| Author | Message | ||
     Britchri10 |
Initial Handgun ownership and training from my PPV: Due to work requirements I acquired a handgun about 2 years ago. I hadn't touched a handgun in 40 years. I spent a lot of time on U-tube looking at all aspects of gun ownership before I touched the weapon. Assembly, disassembly, cleaning, loading, unloading, aiming, clearing, firing etc'. I practiced what I saw and dry-fired the crap out of the weapon. I then enrolled in safe gun handling classes offered by my employer and lead by a LEO qualified instructor. Having done all this I went to the range to live fire it for the first time. At the range I reviewed the protocols with the staff and then proceeded to actually fire the weapon. It may not be the best approach but I think it was a common sense approach on my part and it worked for me. YMMV | ||
| Ratbuell |
and it worked for me. That is, quite possibly, the most important part of your process. Some people learn by researching. Some people learn by doing. ...and, some people NEVER learn. As long as you know the goal (proficiency, safety, effectiveness), and you know what method works best for you to GET to that goal...that's the key. | ||
| Rick_a |
Another tip is to never assume a gun you're handed is unloaded. Everyone will tell you it is. Sometimes it actually may be. Always, one should check. That's another thing I see every day that makes me cringe and sometimes regret my current choice in vocation. I don't get paid enough to be dealing with strangers pointing guns in my face all day. | ||
| Rick_a |
"But, it's unloaded!" is ignorance at its finest. | ||
| Fireboltwillie |
Rick a, that is something that i make sure people understand when around less experienced shooters.... once a weapon is in your hands, it's your responsibility to make it safe... even if the person handing it to you unloaded and showed clear right in front of you.. do it again anyway... safety, safety, safety.... | ||
| Zac4mac |
Any time I hand a pistol to someone, I hand it with the slide locked back and no mag. Never hand anyone a loaded gun, they might shoot you. Z | ||
| Rick_a |
I am on a roll selling all the guns I don't use on a daily. It is somewhat liberating. I'm using the monies to fix up my car and jazz up the existing firearms. Also, if the GF breaks up with me permanently, the goal is being able to use a small moving truck instead of a big one.  I'm contemplating whether or not to get instructor credentials. Last time I had the money, the universe struck me down severely. Dunno  Being credentialed isn't a necessity here, but it looks good on a resume and most aren't. If I'm going to do it, I'd rather learn from the pros first. I've taught machinegun classes, but that's a different thing. | ||
| Rick_a |
Some people actually get offended that you clear their weapon when exchanging possession of it. It's kind of absurd. I'm never going to assume that a firearm that is handed to me is unloaded. What a recipe for disaster. The basic safety rules should be the first thing anyone knows concerning firearms. It's unfortunate that many people tend to gloss over that aspect, or are altogether ignorant about it. | ||
| Zane |
I was taught that every firearm is loaded unless I have personally validated that it is not. I don't care if I see the person who hands me the firearm check to verify it's unloaded. I check again. I've passed this attitude down to both my sons. | ||
| Court |
>>>>Another tip is to never assume a gun you're handed is unloaded. That should read ALWAYS Don't believe me . . . . ask, perhaps, one of the greatest guitar players to ever live. "hell, it's not even loaded" . . . . as he pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. | ||
| Ratbuell |
every firearm is loaded unless I have personally validated that it is not Absolutely. Verify with eyes, and with fingertips. If someone wants to hand me a weapon where the chamber is not exposed (slide back on a semiauto; bolt open on a rifle; cylinder dropped on a revolver), I tell them to put it down on a table so I can pick it up. I don't want ANY fingers near a trigger, and the only fingers I can control are my own. I prefer they be the only ones on a weapon, while I'm handling it. If that's too much for them, I tell them to have a nice day and I walk away. Too many times, I've picked up semiautos that I'm told up and down are "empty", pointed them in a safe direction, racked the slide...and caught the round that was ejected in midair. "Empty, huh?" Generally I'll field-strip right there, and put it down in pieces. Let them screw around with putting it back together while I walk away - at least while it's apart, they can't kill anyone with it. | ||
| Ratbuell |
MORE RACISM!!! https://www.gunsamerica.com/digest/everytown-touts -new-study-claiming-stand-your-ground-laws-are-rac ist/ Just for grins..."Where's Waldo" how many brown people are in that photo (or is Waldo racist now, too??). I found four. I'm sorry...WHO's racist again?? | ||
| Blake |
Y'all will cringe repeatedly at this U. S. Military instructional video for combat handgun training. Unbelievable to the point of horrific. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP7J-JNSUu4 | ||
| Whisperstealth |
I was trained at an early age about gun safety starting with a BB Gun. I worked my way up to a firearm only after some supervised trips outside with the old BB Pistol. I still remember that first lesson... My first time shooting it, I shot all the BBs out of the pistol, a crossman CO2 model, and turned around failing to keep the pistol pointed down range. For my infraction I got thumped on the head, and a stern lecture reminding me of the importance of gun safety. Another little story: Years later my brother wanted to show some neighborhood kids a BB Gun he had gotten. He was 16 at the time. He went and got the BB Pistol, wrapped his hand around it with his finger on the trigger and went to go out the front door. He tripped on the step and fell pulling the trigger. He accidentally shot one of the neighbor kids. In the head, close to one of his eyes. The kid happened to be black, us brothers are white(with a little Cherokee), and it turned into a big deal. This was around 1995 in a large diverse city in California. The cops were called, the kids parents made it seem like my brother did it on purpose because of race. My brother was handcuffed and nearly went to jail. To this day my brother is still gun shy. So yeah, gun safety is important. | ||
| Ducbsa |
A good story: https://www.recoilweb.com/following-m3a1-grease-gu n-750213-through-vietnam-165830.html | ||
| Rick_a |
That's a great story. Thanks for sharing. I'm contemplating selling both of my shotguns (a 1970's Remington 1100 and 1960's Ithaca 37) and replacing them with a 590A1. I do liek them quite a bit, tho.  The 1100 runs pretty dirty and the Ithaca requires like four different sized screwdrivers for disassembly which is a pain. The 1100 is extremely smooth shooting and the 37 is the smoothest pump action I've ever experienced. | ||
| Aesquire |
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/02/27/andy -biggs-at-cpac-atf-creating-law-without-legislativ e-authority/ Unless you're going to a box magazine I wouldn't trade away 2 of the best ever of semiautomatic and pump guns. Yes, I like the Winchester SuperX/Browning/FN gas system a bit better, but it's hard to beat the Ithaca for elegance and smoothness. Ok, trade the Remington.  But I don't think you'll be happy going from semi to pump, overall. Why not trick out the 1100? Extended magazine, better sights. Skip the hand guard imho. | ||
| Rick_a |
I have.  20190711_073349 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr The Ithaca is in trench gun form  20190612_071440 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr They're both currently worth more than I've invested and I'm in the mood to keeping only what I need. | ||
| Rick_a |
The Remington is prone to a user induced "trapped shell" malfunction that is a pain to clear. It's rare, but it happens. The Ithaca is smooth and slam fire capable, but a pain to disassemble. The 590A1 is a sloppy feeling action, but is pretty much the king of reliability. With a light and about 1" chopped off the stock it would be perfect. The 18.5" with a +2 extension balances better and is a little handier, methinks...but that bayonet, tho. | ||
| Rick_a |
So, I decided on the 18.5" model. Will cut the stock down about one inch, add some kind of light, and a +1 extension.  No bayo lug or heat shield, but is fine. Back to basics, baby. | ||
| Aesquire |
Ah! I understand. Good call. I just hated to see a classic Ithaca go, hope it finds a good home. You don't need the hand Guard without the bayonet. It's funny how bayonets frighten the hoplophobes. There's near zero incidents outside of war from them, but... I assume hoplophobia has It's root in Hoplite, the spear armed Ancient Greek soldier. Makes sense, the bayonet was originally to give early gun equipped troops a pike for protection against cavalry. When it takes a minute to reload, ( a bit less with training depending on century and tech level ) gun armed troops were easy prey for fast moving sword and lance armed cavalry. Often early gun armed troops were partnered with pikemen for protection. Horses are too smart to throw themselves on big pointy sticks. But pikes are close only weapons, and giving the gun men pointy defence & dropping the pikes effectively doubles the fire power. American Civil War, Napoleonic wars, then WW1 changed use and attitudes on pointy defence bits! So homophobes are scared of all weapons, really, fear of stabby ones is just nearly subliminal but potent today. Insert rant here on the movie 300. I loved it, myself, but the leather posing jocks and bare chest costumes are pure comic book. ( since the movie is based on the comic... ) Real Hoplites, Spartan, Athenian, or the unsung heroes of Thermopylae, the Thesbians, ( who to be fair,at least were in the movie briefly ) were the main battle tanks of the era. Heavy armor, serious DPS. | ||
| Aesquire |
I just watched a video on female armor & how stupid much of the fantasy stuff is. There's more than one... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=60lU68oyxK4 Having built armor for gals, I can tell you, Jill is correct. I admit to some unprofessional enjoyment in the fitting process, but do take the subject of proper protection seriously. For the well endowed ladies, a breast shelf for breathing room is a plus, as is careful fitting of arm holes to protect the sides & still give proper movement. Yeah, just as I wince when an ignorant writer has a character flick off the safety on his S&W .357 or Glock, I get annoyed at silly armor in movies. I'm more forgiving in video games, and personally enjoy mail bikinis to look at, but it your lady wants that look, buy her sunscreen, ( it reflects on to the upper chest and neck! ) and consider tumbling the mail to take the sharp edges off... But it'll still pinch. | ||
| Rick_a |
That reminds me of the ladies that come in to shoot showing off their ample cleavage. That's just fine...just don't shoot anyone when hot brass makes its way in there. On the gun front, I should have a working 5.56 rifle again by the end of the week...this one with a working bayonet lug this time. If it's going to be there, it may as well be functional. Our distributor has been weeks behind. On the shotgun, I'm putting a pistol light underneath the forend, using an S&J +1 extension kit, and a Phoenix Technologies "Kicklite" sporting stock on it. I think this is a good, capable and durable light, that will also double as a hand stop on the factory M-lok forend.   I'm normally not into gimmicky things...but I do shoot a lot of buck and slugs. The grip texture looks questionable...but if I don't like it, it can be fixed.  I feel bad selling the Remington and Ithaca...but there are aspects of both that are deal killers for me. The 590A1 has no negatives that I can think of. The Remington has such a thin barrel in comparison, I'm just glad it has never fallen over. It'll be nice having a truly durable purpose made shotgun for once, instead of a repurposed sporting gun. At any rate, the shotgun fills a backup role in my home, but is nice to have nevertheless. | ||
| Ducbsa |
You mentioned the Civil War and bayonets. Reminds me of the story at Little Round Top when the Yanks were low on ammo and the Rebs were attacking. The Colonel yells "Fix bayonets and Charge" and the Sight made the Rebs stop and retreat. | ||
| Rick_a |
A new AR was born today. Functions with Wolf and TulAmmo steel cased stuff. Will sight it in tomorrow. It's a little butt heavy in balance, which is annoying. May get a lighter stock for it. It should balance perfectly with the bayonet on it | ||
| Chauly |
Or the chain saw... | ||
| Rick_a |
Meh. Too impractical. I'm going to try out a Roger's "Super-Stoc." It's relatively light and pretty solid. I've met the guy personally and he seems like good people.  | ||
| Rick_a |
Sighted it in. Not too bad.  20210304_192508 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr  20210304_194222 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr Just waiting for that stock and a front sling adapter and it's as good as done. | ||
| Ducbsa |
Do any of you have different cartridge uppers that you swap on one lower? Is that practical? I guess the answer would have been different before the Dem gun salesmen ramped up their efforts. | ||
| Aesquire |
I had planned a 6.5 Grendel upper, but not since the Granny Killer banned civil rights. So... 6.5 Grendel & .50 Beowulf from Alexander Arms and .300 Whisper & the rip off clone .300 Blackout. Important! Segregate your .300 Blackout & 5.56 mags & uppers like a Commie College on Negro Only Graduation and No Whites day or you can have Catastrophic failure. And not the racist imaginary kind. There's others like 6.8 SPC & .458 Inspirational Name and the new 6.5 don't remember, but you have to ask yourself Why? What do you want to do with it? I'm assuming an AR-15 platform, if it's not, go to other, better performance choices not limited to the 5.56 magazine length, like 6.5 x 55 Swedish or 7mm Mauser. Suppressed sentry removal? .300 Blackout. Also good for deer but a less than .30-30 hitter. Long range sniping? 6.5 Grendel. Need to kill small Dinosaurs or cars? .50 Beowulf. Affordable? 5.56. Oh, yeah, that's "stock". 7.62 x 39 is best in dedicated lowers allowing a curved magazine. |
