Help with my 1st GUN purchase

[Trader13]

The misinformation about choosing a gun is almost as bad as it is for how to trade profitably.

For home defense, which I assume is your motive in getting a gun, your best choice is a revolver. It's the most reliable and simple to operate firearm, period. You don't have to disassemble it to clean it, you don't have to fumble with a safety or rack the action to prepare it for firing, and it won't jam on you like a semi-auto when your grip isn't just right.

There are good reasons for choosing a completely different type of weapon, but you would have to be specific about your intent.

 

[Tsing Tao]

Quote from 377OHMS:

Mostly I have shot sitting at a bench with the gun resting on shot bags but the small amount of standing shots I've taken were at about that range and I could hit a torso-sized target and a 3-ft x 3-ft metal plate slightly farther out. Not a group or anything just hits. I think I could hit a stationary man at about 200 if I wasn't worried about cover.

I got a decoration for marksmanship in the service. I have 20-10 vision but am farsighted.

When I ask what your flat footed range is, I'm asking what you could consistently hit (9 out of 10 times) at that range standing still with no supports. Regardless of your marksmanship capability, I suppose it is statistically possible for your range to be 300 yards, but I would be stunned beyond belief. Go outside and mark it off, try 300 yards flat footed.

 

[Tsing Tao]

Quote from pspr:

It depends on if you are trying to make 3" groups or just hit the side of a truck.

12" by 12" plate.

 

[Tsing Tao]

Quote from Hoofhearted:



It makes a nice wall hanger, if that's your thing, but will likely never keep you warm under the blanket the way a good firearm will.

I'll disagree here. It depends on your equipment.

The HK mr556 I have is top of the line, has an EOTech holo for short range (a reflex scope) and a Trijicon ACOG for long range. The ACOG is like a fucking video game (to borrow the words of my gun mentor who sighted it) or HD TV. It's got depleted uranium to give the site a glow without batteries any time of day, and is crystal clear. I was using it up in NC (5.56) and there was almost no drop at 300 yards, and a slight drop at 400. Every single shot of 30, save one (a yellow jacket flew into my coat - hah) hit the target with little or no effort and a 1 sec pause between shots. My buddy said it best - "this is just unfair".

I can get it out of my safe in 10 seconds, and move around my house quite efficiently. Nothing beats my p226 for home defense, but the HK is a lot more than a "wall hanger".

 

[Tsing Tao]

Quote from Hoofhearted:

Alot of good marksmen will use some pretty different techniques. One that works well for me, at least when shooting still targets is to take a full breath, then release half of it-then hold the last half while you aim and fire.

It makes sense to me, because

a) breathing causes motion (which some top marksmen prefer to have) and I am trying to make both myself and the gun still.

b) holding your breath with full lungs can cause blood pressure to rise within the brain potentially tampering with vision and balance.

c) if you hold your breath at the halfway point while inhaling, you will not have near the amount of oxygen in your brain that you will have when holding your breath after exhaling full lungs.

Correct breathing is basic firing protocol at any distance. Books have been written on the subject.

 

[wartrace]

Quote from Tsing Tao:

Correct breathing is basic firing protocol at any distance. Books have been written on the subject.

I think the acronym they used at Parris Island was "Brasf" which stood for breathe, release, aim, squeeze, fire.

If I recall correctly you took a breath, released half of it, aimed , squeezed the trigger and fired.

We shot at targets from 460 meters (really big targets ) and I was able to group pretty tight.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Quote from PHOENIX TRADING:

Your marksmanship skills remind me of my own.
I wasn't any good with the puny civilian stuff .
I was marksman with 45, sharpshooter with m-16 and expert with m-60 machine gun (think rambo first blood) and Tow missile.
I guess I'd be considered an expert with the bayonet and knife but I'm hopeless with one where it really counts (in the kitchen).


Guess I'll just have to live with the fact that if it comes to the zombie Apocalypse I'm toast because my 3 weapons of choice would be automatic shotgun, white phosphorous grenades and claymores.

I would prefer one of these to thin the attacking herd.:eek:
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[CaptainObvious]

Quote from wartrace:

I think the acronym they used at Parris Island was "Brasf" which stood for breathe, release, aim, squeeze, fire.

If I recall correctly you took a breath, released half of it, aimed , squeezed the trigger and fired.

We shot at targets from 460 meters (really big targets ) and I was able to group pretty tight.

Actually it's BRASS. Breathe. Relax. Aim. Slack. Squeeze. But maybe they changed it since I was in, when dinosaurs walked the earth.

 

[wartrace]

I think it is a "moot point" anyways. The gun stores are cleaned out of anything that resembles an AR and there are huge backorders. I have heard there are over a million backorders for AR 30 round magazines as well.

I just went to my favorite ammo store online- "Ammoman.com" and they have shut down in order to catch up with the backlog of orders. There is no telling what .223 is going for these days but I assure you it will be at a hefty premium.

I was "toying" with the idea of purchasing another M1a and have been following pricing closely. The retail price of M1a's jumped by 100 to 200 dollars in the month after this latest killing spree.

Another concern/issue I have is one of my current M1a's. I am worried that the ass-hats will try to ban this specific rifle. I would like to send out one of my rifles for a new barrel and some work at the Fulton armory but wonder if I will be unable to do so due to a ban.

 

[wartrace]

Quote from CaptainObvious:

Actually it's BRASS. Breathe. Relax. Aim. Slack. Squeeze. But maybe they changed it since I was in, when dinosaurs walked the earth.

That's it but I recall the term as Brasf. I do now recall the R was for relax instead of release. I could have sworn it was "squeeze, Fire" but then again I can't remember what I had for dinner last night so........

I went to boot in 1981 (plt 1010) so I am trying to remember something from 30+ years ago

I can still remember the names of my D.I.' s though:
Ssgt Dean
Sgt Gibbs
Sgt Sunaga
Sgt Hernandez

I don't think I will ever forget those names.....