Solving A Problem

Last week saw a whole bunch of Gratuitous Gun Pics, so why not continue with another one or two this week, say I?

Here’s one which provides a solution to the notoriously-difficult question of mounting a scope onto a Mosin-Nagant 91/30:

Now I must admit that mounting a Scout Rifle-type scope onto the 28″-barreled (and sporterized) 91/30 looks somewhat goofy — without the full-length front stock, the barrel does look a little overlong — but it is nevertheless a solution to the scope problem.  And you could do a whole lot worse than spending less than $600 on a proven rifle which includes a scope, and is chambered in the manly 7.62x54Rmm.

I still think, though, that the scope mount would look better on one of the shorter M44 carbine models.

I Had A Dream

…but it wasn’t anything like Martin Luther King’s, or ABBA’s dream, nor about Joe Hill (no link because Commies), and sadly, it wasn’t about Cass Elliott.

No, I dreamed that a wealthy Reader (who looked a lot like Ginger Baker, FFS) offered to buy me three guns, with the caveat that they couldn’t be guns I’d owned before, nor any old guns at all — they could only be new guns.

At least it wasn’t cars, because then I’d have been in real trouble.

Anyway, I woke up without having made any choices, but the dream has kinda stuck with me all day.  And being prevented from getting a gun that I’ve owned before makes the list really short, because… well, you know.

So after some considerable thought, here they are, the top 3 guns I’d like to receive as a gift:

1 – Dan Wesson Valor (.45 ACP)

Some may consider this a cheat (because the 1911 is old, and I’ve owned several in the past);  in my defense, however, I’ve never owned a pocket 1911, nor anything made by Dan Wesson.  But I’d love to, and this one makes my bang-switch-actuator itch.  Badly.

2 – Ruger No. 1-S Medium (9.3x62mm)

Never owned a No. 1, nor any rifle in the venerable 9.3x62mm.  I would even consider going on an(other) African hunt (but with Doc Russia and Mr. Free Market) if I could take one of these.

3 –  A.H. Fox FE 20ga (as made new by Connecticut Shotgun Mfg. Company)

This beauty ticks all the Kim Boxes (side-by-side, double trigger, straight stock, 30″ barrels) and if the Dan Wesson was disqualified because rules, I’d just get a matched pair.  And then I’d head off to join Mr. FM in Dorset later in the year, you betcha…

Anyone else had a dream like this one?

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Winchester Super X AR 308 (.308 Win)

When is a Winchester semi-automatic rifle not a Winchester semi-automatic rifle?

When it’s actually a Browning BAR made by FN Herstallike this one:

Let’s see:  a tried-and-tested semi-auto rifle action, in hunting guise, with a ten-round magazine (two, as advertised), and in a manly chambering* — all for just over a grand?

Oh yes, Kimmy WANTS.


*I took inventory of Ye Olde Ammoe Locquere over the weekend just past, and discovered that I have a little under 500 rounds of .308 Win, but no rifle thus chambered.  Hence my interest in the above.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Brno Mauser (6.5x55mm)

Longtime Reader Preussenotto sends me pics of gunny gorgeousity:

Saw this on fecesbook.  Captured the pictures for you because I know you love Mausers and the full underbarrel stock.  Plus the double-set trigger.  The caption said it was Swedish Mauser caliber.  Enjoy. 

How could I not?

 

I don’t want to shoot it.  I just want to hold it, stroke it and work the action…

…and then shoot it.  A lot.

I am SO weak.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Sporterized Mauser 98 (8x57mm)

I have to admit that my experience with “sporterized” military rifles has not been good.  Too often, the work has compromised the function (and still more often the aesthetic beauty) of the original.  (This is not the case when the sporterizer has had a name like “Goudy”, “Stegall” or “Goens”, but then again, the lofty skills of said gunmakers has always been accompanied by loftier-still prices, so I’ve only ever handled such rifles, but never fired one.)

Here’s one that caught my eye, however, at Collectors:

Other than the plastic stock, I can’t find too much to dislike about this rifle — even that ugly muzzle brake should tame the 8×57’s recoil.  Also, it’s selling for less than a grand (compared to the $5,000-plus of the custom rifles from the above makers).

Want, with wood.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Beretta 486 (20ga)

I am a huge fan of Pietro Beretta guns, of almost any age, function, caliber, whatever.  One of my all-time favorite .22 pistols is the Modelo 75, for example:

…which I think is easily one of the most beautiful handguns ever — almost Art Deco, with that slim frame and those flowing lines — and (coincidentally) the Beretta gun which I’ve fired the most, it being the pistol with which I learned to shoot handguns.

However:  like its major competitor Browning, Beretta guns have always been just on the slightly-unacceptable side of affordable.  I know, quality, value, workmanship etc. etc. aren’t free;  but still, they’re always a priced a leeetle more than I want to spend on a gun.

And here’s the subject of today’s GGP:  the lovely Berette 486 side-by-side in 20ga, as listed by Collector’s:

…and only the lack of a second trigger makes this an “Oooooh Kimmy wants!” object of desire.

That, and the price thereof:  $6,850 (!!!!!)

Okay, maybe I’m getting jaded.  But let’s be honest:  with the improvements made in manufacturing by CNC and so on — i.e. churned out of some (admittedly high quality) production line — would it be too much to ask that this gun be priced at the $5,500 point?  That would make it still expensive, but still maintain its premium well above Winchester, CZ, Mossberg and Browning, for example, and competitive with, say, an upper-end Fausti.

Because right now, if I were looking at buying a decent shotgun as specified above, the Fausti would get my order despite my reverence for Beretta.  Fausti offers a drop-in double trigger for a few dollars extra, which Beretta doesn’t — not for a “few dollars extra”, that is — and having handled several Fausti guns in the past, I believe their quality is on a par with Beretta.

All thoughts are welcome in Comments, as always.