How to maintain, customize, and take care of your gun and other shooting equipment
5 Stocking Stuffer Ideas for the Shooting Enthusiast
Hurting for gift ideas? Here are some moderately-priced ideas for the shooting enthusiast in your life.
The Right Grips Can Make All the Difference
The right grips can make all the difference. Sometimes, original factory designs (primarily on older guns) are just… wrong. Other times, individual hand size and shape don’t quite mesh with the shape of your particular gun. Whatever the reason, customizing grips can make a big difference in how well you handle and shoot your handgun.
Handiest Bench Block for Gun Maintenance?
This nifty little accessory from OTIS Technology is one of those things I end up using all the time. It’s made from hard rubber, so it won’t mar your firearm and has 11 holes for driving out pins and such. Different “groove” cutouts on both sides keep things like barrels, slides and frames still while you're cleaning or doing routine maintenance.
Miracle Sight Adjuster: Sight Punch vs. Sight Drifter
I’ve always wanted to try one of these as it’s somewhat difficult, bordering on impossible for mere non-gunsmith mortals, to adjust a tight steel front or rear sight without making a mess of either the sight or the punch.
The Joys of Ballistol
You experienced shooters and professional tinkerers out there likely already know many of the uses for this stuff, but for those youngsters reading this, here’s a valuable tip: Look for the green can.
Easy Kitchen DIY: How to Stipple the Grip On Your Polymer Pistol
Doing DIY work on a gun can, and should be, somewhat intimidating. You don’t want to be messing around with things that might impact safety or reliability unless you really know what you’re doing. But there are plenty of projects on the lower end of the risk spectrum. One example is customizing the grip surface on a polymer-framed gun. It’s mostly a cosmetic and “feel” customization that doesn’t impact any of the fire control elements, so if you’re careful, you can do a grip-stippling job right at home using inexpensive and readily available tools.
Breakthrough Clean Technologies Suppressor Cleaner
I’ve been using Breakthrough Clean Technologies Military Grade Solvent for quite some time now for general cleaning, de-gunking and degreasing. It’s … pleasant, which is why I use it so much. No noxious chemicals or fumes; it’s like using water that evaporates from your work quickly without leaving any residue. Love the stuff.
5-Point 1911 Safety Check: Is Your Gun Safe?
If I had to wager, I’d wager at least 10% of the 1911s I’ve worked on over the decades have had safety issues. Some were even new guns. If I just think about well-used 1911s, I’m betting the percentage is more like 15% or even 20% — especially gun show “parts” gun amateurs often assemble. Not long ago a friend brought me a foreign 1911 (an Argentinian “Sistema” Colt clone) saying it needed some work. No fooling.
1,2,3,4… I Declare a Gun Lube War
Like all those “Housewives of Toad Suck, Arkansas” reality TV shows, capitalism is subject to the immutable and universal laws of unintended consequences.
Take the gun lube market, for instance. We all need it, and presumably, there’s always room for a better mouse grease trap. So, in theory, I have no real problem with the onslaught of miracle gun lube products.
Entrepreneurs everywhere have figured out you can package stuff auto repair shops purchase by pallet-loads of 55-gallon drums into teeny, tiny, plastic bottles with eyedropper attachments and charge a per-ounce price equivalent to platinum, and, these days, gasoline. It is not unusual for a container small enough to legally carry on an airplane to cost $15, $25 or even $40. If a container won’t cause anxiety and suffering among TSA agents, it’s small indeed.
American Handgunner Gunsmithing: 1911 Pistol Sear Spring Savvy – American Handgunner
The more you know… here’s an interesting explanation of what that weird looking sear spring thingy on a 1911 pistol does...