A little knowledge for all semi-auto (and revolver) owners.

[RugerRon60]

Does my gun have a clip or a magazine? I have seen so many people call a magazine a clip I thought I would create a thread about it. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has a nice write on them, but my favorite is of course Hickok45 which made this nice little vidieo on the differences for them. Hope this helps the shooters out there that are not sure the difference between the two.

Magazine vs Clip

As I was playing around in Hickok45's youtube site I ran across this video as well, How NOT to shoot a semi-auto pistol. Something similar happened to a friend of mine back in 1979 when I bought my first semi-auto (a .25 Titan F.I.E. for $49.95 at the local department store) when we took it out the first time, but he only got a good cut from it. For the beginners this will save you some skin/pain and for the experienced it should be a little amusing to see what happened to the hotdog.

How NOT to shoot a semi-automatic Pistol

 

[3Coyotes]

The first time my BIL fired my S$W 669, 30 years ago... He did exactly as the video shows. Luckily it just ripped his thumb up pretty good and did not take it off. He still is a far better candidate for wheel guns than semi-autos in every conceivable way.

Now for wheel guns... the rule of "thumb" is to keep all parts of both hands behind the front of the cylinder so gases from discharge don't engulf and burn the be-jesus out of your exposed fingers. Yeah, WE all know THAT! :

 

[SkipD]

Great post, Nomad. I hope everybody looks at those videos.

My wife got the web of her support hand cut when she shot my Walther PPK/S. Fortunately, it was a relatively minor injury but she will never forget it.

 

[RugerRon60]

I figure while I was at it my as well do the revolver one too.

How NOT To Shoot a Revolver

 

[rayzer007]

These videos are a very good idea Ron! Right time for them too!

Ray

 

[RugerRon60]

Thanks SkipD, I would like to see gun forums put things like this up as sticky's. Unfortunately not everyone that buys a pistol/revolver understands the simple concepts that are second nature to most of us.

 

[3Coyotes]

Good way to keep your fingers intact

 

[RugerRon60]

Good way to keep your fingers intact

Sure is a good way, little late for me though lol.

 

[SkipD]

I think many shooters (or folks doing other things) get rather complacent with what they do. It's a good idea to wake us all up once in a while.

I've combined the semi-auto and revolver threads and made this combination a sticky.

 

[Yogi 117]

Good way to keep your fingers intact

Sure is a good way, little late for me though lol.

Me too...I remember resting my LCP on a wood block to test for accuracy in it's infancy, and you guessed it, I wasn't paying attention to my L Thumb...put a HUGE "L" shaped gash in the fingerprint area & took forever to heal. Guess the saying "Bad Experiences" give us "Good Judgment" later in life is very true. Probably lucky for me it was only the LCP. Great vids to watch, we are never too good to refresh the mind! Yogi :-[ 8)

 

[mukwah]

Been there, done that!! Thought I was the only idiot at the range who had ever done that and tried to hide the blood dripping everywhere! Now I don't feel so bad about it!:-*

Sent from my Droid Razr using my trigger finger.

 

[Slowhand]

My hats off to Nomad for posting these videos. Also thanks to SkipD for the combination and posting of them as a single sticky. Good stuff for beginners and a reminder to us old folks who have been at it for sometime and recall a few ouch moments of our own.

 

[3Coyotes]

Here! HEAR!

 

[framedcraig1]

Most of us have the scar. usually only let the slide get us one time. I try to make sure all newbies I take shooting know the story with this prob.

 

[warbird1]

Always heard...what don't kill you will make you strong. :

 

[Kennydale]

Me shooting a friends 1943 M1 (WITH CLIP). (NOTE:The drone is a PHOTOSHOP)

 

[unclenunzie]

Some years ago a friend (middle aged man) expressed an interest in obtaining a 380 pistol, and asked me about it. I think he had a line on a S&W bodyguard from someone he knew. Anyway, I explained the safety rules and we went with other friends to a local range to go shoot, taking my LCP so he could at least try a 380 somewhat similar to the BG. Well, I left him in a nearby firing port after showing him how to operate the LCP, while I helped a much younger friend learn the basics in another port.

So, a short while later he came over to me and showed me his bleeding thumb - not terribly bad but certainly painful and ugly. He had made the mistake of using his thumb as a kind of index to sight the target and of course the slide did what a slide will do. To this day I feel guilt over it because it was my responsibility to teach him never to allow body parts in the slide's path. I think I mentioned it but did not sufficiently emphasize the risk of injury. I had been so focused on making sure the younger man learned proper safety (muzzle control, etc) that I neglected the needs of an older friend.

So along with the videos posted here I would add that one should be careful to pay attention to what anyone you are teaching is doing and is learning (or not learning).

Good on RR60 for raising awareness.