85,485 Rounds Fired! No One Killed Or Injured!

LJWorld.com weblogs Stop Me If You've Heard This One

Posted by Roedapple August 16, 2012 at 12:37 p.m.

The A-Team by RoeDapple

That's right, over 85,000 rounds (estimated) of ammunition fired in my lifetime, and like every episode of "The A-Team", no one has ever been killed or injured as a result of me enjoying my hobby. Contrary to what some believe, firearms are not necessarily designed for the purpose of killing, rather they are designed for launching projectiles in the direction the handler so chooses.

For myself I take great pride in my marksmanship and even if it isn't quite as good as it once was I can still do a pretty fair job of punching holes in downrange paper products.

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RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Ah, I stand corrected. There was one episode where a character was shot and killed, in "The Sound of Thunder," when General Fulbright was shot and killed. (in the same episode the bunker where the Cong general who shot Fulbright was in was blown up.)

A-Team - 1 Roe - 0

Frankie8 9 months, 1 week ago

When I became a mother I read that it was bad form to buy a weapon for your child, so I didn't. But the daughter and granddaughter both found ways to make their own. The granddaughter would tip toe up behind a neighbor when they were out in their yard, stick the "gun" in their back and say, "I am going to totally destroy you......neighbor!" Everyone thought she was so cute because she always called everyone neighbor.

Frankie8 9 months, 1 week ago

PS I always liked Mad Dog. The guy who played him did a few episodes on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

labmonkey 9 months, 1 week ago

I always hated the Lt. Barkley episodes. It was creepy how he always stalked Troi.

Cappy 9 months, 1 week ago

Broccoli. Huh huh.

rockchalker52 9 months, 1 week ago

Didn't Mr. T, a few years back, use a chainsaw to perform a pine-ectomy on his fancy up-scale property? I think the neighbors were ticked, but I mean whaddya gonna say, really?

'Hey, you fool with the mohawk! Knock it off before I take that away from ya!' You really can't talk to Clubber Lang that way.

Agnostick 9 months, 1 week ago

Same could be said for the Olympic games that just concluded in London. Team USA actually nabbed gold in one or two shooting events, as I recall.

Didn't this, in a very indirect way, contribute to the recent Colorado shooting? Maybe not "contribute," but again, if I recall correctly, the shooter ordered massive amounts of ammo online, from several different vendors. Nobody really paid much attention, because the amount ordered from each vendor was about the same amount that a competitive target shooter would go through in a month. No laws were broken--the killer was just savvy, knew how to sneak around them.

I post this link as a point of reference--not as some bandwagon I'm jumping on.

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/08/aurora_theater_shooting_online_ammunition_sales_diana_degette.php

75x55 9 months, 1 week ago

To what point? He only carried a relatively small amount.

Stockpiles aren't indicative of bad intent.

Now, psychotic behavior that is ignored prior to actions...

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

True Ag. "Case-lot" purchases are quite common where a case can consist of 500/1000 rounds and multiple case purchases are very much the norm for many shooters. As a truck driver I made deliveries of as few as 5 cases to individuals up to multiple "PALLETS" to sporting goods/firearms retailers/police departments. "Sign here please" then I'm off to the next delivery.

Topple 9 months, 1 week ago

If you enjoy sport shooting, it's not typically economical to buy one box of ammunition at a time. You buy in bulk to save money....just as a mother buys groceries at Costco in bulk.

somedude20 9 months, 1 week ago

by somedude20

rockchalker52 9 months, 1 week ago

A thousand pardons, but this thread seems like a good place to merrill this primer a fella sent to me one time back:

The Marine Corps Birthday makes me nostalgic for the good ol’…well, maybe good is too strong a word. In fact, I can't say that I miss being on active duty; but I do miss being with my fellow Marines.

Thinking about my friends who are getting shot at by ungrateful Iraqis reminded me of this list, an old Corps favorite, on how to act in a gun fight:

Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. Bring all of your friends who have guns.
Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.
Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.
Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun.
In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and running.
Accuracy is relative: most combat shooting standards will be more dependent on "pucker factor" than the inherent accuracy of the gun.
Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
Have a plan.
Have a back-up plan, because the first one won't work.
Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
Don't drop your guard.
Always tactical load and threat scan 360 degrees.
Watch their hands. Hands kill. In God we trust. Everyone else, keep your hands where I can see them.
Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get.
Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun, the caliber of which does not start with a "4."

Navy Rules for Gun fighting:

Go to Sea
Send the Marines
Drink Coffee

beatrice 9 months, 1 week ago

RC, that is never going to fit on a bumper sticker.

Topple 9 months, 1 week ago

I've got a big bumper.

beatrice 9 months, 1 week ago

So how many rounds do you think this trained, conceal and carry licensed individual has fired?

"SPARKS, Nev. -- Police say a man accidentally shot himself in the buttocks at a Nevada movie theater during a showing of "The Bourne Legacy."

Police in Sparks, Nev., say the 56-year-old man's injuries are not life-threatening and no others were hurt.

Authorities say the man had a permit to carry a concealed firearm. The man told officers the gun fell from his pocket Tuesday night as he was adjusting himself in the seat and that it discharged when it dropped to the floor.

Authorities say the case will be sent to the city attorney for possible charges.

The incident comes less than a month after a shooting at a suburban Denver theater that left 12 dead and 58 injured." http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2012/08/15/20120815nevada-man-shoots-buttocks-movie.html

Firearms are designed to inflict injury and possibly kill. This is why they are carried by the military and the police. This is why hunters carry guns. Whether or not someone chooses to use a firearm in this manner does not change the purpose of design just as a car left parked in the garage is still designed to transport people from one place or another. The Olympic laser guns, Nerf and water guns, and paintball guns are not designed to kill -- firearms that project metal bullets are.

vertigo 9 months, 1 week ago

Grip safety. Get a gun with one. This won't happen.

75x55 9 months, 1 week ago

"Firearms are designed to inflict injury and possibly kill."

Yep - sometimes, things need killin.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

A hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object. Nails, thumbs or the back of somebodies head, the hammer doesn't care.

What training are you referring to bea? And it does sound as if he will be paying for his mistake.

beatrice 9 months, 1 week ago

The man has (had?) a permit to conceal and carry, and in Colorado I believe that requires training.

A handgun can be used to hammer a nail as well, but that doesn't change its original purpose as a weapon. Metal bullets can tear through paper, but that doesn't mean they don't tear through flesh (animal or otherwise). A hollow-point bullet doesn't do anything special when it tears through paper. When it hits flesh, on the other hand, it is designed to maximize damage. (Just think of this as a pre-emptive argument against bullets not being designed to kill.)

85,000 + rounds and nobody killed. How do we know you aren't just a really bad shot? ; )

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Ha! Or maybe the tool has more than one purpose?

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Yup. I weren't much of a bird hunter but will admit to a few deer, a couple of trips to El Dorado for prairie dog eradication (by request), a few squirrel, rabbit, rabid skunk and coyotes. Oh, and cattle chasin' dogs. Zero tolerance for dogs that run the in-law's cattle.

beatrice 9 months, 1 week ago

So you HAVE used your guns to kill. Did you try using a whole bunch of items before finally deciding on the gun, or was the use of the gun to kill the first choice given its intended purpose?

I rest my case.

(Well, not really. I'll probably keep making the case. Sorry for the false alarm.)

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

My first choice would be to chase them down, tackle them then suffocate them by biting into their throat. There is a more practical side to me so . . . .

Oh, as to the dogs. I did talk to the deputy sheriff about it, he said "Off the record, I'd just shoot 'em." I told him, "Off the record, I did."

Frankie8 9 months, 1 week ago

I've always wondered about the movie The Bad Lieutenant staring Nic Cage. He carries a huge revolver and sticks it down the front of his pants. No holster. Is this regulation?

Topple 9 months, 1 week ago

Sure is for someone looking for a late-in-life circumcision.

snap_pop_no_crackle 9 months, 1 week ago

Legend has it that Wyatt Earp once said that the most important shot in a gunfight was the first accurate shot.

Frankie8 9 months, 1 week ago

Colt made Wyatt Earp a custom revolver with a longer barrel than was usual.

RETICENT_IRREVERENT 9 months, 1 week ago

I have only fired one round.

Topple 9 months, 1 week ago

Bazinga!

rockchalker52 9 months, 1 week ago

The M-60 only fires one round - after another after another after... That was the most fun I ever had with a weapon. Boot camp, sprawled out 'zactly like one of those plastic green army men & cuttin' loose. You set your sights all proper & it'll blast whatever you aim it at full of really big holes up to about 500 yards I think it is.

DoubtingThomas 9 months, 1 week ago

The M-60 was a lot of fun. It was small enough to be handled by one gunner and an assistant(ammo and Barrel changer). There is NOTHING that compares with old MA Deuce! M-2 .50 cal. Whether tripod mounted or secured to the top of an APC you are carrying Serious Firepower. The sound still gives me Goose bumps to this day. The round travels a Klik(1000 meters) before it starts to drop. Long range firepower! Some old gunners I knew had Southwestern Bell stickers on their M-2 Ammo holders. That was when their slogan was "Reach out and touch someone!" Dark humor, yes. Guess you had to be there.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

What would that be in 'cubits'?

rockchalker52 9 months, 1 week ago

"Thats meters to you boy..." autie

yah, a few details be sketchy from 40 years ago. I forget you arsenal types are sticklers for that stuff.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Here you go, bea! This is the bullet type I load in .45ACP. It is a 200gr semi-wadcutter design following the Hensley and Gibbs pattern. It could be used as a defense/offense round but it was designed and intended to be a paper punching round.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

by RoeDapple

vertigo 9 months, 1 week ago

Bea,

If you weren't in AZ I'd invite you to come shooting with Roe and I this weekend, just so you can see how much fun it can be.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

I don't know . . . There's already 2 coming that can probably shoot better than me.

beatrice 9 months, 1 week ago

If I weren't in AZ I just might join ya. I've gone shooting before and I can appreciate the fun factor. I've even killed a few, harmless skeet just to see their orange bodies blown to bits.

I have no desire to stop people from shooting stuff for fun. I just think when we talk about guns, given that too often guns are used by people with bad intentions or by people who have no business and no training (see above example), that when we discuss Americans, their guns and the 2nd amendment, we need to keep in mind the "well regulated" part as much as citizens' right to own part.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Too often is a relative term. Sure, zero is ideal but given there are 80,000,000 gun owners in the US what are the percentages of those who break the law? And I'm well aware that "percentages" means nothing to victims.

notaubermime 9 months, 1 week ago

What does it matter whether guns are designed to kill or not? A bow and arrow or a crossbow is designed to kill. So are swords. Additionally, it doesn't take a large amount of intelligence to turn quite an array of legal items in to lethal items. The original intent of the design has little to do with its lethal potential. Just look at vehicular related deaths in the US.

Topple 9 months, 1 week ago

I believe the point is a person isn't going to stroll into a movie theater with a claymore and chop down 14 people and maim 58 others. A person isn't going to put bolts/arrows into 72 victims in a movie theater.

riverdrifter 9 months, 1 week ago

I've never shot a pistol much but I'm half deaf from the hundreds of rounds of trap, skeet and sporting clays I've shot over the years. Somebody mentioned the Olympics: Kim Rhode won her fifth straight Olympic gold medal, this year in skeet. Breaking clay makes her day. Previously, she had medaled in doubles trap. For me, skeet is the most aggravating, nerve wracking and infuriating of the shotgun sports. Just the thought of it makes me gnash my teeth. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/sports/olympics/kim-rhode-of-us-takes-gold-in-womens-skeet-setting-records.html

beatrice 9 months, 1 week ago

"My first choice would be to chase them down, tackle them then suffocate them by biting into their throat."

Now that is what I call RoeD kill.

verity 9 months, 1 week ago

Roe, you seem to be awfully obsessed with guns.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Obsessed? Nah. I think of myself as enthusiastic about my firearms hobby.

LeRoyMercer 9 months, 1 week ago

At first I thought this was a blog about ex-Chief Olin. I knew he fired off a bunch of rounds. But had no idea it was this many.

Inquiring minds want to know what preferential treatment he got on this call to the Police. Oh, yea. We all know what he got. Bury the story.

riverdrifter 9 months, 1 week ago

Off topic. Beat it.

Frankie8 9 months, 1 week ago

Since when is it bad to be off topic? When was that rule made?

riverdrifter 9 months, 1 week ago

Then there's Jamie Gray, who also won a gold in whatever caliber rifle, I'd guess .22. She did it while channelling Bob Dylan, playing Tangled Up in Blues. Solution: give them all an identical .22 rifle from Sears with some cheap-ass scope, give them 20 rounds to sight it in. Then shoot. http://summergames.ap.org/ljworld/article/gray-wins-olympic-rifle-gold-sets-records

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

I looked at an Anschutz target rifle . . . once. That went to my "after I win the lottery" list. Rock on, Jamie Gray!

Ronda Miller 9 months, 1 week ago

River, me thinks ye watch too much tv.

Roe, you all are shooting this weekend and this is how I find out about it. Well shoot! Darn blast you! I'm so injured I could explode! My very core feels wounded. I guess I'll recover ....once I receive my properly mailed invite (which at this point need arrive faster than a speeding bullet).

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Ruh, roh . . . Okay Ronda, ya caught me! That puts you at the top of the list for the next invite! (That's if you don't mind being around someone who is obsessed ;-) . . )(with firearms!)

Ronda Miller 9 months, 1 week ago

RoeD, yeah yeah, next time. Story of my life. But I do know where you live, and if I hear any shots fired as I'm spying on you from my tiny tree house home...... you'll be my target and the butt of my revenge. ;()

riverdrifter 9 months, 1 week ago

These shooting invites can be a little testy, Ronda. I used to go on shooting outings with Bill Burroughs. It was a tough invite but always interesting: "Hole in one!"

Frankie8 9 months, 1 week ago

The AK-47 (or Avtomat Kalashnikova) was designed and developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in the Soviet Union and is the world’s most popular assault rifle. The gas operated 7.62mm assault rifle was first developed in the early 1940s and AK-47 stands for Kalashnikov automatic rifle, model of 1947.

Roe, please explain what gas operated means. Here is a picture of a gold plated AK 47, priced at $9,000 dollars. It doesn't shoot any more, if that is the right way to put it, but it sure looks pretty. Hussein had several and I can't help but wonder if he was planning on reflecting light off of it and blinding those attacking him. Anyone want to have a seance and ask him?

Pretty, ain't it? by Frankie8

75x55 9 months ago

Ha ha ha - oh, if you have the chance to actually see and handle one of those "gold-plated" Hussein AKs. I've handled a number of them, and they're a hoot - he used to hand them out as 'atta-boy' gifts to his henchmen. POS AK's with gold spray paint finish - a lot of time with pitting and dirt still visible under the paint! A lot of them also had wood replaced with pearlized plastic pieces, usually adorned with self-adhesive stars - literally, little star stickers like you'd get on a good assignment in second grade.

RoeDapple 9 months, 1 week ago

Good question frankie8! "Gas operated" is a system of working the action of the firearm by using the hot gases from the burning gunpowder to send the bolt backwards. In the process the bolt ejects the fired case as it goes back, then chambers a loaded case as it returns. This is usually done through a tube connected to the barrel which pushes a spring loaded ram against the bolt.

"Blow back" or "recoil operated" is another method for semi-auto and full-auto fire that relies on the hot gases pushing the empty case back to cycle the action.

Frankie8 9 months ago

Thank you! I love the Aubrey/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brien so I know a lot about British Naval weapons during the Napoleonic Wars so in theory I could fire off a canon. A lot happens when you shoot a weapon, oh you know what I mean. They are a lot more complicated than I thought. Must learn more. Again, thanks for the explanation. Appreciate it.

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