Educational
Beginner’s Shotgun Recommendations
There are two schools of thought when it comes to getting started in a new hobby. You can either start off as cheap as possible so that, in the off chance you don’t like it, you’re not out too much money. There are others that follow the line of thinking that if you spend as much as possible, you’re less likely to give up because you’ve made such a large investment.
Let me sidestep for a moment. Consider putting someone in a high end supercar for their very first car/driving lesson. A 16 year old can get into a Ferrari 458 and learn to drive fast and precise but can they really appreciate the engineering perfection of that car without having driven other cars? I’m not saying that they can’t, mind you, but without the experience, for the most part it’ll just be a car that goes fast and kills their parent’s insurance premium. If you start a person on, say, a Subaru Impreza which is a great car but a little on the boring side then move them to a Mustang then to a Porsche and finally a Ferrari. By the time they get to the Ferrari they’ll have an understanding of the benefit of mid engine design when it comes to balance and handling. They’ll really grasp why the multi-clutch gearbox and computer adjusted suspension give such an advantage when powering through turns.
In the firearms world, however, things get a bit wonky. When dealing with pistols and to some extent rifles, the difference between a $500 beginner gun and a $1500 advanced gun are subtle enough that the beginner isn’t going to notice them as much. That’s not to say they won’t but it’s more of a matter of appreciation. The difference between a properly broken in Glock trigger and a properly broken in, high-end 1911 trigger is noticeable but only so if you’re used to one or another. Hand that super expensive 1911 to someone who’s never held a gun and tell them to dry fire it and they’ll pull the trigger, nod and say “ok” then hand it back to you. Rifles, once you get past a certain point, are essentially the same. AR-15’s also have a quality plateau and after that point come down to the number of accessories slapped on to them.
Shotguns, on the other hand, are a different beast. There is still a point of diminishing returns but there are certain quality checkpoints across the board. Comparing a $400 Stoeger Condor over/under to a $2000 Beretta 686 then to a $13,000 Perazzi MX2000 you’ll see some incredible differences that even a total noob can appreciate.
So if you’re wanting to buy a new shotgun, where do you start? Let’s break it down into the common 3 big reasons people buy shotguns and then break those down into the “start out cheap” category and the “decent starting investment” group.
Home Defense
- Beware of Dog: You can’t go wrong with the Mossberg Maverick (reviewed here) pump action in this case. It’s a solid 12 gauge shotgun that holds 8 rounds and can handle any kind of shell you put in it. Because of it’s near identical footprint to the Mossberg 500, you can upgrade it as time goes by.
- Moat and Missile Pods: Or you can spend a bit more and just get a Mossberg 500. These are probably the most widely sold shotgun in the world* with various militaries and police forces using them.
*With the possible exception of the Remington 872 but with the quality problems Remington is having at the moment, I can’t recommend their guns.
Clay Sports
- Cup O’ Noodles: The Stoeger Condor (reviewed here) is a fantastic over/under and a good, solid choice if you’re wanting to try out clay shooting but aren’t sure if you’re going to like it. It’s not really upgradable but the price tag can’t be beat. If you enjoy it, you can always trade it in for something like…
- Champagne and Caviar: Anything from Beretta, really. Whether it be the 686 over/under or the A400 semi-auto line. They’re not the priciest things on the market but they’re not the cheapest by far. They are, however, the last shotgun you’ll ever really need.
Hunting
- Be Vewy Vewy Quiet: It really comes down to what you’re hunting. If you’re looking for birds, something like the Stoeger Condor is a great choice but Stoeger also makes a series of pump action and semi auto shotguns that are more geared towards hunting than something like a Maverick.
- I Am the Master of Maiming Meat: Here again, you can’t go wrong with Beretta’s hunting offerings. To use my car analogy earlier, Berettas as the BMW’s of the shotgun world. Solid, high performance and incredibly well engineered.
Keep in mind, these are just suggestions based off my own experience. I’ve tried quite a few shotguns at this point and, no matter what, I keep coming back to these. While there are always exceptions to the rules, prices, as with many things in the firearms world, are a usually good indicator. A $2000 Benelli shotgun is going to be able to go toe to toe with a $2000 Beretta. In the end, find the one that feels the most comfortable for you to hold in the price range you’re looking at.
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Let’s Get a Little More Sonic!
Jack Harkness: Who has a sonic screwdriver? Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, “Ooh, this could be a little more sonic!”?
The Doctor: What, you’ve never been bored? Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?
The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver has gotten him out of a lot of sticky situations. A bit too many situations, as it turns out because the writing team had been chewed out by the show’s producers many times over the years for using it too often. Darn useful tool though. It does pretty much whatever The Doctor needs it to do. From remotely controlling the TARDIS to scanning the area to cutting and welding. As the Doctor once said “Harmless is just the word. That’s why I like it! Doesn’t kill, doesn’t wound, doesn’t maim. But I’ll tell you what it does do. It is very good at opening doors.” It just doesn’t work on wood.
Where did everyone go? See, this is why I limit myself on Doctor Who references. For those that are still here…all three of you…I’ve recently discovered something else that’s sonic that has made my life so much easier: a Sonic Cleaner. You know those water filled things in jewelry stores that makes that annoying buzzing noise? Yeah, those things. I’m here to say that you don’t need to be a jeweler to have a use for one.
Many years ago, I coined the term “the TiVo effect”. This referred to something that makes you say “why the heck would I need one of those” when you first see it but, when you wind up with one at a later days you find yourself saying “how did I ever live without this!?” Ah the DVR, to think of all the productivity you’ve killed. Anyway, a sonic cleaner is another great example of the TiVo effect in action. I’d heard a few people throughout the years say that they were awesome but my brain always said “Nah, dude. You’ve got brushes, cotton swabs and paper towels. You don’t need one of those to clean your stuff.” And I was right. I didn’t need one. The only people that really need a sonic cleaner are jewelers. Let me tell you why you absolutely should want one, however.
Remember how I’ve always stated that I enjoy cleaning my guns? As it turns out, it wasn’t so much the cleaning I enjoyed, it was the shiny, pretty super clean gun at the end that I liked. I still obsess over having my guns as sparkling as the day they came out of the factory. That was all well and good when I had 2 or 3 guns total. Nowadays, thanks to this site, I have more than 3. To sit down and clean them all to my standards is now a chore that takes an entire day. Which means that rarely do I get to take all my toys to the range, so to speak, because that would kill an entire weekend thanks to having to clean them. I like my weekends. Clearly, something had to be done to save me some time.
Oddly enough, I didn’t buy my sonic cleaner for my guns. It started because of Warhammer. You see, I use an airbrush for a good portion of my miniature painting process. The airbrush is a very precise instrument and acrylic paints, well, they’re not exactly friendly to precision instruments. When I was done painting for the day, I would have to break down my airbrush and spend a great deal of time with cotton swabs and acetone (one of the most vile substances in my house) and clean all the paint out of the tiny crevices. Sadly, there are too many tiny crevices and it was never possible to get all the gunk out. Then I say that Harbor Freight had some sonic cleaners meant for jewelry on sale for 30 bucks. I figured I’d give it a try. Then my process became break down the brush, drop it in the cleaner and hit a button. After about 10-12 minutes in the cleaner, the brush was sparkling with zero traces of paint anywhere. It was experiment time!
I dropped in a gun barrel. The carbon and grime started flying off of it! Dropped in one of my older miniatures that needed the paint stripped off of it! Boom, bare plastic. Heck, it even took some of the caked-on paint off my brushes! All my tools and wife’s jewelry are sparkling now. Everything that can be sonicked in my household has been sonicked. My only complaint was that this little home jewelry one was a little too conservative, power-wise, due to its intended purpose. Plus, at having only a 3 minute cycle max, I was having to babysit it. I went out and bought a powerful, high grade sonic cleaner meant specifically for gun parts and cleaning spent brass for reloading (Will there be a review of that one? You bet your sweet TARDIS there will be next Monday). My dreams have come true. This thing gets my gun parts and airbrushes clean with almost zero effort!
If you do decide to go the sonic route, which you should, you’re going to love it. Just remember this, if you do decide to clean gun parts with it:
- First off, don’t just use water. There are sonic cleaning solutions available that are designed for gun parts but, barring that, a solution of Simple Green and water will power through just about all carbon and grime or anything else you can throw at it. I personally use a 1 part Simple Green to 2 parts water solution.
- When it’s done with the cycles, make sure to dry it off quick and get some protectant (oil or, preferably, Ballistol) on it as quickly as possible. The solvents in the sonic cleaner’s liquid are going to clean the ever living hell out of those parts including whatever lubricant or oil you have on it.
As it turns out, when Captain Jack Harkness was making fun of the Doctor for having a sonic screwdriver, he was very wrong. Adding a little sonic to something can be incredibly useful. I don’t know how I ever lived without this thing.
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Shotgun Actions Guide
If you walk into a gun store and say “I want a shotgun”, the next question the clerk will ask you will most likely be “what kind?” You could, of course, say “12 gauge” but he or she will probably say “ok, but what kind? Pump? Break action? Semi-auto?” Shotguns, much like their distant cousins (twice removed) the rifles, come in a variety of flavors called “actions”. The name that is assigned to each kind of action really refers to how the rounds are cycled through it and/or reloaded and each style is tailored to particular a task (sort of) and each has their own strength and weakness. I say “sort of” because it wasn’t like the designers had a particular task in mind when they were designed. It’s more like each style of action has settled into the tasks that they do best.
So let’s take a look at those kinds. I mean, after all, this is a gun site for beginners. At the same time, it would be weird if I started out with that introduction then just left it there. Although, the look on the readers’ faces would be hilarious if I could see them. They’d be all “What the heck?! Did he not upload the whole article or something?!” and I’d be all “lol”.
Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, shotgun actions! We’ll start with the most basic of them.
Break Action
This category covers your over/under, double barrels and so on. It’s called the “break action” because you have to break the gun in half in order to reload it. These are, essentially, the revolvers of the shotgun world. The mechanics of them are incredibly simple which means they’re about as reliable as can be. Also, because of the almost complete lack of moving parts, they’re quite accurate…as far as shotguns are concerned, mind you. You’re not going to be making 1000 yard shots with these. It’s more where things like waterfowl hunting and clay sports are concerned. In terms of competition, most are going to want the most accurate thing they can get if means a slight edge. There’s also the fact that these will fire as fast as you can pull the trigger. Follow-up shorts are instantly ready. Granted, I think only someone like Jerry Miculek could outperform the cycle rate of a semi-auto shotgun but it’s the principle of the thing, really. The downside is that you only have 2 rounds in the gun. There are some awesome gimmick break actions that hold 3 rounds but, still, it’s pretty limited. Keep in mind, most clay ranges and hunting regulations don’t allow more than 2 rounds to be loaded anyway regardless of what kind of shotgun so for hunting and clays, no big deal. For home defense? That’s another story. Speaking of defense…
Pump-Action
If you have seen any action movies…or cop show…or video game…or any large scale gun fight in any kind of entertainment what-so-ever then you’ve seen a pump action shotgun. It’s the one where you have to manually cycle the new round in by pulling and pushing on the foregrip which makes that legendary “schlick schlock” sound that we all know and love. This is, by far, the most common kind of shotgun you’re going to run into today. While only slightly more complicated than a break action, you’re gaining a lot more versatility. Most shotguns can hold 6 to 8 rounds with extensions allowing for many more. They can fire any kind of shotgun ammo that you can find. They can be quickly reloaded, ghost fired (another article), slam fired, reloaded one shot at a time at more. If Swiss Army Knives were firearms, they’d be pump action shotguns. Typically, if someone says they want a shotgun for home defense, the pump action is what myself and 99% of the gun geeks out there are going to recommend. The only downside to them is how long it takes to pump the gun. Fire **schlick schlock** fire **schlick schlock** etc etc. With some practice, you can get surprisingly fast at that cycling, mind you. Still, in a race to empty rounds, the pump is going to usually come in behind the break action and the semi-auto.
Semi-Auto
Semi-auto pistol, semi-auto rifle and semi-auto shotgun. The firing of the gun causes a bolt to move backwards which extracts the fired round from the chamber, ejects it from the gun then loads in a new round. It’s a complicated dance that means you just have to worry about aiming. These are used in hunting, clay shooting, home defense, and national defense. Like all semi-auto applications,they can be a bit finicky about ammo. They can also suffer greatly when it comes to poor maintenance. As long as you keep them clean and feed them good, healthy shells then it will work fine for you.
Specialty/Miscellanious
There are some other, crazy configurations out there as well as some that you just don’t see anymore. The bolt-action shotgun, for example, just isn’t really popular these days for some odd reason. There’s also the “gimmicky” types of shotguns like the Taurus Judge and such. If it’s in this category, you’ll either be lucky to even find one and even luckier to find a need for them beyond pure fun or collecting. I really only included this category so I don’t get dozens of emails saying things like “you forgot to mention the rotating barrel pistol detachable stocked Gerflurgen Prosecutor shotgun”.
If you’re looking to buy a shotgun and you don’t know really what you’re going to be using it for beyond “I want a shotgun” then your best bet is the pump action. If you’re saying to yourself “I want a shotgun for _____” then I’d recommend looking at the one that best fits your task.
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Double-Ought What? Demystifying Shot Shell Terms
Nine Millimeter Hollow Point? Straightforward. Forty Five ACP Full Metal Jacket? Makes Sense. Twelve Gauge Number Two Game Load? Lol wut? I mean, I get the 12 Gauge part. That “number 2” thing can’t mean what I think it means because who’d want to advertise THAT about their ammo? What kind of game? Is it a first person shooter or a real time strategy game? Why do shotguns have to be so complicated?!
Let’s just take a deep breath and break this down a bit. There is a lot of different shotgun ammo out there. Each individual shell size has more variations than any other type of ammo. As a result, people new to shotguns or shooting in general may be a bit overwhelmed or confused. I know I was when I got my first pump action. While different boxes may state things differently, a full description of shotgun ammo goes a little something like this:
Shell Size | Shot Size | Shot Type | Shot Material | Shell Length
Shell Size
The Shell size is probably the most straightforward of the descriptions. If you have a 12 gauge shotgun, get 12 gauge shells. There’s not really any “interchangeable” rounds like in rifles or pistols. As for the shells themselves, the smaller the number, the larger the shell. So a 20 gauge shell is going to be smaller than a 12 gauge. The only exception is the .410 round. Don’t make the mistake of calling it a “.410 gauge” because, for some odd reason, they decided not to use gauge with that particular size. The proper name for that is “.410 bore”. Fun fact: the .410 bore shell would technically be a 68 gauge round.
Now, if you’re using a slug, you can pretty much stop at the shell size. There are some descriptors used only on slugs but those typically mirror that of pistol and rifle ammo. You might see “12 gauge hollow point slug” or “20 gauge fragmenting slug”. It means the same thing as if it were “9mm” and “5.56” instead of the gauge. Just a side note about slugs: in my testing, they seem to have a noticeably higher amount of recoil than their pellet filled siblings. Your mileage may vary.
Shot Type
We’re going to jump ahead a bit however and look at the “Shot Type” trait. For the most part, you’re going to be looking at 3 flavors:
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Target Load
As the name implies, these are really for target shooting. The bright side here is that target loads are no different from birdshot. They just have a smaller amount of powder and a pretty limited selection of shot size. Typically, you’ll see Number 7 ½, 8, 9 sizes. For the most part, you can use 7 ½ for pretty much all your clay shooting but if you want to get picky, #8 and #9 are better for Skeet and #7 ½ is best for Trap.
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Birdshot
This style of shot shells are used for…you guessed it: birds. They’re also good for snakes, critters and rodents as well, I might add. Birdshot is typically labelled with either the shot size itself (#1-#10 and higher in the U.S.) or by the game it’s intended for (Pheasant, Quail, Squirrel, etc). While some would say it’s acceptable for home defense, those people should be ignored. That discussion is for another article but for now, if you want a home defense shot, take a look at….
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Buckshot
You want to shoot something big? Buckshot. You want to remove a threat from your home? Buckshot. You want to slow down a T-1000? Time to get some buckshot. Buckshot is often labeled with the # similar to birdshot but it almost always has “buck” following it. For example: “#1 Buck” or “#3 Buck”. Once again, the smaller the number, the larger the shot size. With buck, however, you get the added bonus of #0, #00 and #000. Think of those as 0, -2, and -3 in the “smaller number scale”. The 0’s, which are also called “ought” are some big mamma jammas and typically the most readily available. Your double-ought buck is probably the most common you’re going to find and more than appropriate for hunting deer or stopping a home invader. It should not, however, be used for birds or clay shooting.
Shot Size
As you may have noticed, each type of shot also has its own variations of measurements. These are standard sized that can easily be calculated…although each type has its own calculations. For birdshot, subtracting the shot size number (i.e. #8) from 17 will give you the size of the pellets in hundredths of an inch. So 17-8 would be .09” in diameter. For buckshot, I can’t for the life of me figure out how they’re calculating it. Still, the typical rule applies: smaller number = bigger pellet.
Shot Material
This part comes down to two main options: steel and lead. Most skeet shooting ranges don’t like you using steel shot as it is more likely to damage their machines if you miss. Conversely, a lot of states don’t like you using lead ammo as it can pollute water supplies. There are also some more exotic materials available like bismuth or tungsten but, in all honesty, I’ve never seen those for sale in any of my local stores. Heck, I don’t think I’ve seen them at my local gun shows either. Either way, the best way to decide here is check the rules and regulations of wherever you’re planning on shooting them.
Shell Length
The bigger the shell, the more powder and shot in it. Also the more recoil and more stress on your gun. The vast majority of shells you’re going to come across are 2 ½ to 2 ¾ inches in length. Three inch shells are also widely available but many shotguns warn against using them. It’s kind of like pistols and +P loads: if your gun doesn’t explicitly say you can use them, don’t use them.
Hopefully this article will act as a bit of an Enigma Machine for your as you browse the shotgun ammo section of your local sporting goods store. It’s not that bad once you break down the code. Now go get some ammo and get out there and practice!
Ammo images used from our friends over at Ammunition Depot. Check them out for all your ammo needs!
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Why do Shotguns use Gauge Instead of Caliber?
I’ve been working on a bunch of guides for the Year of the Shotgun. As I was working, there was a question that kept coming up in my brain. Namely, why are rifles and pistols measured in “caliber” while shotguns use “gauge”? I mean, if you really want to get pedantic about it, gauge technically is the caliber of the shotgun. You don’t really hear people refer to shotguns as a “12 gauge caliber” gun. Maybe sometimes a “large caliber” shotgun, perhaps.
Clearly, some research was in order…
For starters, both “gauge” and “caliber” deal with the size of the barrel of the gun. The big difference between the two concerns how they are calculated. Concerning “caliber” in the non-pedantic sense, it is simply the diameter of the bullet what passes through it. So a .45 caliber bullet is so called because it is .45 inches in diameter or thereabouts. A 12 gauge shell, however, isn’t .12 inches across because that would be smaller than a .22LR round.
The thing is, a shotgun shell is a completely different beast. You’re not moving a single solid projectile through the barrel, you’re moving a whole bunch of tiny solid projectiles and many felt a different measurement was needed. Even though the slug-style of shotgun ammo wasn’t used at the time, they turned to cannons for their inspiration. Did you know that the “gauge” measurement itself originates from the old black powder cannons? They used to refer to a cannon’s size by the weight of the iron cannonball shot through it. Iron was a pretty consistent weight and so saying a “six pound” cannon meant it would shoot 6 pound cannonballs from it. Later on “gauge”, as a standard, came to mean the weight of a solid sphere of lead that could pass through the barrel (measured in fractions of a pound). That means that a 12 gauge shotgun could allow a 1/12 pound ball of lead through it. It’s actually very similar to the way they figure out the gauge of hypodermic needles.
The powers that be have since refined the measurement even more to be, according to the great Wikipedia, “a ball of lead (density 11.352 g/cm3 or 6.562 oz/in3) with that diameter has a mass equal to 1/n part of the mass of the international avoirdupois pound (453.59237 grams).”
If you want to get really accurate, there’s a formula to calculate it (n = the bore of the gun):
Go ahead and try it out on your own!
So ultimately, because of the “wad of stuff” style of ammo that shotguns used, it would be near impossible to go off of the diameter alone because that diameter doesn’t give the whole picture. Granted, it still doesn’t but because the gauge measurement is more about volume than actual diameter, it’s a better measurement for shotgun ammo. It’s still just a starting point. Very rarely do you see shotgun ammo expressed only as the gauge beyond just a “high level” description. You might see “3 inch 12 gauge double-aught buck” or “2 ¼ inch 10 gauge bird” on boxes. Because of the near exponential number of combinations available, gauge alone isn’t enough to describe the ammo you need for your gun. As to what those extra bits of info mean, well, that’s another guide.
Images licensed under Public Domain via Wikipedia.
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Zeroing Your Rifle Scope
Having a rifle is cool and all but at some point you’re going to want to shoot it. What’s more, you’re going to want to shoot it a long distance. Most importantly, you’re going to want to hit what you’re aiming at. It’s kind of the point, really. Sadly, just slapping a scope on to your rifle isn’t going to suffice. At the moment, I’m not aware of any self adjusting rifle scopes. Before you can go shooting, you need to tell your scope where the bullet path is going to be. This is called “zeroing the rifle”.
Before we go any further, you might notice that I mention the 100 yards distance a lot. This is pretty much the standard sighting distance for all scopes. Even if you’re eventually going to reach out and touch 1000 yards, you’re still going to zero at 100. Why? Because MOA is calculated based off the 100 yard distance.
As far as zeroing goes, there’s two or three ways to accomplish this task. First and foremost, you can just go to the range, but the rifle into a bench rest (this is important) then aim at some paper about 100 yards away. Shoot three rounds then see where they hit. Then you just adjust the scope’s reticle to the center of where the shots hit…provided they hit paper. If not, you’re going to need to estimate, adjust the scope and try again. This method often takes a lot of back and forth but it gets the job done with nothing more than your ammo and a rifle stand. The three round shot is important to get the average spread of your rifle. If you go one shot at a time per adjustment, you’re going to be forever chasing that zero. Also, this method kind of goes to crap if it’s windy or hot out. Those things will affect your rifle in significant ways.
If you don’t mind spending a bit for some extra tools, get yourself an optical boresighter. This is a device that fits into the barrel of your gun and produces an image of a grid into your rifle’s sight. All you have to do at this point is adjust the reticle so that it lines up with the center grid lines and your rifle is now zeroed for 100 yards. These cost around $30-$50 depending on where you get them but, if you swap your scopes or just shoot often, having this to be able to return you to a baseline at any given moment is worth it. It takes less than a minute to get your scope ready to go.
Finally, the inbetween of these two methods is a laser boresighter. These are mostly for use with pistols but in a pinch they can help you find that zero on your scope. Keep in mind, I’ve seen numerous laser boresighters that claim they can be used with rifles but I’ve tested quite a few and I’ve yet to find one that’s really useable beyond 25 yards. This is partially because the cheap little lasers they use in the boresighters spread quite a lot over short distances. Not only that, but in any kind of sunlight they’re almost impossible to see. The green ones, while a bit more expensive, are better when zeroing at outdoor ranges. With that in mind, the way I use a laser boresighter for a rifle is to zero it at the 25 yard range. This will pretty much ensure that you’ll hit the paper at the 100 yard range when you start using the first method.
Now that your rifle is zeroed, you have a good starting point for any scope adjustments for bullet drop and windage. Get out there and practice!
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Breathing 101
Breathing is important. That’s all. End of article. Thanks for stopping by everyone! Yeah, I wasn’t expecting you to buy that one. The end of the article thing, that is, not the breathing thing. I’m not joking on that point. Breathing is what separates the dead from the living, the animate from the inanimate.
Breathing correctly, on the other hand, is an entirely different thing and I honestly have no idea why I started the article out like that. Tell you what, ignore that first paragraph. Keep breathing, of course, because you should do that and I would never suggest otherwise.
Let’s try this again. When shooting rifles, once you start going out past 100 yards everything seems to change. Little things become big things and any flaw is going to be amplified significantly. It’s that whole “a small percentage of a big number is still a big number” thing we’ve discussed in one way or another.
The further out you go, the more you’re going to have to refine your technique. When you start pushing 1000 yards, even something like your heartbeat can throw the shot completely off target. This is why you should be working on your technique even at short distances so that you don’t have to unlearn bad habits as you move further out. If the opening rambling was any indicator, one of those techniques we’re talking about today is how to properly breathe.
Manual breathing mode engaged.
Good, now that you’re paying attention to your breathing, let’s look at what happens. Your chest expands and your shoulders rise. If you are hunched over, your back will straighten a bit and if you’re prone your body will rise up off the ground. It may not be much distance but it’s enough to throw your shot off significantly, even at shorter distances.
So just hold your breath, right? Not so much. Kind of. In a way yes but not really. Holding your breath is ultimately what you do but it’s how you hold your breath that’s important. If you gulp in air like you would before diving underwater, it’s going to cause other problems. For starters, your heart is going to speed up a bit to start pushing all that new oxygen through your system. Your muscles are also going to tense up because of the expansion of your chest as well as the effort it takes to keep all that air inside. What we need to do is find a way to hold your breath that will actually relax your body.
Continue the manual breathing mode.
Try this, breathe in as normal then slowly let the air out. Do this a couple of times to gauge where the halfway point is on the exhale. Now, breathe in and exhale then pause for a moment at that halfway point. This is the ideal spot to pull the trigger of a rifle or even a pistol if you’re shooting for accuracy. At this halfway point, the body is relaxing, the heart is slowing down and it takes almost no effort to hold the remaining air in. Then it’s just a matter of accounting for heartbeat but that’s another article.
So try that out next time you’re at the range. In the meantime, go ahead and engage manual blinking mode for no other reason than because I’m being a jerk now.
“Lungs diagram simple” by Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator – Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lungs_diagram_simple.svg#mediaviewer/File:Lungs_diagram_simple.svg
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Debunking Things: Do Guns Just “Go Off”?
The phrase “I was just cleaning it and it went off” has become almost as cliche as “hey, ya’ll, watch this”. Still, it seems there are a strangely large number of “accidents” that occur while cleaning a gun. The explanation is always “it just went off”. Like the gun was just sitting on the table and BLAM!….there’s now a hole in the television. Call me skeptical but does this actually happen? Well, we’re going to take a look in today’s episode of Noobvember Gun Mythbust….sorry…hold on a sec…I’m getting a text from my lawyer….
Ok, so I can’t use the term “Mythb[REDACTED]er” because of copyright laws and such. So…uh..We’re going to take a look in today’s episode of Noobvember Gun Myth….uhm..smashers!
Every single instruction manual for guns starts its field stripping section with some variation of the phrase “ensure gun is unloaded”. I can think of about a dozen pistol right off the top of my head that require you pull the trigger in order to take the gun apart. How many “it just went off’s” do you think came from just that action alone?
If you look at every “cleaning and gun went off story”, they can be debunked with a single question: Why were they cleaning a loaded gun? I would be willing to bet that, if you were to get them in a private, off the record conversation, the majority of them would admit that they weren’t actually cleaning the gun at the time. More than likely they were playing with it and didn’t follow the basic safety rules for whatever reason. Barring that, there are only two ways a gun could go off during the cleaning process:
- the aforementioned “didn’t check for empty” before they started
- mechanical failure of the gun when all was said and done and they were reloading it.
You have to keep in mind that for #2, the probability of that happening is incredibly minuscule. In my previous discussion on ammunition failures I’ve shown that a small percentage of a large number can still be large number. Taking into account the number of guns out there (270+ million) and the list of things that would have to fail in order for the average gun to fire when chambering a round, the probability is almost incalculably small. I spoke with a local gunsmith and asked him this exact question: “how many guns have you come across that were being repaired because they fired while chambering a round?” His answer? One. In 35 years it was one gun. That gun was an open bolt, antique, class III weapon (a STEN, specifically). Keep in mind, open bolt designs are particularly funky. Guns sold to the average Joe, however, fire from a closed bolt. The differences are important but the details of why will have to wait for another article. Suffice to say, most open bolt guns are machine guns and sub-machine guns and they’re notorious for going off when chambering a round. For your normal, everyday weapon it is just unfathomably rare. Not impossible, mind you, but rare enough where it simply cannot account for even a significant number of the accidents that happen while cleaning. The more likely scenario was the person had their finger on the trigger while chambering the round.
What about dropped guns? This is yet another case where Hollywood hasn’t done much to help here. In looking at your average movie, you’d think a gun would go off if you set it on the table hard enough. At some point in history, this may have been a bit more common. Modern guns, however, are built and designed in ways that prevent them from firing when dropped. Even the simple revolver has disconnects that will prevent a strike to the hammer from causing it to fire. Glocks are a great example of drop safety designs as well. They have a safety on the trigger to make sure it doesn’t move unless a finger is on it and they have a big chunk of steel that keeps the firing pin from coming anywhere near the primer of a round. I’ve seen demonstrations ever where someone as chambered a round into a Glock then used the gun as a hammer to drive a bunch of nails through wood. That is FAR more force than you will ever put on the gun when dropping it.
The final scenario is when someone is carrying concealed and the gun “goes off” when getting out of a car or what have you. There was a story recently where someone was carrying at a wedding and his gun fired when someone hugged him. Once again, these aren’t “just went off” situations. I’ve spent a great deal of time looking into it and in every article and report I’ve read, it came down to either cheap/improper holsters or they were fiddling with their guns or both.
A poor holster can snag the trigger or not even cover the trigger at all. Lack of retention can also come into play causing other issues as well. New carriers also have this inexplicable tendency to play with their guns a lot. I’m not talking taking it out and spinning it around on their finger like some old western movie. More like constantly adjusting it or checking that it’s still there, those kinds of things. Combine that tendency with a bad holster and you’ve got a negligent discharge waiting to happen.
The fact of the matter is, guns don’t just go off. Pretty much every negligent discharge is purely down to user error. I say this not to throw people under the bus, mind you. Understanding our own role in making sure a gun only goes bang when we want is important. By continuing this “it just went off” line, it shifts the line of thinking away from “how can I make sure this doesn’t fire in the first place”. Understanding that if a gun fires, whether intentional or unintentional, it is because of your doing will make you safer in the long run.
In the meantime, the myth that guns just go off? That myth is bus[REDACTED].
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Let’s Talk About Squibs…
There is a near unfathomable amount of ammo manufactured on a daily basis. I don’t even want to estimate the number but I’m sure it’s pretty big. Ok, I’ll estimate it. Right now, the manufacturers are in full production and they average about 12 billion rounds per year which comes out to just short of 33 million rounds a day.
Now, quality assurance at the manufacturers is impressive. The problem is, it’s not foolproof. I’ve been researching for a while but I haven’t found any solid estimates on how many bad rounds get out. Admittedly, if I was a manufacturer, I sure as heck would keep that number close to my chest. Knowing what I know of other manufacturer’s, I’m going to give an estimate of .001% of those rounds make it past quality assurance (keep in mind, that is purely an estimate pulled off the top of my head). That means that, on any given day, 329 bad rounds could make it out into the market.
Sometimes, those rounds are easy to spot. I’ve seen some where the bullet was seated way too far into the casing and I’ve seen bullets seated the wrong way. Other times it’s a faulty primer or, in really bad cases, inadequate amounts of powder.
The less than ideal amount of powder is where problems happen. If there isn’t enough powder, the bullet won’t make it out of the barrel. Interestingly enough, if there is absolutely zero powder in the cartridge, the primer has enough power to get the bullet about 25%-50% of the way into the barrel where it will get stuck. There is a term for this kind of situation: “squib”. Technically it’s called an obstruction but pretty much everyone calls it a squib. I should note that a squib is far more likely to happen with hand reloads than in the mass produced stock. They are possible, however, in either so constant diligence is necessary.
A squib, in and of itself, isn’t a big deal as they are easy to repair so it’s not the end of the world. All you have to do is take the barrel out then hammer the bullet out the rest of the way using a wood dowel. Make sure you hammer it out in the direction it would normally go (breech to bore) because pushing it out the way it came could damage the barrel.
The danger of a squib comes in when a shooter doesn’t realize they’ve got a squib. In most cases, they’re shooting and shooting. Then they get a super weak round. “That’s odd”, they think as they manually cycle the spent brass. They aim, pull the trigger again and BOOM!!!!1!1!! Notice it said “BOOM!!!!1!1!!” and not “Bang!”. The gun flies into many pieces. The shooter’s hands and face are cut up. The gun is no longer usable unless you want to throw shards of metal at something.
What happened is the first bullet got lodged in the barrel as discussed earlier. Then the second round started to push its way in. Not just the bullet, mind you, but all the gasses as well. Now, if you’ve ever over-inflated a balloon, you know what happens. All those gasses are going into the barrel. They’ve got to go somewhere. They can’t push the bullet out…which is where the gasses normally escape. With nowhere else to go, the barrel pops like a balloon. I’ve tried and tried to find high speed footage of a catastrophic failure but I would bet that it would look very similar to a balloon popping at first. It would inflate past its engineered tolerances and as it blows it takes the other gun parts with it.
So how does one prevent this? Simple: pay attention. If you’ve shot for more than 3 or 4 rounds, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what a particular caliber feels like in the gun you’re shooting. It’s going to have a pretty recognizable profile every time you pull the trigger. If you get a shot that’s noticeably weaker, stop shooting immediately. Render the gun safe then field strip it. Look into the barrel. Do you see light? Good news! The bullet cleared the barrel. Just make sure there isn’t any residue and go back to what you were doing. If there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, well, unless you have the tools with you at the range you’re probably done shooting that gun for the day. Keep in mind, a lot of ranges have the tools necessary to clear that out so ask a Range Safety Officer for help.
Other things that can cause squibs: shooting un-jacketed bullets through barrels that aren’t meant to have them. Glocks are the biggest culprit in that case. Your gun’s manual will tell you if it’s ok to use that kind of ammo. Dirt and debris as well as pocket lint can also obstruct the barrel so regular cleaning is a must.
Just make sure you’re paying attention to more than just your target while you’re shooting and you’ll be ok. If something doesn’t feel right, stop and figure out why. Shrugging things off is how people get injured.
Image screenshotted from YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/fLk5ykGPDsU
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Let’s Talk About Safety Rules 4, 5, and 6…
Up until this point, we’ve been discussing the big three. These are the same rules you’ll see plastered over every gun range, gun store and gun show from coast to coast. Here at GunNoob, we like to take a “just because it works doesn’t mean it can’t work better” approach to things so we have added our own set of rules to the big three just to cover all the bases.
One of the rules of the site is “never assume the reader knows what we’re talking about”. That’s not as insulting as it sounds. It’s simply a way of making sure we don’t fall into an “everyone knows that” trap because, frankly, not everyone does. Even if it’s one person that doesn’t know it, that’s enough to justify things. I mention this because these last three rules might seem a bit obvious. Let’s be honest though, ALL the rules seem obvious and yet there’s still accidents. If obvious things didn’t need to be said, there wouldn’t be warning labels on toasters saying not to use it in the bath. So we’re going to finish off our rules discussion with a big talk on the last three rules.
Number 4: Keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to fire
If your booger hook isn’t on the bang switch, there’s less chance of it going bang unexpectedly. This doesn’t mean remove your finger after shot either. Just keep it extended and out of the trigger guard until you’re ready to go. when you’re done or reloading or what have you, take it out of there until you’re ready to go again. Those who pocket carry, the desire to fiddle with the gun may be strong. Rule number 4 is especially important here because the gun is potentially pointing at some especially vital areas. Triply-so for those who appendix carry.
Number 5: Drinking and drugs do not mix with guns
That whole “Hey, ya’ll, watch this…” thing is almost cliche at this point. Still, even one can of light beer can have an affect on judgement. The more alcohol you get, the more funny that “Russian Roulette” joke might seem. Also the more threatening that dude accidentally bumping into you might seem. Drinking and shooting is a perfect storm of stuff that fuels our opposition’s fire and it is one of the worst things they can trot out. Do us all a favor and avoid this at all costs.
Number 6: Your gun’s safety doesn’t work. Ever.
Not all guns have safeties but, if it does, you should never rely on it. Its presence does not allow you to skimp on the other rules in any way, shape, or form. It is an added layer of safety in some ways and a false sense of security in others. I’ve seen situations where I was examining guns at a store and, in doing some dry fire testing, the gun still would fired with the safety still on. Why? The safety wasn’t actually on. It looked like it was on but didn’t actually engage. Now, with that in mind, let me recite a conversation I overheard at a gun range:
Stranger 1: Careful where you’re pointing that. Remember what I said about keeping the barrel downrange?!
Stranger 2: Relax! The safety’s on.
Thank goodness I was packing up for the day already when I heard that. Stranger 2 went on to explain that it didn’t matter as I was heading out so good on him. Regardless, never skimp on the rules no matter what. Having a safety doesn’t make a gun any safer. It all comes down to you.
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