I've been reflecting on some of the "facts" I was taught when I first got into shooting, and I'm just shaking my head. Some were the classics of the late 1980's and 1990's like "it can take 30 hits with 9mm to stop someone on PCP" or "no one walks away after being hit with a 45!"
The most insane one, though, was when I was 10 or 11. Our scout leader, an Army vet from the post-Vietnam 1970's, told us all that the M-16 shot a round that went so fast that a near miss would tear a man's throat out. He believed it, and I trusted him. It had to be true, right?
After I actually took some physics classes, I began to doubt that a hand-held rifle could ever reach the necessary velocity to generate such a powerful wake. Years later I was on the receiving end of a near miss, and very grateful that only my sleeve moved as the bullet passed by. My throat remains intact.
What is a myth that you were taught about firearms?
The most insane one, though, was when I was 10 or 11. Our scout leader, an Army vet from the post-Vietnam 1970's, told us all that the M-16 shot a round that went so fast that a near miss would tear a man's throat out. He believed it, and I trusted him. It had to be true, right?
After I actually took some physics classes, I began to doubt that a hand-held rifle could ever reach the necessary velocity to generate such a powerful wake. Years later I was on the receiving end of a near miss, and very grateful that only my sleeve moved as the bullet passed by. My throat remains intact.
What is a myth that you were taught about firearms?