Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm or gun can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to compensate for bullet drop, i.e. the gun can be pointed horizontally at the target.[1][2] For targets beyond-blank range, the shooter will have to point the barrel of their firearm at a position above the target, and firearms that are designed for long range firefights usually have adjustable sights to help the shooter hit targets beyond point-blank range. The maximum point-blank range of a firearm will depend on a variety of factors such as muzzle velocity and the size of the target.[3]
In popular usage, point-blank range has come to mean extremely close range with a firearm, yet not close enough to be a contact shot.[4]
- ^ The United Service Journal and Naval and Military Magazine, 1831 Part III: "What is point-blank range?—with the gun-carriage standing on a level plane, point-blank range is the distance to which the shot will reach from the gun fired from its horizontal position, (as specified above,) before it touches the ground"
- ^ Charles Henry Owen (1871). The Principles and Practice of Modern Artillery: Including Artillery Material, Gunnery and Organization and Use of Artillery in Warfare p.247: "The point blank range of a gun is the range obtained at the first graze of the shot, when the piece is placed on its carriage is fired, with the service charge, on a horizontal plane with no elevation; that is to say, when the axis of the gun is parallel to the plane."
- ^ https://shooterscalculator.com/point-blank-range.php [bare URL]
- ^ "Definition for "point blank range"". MidwayUSA. Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.