Angel: How're you feeling? Faith: Like I did mushrooms and got eaten by a bear.

'A Hole in the World'


Lost: OMGWTF POLAR BEAR  

[NAFDA] This is where we talk about the show! Anything that's aired in the US (including promos) is fair game. No spoilers though -- if you post one by accident, an admin will delete it.


§ ita § - Dec 09, 2004 11:25:39 am PST #3696 of 10000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

It provides the messiness that the fmj was supposed to prevent.

I'm confused now. I understand the goal is to minimise casualties (okay, that looks weird) and maximise injuries (that looks better).

Poor aiming achieves this by not hitting the fatal targets. FMJ achieves this by drilling rather than smashing.

Wouldn't tumbling an FMJ get you back into smashing territory (like hollow points) and get you back into more mortality?


Sean K - Dec 09, 2004 11:27:36 am PST #3697 of 10000
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

But, like, Sean, there is die now, and die later.

Look at what DX said here:

The thing about rifles is that the average soldier is a) not a particularly good shot to begin with, and b) shooting while trying to present as small a target as possible.

Back when military rifles were rifled, very few soldiers could shoot well enough to kill with one shot. The rifling was removed to make them more lethal, not less.


DXMachina - Dec 09, 2004 11:28:37 am PST #3698 of 10000
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.

Wouldn't tumbling an FMJ get you back into smashing territory (like hollow points) and get you back into more mortality?

Yes, along with more serious wounds. Everybody wins!


Sean K - Dec 09, 2004 11:28:44 am PST #3699 of 10000
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

Wouldn't tumbling an FMJ get you back into smashing territory (like hollow points) and get you back into more mortality?

Not exactly. A tumbling fmj assault rifle round doesn't smash. It carves a very large and very nasty path through the body.


§ ita § - Dec 09, 2004 11:30:20 am PST #3700 of 10000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

It carves a very large and very nasty path through the body.

How does that not up the mortality rate, though? It's precisely why hollow points kill better, no?


Sean K - Dec 09, 2004 11:32:31 am PST #3701 of 10000
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

How does that not up the mortality rate, though? It's precisely why hollow points kill better, no?

Sorry. The "not exactly" was referring to the "smashing." You are correct in that it's back into the higher mortality rate.

Actually, I think DX, Nutty and I are all arguing from more or less the same position, we're just quibling about the design intent, just not very successfully.


§ ita § - Dec 09, 2004 11:42:57 am PST #3702 of 10000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I was using the word smash to convey not drilling, but the whole large nasty non-precise damage inflicted thing. Sounds like everyone is almost in agreement.


libkitty - Dec 09, 2004 11:45:52 am PST #3703 of 10000
Embrace the idea that we are the leaders we've been looking for. Grace Lee Boggs

Secret message to beathen, although, really, anyone can look if they want to:

Don't worry about it. Reading will just slow down the typing. I should have both 3 and 4 for you this weekend. Sorry I'm so slow!


Sean K - Dec 09, 2004 11:45:52 am PST #3704 of 10000
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

Yeah, I think we're all in agreement and just not seeing it very well. I know I have perhaps not expressed myself as well as I'd have liked.

I originally entered this discussion to quibble with Nutty's characterization that switching from a design that caused a small, tidy wound to one that causes a large, messy wound was going from more to less lethal, but I also suspect I may have misunderstood the point she was trying to make.


beathen - Dec 09, 2004 11:51:13 am PST #3705 of 10000
Sure I went over to the Dark Side, but just to pick up a few things.

Thanks for all your help libkitty!