Gun Thread: Third Edition of March 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!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the third edition of March?

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

FUNdamentals

Q: Weasel, who puts the FUN in FUNdamentals?
A: The Gun Thread do!

Last week I promised all y'all we'd take a peek at the four elements of fundamentals, and by gum, we're going to do it! Don't you try and stop me! So all you groovy cats gather 'round and have a listen to your ol' pal Weasel.

Shooting is easy. Shooting well, and perhaps even hitting the target isn't that much harder. Sure, you have to practice a little, but since you're going to the range anyway why not improve in the process? I have long talked about having a plan when going to the range, and focusing first on whatever was giving you problems the last time. For convenience sake, I tend to lump all fundamentals into four groups; stance, grip mechanics, sight alignment and trigger pull/squeeze/pinch/press/whatever. After that, you should have some sort of sensible plan for how you are going to spend your precious range time and ammunition. It doesn't need to be some big elaborate PowerPoint presentation, just get a little notebook and keep track of each range session, what you did, and how well you did it. Next time you're shooting go back and look at your notes! Devise some sort of simple drill for the very end of the range day, say 15 rounds for score, and keep track of your progress.

Here is the notebook I recommend for shooting notes.

You don't need to become obsessed with this, but a wee-teensy bit of organization goes a really long way. Focus on what you are doing and concentrate on the fundamentals while you're doing it. Take notes! If you have reached a plateau and want to keep improving, then don't simply practice the same old drills, but rather mix it up a little. The internet is full of information; some good and a lot bad, so it's up to you to watch, listen, ask questions and learn, then try the things that make sense to you at the range for yourself. You will know if you're on the right track. Just be logical and methodical in your approach and you will be fine.

Anyhoo, today's fundamentals review is on the proper stance. In the first video, the instructor reviews two classic stances, the Weaver and the Isosceles. Plus, big watch.

I think the most important point the guy makes is to go to the range and decide which is the most comfortable and works best. I can tell you all day long to shoot with your left foot in a bucket and it's not going to do you a bit of good until you go out there and practice the method and see if it works for you.

Here's another guy making some very good points on correcting to your natural point of aim.

Here we have not a video but rather a Shooting Stance 101 article from the USCCA. I am not endorsing their insurance product, but they have a tremendous library of articles, videos, and in-person training classes which are open to non-members as well.

I think the most critical aspect of a shooting stance is building a stable platform, weight slightly forward with your knees and elbows slightly bent. At the end of the day, however, you need to decide what works best for you (as long as you have a stable platform, weight forward, and with elbow and knees slightly bent). Get out there and practice!

So how about you? Isosceles, Weaver, Foot in a Bucket or something else? Which are you using? Do your results suck?

Range Time
Our pal Dr. Fred is en fuego at the range-o! I sure would be happy with that group. Guess what he was doing - he was practicing fundamentals!

Funny that you wrote what you did last night, since I was at the range yesterday. It was about 35 degrees with 15 to 20 MPH gusty crosswinds and intermittent snow showers here in Western PA. So, for an old fart like me and as rusty as I am, I was fairly pleased with these 10 rounds at 50 yards through a Larry Kelly Edition .22 Magnaport barrel on my Encore topped with a 1X Crimson Trace red dot. I was concentrating on breathing and trying to touch off the trigger at the same point during each exhalation.

Well I'd guess ol' Doc Fred is probably pretty effective in collecting delinquent patient accounts! Very nice work, Dr. F and thanks for sending this in!

This video is really pretty good!

Not sure if the following is cool or retarded. Or maybe both.

Cigar of the Week

Light your cigars in style! Here is an older Zippo from the WeaselCollection sporting a copper John Deere logo (c.1950-1957)

Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.

Cigarsinternational.com
Cigarpage.com
Famous-smoke.com
Cigarsdaily.com
Neptunecigar.com
Smallbatchcigar.com
Bobalu Cigar Company
Cigarbid.com
Nicks Cigar World New!

A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid

Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!

Ammo 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
American Elite Ammo NEW!

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal Hrothgar. We've seen it before, but it's a classic!

FUNdamentals Progress Chart

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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