Handgun Urban Legends/Myths/Rumors

Colt Single Action Armies are made in Italy.
Lugers "point naturally".
The modern Remington company having any real familial link to either the WWI-era Remington-UMC M1911s or the WWII-era Remington Rand M1911A1s.
"Springfield Armory" is the "oldest name in American firearms", though the company has been in business only since the 1970s.
Lugers require "hot loads" to run reliably.
"Point blank range" refers to shooting at something at close range.
 
"Springfield Armory" is the "oldest name in American firearms", though the company has been in business only since the 1970s.
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Kinda sounds like they are claiming that their name is very, very old. Kinda tricky marketing. And marketing is, well...kinda tricky by it's very nature.

We could mention Henry Repeating Arms here also, couldn't we?
And Winchester -- boy, they aren't the Winchester your Grandfather grew up with.
 
I think the "45 Colt/45 Long Colt" controversy is more a question of terminology and popular vs factory designations.
 
The term "point blank" comes from a device called a gunners' quadrant, which was used to measure the angle of the barrel of a cannon and indirectly, the angle required for a desired range. When the barrel was horizontal, there was no angle mark, so that "point" was "blank" (unmarked). So "point blank" range means there is no elevation to the barrel so only a fairly close target will be hit.

Jim
 
"point blank" range means there is no elevation to the barrel so only a fairly close target will be hit.
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My understanding of point blank is that it means no adjustment in elevation is required to hit a given target, leading to sighting-in guns for "maximum point blank range.
 
Same thing. If a gun barrel is horizontal, only a close target will be hit since the bullet drop will cause a miss. To hit a target beyond "point blank" range, the barrel will have to be elevated and won't be at the "blank point".

Jim
 
I think that is way past the extreme range elevation; the bullet will probably come down ten feet in front of the gun.

Jim
 
My personal favorite myth is the LEGENDARY power of the .45 acp round.

We all know that it has a stellar track record for stopping power. But, I hear things like "if you hit them in the arm with a .45, it will blow it off!" or "the .45 will leave a hole the size of a dinner plate on exit".

Ridiculous statements that i have heard that make me laugh.
 
The biggest myth of all is "knockdown power." No gun that can be held by an individual can knock a person down.

There was one case from the Civil War in which a Confederate General was hit in the side, the projectile passing through his chest. Witnesses said that he stayed upright for a second, then fell face down. The General was Leonidas Polk. The gun was a 20-pdr Parrott rifle, a bit big for concealed carry.

Jim
 
US civil war general quote?....

Who was the US general in the Civil War era who told his troops; "they can never get us at this range" then got shot dead by a sniper?

Author & film critic: Steven Hunter uses the quote.
 
Same thing. If a gun barrel is horizontal, only a close target will be hit since the bullet drop will cause a miss. To hit a target beyond "point blank" range, the barrel will have to be elevated and won't be at the "blank point".
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Right, but for a flat-shooting round, in a hunting environment, point blank might be over 300 yards; hardly a "close target". Even some handguns can be have max point blank ranges of over 100 yards, depending on target size.
 
Right, but for a flat-shooting round, in a hunting environment, point blank might be over 300 yards; hardly a "close target". Even some handguns can be have max point blank ranges of over 100 yards, depending on target size.
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Really? I know very little about rifle rounds. But I thought the typical 308/30-06 rose for about the first 100 yards at least. Are there rounds that truly are flat to 300?

I can't think of a handgun round that is flat to 100. And I'm not sure what the target size would have to do with it.

Elaborate further, please?


Sgt Lumpy
 
Rick, you misunderstand the term "point blank". It means that the barrel is perfectly horizontal, with NO elevation. A ballistic calculator shows that if the barrel of a .300 Win Mag is perfectly horizontal, the bullet will drop below the barrel line about 20" at 300 yards. So that is enough to miss medium size game.

No bullet rises above the line of the barrel that fires it. The bullet starts to drop as soon as it leaves the barrel. The bullet may rise above the line of sight, but that is because the barrel is pointed up by adjusting the sights.

It is quite easy to see a bullet trajectory by using a garden hose. If you want to water those petunias over by the fence, you have to raise the hose nozzle higher or, if you can, increase the water pressure. That arc the water makes is exactly the same shape (parabolic curve) as the arc of a bullet fired from a gun.

Jim
 
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I'm not so much misunderstanding it, but disagreeing with you. I understand what you mean, and it may very well be the origins of the term, but I've never been involved with artillery, only small arms, where "my" definition applies.
The term "maximum point blank range" is related to the size of the target, and the trajectory of the gun/cartridge combination, apparently in contrast to the artillery term.
 
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