On 2/24/2017 1:20 PM, Razer wrote:
On 02/23/2017 07:15 PM, Marina Brown misquoted Jim...
I wrote the bit about outrunning a musketball...Yeah well perhaps I was jesting. But what might happen if the ball hit a solid object, or thick chopped pressed wool (imagine a peacoat on steroids) with a bunch of undergarments are two different things. I'm not saying it wouldn't hurt, or break a bone or something, but the ball would most likely get stuck in the wool.
Traditional muskets are big, clumsy, and kick like a horse, but they blow great big holes in people. Remember, they rendered armor irrelevant, because they can punch through armor and kill horses with the greatest of ease. It is the famous AK-47 that is relatively quiet and low power. Assault weapons are so called because they are designed to be fired while running around, like a handgun. Assault weapons were named by Hitler (or at least he signed off on the name), "Sturmgewehr", literally "Storm gun, Sturm gewehr" because unlike the considerably heavier guns of World War I, designed to be fired while kneeling in a trench, they were designed to be fired while running towards your enemies, while storming the enemy. In consequence an assault rifle makes an excellent hunting weapon for a seven year old girl, but adult males generally prefer considerably more powerful guns for hunting, unless they are varmint shooting. A small child using an assault rifle to hunt usually shoots while kneeling or lying down, and resting the front of the rifle on something, because the weight and recoil makes it difficult for a small child to aim while walking around.