Questions about guns

[dysurian]

4. Always know your target, and what's behind it.  Bullets have a lot of energy, and can go an awful long distance before falling to the ground.  Know what you are shooting at (no shooting at some shadow in the dark, because you think it's a burglar).  Know what's behind it, in case you miss, or your bullet goes through.  That does happen.

Here is what happens if you don't follow that rule:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292168,00.html

Yeah, I heard about that one on Free Talk Live. It's just amazing how stupid the cops are allowed to be and not get fired/put in prison. I definitely know about always treating a gun as loaded, and never pointing it at anything you don't want to have a hole in. The others are new to me. I absolutely plan to take a gun safety course. I went to a class to learn to drive a car, I can't imagine not going to one to get the basics of gun safety down...unless you just grew up around guns, which I didn't.

[KBCraig]

My initial feeling is that I'd be more likely to gravitate toward one of the semi-autos than a pistol because I just like the solid machinery and gadgetry and clicking noises.

A 'semi-auto' and a pistol are one and the same.

Well, just to get all technical about it, a pistol is a handgun in which the barrel and chamber are one integral unit.

This is also a pistol:

[Lex]

Thanks for the correction KB. 

[error]

My gun had damn well better be loaded!

* error checks gun

Oh yes, it's loaded. Whew, what a relief!

[Lloyd Danforth]

"Pistol'  is and always has been a general term for 'any' handgun, semi auto, revolver, or, the single shot flintlock that KB supplied an image of. Some early 'double action' revolvers were referred to as 'semi automatics', as you did not have to cock them.

[Tom Sawyer]

I thought these Webley-Fosbery automatic revolvers were pretty interesting, from a novelty point of view.

[Lex]

From Wikipedia/Pistol:

The word "pistol" is often synonymous with the word "handgun". Some handgun experts make a technical distinction that views pistols as a subset of handguns. In American usage, the term "pistol" refers to a handgun whose chamber is integral with the barrel, making pistols distinct from the other main type of handgun, the revolver, which has a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers. However, Commonwealth usage makes no distinction at a technical level—"pistol" may refer to revolvers, semi-automatics, or muzzle-loading/cap-&-ball handguns. For example, the official designation of the Webley Mk VI was "Pistol, Revolver, Webley No. 1 Mk VI", and the designation "Pistol No. 2 Mk I" was used to refer to both the Enfield Revolver and the later Browning Hi-Power semi-automatic.

In the 15th century the word "pistol" was used for small knives and daggers which could be concealed in a person's clothing.[citation needed] By the 18th century, the term came to be used exclusively to refer to handheld firearms. Practical revolver designs appeared in the 19th century, and it was in that century that the (sometimes-observed) technical differentiation in usage of the words "pistol" and "revolver" developed.

[mvpel]

I like the Confederacy loaded-chamber indicator - it's red when the chamber is unloaded, warning you that the firearm is useless for self-defense.

[MaineShark]

I like the Confederacy loaded-chamber indicator - it's red when the chamber is unloaded, warning you that the firearm is useless for self-defense.

Shouldn't you call it an "unloaded chamber indicator," then?

(for anyone who is searching through information about 19th-century Southern weaponry, he's referring to the North American Confederacy, in L. Neil Smith's Probability Broach series)

Joe

[sandm000]

By sandm000 at 2007-12-05
The Josselyn Chain Gun, a 20 shot revolver.

Talk about novelty.

[grasshopper]

The four rules of gun safety:

1. All guns are always loaded.  Aka, there is no such thing as an unloaded firearm.  If there is a firearm, it is loaded.  I don't care if you just checked it and it was empty.  It's loaded.

If you want it to be "unloaded," you must sufficiently disable it mechanically that it cannot be considered a firearm anymore.  For example, by completely removing the bolt assembly from a rifle.  Without that, it is just a gun-shaped piece of wood and metal, but no longer an actual firearm.  This makes cleaning possible.

2. Never point a loaded firearm at anything you aren't willing to shoot.  As Lex mentioned, imagine a laser bean coming out the end of the barrel, and never let it land on something you aren't willing to put a bullet through.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.  See those guys in the movie, running around with their fingers on the triggers of their guns?  Never do that.  You index finger should be pointed straight forward.  Actually, put the tip of it against the side of the frame and keep a slight pressure on it.  That way, you know where it is (your brain works better with actual contact).  Once you are ready to shoot, only then does the finger touch the trigger.  It won't slow you down - getting the whole gun pointed where you want it will take much longer than it takes to move your finger a tiny distance.

4. Always know your target, and what's behind it.  Bullets have a lot of energy, and can go an awful long distance before falling to the ground.  Know what you are shooting at (no shooting at some shadow in the dark, because you think it's a burglar).  Know what's behind it, in case you miss, or your bullet goes through.  That does happen.

The NRA Basic Pistol course is good.  Training is the only use I have for the NRA.  There are several instructors here in NH, myself included.  There is probably one near you, even if you aren't local to NH.

Joe

   Ah-men!  I'm proud to be here on this board.
   Dude, where do you live?  I'm going to Jr's Gunsmighing friday night this week in Derry NH.  Are you interested in a firearms lesson?

[StaggerLee]

4. Always know your target, and what's behind it.  Bullets have a lot of energy, and can go an awful long distance before falling to the ground.  Know what you are shooting at (no shooting at some shadow in the dark, because you think it's a burglar).  Know what's behind it, in case you miss, or your bullet goes through.  That does happen.

Here is what happens if you don't follow that rule:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292168,00.html

I heard about that story on FTL. . . . how horrible, how idiotic, how negligent. . . I feel so horribly for them, it's a damn shame that someday the government will say the only people allowed to have guns are the police. . .and the police do stupid things like this.

[dysurian]

   Dude, where do you live?  I'm going to Jr's Gunsmighing friday night this week in Derry NH.  Are you interested in a firearms lesson?

Is this question for me? If so, we'll unfortunately have to schedule any gun lessons for the future. I still live in Minnesota. I signed intent with the FSP about a month ago, and will most likely be moving toward the end of the summer '08 (when my current lease expires).

[grasshopper]

    Yup, Send me your e-mail and I can send you all the stuff you could ever dream of.  To use this information, you'll have to get a toy gun, considder this your first lesson.
  Oh ya, if you are a felon, forget about it.
E-mail please, or IM me.  I'll get the folders ready for download rite now.

[KBCraig]

1. All guns are always loaded.

I don't just treat all guns as if they're loaded. If they're not in the safe, they actually are loaded and ready for use. And they don't get unloaded just to go in the safe, either.

A fellow on the Texas CHL forum has a great signature: "I'm scared of unloaded guns. 'Unloaded' guns have killed many people. That's why I make sure all my guns are loaded at all times."