[at-l] Fw: The Contemporary Firearms Scene (Gunshows made easy)

[Tom McGinnis]

Clyde made me do it. (Yes, *that* Clyde.)


--- On Mon, 10/27/08, Tom McGinnis <sloetoe at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Attending the recent Indy1500 gun show
> http://www.indy1500.com with new-to-firearm friends gave me
> reason to draw up the short version of firearms
> "truth" (yes, that's "as I see it...") Here it is:
> 
> 1) There's the weapons below, and there's
> everything else. Ignore everything else.
> 
> SHOTGUNS: 3 gauges to know about -- 12, 20, 410.
> 
> 12 Gauge -- the largest, the standard. All sorts of loads
> available, from single slugs, to big ball-shot
> ("buckshot) to teensy dots (birdshot).
> *** Remington 870 ($350), Mossberg 500 ($300)***
> 
> 20 Gauge -- smaller, still popular.
> 
> 410 Gauge -- shells the width of your pinkie. "For
> birds, kids, and women."
> Handily can be shot from certain handguns. Cool. (Not very
> useful, but cool.)
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> RIFLES: 5 calibers to recognize:
> 
> .308/7.62x51mm NATO Goes a mile, kills a tree. M14 round.
> 
> 30-06/7.62x63mm ("Thirty-ought-six"
> "Springfield") Goes a mile, kills a tree.
> *** M1 ($1000) round (1936 through 1960s/M14)
> 
> 7.62x54r ("Ruskie rifle round") Goes a mile,
> kills tree. Used in the
> *** Moisen-Nagant (1891, 91/39, 91/44, 91/59) ($140) rifle
> from before 1914 through Vietnam, into Bosnia, and today as
> sniper round. R= rimmed -- a restricting characteristic
> needing careful feeding/loading.
> 
> 7.62.39 ("Ruskie AK round") Goes half a mile,
> really hurts a tree. Used by Soviet Union in 
> ***Auto.-Kalishnikova 1947 rifle ($350) and SKS ($250).
> 
> .223/5.45x45 NATO "NATO pea-shooter" round. Goes
> half a mile, nicks a tree, hurts some leaves. Used in 
> *** AR15/M16/M4 ($700-$2000) from 1960s. You can carry a
> boatload, though.
> 
> .22LR ("Twenty-two, Long Rifle) Plinker's round,
> great stuff, 5¢ a round, versus $2-$3 a round for some of
> the above. Goes half a mile, leaves a welt, but you have to
> aim a good 6' above your target. Get a 
> *** Henry Survival Rifle, at ~$175, and have a blast.
> 
> .17 -- even smaller than the .22lr, until price is
> considered.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> HANDGUNS:
> 
> .45 Big, dumb, slow. Goes a quarter mile, knocks people
> down (if they stand still while round approaches). Still
> preferred by US Special Forces. Spendy round to shoot. 
> *** COLT 1911 ($800), the standard from, 1911.
> 
> .9 mil, 9x19mm. 9x19 Parabellum, 9mil Lugar
> ("Pistol"), 9x19 NATO
> Goes farther, flatter than .45, but average weight of 124
> grns versus 200 grns .45 may mean less physical impact upon
> arrival in shorter distance, more impact in farther
> distance. 
> *** GLOCK 17 ($500) is a standard. Next to the .22LR, this
> is by far the cheapest round to own/shoot, at ~25¢-30¢ a
> round.
> 
> .380/"Three-eighty"/.380 Browning/9x17/9mil Kurz
> ("Short") same width as 9x19, but with a much
> shorter cartridge depth, so less powder, so less power. Of
> the "Baby bullets" (those not .45, e.g, .22s, .25,
> .32, .380), this is the big, dumb, slow one. Goes a quarter
> mile, lodges in tree bark or bounces off. 
> *** Kel-Tec 3-AT ("Three eight-ee") ($250).
> 
> .22LR (Yes, the same as above. As a pistol round, look for
> a 
> *** Browning BuckMark or similar from Ruger (Mark III?)
> ($200-$400). Or get a conversion for your GLOCK 17 (~$200).
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Magazines hold ammunition to load, and may be attached onto
> the weapon or detachable. "Clips" are devices to
> attach individual rounds to themselves, and may be used to
> load magazines.
> 
> "Automatic" handguns are in fact SEMI-automatic,
> and load a next round from the magazine into the breach as
> the previous shell is cleared from the weapon. Firing the
> new round still requires a separate pull of the trigger and
> is NOT "automatic."
> 
> Semi-auto handguns are NOT the best choice for everyone --
> especially those whose knowledge/practice is de minimus;
> revolvers continue to play an important,
> reliability-oriented role in firearms use.
> 
> Full metal jacket (FMJ) ammo is a lead bullet jacketed by
> copper; also known as "ball ammo" though it's not round. JHP
> (Jacketed hollow-point) has that gnarly open ended round, but
> it really takes a lot of speed to open up and act like a
> larger caliber, and 95% of the time (dirty little secret), 
> hollow points do *not* open up. This fiction will cost you
> 30%-50% on your ammo costs, but it looks really cool in gel.

> BUT! "Target" ammo is generally ball ammo with a light load of 
> powder. JHP is generally sold as "Personal Protection" ammo,
> and is a hotter load. Best would be a blunt nosed ("wadcutter"
> or "semi-wadcutter", hotter load. "Winchester 'White Box'" is
> clean, economical to shoot, medium load, and available in a
> wide range of bullets, from FMJ to SMC ("BEB" or Brass-
> enclosed Base) to JHP; and from 115gr to 147 gr in 9mil.
> 
> AND STAY AWAY from lacquered ammo (Russian "Brown Bear" brand)
> unless you really don't like your weapon, and like to have it
> gooed up for a day's worth of cleaning/soaking.
> 
> The sound of a racked shotgun, and the sight of a little
> red dot on one's person, often performs miraculous
> changes in the behavior of problem individuals, instilling
> civility and clarity of thought.
> 
> (IMO) Never unlock the door to a house with an unsecured
> (unlocked) firearm inside.
> 
> (IMO) External so-called safety(s) pose grave threats to
> anyone within range, and should be soldered to the
> "Fire" position at first opportunity. 
> 
> Oh, and while we're at it, 
> 
> 80-100 lumens flashlight: $30-$40. Get a recharge kit, too,
> if available.