Joseph writes: > "High Power" in NRA shooting matches only refers to the fact that the allowed > calibers, under the Match Rules, exceed .22. It's essentially a meaningless > distinction.
I'm going to get a bit technical here - I don't have the NRA Rulebooks handy - but the usual big distinction is .22 *rimfire* vs. centerfire rounds. One of the two NRA Highpower match categories is "service rifle", and the NRA says "The rifles currently defined as "Service Rifles" include the M1, M14, M16 and their commercial equivalents." http://www.nrahq.org/compete/highpower.asp All of those are centerfire, and these three are different calibers, .30-06, 7.62x51mm (aka .308 Win), and 5.56x45mm (aka .223 Rem). The other category is "match rifle". An example of the requirement for a club High Power Rifle Match is, "Any center fire rifle of .22 caliber or greater equipped with metallic sights and capable of being reloaded during the rapid fire strings." > Like "Black Talon," the gun folks have OVERSTATED their position to > make themselves feel better (more virile?). The really high energy > round, 50 BMG, isn't shot in "High Power" matches. Clubs often restrict the caliber to .35 or less. > For the anti-gun people, who nearly always know absolutely nothing > about cartridges, "high power" means anything that they don't like. Basically it is "scary" term. > For example, the 5.56x45mm round fired by most AR-15-style rifles has > too little energy to be legal for deer hunting. The 7.62X39mm round > fired by most AK-style rifles has less energy than the 30-30 round Yes, less, but not a great deal less. > used by my grandfather to hunt deer (probably the MOST popular deer > hunting round). The 7.62X51mm round used in the M1A and the FAL (and > most Western army's machine guns) has less energy than the 30-06 round Yes, quite a bit less. > regularily used to hunt deer (probably the second most popular deer > hunting round). > > "High Power" may be related to generally higher energy levels (what > counts in killing) but it's a meaningless term because it encompasses > everything beyond "small bore" or .22 caliber. Which is the .22 rimfire which at least some of had as boys. > ************************************************** > Professor Joseph Olson, J.D., LL.M. o- 651-523-2142 > Hamline University School of Law (MS-D2037) f- 651-523-2236 > St. Paul, MN 55113-1235 c- 612-865-7956 > [email protected] > > >>> "Volokh, Eugene" <[email protected]> 02/02/09 5:32 PM >>> > A quick question: Certain rifles and weapons are sometimes labeled > "high powered" -- often by pro-assault-weapons-ban folks, but also by Which is illogical, because among centerfire rifles, the "assault weapons" (in ill-defined category) are in the lower power category - as Joe points out above. > people who seem to support gun rights (e.g., people organizing certain > shooting events). The term "High Power Rifle" dates back to antiquity :-) perhaps back to the late 19th Century http://usocpressbox.org/usoc/pressbox.nsf/(keywordreports)/CH07-V24DG0/$File/History+of+Shooting.doc?Open http://membres.lycos.fr/shooter/divers/ps66.htm and certainly to the mid-20th http://www.militarymarksmanship.org/history2000.htm > But I take it that the "power" of a shooting rests on > (1) the mass of the bullet, (2) the design characteristics of the > bullet, (3) the amount of gunpowder in the round, (4) the length of the > barrel, (5) the accuracy of the gun, and (6) the size of the magazine. This definition is the technical definition of "power" (actually kinetic energy is what is meant), and the usual engineering definition is whatis meant. Kinetic energy is determined entirely by the mass of the bullet and the velocity (which enters as the square of the velocity.) The velocity of the bullet depends greatly on the amount/type of gunpowder and the barrel length, as well as the distance from the barrel (air friction slows it down.) The accuracy of the gun and the size of the magazine don't influence the energy of a round (i.e. of one shot.) > Items 1, 2, and 3 are functions not of the weapon but of the round. > Item 4 mostly relates to whether the gun is a rifle or a handgun, and in > any case to my knowledge isn't much thought of as a "high power" matter. > Item 5 relates to total deadliness, but again in a way that I'm unaware > is usually connected to whether the gun is a "high power" gun. And item > 6 is a function of the magazine; though assault weapons bans do > sometimes focus on the size of the built-in magazine or the intended > magazine, The recently lapsed US AW ban emphasized replaceable magazines. > many semiautomatic handguns and rifles can take magazines of > varying sizes, including very large ones. Yes, a box magazine can usually be replaced by a larger one - which protrudes further, weighs more and can make the gun difficult to use. But the thought of "very large ones" (20, 30 or even 100 rounds) can be used as a scare factor. > But if this is so, then why the talk of "high powered" guns, not just > from pro-gun-control people but also from others? As Joe points out, the firearms community has distinguished between the relatively low power .22 rimfire round (which dates back to 1887 - date taken from Cartridges of the World, 10e, p447) and the considerably higher power centerfire rifle rounds (such as the "thutty-thutty" 30-30 round, which dates back to 1895, CoTW p54. It never was a scare term, just a brief distinction referring to the relative power (energy). -- --henry schaffer _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
