Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Journalists and Caliber Literacy

 All of us have seen journalists refer to .9mm pistols.  (Someone took the high capacity over major caliber argument too far?)  I found a 1943 incident where the guy took revenge on the judge who granted the divorce (and a number of bystanders) with a .12 gauge shotgun.  Appropriate for flies, I suppose.  As several readers observed .12 gauge would be a cannon.

1 comment:

  1. If you want to get pedantic, shotgun gauge is the number of bore-sized lead balls that make up one pound.

    A 16-gauge has a bore sized for a 1/16 pound (1 oz) lead round ball.

    An 8-gauge has a bore sized for a 1/8 pound (2 oz) lead round ball.

    By that definition, a 0.12 gauge shotgun should have a bore sized for about an 8 pound ball. Not quite what most of us would call 'small arms' ...

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