Rifle defections change.

MRP

MRP

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Point Blank Range.-- It used to mean and still does to most of us, the max height and max drop a bullet would travel over a given distance. But not on the news and most TV shows. Always bugs me.

Small bore or small calibre. -- At one time a 4570 was considered a small calibre. 4, 6 and 8 bore, or anything under 50 calibre was considered small.

Lightweight rifle. -- The model 70 featherweight was considered light at seven and a half pounds. Not by today's standards. That's almost the standard weight for most rifles now I think.

High powered rifle. -- At one time it was aynthing that wasn't rimfire. All Centerfire used to be considered high-power. Then Along Came magnums which was mostly sales hype. I remember they said it had so much power they had to put a belt around the case.

Big Optics. -- Anybody that had even a 4X scope was a big deal when I was a kid, or any scope for that matter. Now it seems like 9 X is nothing.
 
MRP said:
Then Along Came magnums which was mostly sales hype. I remember they said it had so much power they had to put a belt around the case.
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Not really... the belt was created for ease of headspacing correctly...that was the intent... the front of the belt was supposed to measure .220 thou to the bolt face... but they have never been able to manufacture with that exactness... usually the belt measures anywhere from ..214 to .217 so in a correctly headspaced chamber there still is excessive head clearance.
 
I often wonder how someone is going to deal with hundreds of pounds of meat if they can't tolerate a 7lb "lightweight" rifle.
 
guntech said:
Not really... the belt was created for ease of headspacing correctly...that was the intent... the front of the belt was supposed to measure .220 thou to the bolt face... but they have never been able to manufacture with that exactness... usually the belt measures anywhere from ..214 to .217 so in a correctly headspaced chamber there still is excessive head clearance.
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Were the H&H the first belted magnums? My understanding was the long taper didn't allow for good head spacing, and they didn't want to use a rim?
 
I guess I am one of the ones out in the cold, because to me, point blank range means close to zero distance between the muzzle and the target. Sorry, I'll continue to use that term in that way. If I was to give your definition to most of the people I know, all I would get would be a puzzled look.

High powered rifle or big rifle still means a centerfire rifle used for shooting big game or target shooting.

What ever rings your bell. :)
 
Big optics could read big price-tag optics. Where the cost of your spotting scope exceeds the value of your vehicle. And in order to use it you need to peel off 8 layers of protection because your scared it will get damaged. 15 minutes later you watch a ram go over the top of a mountain at 3k. What did it look like? Who cares I can't walk that far anyways.
 
kjohn said:
I guess I am one of the ones out in the cold, because to me, point blank range means close to zero distance between the muzzle and the target. Sorry, I'll continue to use that term in that way. If I was to give your definition to most of the people I know, all I would get would be a puzzled look.

High powered rifle or big rifle still means a centerfire rifle used for shooting big game or target shooting.

What ever rings your bell. :)
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I agree. Point blank means right in front of you. Now, maximum point blank range is different, and is closer to what the OP is talking about.
 
guntech said:
Not really... the belt was created for ease of headspacing correctly...that was the intent... the front of the belt was supposed to measure .220 thou to the bolt face... but they have never been able to manufacture with that exactness... usually the belt measures anywhere from ..214 to .217 so in a correctly headspaced chamber there still is excessive head clearance.
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Yes thats what its really for. But the boring facts don't sell new product.

kjohn said:
I guess I am one of the ones out in the cold, because to me, point blank range means close to zero distance between the muzzle and the target. Sorry, I'll continue to use that term in that way. If I was to give your definition to most of the people I know, all I would get would be a puzzled look.

High powered rifle or big rifle still means a centerfire rifle used for shooting big game or target shooting.

What ever rings your bell. :)
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Point blank is zero. Point blank range indicates a distance. To me anyhow.
 
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Buckmastr said:
I often wonder how someone is going to deal with hundreds of pounds of meat if they can't tolerate a 7lb "lightweight" rifle.
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Lol... ain't that the truth...

I always think, quit carbs for a week before your hunt... problem solved.
 
guntech said:
I think the .375 H&H was the first belted magnum...
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Pretty much. Found an article by Ron Spomer. He says there was a .400/375 H&H in 1905 that had a belt. Then the 375 H&H and the 275 H&H, both in 1912 that also had the belt. Sounds like "belted" became "magnum" once the cartridges showed up in USA. His article - ht tps://www.buckmasters.com/Magazines/GunHunter/Articles/ID/3208/The-Amazing-375-HH-Family
 
MRP said:
Point blank is zero. Point blank range indicates a distance. To me anyhow.
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To me it needs "Maximum" to indicate a distance. "I shot the deer at point blank range" reads that you were very close, not 200+yds away, at least to me. Maximum Point Blank Range also requires additional info to make any sense, you need a target size to determine that (eg +/- 4"), as without a target size you have nothing to base the MPBR on.
 
Suther said:
To me it needs "Maximum" to indicate a distance. "I shot the deer at point blank range" reads that you were very close, not 200+yds away, at least to me. Maximum Point Blank Range also requires additional info to make any sense, you need a target size to determine that (eg +/- 4"), as without a target size you have nothing to base the MPBR on.
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Agreed... the OP's definition needed serious tweaking although, I can see he understands the concept... there is definitely a difference between "Maximum Point Blank Range (MPBR)" and "Point Blank Range," as it is commonly understood.
 
Had the question been to define "Point Blank Range" everyone might have a different version.

The Glock 40 S&W was described as being "Point Blank to 25 metres" suggesting no hold over required to 25 metres.

A rifle properly sighted to 200 yards would be point blank to 200 yards.

With a 6" target zone, that point lank range might be 0 - 250 yards. With the bullet rising 3" above the line of sight would require some adjustment so point blank might read 0 - 175 yards.
With an 8" target zone point blank may be 0 - 200 yards for the above example.

Just one opinion but the dictionary definition is: marked by no appreciable drop below initial horizontal line of flight.
 
In his book "African Dangerous Game Cartridges", Pierre Van Der Waldt wrote that his / their "point blank range" was when a part of the bullet impacted exactly on the line of the sights - so lobbing a big old .577" slug, "point blank" was when the bottom edge or centre or top edge of the bullet would impact exactly on the line of the sights - so you made no allowance up or down to get part of the bullet hole in that precise spot you were aiming at. So the centre of that .577" slug would get to .288" high and then .288" low over the range that he described as "point blank range". From his writings, I understood they were concerned about very precise bullet placement for "stopping" shots at relatively close ranges - like 30 yards or less.
 
Point blank range... it depends on how flat shooting your rifle is and the distance you have it sighted for... so you can hit your intended target by sighting on it...

For instance many flat shooting rifles sighted a couple of inches high at 100 yards will be in the kill zone at 300 yards... so with that rifle you can simply hold on your target out to a little over 300 yards...
 
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