#How-to

This week on Wheelgun Wednesday, we will dispense some basic tips and dispel some nasty rumors about revolver cleaning and maintenance.  Wheelguns sure are fun to run, but whether it’s that cap and ball smoke wagon, a speedy competition piece, your carry gun, or your high-powered hunting revolver, all must be kept clean and well-lubricated in order to function properly.

Much todo is made of the “quality” of staking jobs on the AR-15. Why this is so is absolutely beyond my comprehension… (other than shooter being particularly picky about aesthetics of their rifle). Don’t get me wrong, I completely support the deformation of material for when pins and springs are not holding it in place, but good gracious it can be over the top. If the material is impinged, it’s going to do its job.

As a “gunsmith” I find it entirely amusing how often customers believe that there is some real secret to what we do. Most of the time it’s simply knowledge, and more importantly, a confidence to work on a specific firearm. In fact, it’s amazing how often I get a firearm in that I do not know much about (especially old revolvers).

I love YouTube. Yes, one can get distracted by a wide variety of cat videos, but for the firearms enthusiast, its a veritable cornucopia of information. Videos exist for “Forgotten Weapons” ( a channel that I strongly recommend that one subscribes to), and full overviews like we did a few days ago with the PSG-1, which our Alex Capps is lucky to have one of less than 500 in the USA.

Just three weeks after my interview the IOI, my FFL arrived! Its sending was completely unceremonious, using the FFL itself as the address for the envelope. I wasn’t expecting major fan-fare, but I would think the Government would at least include a cover letter and maybe send tracking information that a Federal License was on its way. I digress…

Like its established AR-platform competition, AK’s come in a huge variety of styles, levels, grades, and configurations. However, unlike the AR, its common for those rifles to vary wildly (relative to the AR) due to the lack of a solid TDP that various companies work off of. As a result, especially on the low-end of AKs, the action has a tendency to be much rougher than the AR. While yes, AR’s can be rough, its not typical to have the bolt carrier hang-upon on its own receiver or hammer.

I love it when complicated topics and broken down Barney-style. Maybe I am that dumb (as my wife contends) or that it appeals to my old Leatherneck tendencies. The NRA has been working on a series of barney-style videos from their Firearms Science Series. They are short videos using simple explanations and plenty of graphics to explain complex topics.

While I would never zero a rifle without shooting a group, those with a supremely accurate system or low ammo budget would be keen to watch the NSSF video on zeroing your rifle in two shots.

Advice on setting FAL gas flow by the Director of Training for DSA (makers of FAL clones).