Gun owners who don't know about guns

[Mr White]

Delta9, I can feel your pain. My nephews got 2 .22s that were my father in law's after he died. Their stepdad is a hunter but isn't really into guns, per se. The nephews don't take care of anything. My FIL kept his guns immaculately clean. Never a speck of rust. The last I saw the .22s, they were covered with surface rust, sitting in a damp basement. My wife doesn't wasnt to start a fight with her sister to try and get them back and I really don't see it as my place to start one for her. I just console myself in the knowledge that the J.C. Higgins 12 ga pump and pre 64 Model 94 that I got, and the 4-digit s/n Single Six that here other sister got have found good loving homes.

And I hate to tell you that this attitude toward guns is more prevalent than you might think. If your aunt's family knows the four rules, they're way ahead of the majority of gun owners. Where I live, almost everyone hunts. In my town there are probably more homes with guns than without. Most of them are bolt action rifles. This is their life:
- Sit in a closet for 11 months out of the year.
- Get taken out 2 weeks before deer season.
- Go to the range, maybe have 10 shots fired at a target.
- Go out to hunt on opening day and maybe the next 2 Saturdays.
- Have a sectioned aluminum cleaning rod run thru them after hunting seaon is over.
- If they're lucky, be wiped down with a WD-40 covered rag and put back into the closet until next year.

That's no kind of life for a gun! I consider my home a gun rescue shelter. I always do my best to rescue neglected, unloved guns and give them a good home with all the love and exercise they need.

 

[gunsmithgirl]

My father in law is like that. TO an Extreme. I actually am working on a shotgun that had been passed down by his grandfather and he left it outside over a michigan winter.
I started buying him basic gun cleaning supplies for christmas every year and have started taking guns into my shop to repair and clean for free. I just can't stand to see such neglect of good firearms.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Nah...sounds hillbilly to me

Don't ever under estimate a man from the country. "SGT York" comes to mind.
Comes from the hills of east Tennessee.
I come from the country myself and I love it when people underestimate me, leaves them wide open.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

I grew up cutting my teeth on .22s. Been shooting all of my life. I never go to the range without a purpose. Shooting without a purpose is like playing chess without a purpose, you are wasting time.
If you have a gun you learn how to use it, clean it and take care of it. Learn to shoot like a natural. If you haven't got there yet than that should be a goal. If you have rifles and can't group them on the range then think about what you are doing to cause that problem. Find others to help you out. Start with some of the small calibers and work up to the heavier ones if that's what it takes. Flinching is a normal reaction. A good marksman will always tell you that. Being able to control that flinch makes for a better marksman.
So many people go to the range just to shoot without any purpose and that to me is a very large part of not knowing firearms "delivering their use". You can have lots of fun on a range but have a goal in mind and look to achieve it. Tighter groups, Bowling pin competitions. IDPA is good organization to get into if you want to get profficient with that pistol you have.
The biggest problem I see with pistol shooters is that they don't raise the pistol high enough to the line of sight and they hunker their head down. That stems from shooting a rifle first. I shoot very well if I stand tall and bring the pistol down to the target, or up to the target.
Riflemen getting the big magnums is another problem. It's OK to get them if you want them but some of those magnum owners can't handle the recoil and that can translate into not so nice shooting habits that he can't shake.
I never seen an armored deer out there but it's nice to own one for those long shots.
A large percentage never remember to clean the chamber of a rifle, they clean the bore but not the chamber. Same with the bore if you go hunting. You go hunting for the season and walking with the rifle slung muzzle up in the raing can ruin the bore when you are done with the season because you are wiping the outside of the rifle down and putting it in the safe. The top 1/3rd of the bore gets the moisture and rusts when not in use.
If you are a good marksman and you want to promote the shooting sports then mentor those who want to be a good marksman.

 

[eliphalet]

- Sit in a closet for 11 months out of the year.

To these folks that gun is a tool nothing else. When it has a job to do they use the tool for the job, just like their chain saw only comes out when they need to cut wood. My Dad is kinda like that. His "hunting" gun is only shot a few times each year, probably less than 10, some years less than 5, not always cleaned maybe just wiped down and stored. He has had this particular gun almost 50 years, it functions like new and has NO rust. I shot MOA with it this spring working up new loads for him. He killed his deer with it this fall, now it is put up till elk season or next year.

Shooting without a purpose is like playing chess without a purpose, you are wasting time.

That is a matter of opinion too I think. If everything is just right I can get those 1/2 groups but after a few it isn't near as much fun as it was at first. Many times our "purpose" is to just have fun plinking and no paper is shot at all. We will take the centerfires out and shoot a good group or ten then just ping shotgun shells around with the 22's. or even go out in the hills with no range or benches or other people, to shoot can's etc. The real reason shooting at paper for us is to hit that critter I plan on using that gun for later on. Nothing wrong with any controlled shooting, it's fine just not everyone's cup of tea so to speak.
To me for about 50 years now shooting is mostly for fun or hunting, thats what we enjoy the most. Competition or itty bitty groups can be satisfying but isn't near as much fun most of the time. Gets boring shooting paper pretty fast for us. I spend some time with guys that having all their bullets touch at 100 yds is their thing and they really enjoy it, it's fine but after about a hour or less of that we've had enough.
To each his own but I do think some of us tend to get a tad bit "stuffed shirted, holier than thou," about the whole gun, shooting, firearm affair. Enjoy yourself make shooting a fun, safe affair, involve your friends and family is you can. Like tools guns need attention and taken proper care of but like in most things a little moderation can be a good thing at times.

 

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

I met a guy at the range who had never cleaned his K31 (which was horribly sporterized in .308), His Vz.24 or his Russian SKS. They were all in very bad and rough shape, especially the VZ, which has seen repeated corrosive ammunition use with no cleaning. He has never cleaned them because he does not know how.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

eliphalet

Quote:
Shooting without a purpose is like playing chess without a purpose, you are wasting time.
That is a matter of opinion too I think.

When you first seen my post you can conclude that you are right but give it a little thought and you might want to exclude yourself out of this picture. A Very Large Percentage of People Who Shoot do so Just To Shoot. . Thet do it without a purpose in mind at all. I mean go ahead and plink if you want, we all do at some time or another. What I am talking about are the shooters who never refine any shooting skills. Who are content to put them downrange. That's fine because this is after all a free country. Doesn't gall me, after all it is their money and they need to stimulate the economy. Just rise above the crowd and shoot with a purpose in mind and that's mainly to improve you the shooter. Find out the strengths and weaknesses of the caliber that you are shooting that particular day. Most people couldn't tell you that the average rifle will basically act the same out to 200 yards, it begins to enter into another catagory all it's own after that. Most don't know anything about lead time on a walking or running animal at any distance.
Shooting 130 grain bullets? How about 150s or heavier?
That can be kicking a dead horse to you and me but to the guy who plants lead into the berm at 100 yards has to get interested by good "shop talk" if you would.

 

[mnw42]

I am a (sometimes) range officer at the local public range and I am amazed and appalled by the lack of knowledge that some people display. New shooters who are bringing their new gun for the first time is one thing, but those who have been shooting for years is something else entirely. My experience at the range and research have made me much more knowledgeable than most - I don't know everything, but I try to know as much as I can. The thing that makes us happiest is when on of the shooters comes up and asks us: "I just got this, could you show me..." or "can I do this.." People who ask questions aren't likely to assume anything and cause a problem.

These are some of the more common things:

- We ask everyone to open their actions so that we can inspect them before we let everyone go down an check the targets. Very often there is somebody who can't work the slide stop on their pistol.

- This thing keeps jamming... One of us walks over and inspects the piece. 4 of 5 times the thing is filthy or dry as a bone.

- I had a kid the other week bring out a SKS he just bought, but it wouldn't cycle. I walked over to him and looked the rifle over. The outside was mostly devoid of cosmo., but I took the cover off and the thing was packed with the stuff. I gave him some quick instruction on cleaning it and hopefully he can enjoy his Yugo after that. He was surprised to find out the gas sytem need to be dry and that cosmoline is not a lube.

- We had a guy packing his muzzle loader powder - ball - patch. I have never seen it done that way, but he had been doing that for years.

- .22LR in .22 WMR

- I've every kind of scope issue you could Imagen and some that you probably can't

- At the start of every deer season we have more than a few people bring out their fathers old rifle and a half box of (sometimes green) cartridges, print a group of 3-4" at 50 yds. and say: "good enough". The sometimes a few comeback a week later to try and figure out why they missed.

When ever I take friends or family shooting they learn an abridged manual of arms for what ever I am bring along and they help clean afterwards - in addition to the four rules and the range rules. I don't view it as optional.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Some people don't even practice, hey just shoot. The saying practice makes perfect is fairly close but better yet is "perfect practice makes perfect"