I’ll admit that before reading this comment thread I probably would have said that point blank is so close you could basically reach out and touch, or nearly touch, the target.
I do hope, however, that I would look it up before contesting how it was used.
SaltSong@startrek.website 1 week ago
The technical term comes from archery. In archery, the arrow rises when fired, so when shooting at very close targets, you actualy aim lower than the point you want to hit. At distant targets, of course, you aim higher, because the arrow will start to fall.
“Point Blank” is the distance at which you aim directly at the target. Last time I did any shooting, it was about 22 feet, with my bow and my arrows.
Sciaphobia@sh.itjust.works 1 week ago
Neat! That makes sense. Appreciate the learning moment!
too_high_for_this@lemmy.world 1 week ago
It actually comes from artillery, but it’s the same idea.
Cannons were tapered, so the bore would point slightly upwards compared to the line of sight on top of the cannon. So the projectiles trajectory would rise above and then fall below the line of sight.
Point blank range was the distance at which the projectile drops below that line when the cannon was aimed at zero elevation.
SaltSong@startrek.website 1 week ago
I question the accuracy of this statement. Archers existed long before black-powder artillery. At the same time, though, I don’t know if anyone would have been concerned with that measurement, way back when.