Things you don't see when you're shooting....

BCRider

BCRider

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I'm new to all this so please excuse the newbieness and urge to share.... :D

Last night I was out shooting my new CZ and had occasion to pass it to a buddy to try a few rounds. For some odd reason I not only found it more noisy watching from the side when it fired but I noticed a bit of flame coming out the end that for the life of me I hadn't notice before or even after watching him shoot. I can only chalk it up to the focus of the shooter.

Now SOME of the stuff I've shot in my short time in this new hobby definetly put out a fire show. But now that I've seen evidence of this odd behaviour I'm inclined to buy the big flashy ammo and have someone else shoot it just so I can better appreciate the fireworks..... or maybe not.... :D
 
Dusk comes much earlier these days, made me to notice just how much muzzle flash comes out of my 1911... It helped that my brother-in-law snapped the picture at just the right moment!

Blast.jpg
 
Federal used to make a 95 grain softpoint 9mm - very odd stuff, the flash was very bright and the smoke was an eerie flourescent green. I loved shooting it just to see the look on the other guys faces when the smoke drifted.
 
Damndest thing I ever saw was while spotting at last years Summerland long range shoot. Watching thru my spotting scope right behind the shooter, I could actually see the bullet path thru the air as it went downrange. I'd heard of this, but until I saw it, I didn't believe it. Amazing.
 
stevebc said:
Watching thru my spotting scope right behind the shooter, I could actually see the bullet path thru the air as it went downrange. I'd heard of this, but until I saw it, I didn't believe it. Amazing.
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Funny you should mention that, about a month ago I was watching my girlfriend shoot .38spl and, same as you, I could see the bullets as they went downrange! At first I thought I was hallucinating, but no, with every shot I could see a flash of a straight line, and a hole appearing on the target along the path...
 
of the few handguns ive shot, i never notice the flash. probably because i'm too concentrated on not letting go and looking like a goof. I did take some videos of my .22 revolver and there is definitely a flash, though even watching the video i don't see the flash half the time, but if i go frame by frame i definitely see the flash. makes for a sweet picture.
 
yeah unless it's getting fairly dark you pretty much never see muzzle flash as the shooter, but it's there.

Watching bullets go downrange is great, if the lights right it makes spotting for a shooter so easy, instead of watching everywhere for that little splash in the dirt, you can watch where it's going and be focused on where it lands. Makes the calls much more accurate.
 
When I was in a rifle competition a few months ago I noticed that guys shooting the .204 Ruger were leaving vapour trails right down the range. It was pretty cool, like sci-fi stuff. After I was done shooting some guys were saying that my 22-250 was doing the same thing, but I couldn't see it from behind the gun.

Are you guys talking about seeing a vapour trail or the actual bullet go downrange?
 
lister said:
Are you guys talking about seeing a vapour trail or the actual bullet go downrange?
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If the light is behind the shooter, it is often possible to see light reflected off the base of the bullet as it travels down range. Copper base bullets are good for that.
 
Here are 2 good stills from a video i took. it was with my .22lr revolver.
mvi63920001ri0.jpg

mvi63910001or2.jpg

i dont think i'd be able to take a picture RIGHT when i shoot. it'd be too hard to do, though a slow picture might work, but then i'd be blurryish
And don't worry, the camera was on a tripod and i was way behind the shooter.
 
SSJChar said:
of the few handguns ive shot, i never notice the flash. probably because i'm too concentrated on not letting go and looking like a goof. I did take some videos of my .22 revolver and there is definitely a flash, though even watching the video i don't see the flash half the time, but if i go frame by frame i definitely see the flash. makes for a sweet picture.
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That was the point I was trying to make. Being the shooter and concentrating on aiming and supporting the gun seems to short circuit some of the observations.

I had the same thing when I was racing sedans in the 70's. When I was in the passenger seat and the instructor put in a hot lap I felt like I was being tossed around like a rag doll. But once behind the wheel and concentrating on the workload all the other stuff was all but forgotten or went unnoticed.

As for the rest I'll have to try watching for the bullets going down the line. Mind you the old guy's eyesight isn't what it used to be.... :D
 
BCRider said:
As for the rest I'll have to try watching for the bullets going down the line. Mind you the old guy's eyesight isn't what it used to be.... :D
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Like everything else, you won't be able to see this as the shooter, but watch someone else shoot in the right conditions and you'll see it.
 
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