What are some ridiculous shooting myths/tales you've heard?

[tom604]

the Australian Panther,,

Wouldn't be at all surprised if one of these turned up.

ive seen a few cougars but never bagged any

old mate at work saying that he shot a beer bottle off a fence post at a 100 yards with a 22 ,off hand, open sights,windy,two shots ,,,don't think it was a cz, for that kind of shooting you need a stirling sorry tomak

[in2anity]

The usual "I can hit such and such at 300m with a 22" type crap.

22's can do some amazing things at 300 and further when properly set up. You should give it a try, it is a lot of fun. Big target on a dusty road to walk shots in until you are set on the elevation and you can then turn out some suprisingly tight little groups when conditions are good. Hunting at that range is probably not such a good plan

I'll second this - whilst it wasn't 300m, I was consistently hitting a 3.5" gong @ 200m the other day, although conditions were exceptional; not a breath of wind! And the results from those 200m fly-on-the wall comps always amaze me! A great way to learn how to read the mirage...

[sandgroperbill]

Now...

Sound moderators...

[Noisydad]

the Australian Panther,,

Wouldn't be at all surprised if one of these turned up.

ive seen a few cougars but never bagged any

There's a bar called the "Star" here in town where it's not so much a matter "bagging" them as being in physical danger OF them!

[Gun-nut]

How about the good ole "My gun will never jam" myth? I guess some people don't understand that firearms, like all pieces of machinery have a breaking point. Especially under adverse conditions. I believe this myth applies to Glock fanboys more than anybody.

[duncan61]

I was shooting a property where they grow brown onions in rows and the roos love it in there the only problem you have to get out and drag them back to the car.I put down a roo and was half way out when something did not feel right so I went back to the car and panned the light around.Heres this big black cat sitting in the tree line watching me.I have seen it around the area other times but always after midnight anyhoo I contacted a chap in a shooting magazine who was collecting information on wild cats in Australia and he sent me a DVD.There are big cats in Australia but they are domestics gone wild as they have pointy ears and all big game cats have rounded ears.They can grow to their enviroment in a few generations but they are still cats not cougers or leopards
Next I will catch a .22LR standard round in a baseball mit at 300m Maybe not a CCI stinger or similar but standard stuff for sure if it reaches me that is.My .222 only makes 400 metres with 1 metre hold over and its a lot more than a 22LR.At 100 metres a .22LR will break a bottle for sure and sometimes you get lucky snap shooting.I seen a 14 year old snap shoot a parrot out the sky with a .22LR After being scolded by his dad for shooting a rifle in the air we all agreed how did he do that.
I stored my firearms in bags at my mates house over winter and went there Grand final day and they were rusted and the bags were mouldy.My .243 is a Howa blue steel and it was so messed up I considered removing the scope and just having it as a pig gun.All the stocks are synthetic so I scrubbed them in the bath and they came up well the.222 Ruger and 7mm rem are Stainless steel and were hardly marked.The howa barrel is permanantly pitted on the outside but I may get it rebarreled as its only a 22 inch and I would like a 24 inch bull barrel.

[duncan61]

More mythbusting.It is possible that your man downed a Buffalo at 20 metres.He didnt say it was a big old bull just a Buff the record for ,22LR is an elephant but apparently The hunter hid in a bush and tapped it in the eye socket at point blank range.True story I have got 2 roos with one shot more than once when they line up and I have seen others do it as well this is head shot with a .222 range about 40 metres.Same property same hunting mate we pulled up at the gate to go onto the place and a big male bounded across the Coalfields HWY and ran straight into my bullbar and knocked itself out I bled and processed it before it woke up Total I 42kg buck no bullets no fuel used.You dont get starts like that very often

[bladeracer]

Next I will catch a .22LR standard round in a baseball mit at 300m Maybe not a CCI stinger or similar but standard stuff for sure if it reaches me that is.

710fps CCI Quiet will penetrate corrugated steel roof sheet out to 160-odd meters. Those are only making 33ft/lb and 600fps at that range, which is the same as a 1280fps 40gn .22 at 600yds. At 600yds though, the bullet is coming down at a 40-degree angle but I'm pretty sure high-velocity will penetrate out past 400yds.

[bigpete]

The usual "I can hit such and such at 300m with a 22" type crap.

22's can do some amazing things at 300 and further when properly set up. You should give it a try, it is a lot of fun. Big target on a dusty road to walk shots in until you are set on the elevation and you can then turn out some suprisingly tight little groups when conditions are good. Hunting at that range is probably not such a good plan

Ah but its usually followed by me asking how high do you aim,and them saying I don't ! Trust me,I've played the pea shooter sniper game before and your right you can hit things a long way out but man you have to allow for drop ! The same myth goes for any calibre rifle,I've had plenty of people tell me they shoot stuff from half a km away with (insert their gun here) and don't have to allow for drop

[Gamerancher]

The biggest myth is the "flat shooting" cartridge. NOTHING shoots flat, gravity acts on any bullet, travelling at any velocity, the instant it leaves the muzzle.

You can shoot almost any distance with any calibre if you have the sight adjustment to do it.

If you think you can't hit anything past 100m with a .22 rimfire you haven't done enough shooting. A "bottle at 100m off-hand", easy as, try silhouette. Ram target is at 100m, is about the size of a beer can lying on it's side and shot off-hand. Or then try .22BPCR, ram is at 200m, size of a half grown rabbit. Great fun.

[Wylie27]

4" steel plate. 200m range finder. .22lr federal champion hollow points..

It's doable.. I think I had about 13inch hold over.. target wasn't even in my scope.

[brett1868]

Myth - Bullets "Rise" after leaving the barrel.
Fact - They only rise if the barrel is angled up. If the barrel is parallel to the surface, the laws of physics prevent the projectile from rising.

[straightshooter]

Wife: another rifle? How much was that one?
Me: on special, only $300

Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong!

The right answer is either
a) Honey, I've owned that rifle since before we were married. Is that how much interest you take in my hobby?
b) I sold another rifle to buy this one.

'On special' only kinda works for shoes and handbags.

[Supaduke]

Lol, it's all about smoke and mirrors. I have three different mausers, the missus thinks they are all the same rifle

[bigfellascott]

Who cares what the wife thinks or says, none of their bloody business really is it! Treat em like mushrooms I say.

[in2anity]

Myth - Bullets "Rise" after leaving the barrel.
Fact - They only rise if the barrel is angled up. If the barrel is parallel to the surface, the laws of physics prevent the projectile from rising.

Ah no wrong - the trajectory of the projectile crosses over the sight line TWICE; the first being on the way up (soon after exiting the barrel), the second being on the way back down. You probably don't even realise it, but you always sight a rifle in on the second crossover point (whilst on the down). So up until the peak of the parabola, the bullets in fact do "Rise" (relative to the sight line).

Such characteristics are particularly profound on slower projectiles like the 22lr, or pretty much all single-action loads, or all big slow heavy lever calibers (like the 45/70).

[brett1868]

Who cares what the wife things or says, none of their bloody business really is it. Treat em like mushrooms I say.

I tried that approach and it went very well for some time, then the wife wanders into the man cave while the big safe was wide open. She was unamused to say the least and I got 4 days of the silent treatment, if I knew she'd react like that I'd have shown her inside the other big safes Easier to beg for forgiveness then ask for permission I believe is the best approach

[happyhunter]

Myth - Bullets "Rise" after leaving the barrel.
Fact - They only rise if the barrel is angled up. If the barrel is parallel to the surface, the laws of physics prevent the projectile from rising.

Ah no wrong - the trajectory of the projectile crosses over the sight line TWICE; the first being on the way up (soon after exiting the barrel), the second being on the way back down. You probably don't even realise it, but you always sight a rifle in on the second crossover point (whilst on the down). So up until the peak of the parabola, the bullets in fact do "Rise" (relative to the sight line).

Such characteristics are particularly profound on slower projectiles like the 22lr, or pretty much all single-action loads, or all big slow heavy lever calibers (like the 45/70).

hahaha.. the bullet does not do that. Line of sight refers to line of sight through the scope (or iron sight). The only reason the bullet passes through the line of sight is because of it's 'angle of departure' relative to the line of sight. Bullets do not break the rules of physics. Brett1868 is correct.

[bigfellascott]

Who cares what the wife things or says, none of their bloody business really is it. Treat em like mushrooms I say.

I tried that approach and it went very well for some time, then the wife wanders into the man cave while the big safe was wide open. She was unamused to say the least and I got 4 days of the silent treatment, if I knew she'd react like that I'd have shown her inside the other big safes Easier to beg for forgiveness then ask for permission I believe is the best approach

Tell em nothing I say I bought a new (2nd hand) chainsaw recently and the wife said is that new, no dear, just longer bar on the old one is all - oh ok then she says I tell em nothing - simpler that way I find and they soon forget about things anyway until the next time that is and then we play the game all over again.

[in2anity]

Ah but its usually followed by me asking how high do you aim,and them saying I don't ! Trust me,I've played the pea shooter sniper game before and your right you can hit things a long way out but man you have to allow for drop ! The same myth goes for any calibre rifle,I've had plenty of people tell me they shoot stuff from half a km away with (insert their gun here) and don't have to allow for drop

4" steel plate. 200m range finder. .22lr federal champion hollow points..

It's doable.. I think I had about 13inch hold over.. target wasn't even in my scope.

Bloody oath it's doable; like a said before I was consistently hitting a 3.5" gong @200m with my Lithgow 22 only a couple of weeks ago. Conditions have to be absolutely perfect however. You just need a scope with plenty of elevation and subtensions; then you can legitimately reach out to 200m (and beyond).

[in2anity]

hahaha.. the bullet does not do that. Line of sight refers to line of sight through the scope (or iron sight). The only reason the bullet passes through the line of sight is because of it's 'angle of departure' relative to the line of sight. Bullets do not break the rules of physics. Brett1868 is correct.

Don't be a smart ar$e (again); relative to the line of sight, at the start the projectile has an upward angle, this is what people refer to as the "Rise", it's a matter of relativity. Relative to the sight line, until the peak of the parabola, the bullet appears to rise. They teach you this in the military sunshine. Of course the round won't defy gravity, that's just common sense.

[Wylie27]

Ah but its usually followed by me asking how high do you aim,and them saying I don't ! Trust me,I've played the pea shooter sniper game before and your right you can hit things a long way out but man you have to allow for drop ! The same myth goes for any calibre rifle,I've had plenty of people tell me they shoot stuff from half a km away with (insert their gun here) and don't have to allow for drop

4" steel plate. 200m range finder. .22lr federal champion hollow points..

It's doable.. I think I had about 13inch hold over.. target wasn't even in my scope.

Bloody oath it's doable; like a said before I was consistently hitting a 3.5" gong @200m with my Lithgow 22 only a couple of weeks ago. Conditions have to be absolutely perfect however. You just need a scope with plenty of elevation and subtensions; then you can legitimately reach out to 200m (and beyond).

When I was doing this on my brothers farm the "professional hunters" that are on his property turned up to the sight in range and asked my brother what I was shooting. When he said .22 they laughed and said good luck. Squeezed the trigger and a couple of seconds later ding.. all I hear is s**t what the hell is that rifle... good old Lithgow crossover

[brett1868]

Myth - Bullets "Rise" after leaving the barrel.
Fact - They only rise if the barrel is angled up. If the barrel is parallel to the surface, the laws of physics prevent the projectile from rising.

Ah no wrong - the trajectory of the projectile crosses over the sight line TWICE; the first being on the way up (soon after exiting the barrel), the second being on the way back down. You probably don't even realise it, but you always sight a rifle in on the second crossover point (whilst on the down). So up until the peak of the parabola, the bullets in fact do "Rise" (relative to the sight line).

Such characteristics are particularly profound on slower projectiles like the 22lr, or pretty much all single-action loads, or all big slow heavy lever calibers (like the 45/70).

Wrong back at you....the scope and barrel are not parallel. The scope points down so you angle the muzzle up so the projectile crosses the sight path twice as you say but if the barrel is parallel to the ground it's physically impossible for the projectile to climb which is my original statement. It's the assumption that sights and barrels are parallel the perpetuates the myth that projectiles actually climb when departing the muzzle. They only climb when the muzzle is angled up but can never climb above the bore line.

This explains it much better
http://www.firearmsadvantage.com/exterior_ballistics.html

[bigfellascott]

Ah but its usually followed by me asking how high do you aim,and them saying I don't ! Trust me,I've played the pea shooter sniper game before and your right you can hit things a long way out but man you have to allow for drop ! The same myth goes for any calibre rifle,I've had plenty of people tell me they shoot stuff from half a km away with (insert their gun here) and don't have to allow for drop

4" steel plate. 200m range finder. .22lr federal champion hollow points..

It's doable.. I think I had about 13inch hold over.. target wasn't even in my scope.

Bloody oath it's doable; like a said before I was consistently hitting a 3.5" gong @200m with my Lithgow 22 only a couple of weeks ago. Conditions have to be absolutely perfect however. You just need a scope with plenty of elevation and subtensions; then you can legitimately reach out to 200m (and beyond).

When I was doing this on my brothers farm the "professional hunters" that are on his property turned up to the sight in range and asked my brother what I was shooting. When he said .22 they laughed and said good luck. Squeezed the trigger and a couple of seconds later ding.. all I hear is s**t what the hell is that rifle... good old Lithgow crossover

I used to do the same thing with clays on the side of a Dam Wall, good fun shooting em at 200m or so, once you work out how much hold over it wasn't that hard at all really, you'd miss a few but hit em quite often too and the smaller bits that were broken off them too (only a 4x Tasco) but good enough to hit em with and was good fun too.

[in2anity]

Wrong back at you....the scope and barrel are not parallel. The scope points down so you angle the muzzle up so the projectile crosses the sight path twice as you say but if the barrel is parallel to the ground it's physically impossible for the projectile to climb which is my original statement. It's the assumption that sights and barrels are parallel the perpetuates the myth that projectiles actually climb when departing the muzzle.

At least technically we are on the same page. But it's a matter of relativity; relative to your point of view (i.e. the sights), the round does "Rise". Relative to it's bore line, the round obviously can never actually rise, but this is just common sense. But the only times I've ever heard people refer to the "Rise" has always been relative to your point of view (i.e. the sights), not it's literal trajectory. ROs label this the "Rise" during basic training.

[brett1868]

Wrong back at you....the scope and barrel are not parallel. The scope points down so you angle the muzzle up so the projectile crosses the sight path twice as you say but if the barrel is parallel to the ground it's physically impossible for the projectile to climb which is my original statement. It's the assumption that sights and barrels are parallel the perpetuates the myth that projectiles actually climb when departing the muzzle.

At least technically we are on the same page. But it's a matter of relativity; relative to your point of view (i.e. the sights), the round does "Rise". Relative to it's bore line, the round obviously can never actually rise, but this is just common sense. But the only times I've ever heard people refer to the "Rise" has always been relative to your point of view (i.e. the sights), not it's literal trajectory. ROs label this the "Rise" during basic training.

[duncan61]

Its the spin imparted by the rifling that causes the projectile to go down when leaving the barrel then rise up past the line of sight then start to drop at about 100 cos of gravity.Remember this little pill is pissbolting along its not a lawn dart.From memory the SLR in7.62 was .5 inch low at 26 yards 1.5 inch high at 100 yards spot on at 200 yards and 1.5 low at 300 yards as you are shooting man size targets it really doesnt matter
My 168gr sierra target bullets shoot higher at 100m than my 100 grain hunting bullets possibly because they are nearly twice as long and have more purchase on the rifling and spin more plus the meplat and ogive would come into play and they are going a lot slower at 2800fps compared to the 100gr at 3300fps.I have never shot the 100gr at 900m but doubt they would make it.I am nearly maxed on the scope with the target bullets that fly like bigass spears

[in2anity]

Its the spin imparted by the rifling that causes the projectile to go down when leaving the barrel then rise up past the line of sight then start to drop at about 100 cos of gravity.Remember this little pill is pissbolting along its not a lawn dart.From memory the SLR in7.62 was .5 inch low at 26 yards 1.5 inch high at 100 yards spot on at 200 yards and 1.5 low at 300 yards as you are shooting man size targets it really doesnt matter
My 168gr sierra target bullets shoot higher at 100m than my 100 grain hunting bullets possibly because they are nearly twice as long and have more purchase on the rifling and spin more plus the meplat and ogive would come into play and they are going a lot slower at 2800fps compared to the 100gr at 3300fps.I have never shot the 100gr at 900m but doubt they would make it.I am nearly maxed on the scope with the target bullets that fly like bigass spears

I'm not sure about this - if it were spinning backward (like a bb gun hop up) then maybe, but not a rifle round? The SLR sight differences you speak of sound like the normal 7.62x39 parabola?

[duncan61]

myth I shot it in the eye on the hop at 300m.I measured it with a range finder and it was 183m.Still a fluky shot but I dont have a spotlight that goes past 200m.They do exist though
Back to the range.elderly chap has a .223 for F class we were at 500m he was using 70gr pills and doing O.K.not sure how he would go much past that with wind and fall of shot etc

[brett1868]

I was standing in a gun shop some time ago and overheard a guy telling the staff about how his mate consistently hits a 5c coin @ 1000m with his 223. We all nodded our head and smiled till he left, he probably heard the laughter as he crossed the road. It's one thing to BS someone who doesn't know better but to walk into a gun shop and crap on like that takes stupidity to the next level.