How to maintain, customize, and take care of your gun and other shooting equipment
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...
Build Your Own Pistol, Part 2: How To Assemble An 80% Pistol
Once you’ve milled your 80 percent pistol frame, it’s time to assemble the parts so you can head to the range. American Handgunner Editor Tom McHale shows you a step by step how-to assembly of a Glock-compatible pistol from 80% Arms.
Build Your Own 80% Handgun, Part 1
In this video, we’ll show you how you can build your own 80% Handgun using
Dry Ammo Storage and Gun Maintenance on the Cheap
Seems weirdly appropriate to share some creative ideas on topics like keeping your ammo supply
Time to Upgrade Your Handgun Sights? Here’s How…
New guns are expensive and hard to find right now, so how about upgrading what