The Gun Blogs

It really PAINS me to find myself leaning towards agreement with the state of New York in anything, much less when it comes to banning of firearms. New York is considering a ban on "brightly painted guns", you know, the bright reds, blues, and worst in my opinion, orange. I'm not a guy who believes that the looks of a firearm should be a factor in determination use, but at the same time, I work in the law enforcement area and know that a orange gun (if they do become more prevailant) will cause either a officer to hesitate when he/she shouldn't or to not hesitate when they should. Either way, it's a screwed up situation. I can understand those who wish to personalize their property, I get it, but can we justify giving the drive-by media and the statistically challenged anti-gunners ammunition of a tragedy waiting to happen and we didn't "nip it in the bud" sort of speak? If I'm way off base please tell me. I just don't see it as a big deal.

Via email:

Have opportunity to buy a Kimber conversion of Swede M96 Mauser to 7.62NATO. Barrel cut down to Ranch rifle and forward sited scope mount permanently pinned into old leaf sight box (minus scope). Price is $250.00 tax & all. Anybody hear of anything about these Kimber conversions? And what scope would you suggest for a "ranch rifle"? Good deal? Bad deal?
Sounds good to me, but I'm not a Kimber person.

Any input? If so, head on over to the Alehouse and say your piece.

Well, since Fred Thompson dropped out of the 2008 race it looks like we have to find an alternative.

I think Kevin, over at The Smallest Minority: has the right answer:

Via Instapundit, comes shocking news we knew all along.

Fantasy play involving weapons and superheroes allows healthy and safe risk-taking and can also make learning more appealing, says the guidance.

Inconceivable!

I've never liked metal detectors - well, except for the ones you use to look for lost items and buried treasure. It's the ones set up as barriers that I don't like.

I've been thinking about why I don't like them and realized that it's because they're Un-American.

The American Justice system was founded upon the then-radical principle of "innocent until proven guilty." It's arguable as to whether or not we're still operating on that principle, but in theory that's the basis.

But metal detectors are based on a presumption of guilt.

When I'm getting on an airplane, if you're assuming I'm a good person who is and will be innocent of wrongdoing then you won't really care what I have in my pockets. There are some things you'll want to warn me about using on a plane - for example the altitude tends to make butane lighters somewhat more... enthusiastic than they are at ground level which lead to more than a few signed nose hairs back in the day.

Now if you think I'm not a good person - someone who's likely to do something evil while on the plane then you definitely want to know what I have in my pockets so you can do your best to keep me from causing any problem.

So I'm not ranting against passenger screening - I think it's a good thing. But I am against the procedure they currently do. It's not 'passenger' screening, it's just a shakedown of the passerby. If they want it to work then they'll need to actually pay attention to the passengers rather than their pockets.

Similarly, when I go to a concert or sporting event I not only think they have a right to kick / keep out 'fans' who disrupt the event and/or pose a hazard to others, I wish they'd do a better job of it. But I need someone to please explain to me why you need to see my car keys in order to achieve this?

Wouldn't it make more sense to check on me rather than my possessions? If I'm the upright solid citizen I appear to be then a 1" blade on my fingernail clippers will not present a hazard and does not need to be confiscated.
If I'm a dastardly evil sod intent on creating mayhem you can be sure that there are many, many things that I can not only freely bring in past your metal detector but can also obtain inside that will let me wreak great havok. Weapons are only tools plus attitude. If you don't have the right attitude then you will never be armed no matter what you hold (but you can still be dangerous). If you've got the proper attitude then anything is a weapon waiting for you to use it.

Which is why metal detectors are useless. They won't stop someone intent on doing wrong. At most they'll (slightly) incovenience them. They may cause the malfactor to not use a gun, but they won't stop them from bringing in bottles of flammable liquid. If I really want to use a gun on the far side of your metal detector then I'll either slip myself and/or the gun past it or I'll just shoot your (usually unarmed) 'Security Guard'.

Metal dectectors can really only do one thing (other than annoy): enforce a climate of dependence and helplessness.

And in a country founded on the concept of Individual Liberty that's definitely Un-American.

Last Saturday was "I'm bored" day at the Rustmeister household. Steady rain, nothing good on the tube, stir craziness setting in, time to GET OUT. It was time to go shooting.

I knew what was happening, but rather that tip off my kid, I just said "I'm going out. want to go?"

This is hit-or-miss with him, as he's now 13 and sometimes too cool to hang with Dad. Somehow, he caught on (musta been that look in my eye), and came with us. Us being me and my GFs 10 yr old granddaughter (yes, I'm that old).

Now, granddaughter (let's call her Kris) has been around firearms most her life, but never shot. Why is beyond me. Anyway, we went up to the newly-opened indoor range at Brighton Arms and rented us a .22 revolver. Also in attendance - a Ruger Blackhawk chambered in .30 Carbine. It was in need of a holster, and the shop had a big box full of sundry holsters for 10 bucks a pop. Found one, too.

We got set up for the range, all paperwork filled out, ears & eyes secured, ammo purchased. Time for Kris to shoot.

She wanted my son to go first, so he popped off a few rounds in the .22 and then six out of the .30. Big grins all around while shooting that. The Blackhawk has much thunder & lightning going on when shooting. It's a real attention getter.

Then came Kris' turn. We went through the four rules, sight picture, how to load the gun and hold it properly, etc. I also had to get on to her about her bugger hook on the bang switch a couple times, but that's to be expected.

I have to say, she was a natural. The pistol was a single action job, and she handled it well. She even got the off-hand thumb-cocking going on without me even showing her. She even touched off the Blackhawk once, voluntarily, but didn't much like it.

My big moment was when I sent the target all the way to the back of the range and popped off a few with the 'hawk. Shooting offhand, I managed to hit pretty close to where I was aiming. I was pleased. Impressed the hell outta my son, too, which pleased me even more.

It was a couple hours well spent. The kids had fun, a new range was broke in, stir craziness was abated, and we get to welcome a new shooter to the fold.

It doesn't get much better than that.

www.shtfblog.com

Shit Hits The Fan blog.com

See us there.

- Ranger Man

Tam's post on pink guns last week got me thinking about why I don't like pink guns.

It's not that I don't like it when a gun maker strays from tradition - I think those camo shotguns look cool as hell - and it's not some anti-pink macho thing.

I don't like real guns looking like toys.

When I was a kid, my toy guns looked fairly real. Some looked really real. It was fine, I was in no danger of getting shot by a cop concerned with making it home that night. I wasn't that kind of threat, and kids playing with toy guns wasn't cause for PSH.

A few years ago, my then-6 year old son found one of my old toy guns at my dad's house. It was a luger, and it looked real. It was also in pretty good shape, considering it was well over 30 years old. Dad was more sentimental than he let on, thankfully.

Anyway, my son immediately latched on to it. After getting over my initial reaction of "That's MY toy! Back off!" I let him play with it around the house. All was fine until I saw him make for the door heading outside. I stopped him. No way was he going outside with that.

I knew how times had changed. I didn't want him winding up like THIS poor kid. See the toy gun in that picture? Looks just like my S&W 6906.

Due to changing times, we've had to make sure toy guns look like toys.

I don't see the wisdom of making real guns look like toys, too.

Has anyone used duracoat to cover the surface of a ruger 10/22 receiver? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks to all Vets, past, present and future.

Your service is greatly appreciated.

Shamelessly stolen/paraphrased from this post by MostlyGenius at Brillianter.com, (another name I wish I had come up with). I thought some of it would translate to gun ownership.

Learning about guns is a long term commitment.
You wouldn't expect to take six weeks of piano lessons and expect to play concert halls, so why should you expect to effectively handle a gun after the same amount of time? The only way to get truly competent with a firearm is to practice. Often.

Many gun owners have primary goals that are not related to fighting.
It sounds strange, but while some gun owners trace their origins to actual combat, others have evolved into a sports or moral philosophy and fighting is no longer their primary goal. (this one is really hard for the anti-gunners to grasp)

Shooting is about the application of principles more than the application of techniques.
A given technique is only the answer to small range of potential situations. While learning the mechanics of a technique is relatively easy, learning to recognize what techniques fit into which situations is considerably harder. Point shooting vs aimed shooting comes to mind.

Most gun instructors don't know anything about the legalities involved.
Ok, hold on. Let me rephrase that. Most professional gun instructors do know the legal stuff, but your buddy Joe down the road might not. If your gun instructor doesn't know about the legalities involved, get a new instructor!. While learning about martial arts could get you into trouble if you were forced to defend yourself, using a gun to do the same will almost guarantee you wind up in court.

Thanks again to MostlyGenius for doing most of the writing on this. Go read his post The Truth About Martial Arts for Self Defense. Good stuff there.

Working at a gun shop gives me some wonderful oppertunitys to try stuff I otherwish would not have. At time I am very impressed, other times not so much. This time was both, and a learning experince to boot. I took home a brandnew Taurus 650 CIA (carry it anywhere) mine is a .357 magnum, 2' barrel, Double action only. Now I am ussaly a fan of having the option of the single action; however where I to be involved in a gunfight with this gun, I would not be using single action! So I am training myself to shoot double action, as most of the handguns I carry daily are either double action only, or double action first shot. There are rumors that DAO shooting is inaccurate, and diffcult. While it may take more concentration to fire in DA mode this is not a bad thing as it helps us to concentrate more on a consistant trigger squeze.
I like the little 2" revolvers because they tend to be there by my side when not other firearm will quite do the trick. Add to that the performance of the .357 Magnum caliber, and you have yourself a great little combo. I drive a pickup that the desighn of the seats allows me to afix a holster inbetween the drivers seat and the center consul. This is where I prefer to have a revolver. I cannot readily reach my holstered weapon the gun-in-the-seat meathod is wonderful. With the small CIA all I have to do is put the gun in my pocket when I leave the truck, which not only secures the firearm, but also provides me with a great back up gun.
Anyone reading this must note that although these meathods work for me they may not be ideal where you are. I live in Alaska, and it is simply a differant kind of enviroment. We have cold weather, animals, remote wilderness areas, and the usual assortment of drunk, vandals, and criminals. No, the truck never leaves the driveway with out at least one rifle, and one handgun. Here it is dark half of the year so it is impertive that one should learn to shoot a firearm in darkness. I think that this is a must have skill for anyone who takes their personal saftey seriously. If you think about it most crimnals will not attack you in daylight downtown, but add darkness to the picture, and suddenly the other person has concelment.
Constant darkness is one reason why I do not carry full power .357 loads in the Taurus. When testing the gun in darkness the muzzle flash from this little gun was enough to blind me to the loaction of the target for almost 3 seconds. To any of you who have been in a gun fight you will know that three seconds can very well spell life or death. I also know that it is unlikely that an assailant will stop their attack INSTANTLY after my first hit. With that in mind I choose firearms that are able to fire without essesive muzzle blast. So I carry the .38 special +P loads, and a speed loader.
Bullets do not do the shooter any good unless they impact their target. We must test our carry guns first for reliably and second for accuracy. It works. I am not going to tell you that you can hit a gopher at sixhundred meters. I was able to relably hit the head at 25 yrds on a standard size siluette target. long range is not where the real shine is though, its the personla distance shooting that will make or break the gun. I was able with very little practice shoot fist sized groups at 10 yards. These groups where all point of aim.
So on the stevedcross scale of gun testing I would give this little bugger a 6. I would have scored it higher, but there was a problem. This gun willnot work with Cor-bon ammo. I have no ideal why, it just does not work. It works with other ammo of the EXACT same power leval, but not the corbon. Now this is important to remember because had I not tested my ammo I would have been in for a rude supprise had it come time to use it. I will work on this though and let everyone know when I fighure it out. Meanwhile I would advise you not to shoot Corbon in Taurus revolver as I am not the first one to have this problem.
Good luck and stay safe
stevedcross

Well guess who is acting like they know how to write again? Yes, Jayne Lyn Stahl is at it again and just like last time, we are "graced" by her stunning lack of facts and reason. I tried. I really did try to understand her point or at least find some vestige of logic in her statements but alas, there was none to be found. I will leave you with a exerpt of this poorly researched drivel and let you see for your selfs what a......I think you know where I was going.
I'm off to find a aspirin. she made my head hurt.

Indeed, the gun lobby has never been in better shape in Washington than it has been under the tutelage of President George W. Bush, so not a peep has been heard from those whose custom it is to speak out against guns, and the rash of violence in our nation's public schools; schools like Columbine, Virginia Tech, in our nation's inner cities, cities like Compton, East Los Angeles, in our nation's workplaces. We've not heard a peep from the usual suspects who would be active in speaking up for more stringent laws to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of our youngsters.

Increasingly, in a world in which the American flag has become synonymous with another four letter word "duck," and yet another "bomb," this is not time to mince words. These folks who equate what they think of as their constitutional empowerment have, for the past several years, had a free ride, but now that a changing of the guard is in sight, they cling to their illusions of entitlement like a leper clings to what little skin he has left. And, to parody the Dylan Thomas poem, it's as if every gun-toting Tom, Dick, and Harry decided not to go "gentle into that night," but to "rage, rage, against the dying of the might."

Unc says:

Mind you, I can join the NRA pretty quickly from their site.

So I did:

EPL Distinguished Life Membership $375.00
(age 65+ or Disabled Veteran)
(15 payments of $25)

Emphasis mine, of course. Anyone who served in the military and didn't put in for a disability rating screwed themselves on many fronts.

The only thing I'm unclear about is are they gonna automatically deduct the payments from the card I used to join, or do I have to send them in?

To steal a gimmick from Insty :

They said road rage would turn into gunplay if people were allowed to have guns - And They Were Right

H/T to From Where I Sit

I was wondering if any of you owned a Springfield M6 Scout? If so how does it preform? And how much did you get it for, I know they aren't produced any more so I am considering picking one up.

Ahab has found us a good site when you run across folks making outlandish mortality claims when talking about guns.

I'm going to use this stuff, I guarantee.

UPDATE: More (lots more)links in comments provided by JohnS. Thanks!

My friend gave me this a while back. He told me the insignia was Israeli Special Forces, but I can't verify that.

Anyone know?

(click on the attachment to see it)

Following a link from Insty can be bad for your blood pressure.

What started out as a piece on Boston's nannyism quickly turned to RCOB when I read this:

Debbie is a mom from Uxbridge who was in the examination room when the pediatrician asked her 5-year-old, “Does Daddy own a gun?”

When the little girl said yes, the doctor began grilling her and her mom about the number and type of guns, how they are stored, etc.

If the incident had ended there, it would have merely been annoying.

But when a friend in law enforcement let Debbie know that her doctor had filed a report with the police about her family’s (entirely legal) gun ownership, she got mad.

(emphasis mine)

Un-forking-believeable.

She also got a new doctor.

Damn skippy.

The full story here.

I just joined this blog and cannot seemed to obtain any hits with the search engine. In fact I cannot seem to get any listings with common words.

What is the deal?