Reader Questions
Recoil and Accuracy
The #FreeForAllFriday thing we do every week is my absolute favorite thing I do for this site. Not only do I just love helping out readers by answering their questions but I love the challenge of it as well. Every now and then, I get a question that I really like and want to focus on a bit more. In this case, I got a question from Ann…at least I think it was Ann judging by the email address. She wanted to know “since you said that you would have felt recoil when the bullet is already 10-20 ft away from you, would it affect the accuracy of your shot? Why or why not?”
This makes for a great followup article to our guide on recoil from a while back.
To recap a bit, recoil is the physical reaction to the action of the bullet leaving your gun’s barrel. Felt recoil, however, a term for how much of that recoil you actually experience. I stated in the article that, by the time you feel the recoil, the bullet is already well away from the gun itself. Logic would dictate that the recoil itself wouldn’t have any effect on accuracy then since the bullet is already well on its way.
Yes and no, as it turns out.
The recoil itself will actually have no effect on the bullet’s path. Recoil’s effect on you, however, can guarantee that you’ll never hit a target. You see, recoil is pretty traumatic on your hands and wrists. Physical limitations aside, it’s not damaging. Your body and reflexes, however, don’t know this. Your brain knows the recoil is coming. Your nerves know it’s coming. If you let your brain and nerves get the best of you, one big thing happens:
Flinching
You’re essentially anticipating the shot. You’ll tend to actually push/jerk the gun forward a bit knowing that the big push backward is coming. This is going to cause your shots to run 6 inches to a foot below where you’re aiming. While common among new shooters, the comforting thing is that this isn’t an amature problem. It doesn’t matter who it is or how long they’ve been shooting, people will always start flinching at some point or another. Take a look at Hickok45, for example. Every now and then he’ll get into a streak where he can’t hit anything. He has to stop and collect himself before he can hit anything again. This is because he’s started flinching.
The bright side is that the flinching can be tamed for the most part. Things like dry fire practice and just slowing things down at the range can get your body and mind prepared for the big bang. If you find your shots going low, slow it down and focus on your fundamentals again: slow and controlled trigger squeeeeeze.
So the solution, as it turns out, is the same solution to all the gun issues: get out there and practice! Thanks for the question, Ann!
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Free For All Friday 7-25-2014: Paint, used guns and lasers!
You’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!
So do you have a question burning in your mind? We answer them every Friday so send them in! It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s arguably gun related we want to hear it! Head over to our Facebook or Twitter or Contact Page and send them in. See you next Friday!
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Reader Question: How to Protect Yourself in Private Sales?
I got a message from Mike:
I recently read one of your articles that mentioned the craigslist “like” gun site. My question is, much like the real craigslist, is there are a lot of fraud/criminal set up situations on these sites? How do I know a legit seller from someone who is just trying to setup criminal activity?
First off, thanks for stopping by the site and for your question! Buyer beware is the the ultimate guideline regardless of where you do business. While there’s no 100% reliable way to determine if someone is legit or not, there are some guidelines you can follow that will greatly help to protect you and your money. Continue reading
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Reader Questions: Shotgun Ports and Dirty Magazines
Got a couple of quick questions from readers. The answers are short enough that I figured I could answer them both in one post. Continue reading
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Reader Question: How Often to Replace Recoil Spring?
A wonderful reader who didn’t leave their name (but judging from their email address likes “My Little Pony”) has asked “does the spring in my gun ever need to be replaced? If so, when should I replace it?”
Well, I’ve got an answer that is 20% cooler! First, I’m going to assume we’re talking about the recoil spring. Asking how often to change a recoil spring is kind of like asking how often to change your car’s oil: It varies depending on whom you ask. Talk to a mechanic or someone at a Jiffy Lube and they’ll tell you every 3,000 miles. Now, I don’t know about you but for me, every 3,000 miles isn’t exactly possible from a fiscal standpoint as well as from an “I’d much rather spend an hour at the gun range than in a waiting room while they change my oil and try to charge me $100 for a freaking air filter” standpoint. Continue reading
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Reader Question: Best Ammo for Practice
We got a question from Jeff: “What is the best ammo for target practice? Looking for reasonably priced ammo that won’t cause jams.“
After much deliberation, I’d have to say: Considering the current market, whatever you can get.
Seriously, though, I’m going to try and answer every interpretation of this question possible.
There are some that say you should practice using the same ammo that you load in your gun for defense. As much as I would love to shoot thousands of rounds of Hornady Critical Defense at the range, my wallet just doesn’t like the idea. Besides, while there is a slight difference between defensive ammo and practice ammo (in terms of accuracy and such), I’ve never found it to be enough to lose sleep over. All in all, I’d still recommend shooting at least one or two boxes of the good stuff so you know how it reacts in your gun. Continue reading
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Reader Question: What Should I Look For in a Gun Store?
Chris asked “The town I live in now only has one store but I’ll be moving to a place soon that has a few. How do I know which is a good one?”
Whichever one is cheapest? Just kidding. I see what you’re getting at. There’s actually a lot more than just price that needs to be factored in, as far as I’m concerned. When I travel, I love to stop in to gun stores that I come across both to make new contacts and to get a good idea of the regional prices. Through that time, I’ve come across things that impressed me and things that left me shaking my head.
So here’s what I’ll do: I’m going to list off a bunch of the things I’ve seen over the years to design my “perfect” gun store. Then it’ll be up to you to find the store that matches as many of the things on the list that you agree with. Does that work for you? If so, great! If not, too bad, that’s how I’m writing this article. Continue reading
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Reader Question: Why do longer barrels make the bullets go faster?
A reader, who asked not to be named, asked the question “Why do longer barrels make the bullets go faster?”
That’s actually a bit of a loaded question (get it? Loaded? like a rifle? oh nevermind). Maybe it’s not so much loaded but it is more complicated than you would think. I’ll give you the short answer real quick then get on to the sciency stuff. The short answer won’t be the whole answer though. Continue reading
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Reader Question: Big Guns for Small People
I got an email from a reader named Mike:;
I found your site about three months ago. I love your articles. They are funny and very informative and I look forward to reading every new one. I recently started to get more involved and interested in shooting and my fiancé has taken an interest in it as well. She is a petite woman with small hands and short fingers. She has fired a ruger sr22 that we rented at our local range and loved it. She tried to move up in caliber the last time we took a range trip but my s&w 6946 has a thick frame and grips. I was wondering if you could suggest some pistols with a short trigger reach and thinner frame or slimmer grips that she may be able to try out before I purchase her one. As of right now she doesn’t like the kick of a compact but that could be because my buddy’s khar polymer .40 is a little much. I guess I’m asking if you have a list that is within a reasonable price because when I think single stack it leads my mind to the 1911a1 which I’ve heard has a short reach but they tend to run a little high. Thanks for taking your time to read this I figure you’re a busy person and I look forward to reading more of your interesting articles even if you can’t help me out.
First off, thanks for reading and thanks for sending in the question! Continue reading
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