Bullets Shot By Bullets?

 FBI figures released in U S show that over ONE MILLION 'civilian' firearms have been sold EVERY MONTH for the last THREE YEARS.

- that's interesting eh ..

When I was a teenaged kid, my eyes were pretty good .. well, I missed being a 'MARKSMAN' in my London school CCF by one point only - so had to wear a 'First Class Shot' badge with a Star rather than a 'Crown' on my tunic sleeve .. No re-count allowed.

My mate Frank and I later both bought Webley Mk3 underlever air rifles and used to compete by shooting at match-sticks poked into his back garden fence at maybe 20 yards range. Easy-Peasy eh.

This image is reputed to be from the front at that disasterous Gallipoli Campaign of WWI where many New Zealanders fought .. I have no right to question the validity of the image as clearly it is REAL and fully possible .. the only question might be - was it a combat hit, or perhaps did it result from static aimed target practice during a more relaxed moment? - Who now can say?

There is no shortage of similar impact hits - as in the next shots below ..

I have no idea of the stories about these - but these pics DO show that hitting an object of around 8mm  is readily achievable.

This next shot is much more interesting and satisfactory to view imho ..

What this photo does clearly illustrate is how safe or stable from accidental discharge metallic cartridges can be eh.

Old friend Frank & I met at my first "grown-up" employment as an engineering apprentice (FAILED  - I was 'let go' for bad time keeping in 1960). - We took those fine Webley air rifles down to Bodmin Moor in Cornwall to hunt rabbits for a week or so .. Never saw a single bunny on the whole trip - but we had great walks around the peaks of 'Brown Willy' and 'Rough Tor' in that ancient open landscape - promised an Army Officer that we wouldn't shoot any of his men on exercise-training on Bodmin - and we "discovered" CLOVELLY - a wonderful old fishing village built into the cliffs above it's picture book harbour. 

I'd bet that Clovelly nowadays will be heaving with jiggling visiters queuing to use the 'facilities' and buying snacks & drinks.. but when we two awoke around dawn back in 1961 in my Morris Mini van in a clifftop carpark and looked over the edge - the place was near silent and we clambered down a small footpath past the cottages to the sea without a single creature observing us other than a ginger cat and some seagulls - MAGIC.

Marty K.