Rifle Myths and Mysteries

I had one hunter packing a 300 Weatherby tell me he shot a moose at 800 yards with it.

I asked Him where is gun shot at 200 yards. He informed me that he sighted in to hit
point of aim at 300 yards cause then he was good for a dead on hold out to 800 yards.
I came back: "How is that possible?"

His reply: "The 300 Weatherby does not drop any between 300 and 800 yards"
I just had to walk away. Dave.
 
I had one hunter packing a 300 Weatherby tell me he shot a moose at 800 yards with it.

I asked Him where is gun shot at 200 yards. He informed me that he sighted in to hit
point of aim at 300 yards cause then he was good for a dead on hold out to 800 yards.
I came back: "How is that possible?"

His reply: "The 300 Weatherby does not drop any between 300 and 800 yards"
I just had to walk away. Dave.

That's hilarious. :)
 
These are the realm of fiction carried by some as fact, but fit the subject,

How about the old one about shooting across water, and it pulling the bullet down?

Or any number of misunderstandings about slope and apparent drop? Can’t tell you how many mountain clients tell me a mix of bizarre theories, some of them ex-Marines and the like.

Or that heavier bullets “hit harder”, when often the opposite is actually true in most scenarios from a given chambering?

Or that slow (sub-2200fps) and heavy (250grs+) rounds are some form of stopping rifle, that will drop dangerous game and bears where they stand?


I guess the PH's that use large bore rifles that throw heavy bullets for use on large, dangerous animals don't know that. From your post you think they should be using smaller bullets with less energy.

I wonder why they didn't think of that .... ?

"Use enough gun." Robert Ruark
 
I had one hunter packing a 300 Weatherby tell me he shot a moose at 800 yards with it.

I asked Him where is gun shot at 200 yards. He informed me that he sighted in to hit
point of aim at 300 yards cause then he was good for a dead on hold out to 800 yards.
I came back: "How is that possible?"

His reply: "The 300 Weatherby does not drop any between 300 and 800 yards"
I just had to walk away. Dave.

Should have asked him (a) why was he engaging an animal at 800 yds and (b) how did he establish it was 800 yds.
 
I've had someone tell me he shot several deer with his Marlin 30-30 at 500 yards. When I asked him how much he held over top of the deer he told me he just "placed the horizontal crosshair along the top of the deers back". he believed it was because he was using 150 gr bullets, and they flatter shooting than 170 gr bullets.

I listened to a couple of guys at the gun range open house. from their conversation it was apparent that they believed shooting across a valley would cause the bullet to drop more than shooting the same distance across flat ground. this was because the extra distance from the ground increased the gravitational pull on the bullet.
 
One I hear the most often is a .22 won’t do squat after a 100 yards , I show them the pics of our severely dented steel at 300 m .
One of my favs is a pistol cal in a rifle is under powered but the same cal in the short barrelled pistol has taken every game on the planet - what ?
Last fav - my dads Ol’e 303 Brit just isn’t enough gun - what the hell are they hunting in N.A. ?
 
Most people tend to overestimate distance.

One of the most difficult things to get across to recruits is range estimation, especially across gulleys/depressions.

I have fun with my range finder asking people to guess various places across the lake I live on. They always overestimate. Perhaps because it's across water .... ?



I've had someone tell me he shot several deer with his Marlin 30-30 at 500 yards. When I asked him how much he held over top of the deer he told me he just "placed the horizontal crosshair along the top of the deers back". he believed it was because he was using 150 gr bullets, and they flatter shooting than 170 gr bullets.
 
I guess the PH's that use large bore rifles that throw heavy bullets for use on large, dangerous animals don't know that. From your post you think they should be using smaller bullets with less energy.

I wonder why they didn't think of that .... ?

"Use enough gun." Robert Ruark

Well, I’ve done that job, just with grizzlies, hunted the cape buff and lion just as the client. On big, heavy things big, heavy chamberings can make sense as the terrible angles and inopportune shots in the real deal charge can ask for a ton of penetration to reach something important.

For a North American hunter filling the freezer, it’s not the same game, and on this continent a lumbering 2000fps 500 grain bullet is less impressive on game than a 165gr at .30-06. I tried :d Took bear with .505 Gibbs, and frankly a .243 is more likely to give you a bang flop on a bear.

Had quite a few clients ask about using a .45-70, .450 Marlin, or .458 Win. My advice was always bring your deer and elk rifle, it’s usually more impressive on target, and they’d shoot them better too.

Photo credit Hoytcanon, one of my all time faves from outfitting.

CgKJetK.jpg

AgU2Mxs.jpg
 
I've got a .270 WIN Rem 7600 that puts out 2.5'' groups at 100 but can get 1-1/4'' at 200.

Bet you don't. There are some loads/bullets that will shoot smaller groups in terms of minute of angle at longer range than at shorter ranges, but there is no way any bullet from any gun can find its way back toward the line of sight after it has deviated from it. It's one of the more ridiculous myths that it could.
 
Bet you don't. There are some loads/bullets that will shoot smaller groups in terms of minute of angle at longer range than at shorter ranges, but there is no way any bullet from any gun can find its way back toward the line of sight after it has deviated from it. It's one of the more ridiculous myths that it could.

Or maybe it's a parallax issue.
 
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