Firearms: History, Hobby, Awesome

[Azisien]

I've recently taken an interest in firearms. I think I can safely blame years of first person shooters, or I just like shiny objects that make loud noises, or both.

Either way, I figured since this is an American-dominated forum and your average American is given his/her first handgun by age 3, assault rifle by age 7, and just, well...God damn mini-guns are legal in the US so I'm hoping to find some good educational resources.

So far, my attempts of typing "firearms" into Amazon or my local bookstore result in either price guides for firearms or Billy Bob's Practical Guide to Gaining Street Cred, neither of which I'm interested in.

So I turn to NPF. Any of you guys recommend anything? Or should I just find some sparse farmland and a bunch of tin cans?

I suppose this thread could also be used to relay any interesting firearm-related stories any of us have had. For instance, my vacation out west to Edmonton, Alberta was probably what sparked my biggest interest in real life firearms. I was able to go to a shooting range (there aren't many around here) and I paid $30 to shoot 50 rounds from a Glock. A Glock! Wooo! The poster I also bought to shoot at was a bunch of zombies, and thanks to my many years of video games I'm proud to say I only missed twice. Kickback was a bitch.

And no firearm thread would be proper without this:

[Kepor]

Recommend for, like, a gun? I'd say start with the .22 Long Rifle caliber; they're cheap, and have basically no recoil.

I'm not sure what gun laws are like in Canada, though, so check in with someone who's knowledgeable about that.

And as an interesting aside, ever since Obama took office, there's been ammo runs at the Wal-Mart near me.

[Azisien]

Well not necessarily what guns I should buy, I suppose a price guide WOULD be good for that. But more like, good books on the history of firearms, classy ones on how to use them (see bad example in OP), etc. The safety courses I've already taken had a few paragraphs at most on history and such in the manual.

As far as Ontario Canadian gun laws go, if I have a gun license I can own properly stored "light" firearms and ammunition in really any quantity I want. Prohibited firearms include anything semi-automatic above a certain magazine amount and anything automatic/explosive. But your usual hunting rifles/handguns are all game.

Actually one of the most awesome guns I've seen in person was at the aforementioned gun store/shooting range in Alberta and their prize rifle was this one. Unfortunately I didn't have the six grand on me, nor the twenty dollars per bullet.

[Kepor]

Dunno then. Basically everything I know was taught to me by someone else, along with reading on places like Wikipedia and such.

Out of curiosity, what's the magazine limit up there? In most of the states, the civilian magazine limit is 10.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Originally Posted by Azisien

Actually one of the most awesome guns I've seen in person was at the aforementioned gun store/shooting range in Alberta and their prize rifle was this one. Unfortunately I didn't have the six grand on me, nor the twenty dollars per bullet.

I know this comes from Meister's people, but who thought it was a good idea to call a gun "Mannlicher"? Seriously?

Also, I would assume you know gun safety and all that jazz since you have a license (the gun is always loaded, etc., etc.)? Shooting your foot off is amusing for Youtube but not so much for you.

Other than that, I have no actual advice, because I've never fired anything more deadly than an airsoft gun.

[russianreversal]

Three weeks 'til I'm deemed mature enough by age to purchase my own hand-held tool of destruction. :whee:

[Sir Pinkleton]

Isn't there a guy on this website who knows crazy info about guns? Or I suppose he left..

Anyway. In the states, as far as I remember, you can buy a rifle at the age of 18, and a handgun at 21, so your... Anecdote? (I'm horrible with my vocab right now) at the beginning is a little backwards. We seem to have the same laws on automatic weaponry, though, in that we can't have them (unless you own a gun store I suppose; I've been brought to a certain one about 2 times now where they let you shoot at a target with a thompson/tommy gun).

As far as the history goes... There's too much for me to remember, or write down. I dunno what there is to it myself. I mean, first, black powder rifles. then, something better, like a pump rifle thing (forgot what it's called), and then something better, like semi automatic, and so on, it continues.

I don't know about any books, personally. My dad had an old one, except it was an order catalog thing, and they were toys, for kids, but they were really realistic. I figure anything you find on the internet should be good enough, if you search the right places.

And finally, a personal story. I've fired an amount of guns-lots of pistols (dual wielding once =P), some rifle's, a shotgun or two-but one time, at a rock quarry, where we (my dad, my siblings and I) are accustomed to going to shoot at some cans or whatever, another guy also came to shoot targets, nearly before we were about to leave. He happened to have something equivalent to an M4 (didn't think to ask what exactly it was: I was younger) that he let us shoot, if only a little bit. That was new and interesting and fun, because other than the previously mentioned thompson, I'd never fired an automatic, and not a new gun like this one.

[Geminex]

I'm not certain... I have little experience with firearms, but perhaps, if you're just starting, it might be best to go for a cheap sidearm of one type or another.

And I think for a history of fire-arms you need to look at a history of their use. The two are interlinked really closely. I read a book on sniping (or, rather, the strategic role of snipers) recently and it was quite interesting. The original gun was just basically a metal tube, where you inserted black powder on one end one (or several) metal balls on the other, pointed it at the enemy and pressed the trigger. They were expensive and complex to use and up to the mid-1700s they were inaccurate enough that elite sling-shot troops the romans and greeks used to use in the BC years had a higher chance to hit. A lot of that changed with just a few inventions. One was, I think, called the percussion cap, which basically could ignite a bullet's charge without making it neccessary to pour a detonation charge into a pan next to the gun's breach. Another was, of course, rifled barrels and interesting bullet shapes. Really, I think rifles could have developed much faster if people designing them had stopped treating them like small-scale artillery.

But yeah, for comprehensive history perhaps ask at your local library or just do a google search. Wikipedia's quite proficient in this as well.

[EVILNess]

Go to a local range and see what they have for you to try out. Ask questions, especially about maintenance (If you are looking for a handgun I recommend a revolver for your first gun due to the decreased amount of moving parts to maintain.) and have fun.

60% of the time that works every time.

[Preturbed]

There's always courses you can take. If you want to hunt, you must first take the Hunter's Safety Course. Handguns and concealed weapons, I recommend getting a concealed carry permit. Both of these serve a purpose and let you get to know your weapon better.