Popular misconceptions about hunting rifles.

Boomer said:
At very close range, like when you need to fire a finishing shot, or in defensive shooting scenario, you might need to be aware of the offset between the sight and the bore.
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Or when shooting off the bed of a Land Rover... ya definitely gotta remember that muzzle is below the line of sight ;)
 
What? No. Never.

Thankfully someone with more brains stopped my 16 year old self in time. Mind you, speed holes are really no big deal.
 
legi0n said:
if the target is close enough the bullet might not get to cross the reticle line even once :) That's about 40yds for a 40gr 223 bullet
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While that's not an example of the scenario you stated, (not crossing twice) I'll let you have that one. :p
There's enough senseless arguments on here already...

and I can back you up... @ 80yds with a 55gr .223 a fella has to hold over the beavers head when zeroed 1" high at 100. :)
 
Boomer said:
At very close range, like when you need to fire a finishing shot, or in defensive shooting scenario, you might need to be aware of
the offset between the sight and the bore.
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I've given the "coup de grâce" to many game animals and I always took into account "the offset between the sight and the bore". Never had a problem.
 
I have a .177 AirHornet...that's a .177 pellet rifle set up for and devoted to shooting hornets :)...and scope offset is indeed critical. When the sights are zeroed on the bait, a difference of only a few feet in the range can turn a clean kill into a clean miss, or even worse: a wounding shot, which requires a quick follow-up to prevent a charge. :)

Seriously, though, this must be more of a problem for those who hunt with BCL102's or other "AR-looking" rifles. The scope/barrel offset is much more pronounced and must cause considerable discrepancies in aim at close range. Most of us understand the importance and the advantages of a low-mounted scope, but some guns simply don't allow a low mount.
 
guntech said:
Actually the scope's axis is angled downward to intersect the bullet trajectory. The bullet does not rise. The downward angle of the scope is done within the base and rings...
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Please refrain from "informing" your fellow shooters. Light travels in straight lines. The scope's axis is in direct correlation to the angle of the muzzle to the target. The angle of departure for the projectile must compensate for the effect of gravity on said projectile and is thus elevated. To put it simply, the scope (or sight) points at the target, the barrel points at a place that will allow the bullet to hit the target at a pre-determined range. The bullet rises because the barrel is pointed up (usually a little, at extreme range, a lot).

In what real-world scenario would one start with a "level " gun barrel?
 
While I'm at it, my favourite misconception. "Pre-64 Model 70's were made with better steel than after 1963." Pre-64's had a better design and (mostly) better craftsmanship. The quality of steel has been improving continuously since the beginning of time.
 
Classic270 said:
Please refrain from "informing" your fellow shooters. Light travels in straight lines. The scope's axis is in direct correlation to the angle of the muzzle to the target. The angle of departure for the projectile must compensate for the effect of gravity on said projectile and is thus elevated. To put it simply, the scope (or sight) points at the target, the barrel points at a place that will allow the bullet to hit the target at a pre-determined range. The bullet rises because the barrel is pointed up (usually a little, at extreme range, a lot).

In what real-world scenario would one start with a "level " gun barrel?
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Guntech's description was completely accurate, and simpler than yours. Of course the bullet rises, since the muzzle is pointed slightly upward...but the bullet never rises above the line of the bore, which is the common and misleading way that this is often described and even illustrated.

Real-world scenario? You are shooting at a target which is at a lower elevation than you are; perhaps a deer on the opposite side of a draw or small valley. Certainly a common occurrence. Your barrel could very well be pointing completely horizontal, to allow for the bullet to drop to the level of the target. The scope, angled downwards slightly with respect to the line of bore, looks directly at the animal.
 
I was told as a young lad that a 270 win is too fast and won't expand on a deer and that a 3030 is going so slow that you can see the bullet in flight.
I am shocked at the things some people can invent sometimes.
 
Classic270 said:
Please refrain from "informing" your fellow shooters. Light travels in straight lines. The scope's axis is in direct correlation to the angle of the muzzle to the target. The angle of departure for the projectile must compensate for the effect of gravity on said projectile and is thus elevated. To put it simply, the scope (or sight) points at the target, the barrel points at a place that will allow the bullet to hit the target at a pre-determined range. The bullet rises because the barrel is pointed up (usually a little, at extreme range, a lot).
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Hey, good start to things here!

You might want to take your own advice. Guntech is talking about line of bore. You're talking about line of sight. He didn't say the bullet doesn't rise above line of sight, he said it doesn't rise above line of bore. It's an astute enough observation that it seems to have sailed over your head, which would seem to confirm his belief that it's a commonly held misconception. Might want to go back and read it again.

Oh, and light actually doesn't always travel in straight lines. Gravitational lensing much?
 
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9.3mauser said:
" The bullet was travelling too fast to expand" I always liked that one.
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So here's the question - how did the myth originate? Poor early expanding bullet performance? Using too tough a bullet for the target? The bullet actually being UNDER expansion velocity but the misperception being that it was too fast?
 
Probably surplus ammo that was fmj. And lots of uninformed people think military stuff it "hotter" or more dangerous or some how better then factory equitment.

So when it didnt exapand like their hunting ammo is must be too fast to expand.

Thats my theory on it lol.

Another idea coukd be they were told its to fast to expand 'properly' and then they just dropped the word properly when they repeted it. Like the bullet exploding on impact. And then no controled expansion. " too fast to have controled expansion" was changed to " too fast to expand"

And another idea where it could have came from is they never actually tried it, but in their head they think its going so fast it just goes right through the animal. Its in and out so fast it has no time to start pilling up on its self (expanding)
 
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buffdog said:
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NEVER,NEVER fire a Ross rifle. It will blow up in your face.

I can not count the number of times that I have heard that one. If I go to the range with a Ross, It seems that people tend to move back away from me, and when I fire it, they seem to expect a smoking crater and only my toe nails left there.

How about a good argument that the 32 Winchester is a better deer hunting cartridge because it is bigger bore size?
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.32 Winchester or .32 Winchester Special? They are vastly different. Better than what?
 
guntech said:
A bullet rising from the muzzle is a myth...

Draw an imaginary line through the center of the bore, extended to as far as you would like... point the rifle more or less level... a bullet fired through this barrel will begin dropping immediately upon exiting the muzzle. It will never rise above the center of the bore. The bullet doesn't rise, the scope is angled downwards and intersects the bullet trajectory. The trajectory is always below the center of the barrel and dropping more and more with distance traveled.

This is factual, not a myth.
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Point your gun straight up, pull the trigger, now tell me the bullet isn’t “rising”.
 
Guntechs explanation is true, but explained to an uninformed person, it’s not. As my example shows. A picture is worth 1000 words.
If you’re sighted in for 300 yards and you shoot at a target 400 yards away, that is the same height as your gun. Then your bullet will pass through your line of sight twice. If your shoot straight up, it will only pass through your line of site once. Plus, you will never hit your target.
 
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flashman2 said:
So here's the question - how did the myth originate? Poor early expanding bullet performance? Using too tough a bullet for the target? The bullet actually being UNDER expansion velocity but the misperception being that it was too fast?
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I think that's exactly how that myth started. Poor bullet design or designed for much heavier game and just penciling through the light stuff.
 
"NEVER,NEVER fire a Ross rifle. It will blow up in your face.

I can not count the number of times that I have heard that one. If I go to the range with a Ross, It seems that people tend to move back away from me, and when I fire it, they seem to expect a smoking crater and only my toe nails left there."


I heard that too. When I was 13 in 1967 an old family friend gave me my first rifle, a crudely "sporterized" Ross M-10. The barrel had been cut off with a hacksaw and never properly crowned. In fact, 51 years later it still hasn't been.

Anyway, the first thing I did with it was take it in the woods, tie it into an old truck tire and test fire it from a distance with a string. Worked fine and with a handful of mismatched 303 cartridges I proceeded to slay my first deer and subsequent others with it.

Fact forward to 1975 and I'm newly married. I tell my wife about the Ross and its reputation for blowin gup.

"You better get a new rifle then," she said.

Ever the obedient husband, I went and bought a new Remington Model 700 in 243.

To this day that is and was the only new in the box rifle I have ever bought.
 
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