Gun Loving John

Firearm Attachments Part 1

I worked a gun show this weekend.   I met a lot of good Americans, and I noticed a few things.  Like Firearm Attachments.   There were Lights and Lasers, Grips and Slings, And all manner of Tactical Things.  But those are not the Firearm attachments I am here to talk about.  I am here to talk about the kind of attachments that are often free,  they require a little Do It Yourself elbow grease and time. 

That is the Attachment a person has toward his or her firearm.

Here are the best type of Attachments.  This will be a recurring theme over the next few months.  

Father Attachment.   My Dad/Grandfather had this gun it was passed to me.  That type of attachment works better and lasts longest if the father and son spent time together with the firearm being the glue or reason for the outing.  If the father had the foresight to spend time shooting or refinishing the firearm with the child all the while telling how his father  and he spent time together doing the same the son will want to pass that on for generations.   The firearm does not have to be expensive.  The time together can be priceless.  The firearm passed from generation to generation with that type of emotional investment will not be sold in a yard sale. It will be cherished. 

Next:  The Fun Attachment

Until Then keep your muzzles pointed in a safe direction.

Gun Range Dues

It is that time of year again,  when we have to begin thinking about the payout for a year of dues. Gun Clubs want to be paid for what they provide.   Dues can run the gamut between $50.00 and $250.00 per year.  

What do we get in return?   A place to shoot,  A place to meet friends,  A place to be alone and enjoy the only sport endorsed by our founding fathers.  

Let’s say the dues are $250. That breaks down to $20.84 per month or $4.80 per week or 68.4 cents per day.  A snickers candy bar at Walmart  costs 69 Cents plus whatever ungodly anti sweet tooth tax the do-gooders want to put on the candy.   For less than 1 measly ucandy bar per day you can belong to a gun range. 

Don’t get me going on the cost per month compared to what most of us pay for that Cable/Satellite TV Bill, or how much a round of Golf costs, or some other half-assed entertainment.   This is a Lifelong sport and something that can save your life.

I have absolutely no use for free loaders, None, Zero, Zip, Nadda.  So if you don’t want to join a Gun Club and want to cry on my shoulders get to stepping.  I’ve got no time for you and you will get an earful. 

Another thing I’ve noticed in 2009 is the number of Gun Clubs going to Closed Membership or limiting the number of members.  So if you don’t want to join one or stay a member then don’t,  but don’t try and tag along with me to a range when you find that the places to shoot are disappearing as they surely are. 

Think about the investment in Gun Range Membership.  It  insures our freedom has a place to be exercised.

 

Keep your Muzzles pointed in a Safe Direction.

Smarten up

I run into some strange ducks at gun-shows, and even stranger ones on the Internet.  The worst by far are know-it-alls that find out something they did not previously know.  They quickly apply the, "I know it all, I did not know this, so therefore this (insert whatever factual concept) cannot be true!" These no talent ass-clowns are as annoying as cockle-burrs in a jockstrap. 

I enjoy shooting firearms, maybe too much if that is possible.  I also enjoy learning.  I have yet to teach a class that I myself do not learn something new.  I love to glean information that expands my knowledge.  I try to learn something from everyone I meet. Some teach me how to shoot, others teach me how to react to certain situations.  Still others teach me how not to be.

Sometimes some of the biggest anti-gun people are actually gun-owners.  They are the discouragers that make up 1%.  They concentrate on what you cannot do rather than what you can do.  These people try to ignore the facts that Illinois citizens can get a Florida Concealed Weapons permit.  They argue that the permit is no good in Illinois. My reply to that  has always been, "You cannot consummate a marriage at the altar,  but that did not stop you from getting married there." 

If you are one of these discouraging "know it alls"  shut up until you have time to smarten up.  Start being a winner instead of a whiner.  Then again they are not reading this...afraid they might learn something.

To all you good gun owners out there keep up the shooting and recruiting.  If we do not encourage others into our sport then firearm use is doomed.

Ask The Gunsmith

In the interest of saving firearms (not from anti gunners), but from shooters that have not been taught the nuances of caring for their firearm, I have decided to add a new category to the blog... Ask the Gunsmith.  I will sit down with my gunsmith, ask him a question, he answers, I enter it here.

Question:  When my Glock or other semi-auto pistol is empty with the magazine removed, is there any harm in letting the slide slam forward by simply pushing down on the slide stop lever?

Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Absolutely do not do it. When you let the slide slam home with a cartridge in the magazine, that cartridge acts like a shock absorber.  No harm is done. In fact, that is one of the better ways to load a semi-auto.  However, when you let the slide slam on an empty chamber, the slide moves at three times the speed it travels when loading a cartridge.  This action damages your firearm in several ways

1. It is hard on the head-space. 
2. It peens the back of the barrel.
3. It slams lugs.
4. On hammered actions it hits so hard on the hammer that the sear bounces.  This wears the sear over a short time so the hammer will start to fall resulting in an unsafe manner. 
5. It can move forward so hard it can (and has) sheared the slide top on 1911's.

Do not do this to your firearms, they don't deserve it.

Home, Home on the Range.

Tonight we gathered for an impromptu IDPA practice session. It was four close friends and Mrs. Gunlovingjohn (aka the Pretty Pistolera). It was simple practice. Five targets engaged in eight different ways. 

The Pretty Pistolera shot her first clean stage.  She is coming along nicely.  It was just 6 months ago when she started shooting.  She refuses to give up no matter how frustrating some stages are.  The progress she is making is not always visible to her as she is shooting with and against lifelong shooters.  This is something that I, and you, if you are bringing along a new shooter need to emphasize.  "Don't expect to be able to beat the person who has been shooting for 26 years after you have been shooting for 26 weeks.  Do, however, have the goal of beating them in the long run."   

My wife's experience on the gun-range with encouraging shooters reminds me of a song. Make new shooters at "home, home on the range, where seldom is heard a discouraging word."    

Til next time keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction. 

Get Young Shooters to Enjoy Shooting the First Time

Kid's love seeing stuff break, pop or squish.  It is an undeniable fact of life that children have a destructive streak that never goes away.  Don't believe it?  What do you do as an adult when you get a package with bubble wrap in it?  Thats right, you pop some of it with a gleeful grin hoping to annoy others. If not, stop reading this now, you may be a bed wetting liberal and this could change your, otherwise, dullardly existence. 

I remember once when I was a young boy my dad, rest his soul, bought cases upon cases of restaurant packets of mustard to sell in his "general" store.  I discovered, quite by accident, that if one foot of a skinny boy came down rapidly on the packets, they shot a stream of mustard about 3 or 4 feet.  Try it when no one is looking, you should get 6 to 8 feet easy.  I also found out that after 40 or 50 packets, evidence is everywhere and when a switch comes down on a boy's behind, a noise comes out of the other end that is heard approximately 100 times the distance that the mustard flew. 

Remembering that lesson, I decided to get my nephew aged 10 involved in shooting.  I took him to the range after a long ride in which we discussed gun safety.  Instead of shooting paper targets, I blew up a bunch of balloons of all shapes and sizes.  I then took a large piece of cardboard and a pair of needle nose pliers to the range. Poking holes with the needle-nose pliers and grabbing the tied end of the balloons one soon has a piece of cardboard  with one side covered in balloons. Staple this brightly colored array of action targets to the backstop and then tell him what color to shoot first.  The balloons pop with the slightest of impact which allows instant gratification. 

Remember, as shooters, will see our Second Amendment discarded if we do not attract new shooters to the ranks. We are competing with XBOX, Playstations and Nintendo Wii's.  Therefore, we must make their first shooting experience even more enjoyable than video games.  We do that by harnessing the primal instinct to destroy and direct it into harmless destruction of balloons, clay pigeons, paintballs placed on golf tee's, or even tin can plinking. 

Here are some things to make the first impression a good one:

1. Reliable and accurate firearm 22lr caliber (not a firearm to bruise their shoulder)

2. Plenty of good ammo.

3. Make sure to have plenty of reactionary targets.

4. Be an encourager!  What you say on the first day will stay in a child's memory. Shooting a gun for the first time has a lasting impression.

More on this topic to come soon.  Stay tuned.

Til next time, keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction.