write on gun forums, etc. as if the norm was 1510 fps from a 4 inch barrel "back in the day". It was not.

.357 ammo was not loaded uniformly "more powerful" in the pre-war years or the early 60s etc.

These days there are more powerful commercial loads available for the .357 and other rounds as well, than at any time in the past. Testing is more accurate and more often done from vented test barrels of 6" or from actual guns.

tipoc
 
I get confused about this. I thought the .45 ACP replaced the .38 Long Colt, but have seen both .38 calibers mentioned. Was it one, the other or perhaps both. This is a legitimate question, not trying to be snarky.

Edited to add: I think maybe my question is answered by the eye-rolling smiley at the end of your post.
 
Sure it was the 45acp:)

The 45 Colt round that they brought back didn't do all that well either. They had trouble keeping people down with the 30-40 Krag.

tipoc
 
... that one guy with a .45 rolling around on the ground can easily pick off a whole group of terrorists blasting away with AKs.
 
This is a legitimate question, not trying to be snarky.
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Not at all. I was the one being snarky. The switch was to .45 Colt, not ACP. The .45 ACP was still under development and testing during the Moro rebellion.

I'm not sure that the .38 Special was actually ever used, either. It was also a relatively new cartridge at that point.
 
The Beretta M9s will break and kill the shooter with the aft part of the slide.

Detectives don't load the chamber until they arrive at some place that will be dangerous.

Bart Noir
 
I recall hearing Back in the Day that " a 44 Magnum will crack a car's engine block at 15 yards." One account I read by some shooters who tried that-on wrecks-found that they could crack the inside of a cylinder wall though the shockwaves from the bullet's impact.
I read that the advertising for the 357 Magnum back in 1935 emphasized that
because the cartridge's power it should be used only by men of large and muscular physique.
 
A handgun won't kill a black bear! Everytime I see these threads about how you need an african safari class cartidge to kill a black bear it makes my blood boil!
 
From Spacecoast... that one guy with a .45 rolling around on the ground can easily pick off a whole group of terrorists blasting away with AKs.

He must have been trained by Gekko .45:D
 
Bart Noir said:
Detectives don't load the chamber until they arrive at some place that will be dangerous.
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Yes. This.

See also: special operations, hit men, beat cops, and people who are REALLY ANGRY (nothing says, "serious!!!" like racking the slide!), or anyone who is about to go Full Modern Cowboy and do something that would make stunt men cringe.
 
If a pistol has a short barrel it is inaccurate.
It is the sight radius that effects practical accuracy.

A revolver is more efficient than a semi-auto because of the energy used to move the slide backward.
More energy is lost at the gap between the cylinder and the forcing cone in a revolver than the energy used to move the slide.

You can't shoot .357 Magnums from a .38 SPC.
If the cylinder is made right that should be the case but my brother was shooting a pistol that was clearly marked .38 SPC and suddenly a bigger boom and a lot more recoil. He pulled the shell casing and yep, it was a 357 Mag.

More people have been shoot with empty guns than any other.
Truth is many people have been shot by careless handling, but an empty gun is just that an empty gun, of course you treat all guns as if they are loaded.

Jamming your finger in the end of a gun will blow it up.
However, I have heard trainers say that if you have someone pointing a gun at you and you have no where to go you can actually poke your finger at the end of the gun as if to plug the barrel and the person with the gun will usually try to dodge your finger and thus give you an opportunity to get the gun pointed away from you while you attempt your next move.

A handgun is worn out if you have shot 1000 rounds through it.
They are just getting going good at that point.

The higher the price the better the handgun.
There is subjective value that we place on things, and that can not be calculated nor discounted. However, for common pistols that most of us buy there are some brands that are over priced. But hey, the market bears it, so is it really over priced? I guess not.
 
cop killer bullets; dum-dum....

First, Id say one of the biggest & most controversial topics is the "cop-killer" bullet. Many broad & honestly misleading definitions of "cop-killers" are out there.
Most consider "cop killer bullets" as AP or armor pirercing. Research the KTW line(which was R&Ded by a sworn US law enforcement officer). This ammuntion line was developed nearly 30 years ago & is; no longer in production. :rolleyes:
None the less, anti 2A groups & gun control advocates constantly push for laws that ban AP rounds or "exploding" bullets that can kill cops.
The truth is that no US law enforcement officer was ever killed with a so-called cop killer bullet(like the KTW). :mad:
None. 0. If a TFLer or forum member with a police or legal background can share a documented event in the USA, please post it.

Cops do get shot & some do get killed in the line of duty with firearms but what kills the most US law enforcement officers is; traffic accidents.

Id add that many new shooters & gun owners get an unrealistic expectation for JHP or frangible handgun calibers(.45acp, 9x19mm, .38spl, .44magnum, etc).
Hollywood & popular culture are a big part of this.

Another good topic Id bring up for your program is the need for new gun owners & license holders to get proper skill training & safety lessons.
1000s of new firearms & licenses have been processed in the last 5/6 years. A tactics trainer & gun expert on the 2013 Crimsontrace.com DVD made this point & he's 100% spot on. New & entry level shooters need to learn the proper skills & be aware of the laws/use of force standards. There are resources out there.

Clyde
 
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