Point Blank Range: What Does It Mean? What's Origin Of This Phrase?

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Point blank range is the distance over which the trajectory of a given projectile fired from a particular weapon remains ‘flat enough’ so that the shooter can hit the target by firing at it directly. The point blank range of a firearm can be anywhere from a couple inches to a few meters, depending on the type of weapon and its projectile. The phrase ‘point blank’ has come to mean a ‘can’t miss’ range with a firearm in everyday language.

“After his cover was blown, the army sniper had to fire at the enemy at point blank range.”

“The injuries caused by getting shot at point blank range are often quite grievous.”

“Dave was so bad at archery that he hardly managed to hit the target, even at point blank range!”

Just like the examples above, you may have heard the phrase ‘point blank’ used in many conversations pertaining to firefights/gun battles and archery. Most action movies (like the James Bond, Jason Bourne, Mission Impossible series… just to name a few) involve gun fights where a lot of shooting occurs at point blank range.

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A still from the movie Skyfall. James Bond, a fictional British spy, finds himself involved in firefights quite frequently, and often has to shoot enemies at point blank range. (Photo Credit : straitsTimes)

Do you know what ‘point blank’ actually means? More importantly, why does it have such an odd name? What’s the story there?

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