I think I can say I’ve maxed out the Accurate 4350 powder – I’m not going to get more than 2800 fps with the 120 g. bullet and the 22” barrel. I also think that great load from the other day is the node:
Upper left – first two rounds were touching at a quarter inch, and hitting in the same spot as before, about a half inch right and half inch high. Then, what I think is a clear flyer. Everything else is around an inch. And I think I’m at the point where the slower burning powder has no more time to combust. But it’s been a nice test. I’ll load up a bunch of the first and take it out to distance. See if the wind affects it significantly more than the 140s.
And I still think DJT is the laser pointer president.
Got a lot to see here. For comparison, on the left, a simple 9 mm RN FMJ (remember, Round Nose Full Metal Jacket). Next, a .357 Sig FN FMJ – Flat Nose FMJ. Then, a .357 Sig JSP – Jacketed Soft Point. A .357 JHP – Jacketed Hollow Point. A .40 S&W FN FMJ – Flat Nose Full Metal Jacket. And finally, a .40 S&W JHP – Jacketed Hollow Point.
Do you begin to see the notation now?
Apropos of nothing, when I took this pic yesterday, it prompted me to change my G 32 from 9 mm back to .357 Sig. Quick barrel and mag swap, and I aired it out at the range today. It’s a shame that .357 Sig did not catch on. For a while, the US Secret Service, and a number of State Highway Patrols used it (great vehicle penetration, I’m told). But the ammo is about twice the price of 9 mm, with the necked down case, it’s more difficult to reload, and it definitely has a blast factor. But when you shoot it, you know that it is a brass balls manly round.
Just thinking, we’ve talked a lot about bullet propellers, but vary little about bullet projectiles. Let’s take a look:
This is where the magic fairy dust is located. On .22s, it’s in the rim. On center-fires, it’s in … the center. When something strikes (a firing pin or a “striker”) the primer in which the magic fairy dust is located, it makes intense fairy dust fire. In fact, this is the only part of the boolet that is “explosive “.
This is the Freedom Powder holder. It is made of brass (because manly things, such as “brass balls”, are made of brass). And even better, they can be recycled into more Freedom Powder holders!
Freedom Powder, when ignited by the Fairy Dust fire, seeks to be free. Because everything in life does. It very quickly seeks freedom. In fact, it expands so quickly that things in its way will also seek freedom.
The Boolet. Also known as the Freedom Seed. The Freedom Powder sends it on its merry way.
But Mr. KatNap Fever guy, I see boolets with all different shapes, sizes and headgear. What gives?
Well, dear reader and Beginning Bangstick Boolet connoisseur, this is where, truly, Diversity Is Our Strength. I shall start explaining soon. As soon as the wonderous, glorious Big, Beautiful, Fourth of July weekend is over.
Of course it will be the omnipresent Nine Millimeter! AKA 9 mm Parabellum and 9 mm NATO.
Designed by Georg Luger in 1901, it’s been around a long time and has steadily improved as powder and bullet design modernized.
It would be virtually impossible to list the names of all the 9 mm handguns currently in production. Most every manufacturer builds the 9. The interwebs tell me that about 60% of US police forces use the 9 as their standard issue handgun. All branches of the US military carry it. It comes in many sizes and flavors.
So how does the advanced beginner choose one? Try them out. Figure what size fits your hand and allows you to manipulate all of the controls without changing your grip. When you find a few that fit, go shoot them. Many ranges and gun stores will rent guns. If you belong to a range, ask around and see if any members give instruction or will just let you shoot with them – you’ll be surprised at the number of offers you get.
So, Mr. KatNapFever blogger, any suggestions? Why, yes! Start off with another Germanic designer, Herr Gaston Glock. Glocks in 9 mm are some of the simplest, most reliable designs around. The full sized Glock 17 started it all off:
I find, however, that the compact version, the Glock 19, fits my hands better and can be carried concealed more easily:
Some people love Glocks, some don’t. For the latter, there are lots of alternatives – Smith & Wesson, Colt, Beretta, Taurus, CZ, etc. I guarantee you will find one or more you like.
This is a bit of a misleading title. A shotgun is more like a Bangtree than a Bangstick. And in the recommended order of Beginning, I’d put this one after rifles larger than a .22. But, since I brought it up before, away we go.
Now, I DON’T recommend the way I did it. After starting out at age 12 with a .22, I decided at 16 that I needed a Man’s Firearm. What better than the vaunted 12 gauge? Oops, best back up. We’ve indirectly covered “caliber”, .22 caliber being (approximately) .22 inches in bullet diameter. What is this “gauge” measurement? Well, by my recollection and by the inner tubes, it means how many balls of lead the size of the barrel diameter would total one pound. So, 12 balls is a 12 gauge, 28 balls a 28 gauge and so on. (However, see the exception, .410 gauge, comparable to .45 caliber Long Colt. Well, never mind, we’ll get to that later).
And what are we firing through this kind of firearm? Well, “shot”. Meaning round pellets as small as .08” up to .22”, then buckshot from .24” to .39”, and then slugs, which are more like fat rifle bullets the diameter of the barrel.
But one major difference – we are not sending shot through a rifled barrel (which imparts stabilizing spin to the bullet). We are sending it through a smooth bore, so it just comes out of the muzzle with no spin and spreads out the further it goes. Which is the raison d’etre for a shot gun – lots of pellets hitting a larger area. For fast moving things like birds. Or squirrels. Or fast, fearsome felons.
So, how’s this for a manly firearm?
12 gauge, bolt action shotgun. With a 2 round magazine!
And an adjustable choke on the muzzle!
Improved Cylinder, Modified, and Full choke. Oh. Yeah, choke. It chokes the muzzle diameter to allow a smaller or larger spread of the shot. The “Pattern”. So, with a basic, entry level shotgun, we’ve been able to cover a lot of shotgun topics. One more thing:
Even with a heavy duty rubber recoil pad, it kicks like a mule. One reason I would start beginners with something else. More to come.
I’ve got some shooting buddies up here for an annual long distance shoot. Experience level varies greatly. But they come up from NY, NJ and MA to the Free State of NH to exercise their rights to keep and bear arms. And to shoot them at long distances. So, in the meantime:
Semi-automatic. What does that mean? A lot of politicians and leftists don’t know or pretend to not know. Simply, the firearm fires semi-automatically – one trigger pull fires one round. The slide recoils backward to recock the trigger, then forward to strip a new bullet from the magazine. That’s it. It does not continually fire as long as the trigger is pulled back. That would be “automatic “ – as in machine gun. No, AR-15s are not automatic. They are semiautomatic, requiring the trigger to be pulled for each shot. Another term for automatic is “select fire”, meaning that you have three settings you can select: Safe, Semi and Automatic. An M-16 is a select fire weapon, thus, a “machine gun”. Not generally available to the public without a lot of money, and BATFE approval/$200.00 tax stamp. And more money for ammo. The rate of fire is about 800 rounds per minute. Given that the Normal Capacity Magazine contains 30 rounds, you can empty it in less than 3 seconds. At $0.40 to $1.00 per round, you will need deep pockets. Oh, yeah. It’s a magazine, not a clip. See M-1 Garand for clips. So, rant over. But introducing a new shooter to semi automatic firearms is a great opportunity to clear up misunderstandings (or fake news) about firearms. Here is one of my favorite handguns:
Ruger SR22. A .22 caliber semi automatic handgun, with a 10 round magazine:
It is a Single Action/Double Action pistol, meaning you can choose to pull the trigger with a long stroke to cock the hammer and release it, thereby firing a round. At that point, it will recock and load a new round so that further shooting only requires a short pull. Or you can manually cock the hammer and go right to the single action of pulling the trigger. Easy peasy.
it also has a manual safety on both sides. But remember, the only true safety on a gun is between the ears. Small, lightweight, easily packed, and has virtually the same manual of arms of most semi automatic pistols. Fun to shoot, and trains you with a light recoil, on most aspects of shooting. And .22 range ammo is inexpensive. Many .22s are picky about what they will feed; I have never had an FTF (failure to fire) with this gun.
Interestingly, Ruger makes a bigger 9 mm version of this – The SR 9 and a compact SR 9 C. Yes, I’m a bit of a Ruger fanboi, but they know what they are doing. Train on the SR 22 and then move up.
Tomorrow we’ll take a look at .22 caliber semi automatic rifles!
Fully intending to shoot some .22 handguns. Of course, I left them on the inside garage steps, being distracted by putting all my range stuff back in the car following vacation – sorry, secret mission.
I’ll probably remember them tomorrow, but let’s take a look at the next step for beginners – the .22 revolver. Why, an obsolete firearm design that can only hold six rounds? Because it teaches Single Action, Double Action, Double Action Only, all concepts carried over to semi auto hand guns. It also forces slow fire, gun fundamentals, and sight alignment. It also teaches about changing grip – the gas escaping around the forcing cone will definitely hurt, so be aware.
Let’s take a look:
I bought this just south of Fort Campbell on 41 A at a local hardware/convenience store in 1975 for less than 20 bucks. It’s a German-made “RG”. RG had an abysmal reputation – some parts made of pot metal, etc. It was said that there were only two types of RGs – complete junk, or OK. I evidently got the latter. It is still reliable a half century later.
There are three hammer positions – quarter cock, safe like a 1911 cocked and locked; half cocked, for spinning the cylinder and loading; and full cock, for shooting (and where does the phrase, “Going off half-cocked” come from?).
Half-cocked, and loading gate open. I find that having new shooters have a limited amount of ammo makes them concentrate more on fundamentals. There is a time and place for semi autos, but not for a beginner.
“Safe”, so you can carry six rounds, without worrying about having the hammer riding on an empty cylinder.
Ready to go. And understanding that Single Action means manual cocking, and that the only action of the trigger is to release the hammer to fire the round.
Later, instruction on modern revolvers where Double Action means that the trigger first cocks the hammer, then releases it to fire. And then later instruction about SA/DA where you have the choice of either. Finally, Double Action Only, where the trigger pull is required to cock the hammer and release it in order to fire.
So what kind of trigger action is a 1911? Or a Glock?
I’m going to do a piece or two on beginner guns, but even before that, gun dangerousness. Yes, guns are dangerous. They are intended to be so. That is their original design principle. So, “gun safety” is a bit misleading.
A gun is a force projector. It is the evolutionary result of throwing stones, throwing spears, shooting arrows. It is designed to inflict potentially lethal force against other beings, human and otherwise. All the other uses of guns, plinking, target shooting, trap/skeet, all are secondary to the basic purpose of a firearm. With that in mind, let’s examine how we can control that force.
First, “The Four Rules”. When followed religiously, they ensure that the projection of that force does not result in unintended results.
Every gun is loaded. Treat every gun that way.
Do not let the barrel of the gun “cover” (point at) anything you are not willing to destroy.
Do not put your finger on the trigger until you are on target and ready to shoot.
Know what your target is. And what’s beyond it.
Discussion:
When handling any firearm, if you treat it as if loaded, you won’t do stupid unloaded gun stuff – looking down the barrel, waving it around, doing quick draws. How many times have you heard, “But I didn’t know it was loaded!”
This means always pointing your firearm in a safe direction. Good example – if you are on the firing line and your gun is pointed toward the ground, is it a safe direction? Maybe. But next time, take a look at where your feet are. Is your gun covering your toes? Another example – some shotgunners have special shoes made with a leather piece on their toe so that they can rest the barrel there between shots. AYFKM? Even shooting bird shot, a negligent discharge will go right through that resting point.
As every veteran heard in basic training, “Keep your booger hook off the bang switch!” Literally, do not let your finger come in contact with the trigger until you are pointing at the target and you are beginning the trigger press. This is sometimes hard to do in practice. Think, most every gun is designed to be comfortably held in the hand and the trigger finger naturally wants to go inside the trigger guard. This is why you really do not want to try to catch a gun if you drop it. Yep, you caught it and it didn’t get dinged or dirty. Nope, you caught it perfectly and contacted the trigger just enough to set it off.
Sure, you know you pinned a target to the tree. Have you considered what happens if you miss? Or if the bullet is not stopped by it? Where will that bullet end up. OK, is that a deer or Farmer John’s red heifer? Do you know that a little itty bitty .22 round can travel 1500 – 2000 yards? That would be over a mile if you haven’t done the math. So make sure that so,etching will backstop your round.
Thinking about it, if you follow these rules, you will likely never have a negligent discharge. Nope, there are no “accidental” discharges.
When I shoot with someone I have never shot with before, I always go over The Four Rules. If they know anything about shooting, they never complain.
Next up, Guns for Beginners. BTW, beginners never set hands on a gun with me until they repeat and explain The Four Rules to me.
Another overnight soak, a bit more brushing and swabbing. Much cleaner.
However . . . I think all the lines ‘n stuff are machining marks. They run the length of the barrel each side of a land. The carbon sure has a place to latch onto.
But here’s an interesting pic. Inside the gas port you can see the adjustment mechanism.
So, earlier today I’m looking at these pics and Mrs. Red says, “Are those from your colonoscopy this morning?”
KatNap Fever! 