[pfflier]

About as well as how to land a commercial jetliner...

[Gay State Conservative]

To this day on the rare occasion when I handle a firearm I get a bit nervous...despite having qualified as "expert" at Fort Knox in 1969.

I wouldn't trust any youtube video to properly teach firearm safety.

[Magnum44]

Kind of hard on YouTube to know if your getting good advice...

[RandallFlagg]

I learned how to build my computer, my AR-15 and it’s binary trigger installation and testing through YouTube. No issues at all.
Of course, this was before the YouTube purge.

[humblegunner]

JayCh
Since Feb 15, 2018

[Mr. Blond]

You can certainly learn what not to do.

[OKSooner]

See post five.

[laplata]

The answer is No.

Thanks for posting.

[Joe 6-pack]

I’ve got some very useful gunsmithing tips off of youtube. As far as firearms, “handling,” goes, there is no substitute for actual, “handling.” That said, I’ve found some pretty decent shooting drills on YouTube (Travis Haley is one of my favorites) that I’ve put to work on my backyard range.

[Cobra64]

After watching a couple of guides on how to use an AR-15, for example, we can say that, even though we do not own or have used such a gun, we know how to clean it, how to check if there’s a bullet in the chamber, and many more. For example, did you know that, in order to load a magazine with bullets, you have to grab the magazine with your non-dominant hand while inserting the bullets with your dominant hand? This is because they need more than just a push to fit in there.

No one puts bullets in a chamber or a magazine.

Bullets are what leave the muzzle at a relative high velocity after the firing pin struck the primer, igniting gun powder, causing an explosion, pushing the bullet down the barrel. That thingy that contains all the parts is a CARTRIDGE. If you can’t get the lingo right, stay away from things that could potentially cause you or others harm.

[imardmd1]

later

[circlecity]

To a degree, absolutely yes. I’ve watched old military classroom videos teaching soldiers how to handle an M16. So, I was able to learn as much as a US soldier learns in the classroom. Certainly, in order to ingrain these lessons you’ve got to spend time on the range - much more than a range class or two. You can be instructed not to put your finger on the trigger until time to shoot a zillion times. But until you spend time on the range spending a lot of effort and concentration to keep that finger off the trigger, a lot of people will unconsciously put that finger right on the trigger as soon as they pick the gun up and point it downrange.

[dynachrome]

I have gotten some good pointers on tearing down and re-assembling weapons, especially older ones.

[knarf]

You can see the rudiments, hand positions and techniques ... but you have to practice what you see.

I was a run-on replier in FR until I discovered paragraph, sentence and indent HTML

Now I run off at the mouth in a more readable fashion.

Y'gutt'a practice and IF y'GET it .... y'learned.

English ... a pretty good language.

[Keyhopper]

Like sex, I don’t care how many videos you watch or playboys you read, it isn’t like being between the sheets. YMMV

[chris37]

I dunno, i learned combat knife throwing from youtube videos.

Took a lot of practice, but the instructional info was posted on youtube.

[jmacusa]

Short answer: No.

[AppyPappy]

“How to use an AR-15”???

It’s a gun, not a Linux version.

[Leep]

I learned how to ride motorcycle watching videos.

[Billthedrill]

With respect, no. There is no substitute for hands-on training with an instructor you can actually vouch for. It's certainly helpful to have an idea of what you should be doing but actually doing it is a very different thing. A typical new shooter reaction on picking up, say, a 1911, is "wow, this thing is heavy." And when you pick it up and assume that Center Axis Relock stance you learned from John Wick and find the muzzle wandering all over the place instead of that rock-steady Hollywood aim, you'll get an idea of just how much training went into what you're seeing on the screen.

Given the author's tenuous grasp on basic terminology I wouldn't take his advice very far, but I will say that any Range Officer who heard a guy say he learned it all on the Internet or by playing video games would probably give that individual a very great deal of close attention. Just my $0.02.