Let all of us be aware, and have patience with, the flood of new gun owners.

[JoeJames]

I agree generally that you should be able to take down any gun you own, although, my dad decided to detail strip his nylon 66. (Despite what the manual said). Made Mom take it to 2 gunshops in a shoebox and a sock. Took 2 very gunny guys to get it back together.

Cousin who had a pawn shop/gun shop said last weekend that the absolute worst (as far as putting it back together firearm) he ever took down and put back together was the Nylon 66.

[farmbif]

I sure aint no engineer, but I think we are in for a whole new crop of gun owners like the guy who bough 357 sig ammo thinking they would fit in his new 357 magnum

[Idaho45guy]

IIRC the old Chevy Monza had one plug behind the steering box and the motor mounts had to be disconnected to lift the engine to replace one of the spark plugs. Bad engineering. There many very good design engineers but there are some that should have to work on the things they design. That might teach them something.

I had a `68 Ford Ranchero GT with the 390 V8 that I had to disconnect the driver's side motor mount and lift the motor with a jack in order to get to the back spark plug.

And don't get me started on changing out the heater core on a `65 GTO, or a 90's T-bird...

Bought a new 2014 Ram pickup and in order to change the headlight bulb, you had to remove the tires and most of the grille to get to it. Been pleasantly surprised when working on my 2019 Toyota 4Runner so far. Just maintenance stuff and some suspension mods, but it's all been pretty easy and engineered very well.

[StuBach]

I sure aint no engineer, but I think we are in for a whole new crop of gun owners like the guy who bough 357 sig ammo thinking they would fit in his new 357 magnum

I hate to admit this but I was that guy many years ago....

Made that exact mistake in a panic buying mode. Box sat on the shelf for years till I came across a trade that worked to my advantage so it ended up a good thing.

Not all of these new gun owners will be true shooters as we like to think of ourselves, but many will be so let’s have patience while they work through the headaches of new gun ownership. They will learn, as we all did once, to appreciate this sport and we should help them do so safely if we can.

For all those who don’t continue down the path, just means good deals on lightly used firearms in a few years.

[kevin c]

Y'know, thinking on it, six or seven million new NRA members, ones who vote, isn't a bad thing from a 2A point of view.

Just saying...

[DW475]

More 2A supporters is a bonus in my mind and with the demand for supplies hopefully the manufactures are expanding again to get things back on the shelves.

[Idaho45guy]

Y'know, thinking on it, six or seven million new NRA members, ones who vote, isn't a bad thing from a 2A point of view.

Just saying...

Seeing how there are only 5 million current NRA members, and about 72 million gun owners in America, I don't see the NRA getting much of a bump in membership. Especially with Wayne still at the helm. He has poisoned the NRA's image with his lavish lifestyle.

[Thumbcocker]

I say if they are buying guns and asking for help, help them. Anybody burning powder is a positive thing. I have taught liberal democrats to shoot and handle guns safely. Didn't talk politics just covered the basics. Seeing the mile wide smile on a female defense lawyer's face as she held a 1911 in one hand and a target with a very respectable group in the other was satisfying. In her line of work home defense is a distinct possibility.

My position is the more people shooting safely the better. I had basically no instruction on hand guns. I was taught basic safety by family but we need to remember that as the world urbanizes more fewer and fewer folks have family to teach them. If someone genuinely wants to learn teach them. Have some patience. I'm willing to bet none of us entered this world knowing breathing, sights, stance, and trigger control. We had to be taught. Time to pay back those who endured our "noob" questions and gave us their time (and often ammo) for the good of the shooting community.

[JoeJames]

I hate to admit this but I was that guy many years ago....

Made that exact mistake in a panic buying mode. Box sat on the shelf for years till I came across a trade that worked to my advantage so it ended up a good thing.

Not all of these new gun owners will be true shooters as we like to think of ourselves, but many will be so let’s have patience while they work through the headaches of new gun ownership. They will learn, as we all did once, to appreciate this sport and we should help them do so safely if we can.

For all those who don’t continue down the path, just means good deals on lightly used firearms in a few years.

That is a very good point. Some of y'all may remember the stampede to buy S&W Model 29's after the Dirty Harry movies came out. There were good deals to be had after some of the buyers tried a few factory loads. Sometimes you could get it, and a box of factory ammo with 44 rounds left in the box.

[toallmy]

Help the new firearm owners every chance you get it will strengthen the 2 amendment . There are a lot of people that fear the unknown , and to them guns are a unknown , being completely comfortable around firearms comes from being around firearms . Be safe

[WheelgunConvert]

I have found it curious that 2A rights organizations do not start and end every public comment with the 3 basic safety rules. I have also noticed that more times than not range facilities do not have the basic safety rules posted.

A simple repeating message has incredible sticking power. Anyone remember a glove “that just doesn’t fit “?

[Idaho45guy]

Teaching leftists to shoot is like teaching Middle Eastern students to fly...

Maybe. Possibly.

[Wayne Smith]

Teaching leftists to shoot is like teaching Middle Eastern students to fly...

Maybe. Possibly.

Not at all. The leftist that wants to learn to shoot is just as basically human and has a very similar value system as you. The Middle Eastern culture is very different as is the value system. No comparison.

[TonyR]

Had the same thing happen here, guy wondering if he’d be ok shooting 9mm out of a .380


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[David2011]

Those of you reporting on the incompetence of engineers are either too ignorant to know, or work for poorly run organizations. In general engineers are smarter, more motivated, and add more to the profitability of the enterprise. BTW, some people who call themselves engineers are not.

I’ve known some impressive engineers. Most were/are model airplane guys that fly at a NASA facility; bona fide rocket scientists and they knew how to do “stuff.” One was responsible for putting the Shuttle on the 747.

I was in corporate IT before retiring. Most of our “engineers” were college graduates that had engineering degrees but were not legit engineers by law, skills or snap but they had the arrogance of a surgeon and considered themselves engineers. They were the biggest problem children for IT. Thought they knew it all including how to make their computers “better.” I thought my peers were, for the most part, far smarter and more capable than the imitation engineers.

[Stephen Cohen]

The reason we see such silly questions is Youtube is awash with morons who show such stupid practices like shooting 50 cal through 12 gauge shotguns,444 Marlin through 410 shotguns, encasing high point pistols in concrete, this caliber versus that caliber versus cinder blocks. If this is their entry to firearms ownership I see many more of these questions and many more trips to the ER. I am not a fan of restrictive gun laws but if, an Australian was to put such stupidity online he or she would loose there firearms and ability to own them, I for one would actually agree with this action being taken by authorities as morons do non of us any favors. Regards Stephen

[David2011]

I had a `68 Ford Ranchero GT with the 390 V8 that I had to disconnect the driver's side motor mount and lift the motor with a jack in order to get to the back spark plug.

I broke a 1/2" Craftsman wiggle joint taking that spark plug out in my '67 Mustang. Not only was it hard to get to, but the 390 grabbed onto the plugs and didn't want to let them go.

[Sleeping Dog]

We can all complain about what is right or wrong about how kids are brought up, where they learn what they learn and whatever.

However, that doesn't matter. We take people where they are, not where we'd like them to be.

Do we throw up our hands and roll our eyes at the basic question? Or do we help without judgement?

Asking if a 9mm could go into a 40 isn't a stupid question. He is posing a question because he can tell there must be an important difference between the two calibers but isn't able to see why. He is trying to learn from the experience of others rather than try something with a deadly device.

Those of us who really get into firearms (or any subject) tend to forget just how much there is to learn. When you start, you just want the basics -- you know, like what you'd get from old timer that has been shooting forever. They tell you what is the most important and guide you to basic competency.

[mozeppa]

my uncle was in the airforce 20+ years and retired....was in law enforcement in 3 different cities and retired.

to this day he calls magazines "clips"


my wife accidently loaded 9mm cartridges into a .40 magazine...and yes they will shoot. sounds really weird when they go off and
splits the case most every time due to it being blown out to chamber dimensions. she was sent to re-training.

[pastera]

As an auto mechanic for quite a few years, I wish every engineer that designed a part on a car had to remove and replace that part on the car about ten times. Spark plug placement on some of the newer Ford pickups are just one example of many that should be redesigned. IIRC the old Chevy Monza had one plug behind the steering box and the motor mounts had to be disconnected to lift the engine to replace one of the spark plugs. Bad engineering. There many very good design engineers but there are some that should have to work on the things they design. That might teach them something.

Engineers design to a specification. What you have an issue with is the people creating the requirements driving those specifications, not the guy designing the stuff.

Those spark plug locations are designed to maximise combustion efficiency while still allowing ease of manufacturing and assembly.
The combustion efficiency is derived from the need to pass emissions and the ease of manufacture is derived from the need to lower costs enough to entice people to buy the car.
Repair costs are not a high priority when defining the requirements simply because the majority of people don't buy cars with an eye on repair costs.

A big problem with engineering today is that kids are told they need a degree but never get any real information on what that means. Then they are not given any hands on training in school. At home, parents are the products of the same schools that are failing the current generation so they can't help the kids take things apart to see how they work or what broke when things don't work. Once the get to the university, they get instruction from people who haven't been in industry for decades if ever. Then in school they don't get asked to actually build a working product from start to finish in order to learn not to push problems downstream.