5 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Shooting
With more people than ever getting into guns, and the election season spike just around the corner, I thought some helpful tips for the new guys would be a good way to start the year. It took me a while to figure these out, and I really wish someone handed me a pamphlet with this stuff on it when I bought my first Glock 19, over a decade ago. I hope it helps. I’ve got some interesting stuff coming up soon, where I get back to the cultural and political commentary of where were at right now. If you like the sound of that, or you like this article please subscribe here.
Beware The Shills
This really could be it’s own article, and I may do that down the road, but for now you get the cliff notes version. Paid ads are everywhere, the gun industry isn’t special in that regard, what makes it different is the lack of opportunity in traditional advertising, so it leans on content creators to market their products. Conversely gun influencers are often demonetized and have to lean on sponsorships to run their channel. This isn’t inherently bad, however it’s going to produces some bias. If you had a good relationship with a company that was paying your bills, and had one of their products fail on you, you would probably be reluctant to share that with the public. The worst of it though, is when a channel has sponsorships they do not disclose. These can manifest in paid advertisements that are disguised as “reviews” of products that the influencer maybe even never used, or used but had issues that were never disclosed for fear of biting the hand that feeds. I’ve wasted a lot of money listening to a single influencers review on a product, only to have it fail catastrophically due to faulty design. PRO TIP: Take everything you see online with a grain of salt. Check multiple sources, assume everyone is biased, assume everyone’s round count is highly exaggerated until proven other wise, and Always, always, always Do Your Own Research.
Dry fire is the shortcut you’re looking for
10 minutes of focused dry fire a night will pay huge dividends over weeks, months, and years. It’s easy to get caught up in the shiny new product or gun that promises to make you an ace shooter operator cag navy seal, but you can’t cheat the work, and the work is dry fire. The good news though is that it’s free. You don’t need anything but your gun and a little time. Remember the shills we talked about earlier? Yea, don’t listen to them, you don’t need any aids or lasers to do this. Just time. PRO TIP: Have an area setup ahead of time where you can just walk in and everything is ready for you to get to work. This will reduce the friction that often comes with starting a new habit, or continuing one when you really don’t feel like doing it.
Get a shot timer
I know they seem pricey at first, but they are worth their weight in gold, and a quality one will last a very long time. If your goal is to be a good shooter, it’s how you measure your skill progression. It will give you concrete goals to chase and standards to measure yourself against. They are also an excellent compliment to your dry fire, being able to set a par time is clutch. PRO TIP: Make sure you tape over the speaker while you’re inside or you will blow your ear drums out (not really but it will feel like it).
Prices fluctuate and panics are cyclical
Depending on when your interest started with guns, you may have not experienced the full ammo panic cycle. During election season, it’s easy to walk into your local Academy and get FOMO when you see empty shelves where your favorite caliber is supposed to be. HOLD! Don’t buy ammo during a panic unless you absolutely have too. Worry not! The pendulum will swings back the other way (hopefully). PRO TIP: buy when the buyin’s good. The best time is usually 6 month to a year after the presidential election. Keep stacking ammo until you have a years worth of training ammo, and whatever you need for self/home/community defense. Also, make sure you have standard capacity mags for that ammo too, the government like to try and ban those from time to time.
They are always trying to take your rights away
Shady politicians and government agencies (gAyTF) have always, and will always try and take your rights away. We need to be vigilant, however don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed with the seemingly constant barrage on our rights. Most federal gun control bills are just smoke and mirrors. In the current political climate where gun control approval is at an all time low, the bills are often DOA. The Dem politicians write them and push them in the media to placate their donors and look like they are actually doing something (they aren’t). I’m not saying to ignore politics, but understand when it’s actually a problem, and when it’s just posturing. It’s going to save you a lot of stress. PRO TIP: Pay attention while a Republican president is in office. Often times people get lulled to sleep thinking everything is under control, however the recent trend would suggest otherwise.
BONUS: Shoot matches!
Matches are the most fun you will have with a gun in your hand. They will make you a better shooter, and there’s a match for any type of shooting you could want to do. You will be put into situations and need to use skills that you would be hard pressed to test on your own. If you have a fudd range and can’t draw, move, or shoot faster than 1 round every 2 seconds then matches give you the ability to do that. You will also meet like minded people, some of whom are the best people in the community. PRO TIP: you don’t need any special gear to go compete. Most pistol matches allow you to draw from your concealment holster. If you’re shooting a rifle match you can reload from your back pocket. Matches that require special gear (kestrels and range finders) will have people there willing to loan you stuff for your first couple matches. Just show up, and you will be able to compete!