Thread: Personal Firearms

Originally Posted by TrilliumLT

Im not a fan of ppl carrying fire arm for protection. In my mind that just equals more trouble. Going to the firing range, No problems. Hunting, Good for you for putting food on the table and getting a chance to enjoy the great out doors.

Just remember that when you're in trouble and seconds count, the police are minutes away.

I'm all about my guns for fun at the range, hunting, and protection. However, I do believe that there should be some sort of mandated training and recertification for concealed carry. $150 plus 250-500 rounds of ammo for the day isn't cheap but being required to do a basic pistol or concealed pistol class from good instructors (magpul dynamics, redback one, grey group, vickers shooting method, etc) every 3-5 years is just a good idea.

Originally Posted by bharner

Just remember that when you're in trouble and seconds count, the police are minutes away.

There was a case where a young lady in a major urban area was being raped and strangled for 18 minutes from the time she called the police to say that someone was trying to break into her apartment.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Around here they don't just rob you. They rob you then they shoot you. I am not exaggerating. I'd rather have a fighting chance than depend on the goodwill of someone who is confronting me with a firearm.

What some of my fellow Canadians do not seem to realize is that in the US, the middle class is very small and there are masses of people desperate enough to kill or die for what little scraps there are out there. They don't have the social nets like free healthcare and decent public education like we do here. Turns a lot of people into predatory animals and the means to protect yourself and your family become more necessary than they are in countries like Sweden or Germany.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

What some of my fellow Canadians do not seem to realize is that in the US, the middle class is very small and there are masses of people desperate enough to kill or die for what little scraps there are out there. They don't have the social nets like free healthcare and decent public education like we do here. Turns a lot of people into predatory animals and the means to protect yourself and your family become more necessary than they are in countries like Sweden or Germany.

I live in an area where there is an active gang culture. Young men, many times with little education, or parental guidance. The ACLU has emasculated LEOs and the school teachers from disciplining kids decades ago. For many of these young people movies such as Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction are where they get their role models. A culture that takes a novel about serial killers and morphs it into a movie where the serial killer, Hannibal, is the 'hero'. Scripted to be a sympathetic character. They say you can judge a culture by it's art. Whut up dawg ?

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

There was a case where a young lady in a major urban area was being raped and strangled for 18 minutes from the time she called the police to say that someone was trying to break into her apartment.

What some of my fellow Canadians do not seem to realize is that in the US, the middle class is very small and there are masses of people desperate enough to kill or die for what little scraps there are out there. They don't have the social nets like free healthcare and decent public education like we do here. Turns a lot of people into predatory animals and the means to protect yourself and your family become more necessary than they are in countries like Sweden or Germany.

I am sensing some condescension here. First of all, we have a very large middle-class but we also have a very large poorer class also and by and large things are just fine. And as freemen, we don't really want as many "social nets"as our friends in the North like. But carrying a weapon actually makes you a more responsible citizen. At least that's been my experience. I've been carrying for over 35 years and it has saved my ass more than once without even having to pull it. Oh let's not forget the upper class, they just hire people from the middle class will license to carry and we do just fine here. Thanks.
I hope I just misunderstood the way I read it.

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

And as freemen, we don't really want as many "social nets"as our friends in the North like.

I'll apologize in advance for posting and running as I'm hitting the road again tomorrow and generally steer well clear of discussions related to firearms due to the very different social, legal, and historical realities that exist in my country and in that of our neighbours to the south.

However, the 'sensing some condescension' phrase caught my eye and so I clicked on the post and did a bit of reading. And of course it led straight into a condescending comment regarding freedom.

Your post suggests that you are free while I, my fellow countrymen, and presumably others who do not share your view of freedom are not. Please do not mistake the choice of a different collective path by countries other than one's own as constituting a lack of freedom. I live in a free country, as do many hundreds of millions of other human beings who do not happen to live in the United States of America. You are free. I am free. People living in the UK, Norway, France, Germany, Japan, etc., and so on, are free. In each of these countries, this freedom is expressed in a manner appropriate to that particular society.

So let's not dump on each other and our respective societies for what ultimately are relatively insignificant differences. The fact that we are able to enjoy our own brand of freedom is something that should be celebrated as one of humanity's greatest achievements because the vast majority of people throughout the vast majority of human history have not enjoyed freedom of any kind.

MWS:
Looks like you are right handed and that 1911 needs a trigger job by looking at the target.

If you are left handed you are "pushing", anticipating the recoil. Relax, the 1911 is a pussycat as long as you are on the "right" end.

Thanks for posting, some of my targets look like this when I am trying drawing & instinct shooting drills on the move. That's what practice is all about, getting them all on paper. You might also pick up some orange spots for the 10 ring...helps if you aim small...you miss small.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

MWS:
Looks like you are right handed and that 1911 needs a trigger job by looking at the target.

If you are left handed you are "pushing", anticipating the recoil. Relax, the 1911 is a pussycat as long as you are on the "right" end.

Thanks for posting, some of my targets look like this when I am trying drawing & instinct shooting drills on the move. That's what practice is all about, getting them all on paper. You might also pick up some orange spots for the 10 ring...helps if you aim small...you miss small.

I got the rings and will use them for my next time out, good tip. Also looking for a pistol mentor at the range to help sight it in. I do think I'm flinching a bit - when I bought some ammo the guy behind the counter had some raised eyebrows...thought it was a tad big for my first...and flinching can be habit forming.

I would recommend the walmart 230 grain full metal jacket in the white box at walmart is what i would recommend for practice fodder. Save your brass.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

MWS:
Looks like you are right handed and that 1911 needs a trigger job by looking at the target.

If you are left handed you are "pushing", anticipating the recoil. Relax, the 1911 is a pussycat as long as you are on the "right" end.

Thanks for posting, some of my targets look like this when I am trying drawing & instinct shooting drills on the move. That's what practice is all about, getting them all on paper. You might also pick up some orange spots for the 10 ring...helps if you aim small...you miss small.

To add to shooter's good comments:

1. You said you'll bring your glasses next time. Are you having trouble seeing the target, or the front sight? If you can't get a hard focus on the front sight, you definitely need glasses. My marksmanship scores began to deteriorate along with my eyesight about five years ago, until I started wearing Rx lenses at the range.

2. I generally train for combat accuracy, not so much shooting for 1.25" groups at 25 yds. - if you want to do that, it'll take match-grade everything - trigger, barrel, ammo. To sight in a pistol, 25 yds. is a very long range. I start mine at 7 just to get a feel for the gun and sights, then go for eyeball accuracy (zero) at 10, then push it out to 15, and further if possible at a given locale, just to see how tight the groups stay.
I occasionally do private pistol instruction and will start beginners out even at 1-3 yds. to practice their sight alignment and trigger control. I find the visual feedback of seeing hits on target and the positive reinforcement of shooting tiny, accurate groups at that range go a long way towards solidifying the shooter's skills and confidence.

3. Trigger control is crucial. You can have the fanciest match-grade pistol equipped with a super hi-tech laser red-dot sight - if you jerk the trigger, shots will miss. Dry-fire trigger practice is really helpful. Needless to say, make sure that your pistol is unloaded. I also like to move all live ammo out of the practice area. Then get an empty bullet casing. Cock your gun, and balance the empty casing on its end and on top of the slide, just behind the front sight. Then slowly extend out into a shooting position, get your finger on the trigger and slowly, slowly start squeezing it back, almost like you really don't want it to go off, one ounce of pressure at a time. When the trigger breaks, it should come as a surprise - and the bullet casing should still be balanced on top of the slide! This'll also get you a good feel for your specific trigger - is it gritty, or "sticky" somewhere along the pull? In which case, you may want to get it smoothed out a bit.

4. I don't think the picture of your target is all that bad. Of course I don't know how many shots missed entirely, but it looks like you've put a fair amount of hits on a 8.5 x 11 rectangle. Now imagine that rectangle were a bad guy's chest area - do you think he might be hurting ? From a self-defense perspective, I think you're doing just fine!

Excellent tips HamburgO...especially the distance. I was at an outdoor range where the shortest distance was 25 yards. There's an indoor range with 10 yards (<10 possibly). I'll spend an hour in there, starting short and adding distance from there. Thanks!