I love guns.
This, of course, will come as no surprise to anyone who’s ever read more than a page of posts on this website, or has been on this back porch of mine for longer than a couple of months.
There are many like me, of course, but to a lot of men, guns are tools (for hunting or pest control) or hobby implements (such as for competition shooting).
I’m not in that category. I’m not a very competitive person, and frankly, I lack the dedication to want to put in hours of practice to become really skilled — and by the way, I was precisely the same way when it came to playing guitar: I got good enough to make a living by playing bass in a band, but was too lazy to practice hard enough to become really good, like Chris Squire or Paul McCartney (never mind the gods like Mark King or Billy Sheehan).
Back to guns.
What brought all this to mind was when I re-watched the Forgotten Guns episode with Ian McCollum talking to Ken Hackathorn about the M1 Carbine. McCollum is, as we all know, one of the most knowledgeable people on the planet when it comes to guns, and Hackathorn is one of the most accomplished shooters (and cognoscenti ) likewise.
However, when you watch the show, I want you to pay attention to Hackathorn when the two of them start talking about the M1 Carbine. McCollum is holding the carbine and basically just… holding it. Then he hands the thing over and you can tell by Hack’s every action that he truly loves the damn thing, and can’t stop playing with it, holding, stroking and patting it like a grandchild or a beloved dog.
I feel the same way about guns, especially guns of a previous generation. In fact, about halfway through the video, I had to pause it while fetching my own M1 Carbine, and the rest of the time I spent basically mimicking Ken Hackathorn.
I have to tell you that while I agree pretty much with everything that was said on the video, I think Hack missed a key part of the attraction of the M1 Carbine. He talked about how the men who actually had to use the thing liked it, despite all the gun’s perceived (and actual) shortcomings — but both he and Ian put it down to the carbine’s light weight and other physical characteristics. They both missed an important point: people love the little gun, love it beyond reason.
Like I do.
I’ll go as far as to say this: every man who has any pretensions at all to being a shooter should own one of these wonderful guns.
I’ve been severely addicted to guns for about 64 years of my 68 year life. Yeah, since age 4 when dad gave me a Daisy.
I lust for the guns I still want to own and mourn the guns I stupidly got rid of. If I was wealthy I’d own every gun I ever wanted, and there are plenty.
I’m not a snob, I like ALL guns and I favor a few over others, but I’d never turn down a good deal for any gun. My newest gun hobby, which will start today, is black powder.
Today I am going to order this little jewel and let nature run it’s course. https://muzzle-loaders.com/collections/flintlock-pistols/products/traditions-trapper-pistol-kit-flintlock
I just wish that I could find ammunition for mine . Even the “cheaper” brands like PPU and Armscor – which are actually pretty good – are just about impossible to find. I’ve got .30 carbine reloading dies but primers at a hundred bucks a thousand are a little steep for this old man.
+1 on primers $$$. Fortunately I have a brick of small rifle. Got a gift card for Cabela,s, may just use it for primers. Also managed to grab some surplus ammo from Widener’s back in 2020, Korean manufacture, in the stripper clips, in bandoleers, in an ammo can, 1080 rounds.
Ltdavel, if you have a stockpile of small pistol primers on hand, try some loads with those. I have tested .223 Rem loads with small pistol primers, and there is no significant fall in accuracy in comparison to small rifle primers.
Yep, one of my favorites that I take out from time to time, for sure the ammo has gone up way too high in price for me to plink with my Carbine moving cans around and making noise like I used to. I taught my grand daughter who is now in college to shoot the M-1 Carbine when she was 11 years old and it is a most easy little rifle to shoot. As a replacement for a pistol the Carbine shines and as a front line battle rifle it comes up short but it comes to the shoulder and can get on target just as easy as a good upland shotgun so, there’s that.
No argument from me, as you well know. I have also watched that episode more than once. When I pick up my carbine, a part of me feels like Horatius at the bridge. What better way indeed. I have to remind myself that should the need to defend the castle arise, there are wiser choices in my safe.
Another favorite episode is the one about the Lewis Gun.
the only way I can get the M1 carbine away from my wife at the range is when she runs out of ammunition. I bought some ammunition from CMP a while back but it simply isn’t enough. It’s a wonderful rifle and very handy.
My favorite toys growing up were cap guns and I finally bought a rifle at around 26 or 27. I got a Lee Enfield made before 1910. I’ve never taken Ole Tommy Akins to the range. I quickly added a No 4 Mk2 made in the early 50s and that was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back sort to speak.
I’ll have to find the video you speak of Kim. I’ve watched a bunch of the Ken Hackathorn videos with Bill Wilson. Hackathorn’s home in Idaho sure looks beautiful. well, rather the scenery around it looks beautiful.
JQ
I introduced a young woman to shooting a decade or so ago, and at the range we sampled a variety of pistols and rifles of a wide variety of calibers. The M1 Carbine was her favorite, and the one she would most like to have. Since I have no kids, I’m leaving it to her in my will. She can’t have it while I can use it – it’s one of my favorites, too!
I was not a “shooter” growing up – it was L.A. – but I did get a Marksmanship Merit Badge in Scouts (the range was in a basement at the local Reserve/NG facility). Never shot an M1 Carbine until I was handed one at the range at Lackland during USAF Basic Training – but I qualified on the first attempt. Next time I saw one was 2-yrs later at Elmendorf (AK) when everyone had to re-qual – shot EXPERT after not having shot any weapon in two years. I now keep handy a WW2 UNDERWOOD that came back to us after a life in Korea (a BLUE SKY re-import) and is my #1 back-up.
Thank You, “Carbine” Williams, and Winchester Arms.
Kim,
PS Thanks for the link with Hackathorn and Gun Jesus. I got sucked into Forgotten Weapons videos and such. I watched an uncrating of rifles from Ethiopia and now I’m looking online for ammunition. My wallet is giving you the silent treatment.
JQ
I picked up two from the CMP when they were cheap with lots of ammo.
Always remember Jim Cirillo on the NYPD stakeout squad used it. In the many gunfights he had he said it was like the Hammer of Thor… that’s good enough for me…
After the unpleasantness in SoCentral L.A. in the mid-60’s, a Marine on the PD’s Metro Squad recounted some of what he encountered.
At that time, the squad cars were carrying 12g. pumps, but my Marine friend walked a beat, so no access to a shotgun. He just opened the trunk of his personal vehicle and produced a Carbine with a qty of “banana clips”. When told what the official count of rioter deaths was, he chuckled and said “My Carbine downed more than that.”
Hear hear!
I recently found a pretty good deal on box of South Korean surplus ammo, so I feel good to go.