Text 9752, 64 rader
Skriven 2005-03-07 05:51:08 av John Hull (1:379/1.99)
   Kommentar till text 9747 av Ed Hulett (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: NEOCONS FRET RE EUROP
=============================
07 Mar 05 01:16, Ed Hulett wrote to VERN HUMPHREY:

 EH> VERN HUMPHREY -> ED HULETT wrote:
 EH>>>>> I think he's watched too many Hollywood shoot-'em-up movies.

 VH>>>> There's some actor who has a shtick about a friend who hunts 
 VH>>>> squirrels with a shotgun.  "Correct me if I'm wrong, but a 
 VH>>>> squirrel is about this big, and a shotgun makes a hole about THIS 
 VH>>>> big."

 VH>>>> I wonder what he'd say if someone did correct him, and pointed 
 VH>>>> out that a shotgun makes a hole about as big as a pinhead? :-)

 EH>>> Several holes the size of a pinhead. :-)

 VH>> Yep -- more than one. :-)

 VH>> But I'd love to get that guy in a position to bet me real money on 
 VH>> the issue. :-)

 EH> On the History Channel last night they had "Wild West Tech", it 
 EH> was about the weapons available to the lawmen. They told of a 
 EH> shootout Wyat Earp had with one of the "Cowboys." They stood and 
 EH> shot at each other with 10guage shotguns at about 100ft. The 
 EH> cowboy shot at Earp and shred the bottom of his long coat. Earp 
 EH> shot at the cowboy and "nearly tore him in two." They were using 
 EH> double ought buck. David Carradine, the host, fired a 10g loaded 
 EH> with double ought at a plywood cutout of a cowboy and even as 
 EH> close as he was only a half dozen or so shot hit the target. He 
 EH> didn't "nearly tear the target in two." :-)

 EH>>> Double ought buck at close range makes things a bit messy, 
 EH>>> though. :-)

 VH>> Even #8 shot at close range produces a mess -- as one coroner 
 VH>> described it, "a bloody rat hole."

 EH> Oh yeah, it tends to turn it into a pulpy mess.

I would question the results of that demo just a bit.  First, according to FBI
records of thousands of shootouts (and I first read this when I was in high
school) show that most gunfights take place at a distance of 7 yards.  I
suspect that Earp and his opponent were a lot closer than the story implies.
Also, modern shotshell loads do not duplicate typical performance of 1880 era
loads using black powder, paper wadds, and full length brass cases.  We also
don't know the barrel length, or the choke diameter of the original, both of
which are critical to patterning.  Such a test is impressive to watch but
hardly definitive.

I had an old Stevens 20 gauge double years ago that could put 20 gauge buckshot
loads inside the diameter of a trash can lid at 75 yards all day long from the
left barrel, but only about half that from the right due to choke differences. 
It would've made a real mess of a deer or a man within those ranges.  

Beyond that, its a good show and corrects a lot of the stupid Hollywood myths
that have grown up about the old west.

John 

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 * Origin: We are the Watchmen of our own Liberty! (1:379/1.99)