(Part 2) Best products from r/Firearms

>so does anyone have any advice for storage

Dry (low air humidity) would be ideal. Desiccant pads for your safe would be ideal (personally I use those silica bags you can toss into the microwave to recharge once they're saturated). While Glocks aren't particularly vulnerable to that, it's a steel item still, water and oxygen will make it rust sooner or later.

Depending on your state laws (I'm not American so this is second hand hearsay at best), you might also need to follow some "safe storage" laws. You already mention a safe, so you should be gucci.

>maintenance

Get yourself some decent gun oil (Break Free CLP seems to be popular) and a 9mm/.38/.357 cleaning kit if you haven't already. The basic variant is more than enough. And some patches.

There's no need to drench it in oil, just follow the Glock lubrication guidelines (it's outlined somewhere in the manual). Personally I just clean the gun, use a second patch to lube the inside of the barrel and then wipe everything else down with that patch (surface of the barrel, inside+outside of the slide, recoil spring).

Here's a video for you.

>modding

Technically yes, but honestly if this is your first firearm I'd focus on getting the hang of it first.

The four most popular "mods" are

• replacement sights (Ameriglo seems popular, but you seem to have that one covered already)
  
  
• triggers (APEX and a few others)
  
  
• lights (the go-to seems to be the Surefire X300 or Streamlight TLR-1 HL - personally I have one of those TLRs too)
  
  
• and reddot optics (either via MOS slide or by getting your slide milled - the go-to is the Trijicon RMR type 2, personally I have one with a Leupold Deltapoint Pro).
  
  >I don't even know where the safety is
  
  Glocks have internal safeties.
  
  >or how to disassemble it
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN9a-4pp6dQ
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gKnVbGg5BM
  
  ----
  
  >I don't know that much about guns besides what video games and playing airsoft as a kid taught me.
  
  Your best bet is a beginner handgun course (your local gun shop, gun rights group or the internet should yield the desired results - make sure the instructor is actually certified, not some snake oil salesman).
  
  A couple resources to get you started - ESPECIALLY the 4 safety rules:
  
  4 universal safety rules by ret. Army Ranger John Lovell
  
  NRA-certified handgun training course by Robert L. Weijland, US Firearms Training Association
  
  Pistol grip demonstration by Shannon Smith, Palm Beach Shooting Center
  
  There's more of that stuff on Youtube - ideally you watch a couple of those videos before you head into that course, that way you've heard most of the terminology etc. already, which helps a lot with not getting confused/overwhelmed/losing track.

There are a lot of very simplistic points made for and against the positions presented by the libertarian/anarchistic intellectual traditions, and internet comments especially can devolve very quickly. Some people who've taken the time to research the arguments related their own questions or opinions about anarchy have sophisticated responses against steel-manned positions, but the majority are radically oversimplified and woefully short of awareness just like this. It's disheartening to spend so much effort to find out where exactly you stand in a political sense, and find that there appear to be legions of people continuously washing up against you who, though they might claim rationality, are perfectly content to drop an opinion as a decisive conclusion into a soundbyte space with no real argument. And this applies to the person you're speaking to above, not just you. It's just a really poor exchange. I'll see what I can do to help in this case, and maybe something interesting will happen.

To be very up-front, I would also describe myself as an anarchist. I came to that conclusion first by exposure to powerful moral arguments that required no acceptance of any special moral theories, but simply pitted my own morality against my belief in the political authority of the State and exposed total conflict. However, half the anarchists I've met didn't come by this approach, but by pragmatism instead. I would say that approach occupies most of the anarchist literature out there, being things like legal theory, game theory, economics, solutions to public goods problems, market failures, basically a consequentialist's playground. The reason for this is probably that a lot of folks demand quite a complete and detailed explanation for most facets of a theorized anarchist society where today they can only imagine coercive (State) solutions to the same problems. Since both of the above comments appear to be approaching from a pragmatic perspective, that's the kind of resource I'll be providing.

The claim in question is one of the most common refrains first uttered in response to the idea of a stateless society. "Without government, warlords would take over." Luckily for anyone interested in that claim here, it is also addressed in most places where people bother to ask about it. I'll present some of the shorter resources, and one or two longer ones, and then at the end I'll even contribute a tidbit of my own thoughts on the matter, which take a little bit of a different angle.

The most direct address is an article by Dr. Robert P. Murphy (economist) which you can find in written form here, or as a 12-minute narrated audio upload which someone has posted here. It doesn't take long to get through, and I don't need to reproduce its arguments here. I'm interested to hear what you think of it.

Edit: I also realize that in the article above, Murphy mentions some concepts which are common to discussions of polycentric (stateless) legal systems, but not common outside it. Things like private defense and arbitration agencies. While these too are discussed in the link below, to help provide context for anyone who feels a little confused with the above, there are some great youtube videos that give a quick introduction to these as well. The Machinery of Freedom: Illustrated Summary and Law Without Government. Hopefully this doesn't muddy the discussion, but provides some useful context if something was missed in the above article.

Further resources that cover the "warlord" question, though with the greater context of a detailed surrounding system, would include the freely available 2nd edition or Amazon-purchasable 3rd edition of The Machinery of Freedom by economist David Friedman (Milton Friedman's son). I would consider his discussions of stability questions certainly related to that, though he presents things in terms of a Mafia-like setup, and the concerns given his particular premises are not exactly the same.

I think you'd also find Chase Rachels' chapters about Law & Order and Defense & Security from A Spontaneous Order relevant as well -- you might even skip the rather boring and rigorous argumentation ethics the book leads with to get to that spot.

And I think that's more than good for a starter. Now my own tidbit. Please read/listen to the first article I linked before moving on here.

Something I think all of these guys miss even in their own objections is the public's idea of the belief in political authority. Were we to assume that a given -- let's say "Western" -- society actually opted for a truly stateless existence (whether an existing one "transitioned" or a new one was created, like a seastead community), it stands to reason that the people comprising it would have given up any belief in the legitimacy of political authority. If they hadn't, there's no reason they would've gone anarchist in the first place instead of just replacing one government with another. And if they did actually go through all the trouble to rid themselves of a State, and they indeed did not tolerate claims of political authority on that scale, there's no reason to assume they will turn right around and tolerate it on the local scale either. "Warlords" here, like kings and barons, need people to actually believe they have a right to do what they do in order to maintain any kind of power base. It's unclear why a people who disbelieve in this right of rulership would listen to them in the first place, much less tolerate them when they would not tolerate a modern State. This is my same argument against another common question: "If you eliminated the state, wouldn't a new one simply rise in its place?" or "Wouldn't a corporation just turn into a state?", etc.

If you assume a simple disbelief in political authority, a necessary precursor, for a people who were not already degenerating into moral barbarism (in which case a state comprised of those people doesn't help anyway, as Somalia had before it ripped itself apart), then the re-emergence of States on any scale doesn't seem likely to me, including that of the local warlord.

I taught protest first aid for years and helped get several street medic collectives off the ground.

Bulk medical supplies generally don't make sense unless you're willing to buy in serious bulk. I'm talking like a case of 50 boxes with 2,000 gauze pads each. At that point prices start dropping below what you'd pay if you just bought them straight out retail but unless you're stocking a hospital or other medical unit, you aren't going to use the supplies that fast.

For the most part, best way to go about it is to make a list of everything you need/want in a medical kit tailored to your expected needs and then shop around to find the best deal. I've ordered off Amazon before, I've bought stuff in person at medical supply places, it just depends who has the best deal.

Pre-built kits are almost always more expensive than building it yourself and about 80% of the time you're paying a huge markup for supplies that cost maybe a few dollars. There are good pre-built medical kits out there but you're still paying a premium for someone else to build it for you. Plus you'll be getting supplies you may not need in which case it's wasted money.

We used to divide things up into "hard" and "soft" supplies.

Hard supplies were things that we could afford to cut corners on if we had to and could buy from whoever had the lowest price; bags, medical tape, glucose tablets (we used candy), q-tips, cotton balls, alcohol swabs, etc.

Soft supplies were things that had to be bought from a reputable supplier and were considered critical for providing the right care; bandages, sterile gauze, antibacterial gel, gloves, masks, etc.

Hard supplies can usually be ordered from other, non-medical sources and repurposed to fit the need. For example, we bought cotton swabs from a craft supplier. They were intended for crafting use but they were clean and cheap so we used that.

AliExpress is a good source for hard supplies. Most of the time they sell the exact same thing that you can get domestically but they're selling it a lot cheaper.

Oh how I wish we'd had access to AliExpress during Occupy. Do note that shipping from China takes a while.

Soft supplies are trickier but are almost always cheaper online. You can sometimes set up a small scale bulk purchase with a local medical supply place but with the internet this isn't as feasible as it used to be. Order a single set of what you want, look at it, make sure it meets your standards, and then place a bigger order when you're sure you've got what you want.

Also be sure to check any expiration dates on what you get. Sometimes these things sit for a while and for something like bandages it doesn't matter as much, you really want to pay attention to it when it comes to things like antibacterial gel.

It always gets hard dating these kinds of things...but according to this site which not only lists serial numbers but the number of actually produced firearms for the month - the number in process and more importantly the number accepted by ordinance approval it sounds (looks) like its possible for a rifle to be started in one month and then finished (or accepted) in the next as there is constant carry over during all the production.

Of course its also possible someone took off a closely matching barrel from another receiver and put it on yours. Either way I would check the amount of throat erosion and of course if the bolt head spaces into the barrel. If the rifle is solid and that all holds up as long as the price is good it shouldn't be an issue as it probably is an all original (or at least I cant find anything that would say it isnt)

Theyre great guns and if you want a tip buy some of these 6.5mm Laddram Clips as they will work in an 03 as stripper clips (will ping out after loading/as you close the bolt) its impossible to get original 03 stripper clips as they were two parts (brass and steel) and once the rounds were loaded the two parts would separate and really were one time use, ive been using these same couple mauser clips for a few years now over and over no issues, good luck!

edit just saw the price on those 6.5mm clips, when I purchased them they came in a 40 ct milsurp box (in total about $35) so shop around as they aparently now only give you 10 for $28.50 which sounds steep to me.

I assume you mean home defense. I’m not familiar with CA laws but I suspect that getting a Concealed Carry permit is a rather difficult process.

So for home defense either caliber would be effective. But there are some things you may want to consider before buying. Assuming you are choosing between the two calibers you me mentioned.

The brand, size, cost of the gun is less important than your ability under stress to fire at your target and get a first round hit in a critical area.

Think about that statement carefully because it really matters. So your ability to build up your skill level, comfortability, muscle memory and situational awareness with your chosen firearm must be priority number one when preparing to defend yourself.

You build those skills through a lot of practice and discipline. Unless money is not a problem for you, you should plan on firing at hundreds of rounds per practice session at the range. The cost of ammo is a factor then, so thats one good reason to choose 9mm.

Now when getting to the type of gun. If it’s for home, meaning you are not carrying this thing on your belt every day, bigger with more the most rounds your state will allow in the magazine is better. A full size gun with roughly a 5” barrel would be a good start. Something like a CZ 75B is not a bad starter. It’s all steel which helps reduce the felt recoil. You cant go wrong with a Glock G17 either, but there are many more good sub $650 options.

If you can swing the extra $100 get a set of Tritium Night Sights.

Lastly if you are a new gun owner I recommend reading either or both of these great books about defending yourself.

Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self Defense Ayoob Massad

And/or

The Law of Self Defense: The Indispensable Guide to the Armed Citizen

Good Luck during your journey

> Given that I don't own any firearms, I haven't had a chance to try out any holsters, belts, carry positions, or accessories

Buy a cheap [DTOM holster] (https://www.amazon.com/Springfield-Beretta-Premium-Buffalo-Leather/dp/B00DTBMS7A/ref=lp_8263636011_1_5?srs=8263636011&ie=UTF8&qid=1487875895&sr=8-5).

The actual holster is terrible quality and the leather will get soft enough to deform into the trigger guard, but that's not the point. The point is for you to be able to test different carry positions without having to actually buy a $40-90 holster and find out later that you don't like it in the position that's most comfortable for you.

As for belt, Beltman Horsehide 1.5" with internal stiffener. The stiffener is to provide support and longevity to the belt, and is a must if you want it to last more than 2-3 years.

The only accessories I would get for it would be spare mags and a rail mounted light, for home defense. You will find out later if you want/need grip tape or Talon grips, but my guess is that you won't because the PPQ's grip should provide ample traction.

I'd recommend tritium night sights of some kind, since it's most likely that you would be drawing at night, if at all. XS Big Dots are nice, but it really depends on what kind of sight picture you prefer, which will come with experience.

> I'm looking for a slim and comfortable (but hopefully reasonably priced) IWB holster

Zorn Skinny Rig or Vedder LightTuck.

> I'm not sure what sort of things I may not be considering and what sorts of other things I may need to purchase that I haven't mentioned

The grip is what prints the most, so it's possible that you may have to carry AIWB depending on your body type.

If you have to carry without a round in the chamber, do so, but make an effort to try to carry with a round in the chamber; it's unlikely that you will be able to effectively rack the slide when you have only a handful of seconds to draw and fire (much less draw, rack, and fire).

Read, understand, and memorize your local laws about carry.

> what sorts of other things I may need to purchase that I haven't mentioned

Carrying a spare mag is a good idea. Even if you don't need the extra ammunition, it gives you another chance if you have a misfeeding mag (for whatever reason), and if you did (in the astronomical chance) need another 15+ rounds, then they're there.