Karlon N. Rama
Stage Five
THE operative word in gunfight is fight, not gun. Bearing this in mind, the gun ban that begins on the 10th should not affect how shooters keep themselves sharp.
Instead of getting down and out for the count, for example, shooters can use the downtime on things they usually ignore when there is ample opportunity to actually burn gunpowder.
A shooter-friend I had coffee with recently plans to detail strip his nineteen-eleven for cleaning on the very day the gun ban begins.
He said he hasn’t done so for some time, as he only fields strips it to clean the bore and lubricate some parts to get it ready for the next competition.
I immediately felt guilty. Although I only recently detail-stripped mine, it was only after I accidentally poured Loctite on it and made the trigger stick to the trigger guard. I didn’t even clean it. I just got the trigger unstuck.
SISSIES AND STICKS. The shooting world, another shooting-friend observed, is composed of CCs and Stiqs.
CCs stand for compulsive cleaners; those people who lug their guns around in small boxes to make room for larger boxes filled with bore brushes, patches, cleaning solvents and tools.
Stiqs on the other hand are those people who believe in shooting ‘till it quits. They shoot up to the point they either finish off all the ammo or until their guns jam in surrender.
These two types of range animals get along just fine; the perfect example of the supportive divergence in the Yin and Yang of Tao. CCs love to clean ‘em and Stiqs love to dirty ‘em up.
Stiqs often implore the CCs to clean their dirtied guns and the CCs, taking pity on the gun and not necessarily on the Stiq, often obliges.
But the gun ban disrupts the flow because it makes unnecessary a trip to the gun club, the very landscape where the two conflictive yet cooperative forces meet.
Thus, for the next few months, the Stiqs have only themselves to stick with.
HUMPTY DUMPTY. Reassembling a gun for cleaning, as Atty. Carlos Cavada could very well attest to, is not usually a problem.
It’s putting the damn thing together again that is quite challenging.
But, given an understanding of the gun, its parts and where the parts belong in so far as the function they perform in the overall operation of the whole unit, it isn’t impossible to do given a sense of mechanical aptitude.
In many cases, reassembly is done by reversing the order of disassembly. Failing that, a trip to the gunsmith bearing a heap of gun parts is a solid option.
There are times when tools will be needed to fully detail strip and, subsequently, reassemble a gun. However, in most cases, a screw driver will suffice and a lot of elbow grease will suffice.
One must be careful in picking up which “turnscrew” to use though since, as American Rifleman writer Steven Hughes pointed out, damage usually begins when metal meets metal.
MATCH NEWS. Over 50 practical shooters saw action at the Cebu Pistol and Rifle Association (CPRA) range in Lapu-Lapu City, Sunday, with the heat most intense among the young guns.
Kevin Cortes, fresh from his junior category championship win at the Australasia match in Clark last October, again clinched the top spot, leaving fellow junior shooter James Manigos to 2nd place.
CPRA also hosted a separate IDPA match and a rifle event simultaneous with the practical shooting tournament.
Lowell Belarmino, whose son Martin took 2nd place in the junior category of the production division, says the scores are still out.
This Sunday, shooting action gets split between the Talisay Aqua City Gun Club, which intends to host a practical shooting tournament, and CPRA, which has set another IDPA match.
(knrama@gmail.com)