Handgun Myths/Rumors/ Urban Legends

Armor-piercing Teflon-coated bullets. Black Talon bullets causing extra-harmful wound channels.

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Black Talon!!

Now that opens up another whole can of worms!!

How about the 'razor sharp blades' on the expanded Black Talons cutting rubber surgical gloves and doctors hands to shreds while removing the bullets from the victims?

And then the doctors will get AIDS from the victims blood while trying to save them.

Seriously, that was some of the BS put out by the news media & anti-gun crowd while the Black Talon controversy was going on.

the one about Gangaham style had my laughing so hard i was in tears at the mere thought of someone doing that

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But, that's unfortunately, the way they do it.

If they used the sights and squeezed them off on the target???

Not near so many baby's, little kids, and grandmas in the collateral damage reports on the evening news.


rc

What were Black Talon rounds anyway? Why were they singled out?

rcmodel said:

Are we talking about the same time frame in our lives??

rc

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Ah - the good ol' days.

monotonous_iterancy said:

What were Black Talon rounds anyway? Why were they singled out?

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Just expanding hollow points that were unfortunate to have a somewhat ominous sounding name. Their capabilities and supposed hazards were blown all out of proportion in the popular media, of course (I know, you're shocked) and the factory responded by restricting them for LEOs only - which only increased their reputation.

myths

I'm surprised that no one else has brought this one up. It's an oldie, "They all fall to hard ball," reference the .45 ACP round. Or another along the same vein, Hit a man in the thumb with a .45 round and it will knock him off his feet.

oldbear said:

I'm surprised that no one else has brought this one up. It's an oldie, "They all fall to hard ball," reference the .45 ACP round. Or another along the same vein, Hit a man in the thumb with a .45 round and it will knock him off his feet.

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You forgot to add "...and spin him around twice!"

"Little lady, this snub nose .357 is perfect for you."

An actual quote from a salesman to a customer at a gunshop.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

That there is such a thing as a "perfect" handgun.

Black talon is still sold. It's the same bullet recoated and renamed. I can't remember the name of the ammunition right now to save my life. It's that early onset Alzheimer's getting to me.

My favorite handgun myth is that you can shoot someone wearing a bullet proof vest and they won't even feel it

Risky said:

That there is something 'magical' about .22 LR that makes it more lethal than a centerfire round, i.e. 'it doesn't exit and bounces around in the head/chest' often followed up with that they know an E.R. doc/paramed/x-ray tech that can corroborate these 'facts'.

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I've heard this one a lot

The eternal myths of defensive handguns:
1) caliber is the absolute most important consideration in a defensive firearm
2) the .45 ACP will stop anything it hits; other handgun calibers simply aren't as good for self defense. Its the "proven manstopper"

Has anyone said anything about the Capone gang putting garlic on their bullets to cause gangrene yet? (I think it was garlic)

Hit a man in the thumb with a .45 round and it will knock him off his feet.

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Yeah, I've heard this one a lot. 9mm and .40 are anemic but a .45 will stop them in their tracks every time.

Black talon is still sold. It's the same bullet recoated and renamed. I can't remember the name of the ammunition right now to save my life.

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Winchester Ranger.

Thanks Paul!

I have to jump on this one too. ".40 is a high pressure round that will wear your gun faster". I am a .40 hater but this one really drives me nuts so Ill defend it. 9mm and .40 have more or less the same 35,000 psi pressure ceiling.

Personally, I think the worst gun myths are the "statistics" that seem to come out of thin air.

"You are 7 times more likely to shoot a loved one than an intruder" Is a perfect example. I have searched long and hard for any study ever done on this and have come up with nothing. It is a "statistic" that has just been repeated so many times that people believe it.

I don't remember the real numbers but you can find them on gunfacts.org. The gun grabbers lump suicides, gang violence and domestic violence into every stat they can and even include people as old as 24 when referring to "children".

rcmodel said:

Glocks aim themselves magically and hit everything you shoot them at.

SO you can hold them sideways over your head while going the Gangnam Style, and you will still hit everything within your field of fire if you shoot all 17 rounds.

rc

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They use these:

Sorry, gunfacts.info.

I would also add the myth popular in Hollywood that a "Bullet proof" vest will stop most bullets. Tell that do anyone who has ever taken a hit from any non-handgun caliber rifle.

we see gunslingers loading all six chambers of their revolvers and then holstering them.

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Well I'm not sure that's a myth. Remember there were no four rules of gun safety. There was barely ANY gun safety. You routinely see photos of men leaning over the barrels of repeating rifles, and the accounts of reckless conduct with arms are not difficult to find from that period. There may have been some gunslingers who knew enough to not load the 6th chamber, but I've seen no proof that leaving one empty was widespread, or even that Colt warned people about it. This was before product liability even existed. Lifespans were half what they are today. And if someone died because he dropped his revolver, it would likely be a subject for jokes. Heck how many of these guys were drunk as skunks while carrying?

One incident that springs to mind is Earp dropping his revolver, resulting in a discharge.

There are those "Hammer the Hammer" ads from Iver Johnson that suggest people did know about the problems loading 6 in other revolvers at least by the early 20th century. But in an age when nobody even wore ear protection, how seriously did anyone take the risk?

That one can use a silencer on a revolver (might work okay on a Russian nagant.)

That a gun, especially a "cheap" gun, can "just go off."

Grunt Medic TXARNG said:

Just expanding hollow points that were unfortunate to have a somewhat ominous sounding name. Their capabilities and supposed hazards were blown all out of proportion in the popular media, of course (I know, you're shocked) and the factory responded by restricting them for LEOs only - which only increased their reputation.

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One of my favorites myths concerning Black Talons (AKA Winchester Ranger Same eXact Thing) is that they were ever restricted for sale to Law Enforcement only.

I also like the myht that you'll blow your foot off if you carry a round in the chamber of a modern firearm (as noted above the 1800's era revolvers weren't safe to carry with a fully loaded cylinder)

My favorite myth is "knockdown power".

That a gun, especially a "cheap" gun, can "just go off."

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Some uneducated gun owners have that view of Glocks because of the lack of an external safety. I'm no Glock fan, but I know thats not the case.

(I just noticed you asked for Handgun myths... I messed up)

That a 5.56 NATO round is the most lethal round, if it wasn't true our military wouldn't use it.

An AR-15 is more dangerous than a wood stock Mini-14.

A fore-grip's only use is for criminal activity.

You can't reload a revolver as fast as a semi-auto handgun.

You only need seven rounds for any situation.

Hollow points are more dangerous to shoot than full metal jacket. (IMO FMJ over penetration may cause more collateral damage to bystanders).

A flash suppressor is a silencer.

Military calibers should not be owned by civilians because they are more lethal. Clearly a 7.62 NATO is much more dangerous than a .308 or maybe a .30-06.

Guns kill people.

The only purpose for handguns is to shoot people, i.e., no hunting purpose, if you own a handgun you are showing that you have a propensity to kill people and that you feel that it is a natural good thing to do.

Gun oil isn't any good unless it is $10.00 an ounce.

Hit someone in the hand with a ,45 and the force will make their arm swing around so bad and knock them in the head and knock them face down.

That XXX (fill in the brand) has "knock-down" power - if it did, or course, the shooter would also be knocked down

9MM is the minimum for SD

That you NEED a gun with 17 in the mag, plus a spare mag, BUG and a spare mag for that on your person 24/7