Guns!

[cosmicfolklore]

I avoided this thread for a while. I couldn't tell which way it was going to go at first, so here is my 2 cents.
Lots of good advice here.
I keep a .40 Smith & Wesson compact strapped to the inside of my jeweler's bench. I like it because it is compact, maneuverable, and I can actually hit what I need to with it. I do not open carry here, even though I can, because in all of my life, I've never been anywhere that I felt I needed one. And, I do not feel a need to protect my home. However, I start every work day with a prayer that I will not ever ever ever need to kill someone. But, with the work I do and the materials that I use, there is always a risk.
My dad owned a very traditional jewelry store and production company back in the 70's and 80's when armed crime was more prevalent, so his story was different. He hid diamonds in the sugar jar at home and had a safe in ever location he had to go and a .38 in a shoulder holster at all times. On his death bed one of his confessions was that he regretted killing a man who walked in with a pistol. It had tormented him up in his last years. So, my advice is to pray on this. It is one thing to talk about the theory of defending yourself with deadly force, and another to actually live with the consequences. I am not absolutely resolved on what I will do if the good lord puts this test in my path. I am by no means a Bible thumper, but I have my relationship with the big question mark in the sky, and I hope the day never comes that I have to test myself. But, if need be, I am trained with my piece and working on my peace.
I'm just putting it out there. Being a responsible gun owner and being in a position that you may have to kill are two totally different things. My dad really stressed this to me, and I'm not sure that this is something that gets discussed enough.

 

[instymp]

+1 Nola, like golf, easier to learn "Correct" from the beginning than overcome bad habits & mindset later. Plus the legal use vs. BS crap that you hear everywhere is very important.

Even get your concealed license even if you will never carry, just for the education. They teach you the law in your state & common sense safety, hard to pull a bullet back.

 

[warren]

eightywon: Very wise idea. One on one means undivided attention. No conflicting information, questions asked and answered as they come to mind and all at a pace you are comfortable with. Very wise!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Good video. Two things I'd love to know more about. Why would a thief think that watches would be that valuable? I mean, at least gold and silver can be easily melted and resold on the market without raising too much of an eyebrow, but watches... And, why not just move your shop after the second or third time. He was just determined to keep that shop. And, watch repair is not so lucrative that it'd be worth the risk over and over. But, that's just me.
The local police helped me install a silent alarm here in the shop, and they asked me if I wanted an automatic lock on the door to trap the criminal in with me. My jaw hit the floor. What a stupid idea, ha ha. No, I would rather have something that ejected them from the store.
The video sort of brushes over the trauma all of that must have caused him. I was young when my father pulled the trigger, but watching him in his last days I got more of an insight into what he had lived with in the back of his mind all of those years.
I've had elderly ladies come into the shop obviously with big guns in their purses, and even with a few men I know, I worry that carrying a weapon might make them more vulnerable to violence than safe. My oldest daughter has been trained with a firearm. My youngest will too, next year. Although, I want her to know how to handle a weapon, I am still not sure if I will allow her to have one, at least as long as they live with me. What they do when they are on their own, will be up to them.
As far as protecting my home, I keep a baseball bat by all doors. I've never had any indication that there will ever be an intruder. Here, people don't even ever lock their doors. I use to box Golden Gloves back in the early 80's and although I have a bit of arthritis, I do have a black belt in Taekwondo from the 90's. I may not be as much of a bad ass as I used to be, I think I can still swing a bat like mother...
I am a gun owner. But, it doesn't give me as much certainty and sense of security as you'd think. It's something I have to think about every day that I click that sign on.

 

[warren]

Today's run of the mill thieves have brains too fried to think with any logic. And, that's what makes them so much more dangerous than a professional.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

Stay away from Glock then. Alot swear by them, and they are nice but no hammer and strange safty.

Uh, what? No hammer and a "strange" (read easy to use) safety are GOOD ideas for a novice shooter. I think that a revolver is a more simple weapon to get to know, so that would probably be my recommendation- a mid-sized Ruger or Taurus double action revolver like some other people mentioned. But, if you want a semi-auto a Glock is a very good way to go. I had a 9mm for years that I put many hundreds of rounds of ammo through without any malfunction (unlike a number of 1911 style .45s that I have shot). Now I have a Glock 22 .40 cal with mounted tactical light- it is a pretty fearsome home defense weapon. I have a shotgun under the bed to, but I would definitely reach for the Glock first.

So I found and decided to take a basic 1 on 1 private training course. 6 hours, 10-12 guns from .22 semi to .44 magnum. Rules of safety, fundamentals of marksmanship, and reactive shooting for defense. Probably schedule sometime next week.

Very smart.

 

[phil67]

So I found and decided to take a basic 1 on 1 private training course. 6 hours, 10-12 guns from .22 semi to .44 magnum. Rules of safety, fundamentals of marksmanship, and reactive shooting for defense. Probably schedule sometime next week.

Great! If that is the road you are going to take I pretty much think this whole thread is over. After all, what else can one add seeing that you are indeed going about it the right and proper way. Best of luck... :wink:

 

[cobguy]

The smell of Hoppe's permeates the house after every firing exercise.

I friggin' love that smell ... always have! :crazy:
Recently, I took out the Hoppe's and cleaned up my Taurus (.38 special) while smoking some CH in a cob.
Talk about nostalgia! ::

 

[bentmike]

The smell of Hoppe's permeates the house after every firing exercise.

-Same here.

Today I stopped at the range to test a few reloads I made up earlier in the week. 158 grain lead round nose flat points. The powder charge was 3 grains of Bullseye. I fired the shots one at a time from a low ready position. No aiming just point and shoot concentrating on the target. Much like tradition archery shooting. Focus on the target muscle memory takes care of the rest.

 

[longbowman]

Smorgdonkey---Good to see another traditional archer on here! What recurve ya got?

 

[cobguy]

Since this thread is still active, I wanted to share a new round that's available ... for now.
Some BADASS ammo here ... check out the video towards the bottom!
http://g2rip.com/

 

[longbowman]

Smorgdonkey, I have a Martin Bushmaster longbow 50lbs draw, a LongRiver Elk longbow 55lbs draw, and my sweetest favourite, a Bamboo-Backed Osage Orange longbow also 55lbs draw, mule deer antler limb tip overlays. Now that Osage longbow is a screamer. Sweet shooting longbow, zero handshock. I make my own arrows, mostly from bamboo, sourwood, and viburnam. Bamboo makes the best arrows of it all. I have a Martin Hunter recurve 50lbs draw and that was my first bow. Gave that one to my wife. I shoot strictly longbows now. If you do a little reading, you can learn how to harvest your own shafts from the wild and make your own arrows with them. Saves a ton of money, what with Port Orford Cedar shafts going for $30 and up. Bamboo shafts you can actually get from home improvement stores as "bamboo garden stakes". You can make some good arrows from those and they're tougher and more durable than Port Orford Cedar. I've made about 50 arrows over the summer, just something to do. Make arrows, smoke my pipe, enjoy it all...

 

[longbowman]

Yes, the English warbows pulled in the neighbourhood of 120lbs to 150lbs. The English practically wiped out the French nobility at Agincourt with those bows. The arrows they were using were ash, 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter, case-hardened bodkin points to penetrate the knights' armor. The English were training their longbowmen started in childhood and worked up to the heavy longbows. There's some great documentaries out about them.
A 50lbs. recurve or longbow will take pretty much all North American big game animals, provided you put the arrow in the right place.

 

[dochudson]

ok, for all you guys that need 'power' and capacity take a look at the FN 5.7 (5.7x28mm)

 

[petes03]

@dochudson.
I had a chance to buy a 5.7 several years ago, new for $450.

It the time, I'd never seen or heard of one.

They had just got one in at a small, local gun shop. A bunch of us were standing there looking at it, and a guy walked up and asked how much it was.

When the guy behind the counter gave him the price, his eyes lit up and he said "I'll take it!"

If I had only known!

Nowadays, you can't find one for less than a grand!

 

[longbowman]

The 5.7mm was one of those ones the media was claiming as a "cop killer" because word was out it was allegedly developed to defeat body armor. As if street hoods could afford the weapon even if so.

 

[dochudson]

street hoods have more than enough $$$ they all seem to drive Escalades around here with rims that cost way more than $1300. list is $1300+ if you are in the right place at the right time can be had for just over $1k. I'll buy all I can find at $450. The Armor piercing bullets are only (in theory anyway) available to select folks.

 

[woodsroad]

Look: A suppressed weapon, no matter what, has to have a muzzle velocity under 900 FPS, or it just isn't suppressed. The smaller the projo, the less the lethality. Go big, or go home.
Here's what a .500 S&W, suppressed and dead silent, does to a stack of hard drives:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM7pLWHccWc&feature=youtu.be

 

[zekest]

And the four rules of gun safety..burn it into your brain:

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY

RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET

RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

Rule V: Never use the gun laser to play with the cat. (So says my wife.)

 

[dochudson]