(Not The Bee) The President of the United States of America, the man who serves as her Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has no flippin’ clue how guns work:
An AR-15 could vaporize an entire human body in a matter of seconds. pic.twitter.com/D1mejssug9
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 31, 2022
What the everliving heck??
The AR-15 is simply a type of gun design. Bullet velocity is determined by the weight of the bullet, the amount of gunpowder in each bullet casing, and the length of the barrel.
Among the ARs that I used to own before my tragic boating accidents, one is a short-barreled rifle chambered in .300 Blackout. These rounds are larger than the popular NATO 5.56mm rounds used in many rifles.
Many people like .300 Blackout because it packs a bigger punch, but also because it packs a smaller punch.
Let me explain.
This bullet caliber has many types of subsonic rounds that travel slower than the speed of sound, sacrificing force for stealth.
Every brand of ammunition has a different muzzle velocity (how fast the bullet leaves the barrel). Here are two subsonic brands for this caliber:
- Federal American Eagle Suppressed: 990 feet per second
- Hornady Sub-X: 1026 feet per second
Sounds fast, right?
Let’s look at this guy for comparison:
That’s your grandpa’s 30-06 hunting rifle that he’s used since 1953.
Here are some muzzle velocities for various offerings from the Federal brand:
Oof.
So about 3 times “faster,” if we want to use Joe’s language.
Not only that, but a 30-06 is a beastly bullet. Look at this thing compared to a typical .223 caliber round, which has the same size case (but has lower pressure) as the 5.56mm round used in many ARs:
YIKES!
Sounds like we should be banning that hunting round!
What about the Henry Repeating Rifle that your great-great-great grandpappy used to in his gunslinging days in the Wild West?
Well, that sucker was likely chambered in .44 Magnum, which is an even beefier round that could take down a charging bear or bison.
These rounds, in addition to having far more force, travel out of the barrel at about 1300-1500 feet per second.
To be fair, your typical AR chambered in 5.56 has a bullet that travels at roughly 3,000-3,200 feet per second with a barrel over 16 inches.
There are plenty of videos on YouTube that Biden can watch if he wants to know how magic firesticks work:
