ft/lbs (ugh) vs ft-lb muzzle energy

[tsmith]

I don't see the B-F-D or is it B/F/D or is it BFD. We simple folk get the gest of what someone is trying to say.

you are correct 3x!

if You can understand someone’s conversation who used spell check, then you can sort out the ft. lb. thing...........

 

[bltefft]

Always wondered about ft-lb and ft/lb. I reckon ft-lb is the absolute correct way the express FPE.

 

[RALPHK]

Sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it.

The OP was pointing out the problem with denoting energy as ft/lb, which could mean ft per lb, as in how many feet of wire of certain gage could be produced from a pound of copper. But it was always clear from the context what was meant.

Exactly! It’s not that people don’t care or might even be enlightened, it is the way you came off saying it. 

 

[DemWitt]

Pie are round! Cornbread are square!

FPE is 2 characters less than ft-lb or ft/lb.

agree with wimpanzee, j for joules, only 1 character. It’s about time we went metric.

 

[LostinTejas]

Common practice is to relate KE to ft/lb. It makes for easier understanding and a common repeatable formula. 

Some harp on velocity and weight and then whine that energy isn't a factor and are really showing a shortcoming. It may not mean what most in almost every forum think it means, but in the end, it the what moves things, drives things, and breaks things. I won't get started on "energy dump" and "knock down power". LOL

 

[qball]

Pie are round! Cornbread are square!

FPE is 2 characters less than ft-lb or ft/lb.

agree with wimpanzee, j for joules, only 1 character. It’s about time we went metric.

YES!!! The imperial system was created long ago when general public was illiterate and intentionally kept illiterate. Having multiple conversions made things difficult for general population and easy for the elites to scam poor folks out of their hard earned money. time to give the middle finger to the Imperial system and free ourselves from their oppression! 


Had we gone to metric system which the historical imperial colonizers themselves (Britain, Spain.....) all went to our bullet drop, energy and everything else would be soooooo much easier because everything is divisible by 10 and everything lines up including the mil reticle. 

 

[Steveoo]

The craziest system anyone could imagine has to be the Canadian approach.

Here they rely on 500 fps (for any caliber) for their legal maximum, but this is so far flawed I just cannot imagine how they arrived at it.

Example....You could have a .177 H&N super light green at 5 grains, hitting 500 fps at barely 3ftlbs, and that would be your lot, but a massive .22 Barracuda at 21 Grains also running 500 fps making 3 times the Ftlbs. I wont even get into .25, or . 30 Cal stuff as it just gets even more silly to understand....

You have to be feel sorry for the shooter and the confusion it must bring. He has to detune his .177 HW45 that might be making 540 fps but he can happily shoot a .30 cal capable of putting down a Dog Fox at 500 fps...go figure.
I actually got a less than nice warning from the principal mod on the Canadian AG forum for having the audacity to discuss how i tuned my Walther LP53 to 515 fps...so i packed up and came here!