Reply #157: I like the way you think,

[razors edge]

"You are arguing here that any reproduction of the "magic bullet" shot under "similar" conditions would prove nothing, since every shot is different. In other words, one can't come to any conclusions about any particular shot through scientific processes of replication. Shots are singular. They don't lend themselves to replication. Fine."

You have just conceded the fact that a conspiracy to dissuade the public took place in the airing of disinformation.

"The first is your argument: the scientific reproduction of the magic bullet's trajectory is meaningless, because every shot is different."

No argument here.

"The second is the one you've apparently chosen to ignore, probably because it violates your ideological conviction: Any FAILURE to reproduce the magic bullet's trajectory is also meaningless, because every shot is different."

No argument here.

You've just successfully kicked a leg out from beneath one of the primary platforms of the conspiracy theorists. They say "There's no way a bullet could have done that and remained so close to intact! Impossible! It's a 'magic bullet," the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American public, etc., etc. Nobody has EVER managed to replicate that shot, or the trajectory of the bullet!" To this argument, you would surely say: You're wrong. We cannot know whether the trajectory was possible or impossible, because every shot is different! You would surely stand up for your "singularity" thesis of bullets even against people who thought there was a conspiracy, right?

Can you point me towards one of those people so I can see what they are saying?

I can place a paper target in front of a piece of plate steel and prove that even the best sniper won't put the round through exact same hole two shots in a row, I don't care if they weld the barrel to a tank but it will still impact the same plate steel behind the target and leave a second mark on the target.

I can deform the round of your choice on that plate steel as many times as you like and show you bullets with similar deformation on every round, they will not be identical but the deformation will be highly reproducible.

A pristine bullet is a negative deformation.

Can you prove a negative?

Has anyone ever reproduced a similar round fired through anything but a highly controlled receptor?

Edit: A receptor designed to not deform the bullet.