History Channel?

[280PLUS]

I have to question the validity of what we are shown on the History Channel

not that they are PURPOSELY feeding us baloney but possibly INADVERTANTLY by means of incomplete or unconfirmed research

e.g.

Marvels of Machinery (i believe is the title) Subject: "The Bullet"

shows some Marine guys loading rounds for the snipers and they are weighing each round and weighing the powder for consistency

The narrator claims that each round (projectile) weighs "142 GRAMS or 1/3 of an ounce" and then goes on to tell us that each bullets gets 20 GRAMS of powder.

see any math errors there?

these were looking like .30 cal rounds of some sort

i could see the scale and the thing was reading 142 Gr

so i'm assuming that the person doing the story read it or misheard it as Grams and not Grains and did not bother to confirm it before stating it as fact

obviously the person doing the story had zero knowledge on the subject.

but of course then you have to wonder,,,

what's the muzzle velocity / energy of a 142 gram bullet pushed by 20 grams of powder?

chances are the ratios are good so it should work?

would the muzzle velocity be nearly the same as it is for grains?

and whos holding the gun that shoots this "new" round and pulling the trigger?

 

[TarpleyG]

20 GRAMS

That'd be a crapload of powder alright. Maybe 20 GRAINS (more likely ~40 or so).

GT

 

[Hkmp5sd]

They make a fair number of errors, both technical and historical, on The History Channel, but overall they do a pretty good job.

 

[Dave R]

I'd blame that on the ignorance of the writer of that show, rather than a deliberate attempt to mis-inform.

Or just a stupid error.

 

[280PLUS]

yea,,,

it seems like their hearts are in the right place

i just thought it was a good example of not believing everything you hear

no matter where you hear it



oh, i have no doubt it was unintentional...

 

[Randy63]

One of their shows about the evolution of hand tools stated that Black and Decker designed their first pistol gripped hand drill after being inspired by the design of the Colt .45 automatic pistol......at the same time they flashed a picture of a Colt revolver.

Randy

 

[CZ-100]

I have seen this same show, I believe in this segment they were talking about the hand loading of the rounds for the shooting team.

 

[Mike Irwin]

20 grains of powder sounds like much too small an amount.

But 20 grams of powder? That's 308 grains. Way too much.

 

[Leatherneck]

I think such errors creep into the production because of:
1. many hands involved,
2. not all know guns, and
3. insufficient QC of the final product.

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[jsalcedo]

I watch history channel gun related stuff with the sound off and just enjoy the eye candy.

 

[seeker_two]

But 20 grams of powder? That's 308 grains. Way too much.

Probably a starting load...

I saw the show, but completely missed the gaff. Gotta be more careful about that.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some 142 gram bullets to pull...

 

[Mark Tyson]

I think the narrator or writer for that segment made an error. Despite the errors, the History channel remains one of the only channels out there that doesn't treat guns like the evil spirits.

Oh yeah, and I love R Lee Ermey's Mail Call.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Seeker,

What is that, a 75mm?

 

[RobW]

They even manipulate! Everytime there is a show appearing Hitler or one of his henchmen, there is NOT ONE SINGLE German word in the speech they are showing. It's just a violent and crude sounding stammering, cut from half-words.

This people were so dangerous, there's no need for manipulation. They REALLY sound dangerous in their actual speech.

 

[HankB]

Is that the episode where they had Marines handloading ammo?

IIRC, they guys doing the loading were:

1) loading powder and bullets into brass cases with FIRED primers

2) Using a "powder" with very irregular grains and a light brown color - it looked more like oil dry or kitty litter than any powder I've ever seen.

This was probably due to overzealousness on "safety" while a film crew was in the loading room.

The grains/grams gaffe was probably just an honest mistake, common among the innumerate. I know of an instance myself in which a guy assembled a muzzleloading derringer from a kit and wondered why the recommended powder charge of 15 grains overflowed the muzzle. (Using grams rather than grains, he was off by a factor of about 15.432x)

 

[Dave T]

I noticed the "kitty litter" powder and the once fired primers. It may well have been a case of the safety Nazi/lawyers going overboard. Could be the same reasoning behind bullet weight and powder charges. If they quoted the actual numbers, and some idiot tried to load that in the wrong case or under the wrong conditions, they probably figured they would get sued for giving out unsafe information.

To give the History Channel its due, where else on television can you get a whole hour of guns in a positive light. Answer: no where!

 

[cordex]

Everytime there is a show appearing Hitler or one of his henchmen, there is NOT ONE SINGLE German word in the speech they are showing. It's just a violent and crude sounding stammering, cut from half-words.

Huh? They've featured large sections of speeches from Hitler with subtitles instead of voiceovers. Not sure where you're getting this.

 

[jsalcedo]

To give the History Channel its due, where else on television can you get a whole hour of guns in a positive light. Answer: no where!

Actually a few days a month are totally devoted to "tales of the gun" and gun related "modern marvels"

 

[Azrael256]

I'll give the history channel half credit for effort. It's pretty much the only channel (except espn) that I can watch for any length of time without being asonished at their stupidity.

For awhile, I watched and believed what they said, but then I started college (any guesses what my major is?) and I'm finding more and more inconsistencies and downright erroneous information on the history channel. All of the professors here absolutely hate the history channel. It is, however, a great way to get interested in a certain time period/event/person, and if you back that up with some serious reading from more reputable sources, you can get a straight story. I would not, however, believe anything they say without more research. If they tell me the sky is blue, I go outside to check.

 

[280PLUS]

another thought,,,

yes,,,i too started to wonder if maybe the marines were treating the journalists like mushrooms

you know,,,

keeping them in the dark and feeding them manure

i thought maybe for some good old fashioned military fun

but the legal angle has validity too

plus i doubt they'd want the real numbers out there

i'm pretty sure i heard 20 but i know i heard grams on the powder charge

i thought it looked a little strange as well, didn't notice the primers though

i'll have to look if i see it again

 

[RobW]

cordex: I have NEVER seen a show on History Channel with subtitles. No matter what. U-boat commanders, Panzer-commanders etc. etc. they are ALL overlayed by the narrative voice. But, in this scenes, they are talking German before they are blended out for the narrator.

Anyway, the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and sometimes the Public Channel, are the only interesting channels (besides OLN when American Shooters is on).

 

[Jammer Six]

But 20 grams of powder? That's 308 grains. Way too much.

Well, isn't that why they call them "three-oh-eights"?

 

[Hkmp5sd]

I have NEVER seen a show on History Channel with subtitles

I have. It mostly occurs in shows using scenes of Nazi leaders giving speeches, but happens in other programs also. It is done to convey the emotions of the speaker, which you don't get with voice-overs.

 

[seeker_two]

Mike: I just borrowed that pic from Google.com. If you check the "Properties", it links to a pretty interesting site on treasure hunting.

Can't give you any more info than that, I'm afraid...

 

[Gmac]

This is the same episode with the "heat detecting bullet" that penetrated steel plate without expanding but destroyed a piece of meat without exiting. Call me a skeptic but I have a hard time with that one.