Category: The Gun Thing

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

FOREIGNERS?

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Ordinarily, I’d be apoplectic about a bunch of foreigners buying a storied American company, especially one such as Colt, makers of fine (and a couple not-so-fine) guns since the nineteenth century.  I mean:

 

 

 

 

 

…and I think you get my drift.  A bunch of foreigners taking over this heritage?

Well, I was nearly about to have an RCOB Moment, when I further learned that said foreign company was actually the equally-storied CZ (Česká zbrojovka), whereupon I felt much better.

Nothing wrong with CZ (a.k.a. Brno) guns, either:

 

…and let’s not forget their rifles;  ooooh, their rifles:

 

Quite frankly, Colt Industries has got up my nose on many occasions (“Screw the civilian market”, “We’re not going to make the Python anymore… oops, okay, we’ll make them again, just not as well”), whereas CZ has seldom if ever perpetrated the same kind of nonsense.

I am cautiously optimistic about this takeover, but long experience has taught me that the road ahead may often not be what I’d like it to be.

But if CZ decides to move Colt manufacturing out of gun-hating Connecticut to their new facility in Arkansas while promising to keep or improve the quality thereof, I for one will applaud them.

Rip Hyphen Off

The Gun Thing

So Combat Controller and I went to the Fort Worth Gun Show over the weekend, and ugh.

I was looking for the stolen replacement Boomershoot rifle, and he was looking to sell a couple guns — more on that in another post.

I also needed a little ammo because that story to come later.

Ammo at gun shows has become the world’s largest ripoff.  What’s happening — and I had this confirmed by a secondary source later — is that ordinary guys are snapping up all the cheaper ammo from retail outlets like Academy, then turning it around, marking it up to nosebleed levels, and getting a table at a gun show to sell it at retail-plusplusplus prices to people who don’t buy their ammo online or who don’t know the difference.  (25 cents per round for CCI Blazer .22 LR, and don’t even ask about hunting- or self-defense ammo:  okay, the cheapest .308 Win I saw was running at $1.75 per round.)

All this in addition to the Biden/Harris-Panic gun- and ammo buying that’s going on anyway.  I estimated, by the way, that if you had the money, you could probably have put together from parts about a thousand AR-15s from what was on sale at this one show.  (And you’d need a PILE of money:  Palmetto State AR-15 lowers which cost $59 a while back were being sold for $379 by the asshole ripoff artists merchants.)  One guy boasted to CC that he’d made $40,000 in cash sales before lunch — and by the way, I saw a WHOLE bunch of “Cash Only” signs, at almost every other table.   Even if you want to sell a gun, the merchants will try to lowball you, then mark it up at least 50% and put it right back on their table.  There are no bargains to be found at gun shows anymore;  you may as well buy retail from your local Merchant Of Death.

Bottom line:  Stay away from gun shows.

Furniture

The Gun Thing

I have often said that a .22 rifle is not a firearm, but a household appliance and should be treated as such (e.g. Aisle 6 at Walmart, no 4473 no nothing except maybe proof of age over 16).

However, the “guns as household items” concept can always be stretched, as this man proves:

As I said to Combat Controller (who sent me the pic), at least it’s just a Norinco SKS, so no harm done.  Had he done it to a Garand or similar, he might well have received a few visitors — and not prospective buyers, either.

Funny as hell, though.  Almost as funny as this video…

News From Austin

Legal Stuff, The Gun Thing

…where the Texas Legislature is doing the People’s bidding:

Earlier today, the House approved Senate Bill 19, by an 86-60 vote, that discourages banks, payment processors, insurers, and other financial services providers from discriminating against members of the firearm and ammunition industries. The legislation prohibits businesses that engage in this practice from contracting with governmental entities in the Lone Star State. Taxpayer dollars should not be used to benefit the bottom-line of corporations that are actively working to erode the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Texans. The measure, a priority of Lt. Governor Patrick, now goes back to the Senate for consideration of House amendments.

Hubba hubba.  And if this passes, and one of those bastards ever tries to mess with my gun purchases or anything like that, it’s to the TxAG’s office I’ll be sending my next email.

Gratuitous Gun Pic — M1 Carbine (.30 Carbine)

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

I have often touched on the topic of the WWII / Korean War-era M1 Carbine before, but never really done it justice.  For those people who have a busy day ahead of them and have to get on with it, here’s the Executive Summary:

I love this rifle.

 

I love it more than just about any other rifle I own, because it satisfies several of my “needs” at one go:

  • it’s handy — lightweight, easy to carry, easy to shoot / low-no recoil, not huge and cumbersome
  • shoots a decent cartridge (a topic to be covered at some length further down the page)
  • it’s a piece of history, and killed lots of Evil Bastards (Commies, Nazis and Imperial Japs) in two major conflicts
  • plentiful ammo (under normal circumstances, don’t get me started)
  • less importantly, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy shooting it.

“But Kim,”  you may ask plaintively, “what about all the geeky stuff?”

Glad you asked.  Because it’s the weekend, I’ve taken the trouble to collect a few videos from EwwChoob and put them all in one post.

Firstly, there’s Gun Jesus (Ian McCollum) giving you the background history and technical aspects (in his usual masterful manner).

Next comes Chris Baker from Lucky Gunner, giving not one but four videos (you can skip the first one as it covers more or less the same ground as McCollum does):

  • Part 1(history and overview)
  • Part 2 (.30 Carbine ammo test)
  • Part 3 (self defense with the Carbine)
  • Part 4 (reliability, and modifying the Carbine).

Finally, there’s a great conversation about the M1 Carbine between Ian McCollum and the peppery Ken Hackathorn.

Whenever I watch gunny videos, my trigger-finger starts to itch, but with gunny videos about the M1 Carbine, it starts to itch really badly.  So if you own one already (and you should, it belongs in every household almost to the  degree that a .22 rifle does) and you end up going out to the range with your M1 Carbine this afternoon instead of tackling the “Honey-Do” list, tell her it’s my fault.

Quote Of The Day

QOTD, The Gun Thing

Robert Ruark (Uhuru, The Honey Badger, Something Of Value, etc.) was always one of my favorite authors, as alone among many, he “got” Africa — in fact, I think he actually coined the expression “Africa wins again” in one of his more cynical moments.  Of course, he was a real hunter, so when it comes to hunting and guns, he should be carefully listened to.  This was sent to me by Mr. Free Market:

 

And here’s a picture of Ruark, with some of his guns:

From memory, after he died (at age 49, from cirrhosis of the liver) his estate contained well over fifty rifles, most of “African” calibers (.375 H&H, .470 NE, .404 Jeffery, .416 Rigby, etc., which gave credence to one of his other books, Use Enough Gun ) and an unknown number of handguns and shotguns.

Now I’m not saying we should all copy the great man;  but I am saying that if we do end up with a similar number in our collection, we should feel energized, not remorseful.  I remember my own situation, back in the day…

Not all of those were mine, but most were (all the Mausers, for example).

And for the record, I’ve never woken up in the morning hating myself for having purchased a gun the day before.   That’s certainly not true of women.