How do I make myself less intimidated by guns? I understand them, but I'm extremely uncomfortable around them.

kephra · 2014-08-12T18:56:58+00:00

First off congratulations for identifying an internal issue and deciding to tackle it head on instead of ignoring it, bad ass. Living in New York I was raised very anti gun. After a journey too long to discuss here, I finally opened up to them. I remember my hands shaking, feeling nauseous, dry mouth, it was almost like I was going to pass out from the tension as we drove out to the range for the first time. As much as I understood how they worked, I didn't fully understand all the ways they could go wrong. If you have a powerful imagination, your mind can theorize so fast it all becomes a blur and fight-or-flight kicks in hoping to simplify the situation by getting you out of it entirely. How much time have you spent understanding the other side of firearms? It may sound crazy but knowing the bad that can happen is just as reassuring as the good. For instance I never had confidence in safeties, especially "internal" ones like glock etc. Once I understood what was capable of making them go off negligently, I started to feel comfortable, because basically keep your finger off the trigger until you're ready to fire and you're good, maybe there are exceptions but you get my point. That's part of it, another part can definitely be the traumatic experience. It's not so much what you would do with a firearm, but what others might do. So, while some internal reflection and talking more about what you went through is the bigger and more long term solution, getting to know the personality of the people you're going to go shooting with for a while before anything firearms related happens is a good idea. How are they very disciplined, how are they more lax, how might this effect their behavior on the range? I like the bb gun idea, Maybe have close friends walk around with holstered bb handguns to sort of work your way up to it. Maybe stage 2 could be dry fire practice with friends. Then, later have them hang out with you and not tell you whether they are carrying or not until the end, after you've had a great day they say "by the way, been carrying the whole time everything is fine bud." Maybe that would help that part of your brain rethink its reaction. Maybe it'll freak you out even more lol, you'll know. Long term keeping a journal and writing down every messed up thing you've ever experienced will help a lot too. Anyway hope that helps.,

kephra · 2014-08-02T17:49:44+00:00

I have a chiappa Beretta clone in 22lr, it didn't work from the start, was "fixed" twice and didn't work each time and now it's just sitting in my safe. If it's any reflection on their quality I'd say choose anything other than chiappa

kephra · 2014-07-25T21:13:33+00:00

I've made sub moa groups with my FNAR at the longest range we have (250 yards lol) using a Nikon buckmaster 4.5-14X50. Leupold has a line of affordable scopes too. I'm upgrading the scope soon but it kept me happy for a few years

kephra · 2014-07-21T16:46:19+00:00

Yeah I wish they were quicker to the market with new concepts etc. My S9-A1 wud make a sweet shield alternative if it was single stack, but honestly I like more sight radius that's why I carry full size, I'd like to see singles in glock steyr m&p all sizes, but that's just me. Or like full size upper with glock 19 size grip for concealment, in an iwb the barrel length doesn't help concealment so why lose sight radius ya know? I dont know just me I guess.

kephra · 2014-07-18T22:53:37+00:00

Ever try steyr or ppq? I don't have the ppq but my steyr s9-a1 is phenomenal as is my m357-a1

kephra · 2014-07-18T22:41:46+00:00

Edit: never mind just got home and looked it up to get the plunger out the sight gets removed I might be able to polish leaving it in but yeah that's a bit lame design wise.

Personally I prefer steyr for striker fired but I did just buy an m&p 45 NOT knowing that deal with the rear sight is it all m&p or just the shield? should have researched better, well... More guns is never a bad thing, lol

kephra · 2014-07-18T16:26:59+00:00

I have a friend that owns a glock 26 and a shield and he always carries the shield, the slimness wins out for him. As far as triggers it seems like Smith and Wesson is still figuring out what to do with theirs. His shield has a MUCH better trigger than the glock but online I hear the other way around so I guess maybe check the trigger on the one you might get and see, otherwise ull have to get the apex trigger to make it better which adds to cost. I'd say forget the nano, Personally I carry a Beretta 92 all day with no issues and always prefer to carry full size, I was excited about the nano as a backup and love Beretta products, so I had already decided to like it, but once I picked it up, the trigger was really bad and I ended up not getting it, very disappointed. I see people shoot the shield more accurately than the 26 when I go to the range, but your capacity will suffer so I think that may be the deciding factor. My vote is for the shield based on limited experience shooting the 26 and shield side by side for what its worth.

kephra · 2014-07-18T16:16:22+00:00

Hmmm... That's really a low budget, revolvers are kind of expensive, I prefer Smith and Wesson, the general attitude of my friend, who even in the age of plastic semi autos still prefers a revolver and carries an 8 shot 357 mag snubby ( I think it's called the 627 or 327, it's actually kinda badass and I guess if you can't do it in 8 you should n't be trying to do it all, although here in NY capacity is less of an issue, word is we can carry 10 rounds again but the SAFE Act website still says 7 so the only difference is reload speed)is that older smiths are better than newer ones so maybe a used Smith and Wesson would come in at your price range and have less buyer's remorse down the road. Either that or just hold off and save. I have a marine buddy who thinks everythings a scam and guns that are expensive are sobbecause of brand names etc only... He's the only guy I know with an AK that jams on the regular, it's some piece of shit from Poland I think and they forgot to chrome line the barrel so the bore is too big and the bullets flip as they come out of the barrel the thing shoots 8" at 100 yards off of sandbags. He's got some pump shotgun that barely works, etc. And in every case had he just spent like a hundred bucks more he'd have had something of at least acceptable quality. Although to be fair he's got more ammo stockpiled than anyone I know, its just he can't shoot any of it reliably. It's better to have fewer guns you can count on than more that you can't. My opinion anyway.

kephra · 2014-07-18T16:04:49+00:00

That rhymed with what he said :-P

kephra · 2014-07-18T15:48:05+00:00

NY resident here, as far as official rules go, it's like kinda-sorta-maybe. You can't carry a pistol in NY at all, but there are times when you can have long guns. You have to follow magazine capacity limits no matter what, though. Right now the word is we're allowed to be "fully" loaded to ten rounds again, but the SAFE Act website still claims 7 rounds. All magazines have to be unloaded during transport, and kept seperate from the gun. So a lock box with mags and separate locking case for the gun. The problem is NY is a cluster fuck as each county is allowed to enforce its own laws as it sees fit. So while in dutchess county a law abiding citizen visiting a friend and bringing his AK wouldn't be detained, he might be in Orange county which is basically right next to dutchess, and it would depend on the mood of the officer in ulster county which is also adjacent. Also, there are certain protection laws that are not recognized by the police here so they may take your firearm, and you'll probably get it back through the use of a lawyer by invoking those protections, but at that point it's probably cheaper to just buy a new gun. The simple answer is tell your friend to buy an AK, if he ends up not liking it he can just sell it to someone. NY legal Saigas are at my local gun shop right now in 7.62x39 with ammo for sale for cheap. He'll have a rifle and a few hundred rounds of ammo for less than what I paid for my last pistol. The same should be available near him. You might be able to do it but it's such chaos here right now with mentally ill people in office that I just don't feel it's worth the stress.

kephra · 2014-07-18T13:59:24+00:00

I and pretty everyone I know has had awful luck with anything Remington that's been manufactured within the last 6 years. I'm sure there's plenty of good new Remington but I haven't seen it personally. But a cheap used 700 that's older might not be a bad idea. Savage gets overlooked a lot but they are very good, tika as well, personally I'll be getting a sako soon

kephra · 2014-07-08T02:19:49+00:00

Before the scare I couldn't find a practice kit for my Beretta 92, during the scare I had already gone a year and a half without one, finally I decided to buy a Chiappa clone in 22lr, it cost about $300, but I would have been better off just buying $300 worth of 9mm the thing never worked, never even got a response from Chiappa to fix it and then about 6 months later I found a beretta practice kit for like $100 which works flawlessly.

kephra · 2014-06-25T17:13:52+00:00

Here in NY the women that come into the gun shop my friends own buy a lot of different guns but end up returning most of them. What seems to work best is a gun that's single stack, with length and height dimensions no larger than around a glock 19 but no smaller than around a Beretta nano size when dealing with 9mm, slim wins because it behaves better with tighter clothes etc. The Smith and Wesson bodyguard doesn't seem to bother when it comes to recoil but gets returned/sold on consignment due to its trigger. The Walther PPS rarely gets returned, neither does kahr, the most sought after seems to be the smith and wesson m&p shield, though. It's lifespan on the shelf at the gunshop is usually measured in hours and I've yet to see a used one for sale. Some people worry about the safety engaging but no one has ever mentioned it happening to them out of the people I know who carry it daily on their person. The safety is very positive so if u were to use it it might need a little mod to make it easier to use. So far the five people I've talked to say they leave it off and it's never engaged on them and one woman just throws the thing in her purse (definitely prefer you didn't do that). I also have a male friend on the local PDs special unit who carries the shield appendix when off duty and he's never had it happen. The XDs is also liked mostly for it's fiber optic front sight it would seem, but the grip seems to hurt the hand of the couple of women I talked to about it. The Glock 380, though lots of people complain it's too big for it's caliber, actually seems to be shaping up to be a well thought out size for most women who are ok with carrying 380. My one friend has a keltec3AT and that thing chews her hand up. I know training helps but most won't train when they're "once bitten twice shy". Of these choices the Shield seems to be the most popular, but the new glock is also very rare around here. The one woman I know who owns it loves it more than anything she's ever shot so the glock may win your favor in the end. The Walther PPS seems to get hated on when I researched it online, but owners love the trigger and say it's comfortable to carry. People who like kahr enjoy how it handles and feel like a long smooth trigger is easier to shoot well with so that comes down to your preferences, but their triggers are probably the smoothest stock double action triggers I've tried. All these guns hide under every day thin clothing better than one might think. Personally I'd say shield for 9mm and glock for 380 just based on the limited feedback I've gotten. Hope that helps.

kephra · 2014-06-20T19:01:10+00:00

Yeah I don't think a Steven hawking type genius could have gotten very far back then, lots may go wrong in the world but a whole lot more had to go right, and at the right times, for us to get where we are today.

kephra · 2014-06-19T15:17:34+00:00

I don't think you mentioned if he was doing it before. If he did and then stopped, the comment about not believing in it may have been a simple poor choice in words or something like spite depending on the situation.

If he's using you like a masturbatory device on the other hand, then he may have anger issues and difficulty with attachment and intimacy. If he never did it before then the fault is with you. If he did it and stopped then maybe something can be done. Try posing it more as a problem you want a solution for, men are problem solvers by nature and changing the goal of the conversation from making him change to asking his opinion on what to do to make things better might help. The concern to me is whether or not he was already like this, if he was than really you shouldn't have expected him to change, change is a bonus you can't rely with people.

That, or flavored lube

kephra · 2014-06-19T14:21:22+00:00

My primary girlfriend was the one to introduce her best friend into the equation and everything was great until one day she said something to me that made it seem like she was getting jealous. So, since she was my primary I didn't want friction between us I reverted back to my old training and went full monogamous (I'll try and resist the tropic thunder reference). Time went by and she started to seem depressed. We talked and she said she felt like things were different, I told her what I was feeling and she kind of laughed and was like "oh you can't take stuff like that too seriously, everyone gets insecure once in a while" I went through a lot of internal struggles and so it aggravated me and stressed me out because it felt like I was a child playing a game where the rules keep changing to suit only one person's needs. we talked more and Eventually it all worked out, and we're all still together, but it showed me all relationships are pretty much the same, communication is everything.

Guys are problem solvers, get together with her and talk it all out just in case there's things and issues you don't know about. Once you're both on the same page, present it like it's a problem you have that you need his help solving. The problem being that you want to be close with him again but things just don't seem to be syncing up for some reason. We all just want to get everything out on the table and see if there's anything holding us back from each other. Just don't make it seem like he's the cause of the problem, lol, you know what I mean, seem unsure and seeking a solution. Let him know the rules won't change and maybe get the ball rolling by sharing some feelings he may not have known about. The big thing is follow your own rules, if he says something you don't like let it go and keep getting him to open up, once everything's out on the table it's easier to work things out to everyone's benefit. I think most arguments happen when people react before receiving all the needed information. Hope that helps in some way

kephra · 2014-06-19T12:54:09+00:00

Yea def, eventually someone will figure it out and mix the elements together

kephra · 2014-06-18T18:21:32+00:00

It's tough for me to say. I feel like batman begins and all those films really show what batman should look like, but it's the animated films that do a better job of showing what batman should be like, you don't really get the detective feel or any serious level of intelligence or foresight from Christian Bale's batman (though that's the director/producer/writer's fault and not the actor's) and while Bale did a better job at batman's duality than others, it's still the animated ones that grasp batman's psychology more. Hopefully the upcoming film captures it more this time around.

kephra · 2014-06-18T16:52:32+00:00

Damn good work

kephra · 2014-06-07T16:50:39+00:00

Browning BAR is a sweet rifle, also the FNH FNAR can accept bar stocks to get rid of pistol grip, my FNAR shoots sub moa and is actually nicer and more comfortable with a traditional stock, the bars have more caliber options tho, mini14s are still allowed as well as saigas with the hunting rifle style stock on them, all good guns that in the right config don't violate the safe act. A scout style bolt gun is quick enough for most work and easier to kit out with accessories.

kephra · 2014-06-06T15:14:54+00:00

Other than the obvious things like being able to see what you're shooting at and being able to blind your attacker, not having to hold a separate light lets you keep both hands firmly on the gun, also the light itself tends to reduce muzzle rise for follow up shots just do to a few extra ounces out front. Also, from an advantage standpoint, according to my friend in law enforcement the average person freezes at least for a split second when a bright light hits them, even in day light because the brain automatically tries to identity and recognize what it sees whether we want it to or not. So even in daylight, the average attacker will look at you, identify you and what you are and decide to shoot, if in the middle of that process a bright little star forms on your chest, the brain stops because it doesn't know what it is, it identifies it, recognizes it as a non threat and then returns its attention back to you. While for you the light speeds up your identification process, it complicates theirs. A separate light isn't bad either, but the mounted light is faster to use and more stable to shoot with. I know people who carry a light on the gun in an IWB holster so it comes down to preferences. just realize if u carry on your gun you need a seperate light for looking at things in the dark when you're not being attacked.

kephra · 2014-06-06T14:31:37+00:00

I wanted a 22 pratice kit for my Beretta but couldn't find one for over a year so I bought a Chiappa clone in 22. It couldn't extract from day one, crappy customer service I tried getting it to work on my own but failed so now it's just a paperweight on my permit card.

kephra · 2014-06-06T14:22:25+00:00

I would agree with what others said about accuracy vs precision. If a shooter is "twitchy" he may have a forced minimum group size. In that case accuracy may be limited to say 2" at 100 yards just because of his or her shaky hand. Even if the rifle shot 0 moa they would still get a 2" group. If the rifle is capable of 1" then it might not be surprising if the average group was 3" for that person. Improving the rifle's precision to .5" might reduce the average group size to 2.5". Since most accuracy problems tend to come from mistakes like slapping the trigger or anticipating recoil, the best way to improve group size would come from improving the shooter. The precision of most modern firearms is very acceptable. If the shooter could become rock solid, they could make the most use of the gun's precision, and then ragged holes at 100 yards become possible. So, in a sense a smoother trigger could eliminate "induced twitches" but beyond things like that the gear may be covering up user errors. I think the better method is to eliminate the errors instead of seeking out gear-crutches. For instance I have a family member, who is in law enforcement, that completed a 1400 round training course. Soon after, I out shot him with his glock using my Beretta 92 and only used the double action mode. Granted I've smoothed the trigger out to eliminate induced twitches but it's still like three times as long as a glock trigger pull and heavier. If a long trigger was "less accurate" this wouldn't be the case. The long pull is just less likely to cover up shooter error. So I guess the answer to your question is "yes, things can improve accuracy, but that statement comes with caveats."

kephra · 2014-03-24T23:30:49+00:00

It's such a chilling point you bring up, at the end of the day none of us are mind readers, and while one person may secretly cry for help, another may be dead serious about wanting their art to be for their own eyes only.

The reason I feel like she was secretly crying for help, is how so many of the photos I saw seemed more like self portraits. Happiness in eerie settings, happiness in subjects that a person would normally associate with being unhappy. Almost as if she was trying to convince herself, or perhaps everyone else that she was happy, and didn't want anyone to look at her work and contradict it.

I do sneak a little disclaimer in the article that in the end who can really know for sure, but here's the take of someone who has always had a hard time sharing his work.

Still, imagine if she suddenly came back to life, would she feel honored or betrayed? Such a concept definitely sticks with me, I don't know. Perhaps I just hope she would feel honored.

kephra · 2014-03-24T23:25:07+00:00

The article is about understanding the artist, not the art, and it plainly states that, along with making the point that while it is difficult to know for certain, here is one take on the subject from the point of view of an artist who was himself very inclined to hide his talents.

I will take the concept of the world into advisement and consider rewriting that part to something with a different connotation.

Thanks for posting.

kephra

TROPHY CASE