Firearm/Weapons Thread

It seems many of the Derpi threads made it over here. Seems only appropriate I bring over this one.

I’m currently going to the Pennsylvania gunsmith school, so that’s neat.
 
Just finished my first parkerization job the other day. I’d post the photo I took, but I left the safety check sheet in the shot and if you zoomed in you could see my name, address, phone number and other compromising details, so that ain’t happening.
 
Should be finishing up my next project soon, so maybe expect something then.

@Eric Draven  
Awesome, dude. Gunsmithing is something I considered getting into. Still might at some point in the future.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
I’d been thinking about it for quite a while, and finally took the plunge. It’s not often people get to live their dreams, so I decided I wouldn’t let it pass me by, global crisis or not.
 
If you ever do decide to go for it, PGS is definitely one to look into, especially if you intend to make a career of it. They have classes on running a business in addition to all the other stuff, and they have a big board with open job positions from around the country. They can’t guarantee any jobs after graduation, but they do their best to help you find one.

@Eric Draven  
Thanks, I’ll check it out. I was actually hoping to look into what it would take to start a more dynamic form of training range similar to how the military trains. Defending a home, room clearing, transitioning while engaging, etc. Sadly life had other plans.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
I’m no expert, but I imagine that sort of thing would require a very secure locating to set up exercises, the sort of place you could reinforce to ensure the surrounding area would be safe from stray bullets, heavy certification for all instructors, and potentially a federal firearms license.

@Eric Draven  
Likely all of that yes. At the time I was looking at properties and land in Montana.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Well, I wish you luck.
 
I’m still not sure what I’ll do when I graduate. I’ve thought about getting a maintenance position in the military because I really want the opportunity to work on machine guns and explosives, but nothing is set in stone.

Thanks. And I know that feeling. The nothing set in stone part. Most of my plans in life have always turned into something completely different in the end.

I’m trying to figure out what the best general purpose “melee weapon” is for the average-built person in the average scenario. I’m looking for something you could have a couple extra or so of at your place or in your truck in case you had to give or lend them to friends/allies with little or unknown experience in a survival situation; you could hand one to someone, and in anywhere between 3 seconds and 3 days, they could be using it to defend themselves with it if need be. I’m thinking either a baseball bat, a nightstick/baton, or a machete, but I’m not sure. Bonus points if it’s on the lighter side without losing defensive power, if it has other utility functions, if it has the potential to look inconspicuous, and if it can be concealed easily on the person.
 
Hammers and hatchets do come to mind because of the utility, but I don’t know if there’s any out there that would be suited to be wielded by an untrained individual.
 
There’s nobody I know that I would feel comfortable in suddenly giving a gun to without training etc, for multiple reasons- not only safety for us both but also cost and maintenance. If I’m going to hand someone a gun I better know them damn well, trust them, and make sure I have time to show them the ropes with it first. I’m kinda looking for an “on the run” “red alert” or “pressed for time” weapon in some way which doesn’t require extensive training, if not none at all.

@Anonymous #AF58  
Maybe the best thing to have on hand would be like 3 different things and then in the hypothetical SHTF scenario, you let your friend/neighbor/ally grab which one looks/feels right to them, time permitting.
 
I think I could probably have 2 extra bats, machetes, and something else on hand just in case.

@Anonymous #AF58  
Well, that can be tricky. If you don’t trust someone with a gun, any sort of blunt object could help, like you said, a bat for example. I carry a tomahawk in my truck among other things as well. Besides that, knives are useful too. Small, affordable in many cases, and not difficult to use, though do still require some level of training if you want to be effective with one. I personally carry usually either a Benchmade or ZeroTolerance. I also wear one of these at all times when out. Even if you lose your gun, or primary blade, most attackers won’t think to take anything you’re wearing on a wrist.
 
Depending on how dire the hypothetical SHTF situation is and where you are exactly though, it might even be easier to teach the basics of firearm safety and operation to an individual and arm them with a ballistic weapon as soon as possible regardless. Depends on the specific circumstances, but would likely have to be an on the spot judgement call. Otherwise things like mace, bear spray, batons, bats, and similar items, could also be considered options depending on the situation.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Oh I love those bracelets. I need to get a couple more.
 
Good input, thanks. Also, that’s pretty awesome you’ve got a tomahawk in your truck.

@Anonymous #AF58  
Np, and I’ve got lots of stuff in there. Even trauma kits, GSW kits, fire extinguishers, road flares, etc.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Now see people, if we all did this we would have a lot fewer problems and a lot fewer dead people out there every year. I don’t have a vehicle but I’ve got some of that stuff in my backpack I take with me everywhere. The legendary Ip Man once said that the purpose of martial arts is benevolence. I think you could say that about “preparedness” in general as well.
 
I tried to take a first aid class once, but it would’ve cost me about $300 or so which I didn’t have, to travel down to it and back, including the class cost. I need to scrounge up the money and look into it again.

@Anonymous #AF58  
It’s always good to be prepared. I have go bags as well for just in case that have things in them I wouldn’t leave in a vehicle like guns, ammo, radios, and other expensive stuff. Overall my truck is a daily driver/off road bug out vehicle.

California has struck down the magazine capacity restrictions, finally acknowledging that they’re unconstitutional. Never thought I’d see the day.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Interesting. I’m sort of in favor of gun control, but in a different way than how we do it or how most people do it.
 
I think one of the top things we could do to control gun violence would be to make legal immigration easier and then crack down more on illegal immigration. Instead of forcing people, the vast majority of which are benign, but some of which are gangsters smuggling things into the country, to come here illegally, we should be letting them come in through checkpoints.
 
Legal immigration takes years through the Mexican border. Meanwhile these people are oftentimes fleeing starvation-level poverty and massive violence caused by our drug war as well as their home country’s injustices and corruption. It’s not hard to see why these people often can’t afford to take 2,3,4,5 or more years to come here legally.
 
It’s well-nigh impossible to reasonably “win” the war on illegal immigration when we have so many benign immigrants coming in with the bad apples at the same time. There’s millions, and it’s way too many to deal with. I propose doing whatever we have to to lower the barrier to illegal immigration down to like a week or 2 instead of years. Basically, the people can come to checkpoints and get photographed and fingerprinted, and tell us their name and give us ID if they have it. (I know they can use fake names and might not have IDs, but it’s better than nothing.) Then what we do is run a background check on them based on what days we have- the fingerprints photos, etc. If it comes up in the system, we deal with them accordingly. If it doesn’t, we let them in and create some sort of possible path to citizenship if they’re willing to do what’s necessary. (I’m fine with figuring out and debating that part. I’m not sure what the best thing to do as far as that goes anyway.)
 
Then we can more reasonably enforce our illegal immigration policies and a lot of these “safe haven” cities would be more comfortable with going after new illegal immigrants. The main reason a lot of people don’t want to go after illegal immigrants as it is is because so many of them are just honest workers who want to come here to make an honest life. They should be more open to swift and decisive deportation of the ones who choose to ignore the checkpoints and the system if the system is made more accessible in the first place.
 
If we deport more illegals while simultaneously getting more legal people here on the record, we can more safely keep track of who is here, which will ultimately help fight violence of all types, including gun violence.
 
Oh last thing about that, in order to make it work we also have to require all illegal immigrants already here to go get fingerprinted and photographed and put into the system. If they refuse, they get deported.
 
I think another thing we could do is treat guns like cars, where you need to take a very basic test to show you know how to be a responsible gun owner/user to have them. And if you use/possess them without it, you can be punished.
 
But then no bans. I’m not a fan of banning people from having what they feel is necessary for their preps or their lifestyle, etc. If you want to have a tank, artillery, a bump stock or a high capacity magazines, etc. you should be able to as long as you have the proper license that shows you know how to be safe, sane, and responsible with them.
 
Our constitution says we have the right to a “well-regulated” militia, not one free of regulation. So I’m fine with requiring basic licenses and then going after the people who disregard that requirement. We require people to have licenses to drive cars and I don’t see anyone complaining about that except a few libertarian extremists.
 
 
I think short, but substantive waiting periods are also good. Combined with basic licensing on a federal level and no bans of any kind, I think it would strike a good balance between protecting our second amendment rights and policing gun violence, along with the aforementioned immigration reforms.

@Anonymous #AF58  
Fine with most of that, waiting periods I have an issue with though. One, when I pay for something, I want it. Not five or ten days from now, but right now. More importantly though, it can be damaging if not deadly for people that may be getting harassed, have escaped an abusive relationship, moved to a bad neighborhood, have been threatened, etc, and want to buy protection for themselves only to not actually be allowed to have it when they need it.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Anything over 2 days is excessive and bad for sure, and I’d be happy to have it down to 0 if we just fixed our mental health system. (Suicide rate from all causes, including and especially guns are lower in states where they have waiting periods. People can get into a mental episode that only lasts a few hour or a day or 2 and they’re not doing well.) I don’t want to punish us gun owners for the impulses of people offering from bipolar, depression, etc. But something should be done to combat unnecessary deaths. A close mentor of mine lost his son like that, and we have both a crummy mental health system where I live and no waiting period. I ponder sometimes and wonder if at least something could’ve been prevented his death.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Also, to add to our discussion about easy weapons to have on hand that take no training, I think I found a solution. Was getting rid of a piano bench so I tore the legs off and put nails through clubbing end, then taped up the gripping end. Basically 4 free spiked clubs that look intimidating enough to perhaps even scare away some of the potential baddies. Depends on the situation, but it’s definitely better than nothing and doesn’t break the bank. (I ain’t exactly someone with much money, so I like having free stuff. Besides, repurposing things is what you’d be doing in a lot of SHTF scenarios anyway, so it’s good practice.)

@Anonymous #AF58  
I agree mental health is an issue and should be better addressed. Just as someone living in a state that has a ten day waiting period, I can tell you it sucks. It’s also 100% pointless for people that already own guns in the first place to have to wait ten days all over again for their purchsse when they already have a dozen at home.
 
 
@Anonymous #AF58  
Yeah, it is good practice. Depending on where I’m going, I have a small locking weapon bag that keeps the gun and the ammo separate (a requirement here) and usually travel with either a Glock 17 or a Five-seveN. Had originally planned on making a lot of truck modifications including adding more secure weapon transport solutions to it, but I unexpectedly ran out of money before I could make any modifications.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Oh yeah, no that’s crazy. That kind of waiting period is like at least 4 or 5 times too long, and you’re totally right, it’s definitely something that should be reserved for first-time buyers at least. I think that would be an easy compromise with the democratic establishment.
 
(I differentiate between establishment democrats, economic or social progressives, authoritarians, libertarians, moderates, boomer crooners, etc. They all have widely different policies in many things. Joe Biden’s campaign is, imho, a boomer crooner operation, which basically just just does whatever it can to manipulate baby boomers into voting for them 90% of the time, and the other 10% just says whatever nonsense they think the other people want them to say. Most of the time they won’t even be very good elected officials for boomers anyway. They mostly just want their vote. There’s a lot of Democrat and Republican boomer crooners alike and as someone raised by their grandparents, it pisses me off. But that’s all I’ll say about politics.)

 
Debating on what to call these.
 
Thinking either the “Chopin Spike” or “Club De Lune.”

@Anonymous #AF58  
It’s like a square Lucile. Also can’t really afford anything despite the law change here, but I did buy a couple Glock 17 17rd mags. 12 bucks 5 dollar shipping. Magpul GL9 Pmags.