Most annoying Gun Myths

[razorburn]

"The bullet’s kinetic energy equals the recoil energy." (No true.)

almost true. Some of the energy is soaked up by the guns action if it's semi-auto, some is lost as heat. But still, laws of physics, equal and opposite.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

"A .22" -- rimfire -- "is deadly because the little bullet bounces around inside you and tears you up."

 

[stephen m]

Glock 7's are made to defeat metal detectors (no such thing), Podbyran?

(again, no such thing) is the most powerful handgun made. That a Desert

Eagle is a good carry gun. Basically anything that comes out of a movie or

video game that is taken as the truth / real training.

That my Ar-15 is an assualt rifle, and that it is 'more deadly' than my 30-06

hunting rifle. That self loaders are automatics.

That anitis have a legitiment point or know anything about

firearms! :banghead:

 

[Fly320s]

Myth: A gun will save your life.

Fact: Having a proper mindset will save your life; a gun is just a helpful tool.

 

[YodaVader]

Looking at a 26" Barreled Rem 700VLS in .223 at Gander Mountain one day. Mention that I own a 20" 700 LTR also in .223.

"Oh, this 26" 700 will give you better accuracy" The old - the longer the barrel on the rifle , the more accurate the rifle syndrome.

 

[Rembrandt]

(Gun shop) "Yep, the Remington Etronix concept is the future....within 10 years all new guns will be using this type of ammo."

 

[wuchak]

Leaving your magazine loaded will wear out the spring.

 

[Brother in Arms]

apparently my freind said he overheard a guy talking smack about AK's. How they are pieces of Junk and within 40 rounds they will explode. My friend was pretty irate about this I guess he did the best to counter this man's opinion but he said I should go his work and disprove him of this opinion. knowing how difficult it is to convince someone who doesn't know what they are talking about. I said why don't you take him shooting.

Brother in Arms

 

[EvisceratorSrB]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this before.

The "A shotgun can't kill anything 20 ft from it..."

My medium choke can probably kill someone at 20 ft, but a tighter choke would definitely be plenty of range capability for 20ft+

 

[Molon Labe]

almost true. Some of the energy is soaked up by the guns action if it's semi-auto, some is lost as heat. But still, laws of physics, equal and opposite.

Nope.

A bullet has a lot more kinetic energy than the kinetic energy of recoil. As an example, a .308 bullet has about 400 times the kinetic energy as the energy of recoil for a typical .308 rifle.

 

[LkWinnipesaukee]

- "The bullet's kinetic energy equals the recoil energy."

Isnt this true?

Newtons 3rd law- For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.

edit: just read your above comment

Then where does all the energy go?

 

[22-rimfire]

My most disliked term is "Cop killer bullets."

 

[wuchak]

The bullet's kinetic energy does equal the recoil energy. There's no escaping the laws of physics. The energy that goes into recoil has to overcome the inertia of the firearm which is why heavier guns kick less than lighter ones, is distributed over the entire acceleration time of the bullet leaving the barrel so it does not hit all at once, and is spread over a much larger area.

 

[mio]

Myth? I think straght BS

Dont know if any of you have heard this before because ive only heard it once and firmly believe its impossible.
I have an old .35 remmington pump that has been passed down a couple times and on occasion i use it for deer hunting if i have a couple days off during the season.
About 6yrs ago i went into the local sporting goods store (small owner works it himself) and asked for a box of shells. He asked why i hunt with a lever action and i told him its for my pump. (dont know why anyone would have a problem hunting with a lever gun) He then went on to explain to me that they have problems with those guns if you fire once they can keep fireing till theyre empty.
I havnt been back to that store since. I now drive 30miles to kmart or 60 to jays sporting goods.

 

[dfaugh]

Black Talons = "cop killers"

And were taken off the market because the government made them "illegal"

 

[slicknickns]

That Glock and beretta make only one model handgun each.

that a beretta 92 is just a beretta

All glocks look the same. That glocks are ****ty and over rated and that only gangbangers carry them.

the .44 mag will stop a car, if shot into the engine block---bull****!

That you must constantly rack the slide to make that sound (funny i never noticed a sound while at the range) I cant even imagine what this would do if there was already a round in the chamber.

That every 9mm carries 16 rounds. Funny, every rap song i hear that talks abot guns talks about carrying 16 rounds, the only gun that i know has a 16 round mag is the CZ.

 

[Manedwolf]

All glocks look the same.

Well. That one's kinda true. To a non-Glock disciple, myself included, they're a black rectangle with another black rectangle at an odd grip angle to it, in various sizes. I certainly can't identify any of them at a glance, nothing distinctive about them at all to me. They're bullet-throwing hand tools. Yeah, they work, but personality, lines? No, they're pretty alike, to me.

 

[grislyatoms]

"Fully automatic .9mm caliber revolver" and the like in news stories.

 

[ID_shooting]

This one annoys me, but since it is only semantics I usually don't voice it. Since we have a thread on what annoys us, here it goes.

"Civillian AKs and ARs are jult like my "whatever" hunting rifle."

Bull pucky! Callit what it is, A BATTLE RIFLE

Civillian AKs and ARs are semi-auto versions of full-auto battle rifles, true. But they ARE battle rifles. The only differnce between my AK and a full AK is two holes in the receiver and the FCG. Should I desire to, I can drill the two holes and drop in a full auto trigger and have a full blown AK. Since I do not like prison, I choose not to. Come TEOTWAWKI, who knows?

In the army, we were trained to use semi mode on our M-16s, if civilian semi only versions weren't effective battle rifles, the Army and USMC would not train to use semi 90% of the time.

Face it, your AR/AK clone with a full capacity mag is just as effective as any M16 or AK you would encounter in Iraq. Calling them "no different than my 30-06" is not true.

Sould the Militia be called forth for combat in the homeland, I will show up with my AK and 7 mags full of ammo. I will not feel under gunned. In fact, I will feel much more ready for battle then hunter Jow who shows up with a semi-auto Remington.

 

[Manedwolf]

Sould the Militia be called forth for combat in the homeland, I will show up with my AK and 7 mags full of ammo. I will not feel under gunned. In fact, I will feel much more ready for battle then hunter Jow who shows up with a semi-auto Remington.

Vs any hostiles who have trained to operate in squads, I'm afraid you'd be target practice like that. In THAT sort of scenario, I think a lifelong hunter with a scoped 30-30 is a lot more dangerous to hostile forces than any semi-trained non-drilled person with one short-range battle rifle. A hunting rifle becomes a sniper rifle when you change what the target is.

A group of trained, well-armed hostiles being successfully put down by civilians with battle rifles is "Red Dawn", sheer Hollywood, to me. But individual hunters taking single extreme-range shots from trees, bushes, houses, one at a time, unplaceable rifle cracks from all around the landscape, that's plausible.

 

[Candiru]

Isnt this true?

Newtons 3rd law- For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction.

edit: just read your above comment

Then where does all the energy go?

Newton's Laws apply here, but what is conserved is momentum. The momentum of the bullet as it leaves the barrel and the momentum of the recoiling firearm are equal, minus whatever was soaked up by the action. However, momentum is equal to mass times velocity; kinetic energy is equal to one half mass times the velocity squared, so the much higher velocity of the bullet grants it disproportionate kinetic energy, even though the gun is heavier.

Here's an example: Suppose we have a 32 oz. revolver (using a revolver to avoid the issue of a semi-auto action absorbing some momentum) shooting 125-grain projectiles at 1400 fps. To keep the units consistent, let's convert the revolver's weight to grains: 32 oz = 2 lbs x 7000 grains / 1 lb. = 1,400 grains.

First we get the momentum of the projectile:

p = m * v --> p = 125 grains * 1,400 fps --> p = 175,000 grains * ft/sec

Momentum will be equal and opposite, so we plug that into the momentum equation for the gun to get the gun's recoil velcity:

p = m * v --> 175,000 grains * ft/sec = 14,000 grains * v --> 175,000 grains / 14,000 grains = v ft/sec --> v = 12.5 ft/sec

Since we have the masses and velocities of both bullet and gun, we now drop them into the equations for kinetic energy:

KE = 0.5 * m * v^2

KE(bullet) = 0.5 * 125 grains * 1,400^2 ft/sec --> KE(bullet) = 0.5 * 125 grains * 1,960,000 ft/sec = 122,500,000 grains * ft/sec

KE(gun) = 0.5 * 14,000 grains * 12.5^2 ft/sec --> KE(gun) = 0.5 * 14,000 grains * 156.25 ft/sec --> KE(gun) = 1,093,750 grains * ft/sec

Hope that helps clear things up.

 

[Prince Yamato]

You can't hit the broad side of a barn with an AK.

If that's true, then I encourage you to stand 200 yards downrange whence I fire my Maadi. Provided you are still alive, I think your opinion concerning the AK's accuracy will have changed.

 

[SigfanUSAF]

"Fully automatic .9mm caliber revolver" and the like in news stories

Obviously a farce. the Webley Fosbery was only made in .455.
I'm sure a few of the ones in service in 1914/15 had disconnecter parts break, its feasible.

 

[Deer Hunter]

Every myth mentioned in this thread annoys me, but the one that annoys me the most hasn't been said yet.

"Owning a gun will make someone more prone to violence. School teachers shouldn't be allowed to carry a gun, because they would freak out and blow a small child's brains out."

 

[ID_shooting]

Manedwolf,

For the most part you are correct. I did spend 8 years active duty, trained and practiced in small unit tactics. Should need be, I have no troubles giving a group of civilians a crash course in basic soldiering. Never underestimate the will of an NCO.