Handgun Urban Legends/Myths/Rumors

Silencers; surpressor use....

There are no "silencers".
Everything makes noise. What make people call silencers are really surpressors.

They reduce the level of sound.
I've seen potato surpressors & 2L plastic soda bottles(Steven Seagal; On Deadly Ground).
CF
 
gav1230 said:
One that I've noticed from movies, is that you need to manually pull the hammer back on an automatic or it won't fire.
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If it is a SA automatic that has the hammer down then yes, it does have to be cocked before it will fire. If it is a DA/SA automatic then cocking the gun is used as a 'go ahead, test me' type Hollywood thing :rolleyes:
 
ClydeFrog said:
There are no "silencers".
Everything makes noise. What make people call silencers are really surpressors.
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It's true that they don't actually silence the weapon, but there's nothing wrong with calling them "silencers".

After all, the original inventor called them "silencers", the federal government and all related paperwork calls them "silencers", most major suppressor manufacturers call them "silencers", and most enthusiasts and people in the industry use the terms "silencer", "suppressor", and "can" interchangeably.

It always seems to be the people with little to no personal experience with silencers/suppressors/cans who are the ones insisting the term "silencer" is incorrect. Those of us who are in the industry or are just enthusiasts usually call them "cans" or "suppressors", but we use the term "silencer" too.
 
Also some "mall ninja" kids in my class were discussing a class mate who accidently shot themselves in the leg with a .22. The general consensus among them was that it wasn't a big deal because "a .22 can't even break past skin!". I didnt even try to argue with them.
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Shrug. Just tossing this out to the general public again...(it's been posted before on TFL)..here's a guy shooting himself in the leg with the legendary .45 ACP. Not pleasant but the leg is not ripped off his body like some folk would have you to believe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYvAxLX6OzE

P.S. I think the guy deserves some credit for posting this information.
 
A friend and I tried holding a pillow against one of my revolvers years ago.

It cut down on the sound, all right, but it also enveloped us in a cloud of feathers...

It looked like we had gotten caught in a molt.
 
Guns make you fat.


Most folks are chubby and have a big gut on my range and I gained 10lb. I wish I could be proved wrong :confused:
 
I've been shooting for more than 20 years. I'm 6'2" and 195lbs.

Maybe you should review the evidence a bit more:D
 
I once was told if I'm ever wrestling for control of a gun to get my finger between the trigger and frame of the gun in the trigger guard and it won't fire. That no matter how crushed your bone got, the whole thing would have to be severed off before the gun will fire.
 
If the gun in question were a double action revolver, I would say that one is accurate. The physics of the design make it so.

It would take some incredible dexterity to get your finger -RIGHT- where it needs to be, and then you'd be in quite a position to have your hand torqued to oblivion. Point is... I can't imagine this is the world's finest defensive option or position, however I would say that if you could get your finger solidly behind the trigger of a double action revolver, there's just no way the assailant will be able to discharge that revolver as long as your finger is there.
 
"Steel and wood guns have a soul"

They may be mechanical marvels (particularly older models that were hand fitted) and objects of beauty, but a soul? That's just silly.
 
In the James Bond movies 007 dispatches a villain with his silenced 22, the bad guy goes down as if struck by lightning.
I think movies and TV have done more to spread urban rumors and misperceptions about firearms
than dime novelists and hack writers ever did.
 
Could a target's body be used as a suitable suppressor? As in pushing the muzzle against them?
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As already pointed out, this "pressing" may cause autoloaders to malfunction. They typically have a design that keeps them from firing if the barrel and slide are not fully forward. This is called the disconnector and prevents a cartridge from rupturing when fired without the gun being fully locked up.

A gun that doesn't fire is very quiet :p

Bart Noir
 
A reverse handgun rumor...

So many of us have snorted at the statement that somebody forgot to take the safety off, on a revolver. This was because so very few revolvers had safeties that nobody would ever actually get their hands on one. Right?

I felt that way. And I was wrong.

Just a few weeks ago I bought a revolver with a factory safety, not something added to allow importation into the U.S. of A.

Which one, you ask? The Webley & Scott Mk IV .38 came in a version for police departments, which has a cross-bolt type safety just behind the hammer. Mine is marked as being an ex-Singapore Police Force gun.

And within a week I watched an old NCIS show where this exact model was the murder weapon. Although I still don't know how Abby can tell that just from a recovered bullet. Must be all that Caf-Pow she drinks.

Bart Noir
 
I love the unlimited magazine minus one you see in the movies. The minus one comes into effect when your in dire straits of course. Another favorite is "Guns don't kill people."
 
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