ORIGINAL: hunt91
when i took hunters saftey they went through most of the major cartriges and what they were capable of. did anyone else have the field day when the instructor shot an ice block, water jug, cynder blocketc... and the .223 remark was just an example of a situation when knowing the caliber is a huge saftey factor.
I took my course, in the basement of a sporting goods store, in the bronx , we had coffee and doughnuts ,no shooting water jugs and stuff though, although Im not sure what that would demonstrate, sure woulda made it more interesting.
As far as "knowing the caliber" why would that dictate how safe you are with a particular gun? Not sure I get that logic, are you more likely to point a 223, or even a slug gun, in an unsafe direction ,more than say, a 7mag? Its real simple dont point any gun at something you arent willing to destroy ,and know whats beyond it as well. Do that and it doesnt matter what caliber it is, does it?