By: Gerald Loeffers

I am shying away from any heavy subject today, but I want to expose another fine YouTube gun and shooting channel — Hickok45, the grandpa you wished you had, lol. He is based out of Tennessee with a large property to shoot on and with 3 areas to work on. He’s a funny guy that makes fun of himself and doesn’t take himself too seriously. His film crew is his own son, who is the heavy metal half of the family. He was a competitive shooter and has worked within law enforcement in the past, but I do not know the full details. He has a love for old school firearms throughout history and has a love for modern GLOCKS.

His love of history is so apparent with his showing of hatchets, knives, single action guns to lever action rifles and some archery thrown in there. I love learning about this part of American history! He is into teaching about World War II weapons and their history from around the world and has an excellent collection from Colt 1911 A1 pistols, to the K98 Mauser rifles and he loves showing how they shoot and operate. He shows how fun and accurate these guns are. This man has a fondness for double action revolvers from Smith and Wesson, as well as Colt and Ruger, with the K frame Smiths being his favorite.

But at least we won’t forget he has a love for modern firearms like the Glock. It is his favorite (mine as well), but he is not brand myopic and also has shown off the Smith M&P, Springfield Armory XD, XDM, XDS, Ruger SR9 and has a vast collection of modern 1911 pistols of many makes and models. Then his modern rifles are really cool — like the FN S.C.A.R., AK-47, SOCOM 16, M1A, AR-15, REMINGTON 700, RUGER 10/22, MINI 14 and he has also from time to time shown off some borrowed class 3 guns like the M-16 W/SUPPRESSOR or the suppressed Glock 21, one of my favorites.

With the large and vast compound he has, he can shoot almost anywhere. Some videos have him doing a “woods walk,” shooting against anything from zombies to those evil 2 liter sodas. Then he has a long range area to shoot heavy rifles, such as his M1A or bolt action sniper rifles at steel plates at around 300 yards. When he has a close up video, it is a small area with him sitting on a log with mostly a pistol and shooting close range against paint cans or soda bottles. But most of his shooting review videos take place at his standard range area with many levels of plates and other targets at different ranges. I have seen this guy hit his long range gong with a Glock 26, way beyond its intended design! This man’s sense of humor is funny and down home with him doing everything from using a Glock to carve a pumpkin to conducting a Remington shotgun tree trimming. My personal favorite is his Smith .500 water melon close range salad.

This man has many supporters and friends within the YouTube gun community here in the States and overseas in Australia. Some of these friends have dropped by now and then to join in the fun and to pass along their love of firearms and shooting. Mike Lee who is a country singer in Australia, who somehow is a rampant gun collector in that country, has come over to the Hickok house a few times and gone shooting with him. He wrote a song for Hickok and filmed the music video at his place entitled: LIFE IS GOOD. The reason being is that’s Hickok’s signature ending to his videos. Make no mistake… Hickok is a 2nd Amendment supporter and even did an off the cuff speech at a rally at one time similar to the one NUTNFANCY did in Utah at the state capitol.

So, this is the grandpa we wish we all had. I mean come on… who wouldn’t? He has a vast knowledge and experience that he can pass on to others and he does so. He’s fun and his own son still hangs around his dad and helps film his channel. If that’s not family unity, I don’t know what is. He has talent and shows he’s not afraid to be silly or make mistakes like the rest of us do. He shows not only his shooting skills, but that you can have fun doing something serious and learn something from each new experience. Now go out there and bring the family! Go shooting together, because life IS good.