Firearms Part 1

An Introduction to The Basics and Things to Consider before purchase

Welcome to our second edition of Survival Saturday. Today, I am going to talk to you about one of my all-time favorite subjects….  FIREARMS…  You know things that make you go PEW.  Much like my food primer, I do intend this to be a general overview to help my readers who might not be as familiar with the topic make informed choices regarding the subject, and blow a number of myths out of the water (by myths I mean contradictory things many “gun” folks will swear by as fact, that are really just personal preference, largely represented by the cults of John Moses Browning, Eugene Morrison Stoner, and Gaston Glock).  While each made a large contribution to firearms history, and each produced excellent products that shifted the industry, the worshipful cult-like following each man has acquired is largely nothing more than fanboys trying to feel smart and special.

Disclaimer: If you are a “firearms” person, this next part probably isn’t for you. You might want to wait for future installments.  We are headed to firearms kindergarten.

First thing is first, and that is SAFETY.  Firearms are tools and, like chainsaws, jackhammers, and other tools, can be extremely dangerous if you do not know how to safely handle them.  As such, if you were not brought up in a home where you learned the four commandments of firearms safety by heart at the same time as you learned your ABCs, so that they are just as deeply engrained, your first step is going to be a handling and safety class.  Most gun ranges offer them and most include some range time.  These classes will have the four rules at their core.  Those rules are:

1.       All firearms are always loaded and should be treated as such.

2.       Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.

3.       Never point a firearm at anything you are unwilling to kill or destroy.

4.       Know your target and what is behind it with absolute certainty.

There has never been a firearms accident of any kind when all four rules have been observed.  The second thing one of these classes will teach you is basic handling, things like sight picture, loading, unloading, dealing with a failure to fire, and more.  As such, it doesn’t hurt anyone to take one of these classes, but if you didn’t grow up knowing the rules and handling arms as a matter of the culture in your home, then the class is an imperative before you purchase your first firearm.  Beyond that, more advanced classes and lots of range time are also recommended.

The second thing is determining what you intend the firearm to be used for because that determines everything else about your purchase.  Generally speaking, there are three main formats when it comes to small arms.  There are rifles, pistols, and shotguns.  I am aware that there are exceptions to my description of each category, but they are just that.  Using this information as a general guide will lead to a correct understanding the vast majority of the time. So, save your ‘what about…?’ in the comments as whatever it is it is the exception and not the rule, and as such will just confuse new folks.

Formats

1.       The rifle is a long gun (requires two hands, generally) used most frequently for medium and long-range shooting and feature spiral groves carved into the barrel (rifling) that impart spin to the bullet making it more accurate at longer ranges (much like the spiral does for a football).

2.       Pistols are firearms that can be used one-handed (two is generally better) for engaging targets at close to medium range and tend to be less powerful than rifles.

3.       Shotguns are smooth bore (no rifling) firearms that shoot a wide variety of shells from solid slugs, a wide variety of pellet sizes, to specialty rounds.  Shotguns are arguably the most versatile of all small arms formats.

These formats come in a variety of different actions (and then there are categories of each type of action but that is too deep for this missive. So hush, we are taking the broad view).  I also realize that almost all the actions exist on all the platforms, but here I am only covering the most common usages.  The main types of actions available in modern small arms are as follows:

Primarily found in rifles and shotguns:

1.       Break Top: This type of action is most commonly found in modern shotguns of one or more barrels. However, there are some few rifles and pistols that use this type of action.  With the break top action, the barrels swing forward from the stock exposing the chambers of their barrels to be loaded one round per barrel.  This type of actions limits rate of fire by the number of barrels and speed of manually loading them.

2.       Pump Action: This is another action that is primarily found in shotguns.  With a pump action, ammunition is stored in a magazine and by pulling the fore grip back to the receiver and then cycling it forward again to its ready position, the operator ejects the spent round, feeds an new round, and cocks the action to shoot again.  These actions generally provide greater rates of fire than break top actions.

3.       Lever Action: This is similar to the pump action, but is most commonly found in rifles.  Lever action guns operate by swinging a lever forward from the stock and then back to cycle the action by ejecting the spent casing, feeding a new round, and cocking the mechanism to fire another round.

4.       Bolt Action: This is another manually-cycled type of action that is most commonly found in rifles and can either feed from a magazine or be made as a single shot only.  These arms work by manually cycling the bolt to the rear of the firearm and then forward again to eject the spent cartridge, feed a new cartridge, and cock the action.

Can be found in all formats of arms:

5.       Automatic Action: This can be fully automatic, where the firearm continuously fires as long as there is ammunition and trigger is depressed, or semi-automatic, where one round is fired each time the trigger is depressed, while the action cycles automatically between shots ejecting the spent round, feeding a new round, and cocking the action.  Note, this type of action can be found across all platforms and all off-the-shelf arms in America are of the semiautomatic variety.  Also, this action provided the highest rate of fire, if not always the most accurate fire.

Found primarily in pistols:

6.       Revolver can come in single or double action, where single action are typically loaded through a gate on the side and require the hammer be manually cocked before firing and double action revolvers are typically loaded by the entire cylinder sliding out of the frame of the pistol.  Revolvers are firearms that use a circular drum to hold ammunition and the act of cocking the hammer revolves a fresh round into the firing position.

This video provides an excellent illustration of actions (here) to help you visualize what I am writing about.  It also covers the falling block action that I do not (because it is extremely rare in modern arms).

There are two primary types of ammunition (there have been others in the past but nowadays these are really it in common circulation).

1.       Center fire ammunition is the most common type, where the ammunition has a priming cap in the center of the cartridge base that is ignited by being struck with the firing pin of the weapon, in turn igniting the powder charge that will propel the projectile to its target.  These types of rounds can be reloaded (Note: I am including shot gun shells in this category).

2.       Rimfire ammunition is an older technology and is primarily found in very small caliber, low power rounds like the .22 long rifle and .22 short.  With a rimfire cartridge, a priming material (explosive sensitive to impact) is spun into a grove around the outer edge of the cartridge base and is detonated by the firing pin striking the edge of the case that then ignites the powder charge and sends the bullet down range. These rounds cannot be reloaded.

Here is an excellent video to illustrate these concepts (here).

You will also need to consider bullet design when choosing a firearm and the appropriate load for the task at hand.  I could go on and on about many factors, but since this is an introductory guide, I am only going to talk about the four main bullet types.  Those are full metal jacket, soft tip, hollow point, and all lead.  This list isn’t all inclusive, but it covers the most common and is a good place to start.  These comparisons are assuming the same caliber and weight with the different bullet types.

1.       Full metal jacket (FMJ) bullets are also called ball and are what is used by most militaries around the world.  This is because they leave a relatively clean wound channel and do not cause massive internal injuries relative to other types of ammunition.  These bullets tend to penetrate deeply, often through initial targets, because they transfer less of their total force to the target than other kinds of rounds.  This can lead to over-penetration and endangering people and property around the intended target.  It can also result in requiring more hits to end a threat than other types of ammunition.  The upside is that it is usually significantly less expensive than other ammunition types and is readily available in surplus bulk for common military calibers.

2.       Soft tip/point (SP) bullets are partially jacketed but the tip is exposed lead.  These bullets deform and expand to some extent and pass significantly more energy to the target than do FMJ bullets and are commonly used for hunting, as they more reliably penetrate thick hide, heavy muscles, and bone than do other bullets, while still deforming and transferring their energy into the target, rather than carrying it with them.

3.       Hollow points (HP) are similar to SP bullets except that they actually have a cavity in the front of the bullet and are frequently scored down the sides.  This causes the bullets to radically deform on impact and “mushroom” out, expanding to 1.5-2x their original diameter.  This reduces total penetration, but also transfers the maximum amount of energy to the initial target.  This results in a more dramatic wound channel, as well as significantly greater concussive injury to surrounding tissues than with FMJ or SP ammunition.  As a result, this type of ammunition is frequently selected for self-defense.

4.       Lead bullets don’t have any jacket and can be round, hollow point, or flat.  Due to the lack of a harder metal jacket, these are not generally recommended for use in center fire automatic actions and can cause lead build up in tighter modern rifling.  These types of bullets do expand or deform and generally do transfer significant energy on the target.  Due to the limitations, these are most frequently encountered in small rim fire cartridges, in larger centerfire revolvers, and older designs of lever action rifles.

In most cases, people use FMJ as their practice rounds since you should have a sure backstop, where their penetration doesn’t matter as much, and their relatively inexpensive cost makes them more practical to shoot in quantity.  Then, people use SP or HP for practical things like hunting or self-defense.  So long as you keep the bullet weight and design consistent between the FMJ and the other types of rounds you may use, then in most cases, accuracy in the field should be comparable.  That being said, you still need to test it.  Never carry a load for any functional purpose that you haven’t shot through, at minimum, an entire magazine of at the range, to make sure it preforms as expected relative to the practice FMJ ammunition.  In most cases it will, but taking the shot on dinner or the mugger with a knife isn’t the best time to find out you are the exception to a general rule.

At this point we are assuming you have had some level of training and have a basic level of understanding regarding firearms handling.  The question becomes why do you want to obtain a firearm?  This question here is not seeking justification, but as a means to start you thinking about what type of gun to buy.  I will cover some of the most common reasons people decide it is time to own a firearm.  The list won’t be all inclusive, but should cover the most common reasons.  These are: personal protection and everyday carry (EDC), hunting, plinking for fun, and competitive shooting.

 I will start with a list of considerations that apply to all reasons.

1.            What laws pertain to the activity I wish to pursue in my jurisdiction?

2.            How and where will I carry the firearm?

3.            How recoil sensitive am I?

4.            What calibers and/or gauges are sufficient for the purpose I am buying a gun for?

5.            How available is the ammunition and what will it cost?

6.            What other skills will I need to master in order to accomplish my goals with the firearm I purchase?

7.            What level of proficiency in arms do I need to have to effectively achieve my goal in buying a firearm.

Now you need to start talking to gun people and people involved in the activity you wish to pursue, but beware of cults, of which there are several.  There is The Cult of John Moses Browning, The Cult of Gaston Glock, The Church of Garand, The Temple of the FAL, and others.  Please see the video on many of them here. Note, it isn’t an all-inclusive run down.  It isn’t so much that the arms they espouse are bad because they are not, generally speaking.  The thing is, in truth, there are dozens of quality arms manufacturers and the most important thing is that you are comfortable with the firearm you purchase, and by that, I mean it feels good when you hold it and you enjoy shooting it.  I say this because the only way you will ever carry it, shoot it, and take care of it like you need to is if you are completely comfortable with it.  The biggest tell that you are dealing with a cultist, or borderline cultist, is that they are telling you with absolute certainty what you need to get before you have seen, handled, or shot the firearm in question.  The truth is, before you spend hundreds, at minimum, and possibly thousands of dollars on a firearm, you need to handle it and shoot it, at minimum.  Ideally you will handle many firearms, either through range trips with friends who are into arms or through renting them from a range that offers the service so that you begin to develop a base of experience and start learning the things you really like and do not like about firearms.  When you find the gun that is right for you, you will absolutely know it.  People you know that go plinking, hunting, shoot competitively, or carry for self-defense everyday can help you figure out what calibers are right for your chosen pursuits and what gear besides a firearm will help you be successful.  So talk to them, and if you don’t know people like that talk to people at the range, the gun store, game wardens, and YouTube videos so that you can accumulate a base of information and knowledge to help you be successful in whatever you are trying to achieve through arms.

This has been part one.  In subsequent parts we will look at various types of ammunition in more detail and some of the most common types and calibers for each of the various pursuits you may have with firearms.

Until next time, God Bless you!

-Sam

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