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Facts on Firearms

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:57 am
by Olly
Some interesting facts published...

The impact of a bullet from a Colt .45 Revolver Auto is equal to being hit by a brick travelling at 225 kmph !!

The world's largest bore gun ever to be built fired a 3 ft diameter hollow cast iron ball weighing around 1 tonne !!

Until the S&W .44 Magnum made famous by 'Dirty Harry', Mars was the most powerful handgun in the world !!

The Colt revolver, invented by Samuel Colt, was the first mass-produced, multi-shot, revolving firearm !!

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:59 am
by Olly
The Tommy gun, invented by Gen. John Thompson, was the world's first hand-held machine gun !!

Switzerland allows private ownership of semi-automatic versions of submachine guns as sporting firearms !!

Re: Facts on Firearms

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 11:10 am
by Mark
Too tired to write it all out at the moment, check back tomorrow, but not everything you read on the internet happens to be true.

Reg'ds

Mark

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:43 pm
by Olly
This is not on the internet, but the Times of India dated 17th Aug. Delhi Edition...

Re: Facts on Firearms

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 7:00 pm
by Grumpy
"This is not on the internet, but the Times of India dated 17th Aug. Delhi Edition..."

Not everything you read in the press happens to be true...................

"The impact of a bullet from a Colt .45 Revolver Auto is equal to being hit by a brick travelling at 225 kmph !!

Oh no it isn`t.

A 2lb ( 14,000 gr ) brick travelling at 225 mph ( 330fps ) would develope 3386 ft lbs energy..............Or getting on for about 10 times the ME of a .45 ACP.
( Hopefully my math is up to scratch ! :lol: )

- And whatever is a "Colt .45 Revolver Auto" supposed to be ?

"Switzerland has the largest militia army in the world (220,000 including reserves). Military service for Swiss men is obligatory according to the Federal Constitution, and includes 18 or 21 weeks of basic training (depending on troop category) as well as annual 3-week-refresher courses until a number of service days which increases with rank (260 days for privates) is reached. Service for women is voluntary, but identical in all respects. Conscientious objectors can choose 390 days of community service instead of military service. Medical deferments and dismissals from basic training (often on somewhat dubious grounds) have increased significantly in the last years. Therefore, only about 55% to 60% of Swiss men actually complete basic training."

The total numbers in the Swiss Army were reduced from 625,000 to 400,000 in 1995 of which 280,000 are issued a fully atomatic assault rifle and ammunition which they keep at home. In reality it is reckoned that 14% of Swiss households hold an assault rifle

Semi-auto versions of assault rifles - eg, M16s/AR15s etc - are legal in many countries around the world including most of the US.

Re: Facts on Firearms

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:24 pm
by Ranjeet Singh
Semi-Auto of all firearms is legal in Germany as well. of course there are kits to make them full-auto- That however is not legal

Cheers
Ranjeet

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:13 pm
by shooter
ford saw the assembly line production of colt and applied it to cars and is now thought to be the father of assembly lines.
bbc documentry on how firearms contributed to civilisation.

Re: Facts on Firearms

Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2007 2:04 am
by Grumpy
Colts attitude to firearms production was to machine all the components to reasonably close tolerances so that similar parts were interchangeable and no ( or very little ) hand fitting required. A cylinder - for example - could be removed from one revolver and dropped straight into another ( providing it was the same model. ) This both sped up production and cut back dramatically on the manpower required. The combination of the two enabled prices to be reduced and profits maximised.
Yes, Colts production techniques - and the firearms industry generally - did serve as an inspiration for Henry Ford. Firearms were one of the first - if not THE first - examples of a mass produced mechanical product due to them being required in very large numbers by the military.
The large civilian demand for cheap firearms in the USA also contributed to a divergence in the style of guns that predominated in the two markets of the USA and Europe: In the USA the suitabilty of mechanical type designs such as the revolver, the lever action. the pump action ( and later the semi-automatic ) to be mass produced. In Europe break action double guns and designs such as falling blocks dominated. The American guns were cheap and adequate, the European guns requiring much hand fitting were much more expensive but handled far better or were more accurate.
As far as shotguns are concerned that divergence still exists with double guns dominating the Europen markets and pump/semi-autos being far more popular in the USA.