Ballseye's Gun Shots 88 -The Old Man Gives The Young Man Some Gun Buying Advice...

...and surprisingly enough, it seems the young man may be at least taking it under serious consideration if not actually falling for it taking it. No, that would not be a first for us but it went off without a hitch and that was pretty surprising. I must have done something right to have told Brendan what I told him when without making it sound antagonistic; certainly that is often the key to having your advice listened to and maybe even heeded. (I learned that again earlier this week while down in FL with my uncle and have him to thank for it in part, well in a way anyway, but enough on that.) Then again maybe the key is an underlying bit of skulduggery.

Brendan sent me a text message (or two) yesterday or the day before asking me to go to this website to check out one of these rifles. There are other models on this page. I am not sure which configuration he wants but it is a Microtech Small Arms Research E4 (that is the link to the actual manufacturer's info for the E4). I only got the chance to check it out today. What I saw was that my young man had probably been bitten by the tacticool bug in his desire to get himself an AUG style rifle. Now, I was not and still am not against him buying one. I used to shoot an AUG when with the now defunct Customs Service Office of Investigations. They were okay rifles, pretty good shooters, probably good for the city environment as a tactical firearm. What they were not, in my opinion, was not practical overall as a fighting rifle, nor as a hunting rifle. The design did not lend to them, as far as I would think, ever being used as a club or as a rifle with a bayonet upfront. Both of those uses are somewhat probably if you are ever really involved in a SHTF situation close in. I also never like the fact that the chamber, or at least the breach, was right up against my cheek when firing. I would hate to imagine the plastic plate on an AUG trying to stand up to the pressure of an overcharged round that might go kaboom. I am not sure if the rifle my son is interested in has that ambidextrous functionality of the actual AUG but if it does then it probably has that same flimsy cover over the ejection port on the side not being used (in other words the side against your cheek when firing).

I sent Brendan an email earlier today telling him to speak to me tonight about this. My doing so usually gets him ready for a confrontation or some preaching from me. For some reason though, when he got home from work tonight, he immediately asked me what I thought about the E4.I explained my plus and minus list for AUG like rifles. I also reminded him that the E4 was not shown as NY legal and that could be a problem. He told me they said they could make it so; I figure for more money. Then I reminded him that within the not too distant future he would turn 21 and that means that in about 3 to 6 months after that he could have a pistol permit. I suggested maybe he would want to save money for a pistol or two and I recommended a 1911 and maybe a Glock and added maybe even a Glock in .45 ACP. He liked that idea even though I told him he would have to buy our his own ammo. I guess he has no clue how expensive that will become. First of all he will have to buy the gun or guns. If he does that, I'll finally have he will have a .45 or two to shoot and that means buying the ammo I just mentioned! Last I saw, .45 ACP was pretty expensive especially with two guys shooting it all up and it is going to test his budgeting abilities. Of course, we he will need a place to do all the shooting. So, we he probably will also be spending a lot of money at our closest local range, the one he does not like to visit with his rifles because it is only a 25 yard range; then again he does not get to the rifle range all that often either because it is about an hour's drive away from us. Yep, I think we he will be shooting more often if he buys a couple of .45 pistols and the ammo for them. I may just have to pay for my own time at the range if I tag along now and again, then again maybe I can convince him that my teaching him how to shoot pistols will be worth the cost of him paying for my range time and a box or two of ammo for me to shoot.

I guess, if he takes my advice, it may just go a long way to help stimulate the economy and deplete his savings account while I have he has fun shooting his new pistols. Oh my - what have I done is he about to do!

All the best,
Glenn B