Please bare with me as I am new - 5 weeks - of being a serious gun person. I'm 66 years old and do not like the direction our country has taken and have decided to thoroughly arm my wife and myself. I own a S&W 5" nickel plated Model 27 revolver that I bought October 1973 for $140.00. The gun is in its original box and has been sitting in my end table next to my bed for nearly all that time. I was considering selling it to buy a more modern S&W until a friend who owns about 90 guns told me he would personally shoot me if I sold it, that I had no idea of its present value. After researching on the web I discovered that he knows what he's talking about.
My wife recently took the police course and decided she wants to take up shooting as a hobby, so I'm going to join her. In about a month we're both going to take the concealed weapons course.
I also recently bought a Mossberg 500 20" 12 gauge shotgun and am considering an AR15. I have spent an enormous amount of time - My wife told me I'm become obsessed - on the Internet researching guns, ammo, ballistics, etc., so I now have some knowledge of the subject, but recently learned I don't know as much as I would like. I bought 4 boxes of Buffalo Bore ammo - quite expensive - only to have my wife's new S&W 686+ jam on the initial round of bullets. The employee at the gun range freed the bullet and told me that 38 Super ammo is for semiautomatic pistols, not revolvers. I had bought 2 boxes of the Super and was quite disappointed because Buffalo Bore's website spends lots of space bragging about how great their ammo is and showing the results of ballistic tests, but mentions nothing about their Super 38 bullets not being suitable for revolvers. How difficult would it be for the owner to add a line to his advertisement of his Super bullets stating something like, "For semiautomatic pistols only." And he's not the only dubious manufacturer. At Academy Sports a couple of weeks ago I found boxes of Winchester's Winlite Sabot shotgun slugs. I learned through my extensive research that there is a difference between smooth and rifled bore shotguns, so I read the entire contents of the outside of the box 3 times looking for any reference to this; there is none. So I bought 2 boxes at $12.00 per. When I got home I perused the Internet about the Sabot slugs and found a forum where someone said that these slugs are not for smooth rifled shotguns. So I sent an inquiry to Winchester who verified that they are really made for rifled bores and are inaccurate in smooth bore shotguns. I would think today's manufacturers of ammo are making so much money that they wouldn't feel the need to engage in what I consider deceptive advertising to sell even more of their products. How can a reasonable person be expected to know the difference in all of the different ammo being produced today.
That being said, I am immensely enjoying learning about guns, ballistics, ammo, etc., and hope that you will be a bit understanding if and when I ask a plumb stupid question.
Thanks,
Don
My wife recently took the police course and decided she wants to take up shooting as a hobby, so I'm going to join her. In about a month we're both going to take the concealed weapons course.
I also recently bought a Mossberg 500 20" 12 gauge shotgun and am considering an AR15. I have spent an enormous amount of time - My wife told me I'm become obsessed - on the Internet researching guns, ammo, ballistics, etc., so I now have some knowledge of the subject, but recently learned I don't know as much as I would like. I bought 4 boxes of Buffalo Bore ammo - quite expensive - only to have my wife's new S&W 686+ jam on the initial round of bullets. The employee at the gun range freed the bullet and told me that 38 Super ammo is for semiautomatic pistols, not revolvers. I had bought 2 boxes of the Super and was quite disappointed because Buffalo Bore's website spends lots of space bragging about how great their ammo is and showing the results of ballistic tests, but mentions nothing about their Super 38 bullets not being suitable for revolvers. How difficult would it be for the owner to add a line to his advertisement of his Super bullets stating something like, "For semiautomatic pistols only." And he's not the only dubious manufacturer. At Academy Sports a couple of weeks ago I found boxes of Winchester's Winlite Sabot shotgun slugs. I learned through my extensive research that there is a difference between smooth and rifled bore shotguns, so I read the entire contents of the outside of the box 3 times looking for any reference to this; there is none. So I bought 2 boxes at $12.00 per. When I got home I perused the Internet about the Sabot slugs and found a forum where someone said that these slugs are not for smooth rifled shotguns. So I sent an inquiry to Winchester who verified that they are really made for rifled bores and are inaccurate in smooth bore shotguns. I would think today's manufacturers of ammo are making so much money that they wouldn't feel the need to engage in what I consider deceptive advertising to sell even more of their products. How can a reasonable person be expected to know the difference in all of the different ammo being produced today.
That being said, I am immensely enjoying learning about guns, ballistics, ammo, etc., and hope that you will be a bit understanding if and when I ask a plumb stupid question.
Thanks,
Don
