How many fired off a round or more on New Years at the stroke of midnight?

[tcreeley]

-Cheney knows all about spent birdshot!

My neighbors like their fireworks. They lit some off the other night around 10PM. No one around here shoots their guns off at night, unless they are deer jacking - then it is just a shot or two and quiet so as not to attract the game warden!
Fireworks for the 4th scares the horses - gets them rushing around, in and out of the barn.

 

[k0ua]

Here's what Mythbusters say about it:



I think shotgun pellets are a different story; I have been hit by spent birdshot with no ill effects whatsoever...not to say that an eye might not be vulnerable, but I would not expect any injuries to occur from shooting a shotgun with birdshot vertically.

We used to do pistol competition at a range whose primary purpose was as a shot trap/skeet/sporting clays range. Although we were quite a ways from the shotgun range, the drop zone of the lead pellets (they did not allow any shot size larger than 7 1/2).

We had shot dropping on us all day.. As long as you wear a hat with a brim and glasses, you will be fine. I have been hit hundreds of times with these small pellets. I would not want a 9mm falling on my though.:shocked:

 

[/pine]

Here's what Mythbusters say about it:

JMO but those two clowns have never proven or disproved anything...they're hardly understudies for ASTM...!

common sense and the simplest bit of understanding physics are more reliable than those two goofs...
Again...JMO!

 

[OldMcDonald]

dragoneggs, When I lived in Northern Scotland (came here in 2003) where Hogmanay is extremely important, it was considered traditional for farm folk to fire a single shotgun shot on the stroke of midnight. I did it. I never heard of anyone suffering any harm. A rifle would be a different matter.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

JMO but those two clowns have never proven or disproved anything...they're hardly understudies for ASTM...!

common sense and the simplest bit of understanding physics are more reliable than those two goofs...
Again...JMO!

Well, as Teddy Roosevelt said, "one lion is better than no lions". If there is another study out there, I would be glad to review it. I've run an ASTM procedure or two, but I don't recall one for determining, for example, the force of a 150 grain lead 30/30 slug at maximum velocity based on the acceleration of gravity. Having said that, I'm sure we have some Physics guru's out there that could calculate something close at sea level and STP.

 

[tcreeley]

Had a student who recounted how another student had shot him from the second floor window with a bb gun. Later I heard the same story from the other one, how their mothers were visiting and they were strangers to each other. All in good fun. In time they both spent some time on the "hill".

 

[k0ua]

Well, as Teddy Roosevelt said, "one lion is better than no lions". If there is another study out there, I would be glad to review it. I've run an ASTM procedure or two, but I don't recall one for determining, for example, the force of a 150 grain lead 30/30 slug at maximum velocity based on the acceleration of gravity. Having said that, I'm sure we have some Physics guru's out there that could calculate something close at sea level and STP.

The US army performed some very good test's on 30.06 cartridges fired straight up back int the 20's. Long story short, the bullets went about 10,000 feet up and came back down at about 300 fps if they stabilized.. in other words, came back down toward earth not in a flat spin.. Most of them came back down base first. 300 feet per second for a 150 grain projectile would sure make a knot on your head. It could possibly even penetrate your skull. Firing rifles or handguns into the air is a bad idea, unless you are out in a deserted area where you know there is no one to hurt. Of course there is no problem with firing shotguns with small shot into the air as long as no one within about 500 yards is looking up at the sky without eye protection.

 

[Walkin Horse]

I have never fired any celebratory rounds but I did fire a warning shot one time when I saw two guys pull up to my shop. I didn't regonize them and i was too far away to get there.

Last year a young boy of 7 was killed at a 4th of July party here in the county. The police figured the 40 caliber bullet could have come from as far away as 5 miles. They ask everyone with a 40 caliber handgun to please bring it in to be tested. They have never been able to catch anyone. I will never fire in the air again.

 

[bcp]

The US army performed some very good test's on 30.06 cartridges fired straight up back int the 20's.

If I recall correctly, that was in "Hatcher's Notebook."

Hatcher's Notebook,

Bruce

 

[MossRoad]

Here's what Mythbusters say about it:



I think shotgun pellets are a different story; I have been hit by spent birdshot with no ill effects whatsoever...not to say that an eye might not be vulnerable, but I would not expect any injuries to occur from shooting a shotgun with birdshot vertically.

As I've mentioned before, we know someone that was shot from well over a mile away in the air. The bullet was fired into the air from a gravel pit. It lodged under his skin between his ribs. He was something like 8 years old when it happened.