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Comment by etrautmann | Hacker News Reader

How often does someone need to buy new handguns?

I guess it's like guitars and bikes, a small group will "need" a new one/another one (guilty of both), but for most people you either need zero or you need one and never need to swap once you have one. But I agree that having a site for comparing feels quite alien to those of us outside the US (for reference, I'm 40+, made military service and still haven't even seen a handgun outside of its holster on uniformed officers).

I didn't really get handgun culture (I'm in the UK, everyone has rifles and shotguns, handguns aren't a thing any more since we had a school shooting in the 90ss) until I read an exchange on Reddit which was full of comments like "Ah yeah but what you do is you unscrew that top part, drill and tap it a size larger, and then you can bolt on <some part off a different gun> which allows you to mount <some sort of otherwise incompatible accessory> and by taking a bit off the grips it'll actually be lighter and better balanced and easier to get the sights dialled in and then..."

Wait a bloody minute, I get it now - you guys are geeks! Just like the synth geeks and Landrover geeks I know, it's the same conversations with some different nouns in it.

We do still have some handguns, such as single-shot flintlocks, muzzle-loading revolvers of 1850s design, and some modern handguns which have been extended with long barrels and counterweights to make them >= 60cm in length (IIRC). I think that these aren't very common at all compared with shortguns and rifles though. From what I've heard, when modern handguns were banned some shooters switched to modern reproductions of the mid-19th century models only to find that they didn't much like the cleaning (black powder makes a lot of mess), fiddling and slow loading that goes along with these guns.

https://www.henrykrank.com/guns/muzzle-loading-guns/

> From what I've heard, when modern handguns were banned some shooters switched to modern reproductions of the mid-19th century models only to find that they didn't much like the cleaning (black powder makes a lot of mess), fiddling and slow loading that goes along with these guns.

One cleans black powder firearms with regular old soap and water, which is really interesting to me. I hear some people even just put them in the dishwasher!

A practiced shooter can load faster than you'd think, but using a powder horn and the plunger is still considerably slower than loading a cartridge revolver with a speed-loader or by hand. It is possible to make paper cartridges with pre-measured powder charges that can just be dropped in and then plunged. In that case it's almost as fast as loading brass cartridges one at a time, which is still considerably slower than modern alternatives. This is why American cowboys would carry at least two revolvers for a total of 10 rounds, or 12 if they were feeling brave. The reason why 10 is that there were no firing pin safeties, so if you got banged hard and there was a round in the top chamber it could accidentally discharge.

As an aside, in the USA a 19th century design muzzle loader isn't even legally a firearm under federal law. You can buy one on eBay and have it mailed straight to your door. I don't know if any of the states have restrictions, but so far as I know black powder firearms aren't really used for any kind of criminal activity except maybe poaching.

Cleaning is indeed quite easy and could indeed be done with a bit of hot water and soap. It can take a while, though. I've heard that about the sale of these guns in the US. Presumably there's not much demand given the prevalence of better modern designs. Over here, an original antique revolver of that period could also be posted directly to a purchaser who could hold it without a licence, as long as they weren't a known criminal. If the owner wanted to fire it they would need a licence. I am reminded that there are a small number of modern revolvers using smokeless powder that have been converted to a loading mechanism resembling that of the mid-19th century. These are also legal here.

http://www.westlakeengineering.com/products/

Before the 19th Century, black powder was so incompletely combustible that firearms, despite allowing a huge amount of windage (the difference between the diameters of the barrel and the ball), would become too fouled to load after as few as 4 shots. That's why smoothbores were used long after the rifle was invented. During battles, soldiers peed down the barrel and used their ramrods to clean them.

I call them "Barbie dolls for men". You gotta accessorize!

There's something sexy about the CZ Shadow 2, even though I don't own nay handguns.

For the sake of our society, I really hope most gun owners don't need to replace stolen guns as often as bike owners have to replace stolen bikes.

I don't think that's what GP meant, rather the common trope amongst cyclists is the the ideal number of bikes to own is `n + 1`, where `n` is the number of bikes you currently own.

If you get into Guitars we call it GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome).

Some ladies even have fashion accessories, you can color match your guns and purses for every occasion. Try it before you knock it. ;)

GAS may have come from guitars (I don't know really) but is now commonly referred for any hobby as Gear Acquisition Syndrome

I don't know where it started either, maybe originally it was Gun Acquisition Syndrome, ha.

But I'd like to believe it all started right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-5io1muSQ

N+1 is the number of <things> you need.

Bikes, snowboards, surfboards, guitars, etc

where N < the number where your spouse leaves you.

Spouses come and go. A limited edition PRS is forever. Besides it is probably going to end up a collectible and increase in value. Can't afford not to buy it really.

Without another adult in the household, how can I reasonably justify needing a 2-car garage to store all my bikes?

That's easy. You watch a few FortNite videos on YouTube and slowly but surely end up with a small motorcycle collection.

You're going to want to work on your own bikes and eventually fabricate your ow-- basically, you need the space for your $250,000 CNC machine anyhow, so..

Synthesizer and other electronic music enthusiasts also have GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

I just need to get one more patchbay until it's perfect. Maybe a different mixer, or maybe just a new ADAT converter for the one I already have.

But then that's it, no more.

Same time next week, then?

Vinyl also used to be called "black crack" :)

More often than I buy new cars

Twice a day with meals, and call me in the morning.

Every time you throw one off a bridge.

In USA, gun per capita is over 2 and majority of democrats, who approach almost 50%, do not own guns. So the answer is "often", if you consider USA.

The data I looked up suggested it was 1.2 guns/American (not over 2.0), but in any case, I think the majority of both parties own exactly zero (56% of Republicans and 80% of Democrats per a survey in the same article).

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/06/02/us/gun-ownership-numbers-...

That's legal guns. Democrats own considerably more illegal guns than Republicans. Obviously self-reported data for illegal firearms is low quality.

Yeah, there's just tons of 922r compliance going on down at everyone's local range. And everyone's "solvent trap" keeps springing a leak right at the end, some how. /s

922r is basically just a buy American regulation that has the added bonus of letting ATF hassle people selectively. On the other hand, "solvent traps" remind me of wine bricks[1]. Both are obviously legal. Sure you could do illegal things with them, but you could do illegal things with a coke bottle too.

But what does this have to do with illegal guns as any ordinary person understands them? Maybe some Republican bubba's Benelli duck hunting gun is technically illegal because he put a mag extension on it without swapping out enough Italian made parts, but frankly you're grasping at irrelevancies.

Meanwhile, plenty of Democrats in Chicago own illegal sears for their Glocks along with drum mags[2]. Now that's something that maybe we should care about, because those are real criminals hurting real people and not just criminals on paper for violating frankly ridiculous regulations.

Edit: Added easily Google-able link for illegal sears in Chicago.

[1] https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/how-wine-bricks-saved-the-u-s...

[2] https://www.npr.org/2022/10/28/1131026241/chicago-handgun-vi...

There's a word for people who pick and choose which laws to follow: criminals. And I don't think there's too many duck guns subject to 922r.

> Meanwhile, plenty of Democrats in Chicago own illegal sears for their Glocks along with drum mags.

How do you know they're democrats?

> How do you know they're democrats?

Just a lucky guess /s

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