I had been doing things the hard way all along

Discussion in 'Back to Basics' started by hot diggity, Jan 23, 2019.


  1. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I learned how to tie my shoes the right way when I was 55. Mom didn't learn how to open a banana without a knife until she was 82.

    So many things that folks think they are doing correctly, are just wrong... or at least not the best/easiest/most efficient way. I see shooters daily who have owned rifles and pistols for years without knowing how to lock the action open without inserting an empty magazine. For the longest time I couldn't understand how they could not know this. That is, until I learned that I had been tying my own shoes wrong for 50 years.

    tying shoes the right way - Google Search

    Most recently I learned that a Chinese food carton could be opened up into a plate. I'm sure there are more of these revelations that I've missed. I will try to attach pictures and video to explain them.

    Anybody else have things like this that have become your favorite "aha moment?"
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2019
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  2. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

  3. sec_monkey

    sec_monkey SM Security Administrator

    Lucy has fixed the glitch with this thread.

    [winkthumb] [winkthumb]
     
  4. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Thanks. I thought it was something I had done. :)
     
  5. sec_monkey

    sec_monkey SM Security Administrator

    no problem :) :)

    it is a known glitch/bug.
     
  6. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    My very first attempts to friction fire were using hard wood ,reasoning that it should be tough and a little pitch to it for something toe light against. Wrong . Frustrated I put my parts in the drill press and got no response.
    Friction fire is done with long weeds and pithy wood, just about completely dead , and this absence of a lubricant made al the difference .
    I got this from a bush craft forum a few years ago.
    An innovation I discovered was , in stead of using a V notch on the hearth hole , I drilled a small hole at the base of where the drill should be just about as coals would develop , Is faster and the heat is confined in the hole and the coal come rolling out like a fourth of July fire worm. .
     
  7. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    I'm slow... Really slow.... I need pictures, better yet, video! :cautious:
     
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  8. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Y'ALL need to see some of @Bishop videos on fire starting. ..... jus sayin
     
  9. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

  10. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    I prefer Bento Boxes.
     
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  11. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Me too! In Okinawa, I got one for lunch every chance I got through most of the early 1980's and my last visit in 92-93.
     
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  12. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I was probably 50 when I realized that soft drinks at McDonald's were just as cold (for the time it took me to drink them) without ice, and you got nearly twice as much soda for the same price. I always ask for no ice now.
     
  13. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    I have an old saying ,
    "You need to be smarter than the machinery".
     
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  14. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    After destroying my first two sets of glasses in my 40's using those nice soft cloths that come with new glasses. Living in an atmosphere of sand and salt, that probably wasn't helpful. I also used tissues, paper towels and even shirt tails to wipe off my glasses. The glasses got so hopelessly scratched that the lenses looked gray.

    When I discovered the disposable, one time use, lens wipes I shopped around to find one that worked well, didn't stink, and was always available. I settled long ago on Zeiss brand because they're free of perfumes and available at Walmart. I have glasses now
    that are more than five years old and are just as free of scratches as my new ones.
     
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  15. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    I use to buy $20-and $30 sun glasses and they would get broken or lost , as a mechanic working out side most of the time and on the lake reflected light was harsh on the eyes , I even got talked into getting Raybans but if you loose them that's $75 bucks down the drain. of course cleaning them was any clean rag you could find those days.
    Later I discovered Harbor freight safety glasses and these work just fine as sunglasses so for $2. I can wear them and lose them with out much pain .I use the Zeiss cleaning cloth and they last longer but in the event the get lost or broken it doesn't hurt my wallet.
     
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  16. Godzilla

    Godzilla Monkey++

    Ok something from the shooting world that most people do incorrectly or at least the hard way is racking the slide on a pistol.

    Difficult Way
    Hold the pistol by your strong hand and grasp the serrations on the slide with your weak hand.
    Pull back the slide (using the serrations) with the weak hand.
    This is a awkward move at best and works against the tendons in the wrist (wrist is bent at angle), if you are also pointing the muzzle down towards the ground instead of towards your target it is even more difficult or awkward.
    Once the Slide is all the way to the rear, release the slide and let it snap back to strip a round off the mag into the chamber.

    Efficient Way
    Hold the pistol by your strong hand and FIRMLY grasp the serrations on the slide with your weak hand.
    Push the frame with the Strong hand while holding your weak hand in place.
    Once the Slide is all the way to the rear, release the slide and let it snap back to strip a round off the mag into the chamber.
    This move utilizes the larger muscles in your strong arm instead of pinching your wrist.
    I've trained a lot of shooters that once shown this trick they couldn't believe it was so effortless.

    Advance tips
    Rack your pistol with the muzzle pointing towards your target (out in front of you, chest high).
    You also can learn to rack the pistol using your front serrations to give you a better view of your gun, more control while being more efficient in getting it back on target.

    Practice any new technique with a unloaded firearm to gain and understand your new skill, as always be safe.
     
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  17. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Although I've never had a problem with this, my earliest memory of a rifle jam was during a trip to a public range with Dad. I was maybe ten, and there was a guy, probably drunk, on the far end of the range just blasting away at the 100 yard hill with an M1 carbine. Eventually it jammed, and I saw him set the butt on the ground and proceed to stomp on the charging handle. This obviously pointed the muzzle squarely into his upper chest and head. I didn't get to watch long, since Dad, wanting to keep me from seeing, should this idiot shoot himself, stood in front of me and explained that what the man was doing was very unsafe. It wasn't long before other men put a stop to his dangerous behavior and encouraged him to leave.

    Since much of my life has been on rifle ranges since then I've seen lots of other ways to break rifles and hurt yourself or others trying to clear a round that's jammed in the chamber of a rifle, shotgun or pistol. The technique I use works about 99% of the time, failing only if the extractor pulls the rim off the case, or pops over the rim leaving the case in the chamber. At that point a range rod is needed to knock the stuck case out.

    The preferred, no tools technique goes like this: Remove the magazine, put the firearm on safe. Point the muzzle of a long gun straight up, preferably at the height of a shooting bench, but always with the muzzle above your head in case a live round is fired.
    (especially with rimfire cartridges) If the rifle has a collapsible stock, close it all the way up. Position the butt over a firm surface, which could be a shooting bench, solid wooden stool or firm ground. Now for what makes the old range rat magic work. ;) While pulling rearward on the bolt or charging handle, raise the firearm until the butt is 3-4" from the firm surface and then drop it while following through with your pressure on the bolt, slide, charging handle. 99% of the time the round will be ejected on the first drop. Newton and gravity are your friends. :)

    Always, always, always check the barrel for obstructions if there is any potential that a bullet is now stuck in the barrel.

    This is not "slamming, beating, or pounding" the firearm on the solid surface. Usually all that's required is to let it fall using it's own weight and the force of your hand resting on the bolt handle.

    For semi-auto handguns you don't need anything but your hands and a safe direction to point the firearm. Down range is my preferred direction, and with a firm grip on the top of the slide, I leg go of the grip, draw my hand back and then shove it forward with some force into the grip. My success rate with handguns is only about 70%, and I'll only try this twice before sending them off the line with muzzle elevated to find an armorer. This saves my hands, and gets me back to keeping an eye on the rest of the firing line.

    It isn't rocket science, but it seems to be the last thing that comes to mind when shooters have a round stuck in the chamber. This is not good, since hammers, hunks of wood and stomping on charging handles with feet seem to be their first instinct.
     
  18. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    Early military arms came with ram rods not just for cleaning but for clearing dead rounds .
    I have invested in steel rods for this purpose in my own guns and plan to make the rods fit as they did in military arms.
     
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  19. Godzilla

    Godzilla Monkey++

    I was talking about racking the slide on a Pistol....
     
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  20. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    Yes, you were, and you did a fine job describing the technique.

    I was talking about cartridges that wouldn't extract, and the technique I use to clear them.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2019
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