Free for All Friday: 03-06-2014
We’ve got some great questions this week! Everything from getting rid of smoke smells to Short Barreled Rifles.
“GunNoob, I have two questions for you. 1. What are your thoughts on gun safes? More specifically, If you have a gun for home defensive purposes, how is it helping you in the safe. And two, to build on your laser question from this week, What are your thoughts on Guide Rod Lasers?” -James S.
I love gun safes and highly recommend getting one, even if you only have 1 gun. It doesn’t have to be a huge safe, just something that can attach to an anchor item (floor, wall, etc) and make it more difficult to steal the gun. As far as defensive storage and such, here is how I do it: Every night when I go to bed, I take my home defense gun out of my safe and put it in its designated spot in easy reach of the bed. In the morning, I put it back in the safe. I have my carry pistol with me when I’m doing my usual daily stuff at the house. I also opted for a digital pad instead of the rotary safe lock so I can get my safe open quicker in the off chance that I need to get something out of the safe in a pinch. Keep in mind, this is in Florida. Some other places have very strict storage laws so always know and follow local law.
As far as guide rod lasers, I can see what they’re trying to fix but it just seems to be an overly gimmicky solution to a problem that isn’t that big of a deal in the first place. Ultimately, I don’t like that it’s replacing a structurally and functionally important part of the gun and I can’t help but feel there would be some reliability issues. I say this with the caveat of “I haven’t had the chance to test one yet”, mind you.
“If I were to start an AR build piecing all the components together, is there a point that I would have to register/declare/etc. a component (before purchasing or at a certain percent of the build is complete) with anyone? Along with that what if it was below the 16″ length, I live in Texas.” -Heath F.
Let me preface this by saying “I’m not a lawyer and I’m not even qualified to play one on TV”. Also, this is strictly dealing with federal regulations here. I know Florida doesn’t have any extra rules but I haven’t been able to find out if Texas does. With those asterisks in mind, let’s continue…
If you’re just building a plain old AR, then you’ll just need a background check when you buy the stripped lower (unless you’ve bought an 80% lower but that’s another discussion). After that, everything can be purchased online without any kind of checks or government involvement. Mind you, that’s only if you’re wanting a barrel that 16” or longer. If you wake up and say “I have this stripped lower sitting on my table. I want to build an SBR (short barrel rifle a.k.a. a rifle with a less than 16” barrel) with it.” At that moment, you will need to fill out the necessary paperwork and get the stamp back before you can do anything with that lower. Once you have the stamp back, then you can legally start building it. In the SBR world, It gets crazier though…
If you wanted to put a regular sized upper (16” or more) on your SBR to shoot at the range for a day, it’s technically breaking the rules though not breaking the rules either but they typically don’t care. Same as if you have an even shorter barrel. Once it’s registered as an SBR, it will always be considered an SBR and you have to follow the documentation rules. Let’s say you have a 12” barrel and that’s what it was registered as. Now let’s say you traded that 12” barrel to your buddy for an even shorter barrel. You would have to file paperwork to the ATF to let them know you’ve changed the length. Now, from what I understand that isn’t 100% required but the ATF “would really appreciate it”. In other words, they will make your life difficult if you don’t.
It’s a heck of a quagmire to navigate the legalese of SBR’s and I’m not entirely convinced that it isn’t by design. There’s also a lot of crazy rumors and myths about them, like the myth that you have to keep your SBR barrel near the lower at all times regardless of which upper is attached to it (which is false, btw). I would highly, highly HIGHLY recommend you talk with someone whose job it is to keep up on this kind of stuff before diving in. Typically, the lawyers that specialize in gun trusts stay up to date of NFA laws or can at least point you in the direction of a lawyer that is familiar with NFA regulations. Good luck! You’re gonna need it.
“This is a good idea! I am new to shooting and am having trouble with my trigger control. I am flinching down and to the left ( I am right handed). Any ideas on training to overcome this problem? thanks for your help!” -Skylar R.
Thank you very much! I’m glad you like it. Flinching is, thankfully, a very easy problem to solve. It boils down to two things: 1) slow down your trigger pulls and 2) do a metric buttload of dry fire practice. (and that’s a metric buttload with is, like, 3 times a normal buttload). You want to build that muscle memory of a nice smooth pull and dry fire is a great way to do that. When it comes to live fire practice, one trick is try to focus on that smooth pull and just keep telling yourself “squeeze squeeze squeeze” as you pull the trigger. You want to be so focused on that smooth pull that the gun going off will surprise you. Eventually it will become automatic and you can work on speeding up your shots. Don’t be in a rush to speed up.
Also, make sure you’re using the pad of your finger and not the knuckle. It’s amazing how much of a difference that little change can make.
“Hey guys, great page, I read it at least once or twice a week. I have a question about cleaning. I recently bought a carbine with a synthetic stock from a nice guy, but a heavy smoker. For days I haven’t been able to put the gun or the soft case in my room or gun cabinet because it smells so smokey. Do you know anything I could do to totally get these smells gone?” -JD
First off, thanks for visiting! Let me tell you, smoke is tough to deal with. When I first started my computer career, I worked at an upgrades desk at a CompUSA like store. We would use Rock, Paper, Scissors to pick who had to work on smoker’s computers. It’s not just the smell. There’s a residue that works its way into everything and it is almost as vile as cosmoline. Between that and a bit of time doing antique restoration, I’m familiar with that smell and how to deal with it.
For the soft case, there’s a couple of options. The easiest, right off the bat, is take it to a dry cleaners. Nine out of ten times this will remove any ick that’s stuck in fabrics. The other option is take a trash bag and dump a bunch of baking soda and dryer sheets in it. Stuff the case into it and shake it up to make sure it gets coated. Make sure a bunch of it gets inside the case as well. Let it sit like that for a couple of days. Then shake and vacuum all the dust off. Let it hang outside in the fresh air for a day and then see how it smells. Repeat this process until no longer stinky.
For the gun itself, plastic can absorb smells like crazy. First off, scrub the plastic parts down thoroughly with vinegar and then let them dry outside. Do this a couple of times and that should fix it. If not, alternating between the vinegar wash and the method we used for the case should get it de-stinkified.
I should note that both of these should be followed up by a thorough cleaning using a proper gun cleaner (like Ballistol) and a proper lucubration.
So do you have a question burning in your mind? Every week we pick our favorite questions (or all the questions depending on how many we get) and answer them on Friday 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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