Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

Following my meandering post last weekend about carrying a revolver rather than a 1911, I was wandering about the Internets when I saw this little beauty:

I know, I know… “beauty” and “Ruger” are not often sentence-mates, but I think that this particular GP100 model qualifies.  And as for Ruger’s ruggedness and reliability… we’re all on the same page there, I think.

Here’s the thing.  I’ve actually owned a GP100 before, and I loved the gun, except for the trigger.  Oh man, that trigger was awful:  sticky, stiff (it felt like a 50-lb break), and it only sorta-smoothed out after over a thousand dry-fires.  (Don’t laugh;  in those days I was a lot more serious about testing guns, so I kept a fairly close count.)  In the end, I got sick of the finger-cramp, decided it wasn’t worth the hassle, and traded it for a Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine (a story for another time).

However, in reading the various comments from people who’ve recently bought this model, only a very few complained about the trigger.  So maybe Ruger has fixed that problem.  What I do know is that before I would actually drop the $900-odd on the gun, I’d bring along some dummy .357 snap caps, test it right there in the store, and let its trigger make the final purchase decision.

I do know, however, that I would have absolutely no qualms about strapping this puppy onto my hip every time I left the house.

(I wrote about this very topic many years ago, but I can’t find the original article.  So I’m going to start from scratch.)

A Reader once wrote to me, telling me that he was moving out of NYFC and back into the United States.  He’d been a gun owner before, but had sold all his guns prior to moving to Manhattan.  Now, smelling the taste of freedom, he wanted to buy some guns again.  He had $5,000 set aside for the purpose, and wanted my ideas on what I would suggest he look at.

I don’t remember what I recommended, nor can I access the original post;  but it’s a fun mind game to play on a Saturday.  Before I get going, though, let me say that the guns I’d choose would not only be “serious” guns — self-defense and so on — but because I consider shooting to be fun (what a concept), some of the guns I pick would have to cover that part as well.

The categories of firearm, therefore, are:  self-defense (carry), plinking, home defense (however you define it), sporting and all-round utility.

Here, then, is my list of new “starter” guns I’d either buy or consider buying, with a budget of $5,000 (granted, five grand won’t buy you as much as it did back in 2005 or whenever, but that just adds to the challenge).  They’re not necessarily my favored choices, but they are the best choices in terms of utility and price.

And on the latter topic:  I’m mostly going to use Bud’s Gun Shop for pricing and pics, because his prices seem to be reasonable on most guns and I don’t want to spend hours and hours looking around the various gun shop websites just to save $5 on, say, a plinker.  I’m also going to ignore accessories like spare mags and such — this is about guns, and they’re listed in the order that I would buy them.

 1) Carry piece
This the very first gun I’d buy because it’s the one I’d most likely need the soonest, all things being equal:  the Springfield Armory 1911 Defender  Mil-Spec .45 ACP 5″ ($510) — it’s the cheapest Springfield 1911 on the market, and while there are lots of cheaper .45s (and 1911s) out there, the Springfield is the one I’ve used and trusted for twenty-odd years, and for me this is no area to compromise on.

2) Semi-auto rimfire rifle (.22LR)
It’s a commodity item, like a kitchen knife.  I’d choose the Marlin 795 .22 LR 18″  ($170) — I’ve shot one before, and for the money, it’s fantastic value.

3) Do-it-all rifle (.30-30)
What’s the best centerfire rifle you could get that, in a pinch, could do everything, from home defense to hunting?  My choice would be the Marlin 336C .30-30 Win 20″ ($565) —  it’s been doing it all for well over a century, and who am I to argue with tradition and heritage?  With practice, the lever action can be worked almost as fast as a semi-auto.

4) Bedside gun / backup carry (.357 Mag)
This is the gun you buy when you absolutely, positively have to depend on it to work, every time.  I’d get the inexpensive but reliable S&W LE Mod 66 .357 Mag 4.25″ ($650) — I’d love it to be a Model 65, but they’re unavailable nowadays, and forget about a Colt Python.  (A close second would be the Ruger GP100 for just a few dollars less, but the Mod 66 just seems to fit my grip better, and has a better trigger withal.)

5) Shotgun (20ga)
Here I’m going to ignore the pump-action type and go for a double-barrel instead, because I prefer to use a shotgun for sport, not home defense (sporting clays being one of my favorite fun sports, of course).  There’s really only one choice in the inexpensive-but-quality category:  the CZ Bobwhite SxS 28″ — ($695).  It has all the things I want in a shotgun:  double trigger, long barrels, “English” (not a pistol) grip and splinter forearm.

6) SHTF rifle
You all know my feelings on this topic.  As the man said, “When civilization falls, the gun you want in your hands is an AK.”  Hence the semi-auto AK-47 7.62x39mm — ($650)

7) Long-range scoped rifle
Everyone should have a “reach out and touch” rifle, capable of consistently hitting a target at 500 yards.  Given the budget constraints, I’m going with the Savage 110 Tactical .308 Win — ($630) Still the best value for money.  The nearest competitor is the CZ 557 Heavy Barrel — and that’s nearly $900, which would leave little money for a scope.  And speaking of which:
Minox 3-15×56 ZX5 30mm — ($680) I love this scope (it’s the one I have mounted on my Mauser M12).  For what is really a “mid-priced” optic, the clarity is outstanding, the light-gathering stupendous, and it’s as rugged as hell.  If the money was there, I’d spend an extra $150 on the illuminated reticle, but such is life under budgetary constraints.

8) .22LR Pistol
Every home should have one (or two, or three) of these… and I’m going with the gun I know, with the best trigger:  Browning Buck Mark Plus Stainless 5″ ($500).

…and that, in covering all my bases, takes it to $4,950.

Note that in working with so small a budget on “must-have” guns, I was not able to indulge my passion for old military surplus rifles… and man, does it hurt.

Feel free to take issue with me on my choices, in Comments.  Obviously, everyone’s going to have different likes / dislikes / preferences, but if you keep my categories in mind as you suggest others, I don’t think you’ll go wrong.

Following my post about the Brno ZKM-611, Reader JohnF asks in an email:  “The 611 is a non-starter because it’s so expensive.  If you like CZ’s semi-auto rimfire rifles so much, why not just go for the newer 512 model?”  (I should add, for those who don’t know, that CZ eliminated the “Brno” brand, but the CZ/Brno labels are essentially the same gun, e.g. Brno 602 = CZ 550 Safari.)

Good question.  Here’s a look back at the 611, followed by the 512 (both in .22 WinMag):

Fact is, if I were looking to buy a semi-auto .22 WinMag rifle, I’d give the CZ 512 a long, hard look simply because it’s a CZ.  But if I wanted to add a beautiful  rifle to my meager collection, gimme the Brno any day of the week.  Is the 611 hundreds of dollars better  than its successor?  Nope, but that’s not the question.

And the 611 is a takedown rifle, whereas the 512 isn’t.  That feature also points to the ZKM-611 as the better choice.

Digression:

I should also point out that new  semi-auto .22 WinMag rifles other than the CZ 512 are like hen’s teeth, simply because Ruger stopped making their 10/22M line, the idiots.  Apparently they claimed unsolvable feeding issues for the decision, but I never had that problem, not once.  I wish I’d never sold mine.

As far as I can see, the only other manufacturer currently making a .22 WinMag semi-auto rifle is Savage, with their A22 Magnum.  Predictably, being Savage, it’s pig-ugly:

But on the other hand, the A22 features Savage’s excellent Accu-Trigger, so it should be a worthy alternative to the CZ 512.  (I’ve never fired the A22 before, so I can’t say.)  Savage also claims to have fixed the .22 WinMag’s alleged feeding problem by making it a delayed blowback action.  Typically, the A22 sells for just over $400 as I write this, compared to the CZ 512’s $500+ (although it’s discounted by $100 at Cabela’s).

And here’s a side-by-side comparison of the two.  The CZ 512 wins, hands down, in just about every department.  Clearly, the $100 premium is worth it.

Now where did I put that piggy bank?

It has long been my desire to own a matched pair of shotguns (yea even unto consecutive serial numbers), and this little missive from Mr. Free Market pretty much encapsulates my feelings on the matter:

The problem is that this kind of thing is, as the Brit expression goes, beastly expensive, as evidenced by this offering (click to embiggen):

Now, while the list price ($13,500) for this delectable twosome from Arrieta is perilously close to nosebleed level for my Readers, it should be realized that <$7,000 per gun is not a bad price for a handmade (albeit secondhand) shotgun — in fact, it’s almost too  cheap.  Compare and contrast with this pair of the abovementioned William Evans’s own guns, at $16,000 (also secondhand):

…or even those of another Spanish gunmaker, Aguirre y Aranzabal at $26,000 (new):

Ummm where was I before I was so rudely interrupted by an attack of massive drooling?

Nope, it’s gone.  I’ll have to go in another direction.

Look, I know that one may question the perceived value of a matched pair of shotguns:  yes, it’s a Good Thing that if one is going to shoot them serially (e.g. on a high bird shoot somewhere in, say, Dorset) that the guns should feel the same when one brings them to shoulder, and the triggers should be identical.  But say, for the sake of argument, if one were to find two shotguns from the same manufacturer of identical chambering, such as these two L.C. Smith 20-ga beauties costing all together just over $4,100 :

…one has to query the value of the “paired” guns versus a couple thereof, assuming the condition is moot.  Of course, the latter are not going to look identical (as the pics above show), and of course there’s that serial number mismatch — but (comparing the two L.C. Smith guns to the Arrieta pair) is the pairing really worth an extra ten grand? And we will not even speak of the cost of a pair of matched Purdeys…

Your thoughts in Comments.

Afterthought:  as it’s Saturday, I thought I’d just offer the several websites featuring this kind of gun, for your browsing pleasure:  William Evans — Steve Barnett — William Purdey — John Rigby — Holland & Holland — M.W. Reynolds and of course Collectors.

Enjoy, or else feel free to curse me.