Misconceptions to the public

[sidelock]

Love it... never heard that before but will use it a lot tro make a good point about EXPERTS . :v

 

[sidelock]

I'll bet he wasen't a shooter at all----- JUST A WRITER. . And I do mean JUST .....

 

[musketman]

I saw this show a couple of months ago, so its not new.
You are right. This "expert" didn't know what he was talking about. And he was obviously a novice shooter.

That's where the misconception originates, the general public is mislead to believe that if someone is an expert with one gun, they are an expert with all guns...

A person can be an expert shot with a .22 long rifle and totally suck with the .458 Winchester Magnum, apples to oranges...

I suspect he (the guy on the show) flinched from the fusing effect he caused by over-filling the priming powder, and instead of admitting he screwed up, he down played the gun and it's capabilities to keep from getting egg on his face in front of the camera...

 

[Zonie]

I saw the show a few months ago and wrote a post bashing the collectors lack of knowledge.
Sense then, I've had time to think about it and came to this conclusion:

The musket shooters ineptness isn't without a good side when you stop and think about it.

Folks who saw the show and believed what they saw will not be in a big hurry to lump our chosen firearms into the pot of guns they are afraid of.

If they aren't afraid of them, they won't be demanding tighter control of them.

That could be good.

 

[musketman]

The musket shooters ineptness isn't without a good side when you stop and think about it.

Folks who saw the show and believed what they saw will not be in a big hurry to lump our chosen firearms into the pot of guns they are afraid of.

If they aren't afraid of them, they won't be demanding tighter control of them.

That could be good.

So it could behoove us in the long run, because he can't hit the side of a barn the lynching squad will bypass the muzzleloading shooter...:hmm:

It's so crazy it might just work... :haha:

 

[Gary]

The guys at Colonial Williamsburg benched rested their Bess, and fired at a redcoat target at 100 yards. All five hit. Author Lawrence Babits ("A Devil of a Whipping") fired five consecutive shots into a man size target at 75 paces. All five shots hit. He said there would be even more hits if he had loaded with the period buck 'n ball. So much for the expert.

 

[Roy]

I'm not a bad shot, and I have been beat by a man once using a Brown Bess at a woods walk and me using a rifle. :haha: He is truly a great shot.

 

[bpbrs]

RC,
We can get a copy of the show and send it to that MLIAC fella down is Vestal.
Bet he'd fire em up :rotf:

 

[RC]

BPB, LIKE he ain't in a bad mood already! he'd be so mad the tape would come off his glasses! :rotf: RC

 

[kenneth strickland]

If this show comes on again, watch how much the shooter flinches on his first shot. It was obvious that the shot would be low. It glanced off the dirt and hit the bottom of the target. 30 grains of powder under the frizzen will do that to you.

 

[J.D.]

The guys at Colonial Williamsburg benched rested their Bess, and fired at a redcoat target at 100 yards. All five hit. Author Lawrence Babits ("A Devil of a Whipping") fired five consecutive shots into a man size target at 75 paces. All five shots hit. He said there would be even more hits if he had loaded with the period buck 'n ball. So much for the expert.

Nearly every shot at 75 paces, even with a bess, should hit a man size target. It ain't that hard, even when standing in line, volley firing.

I remember reading about Walter Kline firing an original Rev War longrifle at life size redcoat targets at 600 yards, just to prove the long range accuracy of riflemen firing flintlock longrifles. If my memory serves, Kline hit 6 of ten shot at 600 yards. That's good shootin'.
J.D.

 

[Slamfire]

When the History Channel wants an expert on shooting a Bess they hire Gary James. He shoots through large chunks of beef to prove the penetration, possible, and alway hits the targets in a deadly area, shooting offhand. He's a writer. You'll see him most often on the "Battlefield Dectives" show.
The guy on the "Sharpshooters" program is most often used as an expert on antique firearms and their value. This was his first as a shooter. I doubt he's ever shot a Bess in his whole life. I wonder if he's any better at writing, than he is at shooting. :shake:

 

[Bob Riegl]

:hmm: As a retired chemistry prof. I certainly don't claim to know everything ( contrary to opinion). But , in listening to some of these Great Science Shows ( i.e. NOVA). I have heard the narrator expound on some point and quote an entire paragraph of "mauled scientific nonsense," which most listeners have no knowledge of.What the script writer had written for the narrator. Last night on NOVA, the narrator explained the cause for the Aurora Borealis ocurrence in the northern regions. IMHO opinion it was a totally an incorrect explanation, that had absolutely no foundation in fact. :thumbsup:

 

[Black Hand]

Last night I was watching the History channel on Sharpshooters. I this episode, They had a Cowboy Action shooter, shotgun shooter and a pistol shooter. I have seen these guys shoot and they are a pleasure to watch. The problem can into the show when they brought in this so called expert on firearms, he has collected numerous antique guns over the years. The gentleman started showing the audiance how to load a muzzleloader.He loaded an 1812 musket from the horn!GASP!! The he proceeded to tell everyone that this gun could not hit the broad side of a barn. Boy, He couldn't be more wrong. If you were watching closely when he charged the pan , he overfilled it to the point that the pan overflowed and could not even close the frizzen. My son and wife laughed when it went pffft, 2 second delay, boom. Needless to say he didnn't hit the bull(12 inch) at 40 yrdsI wish that I could have been on the show to dispel these myths by so called experts. Sorry for bein long winded but I need to vent.

I saw this "expert" too. I was surprised he didn't blow himself up shooting the musket. Unfortunately in my experience, the people that are considered experts are the ones who stopped learning when they achieved this "elevated status". They are as dangerous as religious zealots in their mis-information of the people at large......

 

[kentucky bucky]

That fellow might have alot of money to buy old guns with, but he don't know squat about shooting them. :shake:

 

[faw3]

I tryed to get a web site to write them but ended up witha runaround, or I just dont know how its done, someone let me know if you get a page to write them a letter to, and a 2nd thought is Zonie is right. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[barebackjack]

I had to chuckle at the way he rammed the ball home also. That thing had to be almost flat by the time it reached the bottom of the barrel.

 

[gcebulka]

I tryed to get a web site to write them but ended up witha runaround, or I just dont know how its done, someone let me know if you get a page to write them a letter to, and a 2nd thought is Zonie is right. Fred :hatsoff:

Well, basically, you have to contact viewer relations, state your question(s)/objections as for the name of the producer/director/program director and hope somebody pays attention to you....*sigh*
I saw the episode also and was shocked that the guy loaded directly from the horn. As for his shooting skills, I'm a bad shot also...pots...kettles...black....toad...frog...ugly...

 

[almrl]

Sometimes what the History Channel shows isn't "history".

It seems they will hire anyone with a little knowledge and call them an expert because that person knows anything about the subject while the writers know absolutely nothing.

There selection of footage is also somewhat questionable.

A couple of years back they had a program on German military aviation pre World War One. Part of the footage of German experimentation was an early Wright Brothers type clearly marked "14 BIS". The "14 BIS" was designed by Alberto Santos Dumont... a Brazilian flying in PARIS!!!.

Old Coot

 

[bob308]

frist let us define expert.
x the unknown
spert a drop of water under pressure
expert an unknown drop of water under pressure.