Being Prepared

Excellent news from Israel, in the matter of self-defense:

An Israeli news anchor has carried a gun live on air while presenting from the studio amid fear of another Hamas attack.

Lital Shemesh, a presenter for right-wing Israeli broadcaster Channel 14, was pictured on Tuesday sitting behind her anchor desk with a gun tucked into the waistband of her trousers.

Makes sense, of course, because if Channel 14 is indeed a “right-wing” news outlet*, then they would be a likely target of Hamas terrorist scum.

Also, she seems to be quite a cutie:

…and therefore would be a target-within-a-target for terrorists’ swinging dicks — so she damn well should be armed in the event of some Muzzy reindeer games.

Good for her, refusing to be a victim.


*Given the source of the report (a Brit newspaper), “right-wing” would translate as “center-left” in American terminology, i.e. not screamingly-socialist like most TV stations and other media in the West.

Vulcan’s Worthy Descendant

Among the small (and it should be said, wealthy) group of gun aficionados, the name Duane Wiebe is well known, and justifiably so.  Here’s a brief auto-bio of the man — but it must be said, his real bio is in the long guns he has crafted over the past three decades or so.  Here are a couple-three, at Steve Barnett’s place (right-click to embiggen):

Argentine Mauser in .375 H&H Magnum

And to the question, “Can an old Mauser handle the .375 H&H?” the answer is a smack upside the head and an “Of course it can, you silly person!”

Here’s another DW special:

Mauser G33/40 in 6.5x55mm Swede

…and if that doesn’t get your drool flowing and trigger-finger itching, then we can’t be friends.

Okay, for those who want something more American and in a more modern chambering [sigh] :

Winchester pre-war Model 70 in .300 Win Mag:

…with Winchester’s typical swept-back Mod 70 bolt.

Okay, none of the above are inexpensive (see the links), because they are each one of a kind, crafted by an expert who not only knows guns, but loves them.

With a decent lottery win, I could find at least two more (along with all three of the above) Wiebe rifles I’d want to buy, and that’s only at Barnett’s.

I don’t just appreciate craftsmen, I venerate them.  And Duane Wiebe is all that, and more.

Perennial Complaint

I’ve often bitched about the high cost of .22 Mag / .22 WMR ammo before — and yes, I know it’s all driven by its (non-)popularity, which drives its price up.

And yes, I’ve also been an ardent supporter of the rimfire cartridge (not that it’s helped at all) because it just adds a little extra reach to the .22 LR:  the Long Rifle bullet just flat-out runs out of steam past 50 yards, whereas its magnum counterpart is still providing some oomph at 75 yards and further.

“Okay Kim, but you’re only getting about 25% more performance, so you should expect to pay more.”

I know, and I accept that.  I would even be prepared to pay double the cost of .22 LR for the added performance of the .22 WMR.  But it’s not that, not even close to it.

Right now, premium .22 LR (but not target, which is a lot more expensive) is going for about (say) 7-8 cents per round.

WMR?  Here’s Eric’s Christmas sale price:


…which, while an excellent deal, still works out to 32 cents per round, or over four times the cost of .22 LR.  And that’s just not worth it, as much as my trigger finger tries to persuade me to throw the old MasterCard at the thing*.

So my much-loved Marlin SSV is going to have to remain idle for a while longer… [sigh]


* The Hornady V-Max, by the way, is absolutely wonderful, and will easily reduce even a fox or coyote to a bag of fur and bones at up to 75 yards.  The stuff I have on hand cost me a ton (more than 32 cents each, more like 50), but it has been an excellent and consistent performer.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: CZ Scorpion EVO 3+ (9mm)

Pistol-caliber carbines are a common topic for discussion on this here back porch of mine, and I thought I’d make mention of this puppy, CZ’s latest incarnation of their excellent little Skorpion subby, the Scorpion EVO 3+ which comes with a 16″ barrel and folding stock.

Look, it’s come a long way from their original little full-auto sweetie, the SA vz.61:

…most notably in that the EVO’s chambering has been (marginally) upgraded from the original .32 ACP to the 9mm Europellet, and the new guy just looks better than the toy-sized original.  (I also like the fake suppressor on the EVO carbine, guaranteed to give the gun nannies fits, but which is removable so one can add a real suppressor onto its threaded barrel for extra-added hysteria.)

The EVO 3+ also comes in a 4″ pistol configuration:


…but I think it’s butt-ugly and if you want CZ reliability in a pistol, then the CZ 75B will do just fine.

Getting back to the carbine:  the nice thing about the new Scorpion is that it retails for well under a grand (compared to the HK MP5 at 3x), and its magazines are, at ~$30, likewise much cheaper than HK.  The only bummer, as far as I can see, is that the Scorpion doesn’t accept the CZ 75’s mags but uses a proprietary one.

As I’ve said before, I’m somewhat dubious about the utility of a 9mm carbine, but I reckon that if you must have one, this new Scorpion seems to fit the bill.  More about it here, and these guys sell it as well as the mags.


Afterthought:  you know what I’d really like to see?  A Scorpion chambered in .45 ACP. matched with their manly CZ 97 B pistol:

I used to own one of these (sold during the Great Poverty Episode), and I miss it terribly.  What a beautiful gun it is, to be sure.