Free For All Friday 3-20-2015: Grips and Gunsmiths

FFaF3

You ever get a much needed vacation from work and then once the vacation starts, you get sick? Just sayin’. Happens to me a lot.

Have ever had your hands on an XDM 3.8 compact with the mag grip extensions or “x-tensions”? We’re the grip extensions solid and well fitting? Lastly, how does one go about selecting a good gunsmith? -Shaun M.

Yes I have and I adore that gun. Springfield Armory has one heck of a lineup with those. On the particular one I handled, the extensions were tight and felt like it was part of the handle. When I wasn’t shooting, there was a small bit of wiggle simply because the grip extensions are attached to the magazine itself which is typically only held in place by a tiny strip of metal. When shooting, however, it’s not really noticeable. I have heard some people talk about how they removed the extensions a bunch of times and after a while it would get a bit more loose. Easy remedy there: don’t pull the extensions off on a regular basis.

A lot of “gunsmiths” popped up in the recent AR scare. They were essentially just a bunch of people who knew how to put together an AR and add some accessories to it. A true gunsmith is becoming harder and harder to find these days. The best guideline I can give is to look for one that’s been in business a long time. With longevity comes experience and with experience (typically) comes quality. Even if he’s the only ‘smith in town, if he does nothing but junk work he won’t stay in business that long. There’s a gunsmith in my area that’s been in business since the early 80’s. If I have problems with my gun, I’m going to take it to that guy. Beyond that, go in and talk to the person. Ask them about what you’re wanting them to do and see what they say. If you’re not comfortable with their answers, go with your gut. It is possible to permanently destroy a gun. Speaking of which, a good gunsmith knows the value of being bonded and insured. Make absolutely sure of that before you hand your gun over to them. It protects you just as much as it protects them.


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Intro to Clay Sports: Sporting Clays

I used to play a lot of golf. I was terrible at it but I enjoyed it or at least I was able to convince myself that I enjoyed it. In all actually, I was kind of obligated to play at the time due to my job. It’s very common for business people and those in upper management to play a lot of golf. The main reason is because it’s a great place to talk business. You’re outside of the office and between shots, there is a lot of time to discuss things. The problem is, golf is ultimately quite boring. If you’re not the one hitting the ball, it is about as fun as watching flies fornicate. If only there was a way to integrate guns with golf. THAT would be fun!

Turns out, there is! Sporting clays is the golf of the gun world except it’s fun. I don’t even have to convince myself it’s fun, either. It really is an absolute blast (no pun intended). The comparison to golf isn’t just a sad attempt at humor. The overall concepts are amazingly similar. You have a course that is set up out in the countryside. Each stop is meant to simulate a kind of hunting situation. In fact, Sporting Clays is really the closest thing to hunting you’re going to get.

The Game

As I said, Sporting Clays is a course you follow in which you stop at various stations along the way. There are usually between 10 and 15 stations but I’ve seen more that have 18…which further emphasises that whole “golf with a shotgun” thing. Each person (up to 6 in a group) takes a number of shots at each station. The number of shots depends on how the station is set up but it averages about 5 to 10 targets per station. Unlike golf, it’s still a “highest score wins”. Each station has a guide to which targets or combinations of targets are to be used. You’ll find trajectories that simulate a group of birds being stirred up from a bush or rabbits running across the field. Each station is radically different and each course is unique and varied. Best of all, it’s challenging. Personally, I think that sporting clays will test your skill far more than skeet and trap.

But Wait, There’s More…

An interesting trend that’s been happening more and more as of late are businesses taking potential clients out to a Sporting Clays course instead of golf. It’s something unique and interesting but it still gives you the networking benefits that you would get on the golf course. The stations aren’t usually right next to each other and you often take golf carts around the path. One person shoots, one person pulls and the rest stand way back talking business. Plus, watching each other shoot moving targets is just more interesting than watching someone swing at a stationary little white ball.

I absolutely adore Sporting Clays and I’m looking to trade my golf clubs for a nicer shotgun. If you have a sporting clays course near you, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. It is far more fun than it should be.


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Intro to Clay Sports: Skeet & Trap

This may just be my opinion, but one of the most fun things you can do in the shooting world is participating in any of the clay sports. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all fun but clay sports are just…different. With pistols, you’re typically shooting at paper printouts or steel plates. They do go “ding” when you hit them but that’s about it. Rifle shooting is about the precision and control. Fun, but not for everyone. Both can be spiced up a bit with some competition but beyond that, it’s a very static shooting environment. Clays are much more dynamic. You’re having to hit moving targets. Tiny moving targets at that. Hitting a bullseye is exciting but hitting a fast moving clay with your last shot just before it hits the ground? That will have you cheering every time.

Entry is easy. You need a shotgun, a couple boxes of target shells, a shell holder (either a vest or a belt sack) and a clay range. Technique is also necessary and we’ll go over that later. For now, we’re looking at the sport itself. The term “clay sports” is a very general term, really. It encompasses a bunch of distinctly different games that all revolve around the same principle: shotgun, clay disk and destroying said disk. It’s kind of like how Taco Bell has an entire menu revolving around 3 or 4 ingredients. In clay sports, you have Skeet & Trap, Sporting Clays and Five Stand. All have different rules and styles. Today, we’re going to look at skeet shooting & trap shooting.

Ultimately, all of the clay sports are meant to simulate some form of hunting. It’s one of the reasons why those disks are called “clay pigeons”. While skeet and trap are different in that the pigeons are launched differently, they’re still scored similarly with similar rules overall. So much so that many competitions cover both styles. Some competitions will split it out having only skeet or only trap (like the Olympics, for example).

As far as how it works, let’s start with skeet.

Two houses, both alike in dignity.

You have two launchers (called “trap houses”) that will launch the clays in a criss-cross path. They’re also launched in the same directions and speed every time. On of the trap houses fires at a higher angle and the other at a lower angle (called “high house” and “low house”).

Shooters will fire at the clays from various positions around a semicircle. Each of these positions is called a “station” and there 8 stations in total. You shoot a total of 25 targets per round. If you’re just shooting on your own for fun and practice, it doesn’t really matter how you go about it. If you’re wanting to stick to the rules, however, each station has a set of launches.

  • When shooting from 1 and 2, you do 1 target from the high house, then one from the low house then one where the targets are launched from both houses at the same time.
  • When you’re on stations 3 through 5, it’s just a single from both houses.
  • On 6 and 7, follow the same pattern as 1 and 2
  • Finally, on station 8, you just do one high target and one low target.

On the picky rules side, they don’t seem to want you walking away with any shells in your pouch. The rules say that, once you’re all done, you get to reshoot your first missed target. If you were awesome and hit all your shots, then you have to shoot your 25th shot at the low house while standing at station number 8.

He shoots he scores!

You get 1 point for every target hit up to a maximum of 25 points. Now, “target hit” is an important distinction. You don’t have to obliterate the clay in order to score. As long as you get a piece of it, it’s a point. That’s why having a good (and honest) person spotting is important.

Take evasive action! Green Group, stay close to holding section MD-7. It’s a trap!

Trap shooting is played almost exactly the same except different. Instead of two crossing launchers, you have a single launcher in the middle that fires away from the shooter. For American Trap (as opposed to Olympic), you shoot from 5 stations and you shoot at 5 targets from each station. The launcher in trap changes the direction (to the left or right) that it points with each shot. This means you never really know which way it’s going to come out of the trap house. There’s also Wobble Trap which will move up and down as well as side to side.

I mentioned the Olympics a couple of times here. There is a separate set of rules and guidelines for Olympic style shooting. For starters, the clays move faster. I’m talking A LOT faster. There’s also strict rules as to where you have to hold the gun starting out. Very few ranges have launchers that are to Olympic regulations, mainly because it’s too difficult for the average shooter.

Before I forget, there is one unofficial rule for any time you’re shooting any kind of clay sport outside of a competition: never end the day on a missed target. It’s bad luck.

Next time, we’re going to look at Sporting Clays or, as I like to call it, the Golf of the Shooting World.


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Free For All Friday 3-5-2015: Ask Me Anything Edition

BEST

Keeping the intro short here. Got a lot of questions this week and there were more non-gun related than I expected. A lot were really good and fun. Some were a bit disturbing. Let’s start with the gun related because this is, of course, a gun blog after all.

Why has .38 special stayed a revolver round while 9mm and .380 go to semi-auto. Is there something that makes .38 special incompatible with semi-autos? Also, I’m curious of your comparison of revolvers and semi-autos. Is there some real benefit to revolvers or drawbacks to semi-auto that keep them both viable? -Daniel L.

It really comes down to the length of the cartridge. Putting a cartridge that long into a semi-auto means you’re going to have to increase the depth of the grip. This would make the gun difficult to use for a large portion of people not to mention harder to conceal. There are some semi-autos that use .38 Special but they’re usually specialized or custom models. More often, you’ll run across semi-auto pistols that are chambered in .357 and .44 Magnum because to do that level of work to make it work in the first place, you might as well put some beef in it. Look for the Coonan 1911 which shoots .357 Magnum rounds and the legendary Desert Eagle which has a version chambered in .44 Magnum. Not many people can grip those comfortably.

As far as viability, I personally apply the “anything is better than a pointy stick” approach. The smaller pocket pistols and many concealed carry geared semis only hold 5 or 6 rounds so there isn’t a real advantage to either side there. Some people like the slightly higher reliability of a revolver in that case but I prefer the ability to reload faster and carry extra magazines easily that comes with semi-auto. Everyone has a different opinion on it, however. Ultimately, it’s purely a matter of personal preference.

As you learned more about firearms, what was the most egregious or embarrassing fact/belief/opinion that you’ve had to let go of? Have your pro-gun opinions and your work in IT, a field not known for social graces, ever conflicted? -Kurt S.

I will admit that I was once one of the “just point a shotgun in the general direction of someone and they instantly turn to a disorganized mass of organized chemicals” people. I also started out with the “Hollywood Cup”. Could have been worse, I guess, but I still shudder to think about it.

One thing you’ll find about computer nerds in general is that they typically don’t care as much about guns as many (especially reddit) would have you believe. Keep in mind, the majority of us grew up playing video games that were chock full of guns so it’s not like we’re not exposed to them. In fact, nerds like myself are likely to be more open to pro-gun stances because of that. At the risk of skirting dangerously close to my no politics rule, I should point out that the NRA taking that “video games are bad, m’kay” approach a while back completely alienated a large demographic that, with only a slight amount of massaging, would have gladly joined their ranks. Nerds don’t like being thrown under the bus and they have a much longer memory than most other groups.

LIGHTNING ROUND!

When are ya gonna do the whole Mosin vs Mauser surplus rifle comparison? -Leroy N.

As soon as I can get my hands on a Mauser to round out the comparison. Otherwise I’m just quoting Wikipedia facts.

What World of Warcraft server do you play on? -GarroshSux

Trollbane. Alliance side. If you see someone from the guild “The Aristocratz” that’s me. I’m the only member of the guild.

What do you do for fun besides guns and Warhammer? -Sherry K.

Watching Formula 1 racing (go team Ferrari!). Also video games and driving around. I love road trips. Cars in general, really.

We know Doctor Who is your favorite show. What’s your second favorite? -Amanda J.

Top Gear (British version)

When are you going to get off your lazy [redacted] and make some more videos? -Dave T.

Yes.

Do you use Mac or PC? -James R.

I use a Mac for a large portion of my stuff but when it comes time to do my day job, I swap to PC because all my programming is in Microsoft’s .NET environment. I also swap to PC when I want to play certain video games.

What do you think about the rumors for the new version of Warhammer? -KhorneFlakes

1st, love the name. Second, some rumors, like the combining of various armies, makes sense considering the events going on in the End Times right now. As far as the crazy rule changes (like switching to 40K style combat), I’m skeptical of the majority of them as they make no sense from a business standpoint.

You used to talk about the firearm stocks. Do you still have them and how are they doing? -Michael N.

I still have stock in Ruger and S&W. Both are doing fantastic although Ruger has been on a bit of a rollercoaster as of late. S&W keeps consistently creeping upwards. I’ll be holding on to both for a long time.

Ever thought about competing? -Olivia W.

Quite often. It comes down to time and more-so money, really. Competing isn’t cheap. If I could bring in more money to GunNoob, I’d be able to afford it easier. If someone wants to sponsor my competing, I won’t turn it down!

Who’s your favorite My Little Pony? -Mike N.

http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/259943-are-you-fucking-kidding-me

What software do you use for GunNoob? -Karen J.

The site itself runs off of DotNetNuke. I have various modules installed to handle the different aspects of the site. Offline, I use Photoshop for any graphics and when I was working on the videos, I used Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I do all my writing in Google Docs then just copy and paste it into DNN to publish.

 


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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Beginner’s Shotgun Recommendations

BEGThere 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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Free For All Friday 2-27-2015: Steel Core Ammo, Cylinder Spin, and lots more!

Free-For-All-I’ve spent the last week updating and migrating my servers. We’re on completely new hardware in a completely new datacenter. This means that, with the exception of occasional updates to the site’s software, there will be almost zero downtime moving forward. This is awesome for you, as the reader but it’s also great for me because it means I won’t be getting notifications at 3:00 am telling me I need to go fix a hung server. A well rested noob is a good noob.

We’ve got a lot of questions this week so let’s jump in to it!

About an hour from my house there is a free public outdoor 100 yd. range, which I have always went to. However, some indoor ranges having been popping up a lot closer to my home. I haven’t been to one yet, but a friend of mine told me that when he went, they used a magnet to “test” his ammo, and told him he couldn’t shoot the cheap steel cased ammo there, because of the back wall of the range. I’ve never heard of this, could you clear up my confusion here? -JD

This is quite common at shooting ranges that allow rifles. They’re not so much looking for steel cased ammo as they are looking for steel core ammo. The thing is, most steel cased ammo is also steel core so..yeah. There is steel cased ammo that is also lead core but it’s difficult to detect with the usual methods the main one being holding a magnet up to the rounds. Brass, lead and copper are non-ferrous meaning magnets won’t stick to them. You could hold a magnet up to just the bullet part but the steel casing can create a false positive. Most places err on the side of caution and just pass a magnet over the whole thing. If it sticks, they won’t let it in. Many people will claim that this is so they can sell you their overpriced range ammo and there may be some merit to that in some cases but also look at it from the ranges perspective. Ranges aren’t cheap to set up. At the same time, indoor ranges aren’t in the middle of nowhere like outdoor ranges typically are. If their backstop setup says “no steel core”, they don’t risk it. All it would take is one lucky shot to punch through the wall (which, is more than possible depending) and that range could be shut down. Then all that money and time they’ve spent on the range is down the drain.

This question only requires a one word answer, but feel free to elaborate. Do all revolver cylinders turn counter clockwise only? (From the shooters perspective) -Mike H.

I completely lack the ability to answer a question with a single word. I’m serious, it’s physically impossible for me. To answer your question, my research has shown that revolver cylinders turn counter-clockwise in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise below the Equator. To answer your question in a non-smart assed way, the direction of cylinder rotation varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model. It’s really down to how the designer figured out how to fit all the mechanics into the frame. Colt makes a few revolvers that rotate clockwise and Ruger has a few that spin that way as well.

Any tips on carrying full size or compact handgun in an office/business-casual environment, specifically in Florida? I’ve seen tuckable IWB holsters, but I’m worried the belt clip/loop would be a bit too noticeable. -Joel M.

Before I answer, make sure you’re legally allowed to be carrying. I’m in Florida as well and there are only a couple places where you can get in massive trouble for carrying. Everything else comes down to a question of “job security vs. safety”. The intricacies of that are another article in and of itself but still, it needs to be said. To answer your question: Very few people ever examine other people’s belts. Even if they do see belt clips, chances are they’re not going to think “gun” right off the bat. Unless, of course, you’ve spent extensive time telling everyone you know at the office how you carry all the time etc etc etc. At that point…yeah that one’s on you. They might put 2 and 2 together in that case (the first rule of concealed carry club is you don’t talk about concealed carry club). Barring that, there are some things you can do to help the odds. First off, make sure the clips on the holster are the same color as the belt you’re wearing. Secondly, flaring out the shirt a little around the waist can not only hide the shape of the gun (which is important) but also obscure the belt clips. Finally, just for some confidence building, wear the empty holster to work a few times. If someone does indeed notice it, you can say you were in a hurry when you were getting dressed this morning and forgot to take the empty holster out.

Side note: I hesitated every single time I had to type “clip” during your answer. The gun world has got me so programmed to say “magazine” instead of “clip” that I can’t even say “paperclip” without initially trying to say “papermag”. #GunWorldProblems

Is there ever going to be cheap American made 5.45×39? -Aaron H.

As soon as there is a market for it, then it shall be done. Right now, there’s not much of a need because surplus foreign ammo is so popular. Not to get political but if there was ever a ban put in place similar to the M85 ban that’s being considered, I’d expect at least one or two domestic manufacturers to step up. In the meantime, there is always the option of gun show reloads, of course.

What do you think of police trade-ins, and in your experience what can be expected in terms of extras with them? -Josh V.

Police trade-ins (a.k.a. former police duty pistols) should be looked at the same way as any other used weapon. You can find great deals on them but the quality of the gun is going to be directly affected by how well the former owner took care of it. If at all possible, field-strip the gun down and look at the internals. Dry fire it a couple of times. Really do your due diligence  because usually by the time they hit police trade-in, they’re no longer in warranty…if there was a warranty in the first place. As far as accessories, I’ve never seen them with more than just the gun and a magazine or two. All in all, it’s a possible way to get a darn good deal on a weapon though “Buyer beware” is in full effect.

You’ve recommended glasses that you have. may I ask for the company that sells those and is there any kind of gear (glove) that would make arming the gun any easier? It’s killing my skin. -Adam

Warning: Shameless self promotion has been detected in the answer to this question. The glasses I use are made by Remington and just so happen to be for sale in our Amazon store on its main page or in the “Noob Necessities” category. The ability to swap out the lenses to different colors is very useful indeed. I use the darker tinted lenses for outdoors and the yellow tinted for indoor ranges. The red tint is fantastic to use for skeet and trap shooting as it makes the clays stand out more. As far as “arming the gun”, I’m going to assume you’re talking about loading the magazine. Loading magazines can be painful after a bit and some magazine (I’m looking at you, Glock) are downright thumb killers. There was a long time where I wouldn’t even load a mag all the way because the last couple rounds were just too much of a pain to get in. Then I got an easy loader. I don’t want to sound like a commercial for these things but I adore these devices. I can load a magazine faster and with less pain. These are also available in our Amazon store and, more than likely, at your local gun store. Have I ever mentioned that buying from our Amazon store helps out the site? I’m not sayin’ nothin’, I’m just sayin’.


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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Product Review Double Header: Hornady and Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaners

ULTRASONICLast week, we spoke a bit on why an ultrasonic cleaner is a good appliance to have in your home. We might have mentioned Doctor Who a couple of times in that article as well. I don’t really remember. This week, I want to go over a couple of options that are available. Normally I do one product review per article but I also don’t want to do three weeks’ worth of articles about sonic cleaners. There are only so many sonic screwdriver jokes my readers could take. I thought it would be fun to take a head to head-ish approach to the review of these two devices.

Before we go any further, let’s talk about something that was not covered in the original article which is: how do these things work in the first place? Every ultrasonic cleaner is nothing more than a tub which holds a liquid of some sorts and an ultrasonic transducer. An ultrasonic transducer is the technical term for a device that converts electric energy into ultrasonic waves. In the grand scheme of things, just think of it like a tiny, specialized speaker. When the transducer is activated, it bombards the liquid with a horrible noise that humans can’t hear too well. It sounds like a buzzing to us but to your pets it sounds like Justin Bieber music. Keep it away from your pets because no one deserves to be subjected to that kind of noise. This bombardment causes the liquid to undergo a process called “ultrasonic cavitation”. The vibrations from the sound cause small bubbles to form and then pop with a surprisingly incredible amount of force (20,000 lbs per square inch). These rapid and microscopic explosions essentially blast dirt and grime off of surfaces. Even though there’s an incredible amount of force being generated, it’s on such a small scale that it is completely harmless to us and won’t damage the vast majority of surfaces.

It should be noted that all my testing was done with either a 1:2 mixture of Windex and water or a 1:2 mixture of Simple Green and water. Plain water shouldn’t be used in ultrasonic cleaners as the surface tension of the water alone makes it near impossible for the microbubbles to form. Having a additive that destroys the surface tension is a necessity. You could use something as simple as dishwasher rinse aid but why not use a soapy liquid to add a bit more cleaning power?

So that’s how they work, on to the review!

Let’s Get Ready to Rumble! …err vibrate…a lot..

hfCleanerIn this corner, weighing in at 2.5 pounds, 1 pint of liquid and wearing the white plastic casing is the Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaner! In the other corner, wearing the black and red casing, weighing in at 6.6 pounds and 2 liters of cleaning solution is the Hornady Lock-N-Load Sonic Cleaner 2L!

Round 1: Features. Fight!

The Harbor Freight cleaner has two buttons: on and off. Pressing the on button starts a 3 minute cycle. It also has an LED light that illuminated the solution and makes it easier to see what’s going on.

The Hornady Cleaner has a ceramic heater that can bring the water up to 135℉ and the heater is controlled by an on/off button. It has an adjustable timer that can be set between 5 and 30 minutes. Finally, it has a function that will clear any trapped bubbles in the liquid. Large, existing bubbles can affect cleaning so it’s a good idea to pop them first before initiating microbubble nuclear holocaust mode.

Round 1 Winner: Hornady Cleaner! No surprise here, really. It’s a $30 device versus a $100 device. The Hornady is bound to have more features. I do wish the Hornady had an LED light in it as well, mind you. That would have made round one a very decisive victory.

Round 2: Pros and Cons. Fight!

I’ve mentioned it a couple of times but that 3 minute timer on the Harbor Freight cleaner is really annoying if you have to do more than 1 cycle. Lack of a heater also makes me feel like I’m missing out on some cleaning power. Its tiny size means you can put it just about anywhere and it won’t be in the way. At the same time, it doesn’t take much liquid to fill up at all so your bottle of cleaning solution will last longer. Unfortunately, that tiny size is also going to restrict you on what you can clean with it. You’re going to be restricted to jewelry and smaller individual gun parts.

The Hornady cleaner, on the hand, can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. Want to clean some casings? This will clean about 300 .223 brass at once. Gun? Wash all your slides at the same time! Need the acrylic stripped from your Space Marine Dreadnought model because you messed up the painting? Toss that thing in! Heck, throw the airbrush in at the same time! Turn on the heater for some extra beef in the cleaning. It’s not all rainbows and lollipops, however. First off, the heater causes massive levels of condensation to collect on the lid. There is no way to lift that lid off without dripping that condensation over everything. Fortunately, the condensation is just plain water so you don’t have to worry about your countertop or workbench’s finish. Still, it makes a mess. Secondly, it’s not a tiny device. At 8x8x10 inches, it’s going to take up some real estate. Also, with a 2 Liter tub, it takes a bit of liquid to fill it up. Now, you don’t have to fill it all the way unless you need to but the minimum fill line takes the same amount of liquid as the max fill line of the Harbor Freight cleaner (1 pint). It’s a hungry cleaner and will drink your milkshake cleaning solution fast. According to Hornady, depending on what and how often you clean, you can get a few cleanings out of one tub of fluid. It’s not recommended to store the liquid in the cleaner, however.

Winner: Close but still Hornady! I know it’s hard to believe but this was a much closer match than round 1. They both have their pros and cons and it really comes down to what you’re ultimately looking to do with the cleaner.

Round 3: How Does it Clean? Fight!

First, I have to apologize for the lack of before and after pictures here. The memory card in my camera got corrupted and all the photos I took during testing were lost. I’ll do my best to describe the outcomes.

  • Airbrush Test – Took about 7 cycles in the Harbor Freight cleaner to get my airbrush sparkling. That’s opposed to one single cycle in the Hornady. Now, to be fair, both came out to about 30 minutes of soaking in both devices but, with the Hornady, I didn’t have to get up every three minutes to hit the on button again. (Point: Hornady)
  • Figurine Test – The Harbor Freight cleaner was never able to get much of the paint off the figurine where the Hornady cleaner got it completely clean in 2 30 minute cycles. I firmly believe the heat of the Hornady played a big part here as the acrylic paints I use becomes very soft in high temperatures. (Point: Hornady)
  • Paint Stirring – You read that right. The paint I use for my Warhammer figurines will separate if it’s not shaken on a regular basis. If it’s a particularly long time between uses, the paint solidifies at the bottom of the bottle is very difficult to mix together. Dropping the paint bottle into the sonic cleaner breaks up the solidified pigment and mixes it together with the thinning medium. With both cleaners, it was about 10-15 minutes to make my paint good as new. (Point: Tie)
  • Gun Barrel – My use of dirty, nasty ammunition is well documented on this site. The Harbor Freight cleaner loosened stuff up but I still needed to do some final wipe-downs. The Hornady cleaner powered through the carbon and grime like was was just dry-erase marker. (Point: Hornady)
  • Casings – Yeah, the Harbor Freight cleaner didn’t do much. The Hornady cleaner, on the other hand, did a good job. I mean, I should hope so because brass cleaning is what they market it with. It should be noted that it still wasn’t as shiny as the brass that comes out of my steel media tumbler. It’s clean enough for most people but I like my brass to look like C-3PO. Still, good enough with less work than my tumbling so if I was in a hurry I’d totally use this method.

Ultimate Winner: Hornady!

It’s not really a surprise that the Hornady won. As I said in round, this isn’t really an apples to apples comparison. Yes, they’re both ultrasonic cleaners but it really comes down to what they were intended to clean. If you want to get a cheap cleaner to test how it would work for you, then the Harbor Freight is a great choice. Admittedly, it’s why I bought mine in the first place. Now, Harbor Freight does make a 2 liter cleaner but, at its price, it isn’t much more money to get the Hornady cleaner instead. Keep in mind, just because the Hornady won this fight doesn’t mean the Harbor Freight cleaners are bad. There are very strong opinions about the longevity of Harbor Freight tools. I haven’t personally had any problems with any of their stuff but your mileage may vary. Either way, there are ultrasonic cleaners available for every budget and their usefulness makes them well worth the money. You won’t regret it!


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Free For All Friday 2-20-2015: Safe guns and new holster designs…

ffafThere’s a reason why people move to Florida: it doesn’t get that cold here. It’s been said many times, however, that Jacksonville Florida is actually the southernmost city in Georgia. If you’ve never been here, you’re probably scratching your head but if you’ve spent even a couple of hours in this city you’d be laughing your head off right now. With that, I don’t really consider it to be “Florida” until you hit I-4 and beyond. While Florida has the stereotype of being sunny and perfect beach days all year around, the reality is that there’s only a small part of Florida where that is true. Here in Jax, it’s 27 degree as I type this. Someone from up north will read this and say “don’t you DARE complain about that!” and I won’t. While many of my follow Jacksonvillians will be wearing snow shoes and complaining about how freezing it is, I put on a warm jacket and will enjoy it while it lasts. I actually kind of prefer this weather and here is why: I can put on layer after layer and eventually get toasty warm and comfortable. When it’s scorching how out, however, I can only take off so many layers before I get arrested. Even if were to walk out in just a bathing suit (enjoy trying to bleach that mental image out of your mind), it would still be scorching hot. Nope, I like the cold. If I could get it year around without piles and piles of snow in the winter, I’d be happy as can be.

We got a few questions and a great suggestion for an article this week. I also got a bunch of questions asking some non-gun related stuff about me personally (favorite movie, food, etc) and some opinions on things like computer brands, programming languages and such. While I do tend to stray into some odd directions on a regular basis, I’ve been hesitant to answer these kind of questions publicly. I recognize the irony in saying that after writing a long paragraph about my feelings on colder weather. I’ll leave it to you all. Would you like a Free For All Friday where it’s a true free for all? It wouldn’t be a super-regular occurrence (like once a year at the most or something) but still.

Think it over. For now, gun stuff!

How many weapon designs are simply unsafe to own? -Lawrence M.

Pretty much every gun on the market is only as safe as its owner. That’s why myself and other gun teachers stress the safety rules so much. Without them, a Glock can be just as unsafe as being trapped in a room with a honey badger that’s hopped up on PCP. That’s not to say some guns don’t make you work harder than others. A large portion of antique guns, for example, didn’t have the focus on inherent safety that modern gun have. Even among newer guns, there are occasional design choices that can lead to some serious head scratching. The USFA Zip 22 pistol, for example is noteworthy for it’s definite “out of the box” design but also for the completely idiotic choice of having to place your hand in front of the muzzle in order to chamber a round. In the antique realm, there are quite a few rifles with floating firing pins where, when waiting to be fired, the pin rests against the primer of the round. Jostle it enough and there could be some issues (to put it mildly).

Lever action rifles also come to mind. Ever notice that the majority of lever action rifles are in calibers with flat tipped or at least very round and wide ammunition? This is because, while sitting the the tube, the bullets sit tip to primer. If the bullet was really pointy, it could cause a chain reaction that sets off every round.

In the end, saying that something like a Glock is the “safest gun on the market and is near impossible to fire accidentally” (as I’ve seen in many forums) is creating a false sense of security. If you assume the gun is super safe then there is a chance that you might cut a corner on your safety rules at some point. One of the tips I always give people I teach is to assume every safety on the gun is broken at all times. By all means, use the safeties but don’t rely on the safeties. The ultimate firearm safety device sits on top of our shoulders. Be smart about your guns.

What’s you opinion of these auto-loading holsters I see being advertised? You know, the ones where you push the gun down into the holster to quickly rack the slide as you draw? They look kinda cool, even though I’m a revolver guy. What say you, Mr. Noob? -Mike H.

Firearms enthusiasts, oddly, tend to be the biggest luddites in the world. I’ve even noticed it growing in my own mentality over time. Keep in mind, I love technology. The only thing I love more than technology is new technology. When it comes to guns, however, I tend to stick with the tried and true. I think it stems from the fact that, unlike my shiny new smartphone, my life and the lives of my friends or family might depend on the firearm. Did you know that NASA, when I worked there, wouldn’t allow anything that wasn’t newer than a 286 processor? Remember those old, dual 5 ½ in floppy powered monstrosities? If you’re too young, ask your parents. We were using Pentiums and such for programming and every day work but if it was going into space, it was a 286. This was because the 286 was tested and bullet proof. If you were going to spend billions of dollars to send something billions of miles away, you don’t want it overheating or getting a floating point error if it had to calculate too big of a number (a common problem with Pentiums at the time).

It’s the same thing here, really. I love the idea of these holsters and I love the out of the box thinking. It certainly solves a problem that some people have where they don’t like to carry pistols with one in the chamber. Until I see a large number of police forces, military or what have you using it successfully, I don’t think I want to put my trust in it yet. Stick with what we know works for now. When it comes to my life, I tend to let someone else do the beta testing on stuff like this.


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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Let’s Get a Little More Sonic!

letsgetsonicJack 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.

hfCleanerRemember 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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Free For All Friday 2-13-2015: The “other”…

BESTThings are calming down a bit on the home front and I’m finally getting caught up on work. One of the things I had started working on before things went nuts and have since resumed working on is trying to set this site up in a way that could ultimately lead to my working on it as a full time job. It’s a slow process and, frankly, I never expected the site to get as big as it is now in the first place. Admittedly, it was a fun hobby in the beginning. Now, it’s still a load of fun but it’s no longer a hobby. I remember back in the beginning I wrote an article about getting out of your comfort zone. Let it not be said that I don’t follow my own advice. This whole process is so far outside of my comfort zone that I could probably qualify as an astronaut.

I promise that, no matter what happens, Gun Noob will always be Gun Noob. The stuff that keeps you coming back to this site won’t change. It’s the side stuff that most people don’t see that will evolve and needs to evolve to meet my goals.

Speaking of goals…which is a terrible segue because this question isn’t really about goals:

What can I do to help convince my wife to support me purchasing a gun? She is afraid that I will accidentally kill either her or my daughter.  She is also afraid of how other families might react if they know there is a gun in our house. -Scott M.

Take comfort in knowing that this is an age old problem in which you are not alone. The bright side of that being that there is a tried and true way to handle it. It’s not a guaranteed success route, mind you, but it works more often than not.

You first need to understand where this is coming from and that’s a lack of knowledge. I’d be willing to bet her only experience with firearms is movies, television shows and countless “accidentally shot _____” news reports. In movies and shows, guns accidentally fire all the time. Heck, it was a major plot point of “Pulp Fiction” and I can think of a dozen other movies right off the bat that used the “oops” as a gag. We already debunked this concept last November so I won’t dwell on it much here.

Ultimately, it’s a lack of accurate knowledge that has lead to her opinion. Fortunately, we in the firearms world don’t follow the “knowledge is power, guard it well” mentality of Terran Imperial Inquisitors. Step one would be to find a good firearms instructor who doesn’t require you to have your own weapon and hire that person to give some lessons to you and your wife. We all know that our wives are immediately suspect of anything we say when it pertains to something we want. Having a 3rd party explaining things will have much more weight.

I say this because the first thing any instructor worth their salt will do is drill in the safety concepts. They’ll focus on exactly why you’re unlikely to accidentally kill someone. They’ll show that the gun is nothing more than a mindless hunk of metal that is no more dangerous in the grand scheme of things than the chef’s knives in the house.

After that, the instructor is going to ease her into shooting and get her comfortable with the firearm itself. That goes a long way to alleviating fears and, if handled correctly, is likely to get her interested in firearms herself. If that happens, be warned, you will spend more money on her guns than you will on your own. It’s just the way things go.

After that, look into a good drawer safe. This will help to keep a child’s curious eyes away from the gun until you’re ready to introduce them to firearms as well.

Finally, as to her final concern, there really isn’t any reason to tell someone you have a gun unless A) you trust the person and know they’re interested in firearms/own guns as well or B) the person is a criminal trying to kick in your front door.

As I said, knowledge goes a long way to getting rid of fear. The more you can educate her, the more likely she is to relent. Don’t push, just gently nudge at the most. She’ll come around eventually.


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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