Firearms and the Visual Arts

DGS49

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Apr 12, 2012
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I'm an Army veteran, and have done a little hunting and hanging out at gun clubs (though I've never been a member, or actually owned a gun), so I know a little bit about firearms and how they are used.

Having just finished watching the Netflix series, "Godless" (which I would not recommend), I saw so many perversions of firearm reality that I was driving my wife nuts pointing them all out. I have to wonder whether the thousands of people who put together a "movie" are ALL ignorant of basic firearm reality, or maybe they just consider it "Poetic License" to depict the absurd as reality. A few general points:

  • NOBODY can ever - has ever - done a "quick draw" and been able to shoot a pistol with any accuracy. An accurate pistol shot requires time and a careful aim, and if it is one of the common Thunder Canons like a .45, they are inaccurate as hell even when you take your time. This show had more than one person quick-draw and shoot (in effect) someone's ear off at 50 feet. Bullshit.
  • Shooting a rifle accurately for anyone but an extremely skilled marksman requires that the rifle be stabilized on SOMETHING. Either the ground, your knee, a window sill, sandbags, or something else that is not moving. Military snipers almost always use either sandbags or the equivalent for anything over 50 yards. Standing up and shooting something 100+ yards away is again, Bullshit. You have nothing better than a random chance of hitting it.
  • A bolt-action rifle DOES NOT require that you re-cock after every shot. After the first shot, the rifle cocks itself. Same goes for a revolver (pistol). You do not have to re-cock after every shot.
  • You do NOT shoot birds with a rifle. You use a shotgun.
And while we're on the subject,
  • It is NOT POSSIBLE to throw a hunting knife at anything more than three feet away and have any prospect of having the knife "stick" in the target - let alone kill it. The knives that are used in carnival and circus shows are not real knives. They are 50-50 weight balanced, and in effect have no real handle. The uneven weight distribution of a real knife makes throwing it end over end, nothing more than throwing a projectile (like a rock), with no more chance of doing damage.
Some of the cop shows - especially NCIS Los Angeles - are irritatingly oblivious to firearms reality. A lot of them, however, do reflect the reality that shots in a gunfight are 90% wild and ineffective. If you take the time to aim your gun, you become a target for your adversary.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention it, while it's fresh in my mind.
 
In Hollywood entertainment, all things are possible.

Problem is, people actually believe what Hollywood puts out.

 
The purpose of entertainment is entertainment, not accuracy.

I am similarly annoyed when I watch courtroom scenes and realize the writers never bothered to do basic research.
 

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