Guns two. Cause I'm impaitent.

A few things I neglected in the last post.

Sidearms/Handguns. These are much more difficult to use effectively than longarms/rifles. They tend to lack less power, have a shorter range, and are far less accurate -I believe most handguns are only reliable to around fifty meters. Not to mention a wilder tendency in the actual discharge. Handguns require a lot more practice to master than do rifles and the like. In addition the ammunition can be more difficult to acquire, especially in a post apocalyptic setting. Rifles and shotguns, they're widely used for hunting. Handguns are made for 'self-defense' purposes. So, less ammunition is available at stores like Walmart, at least compared to the widely available 12-gauge shotgun shells.

Well, why bother then?

They have their purposes. They have a high rate of fire. They're easier to reload. They're easier to conceal. And they're better at close quarters. They're similar to bladed weapons in this respect. Sometimes you'll want an axe, others a sword or a spear. And still others a dagger will come in most handy.

They're easy to use with one hand. Ever see a car chase where the driver pulls out a rifle, sticks it out the window, and fires it. Then repeats the process? No. Or one of those gunfights that involves jumping through the air and unloading two weapons at once? That sort of pace is difficult to keep up when you're sporting twin shotguns.

And when was the last time you were stalking the halls of an abandoned high school searching for that gang of thugs that has been stalking you, and you thought “Damn I'm glad I brought the mini-gun along.”

Hell, even committing suicide to prevent capture/reanimation as a zombie, is a lot easier with a .45 than a M-16.

For most of these, a sub-machinegun is a fair option too. Though they're far less concealable, heavier and tend to spend ammunition like a Hotel Heiress in Beverlyhills with Daddy's Credit Card. Hey, whatever works. And it's not like one will always have a choice over what weapons they can find.

Improvise. Practice. Look downright badass.

Guns guns everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

Using a firearm is repetitively simple. Like using any weapon or tool. Assuming the gun is primed and ready, you just pull the trigger. The hammer hits the primer causing a violent chemical reaction that leads to a controlled explosion. An instant later a projectile (or many in the case of buckshot and the like) emerges from the barrel traveling hundreds of feet per second. The projectile(s) travel until their energy is spent.

Depending on the charge and shape/mass of the projectile and the amount of powder involved, they can even penetrate substantial quantities of matter before coming to a rest.

Fun stuff huh?

I grew up in Alaska. You would think that I would have learned all about firearms(guns) with my mother's milk. And after a fashion you'd be correct. Given time, I think I might be able to figure out how to figure out most weapons, but I still don't know much in the realm of cleaning and maintenance. These are important factors. If you don't take care of your tools properly they tend to fail. And as a complex machine, the parts in most firearms tend to wear with time. A broken gun is only really useful as a club.

On the whole shooting is easy. A. Point weapon. B. Squeeze trigger. Repeat as necessary until you either run out of ammunition,or targets. Or are yourself killed/neutralized. Modern industry has made it so. Or rather, shooting is easy to learn and more challenging to master. Assuming that you actually want to hit what you're aiming at. That takes lots of practice. And a decent understanding of physics.

The first concern is a common one. Gravity. Eventually the speed of the projectile is going to be overcome by wind resistance and the pull of gravity and the bullet will be fall back to earth. How fast this happens, depends on the weapon. The M-16 tends to have better range and accuracy than the rival AK-47. I don't recall if this holds for the updated AK-74 or not.

Then there's the wind, it has a tendency to alter the path of the projectile.

All you really need to do is line up the sights, and adjust for wind and gravity.

This of course is all fine and good, when you're shooting at a paper target. Not so much so when the target is shooting back. So, get some practice.

Really, why bother talk about this one? Guns will probably come in handy no matter how civilization falls. More so with some than others. At least in the short term before the stockpile of ammunition is blown through. If you learn to shoot straight, you'll use less ammo, and your stash will last that much longer. Then you'll need to fall back on clubs and pointed sticks and what-not. Assuming you survive that long.

One shot, one kill.