Tattooed Gunner

Magpul moving to Wyoming and Texas

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 21:46:00 +0000

Magpul announced a few days ago that it would be moving out of Colorado and away from their new restrictive gun laws. They are planning on moving operations to Wyoming, and opening a corporate headquarters in Texas. I say good for them. I don't see any reason for staying in a state where you can't sell your most popular products.

They posted this message on their website:

MAGPUL IS MOVING!

MAGPUL INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR RELOCATION

Company Is Moving Operations to Wyoming and Texas

Magpul Industries announced today that it is relocating its operations to Wyoming and Texas.

The company is relocating manufacturing, distribution and shipping operations to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Magpul is leasing a 58,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility during the construction of a 100,000 square foot build-to-suit facility in the Cheyenne Business Parkway. The Wyoming relocation is being completed with support from Governor Matt Mead, the Wyoming Business Council and Cheyenne LEADS.

Magpul is moving its corporate headquarters to Texas. Three North Central Texas sites are under final consideration, and the transition to the Texas headquarters will begin as soon as the facility is selected. The Texas relocation is being accomplished with support from Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

“Magpul made the decision to relocate in March 2013 and has proceeded on an aggressive but deliberate path” says Doug Smith, Chief Operating Officer for Magpul Industries. “These dual moves will be carried out in a manner that ensures our operations and supply chain will not be interrupted and our loyal customers will not be affected.”

The company began a nationwide search for a new base of operations after legislation was enacted in Colorado that dramatically limits the sale of firearms accessories – the core of Magpul’s business. Magpul plans on initially transitioning 92% of its current workforce outside of Colorado within 12-16 months and will maintain only limited operations in Colorado.

"Moving operations to states that support our culture of individual liberties and personal responsibility is important,” says Richard Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer for Magpul Industries. “This relocation will also improve business operations and logistics as we utilize the strengths of Texas and Wyoming in our expansion.”

About Magpul:

Founded in 1999, Magpul was launched to manufacture an innovative device to aid in the manipulation of rifle magazines while reloading under stress. The company’s name comes from the original product called the Magpul. Over the last decade Magpul has continued to grow and develop into additional product areas using much the same mission and process with a focus on innovation, creativity, and efficiency.

For more information, please contact Duane Liptak atdliptak@magpul.com, 303.828.3460 x170.

Check their website for more information, including responses from the Wyoming and Texas Governors.

Wilderness Tactical Instructor belt: 5 year review.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:24:00 +0000

A little over 5 years ago I bought a 5 stitch Instructor belt from Wilderness Tactical Products. They came highly recommended from pretty much every source I could find.

I consider these great belts. The 5 stitch model is plenty stiff, and does a good job of holding up your gun, extra mag, and all the rest of the stuff we tend to carry around every day. An added bonus is these belts are made in the USA.

I really like the way these belts work. You slide the belt through the buckle, around the moving post, and back out the way it came where you Velcro the tag end down so it doesn't flop around. You have about a 5" adjustment range, and can adjust to any spot in that range. You don't have to worry about having a hole to line up where you need it. This is nice to adjust for when you have your gun on, when you don't, and for how tight or loose you want it. For instance, I wear the belt a lot looser when I am carrying AIWB than when carrying strong side. With the gun in front it needs more leeway to move with your body.

I have worn this belt every day for over 5 years. The Velcro is wore out, on both the hook side and the soft side. There is also wear on the belt itself from my keys and holster clips running against it. The belt itself is still very stiff and has non of the bend that cheap belts get after a while. I have no doubt I could keep wearing this belt and it would keep doing its job. I ordered one of these for my brother for Christmas this year and since I was already placing an order I figured I might as well order me one too...

One interesting thing that The Wilderness offers is you can send your belt back to have the Velcro replaced. They will do the hook side for free, or both sides for $15. Of course, you would have to pay for shipping both ways. I thought about doing this, but by the time I paid for shipping I would be close enough to the price of a new belt that I don't really know that it is worth it. Still an option though.

When it was time for a new belt, I could have ordered from any of the newer companies that make gun belts these days. I knew the quality of Wilderness belts, and I knew they did everything I need a gun belt to do, so I ordered from the same company I had before and was not disappointed when my new belt arrived. If that isn't an endorsement I don't know what is.

Bringing them up right: Brought my son shooting.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 00:43:00 +0000

Christmas eve we got some free time so I loaded up the guns in the truck and took my 8 year old son shooting. He shot his Winchester 67 .22 some then wanted to shoot my AR. He did well with it, popping some balloons. He really likes using the red dot.

Here is the thing: If we are to keep our rights we have to keep interest alive in them. The old saying is, If you don't use them, you lose them. The best way to do that is bring people shooting, especially your family. If you can spark their love for firearms early then it will stay with them for life.

We had a great time shooting, and then breaking the guns down and cleaning them when we got home. That is good clean family fun.

Getting ready to train: What to bring.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 01:40:00 +0000

You have finally decided to get some professional firearm training. You pay your deposit and are waiting for the day to come. Here is what you should bring.

Check out the school's website.

They will have a page listing the things you need to bring. Some of the things you may think you won't need, but it is on the list for a reason.

Guns

Make sure your gun is in good working order. Clean and lube it before you go.

It is a good idea to bring a spare gun if you can. If you don't have a spare gun, bring along some spare parts of the things that may normally break. Training tends to put more stress on guns and gear than just plinking at the range. A cleaning kit and lube would be a good idea as well.

If you are not able to bring a spare gun, the instructor may have back ups, although it will probably have a fee attached.

Ammo

Usually the listed round count for the class is the minimum you will shoot. You should bring at least a couple hundred rounds more than what is listed. Some people say to bring 500 more, others say to double the recommended amount.

One other thing I do is pour all of my ammo out into an ammo can. You don't have to mess with a bunch of boxes and trays and there isn't any trash to keep up with.

Eye and ear protection

You should bring some dark glasses, and some clear or yellow shooting glasses as well.

You should really invest in electronic ear protection if you can afford it. These are ear muffs with microphones that let you hear what the instructor and other students are saying, and then automatically shut off when you shoot. It is so much easier than trying to hear through regular muffs or constantly putting your ear pro on and off. I use the Peltor 6S and they have worked well for me. Be sure to bring extra batteries.

Magazines

Most classes will list you need at least 2 or 3 magazines. I like to bring as many as I can. Reloading mags all day is a necessary part of the deal but I like to minimize it as much as possible. The less you have to stuff ammo in mags the better you can be paying attention to what the instructor is saying.

I will have all of my magazines except for 2 loaded before I get there. I leave the 2 unloaded for the dry fire work at the beginning of class. If you are training with somebody you haven't worked with before it is a good idea to contact them via phone or email and make sure having your mags loaded before hand is ok. You will probably want your gun to be unloaded when you arrive unless you have information otherwise.

You may also want to invest in a magazine loader such as those made by Uplula if you are going to a high round count course, or just aren't used to repeatedly loading mags with your thumb.

Holster, mag pouches, belt, etc.

Training is a great way to test out gear! You get to see what works well, what works ok, and what you should probably replace. You want to bring quality gear.

Your holster should be of a design that stays open at the top to ease reholstering. You will be drawing and holstering a lot during the class and you don't want to be fumbling with the holster the entire time. I personally like kydex holsters, but a good quality leather holster with a reinforced mouth works as well. Another consideration with IWB holsters is the holster should be big enough to cover the entire barrel of the pistol. Minimalist holsters have become popular for concealed carry but tend to be bad for training because the barrel and slide of your gun will become hot from firing a lot. You don't want to burn your leg(or worse if you carry appendix IWB like I do!) from sticking a hot gun inside your pants with nothing covering it.

Your belt, mag pouches, and any other gear used during class should be of high enough quality to not hinder you. You want to be learning, and practicing all day, not fiddling with your gear. Bringing a spare holster or two isn't a bad idea as well.

I am a firm believer that you should train how you carry. But, if your EDC is a little .380 you carry in your pocket, you may want to bring another rig more suited to training. Learning the fundamentals is the same with a full size duty gun as with a small pocket pistol. If you go down this road, bring your EDC gear too and run at least a few drills with that setup. Your instructor may have some tips for your specific method of carry as well, don't be afraid to ask.

One thing that recurred throughout this article is the need for spares. You should bring spares for pretty much everything feasible. Training is hard on gear, which is good. If it is going to fail I would sure rather it happen during a controlled class than in some violent encounter on the street! But at the same time, you don't want to have to sit the rest of the class out because your gun or a piece of your gear broke.

Again, the school's website should have a list of everything you need to bring. I wanted to expand of some of the more important things and throw a few tips in there as well. I hope you found this post helpful. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions. You can also contact me by the link at the top of the page if you have any questions I would be glad to help.

My range update

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 04:08:00 +0000

Did some more work on our range a while ago and did a quick video of me running through it. It is nice having a set up like this to play with and be able to run training drills and IDPA style drills any time we want. Going to start working on getting some steel targets.

Sorry about the video quality. I really need to invest in something better to do video than an old iPhone...

So you want to carry a gun? What you need to get started.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 19 Oct 2013 02:53:00 +0000

If you have been thinking about getting your carry permit and carrying a gun for self defense, here is a list of things to consider and the basics of what you will need. This is intended to be a basic guide, you should research each of these points in depth. This is a minimum list, and doesn't include things like flashlights and knives that you should also carry on a daily basis.

Mindset:

There are a couple of things to consider before you start carrying a gun for self defense. The first is, if you get put into a situation where you need to use your gun, do you think you will be able to take that person's life? Sure, he will probably run away as soon as you draw but what if he/they don't? You have to come to grips with this before hand. If you don't think you can end human life then carrying a gun is not going to be for you.

After you come to grips with that you need to learn when you can and can't shoot, where you can and can't legally carry, and when you should get involved with 3^rd party situations(the answer is never, unless something that shocks humanity is going on.) If you intervene in a man beating a woman, she may press charges against you for hurting her husband. Carrying a gun doesn't make you a cop, or a hero, and the act of carrying a gun isn't a magic talisman that wards off evil.

Mindset is a huge subject and is hard to fit in one bullet point. People have written articles, and even entire books on just this one subject. I suggest finding some of these and studying them.

Carry Permit:

In most states, you will need to get a permit to legally carry a gun. Requirements vary wildly state by state so check with handgunlaws.us to see what you need to do. There are a few states where a permit is not needed such as Arizona and Vermont.

Gun:

You don't have to go super expensive and spend $3000 on a custom 1911, and I actually suggest you don't. But at the same time, you should spend enough to get a quality firearm. I have owned several of the super cheap pistols available on the market. They are fine for range toys if they work at all. Most don't. After all, if you are carrying a gun for self defense and you need to use your firearm, it will be in a life or death situation. I would suggest a Glock in 9mm. However, people are different, so I would suggest trying some different guns out if you can. Most ranges have guns you can rent and shoot. The key here, is the shooting. A lot of the tiny pocket guns that people love are a good bit more difficult to shoot WELL. Whatever you choose, put in the time to become proficient with your weapon. Anything from .380 acp to 10mm will be ok, although there are pros and cons to each. Don't get too carried away by caliber or bullet weight. All handgun rounds suck at stopping people. The old way of thinking was to use the biggest reasonable caliber. I would rather use a slightly smaller caliber and shoot them a whole bunch. This is one of the places magazine capacity comes into play. Another is multiple bad guys.

9mm to me has the best overall package of sufficient power, pistol size, magazine capacity, and light recoil. It is also the cheapest to shoot, allowing you more practice for the same amount of money.

Ammo:

Pretty much any modern, quality defensive ammo will do fine. Speer Gold Dots, Winchester Ranger SXT, Hornady Critical Defense are a few good examples. You do want to use a quality hollow point. They have slightly better stopping power, leave a bigger hole, and are less likely to over penetrate and hit people behind the bad guy.

Holster:

You need a quality holster, that is made for your model gun. Holsters that are "one size fits many" usually aren't very good. You will see that a lot in the cheap nylon holsters. The leather/kydex hybrid holsters such as the Crossbreed SuperTuck and the Aegis Armory are the most comfortable IMO. There are several companies that make these, and most of them are good. Check reviews before you buy. Full kydex holsters are good as well. If you want to carry concealed(and you do) then an Inside the Waist Band(IWB) holster will conceal much easier.

You want to be able to get a full firing grip on your pistol from the holster. Your adrenaline is going to be pumping and fixing your grip after the draw isn't likely to happen.

Most people end up going through a few holsters before they find the one that is right for them.

Belt:

A good gun belt makes carrying much easier. A quality reinforced belt will hold the weight of the gun better than a crappy Walmart belt. Look for reinforced nylon such as the Wilderness Tactical 5 stitch Instructor belt or double thick leather such as those made by Beltman.

Clothing:

You don't have to buy specific clothes to carry a gun, but you do need to make sure what you wear works. If you are using an IWB holster you may need to go up a size in pants to make room for the gun and holster. Tight fitting shirts will allow the gun to show when you don't want it to. Loose, dark colored T-shirts and button up shirts work much better at hiding the gun.

Training:

Formal training is not required past the class you may need to take to get your permit. I have an article here discussing the pros and cons of taking a defensive pistol training class. Cliff notes version: Get it. As much as you can.

Practice:

You need to practice! Everything from basic marksmanship to drawing from concealment, get off the X drills, shooting while moving. Some of this can be practiced with dry fire in your home. Some of it you have to get to the range and put the time in.

Overall, the decision to start carrying a gun for defense is a pretty big one. It requires a commitment and learning from you. There is a little more to it than just throwing a .38 in your pocket. You need to be proficient with your gun BEFORE you need it. You need to be safe with your firearm, make sure you have the 4 safe gun handling rules learned and ingrained. I hope this article is a good starting point for you. Feel free to leave me any questions or comments you may have.

~TattooedGunner

Reminder: Check Your Carry Permit Expiration Date

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 02:30:00 +0000

REMINDER!! Check the expiration date on your Carry Permit!!! It may be closer than you think!

UPDATE: I received my new permit in the mail on November the 6th. A little over a month without the ability to legally carry a firearm on my person. Pay attention!

____________________________________________________________________________________

So the other day it dawned on me that my carry permit was going to expire soon. I checked the date, and it had actually expired a week earlier! Then, because I am working a lot of hours right now, I couldn't make it up to the county probate court to re-apply because I was not getting off before 5pm. So finally yesterday I get off at a reasonable time, head up to the court house and re-apply.

Georgia has a fairly simple process to get a Georgia Weapons Carry License(GWCL.) The GWCL is good for 5 years. Some of the details are dependent on the county in which you live. Such as in some counties you have to go to the jail to have your prints done. When I got my current carry permit, I had to go to the probate court, get some paperwork, bring it to the jail to get printed, get more paperwork and bring it BACK to the probate court and finally everything gets put together and sent in. There was separate fees you had to pay to the probate court and to the jail. Now my county has a much better system. I went to the probate court, they reprinted me, took my picture(the Georgia permit now has your photo on it) and filled out a paper all right there. Paid my money and left, took all of about 15 minutes. Very painless process.

BUT, the lady told me I could expect a 6 WEEK wait! Hopefully it will come back before then but if not I could be looking at the end of November before I can legally carry again. While not as good as having it on you, at least in Georgia you are legal to carry loaded and concealed in your car without a permit. Luckily the government shutdown is not supposed to affect the state issued gun permit system. I got my current permit in the mail 12 days after I applied. That's pretty good.

The moral of the story is, check your expire date on your permit and have it redone a couple of months ahead of time so you do not lose your ability to lawfully carry. Hope this quick reminder has been helpful.

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Shooting Quick Tip: Trigger Press

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 22 Sep 2013 03:07:00 +0000

A proper trigger press is arguably one of the most, if not THE most important thing for making accurate shots with a handgun. It is also one of the easiest things to mess up. Luckily you can practice your trigger press for FREE with dry fire.

There are a few steps to making sure your trigger press is where it needs to be:

Finger placement

You should place your finger on the trigger right in the center of the pad between the tip and the first joint. If you put just the tip of your finger on the trigger, you are not going to have any control and you can actually push your shots left. If you put the trigger all the way in the crease of your first joint you can pull the shot to the right. Right in the middle is where you want to be. You want to focus on moving the trigger directly to the rear, with zero side to side movement.

(Approximately where to place your finger on the trigger.)

NOTE: The exception to this rule is if you are shooting a gun with a heavy double action trigger pull, put your finger on the trigger right in that crease at the first joint. That gives you more strength to help offset the heavy pull.

The PRESS

You want to make sure you are pressing the trigger straight back. You want to make sure you are moving your trigger finger by itself, independently of all your other fingers. Hold up your hand up with your fingers straight out and all together, in a “karate chop” fashion. Now bend just your trigger finger at the second joint until it is bent 80-90 degrees. Now move that finger back and forth in a trigger pressing motion and see if any of your other fingers are moving. Play with that until you can move just your trigger finger by itself. That is the movement you want when you are shooting.

Reset

Start off slow with this one. After the shot, keep the trigger pulled to the rear. Do not immediately let the trigger go back forward. Quickly squeezing the trigger back then letting it fly forward is called “slapping” the trigger. Don't do that. Hold the trigger to the rear until the shot is cleared, then allow the trigger to move forward only enough to reset the trigger. Depending on your gun that could be very little movement, or it could be letting the trigger move all the way back forward. On a Glock, you can hear and feel when the trigger resets. If you are going to shoot again, let the trigger move forward only to that point, and then press and hold again. You can, and should, also take up the initial slack on the first shot, to the point where you would be after a trigger reset.

So to practice this, either think or say aloud as you do it, “Press, Hold, Reset. Press, Hold, Reset.” You can read my post about dry firing here for ideas on how to practice this. You want to watch the front sight, and make sure it doesn't dip or move left and right when you dry fire. If you press the trigger(while dry firing, obviously) and the front sight does not move when the trigger breaks, you are doing it right.

If this quick tip helped you, subscribe to my email list on the right side of the screen, or like Tattooed Gunner on Facebook.

Thanks for reading!

~TattooedGunner

Cool Old Guns 2: H&R 733 .32 S&W Long Revolver

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 22:55:00 +0000

I recently picked up a little H&R .32 S&W Long revolver for practically nothing. It is a 6 shot nickel revolver, model 733. This model was made from 1961 until 1986. H&Rs don't have the fit and finish of a Smith & Wesson or Colt but it isn't a bad little gun.

This one has some pitting and the nickel is pretty much gone from the cylinder. It is actually in better condition than the first picture I saw of it.

I could only find 20 rounds for it locally. They are 85 grain hollow points from Hornady loaded by a small local outfit. I decided to go ahead and shoot 14 of them and keep the last 6 until I can pick up some more.

This is the first six shots:

That's probably about 4 inches or so, and I wasn't trying to be super precise or anything. I was mostly just wanting to make sure it was going to function correctly.

Size comparison for the .32 S&W Long round:

.22 lr, .32 S&W Long, 9mm Luger, .44 mag, .223/5.56x45

Overall it's a pretty cool little old gun. Guns like this are fun to shoot if not useful for much. I wouldn't use it for home defense or concealed carry, but I wouldn't want to be shot by it either.

~TattooedGunner

Should you get training? What about DVDs, Books, YouTube?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 03:32:00 +0000

I got my license to carry a gun in 2008. I have carried off and on since then. In the state of Georgia there is no requirement to get any training at all to get a Georgia Weapon Carry License. You go to courthouse, fill out some paperwork, get printed, get your picture taken, pay your money then wait for your license to come in the mail a few weeks later. Other states require a class, but those usually consist of going over law and the very very basics of shooting safely.

It took me almost exactly 4 years before I got real training with an instructor. Why did it take so long? Well, quality training is relatively expensive. You can buy another gun for the cost of a class, especially once you factor in ammo cost and gas if you have to drive. Billy Bob down at the local indoor range might teach classes for cheap, but what is he teaching? The fact is, if you carry a gun for self defense, knowing how to use that gun can literally be the difference between life and death.

Sure in those 4 years I read lots of articles, browsed a few forums, and watched tons of YouTube videos. I bought quality gear. I even shot a good bit. Hell, I've been shooting guns since my age was in the single digits! I had looked at a few training courses, knew I wanted to do it, and thought "Yeah, I'll get around to doing that one day." After I finally got around to taking a course(review here) there was two phrases that came to mind that I had heard floating around the forums:

You don't know what you don't know.
Man, some of this stuff was completely different that what I would have came up with on my own. It all made a lot of sense though. Getting off the X, shooting while moving(what direction? why?), draw or move first?, what do you do if there is more than 1 bad guy?, what do I do after I shoot?
The "Me" after training would kill the "Me" before training if we were to get in a gun fight.
If this is not the case, you have wasted your money.

That's all well and good, but why not just buy a few DVDs? Can't you learn just as much that way? Eh, I would say that depends on a few things. You probably will learn some good stuff from watching DVDs. The big thing is, are you going to practice it? REALLY practice it? In an actual training course you are going to do the drills, over and over again. The second thing is, how do you know you are doing the techniques as well as you think you are? A lot of these techniques have small nuances that can make a big difference. Having a good instructor watching you shoot and critiquing you can mean the difference between kinda knowing what you are doing and mastering a technique. I think DVDs can be valuable tools. They are good refreshers. I think they are good for seeing some of the differences in what different schools teach. I also think that you can get a lot more out of a DVD if you really have your basics down pat from taking a course.

Another benefit of attending training courses that isn't often thought of is getting to hang out with other people that have the same views as you regarding guns and taking care of yourself. When you are carrying concealed you may pass by any number of other people also carrying, but if you are both doing your job concealing you will never know it. Every time I have went to training there has been a camaraderie there. You get to talk about the things you usually aren't supposed to talk about, and you get to meet some pretty cool people there. Going out for food and BSing after training is common. We are lucky in that there is a good little mom and pop diner just down the road from our usual training location so we usually all grab lunch together too. This is also a good time to ask the instructor questions you may have that don't pertain to exactly the class you are attending. I know every time I go, I pester Randy about all sorts of things.

Cliff notes version:
Pros:

Learn to shoot better, probably WAY better
Learn skills and techniques to better defend yourself if you ever have to use your gun.
Become more confident, which actually shows and makes you less of a target(Criminals love easy targets)
Meet good people
Test out your gear. Does it really work as good as you think it does?
Learn what and how to practice. Instead of just going to the range and blowing targets away, you learn effective ways to practice.
It's fun!

Cons:

There really aren't any. Unless you go to Instructor Bubba and accidentally get shot. Don't be that guy, go to a reputable trainer. Note: I'm not saying training has to cost $1000. As a matter of fact it shouldn't cost that much, especially basic classes. You can get quality training for just a couple hundred bucks. Just make sure you read plenty of reviews before you go.

Update: I've had a lot of feedback saying that cost is a con. Yeah, it can be I guess, and is probably one of the main reasons I didn't go sooner. I really think however, that if you get some quality training when it is over you aren't going to be like, "man I just wasted my money on this, I should have just kept watching youtube!"

Thanks for reading. Check me out on Facebook!

~TattooedGunner

Cool Old Guns 1: Winchester model 67 .22 review

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 03:33:00 +0000

I'm going to do a few reviews of some older guns I have laying around. There is nothing tactical about these guns, they aren't super evil black rifles. They are still cool and they are still fun to shoot. I am going to call this series "Cool Old Guns." First up is my Winchester model 67 single shot .22.

I got this gun in one of my various trades on a local Georgia gun trading forum, called The Outdoors Trader. I got it with the intention of re-selling or trading it down the line. After messing around with it and shooting it some, I really got to liking this old gun. Last year, I gave it to my son for his 7th birthday, his first firearm. He has a blast shooting it, and I still do too.

My son after shooting his .22 the first time. Not too bad of a group for a beginner!

The model 67 was introduced in 1934 as a less expensive version of the model 60. Winchester continued to make the rifles until 1963. It is chambered for .22 short, long, and long-rifle interchangeably. It is a very basic design consisting of a bolt action that has to be manually cocked for each shot. The rifles also have a safety which is a rotating sleeve over the firing pin assembly that physically blocks the firing pin assembly from moving forward. They have a 27 inch barrel, with standard post and notch iron sights. The stock is removable by one take-down screw, and the entire gun can be disassembled with nothing more than a screwdriver and a couple of punches.

Closeup of manual cocker

Cocked, and ready to fire. Notice channel that pin on firing pin assembly assembly travels in.

With safety on. Notice sleeve stops firing pin assembly from moving forward because of protruding pin.

My 67 was made somewhere between 1938 and 1944. Winchester did not put serial numbers on guns this old so there is no way to track exact manufacture date. I can only narrow it down that much by the various small design changes over the years.

Markings showing gun is able to shoot .22 short, .22 long, and .22 long rifle.

My gun is accurate. I can routinely hit a 9mm case off of a nail from about 15 yards away standing. Being a single shot, it forces you to slow down and take your time to get a good shot. .22s are just plain fun to shoot, and this one is no different. This is a great plinking gun, fun to try and shoot acorns off of trees or any number of other likely targets in the woods. I think that calmly walking through the woods with a .22 and a pocket full of ammo is something that is isn't done as much these days, and I think that is a shame. Back when .22 ammo was cheap and plentiful, I can't tell you how many thousands of rounds me and my friends ran through our .22s. Nobody got hurt, nobody got in trouble, just good clean fun in the woods behind our houses.

Thanks for reading! What is your favorite old gun? Leave a comment and let me know.

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~Tattooed Gunner

Started work on our tactical range.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 02:47:00 +0000

Me and my brother started building our own range a few days ago. We are going to build multiple target stands and different cover/concealment areas. All will be able to be moved so we can set up multiple stages, similar to IDPA or IPSC. This will be a great way to better our shooting skills, and just enjoy some time shooting.

The cool thing is, all of this was made from materials scavenged from work and other places, so total cost for this is whatever the nails cost. That leaves more money for ammo! Now if I could just find some...

This is what we have so far:

Target Stands:

These are overbuilt as heck, but we plan on using them for a while so that's a good thing. I got the dimensions for IDPA targets off the internet and cut several out of scrap cardboard slip sheets.

Cover/Concealment wall:

These can be used with the window or just as a wall.

This is one of the target stands set up. We were using it for the extremely tactical role of sighting in Jesse's .22 mag.

Here is a video of everything set up:

This is just a start, we are going to build a lot more stuff as we get time. I want to get some steel targets to add as well.

Thanks for checking it out, and don't forget to like Tattooed Gunner on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

~Tattooed Gunner

My EDC

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 02:48:00 +0000

Seems like you can't have a 2nd amendment website, youtube channel, or podcast without having a page about your EDC, so here is my obligatory EDC post!

2nd Generation Glock 17 9mm. 2nd generation only because I got an awesome deal on it. After a trip to Glock in Smyrna, GA, all internals replaced with new, and magazines swapped to new 4th gen magazines. They did all that for free. That's great customer service. It has Glock night sights on it as well.

(For the safety police: the gun was very much so loaded in this picture. It is, after all, a carry gun.)

Dale Fricke Archangel holster. Holster is set up for AIWB(Appendix Inside The Waistband). I have 3 of Dale's products, and they are all exceptional quality.

Wilderness Tactical 5 Stitch belt. A quality gun belt is absolutely necessary part of carrying a gun. It holds the gun up, and close to your body. I've had this belt since early 2008. The velcro is starting to wear but the belt still works fine.

Cold Steel Voyager XL. 5.5" blade, this is a huge knife. It took me awhile to get used to carrying a "pocket sword." Now that I am used to it, all other pocket knives feel tiny in comparison. I actually really like this knife. It holds a good edge and is easy to sharpen. Inertia opening is incredibly easy.

(Shown with Glock 17 mag for size comparison.)

Surefire 6PLED Defender. This flashlight is pretty old technology now but it still works great. Surefire really stands behind their products. After a few years of constant carry and use the lens cracked. I called Surefire and they put me a new one in the mail no questions asked. I started carrying a flashlight because I used one at work, but the thing is I am constantly using it. Also, you can take a flashlight with you anywhere. Federal buildings, airplanes, wherever.

I don't always carry an extra mag, but when I do it is in a Dale Fricke Gideon Elite mag carrier. I have also just thrown an extra mag in my back pocket before. Not exactly "tactical" but it works.

Keys, Wallet, Pen, iPhone. Normal crap to get through the day.

(Picture taken with iPhone, hard to be in the picture that way.)

That's all my carry. Leave a comment on what you carry, or with any questions on mine. Thanks.

Check me out on facebook at www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

~Tattooed Gunner

Dry Fire Practice

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 02:43:00 +0000

According to Wikipedia, Dry Firing is "the practice of "firing" a firearm without ammunition. That is, to pull the trigger and allow the hammer or striker to drop on an empty chamber."

This is one of the most useful things you can do to maintain, and even improve your shooting skills. You can practice drawing, getting proper grip on the gun, sight alignment, reloading, malfunction drills, sight picture, trigger manipulation, and even get off the X drills without ever firing a live round. It doesn't cost anything, there is no driving to and from the range, and it can actually be fun. Dry fire practice will not completely replace live fire, of course. Nothing can. There is no recoil, you don't get to see exactly where your rounds hit, and you can't practice strings of fire. This article is talking about pistol dry fire, but most of the same techniques can be used with long guns as well.

But does it hurt your gun? Well, rimfires and some old guns can absolutely be damaged. Almost all modern centerfire firearms are capable of being dry fired without harm to the weapon. If you have any doubts, you can pick up some snap caps(plastic "ammo" with a spring under what would be the primer in a live round). You can pick these up pretty cheap, and they come in useful for other things like ball and dummy drills. A quick google search with the model of your gun and "dry fire" should also let you know if you are ok to go.

So the question is, what to practice?

DISCLAIMER: ALWAYS make double sure your firearm is unloaded before doing any dry fire or you may find your practice to be not so dry after all. It is a good idea to leave all ammo and loaded magazines in a separate room, and still make sure you keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. Check AGAIN to make sure the firearm is unloaded. Another good idea that I think I got from Ben Branam over at Modern Self Protection is to say aloud "I am now about to begin dry fire practice" when you start and again out loud "I am now finished with my dry fire practice" when you are done before you load back up. Do not be in a hurry when you are going to dry fire.

Ok, I have a few different things that I will practice when I do this:

The first is trigger manipulation. A correct trigger press is one of the most important fundamentals. Focusing on a deliberate rearward press without moving the gun off target by flinching or otherwise doing things that would cause the sights to move. There is a few ways to do this.

The first is to push the gun out just like you are going to shoot. Align your sights, and watch your front sight as you press the trigger to the rear. At the moment the trigger breaks you should not notice the sights jump. If the front sights pushes down and to the left you are jerking the trigger. Practice this until you can routinely watch the front sight not move when the trigger breaks. When you get consistent results in a two hand firing grip, practice right hand only and left hand only. A harder alternative is to balance a coin or an empty casing on top of your front sight if it is flat. Press the trigger without letting the casing fall off.

Draw. Dry fire is a great way to practice your draw stroke. You should practice wearing the same clothing and holster that you normally use. This works equally well for concealed carry and competition rigs. The trick here is to practice nice and slow and do it RIGHT. Doing a bunch of crappy fast draw strokes doesn't help you any. Start out slow. Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast. I will start off with some stationary draws, paying attention to each step. Firing grip, bring gun straight up to rest thumb joint against pec muscle, rotate gun towards target via bringing elbow down, bring hands together and extend. After that feels good, I will add in some movement.

Draw while moving to several angles from target. Remember that moving straight ahead or backwards does not get you off the line of fire. You need to move laterally. A couple of steps straight back to make some distance if standing very close is ok, but you still need to incorporate some lateral movement as soon as possible.

Snap caps come in handy for doing reloading and malfunction drills. Doing a reload or a Tap, Rack, Bang with an empty magazine is going to cause the slide to lock back giving you less realistic feedback. Snap caps can also be used to set up double feeds.

So a typical dry fire session will look something like this:

15-20 Two hand trigger presses(with or without balancing empty casing on front sight)
10 Right hand only trigger presses
10 Left hand only trigger presses

15 Draws from concealment stationary into 2 hand grip
10 Draws from concealment stationary right hand only
20 Draws from concealment moving laterally in different directions. Which way you move will determine two hand or one hand grip. (Moving towards your 7 O'Clock makes a two hand grip all but impossible)(Remember to move with your feet facing direction of travel)

5 Reloads
5 Tap/Rack
5 Double feed clearance

Sometimes I do this, sometimes I leave some of it out, sometimes I add in more, like one hand reload and malfunction clearance. You can tailor it to fit your needs. It is better to do several 15-30 minutes sessions over the course of a week than try to spend 2 hours doing dry fire all at once. Your mind will shut down and you won't gain anything trying to do that.

I hope this article helped you. If it did, please leave a comment and subscribe. Check me out on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner. Thanks!

~Tattooed Gunner

Concert review: Rockstar Mayhem Festival, Atlanta, GA 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 03:22:00 +0000

I went to the Rockstar Energy Drinks Mayhem Festival in Atlanta, Georgia on July 30, 2013. The event started at 1:00 pm and lasted until 11:00 pm, and was held at Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood.

We got to Lakewood at 10:30 with the intention of tailgating and grilling only to find out they don't open the parking lot until noon. Luckily there is a park right across the street. We parked there and done our grilling. At noon we found our parking spot and made quick friends with the 4 guys next to us. We had an hour to drink before the concert started and we wasted no time in doing so. We caught a bat in the parking lot. That's probably the most random thing ever...

Once we went in the venue, there was close to 20 bands that played, on 4 different stages. 3 stages were set up in the usual parking area, with 4 bands playing at the actual amphitheater. In addition to the bands, there was a motocross area with bikes jumping back and forth and doing tricks.

Rockstar had a tent set up with free "energy water" and regular energy drinks. With the price of a regular bottle of water at $5 and $11 for a beer, these free drinks were a big hit. Being under their tent, with the fans running really helped with the heat for the few minutes you were in there. Kudos to Rockstar for that.

Free stuff is good!

There were multiple vendors send up, some for the bands, and others for great causes like "I <3 Boobies" and "F*ck Cancer."

Of the outside stages, Machine Head was my personal favorite. All the bands actually did a good job, I can't remember hearing any of them being really bad this year. A few years ago there was a band so bad the crowd started booing them and everybody moved over to a different stage where nobody was playing yet.

The four bands on the headlining stage were, in order of appearance: Amon Amarth, Mastodon, Five Finger Death Punch, and Rob Zombie. You can tell these bands were further along in there career, as progressively more and more money was spent on their stages.

Unfortunately I don't have any good pictures of the main stage. My iPhone can't handle all the flashing lights and the staff kept making me put up the better camera I had with me.

Five Finger Death Punch was my overall favorite for the evening. They started off strong with "Under and Over It." After a few songs they invited up a group of soldiers, thanked them for their service, and told a story about the last time they were in Iraq. They played a couple more songs then invited up several kids from the audience to stand on the stage during a song. They really rocked all their songs, and had great crowd interaction.

Rob Zombie was the last to play. I'm pretty sure he was either drunk or high as hell on something. He put on a good show but couldn't seem to remember the words to the verses of the songs. I guess if you are Rob M-Fing Zombie you get to do whatever you want to. Any words he missed was made up for with the super elaborate stage. Several large screens played various scenes from his movies, cartoons, and videos. There was lots of pyro and flash going on, and Rob came out on stage on several large stage props during some of his songs. After a (staged?) spat with security the show ended. One of the bad things about the Lakewood venue is a strict 11:00 pm shut off time due to noise ordinances.

Overall it was a really long day. We had a lot of fun like always, although I do think this was the hottest concert I have went to. I love live music. Metal concerts have a way of bringing people together that wouldn't normally be friends. Young, old, white, black, skinny, fat, non of that matters here. It's all about the music, and having a good time.

Check me out on Facebook! www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

~Tattooed Gunner

Tattoo Artist Interview: Stan from The Tattoo Shop in Albany, Georgia

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Jul 2013 01:49:00 +0000

Today I have an interview done with Stan from The Tattoo Shop in Albany, Georgia. Stan's website can be found at TattoosByStan.com

So, Stan, How long have you been tattooing?

Going on lucky 13yrs.

What did you do before you were a tattoo artist?

Graphic arts

What got you interested in being a tattoo artist?

My Grandfather had some pretty gnarly WWII Navy tattoos. Always was interested in them after seeing those.

Did you do an apprenticeship? If so, how long?

About 2 yrs

How old were you when you got your first tattoo?

18. It was some tribal shit, yay 90's!

Who would you say influenced you as an artist, tattoo or otherwise?

Skateboard art, Traditional tattoo art mostly

What do you like to do besides tattooing?

Spend time with my Wife, and twin boys, Shoot guns, and collect Star Wars and horror props.

What is your favorite “style” of tattoo to do?

I like it all really. Have the most fun with horror themed.

What is the strangest tattoo you have ever done?

Would definitely say a butt with a pirate hat, and a patch that says "Swab me poop deck"

What is your favorite part of being a tattoo artist?

Being able to enjoy what you do.

What is your least favorite part?

Dealing with the occasional asshole.

What do you think about “scratchers?”

Broken hands can't tattoo.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Still tattooing?

Damn sure hope so. It's a riot, makes going to "work" not such a bad thing.

Seeing as how my blog is Tattooed Gunner, how do you feel about firearms and the 2nd amendment?

I think they are essential to the country, and for our freedom. 'Merica!!!

What is your favorite gun (that you actually own or otherwise)?

Probably my Glock 30s, it's always with me.

Thanks to Stan for doing the interview.

Feel free to comment, and share!

Check me out on facebook at www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

~ Mike the Tattooed Gunner

Interview with Randy Harris: Suarez International Staff Instructor

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 17:44:00 +0000

I believe that if you are going to carry a gun for self defense, or even use a gun for home defense, you should get some professional training. I am a country boy, I grew up around guns my whole life. However, I have found the saying, "You don't know what you don't know" to be true. After taking some training I realized I didn't know half the stuff I thought I did about shooting. It took me about 4 years after I got my carry permit before I actually got training. I kept putting it off, making excuses, it was too expensive or I just didn't have time.

That being said, when I did finally get around to taking some training I had researched all the different schools within a 2-3 hour drive. During that research I found Warrior Talk, Suarez International's web forum. After reading for a few months I really liked what I found and finally got around to signing up for my first class: Defensive Pistol Skills through Suarez International. Randy Harris is the closest Suarez instructor to me, and had a date coming up. Randy ended up being a great instructor, and a good guy to talk to. I bet I asked him 1000 questions whenever we had a break, or lunch. I reviewed that class here.

I asked Randy to do an interview for Tattooed Gunner and he was kind enough to give me his time:

First off Randy, thanks for doing this interview for Tattooed Gunner.

Thank you for the invitation.

Randy, tell us what you do?

In my day job I work for a shooting sports wholesaler. Most weekends I'm either teaching Concealed Carry, Self Defense, or Weapons and Tactics classes or shooting matches. I'm a Tennessee state certified Handgun Carry Instructor, NRA certified Pistol Instructor, and Staff Instructor for Suarez International.

Can you tell us how you got started as an instructor with Suarez International?

Back in 2003 when Warriortalk went online I was one of the first 125 members. It was a different place than most other "gun forums" on the web because SERIOUS students of the art could go there and discuss and develop things without constantly having to deal with the silliness on some other sites. In 2005 Gabe Suarez decided he wanted to hire some instructors and put out the call for resumes. He knew me from the forum and told me to send a resume and to come to the 4 day Ultimate Combat Skills class he was running in Nov of 2005. So I went to Atlanta to the class and when it was over I asked him what he thought....he asked "When can you start"? So I guess I must have done something to make him feel like I'd be a good instructor and representative for his company.

Have you been around guns your whole life? If not, what got you into them?

Yes and No. I was always playing with toy guns as a kid and watching westerns and cop shows. Gunsmoke was on every night in syndication and was my favorite show. But my parents were not into guns really. My dad had served in the military and by all accounts was an excellent shooter, but that was just not something he did as a hobby or anything. It was pretty much bb guns for me. So I really did not get into shooting real guns until I was about 20. But I was the kid reading all the gun magazines at the grocery store while my mom was shopping. I already knew quite a bit about it , just did not have the opportunity until I was a little older.

I know you have shot a lot competitively, tell us a little about that. What all types of matches did you shoot?

I'm a Master class IDPA shooter. I've done Cowboy Action Shooting, 3 Gun, Subgun, and GSSF (Glock Sport Shooting Foundation). I've probably won more than my fair share of matches. Now though, due to my teaching schedule, I don't get to shoot nearly as many matches as I used to.

In your cowboy action shooting, you go by Cruel Hand Luke, is there a story behind that?

In SASS (Single Action you Shooting Society) everyone shoots under an alias. I probably agonized over an alias for a month before joining SASS. I wanted something cool. I finally came up with Cruel Hand Luke. I wanted something cool but also maybe a bit sinister. A "cow hand " or a "ranch hand" was a cowboy. So Cruel Hand Luke is actually a bit of a play on words and it fit my Cowboy shooting persona.

What would you say is your favorite thing about training, whether instructing or as part of taking classes yourself?

I enjoy taking classes and the camaraderie of hanging out with like minded people. But probably the biggest thrill is, as an instructor, taking someone who is not very confident with their abilities and making them more competent and confident with their ability to defend themselves and their families. That also translates into other areas of their lives. They become more confident and I believe that enhances their overall quality of life. We are not just teaching people to shoot. We are teaching people to think and to take control of their lives.

What is your favorite gun that you own or have owned?

Wow...where to start??? Maybe the M-60 I used to have? That is a tough question.....a couple of favorites would be the 1911 my great grandfather used in a gunfight in 1920, my RMR equipped Glock 17 with custom grip work that I carry, and my Colt 653 (that is a factory M16A1 carbine). Those are few of my favorites.

(TG note: I have shot the Glock 17 mentioned. It is a sweet pistol.)

Any insight on what your EDC is?

These days I generally roll with a G17 with custom grip work done by my friend Jeff Bishop at Grimm Brothers Armory carried in either a Blade Tech or Dale Fricke IWB holster, a single spare mag in Blade Tech mag pouch, Ka Bar TDI LE knife on my belt and Spyderco Delica in my back pocket, Surefire E2D flashlight, and Cav Arms Tourniquet.

I use the Spyderco to open boxes, cut rope , and other mundane tasks. The TDI is a fixed blade accessible with either hand to get me out of a clinch or grounded problem if I can't get out of it with empty hands. The TQ is there because there is no guarantee that we or a loved one will not be injured in a confrontation (or a car wreck for that matter). Being able to stop massive hemorrhage is a good thing.

What do you enjoy besides shooting?

You mean there is something to do BESIDES shooting? Just kidding. I like to read , mostly historical stuff, and I like to travel with my wife. We love a good trip to the beach either here or abroad. We really like the Caribbean.

If you could give only ONE tip to improve somebody's shooting, what would it be?

Take a class from ME. Just kidding....

Seriously, my one piece of advise is get professional training as early on as you can. That way you do not waste time learning bad habits and then have to unlearn them. I pretty much taught myself to shoot pistols, but it was a process of trial and error in shooting matches that could have been quicker if I'd had professional training earlier on. It took me years to come to the same conclusions about grip and trigger control that I could have learned from a good instructor. That is part of why I teach now. I can teach people how to do it right from the beginning and save them the frustration of figuring it out on their own.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just like to thank you for the interview and hope to see you in class soon! If anyone is interested in what classes I have coming up you can check here.....http://www.suarezinternationalstore....px?find=harris

Thanks again Randy!

Thank YOU.

If you are looking for some training I highly recommend Suarez International, and Randy Harris in the Chattanooga, TN(and other) areas.

Thanks for taking the time to read this interview. If you like what you read, check me out on facebook at www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

Pictures courtesy of warriortalk.com and www.grimmbrothersarmory.com

Getting tattooed: What to expect during and after.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Jul 2013 02:29:00 +0000

So you have found a great artist, decided on what you want to get and where. Good for you! Here is what to do next:

Go talk to the artist.

Stop by the shop and discuss with the artist what you want and where. He will give you feedback and you can come to a conclusion. This needs to be done in person, not over the phone or on facebook. Calling ahead to see if the artist is free is ok. If you get there and the artist is busy, ask how long until he is done or taking a break. Tell the person at the counter you are wanting to talk to the artist about a tattoo. If he is busy you can wait or come back. The best time to go is during the week, generally as close to when they open as possible. You are going to have this for the rest of your life so there is no reason to rush this.
This is also a good time to discuss price. Ask what the artist thinks the piece will cost. If it is a big or detailed piece he may not be able to give you a definite answer but should be able to put it in the ballpark. Do not try to haggle the price down! Do you really want somebody to permanently mark on you who you implied wasn't worth his price?
After you talk to the artist you can set up an appointment. You may also need to pay a deposit to hold your time slot, especially if you are using a busier artist.

So you got an appointment, and you wait and wait and finally the day comes! What should you do, and what can you expect once you get to the shop?

Take a shower before you go!

This should be common sense. You are going to be spending time with your artist leaned over close to you, you shouldn't stink. Also, a fresh tattoo is technically an open wound. You do not want it to get dirty and get infected.

If you are getting inked somewhere with a lot of hair, shave the area before you go.

The tattoo artist will shave the area again anyway, but there is no point in him having to spend 10 minutes trying to clear your jungle of arm hair off.

Show up early.

Show up before your appointment to have time to fill out the paperwork and get ready.

DON'T drink, do drugs, or take any sort of pain medication that may include blood thinners.

You WILL bleed when you get a tattoo. Don't do anything to make yourself bleed more.
In most(if not all) places, it is actually illegal to tattoo somebody that is drunk. Don't do it.

DO eat before you go. Being stabbed thousands of times with a needle is a shock to your body. It is fairly common for your blood sugar to drop and you can actually pass out. This is more embarrassing than anything. NOTE: While you are being tattooed on, if you start to feel woozy or lightheaded AT ALL, TELL THE ARTIST! This happens, and he will know what to do. Nothing wrong with taking a break and drinking a coke or eating something.
Go over any last minute updates, or any questions or concerns you may have before you get started. Once you start, you are committed.
The drawing will be put onto your skin via transfer paper. This gives the artist a "stencil" or guide for doing the outlining. Unless you are really brave and let them do it freehand!
The artist will get you situated where he can get to the area easily. Then he will get out all of the supplies he needs to do your tattoo. All of your needles will be brand new, taken out of the pack in front of you. They then get disposed of when you are done. The artist will usually use two separate tattoo guns, one for outlining, and one for shading. All ink used will be put in small disposable ink cups so the main bottle does not get contaminated.
GO TIME!!

About the pain: IT HURTS, REALLY REALLY BAD!!!! Actually, depending on your pain tolerance and location of the tattoo it really isn't that bad. Generally speaking, the closer to the bone the location is, the more pain there will be. Also, the more detail in the piece, the more times the same spot is going to be gone over, the more it will hurt.
Actually getting a tattoo is my favorite part. I love to watch the art come out of nothing. Even if a stencil is used, the skill is in getting crisp lines that aren't jagged or crooked. The shading and coloring is where the great artists are distinguished from the good ones.
During the tattoo, the artist will wash the excess ink off with antibacterial green soap. This stuff has a distinctive clean smell. I can't smell it without thinking "tattoo shop."
When the tattoo is done you get to check it out. If you notice anything you don't like point it out. Sometimes a spot may need touched up.
Congratulations, you have your first tattoo! The artist will bandage the spot up, you can pay anything you didn't pay for before you got started, and you are ready to go. If you like it, Tip The Artist!
If you decide you want to use any special creams or lotions made just for helping tattoos heal, you can also get them at the shop at this time. Ask the artist if you aren't sure. He will give you instructions on how to care for the tattoo.

Aftercare:

After you leave the shop, leave the bandage on for at least a few hours. 4-6 is usually sufficient.
It is normal for the tattoo to burn a little during the first day or two. To me it feels like a sunburn.
When you take the bandage off, gently wash the tattoo with antibacterial soap. You should wash the tattoo 2 or 3 times a day for the first several days to keep it clean. You don't want any hard spray of water to hit the tattoo, let the water run onto it. Don't soak the tattoo for at least a week, preferably two. This includes swimming, hot tubs, long baths.
Keep the tattoo moisturized, but not too much so. You can use the cream you got at the shop for this, or just regular unscented lotion. Don't let the tattoo get dry but don't put so much lotion on that it clogs up your pores.
Don't wear tight clothing over the tattoo for a few days. Don't re-bandage after you take the first bandage off. The tattoo needs air to heal.
Don't use petroleum jelly based products, this can actually make your new tattoo fade, or pull color out while it is healing.
Use caution in the sun. The sun is the number 1 thing that will cause your tattoo to fade. It is always a good idea to use sunscreen over the tattoo if you are going to be exposed for any length of time.
Don't pick at any scabs that may form. Pulling a scab off before it is ready can pull color/ink out with it. If you do get scabs, it is normal for them to be the color of the tattoo, just don't rip it off.

After a couple of weeks, your tattoo will be fully healed. If you notice any spots that need touched up, stop by the shop and show the artist and he will usually be happy to touch it up for you. Your tattoo artist wants your tattoo to look good as much as you do. Happy customers are repeat customers, and happy customers tell(and show!) their friends. Enjoy your tattoo! Check me out on facebook at www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

My tattoos.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 18:15:00 +0000

I have five tattoos. They range from crappy to really good. It took me awhile before I found an artist I really liked that does great work.

Pictures are posted in order that I got them. Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

1. Dragon

This was my first tattoo. I was 18 and just went to a local shop and picked something off the wall. This tattoo is on my upper left arm.

2. Rattlesnake

Second tattoo. Saw one similar to this in a tattoo magazine while I was at the shop when my stepdad was getting a coverup done. This took about 6 hours to do, all in one sitting. It really needs to be re-done or covered up. Upper right arm.

3. Tribal Dragon

Third tattoo. This one a good friend of mine did. It was either the 2nd or 3rd tattoo he ever done. Will eventually be covered up by a Space themed half sleeve with stars and planets and aliens and stuff. Located on lower right leg. He still does tattoos, and has gotten a lot better.

4. Wizard

Fourth tattoo. I had this one done in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. My first color tattoo. I recently had it reworked by my current artist. It wasn't horrible, but some of the lines didn't line up, and the color wasn't blended very well. Oddly enough, this is the tattoo that most people say is their favorite of mine.

What it looked like when I got it:

After I had it reworked:

5. Mad Scientist

My favorite by far. I love this tattoo. This took 3 sessions. About 9 hours total, including doing the design. This design was never on paper, and was a collaboration of two artists. "Nails" drew the design on my arm with sharpie markers and started the line work, and Wes Lingerfelt did the rest. Nails was supposed to do some more of the work but when I went back for my second session he was working on a huge backpiece. This was done at Eternal Expressions in Rome, Georgia. I completely recommend this shop for anybody wanting to get anything done in the area. Wes and the guys do good work. Check out their facebook page here.

I really need some better pictures.

This picture was taken right after the second session, all of the tattoo was done except for some stuff on the sides and at the top. Really shows the tattoo better:

And just the line work:

All in all, I love my work. Some of them are pretty crappy but I still like them. Thanks for checking out my ink. Check me out on facebook at www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

Gun class review: Suarez International Defensive Pistol Skills with Randy Harris

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 01:49:00 +0000

I took this class in August, 2012 and wrote the review right after. I figured I would add it here as well. I added a few things for this post from the original review.

I took Suarez International's Defensive Pistol Skills class with Randy Harris in Chattanooga, TN. This is a two day class. I have been around guns my whole life, I'm a country boy, but this was my first real training. I have a concealed carry permit, and carry a pistol on a regular basis. If you are going to do this, you need to take a training class to be more effective and be ready in case you ever actually need to use your gun.

First thing, this class was listed as a Chattanooga class, which is Eastern Time, but the class was actually held in Alabama, which is Central Time. I showed up the first day about an hour and a half early because I was thinking eastern time. The class was clearly listed in CST on the website. So that is my bad, better early than late.

Ok, so the actual class: First thing after signing waivers and going over safety rules we spent a while discussing mindset, and Randy's PESTS EAT FAST. This is a long, but excellent article on everything from situational awareness to after a gunfight. Then we went over the 4 stupids. Don't do Stupid things, with Stupid People, at Stupid Places, at Stupid times. Basically, don't go to a gas station in the hood at 2 am. Then we all showed clear chambers and mags and did some dry work, Randy showing us the techniques we would need for the weekend and we spent until lunch working dry practice.

After lunch we went to the range and started working on putting our dry practice to work with live fire. We started with slow, take all the time you need to get it done right shots on a 3" circle from ~4-5 yards away. Then Randy showed us that with a proper grip and draw stroke you don't have to get a perfect sight picture to get good shots if your are up close. After some more drills(including variations of a "dot" drill and "ball and dummy") we got to take turns shooting at a COM size steel target from ~5 yards back to about ~25 yards. Randy explained that starting with the 3" circle gets you used to hitting more accurate, consistent shots than starting out shooting a full size COM target. Aim small, miss small.

After we were done the first day we all pitched in and got pizza and I took the opportunity to pester Randy with all sorts of questions about guns/defensive related topics. It's not everyday that you get to hang out with a SI Instructor with the amount of knowledge Randy has about this stuff, and I took full advantage of that.

The second day started with a sit down discussion including review from the first day and Randy read several excerpts from various articles, studies, and newspaper stories, and shared some of his own experiences. Then we went to the range and did a few of the drills from the first day to get warmed up then we went to the realistic looking "70s mustache guy" target. This is where we started speeding our shots up, shooting with or without actual sight alignment depending on how close or far we where from the target. We also included a simple single step left or right get off the X as part of our draw, and started doing after shot assessment as part of every shot string. After doing the "scan for other people that need shot" several times Randy noticed everybody not really paying attention, just turning our heads but not really looking. After one drill he asked, "what did I just have in my hand when y'all turned your head to scan?" After getting blank stares he drew his knife again and told us we all just died. Everybody actually scanned after that. At the end of the day after a few more drills(including a multiple adversary drill) we got to try out the steel target again, back to about 40 yards this time. Everybody showed a marked improvement over the previous day. Then Randy got out his TSD modified Glock 17 with Trijicon RMR red dot sight and everybody got to try it out.

Overall I was really happy with the class. I had a blast and came out shooting much better than I went in. I used my EDC 2nd gen Glock 17 in a Dale Fricke Archangel holster worn at 12:00 for the class. I did not shoot myself in the femoral artery or blow my junk off. Suarez teaches a "reluctant reholster" and emphasized that there is never really a time where you would need to reholster fast, so you can take plenty of time for that part.

Thanks for checking out my review! Check me out on facebook at www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

Make your first Tattoo great.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 00:21:00 +0000

I have always loved tattoos. An older cousin had a few when I was a young kid and I fell in love with them then. When I turned 18 I couldn't wait, I had to have some ink. If only I knew then what I know now, I would be a lot happier with the ink I have. I want to put a few pointers out there for people looking to get their first tattoo, or even getting their second, third, etc. if they haven't been truly happy with the ink they have.

Find a great artist.

Tattoos are expensive. Tattoos from great artists can be more so. My current artist's quoted rate is $150 an hour. The thing is, you are going to have this forever. Unless you go through the expensive and painful laser removal process. Finding the right artist is absolutely the most important thing you can do to get a tattoo you will truly love. Before you commit, go to every shop in your area and check out their work. When I go into shops I also look around for trophies or awards from tattoo conventions. Ask every person you see with a tattoo who did it, and if they are happy with it. Ask enough people and you will see a trend. You may be lucky enough to have a few great artists in your area, if so go talk to them and tell them what you are thinking about getting. See which one you connect better with. Also some artists specialize in certain styles, such as portraits, oriental, color, black and grey, etc.

Don't get your first tattoo somewhere where you can see it with a short sleeve shirt on.

It is a lot better today than it was in the past, but most people WILL look at you differently with ink. I currently have a tattoo on both of my lower arms. They are well done ink, they aren't trashy or in bad taste. I noticed when I got the first lower arm tattoo that some people at work instantly started treating me just a little different as soon as I had it done. Mostly people assume I am either dumb or will be a bad worker or other things. I don't really care, I didn't get them for other people. This could bother some people. Just something to be aware of if you are a sensitive type. Some places won't hire you if you have ink showing. Also, if you end up not liking your ink you don't have to look at it constantly if it's under your shirt or on your leg or something.

Don't get "flash"

"Flash" is the name for the pre-drawn designs hanging all over the walls of the shop. It's ok to get ideas from flash but you don't want to actually get one of those for a few different reasons. One is that you are getting a tattoo that several other people have. Not a similar one, pretty much the exact same thing. The second reason, and this is a big one, is the tattoo artists don't want to do that. Every tattoo artist I have talked to is actually an artist. They enjoy drawing, painting, and otherwise creating art besides just doing tattoos. If you tell them you want to get the super awesome dragon off the picture on the wall they are not going to enjoy it. They are going to be thinking the whole time, "great, this one again." It's like giving Michelangelo a color by numbers to do. Sure, they will do it, and it probably will turn out good. But if you go talk to the artist and just tell him what you are wanting and get something custom made up, they are going to enjoy it and they are going to put more effort into it, and it will turn out better. Some of the really good artists won't do flash at all. If you come to them wanting something off the wall they will make you an appointment with one of the lesser, usually apprentice artists in the shop.

Get a decent size

A lot of people, especially ladies, want to go in and get a tiny tattoo. That's fine if that's what you want, but you need to understand a few things. The smaller the tattoo, the less detail you are going to be able to get. Tiny tattoos don't age as well as larger ones. If you get a heart the size of a pencil eraser it might just be a pink blob in 10 years. This is especially true if you try to get something small with a lot of detail in it. I'm not saying you have to get a full back piece for it to look good later, just that you should talk with your artist about it if you want something small.
For guys, if you go and get a tiny tattoo on your upper arm it is just going to look dumb, even if the piece itself is good. It needs to fit.

If you think you may want sleeves or something big, get it designed that way from the start.

A sleeve needs to be designed as a sleeve. Getting a bunch of smaller tattoos and tying them together later is doable but won't look as good as a tattoo designed as a sleeve from the beginning. You can still have it done in sections and it look good as a stand alone tattoo if you do decide not to go that route later.

Think of what you want, then wait a month, 6 months, or a year before you get it.

Especially for your first tattoo, you should wait a while and make sure you still want the same thing later. If you just go to the shop and get the first thing you see that you think looks cool, you will probably regret it later.

Tattoos are addicting!

Once you get one, you will probably want to get more. This is especially true if you follow all of my advice and get a quality piece of ink done to begin with. I actually enjoy getting a tattoo as much as having it. I love watching it go from blank skin to a piece of art. You may even get disappointed during the tattoo, thinking it's going to look bad and then the shading and color starts being done and all of a sudden it looks so much better.

Tip your artist!

After you spend all that time trying to find a great artist, making an appointment, and getting your first great piece of artwork, be sure to tip your artist. This shows your appreciation for the art you now have, and gets you on good terms with the artist.

And to end off with, I will leave you with the dumbest reason to not get a tattoo I have ever heard, "When you are 70, it's going to look like crap!" Yeah it probably will. Most 70 year old people look like crap. When I am 70 I am not going to care what I look like, I am going to be wearing cut off sweat pants with a ball hanging out and an old shirt because it's comfortable.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you get a quality tattoo that you love. Check me out on facebook at www.facebook.com/TattooedGunner

~Mike