Category: The Gun Thing

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

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Mauser 1896 “Target” (6.5x55mm)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Anyone who has known me for longer than 30 seconds will be aware of my fondness for the venerable Mauser Model 96 a.k.a. Swedish Mauser, chambered for the excellent 6.5x55mm cartridge a.k.a. 6.5mm Swede.


(That’s “mine”, nicknamed Princess Inge and stolen from me by the Son&Heir, who shoots 1-MOA groups at 400 yards with the iron sights as fitted.  Unfortunately, he loves it as much or more than I do, so I never get to shoot it anymore.)

Truth be told, I prefer it over the German Gew. 98 and the later K98 Mausers — in fact, I pretty much prefer it over any bolt-action rifle ever made.  Ditto the 6.5mm Swede, which when shot out of that 29″ barrel has a flat trajectory and due to its long bullet, boasts exceptional sectional density, which means it’s going to penetrate just about anything it hits, especially if it’s the steel-core Hirtenberg mil-surp ammo.

Anyway…

One of the actions the Swedish Army took over the years was to identify which of the rifles showed exceptional accuracy (out of a group which was already very accurate), and turn them into both scope-fitted sniper rifles (M41b) and designated “Target” rifles.  Here’s an example of the sniper version:

…and from Collectors Firearms, an example of the “Target” version:

The sniper rifle above was purchased for about $1,500 at Collectors (not by me, but by a Reader), but that was back in the early 2000s.  Gawd knows what it would sell for now, because the Target rifle as shown is going for just under $1,300 at the same Merchant Of Death.

Doesn’t matter.  It seems as though all bolt-action rifles of any quality sell for around a grand these days (aaaaargh), but I would suggest that this Target rifle is actually a bargain at that price — because it has proven accuracy and of course, being a Mauser, its reliability is unquestioned.

What a beauty, in every sense of the word.

Want.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: CSMC A-10 American (20/28ga)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Here’s a pretty one from Champlin Arms:

I’ve had a fresh perspective on Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company ever since I watched Jonny do a tour of the place a while ago.

Despite being located in gun-hating Connecticut, it’s a company I’d love to buy from, especially one their top-end RBL shotguns.

Of course, I’d get a side-by-side and not one of those new-fangled O/U things, but still.

…and of course with a double trigger:

But that’s just me;  others may vary.

About That California Thing

Anti-Gun Nannies, Legal Stuff, The Gun Thing

…you know, that 10-day waiting period before you can take possession of that gun you just purchased.

Let’s just hope you don’t need that shootin’ iron before then, is all.

Or if you are being robbed and you’re still stuck in that waiting period without a gun, I’m sure that if you explain the situation and ask the burglars / robbers nicely, they’ll go away and leave you alone till the end thereof.

That’s what the CalGov means by “tough shit”, I guess.

(My CA Readers — and why are they still there? — are probably not in that same boat, as I’m pretty sure they’re all, shall we say, adequately armed.)

Carry Trends

The Gun Thing

Tami Keel talks about the trend in carry guns that she’s witnessed over the years:

The first [competition] I attended, at DARC in Arkansas back in 2017, was largely after the “Caliber Wars” were over. I’m sure there were a few .40s and .45s in attendance, but 9mm was the overwhelmingly most common chambering and it wasn’t even close. I’d feel pretty comfortable stating that probably half everybody was shooting a Glock of one variant or another, with M&Ps being the second most common, and the remainder a mishmash of Sig Sauers, HKs, and Berettas, mostly

Next year TacCon was at DARC again. Glocks were still the most common gun, but probably only a plurality at this point. Sig P320s were already vying with M&Ps as the second most commonly seen pistol. There were a handful of people using red dot optics in 2018, and John Johnston made it into the man-on-man shootoff with one.

At 2019, down in Louisiana at NOLATAC, there were more red dots, and Rick Remington won the shootoff with an RMR atop a 9mm Wilson. Glock alternatives continued to grow in popularity.

After a one-year hiatus during the Plague Year of 2020, TacCon was held at Dallas Pistol Club in 2021. That’s when I first started seeing significant numbers of the smaller pistols, like Glock 48s and Sig P365s. Red dots were commonly spotted in every class and were no longer limited to hardcore dot proponents who’d had pistol slides custom milled for RMRs.

2022 was back at DPC again. Red dots and smaller pistols were everywhere, even in the shootoffs.

2023? More of the same.

For 2024, the biggest difference I noticed was that there was a greater number of people who were willing to talk openly about living “the snubby lifestyle” à la Darryl Bolke. Gear-wise, dots had become downright prevalent. Walthers had become more common. I don’t know how Walther’s doing in terms of overall market share, but they’ve certainly penetrated the serious training hobbyist demographic. The majority of optics were now Holosuns.

All very interesting.  I couldn’t help thinking how my personal carry choices have changed over the same period of time.

2017:

2018:

2019:

2020:


(briefly, then back to the usual)

2021:

2022:

2023:

2024:

I know, this is carry as opposed to competition, but still.  One assumes that the competitive shooters were carrying the same as, or at least copies of the ones they were shooting.  (If not… LOL.)

The only changes I can foresee in my carry choice would be substituting one 1911 for another.

Occasionally, if I’m in the mood, I may carry my bedside S&W Model 65 instead of a 1911, because that’s the holster belted onto a different pair of jeans and I’m too lazy to swap it out:

So you see, I can be flexible.

I’m just not interested in carrying a little gun like a SIG or Walther in 9mm Europellet, unless one day I decide to substitute it for my backup Model 637.

Don’t hold yer breath.

By the way, I typically carry two or four backup 1911 Chip McCormick mags (depending on whether or not I’m wearing a gilet), and a couple of 5-round speedloaders for the 637.  That should be enough ammo to get me back to the car rifle, after which I can really bring down the thunder.

Update:  Several people have written to me, speaking of their preference for hi-cap mags.  One asked me whether the 8-round Chip McCormick 1911 mags would be sufficient in a BLM-type encounter.

I have two responses to this:  firstly, three CMC mags = 24 rounds, five mags = 40 rounds, and three .38 Spec loads = 15 rounds.  If I wanted to get serious, and with a little foreknowledge, I could just swap out the 8-round mags for 10-round CMC mags, of which I have a half-dozen or so on hand.  Should be enough.

Any more than the above, and I probably would avoid going out to where there’s a chance I may be heavily outnumbered — OR I could just turn the trunk gun into a front-seat gun (with several backup mags), if you get my drift.  I venture to suggest that this combination of weaponry would be adequate for any group of scraggly scrotes.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Remington Nylon 66 (.22 LR)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

I stumbled on this fine article SOTI, and I had to share it with everyone because not only is it a good analysis and background story on the wonderful old Nylon 66, but it evokes from me a feeling of deep regret, because I was once offered one for about $20, and I turned it down because to me the little gun looked kinda cheap and nasty.

It was a Black Apache like this one:

No, don’t bother to offer to kick my ass, because said ass already has an excellent set of bruises thereon, self-inflicted.

In my defense, I didn’t know as much about guns back then as I do now, and in fact I’d never even heard of the thing because of my deprived South African childhood.

Anyway, here’s a different model, the brown one:

…and one that was recently on sale at Collector’s (it’s long gone, don’t bother), and for around $650 (!!!!):

Now go and read the article, because it’s full of interesting stuff.

By the way, I rejected the Nylon 66 because it looked flimsy and cheap, whereas it’s anything but.

Don’t trust me with any investment advice;  I suck.

Out Of Your Element

Hunting

Whenever someone asks me what it’s like to hunt in Africa, I’m kind of at a loss for words.

The African bushveldt, you see, is pretty difficult to hunt.  Here’s a representative sample:

It’s pretty dense — not tropical jungle, though as much densely covered, and visibility is often measured in feet rather than in yards.

To give you an idea of what this means:  from a standing start, a lion can cover 100 yards in about 3.5 seconds.  Typical visibility in lion country:  about 100 feet, as above.  (Do the math.)

And death is everywhere, the minute you leave the relative safety of your Land Rover or hunting camp.  It could be a mamba, a scorpion, a Cape buffalo, or any number of things with teeth and claws, for whom a human is kinda like a marshmallow:  can’t run that fast, no tough hide, no horns or whatever to protect itself, and laughably slow reflexes and crap hearing by comparison to the typical prey animal.

Like this leopard:

Now you know.