These reader questions and solutions from OL’s former taking pictures editor appeared within the January 1976 difficulty of Outside Life. Many of those myths persist right this moment, reminiscent of utilizing the criminal of your elbow to measure size of pull.
Shotgun Stability
I’ve observed that gun specialists, together with your self, usually point out the “stability” of a shotgun. How do you inform if a shotgun is well-balanced? Is there a particular stability level? —G.M., Stockton, CA
In present shotgun terminology, “stability” can imply various things to completely different shooters, be they specialists or not. Once I converse of stability, I’m often referring to the gun’s total dealing with qualities.
Within the more-classic sense, particularly when talking of the good English makes, many shotguns are intentionally balanced in order that the shooter’s arms share the burden equally. This makes the gun appear lighter and supposedly permits quicker dealing with. The specified stability level is thus halfway between the arms, often nearly precisely on the hinge pin of a double. As a way to obtain correct stability, some high quality gun makers bore wooden from the butt, and even, if crucial, add weight. Including weight to enhance stability can generally really make the shot gun really feel lighter, or at the least make it deal with quicker.
In recent times many of those conventional ideas of stability have been overruled by precise expertise. A main case is the glass barreled Winchester Mannequin 59. It was very butt-heavy due to the light-weight glass-wound barrel, however it proved to be a lightning-fast area gun. Likewise, some competitors skeet weapons at the moment are being made intentionally muzzle-heavy in order to easy out the swing and follow-through. Due to this fact, once I say a shotgun is well-balanced these days I imply solely that it has easy dealing with traits.
Bullet Drop
You could have been chosen to settle this $10 wager. Get together No. 1 maintains that if a gun barrel is completely horizontal, the bullet will begin dropping the moment it leaves the top of the barrel. Get together No. 2 says that if the barrel is completely horizontal, the spin of the bullet will trigger the bullet to rise above the aircraft of the barrel (line of bore) earlier than it begins dropping. Who’s proper? —G.E., Clifton, CO
If a rifle barrel is held with the bore line completely horizontal, the bullet will begin to drop the moment it leaves the muzzle. That is in accordance with a easy regulation of gravity. The one exceptions are attributable to mechanical situations reminiscent of uneven crowning on the muzzle, which might create deflection of some type.
There’s, nonetheless, a ballistic phenomenon often known as rotational drift. A bullet spinning to the correct will drift to the correct, and one turning to the left will go left. It has solely a slight impact, although. A .30/06 bullet, relying on its weight, will drift off target solely about six inches at 1,000 yards.
Falling Projectiles
I’m 15 years outdated and spend each spare minute both taking pictures or studying about weapons. I’ve by no means learn something about how briskly a bullet goes when it falls. My cousin says {that a} bullet fired straight up comes down as quick because it went up. Doesn’t this imply that it is vitally harmful to fireplace a .22 rifle or perhaps a shotgun straight up at a squirrel? —L.N., Waterloo, IA
It’s true provided that you fireplace in an ideal vacuum, the place there isn’t a atmospheric resistance. In a nor mal environment the air resistance retains the falling bullet (or shot pellets) from build up a lot gravitational velocity. A 40-grain .22 rimfire slug would hit the bottom at roughly 200 toes per second, and a No. 5 pellet falls even slower. Thus the one posible hazard could be being struck within the eye.
Pump “Malfunction”
My Remington Mannequin 760 Recreation grasp pump-action rifle in .30 I 06 caliber appears to work completely, besides once I fireplace it from a bench relaxation. Once I shoot from a relaxation the motion generally blows open, and on two or three events the cartridge case has come all the best way out of the motion. Isn’t that harmful? Ought to I ship the rifle again to the manufacturing unit? —W.M. Springdale, AR
You didn’t say the way you maintain your Mannequin 760 whenever you shoot from a bench, however I can guess. It’s common for pump-action rifles to open when the forearm is held firmly by the ahead hand whereas the shooter’s elbows are resting on the bench or different strong help.
When the rifle recoils, all the pieces strikes to the rear without delay. However the resistance of the shooter’s shoulder snaps the rifle ahead once more nearly without delay, and the remainder of the rifle strikes quicker than the hand holding the fore arm. This has the impact of pumping the motion. Generally it occurs even when the forearm is merely resting on a sandbag. This opening is definitely solely regular functioning, and there’s no hazard. If the rifle really “blew” open, you’d realize it for positive.
Penetration
Lately an archery knowledgeable gave an attention-grabbing demonstration at a gathering of our native rod-and-gun membership. Certainly one of his methods was to shoot a looking arrow by a pretty big bag of sand. The arrow didn’t go right through, however the level got here out the again facet. He then informed us {that a} .30/06-caliber 180-grain bullet from a rifle wouldn’t shoot by the bag of sand. He didn’t display however confirmed us the same bag of sand that he mentioned had been shot with a .30/06. There was an entrance gap however no exit gap. How is that this doable, or was he pulling our legs? —C.G., Shawnee, KS
He wasn’t. The arrow vs. bullet demonstration is in style, and I’m usually requested about it. If the sandbag is massive sufficient, a high-velocity bullet is not going to go fully by it. That is due to the energy-transfer issue, through which a lot of the power within the type of velocity is absorbed by the sand and effectively distributed all through its quantity, particularly if the bullet expands or disintegrates. This distribution of power is usually visually obvious if the bag is tightly packed and the material splits and tears.
Generally the sandbag will even explode due to the pressures radiating in all instructions. This is identical shock impact a soft-nose bullet has on animal tissue. Hunters name it knockdown energy. (Editor’s notice: Knockdown energy is one other fable.)
An much more attention-grabbing and significant experiment is to connect a rifle bullet to the tip of an arrow. The identical bullet that won’t penetrate a bag of sand when fired from a rifle will penetrate it with relative ease when pushed by a bow. Of even larger significance, the bullet-tipped arrow could be pushed by a sandbag by hand. Penetration could be achieved by minimal power, however as you’d count on, the shock impact can also be at a really low stage.
Inventory Match
Final fall once I was choosing a brand new side-by-side 20-gauge double for use for grouse and woodcock, the salesperson informed me how I might discover the make and mannequin that match me greatest. He informed me to carry every gun with buttplate within the criminal of my elbow and my hand within the regular taking pictures grip with my finger on the set off. This appears a helpful strategy to test a shot gun for correct trigger-to-buttplate size, however I’d like your opinion. —S.F., Bangor, ME
This outdated fable offers a fairly good strategy to measure the size of your forearm, however that’s about all. The correct size of pull for a shotgun inventory is decided by a wide range of elements such because the width or thickness of the shooter’s shoulder, neck size, and arm size. Particular person taking pictures fashion and kind of taking pictures (lure, skeet, waterfowl, and so forth) additionally play an necessary half in deter mining correct inventory size. And there are different important inventory measurements reminiscent of drop at heel and comb, thick ness of comb, cast-off, and cast-on. Figuring out the size of pull of a shotgun by snugging it into your crooked elbow is like figuring out the correct waist dimension of a pair of trousers by measuring the size of your legs.
Bullet Spin
As I perceive it, the aim of getting lands and grooves in a rifled barrel is to spin the bullet in order that the gyroscopic impact will make the bullet fly straight and with its level ahead. What I can’t perceive is what good it does to have rifling in muzzleloading barrels used with spherical balls. Because the bullets are completely spherical and haven’t any level, what distinction does it make whether or not they spin or not? —G.B., Friendship, IN
If a spherical ball doesn’t spin in any respect, it could construct up irregular air stress forward of it that would trigger it to fly alongside a jerky, irregular path. A great parallel is the baseball pitcher’s non turning knuckleball. It has an unpredictable course.
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If a spherical ball rotates round its axis of ahead movement, as attributable to rifling, it’s significantly extra correct than it’s with out the spin. If, alternatively, the rotational spin isn’t across the axis of ahead movement, the spherical ball might curve in flight, relying on how the rotation impacts the air stress. An instance of this — once more utilizing our baseball pitcher — is the curve ball.
Altering Choke
In accordance with my OUTDOOR LIFE Chicken Shooter’s Information, a shotgun barrel with modified choke will put 45 to 60 % of the pellets right into a 30-inch circle at 40 yards. My doublebarreled shotgun has “FULL” and “MODIFIED” stamped on the beneathfacet of the barrels, however each sample about 75 %. What causes this, and the way can I make the modified barrel sample correctly? —N.S., Lewiston, ID
It’s common for shotguns to supply patterns that fluctuate from their indicated choking. Most mass-produced shotguns have a selected measurement of choke or constriction constructed into the muzzles. This diploma of choking has been discovered to yield a sure common share sample.
Comparatively few mass-produced shotguns are literally patterned by taking pictures them earlier than they go away the plant. However even when they have been, different variables reminiscent of shot dimension, load velocity, and shot-cup design usually trigger sample densities that differ from the indicated or nominal choke. For this reason I all the time stress that shotgunners ought to sample their weapons with the kind of ammunition they intend to make use of. If crucial, completely different hundreds or manufacturers could be examined till you get the de sired sample. To open up a sample you might additionally strive scatter hundreds manufactured with card wads within the shot, however they’re often out there solely with No. 8 shot.
As a final resort, you’ll have to show the gun over to a gunsmith, ideally a shotgun specialist, for rechoking, Choke could be eliminated or added.
Biscuit Chopping
I not too long ago had an uncommon expertise with reloads in my Mannequin 700 BDL in .17 caliber. With a load of twenty-two grains of du Pont No. 3031 powder behind a 25-grain Hornady bullet, about half of the fired primers have a small spherical gap. Apparently the opening is the place the firing pin hit. Once I dropped the load down to twenty grains of No. 3031, the issue disappeared, however in response to my reloading guide, decreasing the cost value me 500 toes per second in velocity. Have you ever ever had the same expertise? —W.W., Athens, GA
The situation you describe is named primer perforation or, extra generally, “biscuit chopping”-because of the neatly lower holes. It may have three or 4 completely different causes, however I’ll lay 10-to-one odds that in your case it’s attributable to the fallacious alternative of primers. The little .17-caliber and another high-pressure cartridges are inclined to blow out the small-rifle primer cup the place it has been weakened by the firing pin indent. The 6×47-mm. benchrest cartridge does it pretty usually too.
This may be cured by utilizing small rifle primers with extra-thick cups made only for this objective. One such primer is the No. 7½ Remington, which could be instantly acknowledged by its copper shade. The Omark-CCI Quantity BR-4 additionally has a thick cup, and the same primer was not too long ago launched by Federal.
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Different causes of primer “biscuit chopping” are tough, misshaped, or chipped firing-pin ideas, extreme fir ing-pin protrusion, a weak striker spring, or a mixture of those defects.