#Mythbusters

Hello TFB, and welcome to a new column I’ve devised with the not-so-loyal and sometimes-helpful advice of the TFB Discord entitled “Love, Grampa Fudd” where with input from you readers, the TFB Staff, and members of the Discord, we’ll be tackling some of the most pernicious Fuddlore that still rears its ugly head. Without any further ado, let’s beat to death an argument that we’ve hashed out a million times.

We’ve all heard that one before, right? “There’s no point to the .357 Magnum in a snubnosed revolver, from a barrel that short you might as well carry a .38.” Well, thanks some some exhaustive testing by Chris Baker and the LuckyGunner Labs team, turns out that’s not really true.

Myths may come from many places; one of the most common sources of myths is the gap between languages. Translations, no matter how good, are imperfect, and this is especially true when concerning delicate works like poetry or technical documents.

Mythbusters has been on the air since 2003 and is a favorite of many viewers not only because they prove or disprove myths and experiment with special effects but because they get to play with guns and explosives on a semi-regular basis. Among their various gun-related episodes was one dealing with the reality – or lack thereof – of what they termed the “modern version of the quick draw.” According to hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman viewers had repeatedly asked whether the rapid magazine changes done in movies are actually possible. Although we can all accurately predict the outcome of this one, it’s still an interesting video (and it includes competitive shooter Travis Tomasie, which is pretty cool).

While a slight bend to a barrel was possible ( as proven by the Germans in WWII), Jamie and Adam decided to tackle and see if possible to shoot with a bent barrel. Using a 10/22, they proved that it is possible. Moreover, they showed that the exit velocity was nearly unaffected, but the bullet tumbled shortly after hitting the gel.

The Mythbusters negligently discharged a canon, firing a canonball right though a suburban home, situated 700 yards from their test range, and before bouncing off another house and into a minivan.

In the upcoming season of MythBusters, the team will be seeing what happens when an RPG hits a bullet midair.

Tomorrows (Wednesday) episode of Mythbusters takes a look at movie sound effect myths. They will be investigating if movies silencers sound like the real thing. (Spoiler Alert: They don’t!)

The mythbusters use a 7.62mm Dillon M134D minigun to chop down a tree in 45 seconds.