Category: The Gun Thing

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

Ritual Humiliation

The Gun Thing

Last week I went to the range with the Son&Heir so that he could put rounds through his new Springfield 1911 Ronin:

…and mirabile dictu, he pronounced himself satisfied with its trigger.  Of course, he made me look stupid by putting all 8 rounds into a palm-print at 30 feet, one-handed, while I could only manage a side-plate-sized group at the same distance, two-handed.

Damn kids.

However:  when we stepped up the firing speed (all 8 fired inside 5 seconds, two-handed), I was pleased to see his group opening up considerably — about the same side-plate size as mine.

Of course, I shoot my well-worn and familiar 1911 every week, whereas he last fired a 1911 about three years ago, let alone a NIB gun with stiff trigger etc.

Anyway, I was able to satisfy myself in one very important aspect:  compared to the usual 230gr .45 ACP, my adopted 185gr practice ammo is far more accurate (and much less punishing).  I had found some inexpensive Defender 185gr FMJ reloads and (even better) some of Norma’s excellent MHP 175gr loads for a good price at Palmetto State Armory.  The latter really zips out the barrel (~300fps faster than ordinary 230gr FMJ), and from what I’ve read, the expansion in ballistic gel is impressive.

Neither of us experienced a single ejection- or chambering failure in either gun, for any brand of ammo (S&H was shooting Winchester White Box 230gr FMJ, and Hornady XTP 200gr JHP).

We’re doing it again next week, because I’m a masochist.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Walther P38 (9mm Para)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Considering that the P38 / P.38 design was groundbreaking at its launch, was used during WWII by the German military and for many years post-war by several police forces around the world, I guess you can say that Walther done good.

The silly Europellet chambering aside (see rants passim), the P38 is a brilliant pistol:  reliable to a fault, safe to carry and use (except for the individual on the naughty side of the muzzle), and considering its non-adjustable sights, way more accurate than almost anyone who shoots it.  I’ve fired many P38s, made either by Walther, Mauser or Spree — they’re identical — and almost uniquely among pistols, I never once experienced any kind of stoppage or failure.  The only thing I can fault about it is that silly heel-located mag release (common among many pistols of the time), and the quality of workmanship makes this a gun I would happily carry today, without a single reservation.

The WWII-era P38s are too expensive nowadays, of course, even though close to two million were made — for some reason, people prefer the steel frame over the replacement P1’s aluminum frame, but I can honestly say I can’t tell the difference between the two — and certainly not in operation.

Want.

Solving A Problem

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Last week saw a whole bunch of Gratuitous Gun Pics, so why not continue with another one or two this week, say I?

Here’s one which provides a solution to the notoriously-difficult question of mounting a scope onto a Mosin-Nagant 91/30:

Now I must admit that mounting a Scout Rifle-type scope onto the 28″-barreled (and sporterized) 91/30 looks somewhat goofy — without the full-length front stock, the barrel does look a little overlong — but it is nevertheless a solution to the scope problem.  And you could do a whole lot worse than spending less than $600 on a proven rifle which includes a scope, and is chambered in the manly 7.62x54Rmm.

I still think, though, that the scope mount would look better on one of the shorter M44 carbine models.

I Had A Dream

3 Inexplicable Things, Gratuitous Gun Pics

…but it wasn’t anything like Martin Luther King’s, or ABBA’s dream, nor about Joe Hill (no link because Commies), and sadly, it wasn’t about Cass Elliott.

No, I dreamed that a wealthy Reader (who looked a lot like Ginger Baker, FFS) offered to buy me three guns, with the caveat that they couldn’t be guns I’d owned before, nor any old guns at all — they could only be new guns.

At least it wasn’t cars, because then I’d have been in real trouble.

Anyway, I woke up without having made any choices, but the dream has kinda stuck with me all day.  And being prevented from getting a gun that I’ve owned before makes the list really short, because… well, you know.

So after some considerable thought, here they are, the top 3 guns I’d like to receive as a gift:

1 – Dan Wesson Valor (.45 ACP)

Some may consider this a cheat (because the 1911 is old, and I’ve owned several in the past);  in my defense, however, I’ve never owned a pocket 1911, nor anything made by Dan Wesson.  But I’d love to, and this one makes my bang-switch-actuator itch.  Badly.

2 – Ruger No. 1-S Medium (9.3x62mm)

Never owned a No. 1, nor any rifle in the venerable 9.3x62mm.  I would even consider going on an(other) African hunt (but with Doc Russia and Mr. Free Market) if I could take one of these.

3 –  A.H. Fox FE 20ga (as made new by Connecticut Shotgun Mfg. Company)

This beauty ticks all the Kim Boxes (side-by-side, double trigger, straight stock, 30″ barrels) and if the Dan Wesson was disqualified because rules, I’d just get a matched pair.  And then I’d head off to join Mr. FM in Dorset later in the year, you betcha…

Anyone else had a dream like this one?

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Winchester Super X AR 308 (.308 Win)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

When is a Winchester semi-automatic rifle not a Winchester semi-automatic rifle?

When it’s actually a Browning BAR made by FN Herstal — like this one:

Let’s see:  a tried-and-tested semi-auto rifle action, in hunting guise, with a ten-round magazine (two, as advertised), and in a manly chambering* — all for just over a grand?

Oh yes, Kimmy WANTS.

*I took inventory of Ye Olde Ammoe Locquere over the weekend just past, and discovered that I have a little under 500 rounds of .308 Win, but no rifle thus chambered.  Hence my interest in the above.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Brno Mauser (6.5x55mm)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Longtime Reader Preussenotto sends me pics of gunny gorgeousity:

Saw this on fecesbook.  Captured the pictures for you because I know you love Mausers and the full underbarrel stock.  Plus the double-set trigger.  The caption said it was Swedish Mauser caliber.  Enjoy. 

How could I not?

 

I don’t want to shoot it.  I just want to hold it, stroke it and work the action…

…and then shoot it.  A lot.

I am SO weak.