The FBI'S Legendary Sharpshooter - Jelly Bryce

K. B. Chaffin ^ | November 12, 1945 | K. B. Chaffin

[yooper]

Thanks Eaker. One of the top ten best posts I've read on FR.

You done good.

[Eaker]

Is it unusual to be able to see a .38 or larger bullet travel to its target?

Not to answer for LibWhacker, but it is unusual to impossible. I have been able to see both a BB and a pellet exit a low power Daisy, but not a bullet.

I have been on the dispatching end of alot of lead but never saw a thing. except the occasional hole in my target of choice.

Eaker

[LibWhacker]

I don't believe it's that unusual to catch a fleeting glimpse of a bullet. But it sounds like Bryce could see them and follow them to the target each and every time. That would be quite extraordinary, imho. In my younger days one of my eyes was corrected to 20/10 and I could sometimes follow a bullet all the way to the target, but the light had to be just so. Nowadays that eye is only corrected to 20/20 and I can't believe the difference it makes. I think I'm going blind sometimes, lol.

I remember a Ripley's Believe it or Not factoid about an 18-year-old German girl who could recognize a face a mile away. In other words, you could hold up a life-sized picture of the face of someone she knew and she could tell you who it was! From a mile away, most people can't even tell you it's a picture, much less that it's a picture of a human face. And forget recognizing who it is. Maybe Bryce had eyesight like that, more eagle-eyed than human-eyed.

[Shooter 2.5]

Given enough distance I've seen bullets in flight.

I've seen a .45 Auto at 100 yards and .223's at 400. They look like tracers. It depends on the light conditions.

The most entertaining thing I've seen is a .223 ripple the air while it was supersonic. It looks like a picture that is suddenly wrinkled for a split second. That was through a fairly powerful spotting scope.

[LibWhacker]

I should add that I never saw any bullet that was going faster than about 1,000 fps, that's for sure! :-)

[SevenDaysInMay]

So do I. They are as disgusted as I. Nam taught them that murderers wear all kinds of uniforms.

[lepton]

Is it unusual to be able to see a .38 or larger bullet travel to its target?

Not to answer for LibWhacker, but it is unusual to impossible. I have been able to see both a BB and a pellet exit a low power Daisy, but not a bullet.

I have been on the dispatching end of alot of lead but never saw a thing. except the occasional hole in my target of choice.

Ah. I didn't realize it was so unusual for people who don't need glasses. On a reasonably bright day, I can pick up a 9mm if the target is more than about 20m away, as it draws a line. Even with my aging eyes, .45s are easy to see, and at 50m I easily can see the travel. They're pretty slow.

[Eaker]

When I was younger I have 20/15 vision in both eyes. A pesticide incident degraded that to 20/20 and it remains there today. I will admit that I still notice the difference after almost 15 years.

The objects that I have seen exit a weapon were at around 300 fps tops. It never even dawned on me to actually try to watch the bullet, especially at 900+ fps.

I'll try it next time I am at the range, no reason to watch the 10-ring, that is where the hole ends up anyway!!!

Eaker

[Eaker]

Then we agree to agree! Cool.

Eaker

[lepton]

I don't believe it's that unusual to catch a fleeting glimpse of a bullet. But it sounds like Bryce could see them and follow them to the target each and every time. [...] I could sometimes follow a bullet all the way to the target, but the light had to be just so.

More recently I tend to see streaks, but one of the things I liked about the 9mm was that it was fast enough to correlate between the firing and the hole at range, and that in the middling ranges I could track the bullet. Big difference between that and a .22.

[Shooter 2.5]

I forgot to mention they weren't my bullets. It was always someone else shooting.

Since I use sights, I'm in recoil while the bullets in flight. I noticed Bryce shot from the hip so he probably tracked his rounds by watching them to the target. That's entirely possible especially if the light is behind you with no wind or mirage.

[lepton]

Since I use sights, I'm in recoil while the bullets in flight. I noticed Bryce shot from the hip so he probably tracked his rounds by watching them to the target. That's entirely possible especially if the light is behind you with no wind or mirage.

When I see them, it's been with the sun rather perpendicular, and only when I'm shooting. Unless the pistol is high-recoil, the recoil doesn't bother me so much because I have both eyes open.

[Elsie]

"Aren't you interested in bringing them back alive?" someone once quipped. "I'm more interested in bringing me back alive," he said.

[Eaker]

Great quote!!

Great story too.

Eaker

[LibWhacker]

Okay! Try to pick it up about 8 or 10 yards in front of the muzzle. That's where I always seemed to spot mine. And it always worked best for me on a bright sunny day with the sun over my left shoulder (I shoot left-handed) around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, i.e., with the sun about 30 degrees above the horizon. Once a buddy of mine was shooting my .45 and I caught a fleeting glimpse of the bullet a couple of feet in front of the muzzle, the only time I ever saw a bullet when I wasn't the one doing the shooting.

[Nucluside]

I've visually followed a .38, but not .38 Sp.
Unsupervised with a .22 at ten years old? Not such a big deal. Both of my sons did the same, and very safely. Both, incidentally, cut their teeth (literally) on a small (kit version) single-shot, cap and ball, black-powder pistol. We had to let them; they were tearing up more stuff than a black Lab puppy!

[Shooter 2.5]

That's about right. I have a two inch muzzle flip on my .45 auto carry pistol with the ported barrel and a one inch one with a .22. The .22 could be less but I keep a lighter hold on it.

[TEXASPROUD]

Nice post Eaker. Now I can't help but wonder about the .44 S&W, was it a triple-lock or a Model of 1926. I have a Model of 1926 and have always wondered about its history. It has the old style long action and is one of the smoothest double action revolvers I have. It is also a 5 incher.
This one gets book marked.

[Eaker]

Hey Travis, Squantos, Harpseal and Joe, Y'all have any experience with this?

Eaker

[Eaker]

Brother I can't even ask your question, much less answer it!!!

If you can find an answer, I would appreciate a ping!

Eaker