Editing Point-blank range (section)

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Short description|Distance at which a firearm or projectile can be fired directly at its target and hit}}
{{redir|Point Blank}}
[[File:M1917 ladder sight Bruce Canfield.jpg|right|thumb|The ladder sight on an [[M1917 Enfield]] rifle. When the bar on the rear sight is raised, the barrel of the rifle points slightly upwards compared to the sights. This compensates for bullet drop over a given range.]]

'''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.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FZQEAAAAQAAJ&dq=POINT+BLANK+RANGE&pg=PA264 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"</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bi1RAAAAYAAJ&dq=POINT+BLANK+RANGE&pg=PA247 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."</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web | title=ShootersCalculator.com {{!}} Point Blank Range Calculator | url=https://shooterscalculator.com/point-blank-range.php | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322194127/http://www.shooterscalculator.com:80/point-blank-range.php | access-date=2025-03-31 | archive-date=2012-03-22}}</ref>

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]].<ref name="guntec">{{cite web|url=http://www.midwayusa.com/guntecdictionary.exe/showterm?TermID=3768 |title=Definition for "point blank range" |publisher=[[MidwayUSA]] |access-date=11 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208234646/http://www.midwayusa.com/guntecdictionary.exe/showterm?TermID=3768 |archive-date=8 December 2007}}</ref> Point-blank (when describing a person) means direct or blunt.<ref>{{cite web |title=POINT-BLANK Definition & Meaning |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/point-blank |website=Meriam-Webster |access-date=2 May 2025}}</ref>