The Gunner's Blog

Rule Four of the rules of gun safety tells us to be sure of our target and what is beyond it. The idea is to eliminate mistaken identity shootings and collateral damage downrange. It is an important rule; all of them are. But it needs to be applied intelligently. You've heard the mantra: You are responsible for each projectile that you send downrange. Every shotgun pellet has a lawyer attached. You must not use buckshot beyond the range at which all the pellets will stay on the target. Otherwise pellets will sail past the target and cause incidents downrange. There is a flaw in that reasoning. Most shots fired in anger miss , and this is true for all types of firearms, so there is always a downrange hazard cone in a gunfight. The frequent advice that you switch to shotgun slugs beyond very short range is questionable on that ground. A miss with a slug produces a highly significant downrange hazard, an ounce of speeding lead, and a slug has a long danger radius. It is still fl...

I regard a repeating shotgun--either pump or autoloader, it doesn't much matter--as the best personal defense firearm available. Most personal defense emergencies, and nearly all self defense shootings that are later ruled justifiable, happen at short range. The shotgun is the best short range gun, so that is the gun to have. So runs my reasoning; it seems an obvious matter to me, but if you have a counter-argument, let me know in the comments. The most evident difficulty is that the shotgun does not hold a whole lot of ammunition and its tube magazine must be reloaded with single shells, one at a time. That at least is what is most common. There are a few box magazine shotguns around and some speedloader gadgets for tube magazine guns. But in general, what people find most practical is a tube magazine and some sort of ammo carrier--a butt cuff, a side saddle, or a belt or a bandolier--that supplies you with single cartridges. This setup offers the minimum bulk of gun and gear, ...

Go here if you are keeping on top of developments in the compact concealed carry pistol marketplace: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/01/01/remington-announces-r-51-pistol/ The Firearm Blog has the rundown on the new Remington R-51, a sleek pocket pistol for 9mm +P.  A .40 S&W version is planned. The gun borrows styling cues and locking method from the old Remington Model 51, which was an excellent pocket pistol from the 1920's era. The new gun is thoroughly updated and strong enough for modern defensive cartridges; the old-time inspiration for the new design was chambered for .32 and .380 ACP. I consider the .38 Special snubnose an indispensable sidearm. Up-to-date small auto pistol designs like this one lead me to reconsider, or at least to say that if you do not have a .38 snub, then you ought to have one of the new breed of small automatics designed for the same niche. I formed my preference for the small revolver back in an era when the small automa...

So I took this crazy online survey to find out what sort of Dungeons and Dragons character I would be, if I were such a thing. You can try it here:   http://www.easydamus.com/character.html There were some questions about spending time in the woods, which is something I like to do, and so I can see why I ended up a Ranger, but the rest of my characterization seems to derive from left field. I dunno, give it a whirl and see what manner of creature you are. Stats on the sidebar indicate that most visitors to the site score as humans, which is I suppose reassuring. Also, most people rated themselves high in intelligence. That is rather an awkward point; most people think they are above average in that way, but it can't possibly be true. In fact, half the people you meet are below average. Appears I am a Neutral Good Human Ranger (7th Level) Ability Scores: Strength- 15 Dexterity- 12 Constitution- 14 Intelligence- 16 Wisdom- 15 Charisma- 14 Alignment: Neutr...

Suggested by an essay at DiploMad2.0 OZYMANDIAS By Percy Bysshe Shelley I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things, The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Personally, I like a wide open pattern.The whole reason for preferring a shotgun over a rifle is its hit probability and I don't intend to compromise that. Is it better if your gun throws a broad, open pattern of shot or a small tight one? It isn't a simple question. The shotgun's hit probability, which is superior to any other small arm's at close range, owes to the spread of the shot. If you reduce the spread, you reduce the shotgun's advantage. Things get more complicated, though, when you consider that a pattern that is too wide increases the number of pellets sailing past the target, doing you no good. Since pattern size increases with distance, a loose pattern loses effectiveness rapidly with range as the pattern's density degrades. What to do, what to do? As a sort of baseline to the discussion, the riot gun for its first hundred years or so was almost always cylinder bored or Improved Cylinder choked, and threw open patterns, firing shells concoc...

My thinking is that #1 buckshot is the best choice most of the time, though #4 buck has a lot to recommend it some of the time. Today I'm launching a series that will be ongoing for some time. As I noted previously, my posts here will  be on a now-and-then basis. But I have a number of things to talk about on the topic of defensive shotgunning. Expect this to take a while. For years and years, the 12 gauge riot gun has been my preferred 'preparedness' weapon, for potential use during some sort of hypothetical societal crisis, such as a general breakdown of law and order, or perhaps a zombie apocalypse. It is also what I keep on hand for home defense. I like the shotgun for its outstanding hit probability at short range. Since nearly all lethal force encounters, apart from the battlefield setting, are at short range, I don't worry very much about the shotgun's uselessness at long range. I will be writing up a series of suggestions on how to use a riot gun ef...