Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

There’s only one word to describe the Marlin 60 — more of which have been sold worldwide than any other .22 rifle, ever — and that word is FUN. Fifteen rounds of .22 in the tube, a backyard full of old tin cans… I know, that’s so old-school these days, but remember whose website this is. But don’t take my word for it.

Reader Brad_In_IL (who suggested this GGP) writes of his Model 60:

From Mr. Free Market comes this gem from the past, a Westley Richards takedown rifle, based on a Mauser 98 action:

Westley Richards & Co. has been around since the early nineteenth century, making them one of the oldest gunmakers extant. They have made both rifles and shotguns, the latter including models designed by the brilliant gunsmith John Deeley (which I’ll talk about some other time).

But that’s not what I want to talk about today. Rather, I’d like to talk about their proprietary cartridge, the .318 Westley Richards (or as it’s more commonly known, the .318 Nitro), which came onto the market around 1907/08. Here’s a pic (from Wikipedia) which compares the .318 to other, more famous medium-game cartridges:

Note the long, thin(-nish) 250-grain bullet*, akin to the 7x57mm Mauser (a.k.a. .276 Rigby) and the 6.5x55mm Swedish bullets. This gives the .318 exceptional penetration, and given the times it was popular, it should come as no surprise that the .318 Nitro has felled more elephant —  in their thousands — than just about any other cartridge. Walter “Karamojo” Bell used it to great effect along with his other elephant-killer, the .276 Rigby, as did many other Great White Hunters.

The.318 Nitro was superseded by later medium game cartridges (like the superb .375 H&H Magnum) which had “belted” cases to handle the extra pressure. It will come as no surprise to Longtime Readers that this is of no concern to me, because I happen to think that many of the “older” cartridges are perfectly fine, thank you. (I have an old essay on this very topic, and as soon as I find it, I’ll re-publish it.)

I’ve never fired the .318 Nitro, nor have I ever fired a Westley Richards rifle, but I have to tell you all that after looking at Mr. FM’s picture… I have no idea what the rifle costs (several arms and legs, no doubt), but it’s irrelevant: it’s just drop-dead gorgeous. Sadly, though, Mr. FM’s following comment is quite true:

“Another one of those calibers that looks great on paper but trying to get ammo would be a nightmare.”

Sigh.

*In modern nomenclature, the .318 would be termed a .330 because nowadays we measure bullets from the inside-groove depth rather than from the “lands”, which was the British custom when this rifle was made.

In the comments to this post last week, Staff Martin mentioned that the glorious .45 Long Colt cartridge was “revolver-only” — meaning of course, that it couldn’t be chambered in a semi-auto pistol because of its rimmed cartridge case.

Of course, that only applies to handguns because there’s a plethora of rifles chambered for the .45 LC.

Which needless to say triggered one of my longtime fantasies of owning a rifle and handgun as “companion” pieces (i.e. with a shared cartridge chambering), such as these two exquisite offerings from Uberti: the 1873 “Sporting” rifle and the “Stallion” single-action revolver. Note the matching case-hardened finish, as a bonus:

Note too the octagonal barrel on the 1873, and the long tube magazine which holds twelve rounds. Now for the Stallion revolver:

Now I know that the purists are going to complain about my inclusion of reproductions rather than the original Winchester ’73 and Colt SAA , but have you seen the prices that the aforementioned are demanding these days?

And frankly, I love the case-hardened finish on these guns. They are drop-dead gorgeous.

From Reader Joe in PNG:

“I’m seriously pondering a S&W Model 25 in .45 LC for my 45th birthday — in blued steel with a 4″ barrel and some sort of fancy wood grips.”

So detailed a consideration requires pictorial support, methinks (albeit without fancy wood grips):

It’s a good one. The nice thing about the venerable .45 Long Colt cartridge is that it can be found in a weak, cowboy-action-shooting (CAS) guise, and also in rip-snorting magnum-strength power. Witness:

Hornady’s Cowboy:
Bullet Weight: 255 Grains
Muzzle Energy: 298 ft lbs
Muzzle Velocity: 725 fps

Buffalo Bore +P:
Bullet Weight: 260 Grain
Muzzle Energy: 1,298 ft/lbs
Muzzle Velocity: 1,500 fps

Just so we’re clear on the concept, here are the comparable figures for Buffalo Bore’s .357 Mag and .44 Mag cartridges, both regarded as exemplary stoppers:

.357 Magnum:
Bullet Weight: 158 Grains
Muzzle energy: 763 ft/lbs
Muzzle velocity: 1,475 fps

.44 Magnum:
Bullet Weight: 240 grains
Muzzle energy: 1,280 ft/lbs
Muzzle velocity: 1,550 fps

So Joe’s consideration is certainly a valid one in terms of self-defense needs. And let’s not forget that the Model 25 is a handsome-looking piece as well. Win-win, I think the marketing nerds call it.

And if like me you’re an old-school shooter with no fear of single-action revolvers, let’s take a quick look at Ruger’s New Model Blackhawk Bisley in the same caliber:

Am I the only one whose trigger-digit has suddenly started to itch?

From Reader Brad_in_IL comes this love letter:

[I have a] Mosin-Nagant Model 44 carbine, built in 1945. Rifle probably never saw combat as the bore is bright and shiny [I’ll say — K.]. Was probably Ivan’s gun when he stood a guard post.
I call it my Russian Blunderbuss. Damn thing BELCHES fire when touched off… and makes a roaring concussion. I once had an “AR” guy at the next station ask, “What the CHRIST was that?”

I myself have always had a soft spot for the Mosin-Nagant rifle, most especially the M44. Here’s one (not Brad’s):

Like Rolls-Royce cars and Chicago politics, everything you ever heard about the Mosin rifle is true. It kicks the crap out of you — true. It sometimes requires a mallet or a piece of two-by-four to work the bolt — true. When you shoot it, the jet of flame from the M44’s muzzle is almost as long as the gun itself — true. It will carry on working almost regardless of ill-treatment or neglect — true. And so on, and so on.

I think the reason I like the Mosin is that at the end of it all, it is a man’s gun. This is not something that any G.I. Jane (of almost any nationality except maybe a Russian dyevochka circa 1943) would be able to handle — whether operating the bolt after the fifth round, being able to shoot ten rounds in a row of the manly 7.62x54mmR without developing a massive flinch and/or dislocating a shoulder, or loading the mag through the open bolt action  without coming away with pinch-blisters. Hell, most men can’t do all the above, so it’s not anything to be ashamed of, ladies.

In days gone by, the M44 made for an excellent trunk gun, in that it could be banged around ceaselessly and still function, was small enough to fit in just about any size trunk, was cheap enough to be easily replaced if stolen, and would be capable of handling just about any circumstance of mayhem, especially if equipped with the issue cruciform bayonet, thus:

If the expression “pig-sticker” comes to mind when you see that picture, it should.

But we live in a different world nowadays [deep sigh], where the rising tide of Obama-era inflated gun prices has affected even the lowly M44. Case in point:  the rifle pictured above which, even though it is of Russian make in mint condition (!) with matching serial numbers (!!), still has an asking price of $600 (!!!) — which makes it roughly ten times the cost of the same rifle a decade or so ago. (My old Hungarian M44 cost me, if I recall correctly, about $90 and I was teased mercilessly by some old Mosin cognoscenti for having spent so much.)

Which kinda takes away the fun part of the Mosin for me. It was always a rough-and-ready, go-anywhere and handle-anything gun precisely because of that sub-$100 price point — the perfect weapon for peasants, as it were. Now… not so much, because $600 is a serious investment for us pore working-class types, and the perverse joy of owning a piece of stubbornly-utilitarian junk like the Mosin has been sadly diminished.

I hate the modern day. Here’s me with my old 91/30, in happier times (note the length of the bayonet):

The smile says it all.

So, O My Readers, riddle me this: we have two Colt double-action revolvers on display, first a Trooper Mk III:

and next, a Python:

Both have 6″ barrels, both are chambered for the fine .357 Magnum cartridge, both are excellent revolvers — quite possibly two of the best ever made — and yet even though the idiots at Colt don’t make either of them anymore [100,000-word rant deleted] the Trooper typically retails for under $1,000, while the Python is stratospheric ($2,300 and up).

I know the Python was built with no-expenses-spared quality, while the Trooper wasn’t — not that it was shoddy, anything but — and maybe it has a different feel to the Python’s silky triple-snick cocking sound. But I find it difficult to believe that the Python, based on its price alone, is three times better than the Trooper.

I’ve fired both revolvers many times, and owned a Python at one time. Yet now, as a retired old geezer, the chances of me ever owning a Python again are not good (actually, I probably have a better chance of winning the Pick 4 lottery). So why, I ask you all, should I not set my sights on a Trooper instead?

You Readers who are Colt cognoscenti, give me the scoop in Comments (after wiping the drool from yer keyboards, of course). And for once, ignore any arguments involving beauty and / or status. It would be my new bedside gun only.