Gun Thread: 9/12 Edition

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

We passed a grim milestone yesterday with the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on our country. I am not a particularly forgiving sort, and hope that those who perpetrated that obscenity are slowly roasting in the deepest part of Hell. Not much more to say on the matter other than never forget those who lost their lives that day, and also those who continue to suffer ill effects to this day. A very good friend of mine was a federal law enforcement officer at the time and was tasked with the unenviable job of picking through the Pentagon debris in a warehouse searching for human remains among the classified papers and other materials. As a result, he now suffers with significant respiratory issues, and his prognosis is not good.

Let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

TxMoMe
Come one! Come all! The Texas MoMe, or Texas Moron Meetup will be here before you know it. Frankly, I am running out of new ways to implore you people to join us. Would begging help? Pleeeeeze? Pleeeeeze come to the damn MoMe? For those who have not been paying attention over the last several years, the Texas MoMe has become quite the jamboree hootenanny! What once could be held on 60 acres, has grown in size and scope to require a frickin' ranch of over 1,000 acres. It's big, people! BIG! My good friend Ben Had is the chief organizer and it is hosted by two others, RancherBob and Cow Horse Queen who are genuinely some of the nicest people on the planet. I mean, I love you all (no homo) but I sure as hell wouldn't invite you all to my house! Well, maybe the 'ette's. Anyhoo...

Weasel, what goes on at this Texas MoMe you speak of?

Again, it is like a big family reunion, except everybody there likes each other and has a good time. I swear to John Moses Browning that my face hurts after it's over from smiling and laughing so much. There truly is something for everyone, as long as you like fun, friends, epic people watching, laughing, food, drink, music, dancing, shooting, lying, cussing... it really has everything! And the greatest part is that everyone fits in. Even the quietest most introverted people come and have a good time. You can do as much as you like or as little as you like. Some people take advantage of the shooting opportunities, and others hang out and simply peek in from the sidelines enjoying the ample food and drink, which is just fine. Every year after it's over and participants are discussing it in the comments, we have people lamenting the fact they did not attend and have fun with the rest of us. You think the comment section here is fun? A MoMe - any MoMe - is about 10 times better. Why in the ever-loving hell do you think I spend so much time encouraging people to attend?

Corsicana, Texas on October 22nd and 23rd. Contact Ben Had for details and mention Weasel sent you.

Q: Weasel, did you mention shooting at the TXMoMe?
A: Why yes, yes I did mention shooting at the TXMoMe.

I'm not really sure how it started, but several MoMe's ago we set up a few targets and amused ourselves with plinking for an hour or two. Fast forward to this year where we have dedicated handgun and rifle ranges featuring shooting clinics on both ranges Friday, and with open shooting again on both ranges Saturday.

Q: Weasel, what the hell is a "shooting clinic?"
A: It's where you go after you have been shot, or maybe a place to learn some new things about shooting.

One of the reasons the TXMoMe is now a two day affair is the accommodation of shooting clinics. For a few years, I have been conducting, with varying degrees of success, a basic Introduction to Mid-Range Shooting class. This year we are adding a more formalized Handgun Basics class, with Jim SND and Eromero running that dealio, with the help of some other shooting pros. This is an excellent opportunity for the gun-curious first-time shooter, as well as those who may have been shooting for a while, to up their game. If you are interested, read on:

Handguns
Friday 22nd, 11am - 4pm. The program will cover range safety and the basics of a proper handgun stance, grip, sight alignment and trigger discipline, and will repeat throughout the day. There will also be targets available for those who want to try a variety of available weapons. You are welcome and encouraged to bring your favorite firearm if you like, and please consider bringing a little extra ammo to share since a big part of the fun is the ability to try other Moron's weapons.

Saturday 23rd, 11am - 4pm. Open range with the handgun presentation repeating throughout the day.

Rifles
Friday 22nd, 8am - 4pm. We start at 8am with a presentation on mid-range shooting concepts conducted in a classroom setting on the carport. Please bring a chair, pencil, paper and a pocket calculator if you are interested in participating. The topics covered include range safety, interior and exterior ballistics, practical exercises in computing firing solutions, and working with a coach or spotter. The presentation usually lasts until lunch, after which we will head to the range and engage targets from 50 to 700 yards. There will be separate targets setup for plinking at close range if that's what you like to do.

Saturday 23rd, 8:30am - 2pm or thereabouts. Open range. If you want to shoot, get there early as most of us want to head up to the main event and join the party around lunchtime. I will be available until around noon on the range to work with shooters, tell funny jokes, and generally act like a buffoon.

Important note In past years, we have tried to limit the size of the rifle class by having people register, and this year we are simply welcoming anyone who would like to attend. If you want to come and simply observe, you're absolutely welcome to do that too (but bring a chair). If you would like to shoot, bring a rifle and ammo (and a chair). It can be any reasonable caliber, but please, no AP or incendiary ammo of any sort. Any sort of chair is fine, but most people opt for the lightweight folding 'lawn chair' variety. I will also bring a couple of my practice guns and a very limited supply of ammo for those. You can improve your chances of getting a turn with one of them by bringing either .308 Winchester (168gr and up) or 5.56x45mm (70gr and up) ammo.

Also, once the bar opens, the ranges close. No exceptions. If you want to shoot, get 'er done before you start drinking.

OK - so that's a lot about the TxMoMe. Did I forget anything?

First up we have a very important lesson from our pal Jesse in DC who a) is no longer in DC because of a girl, and 2) is a big enough man to share with all of us something that happened recently that he's not particularly proud of or happy about.

Last Sunday SiD and I arrived in Laramie after 4 days of driving a loaded truck from DC. I brought all my firearms. We unpacked the entire load into a near by storage facility. The first things I brought into our home were my gubs. I have several and each and every gun I unboxed, removed from the case and inspected for damage, and put in a safe space here. The very last gun I checked out is my venerable Mossberg 500 12 gauge shotgun. I showed it to SiD, noted the safety was broken, inspected the chamber with a finger to ensure it was empty, closed the action, tried the safety, and fired a round through the ceiling and the roof.

That is right. After no kidding 53 years of handling guns, I had my very own Negligent Discharge!!!

First and foremost, no one was injured at all, only property damage. Thank God. The gun WAS pointed in a safe direction. I am not certain if the broken safety contributed to it or not. The gun was loaded. MY GUN IN THE HOUSE WAS LOADED!!!!!!!

I did not check the magazine tube I made a serious mistake because I NEVER keep loaded guns in my house. I had not had that gun out of it's case even in years except for the George Floyd Memorial Riots in DC June a year ago. I do not remember loading it. My roommate does not admit loading it. It has a side saddle shell holder, that was full at the time of the ND, which is what the gun should have been loaded from. I have no explanation at all.

This is entirely MY FAULT!!! I could have killed the love of my fife, or the cats, or even me. I ASSUMED, there would be no rounds in the magazine, but I DID NOT CHECK.

WE carefully loaded the shotgun in the car and drove out in the country a ways, and I went through the cycling the action until I was POSITIVE it was empty. I was not sure and am still not, that moving the broken safety did not trip the trigger. I transported the gun with the action open until I was in a safe location. I found 3 loaded shells.

I am shocked and embarrassed. I am thankful nothing worse happened. I will say, I am a wiser man, and will not make THAT mistake again.

Ho-Lee Crap. Thanks for sharing that, Jesse. I'm sure you have beaten yourself up sufficiently. Congratulations on the move, by the way!

Next up, our pal Jak Sucio sends us a nice range report.

I went to my local indoor range with my Ruger SR40C and my Rock Island Armory TCM 22. I carry my Ruger with me most times and I have grown used to it's quirks. But no matter how skilled you are, nothing beats practice. And more practice. The TCM 22 is the Mrs.' sidearm, but it's so much fun to shoot that I always bring it.

This picture is exactly that how it started; poor breathing, fat fingering the trigger, you name it. Targets set at 7 yards.

Starting to correct my errors and getting tighter groups.

By the third target, I was, er, on target. Practice is definitely worth it.

The TCM 22 is an excellent firearm. It packs a 40gr hollow point that moves at 2,000+ fps. When I switched over to that one, it stopped everyone else and all eyes were on me. When fired you have a rather large report and muzzle flame. Very little recoil and it generally stays on target. As a bonus, I have the barrel for a 9mm that will swap out in this model. Two, two, two firearms in one!!

Very nice report and shooting! Well done. Thank you!

Guess who else has been to the range? Why none other than our pal and delightful 'ette nurse r!

24 rounds at 7 yards. Rock Island 1911.

That's some fine shooting right there, ma'am!

From our pal AHL on a topic I think we should all be aware of. Yes, you should be ready for anything, but it's good to know how these sort of incidents typically play out.

A video I found fascinating looks at the actual distances of gunfights. The "Rule of Three" is widely quoted, but no one knows where it comes from. This video takes that as the starting point and then tries to find some hard data. Turns out, it isn't that far off. Good to know for practice and awareness.

Very, very interesting. What do you all think? Were you surprised with the conclusions?

This very cool high-speed photography of bullets impacting steel becomes sort of boring after about a minute. Also, the choice of background porn vid music is an interesting choice. Still, very cool!

Gun Basics 101
So you bought a gun. Congratulations! The very first thing I do after making certain it is unloaded is a thorough cleaning and lubrication before taking a new-to-me gun to the range. Why, you ask? Well taking it apart and putting it back together helps to familiarize you with the various parts and their function. Second, if it's a used gun it allows you to inspect it and clean out any crud left by the former owner, and if it's a new gun it allows you to remove any of the heavier preservative grease and oil applied to protect it during its time on a shelf.

Here's a video on basic pistol cleaning:

Here's another video with the She Equips Herself lady:

Don't be intimidated by this. For the most part, handguns are designed for ease of maintenance. YouTube is an excellent resource for "how-to" videos, and I am certain any firearm you are likely to own is covered. Practice the disassembly and reassembly of your firearm and it will become easier as you go along. Field-stripping a pistol usually involves simply breaking it down to it's major components, rather than completely taking it apart to the molecular level. Revolvers are nice because there is no disassembly required! Finally, whenever I am working on something like this for the first time I take pictures as I go along with the disassembly which I find helpful when it's time to put it back together. BONUS: Pics significantly cutting down on leftover parts!

Questions?

Link-O-Rama

I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop

I believe it was Mr. O'Spades who posted this earlier in the week, and it is just too good not to repeat.

Thought this was a Happy Madison movie at first 😂 pic.twitter.com/OnUn9dA6iX

— Steve Inman (@SteveInmanUIC) September 5, 2021

I've never seen anything quite this stupid on a range, but pretty close. Moral of the story? Don't be stupid.

Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?

posted by Weasel at 07:00 PM

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