Watching other people examine guns, shoot guns, and talk about guns isn’t as much fun as doing those things ourselves. But it can still be fun. It’s better than watching fishing or golf, at any rate. I've always been more of a doer than a watcher, but sometimes, when those long, dark, cold Alaska evenings set in, I find myself surfing for some interesting screen time.
There are a bunch of online gun video makers. Some of them are entertaining, some are informative, some are fascinating, some are all of the above. There’s something for everyone: Antiques, collector’s items, Tacticool, World War 2 or Great War weapons, handguns, rifles, shotguns, black powder, you name it, you can see it, and you can see some pretty expert people demonstrating these guns and their histories.
I have a few favorites, let’s call them Guntubers, myself. Here are a few.
Forgotten Weapons. This is mostly firearms history: The well-known, the less well-known, and the downright obscure. You’ll note that I rely on this channel a lot in these Sunday Gun Day posts, because when Ian McCollum, the channel’s owner, talks about an obscure old gun, he drills down to the next level. He will demonstrate not only the features of a gun, but its breakdown for cleaning and maintenance, and, if possible, how it performs on the range. He gives great value in his thoughtful, detailed descriptions and demonstrations. Be prepared to spend a couple of hours. Here’s an example, this one on the lost Armalite-16 – yes, 16:
Read More: Sunday Gun Day Vol. III Ep. XXIV - The Curious Case of the Mondragon Rifle
Hickok45. Now this here is a range-time channel with some social and 2nd Amendment commentary added in. In fact, he does as much commentary as shooting, and that’s OK, because he’s pretty fair on gun issues, and when he is on the range, it’s often something unusual and interesting. This is a guy who just oozes experience. He can be controversial at times – who among us isn’t? But on the range, he’s great, and there are years and years of videos to watch.
I’m a fan of his Sunday Shoot-Around.
The Firearm Industry Trade Association. This one’s a mostly trade-show channel, along with some political content. You’ll see some familiar faces if you’ve been in the Second Amendment community for a while, and in a lot of their videos, you’ll see a lot of guns new to the market. They do lean heavily into the Tacticool, but you can’t have everything. They do some gun history, even down to having their own in-house historian; watch:NRA National Firearms Museum. If it’s firearms history you’re looking for, this is a good stop. Whatever you think of the NRA these days, and opinions are, yes, mixed, the museum is top-notch. They do segments where they examine old guns and determine their value, in the I Have This Old Gun segments. There is the Curator’s Corner, where they look over and demonstrate some of the rare, unusual, and interesting exhibits in the museum. In fact, one of my favorite bits is this episode on rare and unusual cowboy-era sixguns.
Read More: Sunday Gun Day Vol. III Ep. XVI - Rarest of the Rare, the 30-06 Thompson
Yeah, the NRA has been through some tough times in the last few years. I won’t go into that, other than to say I hope they are getting their Anatidae linear, because they are still the one 2nd Amendment organization that the left always claims to want to go after. A strong NRA is better than a weak NRA.
Full disclosure: My wife and I are both Life Members of the NRA. The NRA in no way sponsored or solicited any of this commentary.
Brownells. I have done a fair amount of business with Brownells over the years, going back to the days when they were just a gunsmith supply operation. Probably a third of the guns in my safe are wearing barrels, stocks, scope mounts, and other hardware I bought from Brownells. Back in the day, they were a mail-order proposition, but now they have a big old outlet in Grinnell, Iowa, not too far from my old Allamakee County stomping grounds. I’ve been there, and it’s a lot of fun. They have managed not to fall completely into the Tacticool craze and actually have a pretty good selection of old and new guns featuring fine wood and polished, blued steel. I like that.
Nowadays, they do a lot more than just the gunsmithing supply, including selling guns of all shapes and sizes. They do trade show videos, the Daily Defense Section, shooting tips, still a lot of good, solid gunsmithing how-to, and the “From the Vault” segments where they examine great guns of the near past.
In this episode, they examine some of the great classic replica guns from the famous Taylor & Company:
Kentucky Ballistics. Now, I know about crazy rednecks. I grew up amongst them, and my experience is considerable. But this guy, Scott from Kentucky Ballistics, he really sticks his thumb in it, and if you’re wondering what I mean by that, just wait. First, here’s an example of Kentucky Ballistics’ work. In this episode, he does some research about how easy – or hard – it might be to stop a grizzly bear.
Now, there is a story about the whole “stick your thumb in it” saying that you’ll see and hear on this channel. It seems that the lead, good old Scott, once had a shooting mishap that gave him a pretty good laceration on his neck. He, as it says, stuck his thumb in it, stopping the bleeding while his father drove him to the hospital. So, important safety tip: If you’re in doubt, either don’t fire the gun or wear protective gear and plenty of it.
And, yes, I’m trying to figure out a way to get Scott to Alaska to join me in an Alaska Man Monday video.
I’m probably not helping by giving you all excuses to spend more time at a screen instead of out doing something more rewarding, like shooting guns, examining guns, and talking about guns yourselves. But sometimes one can’t sleep, or sometimes the weather is bad, or… well, there are any number of reasons. In any case, if you’re going to spend screen time, why not spend it watching fun gun stuff?
Oh, and while it’s not strictly gun-related, don’t forget to check out my Rumble channel. It is, at least, gun-adjacent. And, yeah, I do some actual shooting from time to time.
