If I was the local constabulary I'd be seriously looking into it.
As an aside, I've seen a lot of Amish people over the years, but have not ever seen a buggy being driven by one of their females....just sayin'.
Well let me see if you have your rifle pointing up in the air at the right angle it is possible to travel a ways. Shooting straight at a target at a range would be different.
Female stole buggy, shot in self-defense and defense of property.
Amish cover up I say.
Uhhh... All bullets drop with the same acceleration (9.8m/s^2). In fact, neglecting air resistance, if you fired a bullet horizontally and dropped another simultaneously, they would hit the ground at the same time. If your rifle is about 4’10” off the ground and horizontal (1.5 meters), ANY bullet you fire will hit the ground about .55s after it is fired (once again neglecting air resistance, sloped ground, etc.). The primary difference in their ballistic performance, aside from air resistance, is the horizontal speed (which determines how far they get in that .55s).
Now, obviously, we can’t ignore air resistance. But when you consider that (just doing the math) a muzzle-loader with a muzzle velocity of about 420 m/s held at 45 degrees from horizontal has a theoretical maximum range of ~57,500 ft (or 10.8 miles), even if we divide that distance by 4 or 5 to account for air resistance, we can still get 1.5 miles pretty easily...
i dont think those ranges are right for the 300wby. mine can actually hit a target at 800 yards, on the range, and i am not aiming up anywhere near 45 degrees. so that gun, my guess, would easily fire miles. i heard 7 miles in hunter safety but dont know if thats right.
Amish women, especially younger women and girls, often drive buggies alone - it's not at all uncommon among the Ohio Amish communities.
Yes, I have seen young Amish women driving buggies before. I go to Lancaster often for Kauffman’s apple cider.
A .22 long rifle can go a mile and a half, easily.
A .22 LR will travel close to a mile. Your high power rifles may not be suitable to hit what you aim at that far away, but they will toss the slug out there.
” ...not ever seen a buggy driven by one of their females ...”
Around here, half of the buggy drivers are women or girls. There’s a sub-category of buggy horses especially for women. Dawdy horses for Grandma and Grandpa, “women drivers” for women and girls, school hacks or school ponies for the little ones and the notorious “boy’s horse” for the thrill-seekers.
That said, what a tragedy for the family, and how can the shooter ever show his face in public again. What a disgrace.
My 10-year-old and 13-year-old use better sense with their BB guns.
As an aside, I’ve seen a lot of Amish people over the years, but have not ever seen a buggy being driven by one of their females....just sayin’.
Then you haven’t been around Shipshewana or Nappanee very much.
>> “so unless you’re aiming up at a 45 degree angle...” <<
.
37 1/2 degrees is optimum, and a .50 long gun can easily shoot that far.
Blackpowder firearms can send a projectile 1.5 miles. My 50 cal Hawkin Rifle fires a 350 grain bullet at 1400 fps with 90 grains of ff blackpowder. At a howitzer level of trajectory that round is going and going. Compare to heavy cartridge bullet loads (such as 45-70) to see how slowly they lose velocity every additional 100 yards.
Why would a fella waste a careful load without shooting it at a target? If he had to just get rid of the load he could have fired it into a soil bank. It is lots of work to unload a muzzle-loader without firing.