Rifle Myths and Mysteries

Pickles said:
How about "brush bucking" bullets?
Shoot moose through trees!
Click to expand...

Learned first hand just how much this is true. First moose I ever shot, yearling bull, trotting/running broadside slightly quartering away, 60-75 yds. Shot 3 times just behind front shoulder, hit him on the 3rd shot in the side of the head. Shooting through scrub brush, nothing big enough to even really notice in the moment. Took lots of crap from the old timers about how I must not be a very good shot, because my '06 would have no trouble shooting through that brush. Easier to just take the ridicule than try and explain it sometimes
 
I remember one from when I first joined the Army. The C7 was still making its appearance across Canada. There was a WO talking about a bad batch of ammo combined with the then new rifle. The story was that six rounds were fired but none left the barrel. All six projectiles wedged inside the bore. Those early barrels were junk and should have split or at least bulged even on a very light power charge, especially if there were projectiles already wedged inside the barrel. I got to know quite a few weapons techs and none of them ever heard of this incident.

I was on the range when a problem like this occurred, however it was apparent with the round that lodged in the barrel as there was a huge flash from the ejection port and the shooter got a powder burn to his face. There was no firing of additional rounds.
 
ron hilchey said:
Julian Hatcher wrote extensively on this and many other interesting topics.
Click to expand...

Yup, and the current issue of "Classic Vintage & Surplus Firearms" has an article entitled "Are Low-Numbered M1903 Rifles Dangerous?".
author quotes Hatcher and reports on one he has owned that had not one, but two hairline cracks in the receiver. The USMC did not remove their low numbered Springfields from service until 1942. Why .... ?

"Less than 60 failures had been reported out of 1,000,000 rifles - a fail rate of six-thousandths of one percent."

Even those recalled that were not reheat treated were kept in war reserve.

Hatcher implemented the use of pyrometers to determine temperature instead of the old "eye-balling" used previously which allowed for a 300* F difference in temperature.
 
chuck nelson said:
That heavy high BC bullets are an asset in the average hunting rifle.
Click to expand...

Good one as well. Talked many a mountain goat and grizzly client out of top of the weight range for caliber high BC bullets in favour of quality middle range for caliber options, or in the case of goats even light for caliber. Because it makes their shots, and our jobs easier.
 
Here's a mystery, I read a lot about people who aim their hunting rifle at a spot "just behind the front shoulder" . Wonder where the rear shoulder is, or is it the back shoulder? How many shoulders does an animal have anyway? I hope not more than four, it gets confusing.
 
Sharps '74 said:
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 .... ?
Click to expand...

I agree fully as I never had a rangefinder but I would sit and use my GPS to measure distance across water and I usually guessed it at a lot more than it was.
 
When I was a kid in the early 1960s I heard my dad's friends talking abut the 280 Ross as if it were the hammer of Thor, shooting and killing at impossible ranges.

I guess there was a hint of truth in it, being a 7mm bullet with a hefty dose of powder behind it, but it wasn't a miracle worker either.
 
Sharps '74 said:
About this time, there was an article in "American Rifleman" from a US Army Captain who reported an incident where the AR15 failed to do the job. His people were in reserve, watching a firefight from a vantage point. A Viet mortar crew set up at 200 yds not knowing that they were under observation.

He called up a rifleman to engage them. The soldier emptied a 20 rd magazine without hitting anyone and the mortar crew did not know they were under fire! They were screened by jungle shrubbery. He then called up his M60 gunner and indicated the target to him. The gunner rapped off single rds, killing all members of the crew.

Lesson learned - the 5.56mm was not the ideal weapon for the purpose.
Click to expand...

Not enough data to be certain it was the caliber. Around that time there were a lot of conscripted pacifist soldiers who really didn't want to take a human life, and that rifleman may have been aiming his entire magazine to miss.
 
And all too likely unfortunately, it’s a myth and range legend. Like all these tales right from the Tommy Gun being aimed low left and climbing under firing to high right to cut a man in half, or the .45 at all for that matter knocking the enemy over or punching fist sized holes in them. The word of mouth history of arms and war lore isn’t renowned for its accuracy. The incident is probably somewhat real, and the conscripted recruits probably just missed. And every man there probably has a different understanding of what happened.
 
-Shooting military ammo will wear out a rifle's barrel because of the steel bullets. That's why most lee-enfields are not accurate.

- The 303 british is not powerfull enough for moose hunting

-32 special rifles are prohibited

-A rifle with a barrel mesuring less than 18 inch is illegal.

-hollow point handgun ammo is illegal
 
old303 said:
Not enough data to be certain it was the caliber. Around that time there were a lot of conscripted pacifist soldiers who really didn't want to take a human life, and that rifleman may have been aiming his entire magazine to miss.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I guess the M60 gunner was the "Full Metal jacket" type and the others were all Peaceniks .... ;>) Not bloody likely.
 
I had a guy tell me with a straight face, that he could shoot the head off a loon at 800 yards with an iron sighted 8 mm Remington Magnum.
I think he really believed he could. I never showed him what 800 yards looks like though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom