Shot Show/shotguns/Team Gun Nuts

The Mossberg Turkey Thug Line

Posted on by Shelley

Mossberg is really excited about the Turkey Thug line they unveiled at SHOT Show 2011.

The show itself is something I’ll probably choose to pass on.  I watched an episode online this morning and as someone who is neither a thug nor a turkey hunter I have determined that I am blatantly uninterested. (Also note: there are no cute guys.)  I will stick with Justified and Spartacus.

Mossberg’s shotguns though?  Those I care about.  I realized upon googling “Turkey Thug” that I am not the only one with this sentiment: the search results are mostly articles and blogs about Mossberg joining up with this show.  All that aside, let’s take a look at their guns:

The first model I have here is a 535 with a 13″ length of pull, a 20″ barrel, 5+1 capacity and a normal adjustable fiber optic sight.  Note that the 535s are light guns weighing in at only 6.75 lbs.

Then they have the same thing available, but with a scope.  I guess it makes sense for hunting, but I’m a skeet shooter and that just seems weird.

The next firearm is an 835, also with a scope but this time without the pistol grip.  I think if you need a scope you need a pistol grip but I have no logical explanation why.  It just seems that way.  The 835 has a 14.5″ length of pull and weighs a good half a pound more and is longer (not in barrel length, but in its entirety.)

Okay, now this one is cool.  This is a good ol’ fashioned 500 with no scope, just a set of fiber optic sights as shotguns should have, a set of full chokes, a 14.5″ length of pull and a 24″ ported barrel.  What’s funny to me is that this gun’s MSRP is a good $200 less than the others and it’s the one I’m the most excited about.  It’s simple and therefore effective and I’m a sucker for standard black finish.  If I could get this with the 535’s 13″ LOP and a pistol grip I would want one pretty badly.

At the end of it all I’m just not a hunter and I should probably go buy one of their Blackwater guns instead.

GunUp

GunUp Geek ShootOut goes nationwide!

Posted on by Caleb

02.15.2011-SEATTLE, WA – GunUp.com, the authoritative community for gun enthusiasts to share, discuss, review, and compare guns, announces the nationwide expansion of the popular Seattle Geek Shootout.

“We are a proud sponsor of the Seattle Geek Shootout which has been a tremendous success and we are excited to announce that we, along with our friends at Girl’s Guide to Guns, are bringing the Geek Shootout to Los Angeles, the first of many Geek Shootout Tour venues,” says Dan Hall, CEO of GunUp.com. “We are going to let the community decide where we take the Geek Shootout next, so go to GeekShootout.com (launching February 21st) and tell us why the Geek Shootout Tour should come to your city.”

For all the Geek Shootouts, GunUp provides lane fees, targets and GunUp T-Shirts. “We feel that it is paramount to reach demographics not normally associated with the Shooting Sports Industry. There is actually tremendous interest from those in the gaming and technology community to see what shooting is all about. These events provide an opportunity for people to experience the fun of shooting in a safe and supportive environment,” continues Dan Hall.

Go to GeekShootout.com on February 21st to learn more about GunUp’s Geek Shootout Tour and bring the Geek Shootout Tour to your city.

About GunUp, Inc.:
GunUp, Inc., located in Seattle, Washington, was founded in 2010 by Dan Hall, a combat veteran and firearms enthusiast. Working with a team of like-minded, internet savvy technicians and programmers, they created the only online firearms community where new and experienced gun owners can access current product information and subject matter experts in the firearms industry. www.gunup.com

For inquires about the Geek Shootout Tour please contact:
Caleb Giddings
Director of Community Relations, GunUp.com
1-888-511-7505
[email protected]

humor

Put some clothes on

Posted on by Caleb

 

Gun Nuts approved!

Cool t-shirt with a quote from Athena Lee now available for sale from Women of USPSA.  16 bucks for the tank top, just $11 for the standard T-shirt.

Speaking of clothing, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point you to the Gun Nuts store, where you can get all sorts of fun items like the Tactical Coffee mug.

The final cool clothing product that we have for you today comes from my buddy Robb Allen, who in light of a recent comment made by some anti-gun person about “mass murder magazines” or something came up with the following graphic, which people immediately demanded become a shirt.

Induces the vapors in hippies

It’s fantastic.  It’s so delightfully un-PC that as soon as I finish typing this post, I’m going to go buy one.  Well played, Robb.

 

shooting

Gun Nuts Training officially launches!

Posted on by Caleb

I am really excited to announce the launch of Gun Nuts Training, a part of Gun Nuts Media, LLC.  Click the Training Schedule tab to see upcoming classes and enroll in a class near you.  Currently, classes are being hosted by West Coast Armory Indoor Range in Bellevue, WA – it’s 5 minutes from 405 and 2 minutes from I-90.  From downtown Seattle to the range?  25 minutes in rush hour traffic, which is pretty awesome.

Current classes are listed on the Training Schedule with class descriptions.  Right now we have three classes posted, IDPA Basic, IDPA Intermediate, and Accurate Pistol.  The IDPA classes are designed specifically for competition shooters at various levels to improve their skills; Basic focuses on the basics of IDPA competition such as the draw, reloads, and basic engagements from cover.  Intermediate steps it up a notch for the Sharpshooter and Expert level shooter looking to make the jump to Master.  Accurate pistol is actually based around Bianchi Cup, and takes you from shooting at 10 yards all the way out to 25.

Coming soon we’ll be adding an Intro to Competition shooting class, for the newbie looking to get started that has no knowledge of competition shooting whatsoever, but wants to get started.  Also coming up will be a special competition revolver class, as well as a “run what you brung” class that focuses on talking carry or street gear and applying it to competition as a starting point.

Check the Gun Nuts Training tab, and follow us on Facebook for our latest class updates!

Uncategorized

Gun Nuts Book Review: Hard Magic by Larry Correia

Posted on by Caleb
Hard Magic

Do you like 1911s?  Do you like giant airships and zeppelins slugging it out with heavy artillery?  What about dogfights, gunfight, magic fights, and pithy one-liners like “a bullet is always faster than magic”?

I just finished reading the E-Arc (Electronic Advanced Reader Copy) of Larry Correia’s latest novel, “Hard Magic”, the first book in the Grimnoir Chronicles.  It’s part steampunk, part fantasy, part alternate history novel.  There really isn’t an established genre for it, but somewhere someone else called it “Diesel Punk” and that’s as good a genre as I would have been able to come up with.

Hard Magic is set in a 1930s era where a percentage of humanity has access to magic, with different people having different skill sets.  Some people can alter gravity, some people are super strong, some can control fire, etc.  What I really like about Hard Magic is that the “magical” element isn’t the focus of the book.  A lot of (hack) writers would have spent the entire book focusing on the magic itself.  Larry treats the magic like another plot element – if you took the magic out of the story entirely the book would still hold up and work because the characters are solid.

Speaking of the characters, one of the things that I personally enjoyed about the book wasn’t the good guys  – it was the bad guys.  I’m a huge fan of bad guys in fiction, and I like bad guys who are bad just because they decide one day to be the bad guy.  One of my personal favorite bad guy pairings is Darth Vader and the Emperor from Star Wars.  Vader was clearly the focal baddie, but the Emperor was there, controlling, pulling strings, and provided a more quiet form of pure evil.  Without giving too much away about the book, the villain pairing of Madi and The Chairman was very shades of Darth Vader and the Emperor, and I mean that in a good way.

Now, there were things I didn’t like about the book.  No book is perfect, and I didn’t expect this book to be perfect either.  I’ve read Larry’s two previous books and enjoyed them both immensely, because they were action packed, with a fun story and good characters.  I came into Hard Magic expecting more action, good characters, and a fun story and that’s exactly what I got.

Bottom line on Hard Magic?  If you liked Larry’s first two books, you’ll like Hard Magic.  If you like action, pithy dialog, sweet airships, teleporting ninjas, zombies, and .50 caliber machine guns than not only will you really like Larry’s book, but you’re my kind of people.

holsters

Good idea, bad idea

Posted on by Caleb

Readers that are about the same age as I am may remember a sketch cartoon called Animaniacs.  One of the repeating sketches in the show was called “good idea,  bad idea“.  Hit the link for a delightful Youtube compilation of the sketch if you’re not familiar with the concept.  Today at Gun Nuts, we’re going to do a little “good idea, bad idea” ourselves.

Good idea: Having a holster that allows quick access to your pocket pistol.

Bad idea: Having a holster allows quick access to your pocket pistol by leaving the trigger

Bad idea

exposed.  Meet the “Shoot Through Wallet Holster” from HolsterPro.  Aside from the fact that using this holster makes your gun an AOW, any pocket holster that leaves the trigger exposed is a bad idea.  Ever had the fabric of a pants pocket bunch up and make it hard to get your keys/pen whatever out of that pocket?  Now imagine it’s bunched up inside that trigger exposure, and when you sit down “BLAM”.

A pocket holster should never allow access to the trigger guard.  Just like you should never have any other “stuff” in the pocket that your gun is carried in, because you don’t want something to work its way inside the holster and then the trigger guard.

Galco pocket holster

That’s a proper pocket holster.  Made by our friends at Galco, it holds the gun in a proper orientation to help give a faster draw, and it also covers the entirety of the trigger guard.  For people that carry pocket guns, remember these two rules in addition to the 4 Rules:

  1. Use a holster
  2. Don’t put other junk in your gun pocket

I guess now I’ll have to add that you also should make sure that the holster covers the trigger guard.  A holster for pocket carry serves two important roles – the first role is to keep the gun oriented “butt up” so you can draw it easier.  The 2nd is to keep the trigger guard covered so your pants don’t bunch up and cause an ND.

Because the hilariously named “Shoot Through” holster fails to meet even the most basic holster safety requirement, I would strongly recommend that anyone thinking about that holster go buy a Galco or Uncle Mikes or any other pocket holster.  The Shoot Through holster is aptly named though, since you’ve have a great opportunity to “shoot through” your own leg.