Gun Safety: How to Clean Your Gun Keeping your gun clean helps keep it working properly, which is an important part of gun safety! In this space, we talk a lot about the NRA Rules of Gun Safety: 1.ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction; ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot; ALWAYS keep the gun…
Gunstocks: Surface Treatments When it comes to guns, beauty is more than skin-deep … but it does start there. Jacob Albright Kentucky Rifle ft. carved wooden stock, courtesy NRA Museums Most firearm stocks have some form of surface treatment intended to improve the shooter’s grip in specific areas, such as the wrist, pistol grip or…
How Guns Work. Guns, also known as firearms, operate based on the principles of combustion and projectile motion. Here’s a simplified explanation of how guns work: 1. *Loading:* The process begins with loading ammunition into the gun. Ammunition typically consists of a cartridge that contains a projectile (bullet), gunpowder, and a primer. 2. *Ignition:* When…
Gun Safety: What Are Misfires/Hangfires? These terms have made it into popular slang, but they’re potentially dangerous events. Here’s how to spot them, and what to do. A misfire is a failure of the priming mixture to be initiated after the primer (or rim of a rimfire case) has been struck an adequate blow by…
Modern Semi-Automatic Pistol Triggers & How They Work DA, DA/SA, DAO … you’ll see these terms and abbreviations in gun reviews. Here’s what they all mean. The acronyms for how guns work are everywhere: SA, DA/SA, DAO, EIEIO (okay, not that last one). But what do they mean? Modern semi-automatic handguns can be divided into three categories…
Video: Gun Safety Beyond the “Big 3” The “Three Rules of Gun Safety” always come first, but there are many other important ones right behind them! Knowing the NRA rules of gun safety is of paramount importance. You already know the “Big Three”: 1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction; 2. ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until…
Mastering Sight Picture, Sight Radius & Hold There are three simple things that affect your marksmanship with every shot; two of them are under your control, and the third depends on your firearm. There are three simple things that affect your marksmanship with every shot; two of them are under your control, and the third…
Ammunition Safety Facts: Wildcat Cartridges Handloading your own ammunition has plenty of benefits, but there are some things to know to stay safe! In addition to factory-produced cartridges for which the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) has developed dimensional and pressure standards, there are also non-standard “wildcat” cartridges developed by ballistic experimenters. Often a wildcat…
How to Build a Walk-In Gun Vault (Cheaply!) Some considerations on designing a walk-in gun vault that won’t break the bank. All the rage these days in home building is the addition of a safe room–or a walk-in vault that has a secure door and no windows. Areas such as these provide refuge from attack,…
What’s “Plinking”? Plinking is more than onomatopoeia … it’s the perfect introduction to gun safety for beginners! What’s “Plinking”? Courtesy NSSF Plinking can be a great way to introduce new and young shooters to the joys of the shooting sports. And, goodness knows, right now it would really be a good idea to introduce young…
