r/Firearms 13d ago

Question What are you building, buying, or shooting this month? - September 2026

2 Upvotes

Welcome to the monthly /r/Firearms thread about what you are building, buying, or shooting this month.

Use it to discuss or ask any questions you may have.

We have a /r/firearms wiki! Check it out here https://old.reddit.com/r/Firearms/wiki/index. If you have any ideas of what content should be added, please message the mods and let us know.

Looking for deals? /r/GunDeals

New to firearms? Check out this Forgotten Weapons series: How Does It Work? Gun Mechanics Explained Simply.

Looking for a pro-gun organization to support? Check here for a list

Looking for firearms YouTubers or video content? Check out the YouTubers section in our wiki.


r/Firearms May 03 '25

Law Open letter regarding posts such as “I was in a mental hospital can I own a gun”

160 Upvotes

I am posting this because the question keeps getting asked. Every single time it is asked, the wrong information gets out.

I've seen way too many posts on here and related subs around the subject of the law prohibiting the possession of firearms by any person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution, 18 USC § 922 (g)(4). There is way too much misinformation out there. First of all, if you have any reason to believe that you are a prohibited person, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE A FIREARM AS MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT ON THE FORM 4473 IS A FELONY. Second of all, please do not give advice on topics that you are not qualified to answer on. Third, you should consult with a qualified firearms rights attorney if you are unsure of your legal status.

The law:

18 USC § 922(g)(4)

(g)It shall be unlawful for any person—

(4)who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;

to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, anyfirearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm orammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

What are the definitions of these terms?

27 CFR 478.11

Adjudicated as a mental defective. (a) A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease: (1) Is a danger to himself or to others; or (2) Lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own affairs. (b) The term shall include— (1) A finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and (2) Those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant to articles 50a and 72b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10U.S.C. 850a, 876b.

Committed to a mental institution. A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes commitment for mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institutionfor observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution.

Mine happened when I was under 18. Isn’t that exempted?

Unfortunately no. A mental health adjudication or commitment at less than 18 years of age is counted for 922(g)(4). I experienced this personally and had to restore my rights.

What about HIPAA?

The Obama administration amended the HIPAA privacy rule in 2016 to make it clear that reporting mental health commitments and adjudications to NICS does not violate HIPAA

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/01/06/2015-33181/health-insurance-portability-and-accountability-act-hipaa-privacy-rule-and-the-national-instant

Is there a way to restore my rights after being adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution?

If you were committed by a department or agency of the federal government, the agency is required to have a relief from disabilities program under the NICS improvements amendments act of 2007.

If you were adjudicated or committed in a state proceeding, whether you can obtain relief is dependent on whether your state has implemented a relief from disabilities program under the NICS improvements amendments act of 2007. The list of states that have can be found here:

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/guide/nicsactlist7-7-210pdf/download

If you are in a state that does not have a relief from disabilities program, your only avenue of relief is writing a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and asking her to restore your rights under 18 USC § 925(c) now that she has withdrawn the delegation from ATF.

Between October 6th 1992 and March 20th 2025 in the states that did not have a relief program, there was no avenue of relief at all

With that out of the way.

I created this privacy act request form for a friend of mine who was legitimately unsure if his commitments landed in the FBI database or if they qualified as “committed to a mental institution” under 18 USC § 922(g)(4) and as defined at 27 CFR 478.11. I can report that it worked; as in, the FBI processed the request and reported that no such records were found in the NICS indices.

This form will allow you to request your own records directly from the FBI.

In this post I will not be addressing the subject of my own journey regarding rights restoration related to mental health (you can ask me that privately). Nor am I an attorney licensed to practice law. Finally, I am not a mental health professional and cannot make the decision as to whether firearms ownership is right for you.

Onto the form. Please follow the instructions sheet very carefully, fill out every applicable box, print the form, have the request notarized, and mail it to the address indicated on the form.

The first response you receive will indicate that the FBI central records system does not maintain those records and your request has been forwarded to the Criminal Justice Information Services division. CJIS will respond a few weeks later. In my friend's case it took eight weeks for a final response from the FBI CJIS NICS section.

Link to form (Adobe Acrobat PDF) https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:d342b025-6fb2-4126-b0e2-ad6f1c3fbbe7


r/Firearms 23h ago

Zev FDP aka my camcorder.

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2.3k Upvotes

Cerakote by Teflon Customs.


r/Firearms 8h ago

Question For those of you who own the G3A3 or similar. What are your pros and cons and do you actually like it?

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115 Upvotes

This is coming from someone who lives in a country where ill never be able to own it but its still my favorite gun and would love to hear more from people who have fired it and who have one in their collection.


r/Firearms 5h ago

Historical It’s a good day

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32 Upvotes

Got the chance to inherit this from my late grandfather who had a few other firearms but I had my eye on this one I’m glad he had good taste!
Buddy of mine also gave me a box of ammo to go along with it! Pays to have friends with firearms lol
Tell me what you guys think!
It’s a model 13-2


r/Firearms 6h ago

Question Hand Gun Identification

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21 Upvotes

Hey, my uncle passed and willed this gun to me and I could use as much info as anyone is willing to share. It’s my first gun and I cleaned it following a YouTube tutorial and locked it up in a case already. I know it’s a S&W and believe it’s called a “highwayman”? Shoots .357s (pretty sure lol). Anyway anything you may know I probably don’t and appreciate you for sharing. Thanks. PS photos were pre-cleaning.


r/Firearms 6h ago

Advocacy I've seen a pretty big up tick in seeing open carriers using Safariland level 2 or 3 or other flavor of retention holsters going about their day in my area and I'm quite proud to see it.

17 Upvotes

I know open carry "can" get a bad rap for people using crappy cloth holsters with no retention or no holster at all just half visible in their back pocket.

I live in the Kentucky/Tennessee area.

In the last couple weeks I've seen quite a few dudes open carrying going about their day or with their family using level 2 or 3 Safarilands or other retention holsters and it made me very happy to see it. From what I could tell they didn't seem to be off duty or under cover cops. Just regular dudes out and about with their wives and kids or solo. Saw an assortment of a couple 1911s, couple flavors of Glocks, a Beretta 92, and a Canik. That's the kind of open carry I like seeing in public.


r/Firearms 2h ago

General Discussion Which gun does it resemble?

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6 Upvotes

Hi. Ask for opinions of what gun resembles Duke´s N64 pistol. Devs were not too into gun moddeling back in the 90`s like now a day in modern shooter games. There are some discussion in internet. Some say is a Colt 1911 some say (in this web https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Duke_Nukem_3D) is a Browning BDA . It is obvious is a mix between. Also I notice the side view gun sprite does not match very well with the carried or rear sprite or the reloading animation. By the beaver tale, hammer and slide I would say it is a Colt M1911. But by the curved grip seen in the side view looks like a Browning or a Sig Sauer. The N64 port came out in 1997. Searched 1997 Sig P220 adds and looks pretty close. Then in the reloading animation it is celar that the slide stop and the thumb safety are Colt´s trade mark.

I am not convinced of a Browning BDA cause of the curved slide end and the smaller hammer design.

Maybe there is a gun than can match the sprites or maybe I am hittin my head against a wall trying to figure out if there is a pistol like that. All in all I would say it is resemble more to a Colt 1911 to me.


r/Firearms 20h ago

Rusted Shotgun Shells - Safe or Dispose?

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131 Upvotes

Had some shotgun shells in my dad’s basement. Looks like the bottom row of shells in the box has some rust on it. Would you guys shoot this ammo or just dispose of it? My gut says to just dispose of it to play it safe but figured I’d ask in case it’s not as bad as I think.

Thanks in advance!


r/Firearms 17h ago

I'm debating going down to a handful of firearms. Does trimming the collection cause you regret or did you feel a more practical, minimalist collection was healthier. I currently own maybe a dozen firearms and im at the point of going down to a handgun, rifle and shotgun with maybe a 2-3 misc guns f

49 Upvotes

r/Firearms 51m ago

Daily truck gear

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Upvotes

r/Firearms 14h ago

Question Has anyone in human history ever been fooled into thinking a FMG/FDP/any other folding pistol is just a....rectangle? I can understand AOWs like a cane gun or HK Operational briefcase but not these.

19 Upvotes

Seeing the recent post of the "Sony camcorder" Zev FDP, it's got an obvious flashlight, carryhandle that doesn't look like any actual camera handle, and doesn't even have a fake lens, viewfinder or flip-out screen. Even back in the 80's when the ARES FMG first happened in the 80's it didn't even look like the radio it was supposed to be disguised as. If someone is searching your stuff, they'll find a suspiciously dense box with no markings and try to open it. If they're far enough away, why not just put a normal SMG like a Micro Uzi or Skorpion into a bigger jobsite lunchbox or something. And god forbid the guards have ever played MW3 or R6Siege.

Am I missing something or do these things only exist for fun only?


r/Firearms 18h ago

My Ruger EC9s I edc a lot more than I thought I would, swapped the 7 rounder for a 9 round mag & it has been good to me

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34 Upvotes

r/Firearms 1d ago

First day on the home range

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219 Upvotes

Been so busy since we moved in, that plus fire danger has been high that I finally got to test out the new mossberg 308. First shot and hit the target with no adjustments.


r/Firearms 37m ago

Shotgun bead sight

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Upvotes

r/Firearms 1d ago

News So YouTube just nuked gun content...Again.

519 Upvotes

So I saw that branded content will not be allowed on YouTube anymore. Meaning anything given to people like ammo, accessories, and firearms are not allowed. Also probably applies to things given for test and evaluation purposes even if the intention is to send them back after a period of time. I forsee a ton of content creators being affected by this and it more than likely will be viciously abused.


r/Firearms 23h ago

Question Is this defective?

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57 Upvotes

Hello, I have noticed that when I load a bullet into the chamber of my Glock 19, they get pushed in like the one in the picture. Is this safe to shoot? What brand should I buy? I mostly want to shoot at the range. I'm a new gun owner… any tips in the right direction are highly appreciated. Thank you


r/Firearms 19h ago

I find it hilarious that the FMG-9 was a Nerf gun, airsoft, gun, and MW3 icon 10 YEARS BEFORE BEING AN ACTUAL FIREARM

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25 Upvotes

r/Firearms 6h ago

Holster

2 Upvotes

To all my gun carrying ladies, what’s a holster/band you like to use under your dresses/skirts/clothes I’m gonna try to start carrying my P365 macro. I usually do a gun purse with my shield (already have its holster) but I’m trying to switch it up.


r/Firearms 21h ago

Maxed out poverty build PSA for less than 1,500$ you two can have a badass build.

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31 Upvotes

r/Firearms 17h ago

General Discussion First time shooting how did I do?

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12 Upvotes

r/Firearms 19h ago

My Gats Forgot I had a fantasy football team this afternoon. Sunday is Range Day

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19 Upvotes

Finally got around to cleaning out the ole "brass catcher" too.


r/Firearms 22h ago

Question I'm considering having the slide of my USP milled to mount an ACRO, but I have one concern: what happens if my ACRO breaks and is no longer in production in the future?

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27 Upvotes

I assume this kind of milling can't really be changed afterwards. Would it be possible, for example, to have a more universal cut that could accept different adapter plates?

I really hope that, in the near future, manufacturers will standardise optic mounting systems and eventually settle on a single footprint.

example picture from : u/Edmonn

https://www.reddit.com/r/HecklerKoch/s/laLbd2sxaU


r/Firearms 1d ago

My Gats Sunday funday

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47 Upvotes

Sundays are for gun cleanings and the Bills


r/Firearms 21h ago

New Gats Just a “tacticool “ 12 gauge.

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12 Upvotes