209
Member
This is a bit long... bear with me. I need to set the stage. 
So, I’m sitting outside at my picnic table working on my Mauser project. It has a badly pitted barrel and I was running a cleaning rod and brush attached to a cordless drill through the barrel. I was using a rather nasty solvent (no, I won’t say what I was using) and figured doing it outside was better than working at the dining room table.
I live in a rather rural area, but there is a cluster of houses fairly close. When looking at my house from the street, my neighbor to the right is only about 25 yards away. But we do have nice border tree line of cedars so visibility is limited.
After getting on the Mauser barrel, I decided it was time to clean some other guns and dragged out a couple of Glocks. Once I finished them, I put them away and still had some energy left so I grabbed one of the ARs that I had shot recently and figured I’d re-clean that.
I found something out. Evidently, there is one window that my neighbor can look out and see me at the table (thank God me and the wife never dallied there and kept our escapades inside). It seems my neighbor is a gun-fearing lady of about my age (that means old). I gather she spotted me reaming out the Mauser barrel and was kind of okay with that. As the day progressed, she heard the noises associated with disassembly of a Glock and looked over. Since I was cleaning two of them, it must have been a show to the uninitiated.
She evidently abided by that, but after cleaning the pistols, I pulled out an AR and I guess that was the final breaking point. To her credit, she didn’t call the police and scream about the neighbor waving guns around. She called her son. He came over. As I’m cleaning the AR, I see a guy standing in her backyard, looking at me through the trees. So, I say, “Hey, how you doing?” He says, “Hi, what are you doing?” I tell him I’m cleaning guns. I tell him to come on over (and pointed out where the poison ivy was, which I thought was a neighborly thing to do).
He came over. I introduced myself and told him to take a squat. I offered him a water or soda. I said I had about 5 more minutes left in the cleaning and once I finished, I’d gladly offer him a beer or a glass of wine.
He explained what was going on, so I told him to get his Mom and bring her over, and we could discuss the whole situation. He did. Once, she arrived, I made the same offer of water or soda, with the same “wait a few minutes and you can have adult beverage”. She proceeded to say that she knew we drank all of the time. I explained that we do use adult beverages, but never when guns are out and about. I told her I didn’t believe the two mixed very well.
About that time, I had completed the cleaning and was re-assembling the AR. As I kept snapping the pieces together, I could see her eyes getting bigger. The rifle was together, and as I was attaching the Aimpoint, she asked what it was. I gave her a basic run-down of a “red-dot” scope and took just the scope and showed her how it worked. Of course that led into having her (perish the thought) of actually picking up the dreaded AR. I did show her the basic safety rules and the way to make sure the weapon is safe. I had her sight through the iron sights, then mounted the Aimpoint. She liked the Aimpoint.
Then, the conservation led to handguns. I suggested I could show her a Glock. You have to understand that the lady in question is a State employee and works for the Social Services dept. She has heard all about Glocks from her clients. She thinks Glocks are the creation of the devil. She wouldn’t go along with it.
I didn’t press it. But, I do have a rather vague agreement to take her and her son to the range, so she can shoot a rifle. She was really interested in the whole Aimpoint thing.
I figure I can start her with a .22 and work her up to the “Black Rifle”. I think having a social service worker shooting an “assault weapon” should be a good start to helping the cause a bit.
So, I’m sitting outside at my picnic table working on my Mauser project. It has a badly pitted barrel and I was running a cleaning rod and brush attached to a cordless drill through the barrel. I was using a rather nasty solvent (no, I won’t say what I was using) and figured doing it outside was better than working at the dining room table.
I live in a rather rural area, but there is a cluster of houses fairly close. When looking at my house from the street, my neighbor to the right is only about 25 yards away. But we do have nice border tree line of cedars so visibility is limited.
After getting on the Mauser barrel, I decided it was time to clean some other guns and dragged out a couple of Glocks. Once I finished them, I put them away and still had some energy left so I grabbed one of the ARs that I had shot recently and figured I’d re-clean that.
I found something out. Evidently, there is one window that my neighbor can look out and see me at the table (thank God me and the wife never dallied there and kept our escapades inside). It seems my neighbor is a gun-fearing lady of about my age (that means old). I gather she spotted me reaming out the Mauser barrel and was kind of okay with that. As the day progressed, she heard the noises associated with disassembly of a Glock and looked over. Since I was cleaning two of them, it must have been a show to the uninitiated.
She evidently abided by that, but after cleaning the pistols, I pulled out an AR and I guess that was the final breaking point. To her credit, she didn’t call the police and scream about the neighbor waving guns around. She called her son. He came over. As I’m cleaning the AR, I see a guy standing in her backyard, looking at me through the trees. So, I say, “Hey, how you doing?” He says, “Hi, what are you doing?” I tell him I’m cleaning guns. I tell him to come on over (and pointed out where the poison ivy was, which I thought was a neighborly thing to do).
He came over. I introduced myself and told him to take a squat. I offered him a water or soda. I said I had about 5 more minutes left in the cleaning and once I finished, I’d gladly offer him a beer or a glass of wine.
He explained what was going on, so I told him to get his Mom and bring her over, and we could discuss the whole situation. He did. Once, she arrived, I made the same offer of water or soda, with the same “wait a few minutes and you can have adult beverage”. She proceeded to say that she knew we drank all of the time. I explained that we do use adult beverages, but never when guns are out and about. I told her I didn’t believe the two mixed very well.
About that time, I had completed the cleaning and was re-assembling the AR. As I kept snapping the pieces together, I could see her eyes getting bigger. The rifle was together, and as I was attaching the Aimpoint, she asked what it was. I gave her a basic run-down of a “red-dot” scope and took just the scope and showed her how it worked. Of course that led into having her (perish the thought) of actually picking up the dreaded AR. I did show her the basic safety rules and the way to make sure the weapon is safe. I had her sight through the iron sights, then mounted the Aimpoint. She liked the Aimpoint.
Then, the conservation led to handguns. I suggested I could show her a Glock. You have to understand that the lady in question is a State employee and works for the Social Services dept. She has heard all about Glocks from her clients. She thinks Glocks are the creation of the devil. She wouldn’t go along with it.
I didn’t press it. But, I do have a rather vague agreement to take her and her son to the range, so she can shoot a rifle. She was really interested in the whole Aimpoint thing.
I figure I can start her with a .22 and work her up to the “Black Rifle”. I think having a social service worker shooting an “assault weapon” should be a good start to helping the cause a bit.
