You may remember a couple weeks ago where I mentioned a family emergency. While I don’t want to get into details, I feel that I should let you know that I’m still dealing with the problems at hand and it’s taking up a great deal of my time. I know a lot of people would say to put GN on hiatus for a bit until it’s all taken care of but this site and moreso its readers are very important to me. At the same time, it provides a much needed way to get my mind off things. That being said, I may have a bit of trouble keeping to my usual update schedule for a little bit.

On that note, there were a bunch of questions for FFAF this week. Some of them require a bit more research than I’m able to get done in the time between the question request on Wednesday and the post on Friday. I haven’t ignored you. I just want to make sure I get the best info out as possible. For the questions I AM able to answer today, let’s get going!

I have a few questions I’d like you to answer about building an AR-15. I’ve decided to take the project on, and since i’m still sorta new to guns, i’m not exactly sure what parts to get. I tried finding the part you had used in your project, but I had quite a bit of trouble. What should I do? -Matthew W.

The specific parts kit I used in my series was from Palmetto State Armory. They tend to drop old listings on their site and replace it with new SKUs every time they run out instead of just replenishing the inventory of the existing product. This makes finding the kit I bookmarked near impossible. The bright side is, however, that pretty much all the lower parts kits are the same, regardless of manufacturer. In fact, pretty much every parts kit on the market regardless of the brand on it is made by only a handful of manufacturer. There may be small differences here and there but they all go together the same way or at least close enough that an educated guess will get you the rest of the way.

The Walther PPQ M2 9mm is on my short list (5″ barrel). Any plans to buy it yourself and test it. I really enjoy reading your reviews. Keep up the good work! -John F.

The PPQ is certainly on my list of guns to test out. Being a smaller blog, it’s sometimes hard to get a company’s attention for testing guns. Now that I’ve hit the 100K+ views a month club, I might have an easier time persuading some companies. Hey! I’ve got an idea! Everyone contact Walther’s Twitter and tell them to let Gun Noob test out their guns! I’ll be curious to see if that actually works. In the meantime, I have had a bit of experience with them, just not enough for a full blown review. Even with the small amount of time I’ve had with them, I was impressed. The ergonomics are great for my hands and I really loved how the trigger felt.

I have been thinking about getting an AR. Is there anything I should look for when I start to narrow my selection? Also, what would you use a 7mm for? I see the round available just about everywhere, but I don’t know what application would be best. thanks as always! -Skylar R.

Right now is the absolute best and worst time to buy an AR. It’s the best in that the prices are awesome and there are plenty of options to choose from. It’s the worst in that there are so many option to choose from that it’s near impossible keep track of good and bad brands. The best thing when starting out is to stick with the tried and true builders. The Smith & Wesson M&P line of ARs are great platforms with which to expand on and tweak. If you’re wanting something with a little meat on it right off, then I’m a huge fan of Spike’s Tactical and, considering they’re local Florida dudes, I am inclined to recommend them over some of the other small shops around the country. Florida represent! Outside of that, Rock River Arms, Daniel Defense, and Colt are good ones to look for. They’re in the “can’t really go wrong” category. As far as features, the three schools of thought are

1. Get the best package you can get for the best price right off the bat
2. Find the gun with the best core parts (lower, barrel, etc) then add and upgrade over time.
3. Build the lower yourself (easy) and then purchase an awesome pre-built upper.

I’m a fan of #3, personally. It all really depends on your budget.

For your other question, the 7mm round (depending on the exact flavor) is typically used for similar applications as the .30-06. In many cases, it has far better ballistics than the .30-06 but the .30-06 can be found with heavier bullets. Typically, you’d be looking at it for medium to large game hunting applications.

 

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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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Like what you read?  GunNoob is now part of Pew Pew Tactical.  Check out the rest of our awesome resources:

• Ultimate AR-15 Guide
• Beginner's Guide to Guns
• DIY Gunsmithing
• Gear & Gun Reviews

I am sitting on a huge backlog of stuff to get to. I hate getting behind on work. If you’ve sent me an email in the past week/week and a half and I haven’t replied, I’m not ignoring you. Real life is just being real life and, well, yeah. We’ve got two questions this week, one from THE Chris H. who occasionally writes for the blog!

Why on earth is .22 ammo still so hard to find? -Our Very Own Chris H.

Remember when you could get, like, 500+ rounds of .22LR for around $15 at any given point? Heck, stores had so much that they could do buy-one get-one boxes and still not run out. These days, even though the vast majority of ammo has returned to the shelves in bountiful and (more importantly) affordable amounts, the .22LR sections of the ammo aisles are still a bit sparse…to say the least. What gives?

Part of it, as Lawrence on the Facebook page pointed out, is due to people buying a bunch of with the hopes of reselling it. There is also a not-insignificant number of people who are just hoarding the heck out of it in the fear that there will be another huge shortage at some point. The problem is, those people alone can’t really account for the massive void we’re seeing at the moment.

For starters, we need to consider why .22LR was so cheap to begin with. The primary reason was because there was a metric buttload of it around. Now, that’s a metric buttload which, if you want to run the conversion is a little over 3 times an imperial buttload. Not only was there a huge surplus but the production levels were still at the same levels even though there were piles of it in warehouses. Supply and demand rules always apply so when you have a huge supply and the demand stays the same, the price will always drop. It’s the primary reason why .22LR was popular in the first place: they’re just freaking cheap.

Then the scare hit. People, in their panic, burned through store’s inventories then they burned through what should have been a couple of year’s worth of surplus in a matter of months. They didn’t just burn through .22LR, mind you, they burned through all of it. Every caliber there was got consumed by the panicked masses. Demand outpaced supply. Everything got turned on its nose. So there’s where the initial void came from. But what about the void that has remained?

Let’s take emotion and personal preference out of the equation for a moment put yourself in the shoes of a manufacturer. Having a business is pointless if your goal isn’t to stay in business, right? Even though the machines are different, the raw materials and human resources needed to produce ammo is in a finite pool. If your entire inventory is depleted, where do you dedicate the majority of those production resources? Do you put them into the most popular round on the worldwide market (9mm)? Do you put it into the the round with the most profit margin (.40 or .45)? Or do you put your resources into the round that, while popular, is surprisingly expensive to make per round and only nets you a fraction of a penny per round sold?

The reason why .22LR is still not to where it was is because that’s what the market has deemed it to be. Manufacturers are producing at max capacity and the glut of excess inventory isn’t there. One other factor to keep in mind is that the number of gun owners has skyrocketed over the past few years. The manufacturers are producing at a capacity geared towards the industry a few years ago. We’re going to have doubled the amount of gun owners in the country at some point in the near future. So at the same time that manufacturers are running at maximum capacity, they’re also trying to increase their capacity to keep up with the market.

It’s a risky game to play, however. You don’t want to misjudge your market then start producing far more than are needed because, at that point, the prices go down and you start to lose money. Now, before people start screaming “See?! They’re purposely keeping production down to keep prices up!”, remember what I said earlier. Businesses need to stay in business and they don’t want to kill themselves. They’re going to continue production at a rate that keeps them competitive with other ammo manufacturers. There will always been those that sell stuff cheaper and others that sell stuff at a premium.

You often hear names like Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Taurus on firearm forums but not H&K or Sig Sauer as much. Why is that? -Gordon L.

Great question and you can bet that the marketing departments at SIG and H&K spend 40+ hours a week pondering the same thing. As an outsider, I have my own theory. Let me just say up front: I’m going to have to tread lightly here. You’ll understand why in a moment.

If you look at the price points of Ruger, S&W, Taurus, Glock and similar lines, they weigh in at a price tag below $600 for the most part. With companies like SIG, H&K and other “premium” pistols, they usually start at $600. This means that those premium brands are just naturally going to have a smaller market share to begin with. I don’t have any numbers that I can find but I’d hazard a guess to say you’ll probably come across 5-10 Glock owners for every one H&K owner. This is because, even for those with the money to do so, it’s FAR easier to justify $450-$550 on a Glock than it is on a $950 H&K. It’s a numbers game there and it can make it appear as though guns like H&K and SIG just aren’t popular but you really are comparing apples to oranges.

Let’s look at it another way. Is it fair to compare the Toyota Camry to the BMW 428i? Both are 4-cylinder sedans with around 34 mpg. The Camry, however, outsells the BMW by huge margins. Going down the highway you’re more likely to see a Camry than a 428i. If you look purely at the numbers, one could say that the BMW just isn’t a popular car. However, if you compare the numbers to say Mercedes and Audi, you’d see that the 428i is actually hugely popular among that segment.

So the reason you’re not seeing much about SIG and H&K on forums (and I apologize because I can’t figure out a way to say this that doesn’t sound jerky to me) is that the people on the forums you’re visiting just aren’t SIG or H&K people.

 

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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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Like what you read?  GunNoob is now part of Pew Pew Tactical.  Check out the rest of our awesome resources:

• Ultimate AR-15 Guide
• Beginner's Guide to Guns
• DIY Gunsmithing
• Gear & Gun Reviews

The SHOT Show is in full swing. There’s been some interesting stuff being showcased. Remington is claiming they’ve fixed all the issues with the R51 and are putting it back into production. Springfield has announced some new variations of their XD lines. Glock is Glock. The Taurus Curve is getting a lot of attention. All in all, it looks like it’s been interesting. At the same time, it always seems that more interesting stuff has always been announced at NRAAM. Never understood that, really. The SHOT Show is where media and vendors get to see what’s out there so it seems to go without saying that SHOT is where you’d get the most exposure. While I understand production schedules and so on don’t always coincide with show schedules but it seems like it would be a good idea to adjust production schedules so you can get the most exposure possible. Just my $0.08 which is my $0.02 adjusted for inflation.

We had one question this week:

Self defense shotgun ammo: gimmick or good idea? -Dave J.

With handguns and rifles, I typically consider the majority of self defense rounds to be nothing more than a gimmick. With few exceptions, it’s just a hollow point round that’s been given +P powder loads where possible then they change the color of the casing, put it in a shiny box and charge an extra $5-$10 per box. Shotguns, however, are an entirely different story. While we’re planning on doing a more in-depth article about it in the not too distant future, I will say now that I love the self-defense ammo options for shotguns. You can do some crazy things with the shell loadings due to the “cannon” like nature of the shotgun structure. There are rounds that are made of little barbed spikes instead of pellets and even wilder stuff. My own shotgun at home is loaded with Winchester’s PDx Defender 12 gauge rounds (also available in many other calibers). This is a rifled slug that is packed behind 3 buckshot rounds. It’s a nasty combination and great because, when someone is kicking in your front door, there’s no such thing as overkill. Other companies make self defense shells as well but, having tested them, I personally prefer the PDx line.

 

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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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Like what you read?  GunNoob is now part of Pew Pew Tactical.  Check out the rest of our awesome resources:

• Ultimate AR-15 Guide
• Beginner's Guide to Guns
• DIY Gunsmithing
• Gear & Gun Reviews

While I realize it’s a bit late to be talking about New Years Resolutions, I haven’t had the chance to talk about them with my other FFAF posts thus far. It’s still January, however, and if my friends’ Facebook posts are any indicator, the gyms are still filled with NYR people. Typically, the majority of people give up on their resolutions around the end of February with the major holdouts giving up around April. Personally, I think a lot of people waste their resolutions. What are most people’s resolution? Typically it’s lose weight, exercise more, go outside more often, etc. When you think about it, those are things we should all be doing to begin with. Doing that is like throwing a dart first then drawing the bullseye around where it lands…and statistically speaking drawing the bullseye wrong. I’m not one of those “I don’t make resolutions” type of people but I don’t like to waste mine either. I prefer to use my resolutions to do something new. I pick something that I’ve never done before and have no real reason to do in the first place. I do this as a way to force myself to grow and exercise my mind. As I’ve spoken about before, learning new things is good for your brain. It may be something simple like “learn to make good bread”. A few years ago I learned how to knit. Last year was to learn a programming language I’ve been wanting to learn. This year, it’s learning to solve Rubik’s Cubes.

In the meantime, guns are far less complicated than those stupid plastic cubes…

Shotgun barrels – over/under, side by side, triple barrel. What’s that all about? -Mike H.

Shotguns come in three main varieties: pump action, break action and semi-auto. Of those varieties, the break actions are the most simple but also the most popular for certain applications. Go to any clay shooting competition and you might notice the majority of the competitors will be using over/unders. There’s a reason for that but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

The over/under, side by side and triple barrels fall under said break action category. This is because you have to “break” open the gun in order to chamber new rounds. The upside is that there are very few moving parts to the gun as well as a faster rate of fire. The downside is you only hold a couple of shells and it takes a moment to replace those. Also, with only 2 or 3 shells in the gun, that whole “faster rate of fire” thing is a bit relative.

But that wasn’t your question. The side by side shotguns are the arguably oldest of the multi-barrel break actions. These days, you will see far more over/unders because the barrels are both in line with your sight. In over/unders and side by sides, the direct line of the barrels cross at some point but with side by sides, that means the barrels are crooked left and right relative to aim. When you’re shooting at birds and clays, they’re typically moving left or right so logically, it could cause problems to have your aim off in those directions. The up and down elevation differences of an over/under, however, don’t come into play as much but I’ve yet to figure out a reason why.

The triple barreled break actions are pretty much just a gimmick. It’s an awesome gimmick, mind you, but a gimmick none-the-less. You wouldn’t be able to use them in most competitions, a lot of clay ranges only allow you to load two shots at once and I believe many states have similar restrictions for hunting.

Fun fact: Remember how I said the barrels criss-cross at some point? In many cases, that distance can be adjusted by a talented gunsmith. If you were to take your double-barrel to a gunsmith that’s been in the business for a long time and ask him or her to make your shotgun “well regulated” (hmmm…where have I heard that phrase before?), he or she will ask you “at what distance?” According to scholars (and previous editions of the Oxford English Dictionary), “well-regulated” is a term very commonly used up until the early 1900s that means “in proper working order” or “correctly calibrated”. Now I’ve just got to figure out where I’ve heard that term. I’m sure it will come to me eventually. Either way, many gunsmiths still recognize and use the term.

None of the ranges around here will let you shoot [a shotgun] and the nearest outdoor range that will is a long way away. I have zero interest in shooting clays and everyone says that’s the wrong shotgun for that anyway. So how do I become proficient enough to use it for HD? I have no confidence in being able to effectively use this weapon. Any ideas? -Ron

You’ll be happy to know that this is a very common problem or maybe not happy. Misery loves company, right? Anyway, I ran into the same issues when I bought my first shotgun. For some reason, indoor ranges don’t seem to want a giant cannon firing a couple hundred tiny bullets in their places. Weird, huh? This is one of the reasons I’m sometimes hesitant to recommend shotguns for home defense as there aren’t many places where people can get comfortable with them. I do have some tricks, however, that you can try. For starters, a lot of ranges say “no shotguns” but they really mean “no shot”. If you ask, most of them have no problems if you use slugs. Make sure you ask first. I can’t stress that enough.

I know you said you aren’t interested in clay shooting but there’s something at every clay shooting area that might interest you: patterning boards. This is just a big slab of wood that you tape a target to so that you can shoot it with your ammo (target loads only) and figure out which choke tubes you need and such. Nothing says you have to then go and shoot clays afterwards. Make sure you stop in at the office to clarify the rules of the patterning board. Nine times out of ten, they don’t even charge for it. You’re not going to learn to run and gun that way but you can at least put a bunch of rounds through your gun to get an idea of the recoil, aiming and spread. Keep in mind, your defense ammo will have significantly more recoil but that’s how it goes for most guns.

Worst comes to worst, you might have to make a couple of special road trips to a range that does allow shotguns. Personally, I drive an hour away to my favorite outdoor range to shoot as opposed to the similar outdoor range that’s 10 minutes away just because my favorite range allows me to shoot whatever I want, however I want as long as I follow safety rules. The closer one has so many weird and, frankly, pointless rules that it’s hard to test or even gain proficiency with any gun there.

I am looking to buy a first civilian handgun, having never used a sidearm in the military. My local gun shop recommends a CZ 75B .40 cal, and I am curious how you would rate this choice. Thanks for your time and the great articles! -Chris N.

I have never read a bad review of a CZ 75. At least not from a reputable source. Your Glock and 1911 fanboys will poo poo anything that isn’t Glock or 1911 but beyond that, the love of CZ’s is near universal. They have the best factory trigger out of any gun I’ve ever shot and they are solid as can be. Factor in the excellent price and you’ve got an incredible pistol. The fact that I haven’t done a review of one yet is a major regret but it also isn’t due to lack of effort on my part. They’re just so popular that CZ just doesn’t have any to send out for tests. The only thing I would recommend is to go with the 9mm version instead of the .40. The gun was designed and balanced for the 9mm. The .40 was…well…shoehorned in..for lack of a better term. There is a significant increase in recoil moving from 9mm to .40 and because of the weight and such of the pistol, it’s going to be much more prominent. If you’re ok with the extra pop then go for it. Then again, I have never liked the .40 but that’s an article for another day.

I have been trying to convince [my parents] to get a stripped AR lower and then build our own rifle as a way to ease into the idea of gun ownership. I have been exploring the feasibility of the idea myself, and I am wondering if from a technical aspect it would be possible for my Dad and I to do so. If so, are there any online guides we could use? -Josh V.

I have put together LEGO sets that were far more difficult than assembling a lower. As long as you have the proper tools, it is a breeze and will make you wonder why people charge so much for it. When it comes to building the upper from scratch, however, you couldn’t pay me enough to do that again. I still have a couple of scars on my hand from that. Besides, with the glut of AR-15 parts available thanks to the fallout from the shortage, quality assembled uppers can be found for as cheap (if not cheaper) than if you were to piece them together yourself. The lowers, however, are still a bargain to build and quite fun at that. They’re also the only part you have to go through a background check for. So my recommendation is to build your lower then just order an upper. You can get a barebones upper then accessorize the heck out of it or just buy one already tricked out.

As far as online guides, you can always check out my AR-15 Project series. Outside of shameless self promotion, Brownells has an absolutely brilliant video series which is, admittedly, far more detailed than mine. My series wasn’t meant so much as a “how to” but a “watch me do it and see the pitfalls you might run into”.

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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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Like what you read?  GunNoob is now part of Pew Pew Tactical.  Check out the rest of our awesome resources:

• Ultimate AR-15 Guide
• Beginner's Guide to Guns
• DIY Gunsmithing
• Gear & Gun Reviews

I’ve been sick for this last week. I hate being sick. That’s not saying much because I don’t know of many people who actually like being sick. On the bright side, it allowed me to get some stuff done with the site that I’ve been meaning to do in terms of organization, marketing and such. On the down side, I’m trying to write stories and interact with potential advertising customers while loopy on NyQuil.

It’s the Year of the Shotgun and we’ve got a year of the shotgun question!

Since this is the year of the shotgun, I’ll ask a shotgun question. I was told by a helpful gentleman *rolls eyes* at the range that shotguns should be fired not from the shoulder like a rifle, but rather from the hip so that the arms work as a pivot to absorb the recoil. True or false? -Mike H.

Ah, range advice. If there was ever something that was equally a source of humor as it was annoyance, range/gun show/gun store advice would be it. You’ll be happy to know that this particular bit of advice is very much wrong…sort of.

Having the shotgun shouldered up with a proper grip and cheek-weld will give you not only the most stability but the most accuracy. It also is the best way to deal with the recoil. If you’ve read our “What is Recoil?” guide, you’ll remember that there is no way to get rid of recoil. The best way to manage recoil with a shotgun (or any gun, for that matter) is in such a way that allows you to get back on target as quickly as possible. With the gun shouldered, you’re in a much more stable position and it will allow you to get on target for that second bird or clay disk.

That’s not to say there isn’t a time for shooting from the hip. The first thing that comes to mind is if your shotgun has a pistol grip. We’ll be going over the pros and cons of pistol grips later but that wasn’t your question. With a pistol grip, you don’t have anything to anchor that gun down. If you try to shoot it like a normal pistol or shotgun, you’re going to wind up owing your dentist a lot of money for teeth replacements. It should be held to your side and allowed to rock with the motion. In that aspect, the felt recoil might not be as bad but it’s at the extreme sacrifice of follow-up shots and arguably accuracy if you’re not experienced with point shooting (which is the best way to shoot shotguns, I might add).

Personally, I’ve tried pistol grip shotguns and having tried them, you couldn’t pay me enough to put one of those back on my baby. I’m thinking the guy at the range has spent a bit too much time watching action movies.

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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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Like what you read?  GunNoob is now part of Pew Pew Tactical.  Check out the rest of our awesome resources:

• Ultimate AR-15 Guide
• Beginner's Guide to Guns
• DIY Gunsmithing
• Gear & Gun Reviews