A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Handgun Shooting

So, You Want to Shoot a Handgun? That's great! Handgun shooting is a lot of fun, and it might even save your life one day. So get out there and shoot, but there are a few things you need to understand first.

GUN SAFETY

Before you can even think about touching a real gun, you absolutely have to understand and abide by all of the rules of gun safety. Failure to do so will result in an unexpected hole in your body, or the body of someone you love.

ALWAYS TREAT ALL GUNS AS IF THEY ARE LOADED.

This means that every time you pick up a gun, you assume it is loaded. Assume that if you pull the trigger, a 130 grain projectile will come out of the barrel at 1200 feet per second and seriously mess up anything in its path. Whenever you pick up a gun, the first thing you should do, each and every time, is check if it is loaded.

NEVER POINT THE GUN AT ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.

That means that there is never a good reason to point a gun at your friend, your leg, your cat or your new plasma TV unless those are things you are willing to destroy. Whenever handling a gun, make sure that it is pointed in a safe direction at all times. If a psychotic meth-head is charging at you with a machete, then the safest direction to point the gun is the center of the psychotic meth-head's chest. Otherwise, it's probably best not to point the gun at friends, pets and valuable objects.

KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF OF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO FIRE.

You know how you always see pictures of American movie star John Rambo chilling with his big M60 machine gun slung over his shoulder and his finger resting in the trigger guard? Yeah. American movie star John Rambo does not know how to properly handle a weapon. When you pick up a handgun, your index finger should be pointed straight forward and rest on the frame of the gun, outside of the trigger guard. Even if you think there is a murdermonster in the house, it only takes a fraction of a second to move your finger to the trigger from this position, but if your finger is on the trigger it only takes a sneeze or a startled jump to fire the gun and put a hole in your five-year-old niece's face. You don't want to shoot your five-year-old niece in the face, do you? Then keep your booger-picker away from the trigger unless you intend to pull it! The appropriate time to put your finger into the trigger guard is when you have your sights on your intended target. Not before.

ALWAYS BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT IS BEYOND IT.

So, you have decided to fire the gun. Great! Firing a gun can be great fun and even save your life. Just make sure of what you are firing at. A bullet can travel for several miles and still have enough energy to kill a man, so make sure that it isn't going to go anywhere you don't expect. If you are shooting targets or cans for fun and practice, make sure that even if you make a bad shot and miss, the bullet will go into something like a hillside or a dirt berm where it has no chance of hurting someone. If you are attacked by lizard people from beneath the South Pole, make sure that there isn't a pile of babies behind them when you shoot. Even if you find yourself in a life-or-death battle, you have to make sure that whether you hit or miss your target, that bullet isn't going to hit an innocent bystander.

Those are the basic four rules of gun safety. It's a widely accepted standard that saves lives when followed rigorously. Failure to follow these basic and simple rules will result in HORRIBLE TRAGEDY. Follow the rules, or you are a fool and should never handle guns for any reason ever. It's really simple, and there is no excuse not to.

Also, you need to always wear proper eye and hearing protection when shooting for recreation and practice. Ricochets and ejected brass cases can easily put your eye out, and gunshots are LOUD. Unprotected exposure to gunshots will quickly result in permanent hearing loss. You don't want to go blind and deaf, do you? Then wear safety glasses and earplugs or earmuffs.

Alright, that is out of the way, so what now?

Colt Single Action Revolver Disassembly

When you think of a single-action revolver, this is probably what you picture. The Colt Single Action, Single Action Army, S.A.A., Peacemaker; these are all names given to this gun and it is one of the most well known guns in the world, thanks in no small part to Hollywood's love for it.

Most single-action revolvers you can buy today (with the exception of Ruger revolvers, which we will discuss later) share this basic design. Whether it was manufactured by Colt, Uberti, Beretta, Cimarron and so forth, they all use the same basic design. There may be a few differences here and there, but these instructions will apply to all.

What I will be working on today is a Colt that was manufactured in the 1980s. One thing about this design that shooters should be aware of is that models with the firing pin mounted on the hammer, like the Colt I am working on, are not safe to carry with a round in the chamber under the firing pin. If the gun is to be carried or otherwise not immediately shot, one chamber should be left empty. The Ruger SA revolvers can be safely carried with a round in every chamber, but you will get yelled at if you go to a Cowboy Action shoot with one loaded like that.

Before you get started on the disassembly, keep in mind that we will need several different sized screwdrivers or bits. There are a number of different sized screws in this gun, and using the wrong sized screwdriver will mar the screw heads. Choose a bit that fits snugly in the screw slot and goes as close to the edge as possible.

How do I remove rust?

Removing most surface rust is easy if you know what you're doing.

With a few simple items, we will go from this:

To this:

Complete Disassembly and Detail Cleaning of the 1911.

Today we will be disassembling the most popular handgun in America. The classic 1911. This is a Colt Commander model with a few modifications. This guide is for a Colt model 70 style pistol, some other models, such as Colt model 80s and Kimbers that have an additional firing pin safety that is not covered in this guide at this time. There are a wide variety of manufacturers out there for these pistols, and there are a wide range of variations, but all 1911s will follow this basic design.

Learning to completely disassemble your gun is the best way to learn how it functions, allows the gun to be thoroughly cleaned, and you will be able to see any broken or worn parts, or other potential problems.

These are the tools we will use. It doesn't take much to take apart a 1911: a screwdriver, a drift punch, a hammer and a bushing wrench should be enough to get it done.

Welcome to Warlock Firearms.

I know it isn't much to look at just yet, but stick around. I plan to update this page periodically with various posts about guns, gunsmithing and the firearms industry.

I am working on an article on how to hand-checker 1911 grips, and that should be up in a couple of days. I also plan to update this periodically with detailed disassembly and maintenance information for various firearms, shooting tips, and the occasional how-to for various gunsmithing tasks that you can do at home.

Stay tuned, and always follow the four rules of firearms safety.