Category: The Gun Thing

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

Shotguns, Dead Bodies And Such

Gratuitous Gun Pics, Gun/Ammo Tests

This is going to be a long, rambling post (unlike my usually concise, single-topic pieces) but hey, it’s the weekend:  why not ramble all over the place, even if it does take you well over an hour to get through, if you follow all the links?  So mote it be.

Several Readers have sent me links to all sorts of fascinating stuff recently, and most especially on the topic of shotguns — all of which have been most gratefully accepted.

We already looked at the most-recent entry (re-entry?) of Weatherby into the side-by-side shotgun market in a Gratuitous Gun Pic post.  A comment by Reader Ray is quite appropriate:

“Now they just need to eradicate the ‘Weatherby’ billboard and the exposed colored chokes.”

Colored chokes (which I also abhor because fugly) are nevertheless useful to those who are constantly changing their chokes according to the conditions in which they are shooting (high birds, skeet or whatever).  I understand this, but frankly I am not one of those shooters, in that I prefer a consistent choke type so I can make adjustments on the fly, so to speak.  Your mileage may vary, and that’s fine because when I do any shotgunning at all, it’s sporting clays and I make no claims of expertise in the other types.

As for the Weatherby “billboard”, that’s another point I agree with.  Compare and contrast the following:

…with:

…or:

…where one can almost hear the murmurs of Messrs. Purdey and Holland:  “There’s no need to SHOUT, dear boy, if you’re making a quality gun.”  Point made.

Still on the topic of “Turkish” shotguns, Longtime Friend and Reader John C. sends me this article, talking about CZ’s Hammer Coach shotgun:

Okay, I am seriously considering this little 20″-barreled beauty as a future home defense option.

“But Kim,” I hear you say, “I thought you said that your AK suits all your home defense needs?”

And indeed I have said that before.  However, I am starting to revise my opinion on the matter (“and not a moment too soon, ya old fart”) because in the very same email, John C. added a link to this wonderfully-funny but yet very informative medical take on the effects of a shotgun blast to the human anatomy.  (It also features those raucous Zoomer kids at Garand Thumb, for double the hilarity.)

As to why a double-barreled hammer shotgun (two rounds) over a pump action (five rounds), I have two reasons for my choice.

The first is that one of the benefits of exposed hammers in a shotgun is that you know immediately whether the gun is ready to fire — no safety catch necessary — and while the cocking action is slow, it’s as quick as a well-practiced pump-action throw, especially if you cock both hammers simultaneously.  That second shot happens as quickly as you can move your finger from one trigger to the other, which is not only quicker, but less disruptive to your aiming hold than shoveling the pump back and forth.

The second reason is that after watching the effect of buckshot on the human torso and Doctor Raynor’s excellent analysis thereof, I fail to see why I would need more than two shots to solve the problem (assuming that there aren’t more than two targets, so to speak — but if so, I’d be reaching for the AK anyway because then there’s a crowd dynamic to the whole situation).

Of course, I’d like to have a Purdey hammer gun, just for aesthetic reasons:

…but the barrels are too long and the old gun too expensive.  And for a more modern take, let’s not even talk about the exquisite Famars Abbiatico offering, for the same two reasons:

I seem to have wandered way off the original topic of this post — if there ever was one to begin with — but I did warn you earlier.

All similarly-meandering comments are welcome, of course, because it’s the weekend.

His And Mine

The Gun Thing

Sent on to me by Reader John C.:

Top 5 “Favorite” Guns of Clint Smith:

  • Sharps Trapdoor (.50-70 Govt) — a lovely gun, and I would never argue with his choice of this one, for any reason.
  • M14/M1A (7.62x51mm NATO/.308 Win) — no argument from me on this one either.  Fantastic guns, should never have been replaced by the M16.
  • Colt 1911 (.45 ACP) — well, duh.
  • S&W Mod 28-2 (.45 ACP) — shows you what I know;  I wasn’t aware that the old Highway Patrolman was ever chambered in .45 ACP.  (Why not the Model 25, I wonder?)
  • Colt Single Action Army (.45 Colt) — see the 1911, above.

Clint takes pains to say that these may not be the “best” guns (for whatever reason), but they’re the ones he’s most fond of.  (I should point out, by the way, that I respect Clint Smith more than any other gunman on the planet now that Jeff Cooper is no longer with us.)

John C. said in his email that Smith thinks like me in terms of the guns he loves, and this would be mostly correct.  If I were to list my favorite guns — according to his criterion of the guns one loves to shoot — they would be (not in order):

  1. Browning 1885 High Wall (.45-70 Govt) — not only do I revere this gun, but everyone who has ever shot mine has given it back to me (reluctantly) with a huge smile on their face.  Using hotter modern loads (e.g. Buffalo Bore), I would be comfortable taking this gun on any hunt short of African dangerous game (because I may be romantic, but I’m not an idiot).
  2. Mauser K98k (8mm Mauser or .308 Win) — because it’s the gun I grew up shooting (albeit that one rebarreled in .308 Win), and of every gun I’ve ever owned, this is the one I’m most comfortable with.  If I won the lottery, one of the first guns I’d buy would be a new-manufacture M98 in 7x57mm ($$$$$!!!!) and it would be worth every penny.  (I already have an old K98k in 8x57mm — see below — so a gentler cartridge would be better for my old shoulder-bones.)  Like Clint, I don’t really want to hunt anymore, but I would have another one of these just because, like with the 1885 High Wall, I so love working the action and shooting the Mauser 98.  Pure self-indulgence.
  3. Springfield 1911(.45 ACP) — anyone who’s ever read these pages knows all about my love for this gun, so ’nuff said.
  4. Colt Python (.357 Magnum) — it may not be as robust as its S&W competitors like the 686, but nothing compares to the Python’s silky double action.  And like Clint, I’m a blued-steel man, so I’d have to get an older one to replace the one I destroyed, back in the day. 
  5. M1 Carbine (.30 Carbine) — I love everything about this old warhorse:  its light weight, handy length and gentle recoil.  I can put up with its often-unreliable magazines because it’s unlikely ever to be used (by me) in any kind of combat (although I’d have no problem using one as such if push came to shove).

And there you have it:  two Old Phartte Gun Guys and their favorite guns.

An anecdote:  last Monday I went to the range with the Son&Heir to shoot some .22 guns.  We own identical bull-barrel Ruger Mk II pistols, and I brought along my Ruger Single Six just for some variation.

The S&H popped off a single mag through the Mk II, and then glommed onto the old-fashioned Single Six and didn’t touch his Mk II again.  (I never bothered with the pistol because I prefer shooting .22 through the single-action Six.)

We both agreed that 1) despite the Mk II’s designation as a “target” pistol, the Single Six has better sights, and 2) shooting slowly — i.e. a six-shot single-action gun — is far more enjoyable than just spraying bullets out of an automatic.

Your opinions may vary, but there ya go.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Weatherby Orion Side-By-Side (20ga)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Sent to me by the eagle-eyed Gun Professor is this welcome news:

Of course, they’re not just offered in 20ga.:

Weatherby has had a sort-of on-again-off-again history with their side-by-sides, having had them made variously in Spain, then in Italy, and now, according to the Professor (who contacted them) they’ll be made by Tiblis in Turkey.

Street price for these guns is likely to be slightly under a grand, which will make them competitive with CZ’s offerings — which are also made in Turkey.

As one who has seen the ancient and venerable side-by-side shotguns fall from favor over the past couple decades, all this is good news.  To quote some non-professorial gun guy:

“Shotgun barrels need to be side by side like a man and his dog, and not over and under like a man and his mistress.”

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Beretta Mod 74/101 (.22 LR)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Seen at Steve Barnett’s:

No, that’s not an accidental double-post;  the first is a Model 74 (retail:  $850), while the second is a Model 101 ($1,250 because, I suspect, of its scarcity).  I suspect that the only real difference is mechanical, because other than a different stock design, I can see no apparent difference between the two.

Here’s the thing:  according to what I can see, the Models 71 through 75 are essentially the same pistol, differing only in barrel length (2″ or 6″), and all seem to have been confusing named and sold under the name “Jaguar”, regardless of model.  The Model 101?  Who knows.

At least all take the same hard-to find-and-therefore-expensive magazine — and those prices are for aftermarket mags;  original Beretta mags for these guns are made of ultra-unobtanium, and if you can find one, will typically run to three figures.

Ask me how I know this.

You see, I’ve owned not one but two of these beautiful pistols (both with the 6″ barrel):  one back in Seffrica which I inherited from my mother and had to leave behind when I emigrated, and the second here in Murka when I found one at a gun show and paid way too much for it.  Because did I already mention that it’s beautiful?

And here’s the other problem:  my mom’s gun was a peach.  I could drop bullets in the same hole all day (and I often did), and the action felt like ball-bearings on silk.  The Murkin one was awful:  it rattled around when firing, the mag was also loose, and I couldn’t hit a paint can at 10 yards with it.  Also, when I found an aftermarket mag, it was worse than the “original” mag.

So in the end, I sold it or traded it, I forget which, because I was totally disenchanted with the gun’s performance, especially when compared to my first one’s.

But I have to say that if I had the $$$, I’d buy one of the above in a heartbeat, not because of its quality — who knows, maybe my Murkin gun was just an anomaly — but because, as I may have said before, the 71/72/73/74/75/101 is achingly, breathtakingly beautiful.  Those flowing lines, that perfect rake on the grip… oh stop me while I can still speak.

And yes, that swooping Art Deco trigger-guard is hopelessly unfashionable nowadays.  People need and want a squared-off monstrosity like this:

…so that they can find adequate purchase for a two-handed grip.

I prefer to think that the Jaguar is not a two-handed pistol — I mean, it’s a .22, FFS — and when I see it, I think more of the shooter assuming a classical duelist’s pose with it:

And yes, it’s a romantic, out-of-date attitude.

Guilty as charged.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: TNW Aero Survival Rifle

Gratuitous Gun Pics

It’s a perennial discussion point on this here back porch of mine:

“I want a carbine-type companion piece to my handgun.”

Well, here’s one I had not heard of until recently and nor, it would seem, had the venerable Hitchock45:  the TNW Aero Survival Rifle.  (Ignore that silly MSRP;  here it is at BassPro, hardly the cheapest retailer on the planet.)

I have to say, I really like the look of this little darling;  it’s like a grown-up AR-7 Survival Rifle (.22 LR).

It also takes Glock magazines for the caliber of your preference — did I mention that you can pick your favorite chambering among 9mm, .357SIG, .40S&W, 10mm and (my choice, of course) .45ACP?  I’d buy a few Glock 21 mags — 13-rounders, of course, just to piss off the GFW Brigade –and yes, I’d prefer that the Aero took 1911 mags, but only because then I wouldn’t have to buy more of them.  But at about $20 per mag, I could do the Glocks easily.

The Aero does not have iron sights, which is another minor irritant, but I can see why:  a front sight on the barrel could cause packing- or unpacking hassles.  Okay, then:  I’d top the Aero with one of these Springfield red-dot scopes.

Your choice may differ — heading upmarket towards Holosun, Trijicon or Leupold — but I’d be happy with the less inexpensive choice.  Also, size is important because the Aero disassembles into a teeny lil’ packaway thing which would easily fit into a light backpack;  and the Springfield Hex is, from all reports I’ve read, extremely rugged and can handle the .45’s recoil with ease.

By the way, when you watch Hitchcock’s video, and you should, please note the difficulty he has with some of the Glock mags — but he resolves the issue in the same video:  load the mag firmly with the bolt closed, and all will be well.

If you are sensing from my tone that I want one of these little beauties very badly, you would be correct;  and the Aero and accessories are going onto Santa’s list as we speak.