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I'm a "gun guy", AMA

A couple people had expressed interest in this topic, and I have a bit of extra time for a couple days, so here goes:

Bona fides: I am a former infantry NCO and sniper, hunter, competitive shooter, reloader, hobby gunsmith, sometimes firearms trainer and currently work in a gun shop, mostly on the paperwork/compliance side. Back in the day, was a qualified expert with every standard small arm in the US inventory circa 2003 (M2, 4, 9, 16, 19, 249, 240B, 21, 24, 82 etc.), and today hang around the 75th percentile of USPSA classifications. I've shot Cap-and-Ball, Trap and Sporting Clays badly; Bullseye and PRS somewhat better and IDPA/USPSA/UML/Two-gun with some local success. Been active in the 2A community since the mid-90s, got my first instructor cert in high school, and have held a CPL for almost twenty years now.

I certainly don't claim to be an expert in every aspect of firearms, there's huge areas that escape my knowledge base, but if you've got questions I'll do my best to answer.

Technical questions

Gun control proposals for feasibility

Industry

Training

Wacky opinions

General geekery

Some competition links (not my own) just for the interested.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=U5IhsWamaLY&t=173

https://youtube.com/watch?v=93nEEINflXE

https://youtube.com/watch?v=utcky0zq10E

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xVh4CjbgK7s

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0IK2RUxVq3A

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I'm very late to the party :/ i have some random questions:

  1. When is a gun worn enough not to be usable?

  2. Is it generally worth taking apart such a worn down gun and replacing the broken part or is this not practical (I'm assuming a broken receiver is a write off)?

  3. Bullpup rifles yay or nay?

  4. Ever watch the Forgotten Weapons YouTube channel, thoughts?

  5. A very long shot but any idea if in any western european country it's practical to go to a gun range as a tourist, particularly as one with no prior experience?

  6. Do you cold blue your guns if they get scratched or is it not worth the effort? Ever done hot bluing?

A very long shot but any idea if in any western european country it's practical to go to a gun range as a tourist, particularly as one with no prior experience?

The UK has a massive shotgun culture which you probably wouldn't expect given foreign media coverage, and any range will offer clay pigeon shooting taster sessions. For rifles, Bisley (near Woking, about an hour's drive SW of London) has multiple ranges and a good reputation. Recreational handgun shooting is banned in the UK.