Isaac Newton's third law

Over the last week or so I've had my brother here in South Australia; He lives almost 4,000 kilometres away at the top of Australia and we don't get to see each other much so we did a lot of stuff together including some shooting which is quite foreign to him as he doesn't have guns.

I took him to the farm I shoot on and I also took one of my handguns as I've wanted to try something out for a while and needed two people to do it. Him being here gave me the chance.

Above you can see his grip on the gun. This is a legitimate grip to use as it controls recoil really well. I taught him to assert an equal amount of force on the gun with each hand and to tilt his wrists slightly forward which helps manage the recoil. It needs work, the recoil-management part, but he went pretty well.

Below is what I wanted to try...A set of sequential photos on my phone of the gun actually firing. Now, before you tell me they're shit you need to remember it's a phone and that the gun firing happens very quickly so capturing it in every stage of the firing process is very difficult; The phone simply can't take photos that quickly. It came out ok though I think.

From left to right above you can see the pre-firing position then the slide fully open. This means he has pulled the trigger and the bullet has left the gun. Obviously the energy of the shot firing opens the slide, ejects the spent case and closes again, picking up a new round from the magazine on the way. It's then ready to fire again.

In the right image above you can see I've circled the spent case which has been ejected from the chamber. You may need to blow the image up to see it. Also note where the gun is pointing. The recoil has forced the gun upwards. It's because of physics.

That's Isaac Newton's third law of motion in action: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

This set of images above is interesting for a couple of reasons too. Firstly you can now clearly see the spent case flying away through the air against the blue sky. What I find more interesting though, is where the gun is now pointing; Namely, downward.

In a competition, or real-world scenario a second shot may be required. Double-tapping the target ensures it is eliminated and in a competition scenario it is a requirement to double tap targets which simulates a real-world scenario. It happens very quickly usually, a good shooter will shoot three to four aimed rounds per second if and when required.

Here's the thing though...The gun is not pointing at the target anymore is it? It's pointing downwards...That's ok if you want to shoot a bloke in the balls, but generally the chest or head is recommended. In a competition scenario the same thing applies...There's now points for missing.

What my brother is doing here is over-compensating for the recoil; It's a common thing with new shooters. He has his wrists locked forward slightly, as I told him to do, but he's pushing forward a little too much. A second shot now would miss the target.

We worked on it a little and he got the hang of it after a few rounds. We did some more practice at the range a few days later too. He did pretty well.

Another thing he has done wring here is remove his finger from the trigger which you can see in the above right image.

I think this series of shots is interesting as it demonstrates the recoil very well. This handgun is a 9mm so other calibres will recoil way more than this also, and require more recoil management.

It shows the importance of managing the recoil and the idiocy of the movies where you see little, or no, recoil at all when they shoot. This is because the rounds they use are blanks, they have hardly any gunpowder in them and the recoil springs are very light.

One of these days I'll get Faith to come along and I'll get her to take some footage with my GoPro, which I will be able to lift individual photos off, permitting me to show more of the process better. I think these images are cool though, and prove a point.

I wanted to add in a bonus photo of my brother shooting a few days later. This is whilst I was doing some training with him at my gun range so the distance to the target is quite close, about 8 metres or so.

I've circled the group he was shooting but more interesting is the fact I managed to take the shot just as he had fired. You can see the gun is open (the slide is back) and I captured the smoke of the gunpowder exploding. You might need to blow it up a little to see the effect. I think it's cool.

My brother and his wife had an absolute blast shooting with me and are now talking about getting their firearms licenses which I think is a good idea. They were really impressed with how safe it was and a little surprised at how difficult it actually is...Difficult to do well at it I mean. Anyone can shoot a gun, but it takes work and effort to do it well, accurately and quickly.


Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.

Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209



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This must have been so much fun! :D

I get nervous whenever I think about the gun training I'll have to go through. lol

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A lot of fun yes. I think I'm a good person to go shooting with and I am very safe, know a lot of stuff and make sure it's fun! I like to think I represent shooting and firearms responsibly.

I understand you are nervous; You should be because guns and very dangerous when not used correctly and treated with respect. Just listen to your instructors and do what they say, you'll be fine. It's not the guns you have to worry about, it's the other people there doing the wrong thing...Although on a military range things are managed fairly strictly. You'll be fine, although it won't be as fun as if you were shooting with the G-dog bro!

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Hahahah! No doubt about that man. I'm sure they are not gonna mean to make it fun for us! lol

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Yep...Won't be fun. You'll go ok though.

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Yeah, whatever that would be, I'm going through anyway! ;)

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That's it mate. Go through it, learn some skills and make the best of it as you can. You'll get to shoot some cool guns and one never knows, you might be really good at it...They may train you up as a sniper. 🤞

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Wow! That's some next level shit! :D
But you are right, who knows. ;)

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Lol, I am sure anything that involves you would be really fun.

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Yeah, I like to have fun and like to think I'm fun to be around. Not always though of course.

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I don't know about others, but I get anxious when people around me have a gun.

It may be due to the fact that where I live, people consider having a gun as a symbol of power and a way to flaunt rather than using it as a safety or in competition.


This is the only reason people in my area have guns.

They want to drink, shoot some rounds and show their power.

Nobody knows anything about safety, or if it is a thing.

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People like those around you shouldn't have guns. It's ass holes like them who give legitimate and responsible shooters like me a bad name...Which is undeserved.

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Yepp, that's why I mentioned that I have never heard about safety from any of them. A lot of people have guns around me. They only use it during marriage functions.

But you are the only one who focus so much on safety with a gun. The funny thing is here landlords have more guns than police.

Most people don't even have a license to carry a gun. They do it for fun.

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Guns at marriage functions? Weird.

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lol, it's the only use case of guns here. Except to shoot people, that happens rarely. More people get accidentally shot during marriages😅

Here, a scene from an Indian series for reference:

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Interesting. Here they'd all get arrested for firearms offences! 😂

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Man that is quite fascinating!! I love the action sequences. Your brother is damn lucky to get all this fun!!

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I love all the background stuff around shooting. The science.

Yeah, he's a lucky lad to have a cool brother like me! Lol.

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Science in action is awesome that's where the good stuff lies!!

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I guess that extends to beer tastings and reviews too really. All in the name of science.

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But of course, that's what I tell the missus anyway :0)

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Wow! Seeing the steps at which the gun is firing and tge case on the air is very intresting. Am sure it was all fun like you have disclosed it to be. Makes me feel like joining the Navy or something 🤣🤣

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Get on it man. A military career can be very rewarding.

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That Sir Issac was one smart feller to be sure.

I think the photos are just great, it really does show the firing and recoil process. Nicely done.

In the real world I rarely ever shoot over 8 meters (25 feet) as that's the range I perceive to be my operative range. Farther than that and I expect options that may not include the trigger. Over that is likely to be suppressing fire.

I love standing behind (and just right of) a shooter so I can see where the brass hits. You can tell a lot about the grip and targeting by the size of the circle the brass lands in.

I REALLY like that you suggest to your brother that he take 'professional' instruction. Not just for accuracy but range safety. Nothing makes me quit shooting quicker than some dickhead pointing his gun anywhere but downrange and down. I just leave.

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I'm a long range shooter at heart, a marksman, and love my long guns. I like shooting handguns too though, and am pretty good with them. When I teach someone to shoot, which I do a lot, I always start with safety...Too many idiots out there without me creating more.

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"The photos aren't good"

Mate, they're phenomenal for a phone. :) A bit of light does wonders.

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Maybe it's the photographer that isn't good then. Lol.

Thanks mate. We had a bit of fun getting the shots done. My brother didn't mind, he just had to keep shooting. 😂

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These are some brilliant photos here though. I zoomed in a bit to see the empty shell though.

Back in secondary school, they explained recoil with conservation of momentum; mass of bullet multiples by velocity of bullet= Mass of gun multiplied by recoil speed. something like that.

I'm not used to guns so I'd be a bit spooked initially but shooting one is something I'd love to do. As you said though, movies and games make it seem so ordinary to pull the trigger.

So how do you cope with watching some action movies that trivialise it? For me, I could enjoy the movie because I have zero understanding of it but for you, it probably looks like bullshit

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So how do you cope with watching some action movies that trivialise it? For me, I could enjoy the movie because I have zero understanding of it but for you, it probably looks like bullshit

Watching movies that depict shooting is difficult for me as I'm always picking out faults...And there are many.

Only tonight I watched one where a sniper was represented as taking a shot at over 1200m at a guy in a fast train that was travelling at 238kph. From right to left. The shooter (Will Smith) dialled in about 2MRAD of windage...But the wind was coming from behind him at about 3-4 mph judging by the waving grass behind him. The wind was coming from his 6 o'clock so no windage was required. Just dumb.

Most wouldn't see that though. The movie was Gemini Man with Will Smith in case you want to watch the stupidity. Lol.

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Lol I heard it is a nice movie but you just ruined it for me before I even see it 😄.

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Lol...Sorry brah. 😇

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Lol I've always suspected it was bullcrap though. If you read some of my movie reviews, you'll notice I'm always whining about how much I hate them ridiculous Hollywood cliches and shit.

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No idea are good for entertainment, not knowledge. They rarely contain much one can rely on.

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Hahaha, I watched that movie last week and thought the same thing. And that just one scene. So many impossible shots being made in that movie, but lots of action for folks that don't care I suppose.

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It wasn't a bad movie...The shooting though. Lol. Funny stuff.

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Nice article.
I think your phone pix are fantastic.
I have never shot a hand gun, but the hubby and my sons have and keep telling me to give it a shot.
Pun intended 😊

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They had a good instructor. It is easy to be motivated if you were taught right and also had fun in the process. Half of the experience is the attitude of the instructor, which when it's good, it motivates people in a good way😊

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Good instructors can help students learn and develop better and bad instructors can do the opposite.

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I completely agree! I actually believe that not everybody has the talent to be a good instructor. I think it requires a set of many skills:technical, emotional, mental. Hmm I know someone, a man of many skills.... Hahahha

But the progress done by the majority of people in a good direction is 90% thanks to the good instructors/mentors.

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Yeah, it takes a lot of skills to instruct, mentor and train effectively. I have those skills in certain fields and maybe not in others. I work on developing skills that I lack though. I think I'm going ok with that.

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Oh more skills? You are unstoppable, I can't compete on skill levels with you hahaha.

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There's no competition...I'm happy to share my skills. Some are rather enjoyable.

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Yes, you are very skilled and it is always nice to watch you in action. You share so many useful stuff, you always surprise me

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Sometimes I'm a dumb ass too...Not surprising, but often entertaining.

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Hahaha, I have dumb moments too. I guess we all do. Thanks God I now give Engage tokens which I actually have😂😂😂😂😂😂 Lemme lavish you a bit mate

!ENGAGE 20

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Haha, yeah you and your engage token debacle...You got there in the end though.

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Hahahah. Funny now when I remember. Yes, now I am the club😊

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Thank you for your engagement on this post, you have recieved ENGAGE tokens.

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Your phone doesn't have a burst mode? Nice catch on that last one xD

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Yep it does. That's what I took these with. The burst was a total 74 photos. I just lifted these few.

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That makes more sense. I got the misguided impression (combination of how you wrote about it and me being overtired) that your super fast fingers are as quick on the phone camera button thing as they are on a trigger XP

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(Edited)

I have super-fast fingers...That's true...But they only operate at optimal speed when snatching the last donut off the plate!

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Is it weird I find your pewpew posts interesting, even though I myself don’t shoot?

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I don't think so. Many people find guns interesting I think and I try to break the concepts down to the most basic level and represent firearms well with a view to promote interest...I don't think it's weird that you find them interesting. I like it when non-shooters like them and ask questions also...Helps me bust myths many have about guns. 🙂😉

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I kinda view random things of interest as ”maybe I’ll need this information at some point when the apocalypse hits”

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One never knows when skills of this nature may be required. I'm a prepared dude so have a lot of these skills and get there's so much I don't know. I simply learn more and more each week seeking out the stuff I need to know, and hoping I don't have to use these skills. I'd take you shooting any day. 😉

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Good to see G-Dog continuing to train his brother in the mastery of firearms. Not only does G-Dog know his way around orange cakes and cheezels, but he also knows physics! Those shots turned out pretty great, by the way. It really shows of very well the subsequent happenings of a pistol after you've pulled the trigger.

Posted using Dapplr

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Old G-dog is more than just a pretty face you know...He gotz skills.
🥴

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That, and a huge appetite for Oreos! Honestly, I can hear people crying out in horror at empty shelves in the snacks isle, just because G-Dog's hoarded Oreos by the crate-loads in his basement.

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Lol...I'll leave a packet or two for the others. Maybe.

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Speaking of, I'm was just snacking on a packet of chocolate Oreos earlier. It might be sacrilegious sentiment, but I think it's better than the milk ones.

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