I always chuckle when hearing of "tying a long string on it to fire it". Sure, it may well sustain firing a couple shots that way, but what about subsequent shots out of a dodgy gun with your eyeball 6 inches behind the cartridge? "Do you feel lucky, Punk? Well, do ya?"

"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz
"Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty