Damn all you new gun owners!

Well, no - but everyone who is saying things like "ZOMG tHe amm0 factoryz ar3 bogarting t3h ammo" need to think on the old saying about war:

When it comes to war, amateurs think about strategy.  Professionals think about logistics.

Now think on the 7M new gun owners this year: they've never owned a gun before.  They think it's needed to protect themselves and their families in an increasingly lawless Republic.  They got themselves a gun, joining us in the defense of the right to defend ourselves.

They also need a couple or 3 (or 10) boxes of ammo for their new heaters.  So 7,000,000 time 4 (boxes) times 50 (rounds per box) is {scribbles on paper} 1.4 Billion rounds of ammo for new gun owners.

Yeah, they went to the front of the ammo line at your gun store.  They bought a gun, and need ammo, amirite?

So how many billion rounds do you think that American manufacturers make each year?

Dwight (you do read him everyday, right?) sends a video of a CEO of an ammo manufacturer explaining this.  Again, Youtube is weird about embedding so you need to click through.

UPDATE 21 December 2020 11:48:  Oops, I forgot to give credit to Dwight who pointed me to this video.  You do read him every day, don't you?

Firearms Advice bleg

My birthday is coming up is a bit, and it's been more than a year since I've added to the Borepatch firearms collection.  And so I'd like to ask your advice on what to look for.

Here is what I have in mind: I want something in .22 lr that I can use to introduce new shooters.  I'm thinking maybe a single shot bolt action rifle or maybe a revolver (say, a Ruger New Model Single Six).  I'd like to keep the price below $400 if at all possible.

It's times like this that I really miss Kim du Toit's blog - his gun list had hours of interesting and useful reviews.  Alas, it's gone.  So help me Obi-wan Reader, you're my only hope.

UPDATE: it seems that someone has Kim's gun list here.

We're winning

Tacitus emails to tell me about his son, grown to Honorable Manhood:

Thought you might be interested to learn that my now 18 yo celebrated the day by going out to purchase a 12 g Mossberg shotgun.  This comes as a notable surprise to his parents, but we are ok with it.  Squirrel an' possum for many Thanksgivings to come....

I remember my kids as kids - long time readers are rolling their eyes at my repeated sentimentality along these lines.  But Kalil Gibran said it truly, and well:

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

I see that in my sons - #1 Son now 19, and #2 Son turning 16 this month.  They have their own thoughts, many of which are as unexpected to me as Tacitus' son's thoughts on shotguns were to him.

But I myself recall the time not so very long ago where I found myself suddenly free, having moved from the People's Republic of Massachusetts to the United States of America.  I remember my own first exercising of that same right that Tacitus' son has just done:

But the meaning goes beyond the (quite modest) firepower of the rifle.  It's a statement of freedom, the mark of a citizen, not a subject.   We could use more citizens, not more subjects.

This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. ...

This is my rifle.  There are none like it, because it marks the transition from a subject to a free man.

No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave. He, who has nothing, and who himself belongs to another, must be defended by him, whose property he is, and needs no arms. But he, who thinks he is his own master, and has what he can call his own, ought to have arms to defend himself, and what he possesses; else he lives precariously, and at discretion.

- James Burgh

Tacitus' son has become a citizen, both in law and in spirit.  Welcome, citizen.  The Republic is in good hands with a generation such as that.

Tacitus, as befits a scholar of the Ancient World, writes of the many Roman gods that would be invoked at different stages of a child's development.  It's funny and touching at the same time, with the wisdom of the ages channeled through the eyes of a parent.  I catch a glimpse of how his son might have learned the manly virtues that stood the Romans in such good stead.  The ones that he just exercised, not as a child, but as a Citizen.

Well done to the young man, and to Tacitus.  Reading his post, I think again on Gibran, and Tacitus and his son, and me and my sons.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The Archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the Archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Nice bending, Tacitus.  Your arrow flies swift, and true.

What does a kid think about his first time shooting

The Czar of Muscovy takes is young 'un to the range.  The lad's report makes for interesting reading.  I wish I had this list when I first took my boys shooting.

This obviously doesn't replace the Four Rules, but it looks like it would make a dandy discussion to set the expectations, should you ever be so privileged to take a youngster to his or her first range outing.

What to get a new gun owner

So you did your job as a gunnie, de-mystifying guns to a friend. You took them shooting, making sure they had fun and wanted to go back. You took them to a gun show, and helped them pick out a practical first gun. Well done, you!

I bet you thought you were done. As if. You know about gun safety in the home. Do they?



They do if you get them this. Doctors Timothy Wheeler and John Wipfler from Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership have put together Keeping Your Family Safe: The Responsibilities of Firearms Ownership, a short, readable, and entirely sensible book cover ing the basics. Firearm safety, children and firearms, storage, training, ethics and laws, self defense tactics, first aid for gunshot wounds - all is covered in a calm, informative manner.

Best of all, it's a small book.  It won't intimidate the new gun owner.  It's all sensible and to-the-point, so they'll actually read it.

I'd think that this might be a good read for someone not sure if they should let their kids play with yours, "because they have guns".  I mean, it was written by doctors.

As to gunnie cred, there's a jacket blurb my Massad Ayoob.  As if you need more than the Borepatch Seal of Approval.

Thanks to the kind marketing people at Merrill Press, who sent me a review copy (like 18 months ago; mea culpa).  It's well worth the read.  As we try to "re-normalize" firearms ownership, this is something to keep in your toolkit.

New Shooter Report

"Guns are always loaded."

No, that wasn't me (well, yes it was me, earlier). We had some folks come in to town for a big meeting at Internet Security Startup, and neither Austin (not his real name) or Alejandro (not his real name, either) had shot before. Well, that was just a Crying Shame, so we made plans to head out to the range.

Since I'm a security-oriented guy, I made sure they studied the Four Rules, as well as what happens when you don't scrupulously follow them.

We started with the Sig-Sauer P239 in 9mm*. Austin and Alejandro soon were shooting it like old hands. We were joined by another colleague (a regular at the range), who wanted to shoot this:



You can imagine the interest when he came in with this. We had the P239 all loaded and ready to fire. Austin set it down (pointing down range, well done Austin!), but I warned our new colleague that the pistol was loaded.

That was when Alejandro reminded me of the Four Rules. "Guns are always loaded."

Heh. And well done, Alejandro.

We also shot the Springfield XD, in the more manly .45 ACP caliber. This is a very nice pistol, and they took to it like ducks to water. Austin in particular had wanted to shoot something "bigger", and his groupings were impressive for a first outing - better than with the Sig. He lives in Great Britain, and as a subject of her Britannic Majesty is pretty well screwed when it comes to learning the finer points of pistol shooting. Alejandro isn't really any better off, as a subject of Mayor Richard Daily. He was better with the XD than with the Sig as well.

So, two new shooters, from two places where pistols are verboten. Plus a little automatic happiness. Not bad for a first outing.

And their boss sought me out yesterday, to tell me that based on their chatter on the Monday Morning conference call, this was the Best. Meeting. Ever. Double heh.

* As a footnote to last week's range reprot about the Sig P239, I tried it Double Action. It's very interesting. You load the magazine, put the magazine into the pistol, and release the slide. A round is now in the chamber, and the hammer is cocked. To carry not in Condition Zero, you use the de-cocking lever to lower the hammer. To fire, it's a long, double action trigger pull; subsequent rounds are all single action.

It's even more interesting because there is no safety. De-cocking the hammer seems to be the way to make the pistol safe. At least, as safe as a gun can be ("Ees not safe. Ees gun.")

New Shooter

Over at Liberty's place. Dang cute little guy, too.

No, I'm not talking about Liberty, but thanks for asking.

Fun with maps, new shooter edition

Mulligan has a map that you should look at. Especially new shooters wondering who's out there who will take them shooting.

Added to the blogroll. Check him out, and let him know if you want a virtual push pin of your very own!

New Shooter

Don from the officehas been following my shooting for some time. He's actually been shooting before, with his dad when he was 8. Since he's my age (i.e. an old fart), this was a long, long time ago. He didn't enjoy the experience, probably because his dad had an odd choice of guns for an 8 year old: a derringer in .38 special (probably something like this), and a .30-06 hunting rifle.

Actually, I think his shoulder is still sore from that experience.

I was a little surprised when he took me up on the shooting offer, because his wife is extremely anti-gun. She grew up in Brazil under the Generals - they were corrupt, brutal, and armed, which is a bad combination.

The first thing about taking a new shooter is safety, and Don was a quick study with the Four Rules. The question then is what to shoot? A .22 pistol is often recommended for beginners, and for good reason - almost no recoil, moderately quiet, easy to control. But Don's a big guy, and knew what to expect (he's from the south, and most of his family is still there with their guns); while we didn't talk about it in so many words, it seemed like getting back on the horse was what was called for.

But not with a derringer. The Ruger SP101 is heavy, so there's a lot of mass to soak up the recoil. The .38 cartridge is certainly a step up from a .22, but is not overpowering. And it's a revolver - what's nice about it for a new shooter is that the design is dead simple: everyone understands how it works. There are no controls other than the bang-switch. Simple, simple, simple.

Plus you can shoot it single action. Single action is always more accurate than double action (in a revolver), and more accurate means the new shooter has more fun. After the first five rounds (making friends with Mr. Revolver), Don was sending all the bullets into the X Ring, often through the same holes (that's his shooting on the target in the picture).

Not bad for not having shot in (mumble) years!

I wanted to do a "compare and contrast" exercise with an autoloader, and "simple" means Glock. Now you've added two controls: a magazine release and a slide release, but that's it.

This was a step up from the SP101, recoil-wise, and it opened Don's groupings up a bit. Still, everything was in the 9 ring or better (once again, the results of Don's shooting is shown in the picture).

When we were done, we both had the expected big grins. He'll come back, which will be very nice indeed - it's always nice to add a shooting buddy. He's also thinking about taking his Son-in-law, which is also nice.

Likely it's an uphill battle to get his wife to the range. Her childhood had some traumatic episodes that involved bad guys with guns; worse, they were from the government and were definitely not there to help. Here in the USA we're lucky that way. I suggested that the Second Amendment was not there by accident, and this seemed to strike a nerve.

So not a bad day - shooty goodness with a friend at the range, and new shooter, and a civics lesson all rolled into one.

UPDATE 24 January 2009 09:34: Welcome visitors from StumbleUpon! I have some more New Shooter Reports, and some Range Reports too. If you like what you see, come back again sometime! My best posts are here.

New Shooter Report (Chicks with Guns version) with CZ 75

Well, we got back to the range with my nephew and Sister In Law (S-I-L), and this time we actually shot. This was a new experience, in that not only can I put up post a new shooter report, but I can shoeblog at the same time!

Now technically, S-I-L was not strictly a new shooter, as she'd been shooting once with her family when she was a girl. Since then, she hadn't shot while going to college, getting married, having kids, and seeing them grow up to become Lance Corporals. So it was pretty close to a new experience for her.

No pumps this time. Instead, the gun club was treated to tasteful black suede boots to match a tasteful black CZ 75 P-01 in 9mm parabellum. Black goes with everything, and would nicely match a gentleman's tuxedo for a New Year's Eve party. Remember to properly accessorize, gentlemen.

As before, we went over the four rules, plus Greg Morris' Rule Five. I would have preferred to try something smaller (New Shooter violation! Bad Ted!), like the SIG 232 in .380 ACP. However, once S-I-L figured out the "dominant eye" concept, she took to the 9mm like a duck takes to water. At 15 feet, she kept half of her rounds in the ten ring of the silhouette target.

She's going back, with hubby and Lance Corporal son in tow. I expect that she'll be giving them pointers.

The CZ 75 is a pretty friendly pistol. Recoil is modest, which was good since this was a new shooter day. The sights are very nice - black square posts with white dots on both the front and rear sights that make it very easy to allign.

The trigger is one of the two-stage variety, so there was a fair amount of take up, but then it gave a decent break. Not the best trigger I've shot, but good considering the price they charge for the pistol. In any case, it was easily manageable. If I were to buy one, I'd consider investing in a trigger job from a local gunsmith I trust, but this one is fine to shoot straight from the factory.

As for accuracy, it's more accurate than I am, although that doesn't say a whole lot. 25 feet, slow fire.

Oh, and the standard disclaimer:

I'm not any kind of gun or shooting expert. I like shooting, and shoot a fair number of different guns, but I'm really a dilettante. Your mileage may vary, void where prohibited.

I don't do scientific, repeatable tests. There's no checklist, although that's not a bad idea. I write about what I like and don't like, but it's pretty much stream of consciousness. Opinion, we got opinion here. Step right up.

I'm not a shooting teacher, although I do like to introduce people to shooting. Maybe some day I'll take the NRA teaching class, but until then, you get a dilettante's view. You'll get opinion here, but if you get serious about shooting, you'll want to get someone who knows what he's doing to give you some pointers. It can help.

And oh yeah, shooting things is fun.

New Shooter Report

One of the women at the office wanted to go shooting, so we went.

Before we went, we started with the basics, meaning the four rules. I also pointed out one of my older posts, about how things went wrong with a combo four rules failure, pellet gun, and sliding glass door. At the range, she surprised me with her ability to rattle the rules off - she had clearly paid attention.

We also discussed the importance of keeping the muzzle down range, and finger off the trigger (rules 2 and 3), as these in my experience are the most frequently violated rules on the range. She was scrupulous in observing these - she didn't have a single safety lapse. Maybe I'm too used to taking kids, but I found the whole experience much more enjoyable than usual, since I didn't have to play range safety officer at all.

We also talked about how loud things can be at an indoor range. While we weren't planning on shooting anything that makes super loud booms, I did want to set her expectation that even with hearing protection, there are unexpected loud noises that can startle you. Turns out that it was good that we covered this.

Lastly, I brought #2 son's CO2 pellet gun, to go over grip. I'm not by any means an instructor, but she'd never held a gun before. Now she quite likely has all sorts of bad grip habits, but they're very similar to my bad grip habits. In any case, it de-mystified what to do with the real guns. Since she took to them like a duck to water, I assume that this was fairly worthwhile.


We started with a Ruger Mark III .22 pistol. This is light, accurate, quiet (no big BOOM), little recoil. Semiautomatic, she remembered not to have her left thumb behind the barrel (ouch!). The trigger on this is very nice; with the bull barrel absorbing just about whatever little recoil there was, she didn't show any sign at all of developing a flinch. While reloading, we had an interesting discussion on target shooting competitions. Not only does one of the guys in the office compete in these, but her daughter used to compete at archery. Not a 100% connection, but close. It will be interesting to see if she gets into competitive shooting.

As she started shooting, I remember Lady Elf's advice to men teaching women to shoot, which is to squash the tendency to focus on technique, and let her have fun shooting. This not only worked well - she would ask questions regularly that let me introduce new ideas at more or less a good time - but once again it let me shift into "have fun mode" rather than "firearms instructor mode".

She did fabulously well - at 5-10 yards, nothing outside the 7 ring, and a good portion (15% or so) in the X-ring. Fun!

After 100 rounds or so, she asked about "what's the next bigger gun?" She was happy to keep shooting, and liked the idea of trying something bigger. Twist my arm ...

Since we'd shot a semiautomatic, we tried a Ruger SP101 .357 revolver (although we shot 38 special). This not only introduced wheel gun load/eject concepts, but single vs. double action. Now I quite like this gun, and had no trouble making friends with the trigger. She found the single action pull very nice, but the double action pull too heavy.

Once gain, lots of shooty fun, and excellent grouping for a first outing. By this time we'd shot enough to have the discussion about not worrying so much about the x-ring, just keep the groupings small.

The BANG was a lot more than the .22 of course. As was her grin. What is it about shooting louder guns that causes everyone to bust out grinning?

Not that we were the loudest kids on the block: two lanes down, someone had a shotgun. I was glad we'd had the discussion about how sometimes loud things happen at the range. We had fun talking to a girl that I think was his girlfriend, who had absolutely no intention of shooting the thing. Seems like he missed an opportunity, but hey, he got her to the range, right?

My coworker is probably going to move from the People's Democratic Republic of Massachusetts to New Hampshire. No sense paying high taxes now that her daughter is out of the house, and getting a gun in her town is a royal pain in the butt. After the shotgun episode, she clearly wasn't too keen on getting one for home defense (any suggestions on getting a lady shooting a shotgun, Jay?), but she is planning on going back shooting again. The advantage of a range that rents guns is that you can try a lot of different ones before you buy.

LadyElf, thanks for the great, great advice. Guys, if you take ladies to the range, shut up and let them have fun shooting!

UPDATE: 16 September 2008 13:47: Holy cow, it's a Jay-alanche! Welcome, and take a look around.

UPDATE: 16 September 2008 13:50: And a Greg-and-Beth-alanche! Thanks!