[Shadan7]

So, Saturday I stopped in at my local gun shop, needed to pick up some components for a reloading project yesterday. They were busy, which is good to see, so it took a bit before I had a chance to chat with Dave.

"Had a chance to check out the Ballistics by the inch (http://www.ballisticsbytheinch.com/) site yet?"

"No, not yet - busy with the holidays and stuff. You know."

"No worries."

"Going well?"

"Yeah, we've had over 350,000 hits in the month since it went up."

"Wow." Pause. "Um, is that a lot?" (They're not real big on computers, these guys, which is why there's just a link to a Yellow Pages listing for them off of our website.)

"Heh. Yeah, that's a hell of a lot. It's gotten quite a lot of attention. More and more, I see it cited as a reference when people are talking about this or that caliber performance."

"Huh. Well, I guess. But everyone knows that it's just basically 25 fps for each inch of barrel. Simple."

"Well, no, actually the data we got shows a much greater range . . ."

"Oh, yeah, might be a bit more with some calibers, some weights of bullets and powder charges, but that's a pretty good rule of thumb."

Another guy had a question about a lever gun behind the counter, and Dave turned to help him. I took my powder and primers up to the front counter and had the new kid ring me up.

Jim Downey

(Cross posted to the Bbti blog (http://ballisticsbytheinch.wordpress.com/).)

[Shadan7]

But it does make me crazy - I've run into a number of friends and family members who say "well, I *know* this is the way it is - why should I want actual data?"

Gah. :rolleyes:

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[Pulse]

how dare you try and beat folklore with facts?

silly you!

[Shadan7]

Yeah, I know. Had one of my uncles (we're not real close) insist that "that's all been done before. No news. Everybody knows it's just 50 fps per inch." Like it was some kind of personal affront.

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[nutter]

You said it yourself, they're not computer guys.

Folks who are used to using the web, who know you can get good data in seconds and don't need loose "rules of thumb" will glom on your site in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, we've had over 350,000 hits in the month since it went up."

In fact, it looks like they already did.

[Shadan7]

In fact, it looks like they already did.

Fair point, nutter. I just find it curious, particularly in the case of my gun-shop buddy, that people tend to not want to reconsider their accepted view of the world. Bit of a surprise sometimes.

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