Top Four Firearm Furphies
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The world of shooting is rife with myths and legends. We’ve all heard them. Some are repeatedly regurgitated in flashy Hollywood films and others are believed to be drawn from true historical events. Either way, when it comes to firearms, there's loads of tall tales out there - and many of us grew up believing at least one! Here at Grycol we love a good gun story, but today we’re performing a public service and shooting down four of our favourite firearm furphies. Don’t forget to like and share with your most gullible mates! |
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1. A firearm fitted with a silencer won’t wake the neighbours. Number one is an absolute staple for Hollywood movies. How many times have we seen an assassin creep into a heavily guarded building and fire off a half a dozen rounds using a magical suppressor that somehow reduces his every discharge to a kitten’s sneeze? Most experienced shooters know this to be a dirty rotten lie, but it’s surprising how many people believe a silencer is capable of muffling the sound of a gunshot to almost nothing (why would TV lie?). In reality, a suppressor only really takes the edge off. The sound produced by a gunshot ranges from around 140 -190 decibels (depending on a range of factors) and a suppressor will only reduce that sound by an average of about 30 decibels. This means that at best, you’re still going to produce 110 decibels of sound – about the same amount of noise made by a jackhammer ripping into the sidewalk. In fact, simply shooting through a pillow has close to the same effect, as proven several years ago by Jerry Micilek. 2. A suppressor can be fashioned using almost any household item! Speaking of makeshift suppressors, we’ve all heard urban legends claiming that everything from a coke bottle to a potato can be used to muffle the sound of gunfire. Some stories are more believable than others though. Most of the sound you hear when a firearm is discharged is created by hot gas following the projectile and escaping at very high pressure. When Micilek fired a shot through his wife’s favourite goose-down, the stuffing managed to catch most of the gas on exit, and in doing so absorbed a noticeable amount of the sound. With this in mind, it is not unreasonable to imagine that a plastic bottle might also work to contain expelled gas and reduce some of the sound created by the explosion – in the same way that a traditional silencer works. The potato theory however, is a little less plausible. A vegetable of that size and density is not likely to withstand a supersonic blast of hot gas, let alone contain it to the point of supressing the sound. This myth, which is thought to date back to Miami mob murders in the 1920s has been tested a number of times with disappointing results. The general consensus seems to be that a potato, while delicious, will not effectively silence a gunshot blast. 3. Guns go off when dropped Number three is another epic Hollywood misfire. TV and movies love to tell us that a dropped firearm will almost certainly discharge when it hits the ground. Several times even, if you’re unlucky enough to drop it at the top of a flight of stairs (thank you Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies). Some people believe this one originated during WWII, when the infamous Sten submachine gun was hastily manufactured in bulk to supply British soldiers in combat. Legend has it that these weapons were so prone to firing uncontrollably at every knock or jostle, that British soldiers began tossing them into rooms packed with Nazis - letting the gun do all the work while they sat down for a nice cup of tea. These days however, firearms are subject by law to rigorous drop-safety tests, which almost guarantee they’re not going to fire on impact - even with the safety off and the hammer cocked. Every precaution is taken to ensure there is zero risk of accidental discharge. In reality, the only way dropping a modern firearm is likely to cause you harm is if you try to catch it before it hits the ground. Or if it lands on your toe. 4. Bullets can blow up anything Whether it’s a big black Dodge in a high-speed chase or an oxygen tank in a shark’s mouth, we all grew up believing that almost anything would burst into flames if you hit it with a bullet. Here’s the thing though. Fiery deaths and pesky lawsuits aren’t great for business, and most manufacturers of vehicles and pressurized containers generally try to avoid designs that burst immediately into flames when punctured. It’s just not worth the paperwork. Moreover, despite what many people think, bullets rarely create sparks, and lead is actually more likely to melt on sudden impact. So the likelihood of shooting a car and igniting the fuel tank in a blazing inferno is relatively minimal as well. MythBusters actually tackled this one years ago too, finding that even a shot straight to the gas tank was extremely unlikely to cause an explosion except under remarkably specific conditions. Somebody get Spielberg on the phone and find out what projectiles he’s using! |
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