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You are here: Home / Blog

Blog

September 24, 2012 By Dave Givens

fire-and-brass

[singlepic id=80 w=100 h=75 float=center]

Filed Under: Blog

May 31, 2012 By Dave Givens

Women and Shooting – What to Wear?

Ladies, I shamelessly copied this from the “Girls Love Guns” website, it answers the most common question I get better than I can 🙂 http://www.girlsheartguns.com

What to Wear to a Shooting Range

You’ve decided to go to the shooting range for the first time! How  cool is that. I am happy for you. Wether you’ve decided to go as part  of a class, or with someone you already knew, I hope your first time will be safe, fun and educational.

Have you decided what you’re going to wear on your first trip to the  shooting range? If not, I’m going to try to be of some help for you as  you decide. If so, be sure your outfit doesn’t make any of the silly  mistakes I’ve mentioned below.

First up: Head

  • Hair- Shooting a firearm is a process that gives off gasses which  settle on your clothes, hair and skin. Plus, shooting requires your full  attention, and that may be hard to give if you hair keeps falling in  your face. It is a good idea to wear your hair in a ponytail, braid, bun  or twist at the shooting range. Be sure to chose a hairstyle that not  only protects your hair from the elements, but also keeps your hair out  of your face and can accommodate wearing a hat and hearing protection.
  • Hat- Wearing a hat at the shooting range has several advantages.  First, it will help prevent any flying hot brass from falling down  between your shooting range classes and your eyes. It sounds like a  strange occurrence, but it does happen and it is not comfortable.  Wearing a hat can prevent this. If you’re at an outdoor range, the hat  will protect you from sunburn. It can also keep your hair neat on a  windy day. At either indoor or outdoor ranges, a hat can keep some of  those gasses we were talking about off of your hair.
  • Eye Protection- Eye protection is a MANDATORY accessory when firing a  firearm. Rifle, shotgun, pistol, .22 caliber or .45 caliber; it does  not matter. Shooting causes hot gasses and hot casings to fly through  the air. Our eyes are important to us and we must protect them.  Appropriate eye protection for shooting has been rated as a safety  eye-wear item. It does not comprise of regular or prescription sun  glasses, reading glasses or eye glasses. If you do not have a pair,  don’t worry they are not expensive, some ranges loan them out (call  ahead) and your instructor or shooting range buddy may have an extra  pair you can wear (call ahead).
  • Ear Protection- “Ears,” as many shooters refer to them, are also  MANDATORY safety items. They come in many styles such as ear plugs,  which are squished up and inserted into the ear; over the ear hearing  protection which are worn across the head and nestled onto the ears like  winter weather ear muffs or a headband; custom made molded ear plugs  which fit in and sometimes in and around the ear; and more! The right  ears for you are ones you can afford, ones which fit you well and which  protect your hearing. Some shooters wear both ear plugs and an over the  ear protection simultaneously. This is especially helpful if you are  shooting, or are next to someone who is shooting a gun or rifle of a  larger caliber.
  • Makeup- Thick, creamy foundations can trap gasses and particles  which are expressed into the air at a shooting range each time a firearm  fires a shot. If your skin is delicate, break-out prone or if you  simply would rather skip experiencing the sensation of gasses in your  makeup, skip the foundation on the day you attend the range. A mineral  foundation, blush and mascara should all be okay for you to wear  however.
  • Sunscreen- Be sure to apply sunscreen before heading out to an  outdoor shooting range. Many ranges have covered shooting benches, but  you can still get a little color to you and you will probably not be in  the shade when you go out to change or check your targets.
  • Jewelery- Personally, I see no problem wearing jewelery to the  range, with a few exceptions. One exception is if the piece is a  sensitive or exceptionally sentimental one. Opals, for example, are very  delicate stones and may be harmed by the activities and gasses found in  a shooting range environment. Your grandmother’s wedding ring is  precious and while nothing should happen to it, I’d rather you leave it  at home where it will be safe.  Another exception is if wearing the item  of jewelery will make you uncomfortable or compromise your safety.  Items such as earrings or eyebrow rings should only be worn if your  piercings will not be irritated by the wearing of eye and ear protection  and will not compromise the effectiveness of your eye and ear  protection.

Shoulders:

  • Shirt- The top you choose to wear to the range must be a high-necked  top. No, higher than that. You want something that is as close to a  turtle-neck or mock turtle neck as you are willing to go. Hopefully it  will cover your collar bones. It should also not be a button up top. At  the shooting range, hot brass flies through the air. It’s apart of the  process and the excitement. You may get hit by your own brass and by the  brass of the shooter on the right or left of you if you’re not in a  private shooting bay. These little pieces of hot brass have excellent  cleavage aim. They will find the tiniest gap between chest and shirt and  make a dive for it, causing you to do the  “hot-brass-stuck-down-my-shirt-and-maybe-even-in-my-bra” dance in front of your class or your friend.  Your shirt can be a short sleeved  shirt if it is hot out. Hot brass hitting the arm isn’t as painful as  hot brass down your top. If it is cold out however, or if you’re going  to be shooting a right-handed rifle left-handed, try to wear a long  sleeved top. Your shirt should be machine washable and not dry-clean  only. It should also be a top that doesn’t dirty easily and will come  clean easily.
  • Some optional “shoulders” items (If you don’t know what they are or  why you would need them this first range trip, you probably won’t need  them and will be okay without them.): Elbow pads (for shooting in prone  or off of a bench with something that will kick). Chest padded jacket,  vest or shirt (for shooting something that will kick). Longish short  sleeved top, long sleeved top or a shooting jacket (for putting a loop  sling on when shooting prone, sitting or offhand with rifles).

Knees:

  • Pants- Pants are an important part of the shooting range outfit. If  you show up without them, the police may be called. Your shooting range  pants should be comfortable, not easily dirtied, machine washable and  easy to get clean. If you will be shooting seated or prone, pants are  important to wear because you don’t want to scrape your knees against  the ground in these positions. When shooting seated and prone it is also  a good idea to wear lose fitting or elastic pants. You want to be able  to breathe smoothly and evenly while you are shooting from these  positions and you want to be comfortable. If you will not be shooting  seated or prone, if your range permits it and you think it’s a good  idea, you can probably get away with wearing shorts and capris. If  you’re brave, you might be able to pull off a skirt.  At the range,  you’ll probably want to sit down, so be careful when choosing light  colored bottoms to wear. The seats may be dusty or dirty. You want to  wear a pant that won’t stain, won’t show a stain or that you don’t care  about staining.

Toes:

  • At the range, you will spend a lot of your time standing and you  will be shooting or will be near others who are shooting. As such, your  range shoes should be comfortable and should be closed-toed to avoid any  hot brass touching your feet or lodging between your toes. As with all of your range clothing, they  should be washable if at all possible. They too will be coated with  gasses, which include lead and could use a good washing with all of your  other range clothes when you arrive back home. If you foresee shooting  becoming a staple in your life, you may consider having a dedicated pair  of range shoes that is worn only at the range. This way, you can skip  the washing step without worrying about tracking lead into the house. If  you will be shooting prone at the range, be sure you’re wearing shoes  you don’t mind scuffing up the toes on. Shooting seated may also scratch  the sides of your shoes.

That’s it! You are completely outfitted in range clothes and safety  wear and are ready to go to the shooting range. Be safe and have fun. On  this first trip, use big targets, put them close to you and forget  about accuracy or competition. This is about getting you safe around  firearms and having a good experience. The rest will come in due time.

Filed Under: Blog

May 1, 2012 By Dave Givens

NRA Training Counselor Development Workshop

[singlepic id=68 w=320 h=240 float=]NRA Training Department staffers Andy Lander and Sean Thornton headed out west to the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico to teach an NRA Training Counselor Development Workshop. From April 20-22, 16 candidates took part in the training and earning their appointments as Traning Counselors. The group included 2012 Marion P. Hammer Woman of Distinction Award Winner Donna Vandermolen.

Candidates came from all across the country including Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, California, Arkansas, Indiana, Oregon, Michigan and even as far as Hawaii.

“We are very happy to see that we had three candidates from Wyoming, as well as one from Arkansas. Those are states that were in need of Training Counselors,” said John Howard, NRA National Instructor Trainer. “In addition, it is certainly refreshing to have a candidate come from as far away as Hawaii!”

Training Counselors are responsible for developing new NRA Certified Instructors, helping to increase the number of people who reached by NRA’s firearms training programs every year.

Filed Under: Blog

December 15, 2011 By Dave Givens

Merced County Homicide Rate Highest in State

Merced County tied with Monterey for the State’s highest Homicide rates! http://ag.ca.gov/cjsc/publications/homicide/hm10/preface.pdf  Merced County and the center of the state seem to be a crossroad for viloent crime and illegal activity.  With north/south, and east/west coridors, crime seems to flow thru the area, bringing all its associated problems with it.  If you are not prepared, this should become a priority for you and your families in the coming months of the new year.  If you are not sure of what to do to become prepared or self-reliant until emergency services can assist you, then call and lets talk.  There are many, many easy, simple things you can do to aid you in emergency’s that take little to no time to prepare or minimal training to accomplish and be ready.  Take action and control of your life today!

Filed Under: Blog

October 13, 2011 By Dave Givens

Self-Reliance

We see or hear about crime, whether its in the news, or conversing with friends;  and somewhere in there if you listen close; there will be someone saying, “we need more authorities”.  Sometimes you do not even need to listen close, they are screaming it out loud.  I’d like to know what they think we need them for?  Authorities to do what?  Take care of us?  Let’s not even go into what it would cost, I want to know when we lost our self-sufficiency? When was it decided that we needed someone else to take out the trash and clean our yard?

Crime is like bugs, they don’t like the light of day or vigilant self-reliant people watching out for their neighbors and friends.  When it becomes too uncomfortable, the bugs move on to somewhere else.  We need to remember our parents and grandparents self-sufficiency, they didn’t have 911 to call, or expect an ambulance or police car within a few minutes.  That type of response is for the bigger towns and cities with their money. Sure it might be nice to take a break and rely on others to take care of us, but I’d rather stand on my own two law-abiding feet and take responsibility for my own.  Within reason of course, but do remember – you have to be alive when help gets to you.  We need to remember how to take care of ourselves.  First Aid, Fire Prevention, and Self Defence is what we need to remember.

Filed Under: Blog

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