While I spend more time teaching handguns, students sometimes have questions about rifles, so this will be a very short tutorial on that subject. Rifles have a much longer history than handguns, as man has been obsessed since at least the 14th C. with finding new ways to kill the enemy.  Development has gone in many directions, always embracing new technology, from the muzzle-loading smooth bore flintlock and the “rifled” musket, to the machine gun.  The European wars of the late 19th C. ushered in the age of the bolt action rifle, which was the dominant combat weapon until WWII (alt ..read more

For well over 100 years, it has been a rite of passage for fathers to teach their sons and daughters to shoot.  The reasons vary, but include bonding with children, introducing them to hunting, and (especially) ensuring that they have an understanding of the safety rules, and to never touch a gun without an adult around.  In teaching young people (often at age 10 or above, but that is negotiable), there are two specific types of guns that have proven to be the safest and easiest, depending on the immediate goal:   If introducing the child to hunting, the .410 shotgun.  This ..read more

Actually, that should say “Aiming Systems for Pistols”, but if you followed a link to get here, you are expecting to read about optics.  Technically, not all aiming options for handguns are optical, but more on that later. Ten years ago, it was rare to see any kind of sights on a pistol besides the built-in ones, called “iron-sights” (no, they are not made of iron, and haven’t been for a very long time. Sorry.)  These days, not only is it not rare to see a handgun with alternative sights on it, more and more models are coming with them pre-installed.  New gun owners are often co ..read more

A Viable Home Defense Option? In the last few years, an unusual variant of “pistol” has developed, the AR-15 Pistol.  This is a very short version of an AR-15 rifle, often called a Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) (and incorrectly called an Assault Rifle).  The pistol variant is shorter, and is distinct in having an arm brace.  By slipping your forearm through the brace, this gun can be fired by one hand, which is what makes it, legally, a pistol. Really, a pistol?  Not what I call a pistol.  Here is the catch.  The ATF defines a pistol as any firearm that is designed ..read more

Many people think that learning proficiency with a handgun is as simple as buy a gun buy some ammo start shooting While that will work, up to a point, the optimal accuracy is achieved by fine-tuning the performance of your gun.  This will almost always involve ammo choices, and may involve upgrades to the gun itself. Let me discuss those in a little more detail. Choosing the right ammo for your gun is very effective, and very easy, although a little tedious.  A semi-auto only fires whatever caliber it is designed for, so you don’t have any choices there, but those cartridges come w ..read more

I have taught hundreds of people how to shoot a pistol, and thousands have gotten their Concealed Handgun License under me. Many of those people were very good shooters, but many of them, possibly a majority, would have difficulty defending themselves in a crisis. Why is that? Many people make the mistake of thinking of shooting a handgun as an activity that is learned once (driving a car, painting a wall), instead of a skill that depreciates (playing a musical instrument, surgery, golf). Shooting well requires practice, focus, and attention to detail. It has a short shelf-life. If one is goin ..read more