Last time I discussed a common gunhandling mistake among more experienced shooters. Today, I’m going to explain one that more often catches beginners and is exactly like its name—malfunction.

Increasingly, I am getting questions from readers who are obviously new to the world of guns in general and handgunning in particular. That's fine with me, because the sport is in danger if there isn't interest on the part of new shooters. I want handgunning to thrive for tomorrow's shooters, as well as for the continuing enjoyment of today's. Sometimes, the newcomers are a little reluctant to ask questions, for fear of sounding ignorant. Ignorance is a reversible condition—all it takes is information, which reminds me of the adage: “The only dumb question is the one that's never asked.”

The fundamentals of gun safety seem quite simple, but as an NRA instructor, I’ve seen a wide variety of ways that these simple rules can be broken by shooters of all skill levels. Studying these violations in my classes led to watching for these same violations during informal shooting sessions at my local range, and later to discussions with other instructors about various ways that students just seem to mess up. My next few blogs will discuss scenarios to watch out for when you’re at the range, along with the potential perpetrators and the best way to correct this wrong behavior.

I remember reading in someone's old catalog that Colt used only seven different kinds of barrel stock for all those many calibers of the Single Action Army revolver.