Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

Desert Island Guns

Gratuitous Gun Pics

This post is a riff on the BBC’s program “Desert Island Discs”, whereby the guest is asked to list the five pieces of music they would take if exiled to or marooned alone on a desert island (such as this one, screw that grass hut nonsense).

So here’s my list of five guns I’d take under similar circumstances.  (Assume a healthy supply of ammo, targets, cleaning gear etc.  Also, assume you’re never going to be attacked by pirates or zombies, FFS.)

Colt Python (.357 Mag/.38 Special)
Every time I pull the trigger on a Python, I fall in love with shooting all over again.  It is quite possibly the perfect handgun.  I’d choose it with a 6″ barrel.

 

Ruger Single-Ten (.22 LR)
I could take the Single-Six but as any fule kno, ten is better than six.  And plinking is gonna be pretty much an everyday affair, yes?

 

Winchester Mod 62 gallery gun (.22 LR)
Plinking with one of these (or the Taurus knock-off) would be almost continuous, with a series of metal spinner targets set at various ranges.

 

Aguirre y Aranzabal (AyA) XXXV (20ga)
Of course  there’d be a multi-station shotgun range on the island.  I would probably need weekly shipments of clays, by the container.  (And if I could cheat ever so slightly and take two  of these to save on the barrels wearing out after only six months, I’d be very grateful.)  That’s also why I’d pick 20-gauge over the 12:  to spare my shoulder.

 

Finally, to the surprise of precisely nobody, my rifle choice:

Mauser M12 (6.5x55mm)
It is the finest bolt-action rifle I’ve ever fired, period.

Of course, it would be my  M12, as accessorized below:

Needless to say, compiling this list took lots of time because choices.  In the end, I went with guns I’ve fired before and enjoyed shooting more than all the others — and I have fired a lot  of guns in my time.  It’s all very well to think about AK-47s and such, but who actually enjoys  shooting them (other than South African criminals and Muslim/Marxist terrorists)?

And speaking of AK-47s, note the complete absence of semi-automatics in the above.  That was a coincidence, not by design.  I just like working the actions of my guns.

Anyway, those are my five Desert Island Guns.  Feel free to pick your own in Comments, and no cheating with stuff like T/C multi-caliber rifles, either.  Five (5) guns, one chambering per gun.  Have at it.

Update:   “Also, assume you’re never going to be attacked by pirates or zombies, FFS.”

Clearly, I need to emphasize the rules and conditions for some  people…  FFS.

Not My Favorite

Gratuitous Gun Pics, Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

Over at CTD, I see this article:

II have to confess that I’ve owned several “Bisley-gripped” revolvers, and I was never able to shoot any of them for shit.  Something about that upright grip angle made me shoot high — not the first shot, but by the third trigger-pull I’d be missing way high.  The Bisley grip never felt quite comfortable in my hand, and so over time I got rid of all of them because there’s no point in keeping a gun you can’t shoot accurately, is there?  (Especially when someone else absolutely loves shooting my old Ruger revolvers and has never stopped thanking me for swapping them with him. )

As a matter of fact, I shoot the “regular” Ruger grips a lot more comfortably (and hence more accurately), and ditto the Smith & Wesson’s.  Here’s my GP100:

…and my Model 65 (sob):

I have the same issue with the Luger-style (which is raked too much in the other  direction) and the 1911:

The Luger doesn’t work for me, and the 1911 does.

It’s strange how just a couple degrees’ difference of rake in the grip can make such a difference.   Then again, I seldom shoot “hot” loads (as Roberts does, apparently).  The hottest handgun round I’m prepared to shoot is the “regular” 240-gr  .44 Magnum (in the right-sized revolver, i.e. Blackhawk/Redhawk).  Forget that .500 S&W nonsense:


Yeah, I’m a recoil wussy.  Sue me.

Slight Disagreement

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Over at Shooter’s Log, Bob Campbell has some good things to say about CZ’s little model 527:

One of the neatest and classiest rifles of all time is ignored by many shooters. When I fire the CZ 527, I am not concerned with getting off the X or engaging the target in enfilade fire, but rather in hitting what I am aiming at, and getting a clean kill and meat. Not that the rifle would not serve in many situations, but this European stalker is a purebred stalking rifle with many good features. The rifle is a product of CZ and available from CZ USA. They were once marked BRNO. The CZ 527 is a light, neat looking, and effective rifle that will not strain the back with weight or the shoulder with recoil. The price is right as well.

Then he goes on to give his reasons.

The only quibble I have with the article is the title (“CZ’s Best Rifle”) because it isn’t CZ/Brno’s best rifle, by a long chalk — not when put up against the 550/557 or the peerless “Safari” (Brno 602), anyway.

That said:  I love the 527 carbine, and have said so in the past.  For its purpose, it is horrendously over-engineered (that CZ set trigger ooooh ), surprisingly inexpensive thereby and frankly, about as handy as a rifle could be.

In fact, given that it’s chambered for the 7.62x39mm Commie cartridge (of which I may have a box or two lying around), I see little need to own a lever-action rifle for the “carbine hunting” purpose.  New, it’s quite a bit pricier (at ~$650) than, say, a Marlin 336 .30-30 lever rifle (~$450), but then again, I wouldn’t have to spend (at least) $1,400 more to get the requisite thousand rounds of .30-30 (of which I own not a single cartridge) into Ye Olde Ammoe Locquer.  All I need is a few boxes of serious 7.62×39 hollowpoints (e.g. Hornady SST or Federal Fusion), and I’d be good to go.

I think I need to reinstate the old BANG* Fund on this website… about which I have an idea, but that’s for another post later this week.

*BANG:  “Buy (Kim) A New Gun”

 

 

Gun Story

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

From Reader Dave L.:

Should you run out of stuff for your blog (highly doubtful) here’s nice piece of gun porn. It’s a Uberti Cattleman in .357.  I really like the case hardened frame against the blued cylinder and barrel  (me too — K).

I bought this some years back when the gov did an “economic stimulus” of $400 for veterans.  I decided that the best thing I could do with the check was to piss off Nancy Pelosi and buy a gun so I took a ride up to H&H in Oklahoma City.  I may have paid a bit too much but I fell in love with the look and just had to add it to my collection.
I went with .357 because I have several revolvers and one long gun (Rossi 92) in that caliber.  I have .38 and .357 reloading dies and about 3500 rounds in stock.  The pistol rides in a nice holster that I bought down in Mexico back when it was safe to cross the border.
If our idiot governor had signed off on Constitutional Carry, this was going to be my BBQ gun.  It shoots pretty straight and with a stout hollow point .357 load I don’t think that I’m going to need more than six anyway.

“Hi, my name is Dave, and I’m addicted to pretty guns.”

Everybody say after me…

Budget Rifles

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Over at Gun World, Brad Fitzpatrick talks about the change in gun manufacturing, whereby “budget” (“cheap”) no longer means “can’t hit the inside of a barn”, and gives his take on various offerings from some well-known American gunmakers.  He likes them all.  Here they are, in no specific order:

From what Fitzgerald writes, and as I see it — because I’ve never shot any of them myself — all the above are great value for money, in that they combine a “sensible” price with outstanding accuracy straight out of the box.  (As for long-term reliability, of course, we’ll have to see in a decade or so’s time because they’re all relatively new and haven’t been through the hell that we riflemen subject our guns to, yet.)

All the above companies have taken the lessons learned in their respective experience and applied those when using new (and improved) manufacturing techniques, to what seems to be a great advantage for us gunnies.

Nothing wrong with any of that.

However — and you knew there was going to be a qualifier from me, didn’t you? — I think that this new Kraft Durch Technik  stuff has led to a bunch of guns that all look the same, and are not that great-looking withal.

Once again, let me reiterate:  if I were looking to buy an inexpensive bolt-action rifle in .300 Win Mag to take to the Cairngorms in Scotland for a deer stalk with Mr. Free Market, Doc Russia and Combat Controller, every single one  of these rifles would be on my short list, in the same way that if I were looking for a budget-yet-well-made vehicle to take on a long drive trip across the United States, I’d certainly consider cars from Toyota, Nissan, Honda and so on.

But paraphrasing Jeremy Clarkson’s famous question:  would you get a thrill every time you took it out of the gun safe / saw it in your driveway?

I wouldn’t.  I’m sorry, but as much as I have said, and believe that guns are tools and cars just means to get from A to B, I just cannot reconcile myself with the blandness of modern products, and these budget rifles don’t do it for me.  Something like this one does:

It’s a Mauser M18, and in .300 Win Mag as pictured it retails for about $750 at Euro-Optic (~$300 more than the Winchester XPR above).  Yeah, it’s a “budget” Mauser.  My  kinda budget.

Update:  It appears that I screwed up and used the wrong pic (of a new Mauser 98), as the M18 is only available with a plastic stock.  Ugh.  So much for that thought.  Okay, let’s go with an older “budget” rifle in .300 Win Mag, the Savage 110 XP with the wonderful Accu-Trigger:

This one’s on sale at Bud’s Gun Shop for just under $600, and while it’s no Mauser, it will probably do just fine.

[exit, kicking sand]

Carry Nation

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Nah, not the foul old bat who went around smashing up bars in the early 20th century.

I’m talking about my handgun carry options, which are as pictured below.  First, the 1911 and High Power, both in their Don Hume IWB (inside-waistband) holsters:

Each has two spare holsters in re-purposed flip-phone webbing pouches:  the .45 ACP 1911 has Chip McCormick 8-round Powermags (for a total of 24 rounds) and the 9mm High Power has Pro-Mag 12-rounders (36 rounds total).

My backup is of course a .38 Spec S&W 637 Airweight in a Milt Rosen “Clamshell”, with a single 5-round speedloader (not pictured) —  and if I need more than ten rounds in my backup  piece, I’m probably in deeper trouble than I can handle.

Let’s just say I like options in my carry pieces.  Good options.

The last itch I have is for a decent .357 revolver option, so if anyone has an old S&W Model 65 in good working condition… I’d prefer a Python, but I have no money for that.  Does anyone, these days?