I have a teenage daughter, and she is a pretty cool girl. Today, I was cleaning my XD 45, and she sat down and asked me to teach her how how to clean a gun too. So, we sat there together, talking, detailing the gun, and agreeing we both like the smell of Hoppe’s No. 9. When we were finished, I taught her how to field strip the gun and she did it a few times as well. We talked about everything from gun safety to colleges to boys. It was a great day. This is the side of guns and firearms instruction that is not discussed very often, how the hobby brings people together. If every single person who loves their guns and believes in the 2nd Amendment teaches one person to use, respect, and care for a gun – the number of gun owners could double. I am thankful for the day I had, for my daughter, for the time we have left before she is off to college, and that she seems to have an affinity towards guns too!
Archive for Education
Cleaning My Gun, With My Daughter
Groupon Responded To Me Regarding Their Decision to Pull Gun Related Deals
I did write Groupon a letter, telling them to close my account and reminding them that they could have chosen to be a portal to firearms education rather than a road block. They did reply:
Hi Lil’ Chantilly (well, ok – they used my real name…)
I apologize for the delay in responding! We’re currently experiencing an unusually high volume of requests, but we are working hard to get back to everyone as soon as we can.
Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us.
We understand that this is a sensitive topic, and that some of our customers may not agree with our choice to pause the promotion of firearm-related deals. Groupon has always aimed to offer a diverse range of products and services to meet the various tastes and interests of our subscribers. However, at this time, enough customers and merchants have voiced their opinions that we believe a hiatus is warranted.
Please note that we have never sold guns, and this hiatus only applies to firearm-related deals including shooting ranges, clay pigeon shooting, and concealed weapons training classes. We have not made a final determination regarding this category — we are simply taking a break and may reevaluate in the future.
Per your request, I’ve unsubscribed this email address. You will stop receiving Groupon promotional emails within 48 hours. I can also close your account, but I want to be sure you’re aware that once it is closed, you will no longer be able to access previously purchased vouchers on Groupon.com, and any existing Groupon Bucks will be voided. Please let me know if you would like to proceed.
We genuinely appreciate your opinion and the feedback you’ve given us. I’ll be sure to share your comments with the appropriate people.
Regards,
Johnny C
Groupon Customer Support
What Is a Semiautomatic Gun?
Springfield XD45
Hello, I am Lil Chantilly, and I own a semiautomatic handgun. Because some members of the media, Bob Costas included, have a difficult time with the definition of semiautomatic, I thought I would present a lesson for them. Most of the people who read my blog already understand the difference between automatic, semiautomatic, and single shot.
I decided to go straight to a source most people recognize as authoritative, the Dictionary. I found the following at Dictionary.com:
Pay particular attention to the line, “requiring a squeeze of the trigger for each shot”. This means that on my semiautomatic Springfield XD45 pistol, I cannot just hold the trigger and then all the rounds will fire in succession. It means that for my semiautomatic pistol, I must pull the trigger, recover back on target, and then pull the trigger again. It takes practice and skill to do that quickly, but no matter what – you must pull the trigger for every single bullet that exits the gun.
What are some examples of semi-automatic weapons? The pistol at the top of this article is a semiautomatic .45 Caliber pistol. It is a Springfield XD45. Speaking of that – the same gun is at the top of this page in my main webpage design. I own a gun that fires one round at a time.
This is a Glock 26, it is semiautomatic, it fires one round with each pull of the trigger:
This is a Smith and Wesson M&P, it is semiautomatic, it fires one round each time the trigger is pulled:
Here is an AR-15, all dolled up for a lady. Even this rifle is semiautomatic, it fires one round each time the trigger is pulled:
At Wikipedia.com, they have a good paragraph that really explains what semiautomatic means:
“A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon’s feed device or magazine. Typically, this includes extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the weapon’s firing chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism, and loading a new cartridge into the firing chamber. Although automatic weapons and selective fire firearms do the same tasks, semi-automatic firearms do not automatically fire an additional round until the trigger is released and re-pressed by the person firing the weapon.“
Many media personalities discuss automatic weapons and semiautomatic firearms interchangeably. To the millions of gun owners in the country, the media sounds ignorant. To those who are afraid or lack understanding because they were not lucky enough to have a good mentor take them to the range, or hunting, or target shooting outdoors so far in life – the media may sound correct, and the stories they spin may sound scary. If I thought that every person with a gun was going to kill someone and that we all likely had automatic weapons, and because someone’s neighbor’s music was too loud, if I thought they planned to solve that argument with a gun – I would be scared as well.
I do own a semiautomatic pistol, I know A LOT of people who do, and they are all good honest Americans who love this country, would never hurt a soul (except to protect their own life or the lives of their family). When you hear the media talking, actually listen to the words they say, really consider the meaning behind those words, and decide for yourself if that person is knowledgable enough about the topic to continue listening. If they are not, turn them off. Eventually, they will have to educate themselves.
Think for yourselves, all of this is too important to be sheep.
Gun Range Let’s People Shoot Other People
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to try your hand in an actual gun fight? I have read lots of books By Col. Jeff Cooper and others that try to prepare you for the reality of a gun battle. Still, how would YOU really react – how fast do things change, have you trained enough to perform under high stress? Well, you can get all these questions safely answered at COMBAT CITY USA.
Combat City USA has been all over the news the past couple of days, so many of you have probably already seen this video, or one like it. The reason I had to write about it today is because I was watching Fox and Friends this morning and Gretchen Carlson was appalled that this was allowed to happen. She was extremely upset that people were allowed to practice against real people in such a scenario. Has she never heard of laser tag, paint ball, air-soft, this is just another form. Combat City USA does have air-soft matches as well, but as you will see in the video, they they have matches that allow people to use their actual guns. This is better, because in your home – that is the gun you will have. Practice with the equipment you will be using. Even in the military, there are plenty of times when training is simulated but the best learning occurs when the training is as close to real life as possible.
I applaud Combat City USA and any other range with realistic training like this. They are located in Orlando, FL. Do any of you know of similar opportunities elsewhere in the country? I would love to give those places some press time too! (I have a feeling Combat City USA is going to be fully booked for awhile!)
Learning to Shoot Like a Girl!
Sarah Hepola wrote an article in The Dallas News about the day Mama Jeanie of Lipstick and Lead taught her how to shoot.
If you have ever been hesitant about training with a firearm, read Sarah’s article. Find someone you trust, someone knowledgable and patient, and try a day at the range. You just might like it!
Ordering my McMillan Stock
To follow the entire series on my custom rifle build, click here. (The most recent will at the top of the page.)
I thought I was almost ready to order my stock, I have many of the details settled, and had the McMillan order form 95% filled out in front of me. I was not sure about the custom lug and I was not sure about the shank length information needed, so I called my best friend and rifle mentor to ask some questions. Regarding the custom lug he said I should just call Big Horn Arms and ask them for some details. I did call Big Horn Arms and I talked to AJ Goddard (he was very nice). I let him know I was about to order my stock, and planned on using a Big Horn Arms short tactical action, and wanted to know if I needed any additional info about a custom lug, etc. AJ let me know that McMillan has one of his actions there at their factory and that they would know what to do. That made perfect sense, so I thanked him for his time and called McMillan.
I ended up talking to a nice lady named Kay, and we walked though the ordering process together. I had all the answers to the questions she was asking until we came to the barrel information. I let her know I was going to use a #8 Kreiger Standard Target barrel contour. This is where the question came up about “shank length”. I had the Kreiger Barrel website open in front of me and I was on the page with all the barrel measurements. I tried to tell her what I thought the answer was (2.75′), but she didn’t think that was correct, so we went through the rest of the order form and I told her I’d call her back about the Shank Length questions. I realized later, what I was telling her was the unfinished shank length, or the cylinder length.
I figured out my actual Length of Pull (LOP). A standard LOP is 13.5″, but I figured out that mine is 12.75″. I will discuss how to find your personal LOP in a different article. So, I did request the stock be modified to compensate for the shorter LOP. I did choose my stock color, it is “Option D” as discussed in my previous article. I chose 40% Woodland Beige, 40% Turquoise, and 20% Black. Kay and I discussed if these colors would work, specifically, if the woodland beige was light enough to provide a contrasting color. She said it was, and thought the colors would be fine.
Some of the other decisions I made and confirmed during this order, I am going to go with a Jewell Trigger, I am getting a rail on the fore-end to mount my bi-bod (which will give me the option to use several brands of bi-pods). I initially told Kay I wanted an Anschultz Rail, but I think I am going to switch that to a Freeland brand rail, after talking to another expert in the field (Dayne, a friend of Don, my rifle mentor). I also had flush cups inserted into the side of the stock for the sling as well.
The reason I ended up talking to Dayne was regarding the Shank Length question. He has a plethora of McMillan stocks, and is the type of guy that would call McMillan and know exactly what he wanted, and would be able to explain to Kay what he wanted. Because I am still learning, (no matter how much I have already learned) I did not know exactly what the “shank” was and so I could not answer Kay’s question. I called Dayne and he explained to me what I needed to know. He said what McMillan needed was the “finished shank length”, so could properly inlet the stock for my barrel. I had already read on the internet and figured out what the shank portion of the barrel was, but Dayne explained that the gunsmith would have to thread the breech end of my barrel for it to be inserted into the action, and the portion of the shank left would be my “finished shank length.”
McMillan will need to account for the remaining shank and subsequent taper of the barrel so the stock and barrel will look like they are a perfect match. Dayne and Don both say in order to know what my actual shank length is, I will need to call the gunsmith, as he will take a lot of things into account, like how my 6XC cartridge will feed from the AI magazine, if I am using 115 DTEC bullets, how long the throat should be, etc. So, I am going to have to call Robert Gradous on Monday again to see what he recommends for this measurement.
Kay, at McMillan, let me know that I would receive a confirmation e-mail in about two weeks, and made it sound like I could make any changes to my order until about that time. If anyone ever wonders why custom stocks are so expensive, there is a lot of thought that goes into them. I am understanding more and more everyday. On McMillan’s website it states that it could be 3-4 months of wait time before I receive my stock. So, in the mean time I am going to keep researching and get the other parts on order one by one. I’ll let you know how all that is going!
As usual, I would love to hear about your experiences, including questions and comments. I think this article made it pretty clear, I still have A LOT to learn!
Surgeon Tactical Action vs. Big Horn Arms Tactical Action
To follow the entire series on my custom rifle build, click here. (The most recent will at the top of the page.)
Surgeon Short Tactical Action (591)
After talking to Robert Gradous, I need to make a decision between a Surgeon Short Tactical Action (591/R) and a Big Horn Arms Short Tactical Action. I have read a lot about both, and no doubt, either could make me happy. Mr. Gradous said he had used both in his rifle builds, and felt both were good, but he thought the Surgeon was a more solid component with better repeatibility. The price difference between the two is over $200.00, but if I choose the cheaper one (Big Horn Arms) and end up wishing I had the other, it won’t really be less expensive. It is difficult to find good factual data on the Big Horn Arms action, because they are a newer company, and therefore, there are less people using them and providing feedback (compared to the extremely popular Surgeon).
How do you compare actions? Some attributes that vary among actions are (among others):
- weight
- 60 degree vs 90 degree bolt throw (Both the actions discussed here have 90 degree bolt throws.)
- Type of extractor used (both have Remington)
- Is the picatinny rail integrated or separate?
The Surgeon 591/R action comes with an integrated 20 MOA 1913 picatinny rail that runs the full length of the action. Both actions will work in conjunction with any stocks made for the Remington 700 short action with little to no modification as well as triggers and feeding systems.
Big Horn Arms Short Tactical Action
The Big Horn Arms (BHA) Action is compatible with Surgeon bottom medal and AI Magazines feed extremely well. Due to some design modifications, the BHA action supports heavy barrels very well (this last point is less important to me because I am trying to balance weight and accuracy, and will NOT be getting a very heavy barrel.) The BHA bolt has a floating head, so the lugs are always squarely in contact with the receiver and not affected by the alignment of the bolt body in the receiver. The BHA also claims better barrel alignment to the action.
The BHA also touts the following features:
- Weighs 31 ounces
- Extra heavy rear tang eliminates rear tang flex.
- Positive bolt stop that does not contact bolt lugs.
- Due to a closed top, making the action more stiff, it has an ejection port that does not allow for top loading and it must be fed from a detachable magazine.
- Lightened firing pins to quicken lock time.
The Surgeon 591/R features:
- Uses a Remington extractor
- Weighs 34.6oz
- Bolt: One piece, Fluted, Two lug and threaded handle
I’m Taking You on a Journey… Building a Custom Rifle
To follow the entire series on my custom rifle build, click here. (The most recent will at the top of the page.)
For the last year, I have been lucky enough to spend A LOT of time shooting a Remington 5R (.223), a couple of Accuracy Internationals (.308/.260) and my favorite – a custom Remington. (Click here and scroll down for details and a photo of the custom Remington.) I have loved every minute, and am hungry to learn more. I am crazy enough to think I am going to try some long range tactical matches with my friends who have been teaching me about this great sport. Now I find myself shopping less for heels and instead I have been trying to find the precision tactical rifle that calls my name. I thought it was going to be an Accuracy International with a .260 barrel, and we have found plenty for sale, used, with only a few rounds through the barrel. Still – I could not quite “bite the bullet” (pun intended) and make the purchase.
The Accuracy Internationals are amazing weapons, accurate, rugged, beautiful, everything a shooter could want. Still, because I am a girl (and I guess no matter how tough I am, I COULD be tougher) it is fairly heavy. The weight really will only matter in a competition when I am lugging it from stage to stage, and also some competitions require some stages to shoot from a position other than prone. So, we started talking about building a custom rifle where I could choose a stock with a more appropriate Length of Pull (LOP) and possibly knock some weight off with various choices. I have two friends that give me advice, they are Don and Bill. Bill did warn me that making the rifle too light could increase recoil – so we are trying to find a good balance.
I have already made a few decisions – and I will talk about some of them, a little at a time. I am going to do more research and call a couple of expert gunsmiths and ask a bunch of questions as well. Just the conversations with men so well known for building “art” in the form of precision tactical rifles will be worth talking about.
I would be interested in knowing if you have built a custom rifle – or any type of gun before. What lessons did you learn and was it worth it when you were finished?
I have a lot to learn on this topic – and maybe you do to. So, hope you’ll come along with me and we can learn together!
Keep Your Head on a Swivel
The first day I stepped foot in US Navy Boot Camp, and in so many situations after that, I have heard the phrase “Situational Awareness”. We are told, “Keep your head on a swivel,” meaning to keep an eye all around you. In the military, this is beat into us constantly – and for good reason. Life is actually inherently dangerous, but in the military this increases exponentially. There are Sailors on the decks of Aircraft Carriers, manning weapon systems, working on electrical circuits, and driving billion dollar warships. We have Marines, Soldiers, and people from every armed service engaged in combat in Afghanistan.
Does situational awareness apply as a civilian? You bet it does! You can sit in your cloud of bliss, blocking out the world, and in complete denial that anything bad will ever happen to you – until it happens to YOU. The better alternative is to always think about what is going on around you, what “could” potentially happen around you, and then how would you react in any given situation.
Sarah Palin Bobblehead
I have a great friend I met in the military, and have known for nearly 20 years. When we walk into a restaurant, he has to sit with his back to a wall and so he can see the whole room including the entrance. He has always been aware of his surroundings and constantly thinks about his next move “if” something should happen. If he is in the car with me, and I am driving, I used to pull to close to the car in front of me when stopped at a stop light. He would tell me, “Why did you pull that close? Now if something happens, you will have no means of escaping.” When I was in my early 20′s I thought, wow – he is paranoid. Now I realize this is the kind of thinking that will help you survive in a life or death moment.
If you do not live your life day to day with this kind of thinking and planning constantly ticking in your mind, the best thing to do is to start practicing. Play the “what if” game with yourself. If you are in the grocery store, ask yourself, “What if XXX happened, what would I do?” Fill in the blanks with all kinds of scenarios and do this in various locations in your life. It will really make you think and act differently.
Colonel Jeff Cooper, USMC (Ret.)
Colonel Jeff Cooper, USMC (Ret.) adapted the awareness color code for the US Marine to a personal awareness code. The color code applies to one’s state of mind and relates to the degree of peril you are willing to do something about and which allows you to move from one level of mindset to another to enable you to properly handle a given situation. Cooper did not claim to have invented anything in particular with the color code, but he was the first to use it as an indication of mental state. You can see it below:
How many of you already live your life with constant scenario planning in the background of your thoughts? How does it cause you to behave in various situations? What suggestions would you give to those who are just starting to become so aware? Do you know people who stay in the “white” state 100% of the time?
Story of an Anti-Gun Lady who Changed Her Mind
From Sarah: I was an anti-gun person myself for a number of years, mostly because I grew up with almost zero understanding or exposure to guns, but also because everyone around me was anti-gun, and because the media constantly reinforces the anti-gun point of view. I believed what they said because I had never been given anything else to believe. I was also very afraid of guns and extremely ignorant of how they worked, and because I was afraid I was unwilling to listen to “those paranoid weirdos” who actually carried guns around with them. I even literally did think that a gun could “go off” by itself.I had my consciousness raised about ten years ago, and I am now a strong 2a supporter, I hunt, I target shoot, I own several different guns, and I carry concealed. But before I could see the light, there was a critical thing that had to happen first, and I believe it has everything to do with why anti-gun people seem to defy all reason and sanity with their beliefs. It has to do with basic fear. I had to learn not to fear guns.(Let me first point out that I am generally talking about the anti-gun populace here, not the jerks in charge, who clearly just love being in control over a sheep-like public.)Many, if not most, anti gun people (and also more likely to be voters!) are women. Most of them have been taught literally zero about guns, have never held one in their hands, and are terrified by the thought of them. Most of these anti-gunners associate guns with crime: they see them as the tools of criminals. Outside of Hollywood, they have never heard or seen any stories about people defending themselves with guns. They think all sorts of inaccurate things about guns, mostly rumors based on fear. They fear for their children. They fear robbery and rape and car jacking, but in their mind, those things happen because of scary men who carry guns. They (reasonably) want law and order, because a society based on law is safer for them and their children. They very often go into a sort of denial, to help themselves deal with these fears – they just tell themselves it will probably never happen to them. And they are conditioned from the day they are born to believe that they are themselves weak, they are conditioned to believe that all pro-gun folks are white, right-wing, militia men who hate women anyway, (incessantly screaming about “Liberals!” on gun websites doesn’t help, since most Liberals are women for the simple reason that they value their own reproductive freedom) and they are conditioned to believe that the police really are there “to protect and serve.”
And yet, their fears are valid. As we all know, we women have a lot to be afraid of, and we ARE more vulnerable, especially when our children are involved. So when a mayor, or a cop, or a TV personality tells them “we need more police, more laws, and stricter controls” on these scary-people-with-guns, their thought process immediately says, “yes! We as a society need to DO something!”
The problem is, we can’t approach this perception problem by simply trying tell our pro-self-protection, pro-gun side of the story. We can’t fight denial with logic, and that denial keeps them from listening to begin with. There are usually two ways that women change their minds about guns: 1. they become a victim of crime personally, and it changes how they perceive the world (violence becomes real for them and they are traumatized) or 2. they are introduced – in a FUN way – to guns one day. One day they go shooting with someone who is patient, non-judgmental, safe, shows them how to be safe, and who shows them how much fun it is to handle guns and shoot them. They suddenly are able to view guns differently, and suddenly they realize that guns are not just owned by radical whack jobs, and suddenly they become a lot more open to new information from… the pro-gun side.
So what do we want to do? Wait until everyone is raped and sees the light? Or shouldn’t the entire gun community (right wing men too) ALL be bringing as many new women to the target range as is humanly possible? And while we are at it, shouldn’t the NRA begin putting women and Black spokesmen out there in the media – like ALL the time? I mean, I am sure Wayne LaPierre is a good guy and all, but can’t gun organizations begin representing the OTHER half of the population for a change? Can’t we stop allowing gun owners to be perceived as misogynistic neanderthals?
We already have enough YouTube videos of guys laughing while they put a Desert Eagle into their unsuspecting girlfriend’s hands. We already have enough gun websites and forums where women and Liberals are relentlessly denigrated. If we truly want everyone to learn the value of 2a rights and self protection, we need to welcome everyone and make it fun FIRST.
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