I recently saw someone running with an ASP, presumably for protection from 4 legged predators in our neighborhood.  It got me to thinking about some of your options when you are exercising.  I live in a very calm urban environment for the most part, but in other places I live there have been real threats to exercise like bears and wild dogs that were turned loose by their owners at the end of hunting season.  A person is often most vulnerable while exercising because they don’t carry much, and they are normally very focused on the activity at hand which leaves them open to harm.

The man with the ASP in my neighborhood had a good idea.  Having carried one for several years in the L/E world I can tell you that you don’t want to be on the receiving end of that stick.  They are light weight, easily deployable, and will work to keep most dogs and other unwanted things/people away from you.  Before you go out and buy one of these from the tactical wholesalers on the net, you better check with your locality to make sure civilians can carry them.

Another good option is Mace.  Unlike the baton, you don’t actually have to contact someone physically, and the effects are not permanent so Fido will be ok in a little while.  If you really don’t think you could ever harm anyone, this is probably for you.  It will give you an opportunity to get away.  The thing to remember is that you will often catch a little yourself.  Wind direction may make it bad for you as well.  However, not a bad idea, especially for the canine you want to keep away, but not hurt.

The final option to be mentioned is a small pistol or revolver.  I have carried one running for years in a variety of different ways.  One of the best ways is in a fanny pack.  This is the only time it is cool to wear a fanny pack!  If you have one with your blue socks, shorts and sandals you should be ashamed.  Don’t do that!  It SCREAMS dork.  The Bulldog pack is a good value and secures the weapon comfortably for long distances.  You can also put your keys, i-pod and other stuff in there as well.  One thing to remember; this is the hardest option to deploy.  If you decide to carry, you must be aware that you can’t use this all the time.  It is a last resort when nothing else will do.

So what is the rememdy?  The best option may be a combonation of these three depending on your environment.  Make a good decision and then train with it.  You should know what pepper spray does in the wind.  You should practice with your ASP.  You should practice drawing your snubbie and shooting it.  Make sure you are ready no matter what comes your way.

From time to time I get a gun in the shop that someone has inherited or been given, and they won’t to know if it is safe to shoot, or if it can be fixed.  In the life of every gun there is a chance that it will have an owner that doesn’t maintain it.  When that happens the damage can be disastrous.

You have to ask yourself whether or not the gun is salvageable.  If it is badly rusted, it is going to be tough to get right again without a serious time and money investment.  If the bore is bad, you will have to rebarrel the gun which is also very costly.  Can I find parts for it?  How much do they cost?  There are times when it is worth it to the customer because it has great sentimental value, but other times it is just something that they have and don’t really know what to do.

If you find yourself in this position ask yourself if you are willing to make a substantial investment in the gun.  If the repairs cost more than the gun is worth monetarily or sentimentally, don’t do it.  A gun that isn’t worth $100 in top condition is surely not worth $150 in reblueing.  Better to retire the gun and get something that you can really enjoy.

If you are shooting a lot you will probably run across a question or a problem that you can’t answer for your self.  When that happens you can call a gunshop or you can go to the internet and check out a few of the gun forums.

Forums are great because they provide a wealth of information for little or no cost.  You can find info on tools, gear and guns.  Often you can get unbiased opinions from people who are just like you.  Before we get to the forums, a word of caution.  Remember that not everyone who will be posting on these forums is qualified to have an opinion.  That is what is great about the internet.  You can express yourself with others who are like you.  That is also what is horrible about the internet.  It allows everyone to express themselves.

The three forums that I would reccomend are The High Road, Get Off The X and Tactical Shooting.  The High Road is probably the most popular of the three, but that doesn’t mean it is always the best.  Check it out when you need info about anything in general with your guns.  Get Off The X is run by Tactical Response.  This forum will have a lot in the way of realistic combat knowledge.  They train operators in Iraq if that helps.  The Tactical Shooting forums will cover all types of comeptitive shooting as well as gear reviews.  They focus mainly on the technique of shooting.

All of these forums will have keyboard commandos who are tacticool and not tactical, so take it with a grain of salt.  Sometimes you will just have to wade through some of the not so great stuff to get to the useful content.  After you have been on the forums a while you will start to recognize post authors you can trust.  Before you go out and do something recommend, just try to verify it with several other sources.  One guy on the internet won’t cut it.

Hope this helps your shooting knowledge increase.

I recently wrote a post about a Winchester 190 that had come to the shop for a detailed cleaning.  Having not been familiar with the 190, I have been surprised to see how much traffic that post has attracted.  Evidently there are a lot of you out there who have found this great gun to be fun to shoot through the years.  Because of the interest, I thought I would follow it up with some information I found about the Winchester 290.

The 290 is the same gun as the 190 with some very minor external variations.  The main difference is that the 290 wears a wooden stock.  Internally these guns are identical.  The 190 was actually introduced after the 290 to be a cheaper variation.  The 290 debuted in the 1960′s and the 190 came out in the 1070′s.

I want to remind all of our readers that these guns will probably require a gunsmith to help you disassemble and reassemble them. They aren’t particularly hard, but the recoil spring can be a nightmare.  Make sure you are in a good mood before you attempt to put it back together.  Otherwise, happy shooting and hunting with these great guns.