Firearm Knowledge of the Uninformed.

[Phydeaux642]

I am always amazed at the funny and completely ridiculous things that I hear at the gun counter. Some are from employees and some are from the customers, but I always get a chuckle.

Today I was in Bass Pro looking around and I witnessed a fellow point out a Glock 21 to his girlfriend and go on to explain to her that it was made out of carbon fiber and the reason for that was so that it could be shot underwater.

I learn something new every day.

I tend to keep my mouth shut if I know that I don't know about something. I think in the end I look less stupid.

 

[Texas Colt]

Another fine example of the old saying that "It is better to look like a fool than to open your mouth and prove it".

 

[Big Matt]

The number one I hear, probably 2-3X a week(!) is "If you shoot the person trying to break into your house, you better drag them inside so they don't die outside...."

 

[Impureclient]

Better to bring them out back and bury them....no evidence.

 

[taliv]

not much more zany than some of the claims made on this site in the past few days

 

[Phydeaux642]

not much more zany than some of the claims made on this site in the past few days

Last few days?...I think you are being generous.

 

[wishin]

How about the many "knowledgeable" gun people who insist that a bullet rises when fired and then begins its fall after X yards!

 

[WalkAbout]

A guy at the counter at a local gun shop here the other day told someone it was a waste of money to buy hollowpoints or any other type of personal defense round for a .45 because the bullet was big enough that even with ball ammo it would stop anyone with one shot.

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[kingmt]

A guy at the counter at a local gun shop here the other day told someone it was a waste of money to buy hollowpoints or any other type of personal defense round for a .45 because the bullet was big enough that even with ball ammo it would stop anyone with one shot.

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I hear that on here a lot.

 

[P90Puma]

How about the many "knowledgeable" gun people who insist that a bullet rises when fired and then begins its fall after X yards!

It sure does, when the barrel is at an angle above the horizontal. Which is pretty common, or else everyone would shoot low!

 

[DagoRed]

A guy at the counter at a local gun shop here the other day told someone it was a waste of money to buy hollowpoints or any other type of personal defense round for a .45 because the bullet was big enough that even with ball ammo it would stop anyone with one shot.

While I don't think buying hollowpoint or frangible ammo is a mistake for self-defense, I bet most bad guys would stop after one shot with a 230 gr FMJ. Pretty sure it would take the fight outta me.

 

[MinnMooney]

I've heard people say that the new polymer pistols can get thru metal detectors !

 

[sfc_mark]

I've heard people say that the new polymer pistols can get thru metal detectors !

Or that they were actually designed to defeat airport metal detectors.

 

[tkaction]

If your state doesnt have "castle doctrine" you had better drag them inside. That was the District Attorneys recomendation to a PA pistol class. Pa had a man charged with manslaughter after a righteous shoot during a
home invasion for just this reason.

 

[Hutch]

"Drag them inside"????? Do you really think that even a Barney Fife investigator would fail to detect such an act? Once such an act of foolishness was detected, how do you think your local DA would view it?

C'mon, don't even KID about this stuff.

 

[wishin]

Quote:
"It sure does, when the barrel is at an angle above the horizontal. Which is pretty common, or else everyone would shoot low!"

Law of Gravity prevails. If you're aiming high the bullet is not "rising"! Raise your barrel, put something in the end and poke it out with a cleaning rod - gravity (Newton's Law at work.)

 

[bigfatdave]

I've heard people say that the new polymer pistols can get thru metal detectors

Such statements reveal serious ignorance ... anyone who has spent a few moments holding a polymer-framed pistol would realize the high metallic content.
Sometimes people feel a need to fill the empty moments with conversation, and the things that come out of mouths at such moments seriously nerp the derp sometimes.

 

[DocCas]

wishin said:

"It sure does, when the barrel is at an angle above the horizontal. Which is pretty common, or else everyone would shoot low!"

Law of Gravity prevails. If you're aiming high the bullet is not "rising"! Raise your barrel, put something in the end and poke it out with a cleaning rod - gravity (Newton's Law at work.)

I think you may have overlooked something called "ballistics."

Try this experiment: Hold your firearm pointing straight up. Pull the trigger. Note which direction the bullet goes. Q.E.D.

(NOTE: I am being facetious! Don't try this at home, or anywhere else for that matter. "What goes up, must come down," (at least if it is going up at less than escape velocity!)

 

[Vonderek]

I was at a gunshow this weekend and heard and saw lots or ridiculousness...mostly on the customer side this time. I cringed when a guy came up with his woman and asked for the lightest weight .357 J-frame size revolver for her. I thought maybe they were both made of krypton until when handling a .38 one asked how bad recoil was w/standard pressure .38 and I realized that neither one had ever fired one in .357 let alone .38. They ended up buying the .357 and I'm sure it will be in someone's used counter in a few days. Another genius came by wanting his girlfriend to buy a Beretta 92 for concealed carry. I keep my mouth shut because it's none of my business and I get annoyed when strangers butt in on my business.

At a local gunshop I was mesmerized by the blowhard behind the counter who in about a 2-minute tirade expounded on the crappiness of the Walther brand, the crappiness of .45 Hydrashock (because it failed to kill a feral hog on his last hunt), and the crappiness of .308...he was much happier with 5.56 as it was "like a grenade" on the other side of cover.

 

[wishin]

I was wondering when all the experts would weigh in! By pointing the barrel up and adding propulsion, all you're doing is prolonging the drop that gravitation places on everything on earth. At no point does it rise above the straight line of the barrel.

 

[Kashtin]

More than a few times a year I'm asked if I have any DILLENGERS.

 

[wishin]

I know this one will get some argument too. Had a gun shop guy tell me that firing 5.56mm from ANY .223 is perfectly fine regardless of the barrel.

 

[chibiker]

Yeah, the bullet rising thing as always been a pet-peeve of mine. If you are talking about an upward angle on your barrel you are creating an arc in the trajectory, so yes, technically the bullet is rising till it hits the apex of that arc. The bullet will never rise above the axis of the bore though....
The pet-peeve part comes in over the fact that countless times I have seen where people would have you believe that a bullet will rise above a horizontal plane at some point in it's trajectory when no upward angle is placed on the barrel.

 

[wishin]

I have seen where people would have you believe that a bullet will rise above a horizontal plane at some point in it's trajectory when no upward angle is placed on the barrel.

Much better put.

 

[hammerklavier]

Give the bullet thing a rest, although saying the bullet rises is not technically true, it is a lay person's description for people who can't or don't want to understand the physics behind it. A simplification, I have no problem with that. We use simplifications all the time.

And it does rise from the shooter's perspective. It rises higher than your eye level. Maybe that's how they are observing it. Such things are relative to the observer as Einstein discovered.