Myths section
 

I've noticed several times there was talk of adding a 'myths' section on common errors in handling and depiction of firearms. I'm thinking of typing up some of these to add to a category:myth section, so that they could be referenced easily in articles: here's what I have planned so far:

"Bullet knockback" - explaining how the physics of impacts more or less disallow the common sight of people being thrown violently into the air by bullets.

"Silent Silencers" - the fact that the Hollywood 'silencer' bears little resemblance to the noise an actual suppressor would make, supersonic rounds never being silent, etc.

"Clips and magazines" - explaining what a clip and magazine are, and common errors [pistol magazine is a 'clip' from Doom, the confusion arising from the Garand's clip actually being inserted into the weapon, etc].

"Chainguns" - the difference between a chaingun and a rotary or Gatling gun.

"Teflon myths" - the fact that Teflon coated bullets are used only to ease barrel wear and have no effect on the performance of soft body armour, and that the so-called 'cop killer' bullet is an alarmist fantasy.

"Reloading myths" - superfluous racking, slides magically moving to the locked back position when the mag is removed, and when you would actually operate a charging handle or forward assist.

Anyone think of any more?

Well 1 that I often hear about is that you can build a makeshift gun by putting a bullet into a metal tube and whacking it with a hammer

Of course It wouldn't do much as the "barrel" is not rifled and you can not set off a bullet simply by whacking it...

Another 1 from Macgyver is that you can pull out the slug of a bullet with your bare hands....

Well, a wheelie-bag gun works if you drive a punch down the tube and hit the shell lodged in it straight on the primer. But it has no accuraccy since it isn't rifled and slamming at the last moment throws accuraccy further off.

And Mythbusters proved all that Macgyver crap already. He wasted his time pulling six bullets and blowing the lock out. He should have just shot it, since it worked.

The wheelie bag gun works in the Unit

It also works on CSI: NY. I've had most of Season 1 saved for almost a month now, but need to finish it all before I upload. Here's some shots.

http://i28.tinypic.com/2u6mf4l.jpg

http://i28.tinypic.com/6th6hw.jpg

http://i25.tinypic.com/24xfn1d.jpg

All threads are more fun with pictures. :D

Well, that does bring to mind the myth that you could fire a bullet without having a barrel at all [as per Shoot 'Em Up, Volgin in MGS3, etc]; that could be addressed.

Well he was struck by lightning and on fire, so the rounds would cook off, but have no velocity or accuraccy at all. Since they were on a crossed belt links, the bullets were right up against him though, so I think that would work like seen.

In Shoot 'Em Up though, that was just ridiculous.

Volgin fires them just like in Shoot 'Em Up several times during the game, holding them between his fingers and using his powers to make them cook off. That's why he has those belts of ammo in the first place.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. My bad. My PS2's been broken for almost a year, and I'm too broke to buy a PS3. One day I will play MGS4!

There was a old thread made by MPM that said that he wanted to make a "Myth" Page. I say we do it. Explain all the gun errors in Movies and Videogames. Don't forget Television too.

Is it possible to prevent a pistol from cycling by holding down the slide?

Yes, but it'll hurt like hell. My mom accidentally did that with her Remington 1100 20 Gauge once. She rested her thumb on the bolt when she fires.

But there's also the chance the slide breaks your finger first. Like my friend claims a guy once shot a Glock, and rested his thumb on the flat back of the slide. He claims it broke his thumb, and it sounds somewhat believable.

Oh another 1 often seen in movies is that a gun goes off when you drop it. (i.e: in true lies)

Are you kidding? I think the chance of a MAC-10 going off when falling down a flight of stairs is VERY likely, it is a cheap open bolt gun. I doubt it would kill all the Crimson Jihad in real life though.

It rarely happens, but guns DO go off when dropped. It's just not as common as we see in movies.

Yeah most of 'em have drop safeties nowadays, but old single actions and open bolts are just waiting to fall and pop. I've dropped my empty 1911 on my carpet before (wearing these stupid cotton gloves that slip like hell in order to avoid rust) and when I picked it up the hammer had fallen.

Luckily in a lot of cases they just fall on half-cock, but unfortunately you can't count on that.

Actually that firearm from the screencaps of CSI:NY is possible. They are sometimes called "Zip Guns" or "Gas Pipe Guns" They are not accurate, and very dangerous to mess with. Obviously the steel of a gas pipe is not the same as the steel used in a handgun, there is no rifling and using a sharp nail to set off the primer is unreliable at best.

Zip Guns were more common in the first half of the 20th century. I get the impression that they were almost a status symbol with some gangbangers. I've seen a few dating back fifty and sixty years in evidence vaults and some of them show some real workmanship. Others are pretty crude. But I would guess that a Zip Gun might help one get a better gun.

I'd love to see a myth's section :D. Just as a suggestion, tv tropes has a great collection of gun myth's/conventions; http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...dGunplayTropes. I'm not sure how accurate they all are, but they the few i've read seem alright to me.