Category: The Gun Thing

Not just the guns, but all the stuff that goes with them

Giving In To The Commies

Elections, Politics, The Gun Thing

Dear President Trump,

“Doing something about guns” according to the wishes of the media would be an even grosser betrayal of your 2016 supporters than not building a wall along the southern border has been.

We all — even the media — know that “doing something” in this regard means, in essence, increasing control over law-abiding gun owners which will do nothing to solve crime of any sort.

I, and most gun owners who voted for you back in 2016, know that your efforts to build a wall were undercut by the Establishment Republicans and Democrats in Congress.  More ineffectual gun control legislation and the concomitant assaults on our Constitutional rights, however, will place at risk not only your chances of reelection in 2020, it will place the electoral success of the Republican senators and House legislators in a similar situation.

We are not fooled, and we will not be fooled, by the current demands to “do something”.  Try to convince us that you won’t be fooled either.

And yes, this is a warning.

Sincerely,

Kim du Toit

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Colt 1903 (.32 ACP)

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Of all the countless handguns I’ve ever fired, the Colt 1903 probably ranks in the top 3 in the “Most Pleasant To Shoot” category.

There are a couple of things that gunnies may sniff at:  the “European”-style mag release (which John Moses Browning, the 1903’s designer, would rectify with the 1911), and of course the poodleshooter .32 ACP cartridge it fired.  Here’s a close-up of the mag release mechanism:

None of this matters.  I’ve probably fired half a dozen of these beauties, in varying conditions of use / neglect, but each one was silky-smooth where it mattered:  in the action thereof.

I remember firing one in particular at one of Combat Controller’s schutzenfests  down in Austin many years ago.  The owner — whose name I’ve forgotten, sorry — had had it professionally reblued in Colt’s “Royal Blue” finish. The gun was so beautiful and shot so beautifully that I nearly fainted.  Had I not been a guest, and the owner not a fellow member of the Nation of Riflemen, I would have stolen it.  I offered to buy it from him on the spot at any price he cared to name, and he just laughed at me.  Can’t say I blame him, but I still pine for it like I pine for very few other guns.

It’s probably for the better.  I beat up my handguns pretty badly because I shoot them so often and for so long at each range session, and it would break my heart to destroy a 1903, even though the shooting, while it lasted, would be as fine as the caress of a pretty girl’s hand.

Which brings me to the next point.  I think that the 1903 — poodleshooter cartridge notwithstanding — would be a fine choice for a lady’s concealed piece:  it’s light, reliable, easy to conceal and gentle to shoot.

I’ve also fired the later-model 1908 which is chambered in .380 ACP, but as I recall, it wasn’t as much fun to shoot as the smaller chambering.  (The two models are to all extents and purposes identical but for the cartridge.)

Predictably, these fine guns are spendy, costing well over a thousand bucks (cheaper, and they’re probably not going to be reliable and/or beaten up.)  Magazines, when you can find them, cost more than Pirelli Cinturatos.

To my mind, though, if you have your existing shooting needs taken care of (e.g. with serious guns shooting manstopper cartridges), you could do far, far  worse than to add one of these lovely little guns to your collection.  Here’s an excellent write-up of its history.

(Pics courtesy of Collector’s Firearms, probably my favorite gun store of all.)

Dog Ate My Homework

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

A little while ago, my website’s server had a hiccup (confirmed by Tech Support II) and ate the post that was supposed to be here.

Of course, this happened mid-writing, so it all went bye-bye into the Great Digital Black Hole (no relation to Maxine Waters).

When I get my temper under control, you can read all about my trip to the Third World this past Wednesday.  In the meantime, here’s a gratuitous gun pic of a Mauser C96:

Other than as an historical artifact (e.g. as used by Winston Churchill against various fuzzy-wuzzies), I don’t know why people have a thing for this gun.  I’ve fired fired one in its original 7.63 Mauser chambering, and it’s almost uncontrollable:  that “broomhandle” grip turns in your hand even in when shooting two-handed;  gawd knows what it’s like when shooting it old-style:

 

I bet you couldn’t hit the inside of a barn with the thing, let alone a deserving fuzzy-wuzzy.

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.

Silence In Court

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

The good folks at ammunitiontogo.com sent me a link to their article on silencers (suppressors, moderators, what have you).

If you don’t know much on the topic (I didn’t, until recently), it’s a good one.

Favorite stat: of the ~1.5 million suppressors extant in the U.S., Texas accounts for well over 260,000 (plus one more when I get my act together).

Mr. Free Market has one of these moderated sweetie-pies (because while guns are hated by the elites in Britishland, amazingly, “moderators” are not only allowed, but encouraged  in their use — he has five or six, as I recall).

S&W M&P 15-22. Want.

Thanks to Reader Dave S. for the link.

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.