Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Savage Mod 99 (.250 Savage)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Of course, the idea of an old Model 99 selling for well north of six grand is preposterous… until you see this one:

I mean, seriously?

 

I know, the silly price really reflects the added cost of the engraving (none of your laser-cut nonsense here), and as far as I’m concerned, transforming this lovely old rifle into a work of art is a Good Thing, akin to any similar improvement made to a decent old shotgun, for instance.

The only iffy thing about this rig is the scope, which I’d replace with something more fitting, such as this Leica.

On to practical matters.  First, the chambering.  I’ve owned and/or shot many Savage 99s, in the above .250 Savage (a.k.a. the .250-3000), in .243 Win, in .300 Savage and in .308 Win.

The .308 was a brute, and hurt my shoulder like hell (Savage 99s have a very slender buttstock) and ditto the .300 Savage, albeit to a lesser degree.  The .243 Win was nice, but of all of them, the .250 Savage was an absolute joy to shoot, and it’s the only chambering I’d consider now.  It’s also fast, deadly and wonderfully accurate.

Secondly, the full (Mannlicher) stock.  Savage barrels are not heavy, to put it mildly;  the Model 99 was designed as a light carry gun, to be used when there were miles of stalking involved in the hunt, or where portability was at a premium, e.g. in hilly- or densely-forested terrain.  So after a few shots — maybe a magazine load or so — the “soda-straw” barrel tends to start whipping around from the heat.  While the full stock would not help the barrel to cool down (the opposite, in fact), I can’t help but think that the wood could also brace the barrel as it heated up.

None of which is important, really.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Mannlicher stock on a Model 99, and I’ve certainly never seen one so beautifully engraved.

Want.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Beretta Giubileo II (20ga)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Seen at Collectors, this matched pair of beauties (“Giubileo” is pronounced like “Jubilee”, which is its actual meaning):

Some close-ups:

And the only change I’d make is to get a proper “motor case” from these guys, to replace that gay-looking Beretta one:

(I know, $440 is a lot to spend on a gun case;  but considering that the matched gun package costs $20,000 it’s not a bad deal.)

To put this price in perspective, this matched pair of Asprey guns costs $40,000 more than the Berettas.  Let’s not even get started on the Hollands and Purdeys…

Alert Readers will spot the only fly in this exquisite jar of Italian facial cream is that the guns have single triggers.  But even then… O madre.

Just Wrong

Gratuitous Chick Pics, Gratuitous Gun Pics

I don’t follow any kind of professional fighting (boxing, MMA, whatever) so I first thought Paige VanZant was Ronnie’s daughter or something.  Of course, I was wrong, about that anyway, as she’s quite well-known in fighting circles:

Okay, she cleans up pretty nicely, albeit in that not-quite-trailer-park kinda way:

But that’s not what’s upsetting me.  This is:

What the hell kind of gun is young Paige holding?  It looks like she’s about to shoot one of those USPS book-boxes.

Yeah, I know, it’s a Kriss Vector (sounds like an old Marvel villain’s name), and all the cool kids are shooting them.

My feelings on all these modernistic guns is, I think, well known;  but seriously?  This is uglier than a USPS book-box.  1960’s-era Buck Rogers Mattel toy comes to mind.

And all this at $1,600 just to shoot the silly 9mm Europellet?  Pass.

I need to get my busted M1 Carbine to the gunsmith.

Doesn’t look as cool as the Mattel thingy, but mine also has a 15-round (non-Glock) magazine (which isn’t relevant as I don’t own a Glock pistol anyway).

And I’ll take the .30 Carbine over the 9mmP every day of the week.

The Forgotten Model 60

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Amidst all the hoo-hah of Ruger buying Marlin and re-releasing Marlin lever rifles, it seems as though everyone has forgotten about Marlin’s heritage in rimfire rifles.

See if you can see what caused me an immediate RCOB on this page:

“Currently not in production”????   WTF is going on over there?   When was production halted anyway, and why?

And indeed, a cursory look at my usual thirty or so favorite gun dealers’ sites revealed that the Model 60 is MIA, everywhere.

A Marlin 60 was the very first rifle I purchased, shortly after I arrived in the U.S. as a Drenched Wetback© in the mid-1980s, and in the proper hands it is capable of astounding accuracy — for any rifle, let alone a budget one — as witnessed by Reader Brad’s recent trip to the range:

That’s five rounds at 25 yards, although he did “cheat” by using a peep sight instead of the original buckhorn/V on the Marlin.

Note to the “marketing” department at Ruger:  restart production of this little beauty ASAP, you bastards, or hell will follow.

Oh, No

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Here’s a gun which ticks all my shotgun lust boxes save two (and oh by all means. right-click to embiggen):

Let me just get the two disqualifiers out of the way:  12ga and price ($16,500, cheap for a Purdey), the combination of which means I’m unlikely ever to buy it.

But if I did… I don’t think that I would shoot it that much.  I’d mount it on a facing wall where I could look at it all day.

Or I’d just keep it next to my chair where I could pick it up now and then, and lovingly fondle it and talk to it like I would a small puppy or a mistress.

Great Vulcan’s bleeding nostrils, that is a beautiful gun.