How Do you KNOW

[DirtTime]

Here's a question. How is it that so many people on here know so much about every caliber/round ever created?

No, this isn't trolling.

I am curious how so many people have shot every caliber/round ever made. If you own all those guns in every caliber, you would need a safe almost the size of a football field. Or, if you have just shot them because friends have them you would have to have appx 2000 friends owning varying calibers. 

 

[Pygmy]

Let's see, being in the military, hanging around gun clubs and interfacing with many people who are interested in firearms and ballistics for the last 60 years or so  probably had something to do with it.. Some hunters are interested in a firearm just as a tool to use to pursue their sport.  Others are equally as interested in the technical  side of firearms as well.. By the time I was 15 ( which was LONG ago)  I could  recite bullet weights and velocities from published ballistic charts of nearly all the factory loaded centerfire rifle cartridges loaded in the US.

[Uptown Redneck]

7 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

By the time I was 15 ( which was LONG ago)  I could  recite bullet weights and velocities from published ballistic charts of nearly all the factory loaded centerfire rifle cartridges loaded in the US.

Sounds like you had a very sheltered childhood with a major lacking of things to do lol

[wolc123]

Lots of folks are just naturally restless.  You know the type, every time they walk into a bar, they try a different beer.   Others have a bad experience with a particular round and decide they need something with more power, or that kicks less, etc..  Others just have to use the latest and greatest.  I feel extremely blessed to have 6 weapons right now with which I have killed every deer that I shot at.   They ain't perfect and most have blemish or two (second or third shots required several times, one loss to coyotes because I could not find it soon enough, a misfire, and one missed bird).  I can see myself adding maybe two more to the collection over the next few years, to provide some redundancy (another crossbow) and optimize performance in some situations (a light weight rifle for still-hunting).  I think I could hunt deer in NY, happily ever after, with those two added to my current collection.  They would all fit easy in my safe and gun cabinet. 

[ATbuckhunter]

Id think that if you have an interest in something that spans over a number of years, then you eventually amount a large fund of knowledge.  

[Pygmy]

So UPTOWN, what did you do as a child, other than pull wings off flies ?

[ATbuckhunter]

1 hour ago, Uptown Redneck said:

Sounds like you had a very sheltered childhood with a major lacking of things to do lol

I don't see it as any different than kids reciting baseball player stats or other sports stats.

[Uptown Redneck]

12 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

I don't see it as any different than kids reciting baseball player stats or other sports stats.

Very true, they did and still do exist. 

[ApexerER]

My guess is if that is your hobby then you know a lot about it and continue to learn, try new things, acquire new rifles and calibers, probably get rid of rifles you have tried and aren't fond of, and anybody you run into that knows something about it you pick their brain. I have a friend that is a 1000 yd competition shooter. He owns more rifles and calibers than I can name off the top of my head and every time I talk to him he has another caliber I didn't even know existed. When he goes to the range he is there for the day and only brings 5-7 Rifles.

I have many hobbies, Hunting, fishing, shooting, snowmobiling, 4 wheeling, boating...I would guess I know more than anyone that doesn't do that particular hobby. If my only hobby was shooting, I would have acquired a lot of knowledge about that particular hobby.

[rachunter]

14 hours ago, ....rob said:

Here's a question. How is it that so many people on here know so much about every caliber/round ever created?

No, this isn't trolling.

I am curious how so many people have shot every caliber/round ever made. If you own all those guns in every caliber, you would need a safe almost the size of a football field. Or, if you have just shot them because friends have them you would have to have appx 2000 friends owning varying calibers. 

 

Some people are like sponges they absorb everything in others(me) are like siffs and it take time for something to stick. 

 

[airedale]

When I become interested in something I put a lot of effort into knowing everything there is about that particular subject. Have not shot every caliber ever made but I am not through yet and am still working at it LOL. Got into shooting and hunting at an early age and fell in love with both, subscribed to most of the relevant shooting-hunting magazines and purchased a pretty fair number of books. Also worked in a large sporting goods store that sold firearms in big numbers where knowledge about that sort of stuff was paramount. I still maintain a keen interest in firearms and shooting that continues to this day. Yesterday I finally found a source for new 284 Winchester brass that will not break the bank, up till now it has been almost impossible to come by. My Dad's old Winchester model 88 will be coming to life shortly and the odyssey continues.

Al

Edited October 28, 2016 by airedale

[Uptown Redneck]

13 hours ago, Pygmy said:

So UPTOWN, what did you do as a child, other than pull wings off flies ?

I must be careful answering that as I;m not sure if the statue of limitations applies or not  

[Pygmy]

I probably know more about firearms than Joe average deer hunter...

However there  are many members on this forum that have forgotton more than I  will ever know, Airedale, Buckmaster7600, and Wildcat Junkie just to name a few.

This forum is  for hunters more than  " Rifle Looneys" and gun nuts, which is fine.

I frequent a couple of more technically oriented firearms on which I seldom post , because I feel ( and I AM). ignorant compared to many of the members there . I mostly  listen and hope to learn something

Edited October 28, 2016 by Pygmy

[airedale]

We all know the old saying "THE GOOD OLD DAYS", when it comes to the choices in firearms and caliber selections available today these are by far the good old days. The same goes for ammo selection and reloading components, the selection that is available of all this stuff is mind boggling compared to what it was when I was a young guy and to know everything about it all would be major.

My knowledge is mostly on the old standbys that I grew up with and have been around forever. A lot of the new stuff that has come out recently especially the cascade of newer magnums both short and long and ultra I have zero experience with. Same with some of the newer powders and bullets available today.

To answer the OP's question, these days it would be one heck of a feat to have actually fired every caliber/round ever made and if there was anyone that has accomplished such a feat they would be few and far between I expect. 

There are probably a few old time firearms writers still applying their trade for the gun rags that may have had the opportunity to touch off  large percentage of what was ever produced produced.

The good thing today is with a click of your computer's mouse just about any info about any cartridge or firearm one would want to know can be brought up instantly with an internet search. Like I posted above I am about to get serious loading ammo for my Dad's old Winchester Model 88 284, I did a search and came up with a wonderful in depth 24 page loading extravaganza for that cartridge that I downloaded and printed out which will put me on the fast track and save me a lot of time.

Times have never been better, enjoy.

Al

[Buckmaster7600]

As I have said before I am a shooter that hunts. I shoot guns a few times a week and am very fortunate to be able to shoot out my back door. I have had a love for firearms since I was a very small boy, I would say 3 or 4.

When I was a young boy I struggled in school it was found that I had pretty severe A D D. I was way behind in my reading abilities and other school subjects. My father is a very intelligent man and he had me start reading hunting magazines to him because it was something I was interested in. He knew I loved hunting and guns and would buy a new magazine everyday and I would read it to him at night before bed. Hunting magazines and gun magazines were how I learned to read. I became very knowledgable about different guns and cartridges at around 6 or 7 years old.

I started buying and selling guns at around 10 years old with my fathers help. It's something I still do to this day.

When I was in the service I was an infantryman and I wanted to become a firearms instructor and I reinlisted and was able to spend 3 years and a marksmanship instructor as well as a range safety officer. I have instructed thousands of marines on marksmanship and to this day it is something I truly enjoy.

I haven't counted in a while but I'm sure I have over 20 different rifle and pistol cartridges in my cabinets. I go on different kicks at different times the last couple years it was pistol cartridge rifles and I now own rifles in 357mag, 357 max, 10mm, 41mag, 44mag, 45 colt, 454casull and 500s&w. And I have only been "collecting" these for a couple years. When I get tired of them I will most likely sell all but a few of them and move on to something else.

I always get on kicks and buy a bunch of guns and then I start loading for them and then they never leave the cabinet. I guess that's why I have closets full of guns because my cabinets are full.


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[philoshop]

I spent a couple of years doing range testing for the local gunsmith when I was in high school. He loved to build the guns and tinker with them, but he never really cared about shooting them unless they were fully-auto and could blow the heck out of a toilet or something.

[Doc]

All the bullet manufacturers publish books that have unbelievable amounts of data for a pile of different loads and calibers. You don't have to have shot all the different rounds to know all kinds of info about energies, ballistics, speeds, and other performance data. It's all out there in just a handful of reloading books.

[DirtTime]

I was thinking the other night, about all the guns I have shot, it's a pale comparison to most people on here. I now you can get books, the web helps a lot also.

Tries to recall the different guns I have owned or shot.

Shot guns;

10

12

16

20

410

 

Rifles;

22 short and long

.222

.223

22-250

.308

30-30

7mm mag

.30-06

.270

35 Rem

44mag

300WinMag

7mm-08

.25-06

 

 

It's pretty cool reading about all the other ( and there are tons ) calibers people on here shoot.