Did anybody happen to catch the History Channel last night, and their show titled "The Magnum"?

Normally, I like History, but last night's piece blew it. The show was titled "The Magnum". I should've known going in that with a generic title like that, there might be trouble. It was about "magnum gun bullets", and was an hour-long series of mistakes & bad info.

A list of quotes that I happened to write down as I watched it include:

"Any bullet with extra powder in it is a magnum" (Bullets have powder?)

"Magnum bullets are going three times the speed of sound, MUCH faster than normal bullets" (That would be "about" 3300 FPS, hardly the fastest thing out there, and yet they launched into a big piece on the 357 and 44 Magnums, well under that speed...)

"Magnum bullets are so fast, spotters can see them cutting through the air, something you can't do with normal bullets" (This was while they showed the US Army Marksmanship Unit shooting bolt guns in competition)

"Magnums started when people pulled bullets, crammed more powder in, and replaced the bullet. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it exploded in their hand" (One of my personal favorites, made us all sound like a bunch of crazy idiots...)

"Teddy Roosevelt used the 30-40 Krag on safari, a VERY high powered cartridge" (Really?)

"The 357 Magnum is a louder, more violent version of the 38 Special" ("more violent"? Sounds like an anti-gunner had some input in that line.)

"Smith & Wesson harnessed the incredible cartridges of magnum rifles into handguns" (Yep, the ever-popular 458 Mag revolver...)

"With the 357, the incredible noise scared criminals into submission" (Why have actual bullets then, just make a bunch of noise & they'll quit fighting...)

"Patton carried a Colt revolver in one hand, and a magnum in the other" (Huh?)

"Fort Benning's elite marksmen shoot magnums" (Mostly, they shoot tuned M-16's, but when they do shoot a "magnum", which one? {300 WM})

"The Army Marksmanship team uses hand-packed bullets" (Again, an obviously uninformed reporter not knowing the correct terms. They were referring to handloaded cartridges.)

And my favorite...

They summed it up with "The magnum is the most powerful gun in the world" (Obviously meant to grab attention, without having any meaningful substance behind it)

At least when they talkedto the USAMU shooters, for the most part they explained things a little clearer and more correctly.

I would love to get that reporter, show them a 22 Mag, or a 222 Mag, or a 357 Mag, etc, and ask "So, this is the most powerful gun in the world huh?"

They were clueless, but I guess the show was geared toward the typical clueless non-shooter anyway, and now they can go talk "magnumitis" to their buddies on the golf course.

They've also ran a "Modern Marvel" piece called "Bullets". About the same as "The Magnum" as far as accuracy. There was a scene showing Marines loading "sniper match ammo". The guy primed a case, removed it from the press, and then the camera moved in for a closeup of the primed round. A firing pin indentation was cleary visible in the seated primer. Do they think nobody notices stuff like that?

I saw it a while back. Despite the fact that they often consult with some knowledgable people, the History Channel also gets a lot of their "facts" wrong! Obviously, their shooting programs are put together by non-shooters! I was underwhelmed by their statement that a magnum can fire a bullet at three times the speed of sound! So, does this make the .250 Savage a magnum? Gimme a break!!

Think of it as a remedial firearms knowledge course....

For the rest..... twwwfffffttttt.... What a waste of the radio spectrum. JMO, Dutch.

The History Channel used to run "Tales of the Gun" at a regular time, but I guess the anti-gun thing got the best of them, so they stopped calling the shows "Tales of the Gun" and now they show it under the "Modern Marvels" title and only show them now and then.

Myself and a couple of guys from another board e-mail the history channel and asked if there was going to be any new episodes to the "Tales for the Gun" series, the answer was basically NO!

Now, the one thing I do have to say for them is that at least they run something about guns, that does not pan guns. Better then I can say for anything the Big 3 put out!

Zero

I watched the first 10-15 minutes of the program and had to turn it off before I fell off the couch laughing!

Ignorance can be cured.....stupidity is terminal!

You have to remember that the History Channel (as well as the Biography Channel) are owned by A&E, which is basically anti-gun...and all three rely on "sensationalism" rather than proven fact.

Cold bore,

Most of your post is nitpickky crap. It may come as a shock to you but many people who watched that television program may not be shooting gurus! Most of the non-shooters I know refer to loaded cartridges as "bullets". So I suspect, and admittedly I could be very wrong, I believe the Editor's of the program opted to use the word "bullet" to describe a cartridge in order to not "LOSE THE AUDIENCE". So they used the terminology most people use/understand (right or wrong).

General George Smith Patton Jr. did in fact carry a Colt SAA and a S&W 357 Mag. At that time the 357 Mag was the MOST POWERFUL HANDGUN IN THE WORLD. A 357 mag is FAR IN A WAY louder than a 38 Special! Don't take my word for it shoot both of them back to back without hearing protection!

The magnum craze was in fact started by people overloading there cartridges. The firearms and ammunition manufacturers were simply supplying the niche demand, AT THAT TIME, for more power. Something which continues to this day. I believe Holland's of London England originally termed the phrase "Magnum" for there over capacity cartridges.

The 300 H&H does in fact break the speed barrier by about 3 times, with the proper bullet weight. The 244 H&H easily produces a triple sonic boom.

Actually, you can see 308 going down range too. So that is a bit of melodrama. However, think of the COOL factor it has for kids watching the show (remember kids come in all ages, like the wannabe HA that ride around on their full dresse Harleys in Yuppyville). So I have no problem with this type of hype as it helps the shooting sports by turning people onto them! Hardly what I would call anti-gun!

In 1896 a 30-40 Krag WAS A POWERFUL cartridge for it's bore! It smoked all but the 8mm Mauser and the 7.62X54R. This statement must be taken into perspective. There were no "Ultra-Mags" back then!

Hand packed versus hand loaded. I see no reason for mockery. It really is 6 of one or a half dozen of the other.

Well my two primary hunting rifles, neither of which have magnum in their name, are as powerful or more powerful the biggest and baddest magnums. However, The History Channel, was doing nothing any worse than ALL the ammunition manufactures and MOST the firearms manufacturers when they made that statement about Magnums being the "Most Powerful Guns in the World". By the way, the 22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire IS THE MOST POWERFUL 22 Rim Fire in the World. Also, within their bore, Magnum cartridges typically are the most powerful!

Anyway, I witnessed NO wrong with this program, it is an old rerun by the way I think I watched it a year or two ago. To me the program did MORE to promote the shooting sports than I have seen done by most if not all the posters on ACCURATE RELOADING.

ASS_CLOWN

Yes, last night's show had me scratching my head also as I was eating dinner. When they said that S & W had a magnum rifle cartridge in a handgun a piece of macaroni shot out my nose.

In general, though, I enjoy the "Tales of the Gun" series and find that it helps our sport. A couple of acquaintances of mine who know I enjoy shooting watched an episode here-and-there after I apparently picqued their curiosity. Learning of the history, etc., behind firearms and seeing reasonable and sane folks discuss them, they have showed further interest. One of these folks now goes with me to the range a couple times a year.

Although these shows do contain some inaccuracies, they are a far sight better than anti-gun reporting which has yet more inaccuracies and out-and-out lies.