Question for the gunnies

This question is for those among us that carry concealed. Do you have an ankle holster and do you use it? I bet most gun owners that carry have one, or eventually will buy one, but never use it much. I have an ankle rig myself. It is well made, securely holds the gun and is comfortable for hours even with an all steel J-Frame. Still didn't use it unless I had no other choice, only when it was the last option left to me. The main issue for me was the draw. Not only was it slow but awkward too. You've got two options to draw from the ankle, either crouch down, which is how I did it, or you could raise your leg up to your hand while trying to balance on the other. You can call that one the tactical flamingo draw. Both ways were clumsy at best. The way I did it, crouching down and drawing, gave you better balance but seemed to set you up for a perfect head shot by a perpetrator. I never liked that feeling I had when drawing my gun like that. That's why I've owned an ankle holster eight years now and have maybe used it a few dozen times. How about you, do you own one, does it get used much?

Question for the gunnies

How obsessive are you about cleaning your guns? With modern (non-corrosive) ammunition cleaning your gun right after shooting isn't really necessary anymore, but many of us still do. I used to be that way myself, had to clean it right after getting back from the range. But I have relaxed some over the years (or maybe I just got lazy). Now I typically clean my guns the same day or one or two days after. I know some that might wait a week or more and have heard of shooters that don't clean their guns (besides a quick wipe down) until they actually won't function any longer. How about you? How dirty does your gun have to be before you finally can't stand it anymore?

Question for the Gunnies

Do you have a gun related log? If so, how detailed is it? I do, I keep a "Gun Journal" and I'm willing to bet a lot of my fellow gun owners do to. Mine is just a simple Word document. In it I record the guns I buy (by model and serial number) including purchase price and any other pertinent details I might have at the time. Like if it's an antique I might record the year it was made or basic condition, if it's all original etc. I also record when they are sold with price and purchaser listed. Additionally, any time the gun leaves my possession (like for custom or repair work) I note precisely when it left and when it returned, as well as the cost of the work done. Lastly, when I go shooting every gun taken is recorded with the exact number of rounds fired and if any malfunctions were experienced. Including the cause of the problem if I know it. Am I the only obsessed "gun nut" doing this? I doubt it, in fact there's probably some reading this that make my efforts look crude.

Question for the gunnies

Do any of my readers use a shot timer to practice with on a regular occasion, either live training at the range or dry fire at home? Both? If you do has the timed training significantly improved your abilities, specifically pertaining to self defense shooting and concealed carry? Has the use of a timer made a noticeable improvement in your presentation speed and effectiveness down range? For years I have been "concealed carry" practicing (live fire) by simply making a concerted effort to shoot as fast as possible while keeping all my bullets on target. Of course it's not very scientific and while I might "feel" I'm shooting fast I really don't have anything to compare it to, it's all subjective on my part. I'm thinking it's time to move my training up another level. If you have personal experience with this your opinion would be helpful.

A question for the gunnies

For the last couple of years I have been slowly reorganizing by gun collection with the basic idea of "Two equals one and one equals none." I have been trying to restructure so I have a lot of similar guns, guns that share parts, magazines or accessories. The idea being that if one gun became damaged beyond repair it could still be used as parts for the others. Also the accessories like holsters, mags and the ammunition could still be utilized for other guns that I own.

The question supposes that you are in a situation where you could no longer acquire any more guns, parts or ammunition (or even reloading components) from what we Americans would consider "normal" venues (Gun shops - Gun shows - Mail order etc.). Whatever you might obtain would have to be under the table, there wouldn't be much of a selection available and it would definitely be potluck.

So here's the question - Would you prefer a selection of guns in common calibers that shared ammo and parts? Or would you want a wide variety of weapons in as many calibers as possible so that you could take advantage of anything that might come your way?