The current ammunition shortage may have you keeping what you have longer than you would have when supply was better. You might also be eyeing opportunities that you would have passed up automatically in the past. How can you tell whether ammunition that has been in storage is still safe to use? Factory loaded ammunition,…
We choose to use guns for a variety of reasons: self defense, hunting, to improve our aim, for fun, or as a way to prepare for an uncertain future. Choosing which gun to use for each activity includes consideration of the caliber you need. In short, caliber is the measurement of the diameter of the…
When you shoot a gun, the bullet goes out to hit the target and the case either stays in the chamber of a revolver or is ejected from the ejection port of a long gun or a semi-automatic pistol. What happens to all those cases? There are five options for dealing with a spent case:…
Traditionally, bullets were made of lead. Now you are more likely to use bullets with a lead core jacketed by copper You have to wash your hands after handling bullets to avoid getting the lead into your system. Older solid lead bullets foul the inside of the barrel. Jacketed lead bullets limit the fouling of…
In 2017 a Canadian sniper in Iraq actually shot an ISIS fighter 2.2 miles away using a McMillan TAC-50 sniper rifle chambered in .50 caliber 750 grain Hornady ammunition. The sniper had to calculate the bullet’s trajectory against the wind velocity and keep in mind the speed of the earth’s rotation to do that, with the help of a spotter who determined the best moment to make the shot.
The effective range of a gun is an entirely different matter. That is how far you can shoot with the likelihood of hitting your target. For the M107 the effective range is 5,907 feet, still over a mile. The effective range of a BB gun is 1080 feet, about a fifth of a mile.
The components of a cartridge, or round of ammunition, are the case, the primer, the powder, and the projectile.