Monthly Archives: July 2014

Ligyrophobia

clownFear is an incredible emotion. Fear of failure can motivate someone to success just as easily as it can prevent someone from ever trying. It can freeze even the bravest in their tracks. It has also been the root cause from some of the greatest atrocities in human history.

Everyone has a fear of something. Some people don’t like snakes or spiders, for example. In most cases, fear can be reduced by education. If someone doesn’t like snakes, exposure to snakes and learning about them can often times get rid of that fear. Given enough time, they will see that a snake is just an animal like anything else and all they want to do is eat, sleep and survive. There is nothing inherently evil about them or their nature. The same goes for most other creatures we’re afraid of.

Except clowns. Clowns are always evil. No exceptions.

There is a certain point, however, where a fear is so extreme that it is referred to as “irrational”. There is no amount of education or reasoning that will truly get rid of that irrational fear. People will recoil is absolute and unfathomable terror at the sight of their tormentor. Something as simple as a roach or a dirty counter top, which is completely mundane to most of us, is the stuff of nightmares to someone with an irrational fear.

The technical term for those fears is, of course, a phobia.

The term phobia is thrown around a lot these days and it’s often used in the same vein as “literally” or “OCD”. How often have you heard someone say something like “When I saw Susan there I literally died”? Not to jump on the bandwagon but using the term literally when you mean figuratively makes me want to literally beat my head on a desk until I’m stupid enough not to care anymore.

But I digress.

If you don’t like spiders, you don’t like spiders. If the sight of a single spider puts you into such a hysteria that you would rather burn your house down than confront the spider even if it’s to spray it with bug spray, that’s a phobia. The distinction is important.

To someone who doesn’t have a true phobia, the fear makes no sense. They look at it as “just a spider” or “just a little dirt”. There is no way for a person to understand that crippling horror and, on the other side, there is no way for the person with the phobia to truly explain why they’re so scared of the subject.

All of that was to clarify where I’m coming from when I say this: I have a phobia and, taking that phobia into account, I am a complete and utter moron for taking up this particular hobby.

I am terrified of loud noises. The louder they are, the worse I am. Some noises, can even put me into full on panic attacks. The technical term is “ligyrophobia” and in my **cough** years on this planet, I’ve learned to cope with it and to hide it as best as I can. I’m also convinced that the stress from it has shortened my life a bit. At the very least, it’s definitely made some things quite difficult.

Theme park rides, for example, are hit or miss for me. I rather enjoy theme parks and many of the rides but every now and then I find myself on a ride that has me regretting my whole trip. A perfect example is a ride I went on a few years ago at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The ride was called “Dinosaur!”. It was hell. I won’t waste time going into detail as this is already a bit longer than I wanted it to be before getting to my ultimate point but still, the noises on that ride had me shaken up for the rest of the day and it took a long time for me to calm down. I noticed that my heart rate sped up a bit as I was typing about it, if that’s any indicator.

So the fact that I enjoy shooting is a bit of a mystery.

Aside from the situation where I needed a gun, I kept up the hobby out of the thought that it would help me to get over my fear of the noise. In a way, it has and it hasn’t. In the past, whenever I would arrive at a gun range, the first couple of shots I heard would put me into a near panic attack. I can’t describe to you how horrific the sound is to me. The muscles on the back of my neck tighten up, my legs become shaky and my heart rate goes through the roof. After a few years of shooting, my heart rate still climbs but my panic has subsided. I don’t have the uncontrollable urge to run away when I go to a range.

My hands still shake like crazy with a pistol and I have the damnedest time keeping a tight group. In many ways, it’s disappointing as hell because I don’t shoot my pistol as well as I’d like to. It’s still a more than acceptable level, in the grand scheme of things, mind you. The way I see it, with all the stress I go through to shoot in a “calm” practice environment has, in some ways, helped prepare me for a time when my life depends on it. When you think about it, I kind of know how to shoot with adrenaline and fight or flight response in full swing. For someone who’s never dealt with a phobia, they’re probably thinking “yeah right, a bit of noise doesn’t prepare you for defense”. For me, it’s not just a bit of noise: It’s the audio equivalent of a knife to the throat. I don’t think anyone is ever truly prepared for a defensive scenario, but I think knowing how I react in a fight or flight helps in some way.

I’ve also found that rifles and shotguns are far more manageable for me. The human mind is a strange thing and most of how it works makes no sense at all. In this case, I’m guessing there’s something about the recoil and the sound profile of them that doesn’t bother me as much. I still hate the noise and I still have to do a lot of deep breathing to calm myself down before I start to shoot. My hands don’t shake, however. I can hold the rifle or shotgun still long enough to get an accurate shot.

So what does all this ultimately lead to? It’s very important to know where your weakness is. Once you know that, you can either work to strengthen it or work around it. I’m not going to fool myself: pistols will probably always be difficult for me. I will continue to work on them but, in finding out that I’m better with rifles and shotguns, that allows me to focus on what I’m better at and improve those skills rather than push a rock up a hill. In the meantime, don’t hold your breath to see me competing in any 3-Gun competitions.


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Free For All Friday 7-25-2014: Paint, used guns and lasers!

STL-900-WLL-detailYou’ve got questions, we’ve got answers for your mind!

Want to paint a fill in color on my Glock slide, was told Testers made the best paint, and Brownells, Inc. has color sticks that do the same thing. Any suggestions to get me started? -Steven L.

There’s nothing like a personalized gun. The sad part it, most affordable customizations are internal parts. To really beef up things, it costs a bit of cash…with one big exception: painting. One of the easiest paintings is just filling in the letters. It’s actually quite amazing how much of a difference such a little detail can make. Personally, I’m fond of Testers for that particular painting task. It seems to be a bit more resilient to cleaning, solvents and such. It’s what I used in the painting tutorial on our horribly neglected YouTube channel. The technique would be the same regardless of firearm.

I am thinking about buying a used gun. To this point, everything has been new. I was in my local shop and saw a pretty .38 that is on consignment. My question is, what to look for? If you buy it over Gun Broker, or another site, how do you know the gun is in decent shape or in need of repair. I am fine with the pricing ( I read your post on that). But I am leery of buying a gun without knowing what I am getting into. Thanks as always! -Skylar R.

Buying a used gun is amazingly like buying a used car…except you can’t take it for a test drive…and you don’t have something like Carfax to check it out. In the end, it really is a buyer beware type of situation. The bright side is there are some obvious things to look out for. One of the big things is how well the gun was maintained. This is separate from wear and tear, mind you. No matter how well you take care of the gun, regular use is going to take its toll on the appearance. For maintenance, I’m looking for rust and corrosion. Also, field strip the gun and look at the internals. If the person doesn’t want you field stripping the gun, walk away. Oftentimes a store will give the gun a quick cleaning before they put it out to sell but even then, there’s only so much a good cleaning can cover up.

Next, if it’s a semi-auto pistol, rack the slide a few times to check the recoil spring. As we spoke in an article a while back, a worn recoil spring can quickly destroy a gun. If the gun looks well used and the recoil spring looks like it has never been replaced, that would be a warning sign. If the spring doesn’t give any resistance at all, that’s also a big warning sign. If this was being shot with too light of a spring, it would have put a significant strain on the frame.

Finally, do some dry fire. A lot of stores don’t like you dry firing brand new guns, at least not without asking first. They shouldn’t have any problems with you dry firing a used gun. Still, ask first and also make absolutely sure that it’s not loaded. Side note: Pretty much all of the negligent discharges that have happened in gun stores were from used guns. Don’t ever rely on gun store employees to check the gun for you. Anyway, if the trigger works and feels OK, you’re good to go.

Any suggestions for a green laser light combo for a Glock? -@RealistRager

I have recently fallen in love with green lasers for gun. Admittedly, I wrote them off as a novelty at first because they were noticeably more expensive than red lasers and, in my mind at least, a laser was a laser. I was wrong. Boy was I wrong. Not only have they come down in price but the green is so much easier to pick up. Also, they’re so bright that you can actually see the beam without having to spray anything into the air. Combining that awesome laser with a nice, bright LED flashlight is an unbeatable combo.

The bright side (get it? bright side? eh? eh?) is that there are lots of great options. I’m a big fan of the stuff from Viridian but pretty much any of the big manufacturers will do. One thing I would avoid, however, are the cheap $30 combos you see at places like Academy sports and such. They’ll work for a while but after a bit of shooting they really start to fall apart. I’ve also had trouble with them holding zero on the laser. You want laser-like precision (that’s another pun) and the super cheap ones just can’t handle it. Also, I haven’t had much luck with those no-name brands in the green boxes that you see at gun shows. There always seems to be one dude selling those crazy red dot sights/scope/laser/flashlight combo units that come in a green box with an absurdly reasonable price. Buyer beware, there’s a reason they’re so cheap. As much as I hate to say it, a lot of stuff in the firearm world does have a price vs. quality equivalent. With that being regrettably said, look for the $300 and up price range and the quality will be there.

 


Thanks for the questions!

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Top 3 Things to Know When Buying Your First Gun

IMG_1331Have you ever said to yourself “if I knew then what I know now…”? I find myself saying it quite often as of late. Considering this is a gun blog, I’m thinking you can guess where I’m going with this. If you’ve read the “About Us” section, you’ll remember that I was originally all self taught. I had to learn through trial and error and it was a long time before I could get formal training. I’ve made some mistakes over the years when it comes to buying guns and guns in general. Nothing dangerous, mind you. Just some assumptions I made that turned out to be so, so wrong.

Let’s take a moment to reflect on those mistakes so that you don’t risk wasting money like I did.

1) You’re not just paying for the gun.

You’ve been saving up for a gun and you were able to bargain it down from $550 to $495? Great! Now you’ll need to pay sales tax, of course. Then there’s the inevitable background check fee that some stores include in the price but most tack on an extra $10-$20 per transaction. Oh, and don’t forget ammo because you want to shoot it, right? Is this your first gun? You’ll need a cleaning kit too! Eventually, you’ll need a case for it if you’re planning on going to the range. When saving up for your first gun, make sure you hold on to an extra $100 over your estimated price to cover the inevitable extras that, for the most part, you’re not going to easily avoid.

2) Stick with the tried and true.

Sure that folding pocket .22LR derringer like 5-shot revolver is cool and cheap. It’s also not a good carry choice. Derringer? Same thing. If you’re looking for a first gun or a 2nd gun to use for your daily carry pistol, take a look at what local police carry: Glock, M&P, SIG, etc. You’ll notice that Derringers aren’t on most police department’s approved list. I’m sure there’s one or two out there but majority rules on this one. Think about it this way: the less fumbling the better. Let’s compare… Folding pocket .22LR: draw, open gun, aim, pull back hammer, fire. Glock: draw, aim, fire. The fewer steps the better, even when you get more experience under your belt.

3) Hollywood is not a good guide.

I’ll admit a deep, dark secret of mine: I started teaching myself with the Hollywood cup. You know that grip where one hand holds the gun and the other is underneath, supporting the main hand? Yeah. That one. It’s a terrible way to shoot and it’s going to not only affect accuracy but it gives ZERO assistance with recoil. Why did I do this? Because nearly everyone in movies and TV held their gun like that. There wasn’t a GunNoob.com to tell me better at the time. Every gun site had the “if you don’t know it I’m sure as heck not going to tell you (at least not for free)” mentality. I eventually learned better but still, I’m embarrassed for myself just typing that out. It does feel good to finally get that out into the open, though. It’s like a great weight has been lifted.

But I digress. Hollywood and TV are the absolute worst representatives of firearm reality. Though it’s been said many times, a .45 ACP or .44 Magnum isn’t going to blow someone through a wall and a shotgun isn’t going to magically vaporize someone. Don’t look to Hollywood for self defense advice, home clearing technique or survival methods either. It’s there for one thing and one thing only: entertainment.

I hope those help steer some of you in the right direction. What about you, dear reader? What pieces of advice do you wish someone told you back when you started? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page.


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Free For All Friday 7-18-2014: Keep it clean!

ballistolOddly enough, I got a lot of interest on last week’s Warhammer question. I might have to start imposing the same restrictions on Warhammer that I do on Doctor Who lest this blog stray too far from its given subject: helping new gun owners. That being said, let’s help!

“Cleaning Kits and supplies. Maybe we spoke of this in the past, but I can’t find it. Can you please break it down by rifle/shotgun and pistol? I have both. I have found kits, sprays, bore snakes and all type of brushes. What do I need at a min and what do I really need? I have the basis “gun cleaning kit” for $20 or so. Yes, it works, but I get the feeling I need something else. Especially sprays or oil. As always, thanks for your help!” -Skylar R. Continue reading


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Beginner Gun Review: The Smith & Wesson M&P C.O.R.E. 9mm

MandPCore1In my first unofficial post on Gun Noob (helping to answer a Free For all Friday question), I mentioned that I recently retired my 9mm Beretta PX4 compact in favor of a 9mm XDS 3.3.” The PX4 was fulfilling dual roles, as both a carry/self defense gun and a range toy. Now that I have a little more disposable income (not really, but I keep telling myself that) I decided to replace one do-it-all gun with two more specialized pieces. Since I am looking to start competing with a pistol, I did some shopping around and decided to buy myself a Smith & Wesson M&P C.O.R.E. 5″ in 9mm. I can’t shoot Glocks worth a damn (wrong grip angle) and as much as I like the XD series (I do own one after-all) the M&P just felt ‘right’ in my hands. Besides, Jerry Miculek shoots one and who am I to argue with the master.  Continue reading


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Free For All Friday 7/11/2014: Shotguns and Tiny Plastic Armies…

RuneLord[Insert deep and introspective opening post here that has little to do with anything other than the random thoughts that happen to be going through my head at the moment of writing this week’s FFAF post here.]

[Even more random segue into the questions] Continue reading


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Shooting with Arthritis

Arthrite_rhumatoideWe all get older. I hate to start an article out by bringing up a stark reminder of our mortality but, as the saying goes, the only definites in life are death and taxes. As we get older, things start to break down. Maybe our vision or hearing might fade. Sometimes the coordination or reaction time might not be what it used to be. There’s a good chance, however, that you’re going to wind up as one of the millions of people suffering from arthritis. Wow…that has been a very depressing opening. Quick! We need a palate cleanser!

How do you get a sweet 80-year-old lady to say the F word?
Get another sweet little 80-year-old lady to yell “BINGO”!

And we’re back. Arthritis is a pretty nasty degenerative disorder that affects the joints in your skeleton. The term “arthritis” itself is more of a blanket term to group a large number of ailments and exactly how each one affects a person is different. While it can affect any joints in the body, for this article we’re going to be talking about the hands. Continue reading


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Concern Kalashnikov Introduces IZ-132 Upgrade

KalashnikovFor Immediate Release – Press Alert

With over 200 years of battle proven firearm manufacturing experience, Concern Kalashnikov understands the importance of legacy building… and giving tactical operators what they need to succeed in the field. Among those needs, the famed IZ132 has stood at the ready for decades as the premier go-to tactical firearm and 2014 is no different with kind of option upgrades and rugged durability that makes your environment a safer, more versatile place whether shooting, hunting or standing your ground. Continue reading


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