If you spend any time reading gun magazines or other websites, you’ve probably come across the term “trigger weight”, usually expressed in pounds. You’ll see something like “this gun has a strong, 8 lb trigger” and such. Does that mean that the trigger weighs 8 pounds? Not exactly. Let’s spend a few moments to talk about trigger weight and what it means for you.
Side note, did you know that the abbreviation of “lb” for pounds is an abbreviation for the Libra constellation which is depicted as scales?
Fun facts aside, the trigger weight has tremendous influence on the performance and accuracy of your gun. When you hear someone talking about that trigger weight, that’s ultimately referring to the amount of force you’re going to have to apply to that trigger in order to fire the gun. The weight is greatly influenced by not only the manufacturer of the gun but the style of gun as well.
Read the rest of entry »
Ok, while the ammo crisis may be winding down in some areas, it’s still scarce out there. If a store has ammo, chances are it’s only a box or two at the most. There’s something I’m noticing with an increasing frequency: thrashed boxes.
Let me recount an actual event what I witnessed just yesterday. In the Jacksonville area, no one has better ammo prices than Academy Sports be it before or during this shortage. Just a fact. The ONLY place you can find better pricing was online. This also means that their ammo shelves were often times completely bare. They started a thing where they kept the most popular ammo behind the customer service desk and only let you buy one box, per caliber, per customer. The shotgun ammo (of which there’s always been plenty) and more obscure sizes are still out on the shelves, unrestricted.
While I was browsing the shotgun ammo, a guy who, for the purposes of this story will be referred to as Douche McGee, walks up and starts looking at the .38 Super +P ammo on the shelf.
Read the rest of entry »
If there was one question I see more than anything else as I peruse this vast universe of information known as the internet, it’s this: “What is the best gun for ______?”. Seriously, open a new browser window and browse to any firearm forum you can find. I’d almost be willing to bet a can of soda that there will be at least one post asking some form of that question within the first couple of pages. What’s the best gun for carry? What’s the best gun for home defense? What is the best gun for hog hunting?
I’m going to answer those questions. I’m not going to tackle each and every one of them, however. I am a scientific mind so I will borrow from science nomenclature for my answer. Fellow noobs, I would like to present to you The Gun Noob Unified Theory of Best Gun Determination!
Read the rest of entry »
There is a certain image people have of the area in which I live. The idea is that there’s a gun range on every corner and a gun store right next to each one of them. Believe it or not, there’s only a couple of gun stores in Jacksonville and 2 indoor ranges within a 30 mile radius. As much as this town loves guns, there just aren't many places to shoot them. There are a couple of outdoor gun clubs but one of them is crowded beyond measure and the other (of which I’m a member) is awesome but an hour’s drive away from me. Not to mention outdoors...in Florida...in the summer...well, let’s just say 98 degrees and 110% humidity makes for an interesting experience. When your sweat is sweating, you’re more concerned about avoiding heat exhaustion than proper sight picture.
Read the rest of entry »
We're happy to announce the next entry in our reloading guide: Stop the Presses!
This guide will walk you through the different types of reloading presses available today. Head on over to our reloading section and check it out or click here to view the guide.
I was born and raised here in Florida and, as a result, I have a soft spot for Florida firearm companies. I've been cheering on Taurus, and others in the state from the moment I found out they're "local". So, with that in mind, I'd like to send some congratulations over to Taurus for winning the Patriotic Employer Award from the Department of Defense. Congrats, all!
Check out their press release:
April, 2013 (Miami, FL) – Taurus® Holdings, a worldwide leader in firearms manufacturing was presented with the Patriotic Employer Award on Monday, April 22nd. This award, presented by Department of Defense, is in recognition of Taurus contributing to the National Security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.
Taurus has hired employees in their Miami based factory that were either Active Duty or are still actively serving in the Reserves, in both permanent and temporary positions with in the company ...
Read the rest of entry »
Oh boy! It’s a perfect day to be at the range. There’s no one here and you've miraculously scored a pretty hefty box of ammo. Line is hot, you’re loaded and ready. You pull the trigger and “click”. Nothing.
“That’s odd” you say to yourself. You could have sworn there was a round in the chamber. Right as you go to rack the slide “BLAM!” the gun fires. Thank goodness you still had it pointed down range.
Welcome to the wonderful world of “hang fires”.
Read the rest of entry »
My original intention was to write a quick guide to some quality cheap guns. Boy and howdy did I open up a can of worms with that one. It turns out, there were a large number of guns that met my requirements and that was just in handguns. Far too many to cover in just one article, even! As I kept looking, I saw numerous shotguns and rifles and even more handguns. I’m trying my best, however, to restrict the list to guns that I personally know to be of good quality. At the same time, there just isn’t a way to list all the individual guns that are within my search restrictions.
But that won’t stop me from trying...
Read the rest of entry »
There isn’t an expert out there that won’t tell you Betamax was way better than VHS. It was a smaller, sturdier cassette with higher resolution than VHS. Heck, while we were recording TV shows at home on VHS, they were stored and broadcast from the studios using Beta tapes. So why did VHS catch on while Betamax became another paragraph in the endless numbers of “Top X Technology Failures of All Time” articles?
Well, for the most part it was marketing and price. Yes, Beta had some shortcomings. It had a shorter recording time than VHS tapes, for example. In the end, however, it was Sony’s historical idiocy overconfidence that lead to JVC and RCA (the makers of VHS) being able to outmaneuver them in the market. While Sony learned their lesson with BluRay technologies (something Microsoft didn’t learn when they tried to release HD-DVD), you can take a look at the PS3’s launch and the PS4’s marketing for modern day examples of Sony’s shortcomings.
But this isn’t a discussion on gaming consoles...
Read the rest of entry »
Every now and then, you get a trend that seems to pop up out of nowhere. Once one company latches on to it, more and more come on board. Next thing you know, it’s the new standard. The fun thing is, often times that “new trend” is nowhere near new. It’s just someone took an old concept and finally got it right. Take smartphones, for example. They’ve been around, sort of, for a long time now. The Palm PDA by 3Com was a big jump in technology and eventually came with cell service for email and such. This was years before Apple even started considering the iPhone. Believe it or not, there was one of those “House of the Future” type of videos in the 1950’s that almost perfectly described the iPhone as it exists today! There truly is nothing new under the sun.
Read the rest of entry »