Switch to Safety Windows
If your windows are more than a few decades old, then you might want to install safety glass. That type of glass is strengthened by bringing it up to a very high temperature for a short period of time, and it is specifically designed to withstand multiple impacts. As an added bonus, safety glass could also improve your home’s insulation, and that will reduce your energy bills in the coming years.
Reinforce Your Doors
Many homeowners are surprised to hear that reinforcing a door is a simple project that usually only takes a few minutes to complete. The easiest way to reinforce your doors is to add heavy-duty deadbolts, but you might also want to install strike plates. A strike plate is nothing more than a metal receiver that is embedded in a doorway, and it will make a door very difficult to kick down. You should also re-key all of the locks if you have recently purchased your home.
Adopt a Dog
Most criminals won’t even think about breaking into a home if there is a dog inside. Even if your dog is relatively friendly, burglars don’t want to deal with barking or other loud noises. After you have adopted your dog, you should spend some time training it so that it knows exactly what to do if a stranger is inside the home. At the very least, your dog needs to be able to respond to all verbal commands in dangerous situations.
Install an Alarm System
When it comes to home security, very few upgrades are as effective as an alarm system. Modern alarm systems are incredibly easy to install, and you could have your sensors and cameras up and running in a matter of hours. Once your alarm system is installed, you should consider updating your homeowner’s insurance policy. Your provider might lower your monthly premiums if you have a high-quality alarm system.
Along with these few tips for deterring burglars, you should also be friendly with your neighbors if you want your home to be as secure as possible. Your neighbors will be able to look after your home whenever you aren’t there, and they can give you a call or contact the police whenever they notice any suspicious individuals.
Just bought a firearm and ready to shoot?
Awesome!
But before you do anything with that firearm, read these shooting tips for beginners first. It’ll help you avoid common beginners mistakes (and a black eye).
Let’s get started!
A Hunter’s Mind (Growth Mindset)
Everything starts in the mind.
If you show up to the range for the first time expecting to stack perfect holes at 50 yards, then don’t go. Seriously.
You’re going to fail. When you shoot, your shots will be off. No doubt about that. But you will become better through practice.
So, the first thing you need to do is adopt a growth mindset. Accept that you might not be good in the beginning, but through practice and dedication, you’ll become an aspiring shooter.
Now that your mind is primed, it’s time move on to the other essential shooting tips for beginners…
Start Small (and breathe)
Like everything else in life, always start small.
Don’t be ambitious and start shooting at the 100-yard line. You won’t perform as good as you think.
It’s exactly like lifting weights for the first time. If you storm into the gym and try lifting a 100-pound dumbbell, what’s going to happen? I’ll let you answer that.
Instead, you want to start small and work your way up (25 yards is a good starting point).
But before you start shooting, you need to understand shooting position (which I’ll cover down below) and your weapon.
Know your firearm. The weight, feel, balance, mechanics (reloading, activating safety, trigger, etc.), recoil and cheek weld. Master your weapon. In fact, I recommend watching a beginners video for your firearm.
For example, if I’m using the AR-15 for the first time, I’d watch a video like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL-ZzgwkuzE
Once you primed your mind and internalized your firearm from top to bottom, it’s time to get in position…
Beginner’s Shooting Position
There are multiple shooting positions: standing, sitting, prone and bench.
I definitely recommend starting off with the prone shooting position since it’s the easiest and most comfortable (for beginners). Another position I see a lot is bench shooting.
The most important thing you need to know here is when you place your firearm on the table, it’s crucial to have a rest for stability. You can use sandbags, rifle rest, elongated bag, bipod or something alike.
Whatever you use, the point is to get the rifle as steady as possible. You don’t want the weapon to wobble around when you fire.
After placing a steady rest, the sight should be eye level, allowing you to maintain a relaxed, erect head position without straining.
Also, don’t lean heavily into the rifle to avoid forend pressure. Just make sure the butt of the firearm is nicely snugged into your shoulder. Lastly, have a firm grip so that the weapon doesn’t move around.
Here’s a great video to watch to help understand proper shooting position:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AUldPdj9E4
(And if you’re using a handgun, read this article about proper handgun grip)
Now that you are in the proper position, let’s touch on something that most people don’t understand…
Cheek Weld
Do you know how you lay your cheek on top of the weapon’s stock? That’s cheek weld.
Good cheek weld should allow your dominant eye to comfortably look straight into your sight without straining your neck. To achieve good cheek weld, firmly engage your cheek onto the stock.
A common issue, however, is that people use scopes for their weapon and depending on the scope, the eye alignment can be thrown off. If your scope is higher than your eye level, then place your supporting hand on top of the stock to raise cheek weld.
Talking about scopes, I highly recommend a rifle scope if you want to increase your accuracy. Don’t know where to start? Read this guide: how to choose a great scope.
By now, you’re fully aware of adopting a hunter’s mindset, starting small, shooting position and cheek weld. What about actually firing the gun?
Pulling the Trigger
It’s not as easy as clicking a button.
Matter of fact, before pulling the trigger, you need to be in a state of calmness. Jerking the trigger can shift the gun, causing you to miss.
To avoid any possibilities of jerking the trigger, it’s important to get comfortable with the gun mechanics, especially the trigger.
You want to know exactly where the trigger is without moving your eyes away from the sight. It should become second nature (and it will be through repetition).
Before firing, make sure to focus on each and every single shot. Take your time, breathe and focus on the target. Don’t try pumping out bullets like fireworks. Instead, make each shot count.
Take one last breathe, slowly exhale and then apply steady pressure to the trigger until the gun fires. Continue squeezing to avoid jerking the gun before the bullet leaves the barrel.
You’re Ready!
You’re finally ready to go to the range and start practicing.
Don’t forget that you’ll miss the first couple of shots you take. But as you keep practicing, adjusting and testing, you’ll become a pro in no time!
If you follow these 5 simple shooting tips for beginners, you’ll be off to a much better and successful start — I guarantee it!
Are you scared of reloading your own ammo? Well, there are reasons why you should be. By dint of internet, you may already be aware of the massacre a wrong step while reloading the ammo can create. There are pictures and videos of handgun explosions or peeled barrels waving on the internet.
However, today, even a small mistake while operating the metallic cartridges can lead to very dangerous situations.
It’s a good thing that now you are aware of the dangers associated with reloading ammo. But don’t allow these make you too scared that you kill your potentials to be a would-be hand loader. Where there are risks, there are also ways to avoid them. Today we’re going to discuss the basic safety rules during reloading the ammo.
Follow the Manual
Though reloading ammunition isn’t difficult, you must sequentially follow certain steps. So it’s always wise to go through a manual first and memorize the instructions. You shouldn’t work even with a slight confusion. So the first thing to do is to collect a reliable reloading manual and go through it thoroughly.
Verify the Sources of Loading Data
Nowadays almost every powder and bullet company put their load data online. The talk forums also provide loading data. Too many to count. But the question is how much reliable they are.
Of course, you can trust the recipes found in a renowned company’s website. But you shouldn’t trust all the information that waves on the social media without verifying. So the data found from other than a reliable source, shouldn’t be considered in the first place.
Contact directly with a manufacturer or leave a question in the comment box. You can also compare with a good loading manual. You can do even neither. Don’t take the data into account.
Work With One Type at a Time
While you’re at the reloading bench, work with one set of the bullet, cartridge, primer, and powder. It’s because if you, by any chance, mismatch a component or overload, it may give rise to dangerous situations. For example, if you charge a 150-grain bullet in the place of a 120, you’ve already put yourself in danger.
Similarly loading a case with a powder different from the data will produce a loud noise as you trigger the gun. Working with more than one item at a time increases the chances of shuffling the quantities. So when you’re done with one powder, take it away from the bench. Then start working with a new one.
Wear Safety Glasses To Protect Your Eyes
The risk of eye damage is higher while working with primers. An unintentional blast can occur anytime while handling or seating bullets and primers. Though it may not risk your limb or life, damaging your vision is possible from a primer blast. So before anything happens to your eyesight, it’ll be wise to wear a glass when working on the reloading bench.
But it’s also important that you can see clearly with the glass while reloading. Prescription safety glass will give you the feel as if you’re wearing normal glasses. By ensuring your eye’s safety, they will also help you to see clearly.
Keep the Ammunition Separated
It’ll help you to test the loads on the range. The best way avoid mixing is to write the load specifies on them with a permanent black marker. Similarly, while working with different seating depths, write them on the case. The same goes for primers and powder charge. Keep records for loads. It’s better if you can make a list for different charge weight, primers.
Choose Top Quality Reloading Tools
Building high-quality ammunition requires high-quality equipment. Nowadays digital devices like scales, calipers, brass trimmers, dispensers are taking place of manual measurements. The results they give are quite satisfactory. But while buying them, make sure the brand is reliable.
Consider Using a Powder Check System
You have two options in this regard- visual and mechanical. The mechanical system is indeed a die system.
The visual system is adaptable only when the powder fills more than half of the case. If you forget to check the powder case whether it’s empty or not working, it’ll fail to avoid squib loads. Otherwise, a visual powder check system is the best reloading gear to spend money on. That’s why I recommend it for all practical reloading, especially progressive presses. Also, read the instruction before using it so that you can properly operate it.
Don’t Use Old Primers or Unknown Brands
The same goes for the powders. If you find any unmarked powder or old lose primers in the drawer don’t use them for building the ammunition. Just remember, the cartridges are the miniature of pipe bombs as you load them. Don’t endanger yourself and your surrounding by assembling unknown powders or primers.
Tips
- Do reloading the ammo with full isolation and concentration. Set up the reloading bench so that nothing can distract you.
- Don’t reload or test the load when a kid is around you or near the place.
- Just because the manual listed a load as the maximum will be safe for your gun. The maximum load for one gun can be over pressure for other. So choose that suits your gun.
- Keeping records of your previous good loading detail will help you to recreate it again. Keep hand notes or save notes in your laptop of the loads that goes well with your rifle. Also, record the development process.
Final Verdict
If you’re playing with bullets till today and your fingers and eyes are still protected, then you’re lucky. But luck may not favor you all the time.
So it’s time you followed all the safety rules to keep you and your dear ones safe.