Good (Gun) Advice That You Just Can't Take

[Joe in PNG]

There's a whole lot of good, solid, excellent gun advice on this board- that I'm sure many of us believe, but just can't seem to put into practice.

Confession time, along with my BS excuses!

1)Spend more on ammo than you spend on buying guns. I try... and then I spot a really nice and under priced S&W K Frame or old Colt for just the right amount gathering dust in the back of the gun shop shelf!

2)Concentrate on just one kind of gun. See excuse #1 above.

3)Get some good gun schoolin'. None of you turkeys do classes in Florida during the summer for some odd reason.

4)Carry a service sized handgun in a proper holster. Hope to remedy this this summer by (sigh) buying a new gun to be my just one kind of gun. A 1911 in this instance.

5)Practice with a timer. The range doesn't let people shoot fast, and for good reason.

6)Moar dryfire! No excuses for that one.

Okay people, your turn.

[Cypher]

You don't need a double stack gun you'll run out of time before you run out of ammunition

[einherjarvalk]

My biggest one is "buy 'em cheap, stack 'em deep."

I get that the '94 AWB left some severe mental scars on people and the 2013 Ammo Panic didn't help that any, but at a certain point, you just gotta cut it off. Sometimes other things are, shockingly, more important than adding another two or three cases of S&B 115 grain to the stack, or another half dozen AR mags. Yes, it's good advice, and yes, I am a habitual ammo/mag buyer, but I'm trying to push myself away from it before I finish out my 20s having spent the vast majority of my young bachelor's disposable income on guns and supporting gear, rather than going places and making memories with other people with that money.

That, and I am sorta starting to run out of space for it all in my shoebox of an apartment.

[RevolverRob]

Mine is simple.

It starts with "Just buy a..." and ends with "Glock".

I can't do it. Won't do it. Unwilling to do it. Whatever you want to call it. I'll give that piece of advice, "Buy a Glock 17 or 19 and some Federal HST and call it a day." - But it's do as I say, not as I do. I can't take my own good advice on this one. If I'd taken that advice 15 years ago or so, when I moved out of my parents house on my own. I'd probably have three guns right now. Instead I have...way more than three.

That said, I find myself not wanting many new (or even old) guns. In fact, I'm considering thinning the herd a bit.

Which is the other piece of good advice I can't seem to take, "Less is more."

[HCM]

My biggest one is "buy 'em cheap, stack 'em deep."

I get that the '94 AWB left some severe mental scars on people and the 2013 Ammo Panic didn't help that any, but at a certain point, you just gotta cut it off. Sometimes other things are, shockingly, more important than adding another two or three cases of S&B 115 grain to the stack, or another half dozen AR mags. Yes, it's good advice, and yes, I am a habitual ammo/mag buyer, but I'm trying to push myself away from it before I finish out my 20s having spent the vast majority of my young bachelor's disposable income on guns and supporting gear, rather than going places and making memories with other people with that money.

That, and I am sorta starting to run out of space for it all in my shoebox of an apartment.

32824

[Bucky]

There's a whole lot of good, solid, excellent gun advice on this board- that I'm sure many of us believe, but just can't seem to put into practice.

Confession time, along with my BS excuses!

1)Spend more on ammo than you spend on buying guns. I try... and then I spot a really nice and under priced S&W K Frame or old Colt for just the right amount gathering dust in the back of the gun shop shelf!

2)Concentrate on just one kind of gun. See excuse #1 above.

3)Get some good gun schoolin'. None of you turkeys do classes in Florida during the summer for some odd reason.

4)Carry a service sized handgun in a proper holster. Hope to remedy this this summer by (sigh) buying a new gun to be my just one kind of gun. A 1911 in this instance.

5)Practice with a timer. The range doesn't let people shoot fast, and for good reason.

6)Moar dryfire! No excuses for that one.

Okay people, your turn.

1. Spend on both. Hmm, I’m going to order more reloading components now. :)

2. Boring. Just shoot a LOT so you’re familiar with multiple platforms. :p

4. Split the difference. The Compact class gun’s gives a nice balance.

[lwt16]

Get into reloading.

I should have done that back in the late 80s early 90s era. According to most reloaders, I wouldn't have saved a dime but I would have fired many more rounds in my lifetime......and I can't think of a downside to that.

I'm going to try my best to buy more ammo and no guns in 2019. I say that every year.....and 2018 was a huge fail in that aspect. I'm out of room in the safe anyway so it might be easier to meet that lofty goal this year.

I'd like to get more magazines for all my pistols......but I have a good bit of them now.....and plenty of AR magazines.

I lived the 94 AWB so I have those scars you mentioned.

[S Jenks]

I'm going to try my best to buy more ammo and no guns in 2019. I say that every year.....and 2018 was a huge fail in that aspect. I'm out of room in the safe anyway so it might be easier to meet that lofty goal this year.

I’m in the same boat and just started to research reloading - I bought the Hornady book, been pricing out presses, etc. I’ve already had thoughts of “If I make my own ammo, it finally gives me a reason to buy that 10mm GP100/.327 Fed Mag/Encore!”

[Nephrology]

Mine is simple.

It starts with "Just buy a..." and ends with "Glock".

I can't do it. Won't do it. Unwilling to do it. Whatever you want to call it. I'll give that piece of advice, "Buy a Glock 17 or 19 and some Federal HST and call it a day." - But it's do as I say, not as I do. I can't take my own good advice on this one. If I'd taken that advice 15 years ago or so, when I moved out of my parents house on my own. I'd probably have three guns right now. Instead I have...way more than three.


I took that advice and now I have 11 Glocks. Not sure it helped me much there :P

[Darth_Uno]

“Shoot matches to get better.”

I actually used to, but all the “local” matches are at least an hour away, and most are on Sunday mornings when I already have church commitments. Or it’s a low-key “members only” match at a club I don’t otherwise want/need to pay to be a member of. Then I tell myself it’s a lot of standing around for not much shooting when I could shoot all day somewhere else.

And believe it or not, I actually do like spending time with my family. With my work schedule (lot of days I don’t get home til 6-7) we don’t do much in the evenings, so I like to keep my days off open.

Excuses, excuses. Matches are tons of fun if you do it though.

[Doc_Glock]

1. Buy three of the same gun, accessories for the same, a lot of ammo and drive on.

This is the correct answer, especially if the gun is a Glock 19. I didn't listen. I needed to try everything. I can now concur that the above advise is sound.

[JRB]

At the risk of seeming a little absurd by comparing effective self-defense to sports car driving, there's a real comparison here.

The most succinct, effective answer to the 'problem' of self-defense is buy a Glock 19 and some HST or Gold Dots, two cases of practice ammo, a good IWB and OWB holster, and six spare mags, and go to a training class or two.

In the car world, this is the equivalent of 'buy a Miata, install some Konis or Bilsteins, get it aligned, do a quality brake job with good pads, buy a spare set of 14 or 15in wheels with sporty tires and do some SCCA autocross events and lapping group track days.'
It gets you a fun, effective vehicle with lots of aftermarket parts and lots of support & specific knowledge of the car, plus real training in a professional evironment.

But the heart wants what it wants. So Glocks and Miatas might be very effective at solving the 'problem' but the 'problem' can also be 'solved' by a 3" model 29-2 and a C6 Z06, or a Dan Wesson Valor in 10mm and a Supra Twin Turbo, or a Sig P210-6 and a Lamborghini LP650-4.

The costs go way up, and if you're starting from square one with zero experience they're far less ideal for initial training/familiarization of the skillset at hand. But we're already enthusiasts with experience, and our tastes have evolved. We should always be able to hop in that Miata or on that lane with a Glock and teach a newcomer some valuable stuff with those options - but just because they're the most pragmatic option doesn't account for it being what we *want* damnit!

Of course, I say this when my most common carry guns are a G2 G19 or a Beretta M9. Yet I still lust for a long list of guns and I sure as hell would carry a lot of them too, time, training, and holsters permitting.

The bottom line is there's two things in play - the most succinct and effective solution to the 'problem' of armed self-defense, and the seriously overlapping venn circle of marksmanship and shooting skills becoming a very real hobby and passion, which in turn develops tastes that stray from the cheap, simple, effective solutions.

[mtnbkr]

In general, any advice that treats shooting as strictly a utilitarian pursuit rather than a hobby (buy one gun and git gud, buy more ammo than gun, etc) gets ignored by me. Guns and shooting are a hobby to me as much as a defensive element. Even if I suddenly found myself in a world where firearm-based self-defense was verboten while recreational shooting was untouched, I'd have most of the guns I have now and would be geeking out over old revolvers and such. I just plain love guns, love shooting, and love the ancillary aspects of the hobby.

1)Spend more on ammo than you spend on buying guns.
I'm actually there at the moment in a manner of speaking. Unless I find some rare and desirable revolver, I'm out of the gun buying mode for now. I intend to spend more time enjoying what I have. While that doesn't necessarily mean buying ammo (I'm pretty well stocked in both loaded ammo and components for loading more), it does mean shooting an equivalent amount.

2)Concentrate on just one kind of gun.
Tell a golfer he can only have one club. for SD purposes, I have two carry guns. I can't go any lower because the G19 doesn't work for all purposes.

3)Get some good gun schoolin'.
Working on this. I have two classes under my belt with more planned. Not all of it is gun-related, but it's all self-defense-oriented.

4)Carry a service sized handgun in a proper holster.
This doesn't work for me. There are things I need to do that preclude a service-sized weapon. That's what the j-frame is for.

5)Practice with a timer.
My main range doesn't allow rapid fire. The other one I shoot at that does has target control systems that can provide timed target movements which is close enough for my needs.

6)Moar dryfire!
I should, but just don't get around to it as much as I should.

7) Buy a Glock.
I resisted this for years and tried a number of other guns that left me with a bad taste in my mouth regarding semiautos. When I finally broke down and bought a Glock 19 a few years ago, I came around to the "buy a Glock" thing. Now, if you have specific reasons for not liking the platform, then you can change Glock to something else (S&W M&P, HK, etc), but the basic idea is to get a proven platform.

8) buy 'em cheap, stack 'em deep
Nope. I have a family and retirement to keep in mind. Guns are not my only concern in this world.

9) AR AR AR
While I have 2, they would be the first guns on the chopping block if I needed money. They're kind of boring and of limited utility in standard AR chamberings (ie 223/556). I can't understand why someone wants multiple examples in the same chambering (looking at you folks with double-digit AR collections).

10) buy 3 of...
Again, I have a family and retirement to consider. If any one of my guns shits the bed, I have another gun I can press into service for the same purpose. It's not the same gun, but it's also not going to be one I'm unfamiliar with to the extent it slows me down. Having 3 of the same seems excessive. Nowhere else do we have that mentality (ie I don't have 3 identical cars, 3 identical hammers, etc).

Chris

[RevolverRob]

The bottom line is there's two things in play - the most succinct and effective solution to the 'problem' of armed self-defense, and the seriously overlapping venn circle of marksmanship and shooting skills becoming a very real hobby and passion, which in turn develops tastes that stray from the cheap, simple, effective solutions.

Damn you. That's an excellent point. Which I can easily sympathize with.

That said, there is also the potential for spreading oneself too thin. It's not even "how many of X or Y do I need." It's "How many can I reasonable and regularly use to their fullest extent."

I love guns, cars, and motorcycles. I've mentioned before at one point I had five cars, two motorcycles, and two guns. Now I have more guns and fewer cars and motorcycles. In terms of practical skills and usage, I'm not sure I'm better with either vehicle nor gun now or then, despite having more and fewer in each category at different times. So this tells me that material acquisition has outpaced skill acquisition.

That should prompt me to really review my situation, divest myself of extraneous possessions and double down on acquiring skills. This could take the form of multiple paths, but chances of me taking my own advice? Almost zero.

I really need to get better at listening to my own advice. How does one do that? Seems like a good question for my therapist.

[RJ]

"Buy two G19s and then only buy ammo, training, and practice until you are a USPSA B shooter."

I wish I'd followed this in 2014.

But you don't know what you don't know, and it takes a while to figure this out. I am almost there with a G19 and a G26, but it does take a bit of time to process if you know zip about guns.

[sharps54]

For those that can’t use a timer on their indoor range you can still use it at home during that dry fire practice that you are starting as a result of this thread. Dry fire with a timer does wonders for presentation and reloads.

That said my biggest failings are lack of dry fire (none of us really have an excuse for not fitting in a little each day if we aren’t traveling or living in a NPE) and competition. I used to shoot IDPA and 3 gun so I know the benefits I just don’t make the time anymore.

[Hambo]

In general, any advice that treats shooting as strictly a utilitarian pursuit rather than a hobby (buy one gun and git gud, buy more ammo than gun, etc) gets ignored by me. Guns and shooting are a hobby to me as much as a defensive element. Even if I suddenly found myself in a world where firearm-based self-defense was verboten while recreational shooting was untouched, I'd have most of the guns I have now and would be geeking out over old revolvers and such. I just plain love guns, love shooting, and love the ancillary aspects of the hobby.

Dammit, Chris, this is life or death! Well, not really. Shooting sporting clays with buddies was great fun. Shooting subgun drills for work seemed like work. I still divide my time between working with carry guns and shooting stuff that I just like to shoot.

[BehindBlueI's]

You don't need a double stack gun you'll run out of time before you run out of ammunition

More of a truism then advice. I always recommend carrying the most capable gun you can for the context, but understand context varies and you're incredibly unlikely to get kilt in the streetz because you ran your gun dry and the bad guy kept pressing the assault. My particular context has ran from an M-16 to an LCR, and both fixed the situation I was confronted with.

As far as good advice I don't follow, carrying more first aid hardware. I can't figure out a good way to carry a real tourniquet off duty. I carried a RAT in an ankle rig, but apparently they aren't nearly as good as a real tourniquet.

[mtnbkr]

That said, there is also the potential for spreading oneself too thin. It's not even "how many of X or Y do I need." It's "How many can I reasonable and regularly use to their fullest extent."

I love guns, cars, and motorcycles. I've mentioned before at one point I had five cars, two motorcycles, and two guns. Now I have more guns and fewer cars and motorcycles. In terms of practical skills and usage, I'm not sure I'm better with either vehicle nor gun now or then, despite having more and fewer in each category at different times. So this tells me that material acquisition has outpaced skill acquisition.

That should prompt me to really review my situation, divest myself of extraneous possessions and double down on acquiring skills. This could take the form of multiple paths, but chances of me taking my own advice? Almost zero.

Cars and motorcycles cost money and require some level of care even when not being used. Guns don't. Therefore one can pursue N+1 with little negative outcome other than funding and storage space. I have guns I haven't shot in years (some coming up on nearly a decade since they were last fired). It costs me nothing but a little bit of space in my safe.

If I were to try and remain proficient with all the guns in my collection, I could see the argument for spreading myself too thin, but I shoot most of what I have for the experience of shooting the gun, not to be "proficient". My little S&W Hand Ejector 32SWL is a good example. It's a pretty little gun, in far better condition than most you'll see, but not really useful. I keep it because it's a good example of an early 20th century SD piece. I certainly don't intend to become proficient with it (smaller than a j-frame and much harder to shoot).

Chris

[RevolverRob]

Cars and motorcycles cost money and require some level of care even when not being used. Guns don't. Therefore one can pursue N+1 with little negative outcome other than funding and storage space. I have guns I haven't shot in years (some coming up on nearly a decade since they were last fired). It costs me nothing but a little bit of space in my safe.

If I were to try and remain proficient with all the guns in my collection, I could see the argument for spreading myself too thin, but I shoot most of what I have for the experience of shooting the gun, not to be "proficient". My little S&W Hand Ejector 32SWL is a good example. It's a pretty little gun, in far better condition than most you'll see, but not really useful. I keep it because it's a good example of an early 20th century SD piece. I certainly don't intend to become proficient with it (smaller than a j-frame and much harder to shoot).

Chris

One thing I've discovered about collections (as a guy who works in museums regularly), there is a difference between a collection and a curated collection. And a curated collection takes time and money all on its own to establish and maintain. I, personally, like curated things. It makes me happy, to see things well organized and able to both be shown and used for their intended purposes. It also takes as much money and time to do curatorial things as it does to amass the collection (maybe more so in some respects).

If your collection is "unusable" to a degree, it's simple a hoard not a collection. I've seen lots of hoards over the years.

[Darth_Uno]

The bottom line is there's two things in play - the most succinct and effective solution to the 'problem' of armed self-defense, and the seriously overlapping venn circle of marksmanship and shooting skills becoming a very real hobby and passion, which in turn develops tastes that stray from the cheap, simple, effective solutions.

Very well said. I take defensive shooting very seriously, as a practical skillset. I take all other shooting very seriously, as a non-essential hobby that I just enjoy very much. But to the uninitiated, it's all "shooting". Certainly skill and gear can bleed from one to the other - trick is to know which is which, or what you want vs what you need...and I'm good at convincing myself I need something.

[mtnbkr]

One thing I've discovered about collections (as a guy who works in museums regularly), there is a difference between a collection and a curated collection. And a curated collection takes time and money all on its own to establish and maintain. I, personally, like curated things. It makes me happy, to see things well organized and able to both be shown and used for their intended purposes. It also takes as much money and time to do curatorial things as it does to amass the collection (maybe more so in some respects).

If your collection is "unusable" to a degree, it's simple a hoard not a collection. I've seen lots of hoards over the years.

Based on this definition of "curated":
"to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation, as music or website content: “We curate our merchandise with a sharp eye for trending fashion,” the store manager explained."

My collection is mostly "curated" as I primary collect 20th century S&W revolvers (collection runs 19-tens to late 80s with most being mid 20th). They're certainly not randomly hoarded. Though, not knowing what is required other than acquisition and proper storage, I haven't found my collection requiring much in the way of regular effort beyond cleaning after shooting. Unless by "maintain" you mean adding to or improving the collection...

All of the revolvers are functional, though one required an expensive trip to Alphaprecision to reach that stage.

Chris

[OnionsAndDragons]

Compete. This one is hard for me as it would really clip my family time or ability to grab OT without compromising family time. All the matches reasonably near me are on the weekends and I work doubles on the weekends to have actual days off during the week.

Dry practice more. This one I have no good reason to fail at other than laziness.

I've done really well not buying any guns this year, and keeping my ammo supply stocked. I've resolved to not buy any more guns unless I divest of those I just don't use, or I get a good bonus at work that doesn't need to be put toward other things. Almost all debt but the newer car is squashed, so I might make a fun gun purchase next year. Maybe. :)

I had to put off a class I wanted this year to next due to needing to replace a car, but I'm pretty happy with that outcome.


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[LSP552]

Like the Glock 26. I’ve bought maybe 4 over the last 20 years, and sold them when I realized they are just too small for my hands. Slow learner......because I keep trying every 5 years or so.

[Bigghoss]

There's a whole lot of good, solid, excellent gun advice on this board- that I'm sure many of us believe, but just can't seem to put into practice.

Confession time, along with my BS excuses!

1)Spend more on ammo than you spend on buying guns. I try... and then I spot a really nice and under priced S&W K Frame or old Colt for just the right amount gathering dust in the back of the gun shop shelf!

I have the same "problem". I tell myself I'm going to concentrate on buying more ammo, more mags, saving up for a class, whatever. And then someone comes along with something at a price good enough that I say "I'll make an exception for this" but it turns into an exception for everything. If I manage to stay off Gunbroker or Armslist then guys at work will offer me stuff super cheap.

I should dryfire a lot more too.

[MGW]

Buy a Glock

I can’t remember how many Glocks I’ve bought and sold over the years. I really want to like them and I really want to shoot them well but can do neither. I appreciate them for what they are, an extremely effective combat handgun. I just can’t seem to get in sync with them though.

Shoot and carry a 9mm

I’m and extremely practical person but can’t seem to be practical about being loyal to 9mm. I’m pretty sure I’ve shot more 45 and 38 over the past year than 9mm. Yes I don’t shoot a 45c as well as I could a similar 9mm but I love that pistol. Same for my J-frame.

[HCountyGuy]

Stick to one platform.

I keep wanting to swap out because I like variety. Though I like my P30 LEM and am planning on swapping out some parts, I still feel the draw to go back to a TDA. Because I like the challenge of it and just the concept in general, despite shooting LEM and striker better. What’s worse is I’m looking at Sigs, though older legacy models. The PX4 would be a solid choice and probably easier, but “meh”.

I’m over here constantly talking myself out of a legacy non-railed P229 in .357 of all things. I’m consolidated on 9mm and do good affording that, .357 Sig would bankrupt me. Not to mention the logistics of getting all the necessary gear that accompanies a new gun you don’t have anything for.

Sometimes I think getting hooked on drugs would be cheaper than firearms as a hobby.

[deputyG23]

Buy a Glock- I certainly have. Until last year, I owned six and was issued a seventh. Now down to four personally owned 9mm/.40 Glocks since I sold my G23 G2 to a co-worker and gifted my old agency marked G22 G3 to my daughter this spring for her birthday. My agency marked G27 will be transferred to my son in Baltimore when my work trades in the .40s for 9mms and when he finally gets his MD HQL card.
My G19 G2 is my primary practice Glock and the “company gun” G4 G23 is what gets carried 95% of the time.
My G2 G17 and G2.5 G26 will eventually be sold. They don’t get shot or carried much at all.
If I ever retire, I may go to my revolvers for carry and LEOSA travel guns.
The funds generated from the sale will help pay for a med class and decent IFAKs for my personal vehicles and a small kit to carry on my person.

[Kanye Wyoming]

Just after getting a solid expense reimbursement check, refrain from placing a GunBroker bid on a gun after reading only the first six pages of a 67 page thread on Pistol Forum.

Or not.

[Jack Ryan]

"Do what ever you want to do, its a free country. In the end, no one else is going to be in there with you."

I've pretty much followed that one.

[Darth_Uno]

Or as my wife says, “Do what you want, you’re going to anyway.” [emoji848]

And 99.9% of people do. That’s why I don’t feel called to be a Gun Evangelist. More times than I can count, people have come to the “gun guy” (me) and asked for advice...then done the exact opposite.


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[Olim9]

I find having a particular gun equipped with a red dot helps prevent the desire to hop platforms.

[LockedBreech]

32824

1.) I love that comic series

2.) This edit of the original is way, way too close to home for me

[Larry Sellers]

Echoing the other "stick with one platform" statement. I've swapped all around, liquidated all the glocks I own, purchased new versions of the same pistols ive sold in previous years past only to end up with all of them back in the safe/nightstand etc.

If I had stayed with the gen 3 17 I purchased in 2008 (kvk-442 is the serial if anyone has it and wants to let me buy it back!) I would probably be leaps and bounds ahead of where I am skill wise. I reached this epiphany a few days ago while looking at the 320c I recently acquired to try out....


Glocks for me from here on out unless something catastrophic happens to the bushel basket of brand new glock mags I have disappears.

It's simple....just not easy!

[CCT125US]

I currently don't have a copy of my carry gun, USP9c v7. Granted the v1 is pretty close. Almost picked up another v7 for an insanely low price, but decided to pick up some ammo and an optic.