Category: The Gun Thing

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

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Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Back In South Africa, I remember the time I bought my first Mauser, an Israeli surplus (rebarreled to 7.62x51mm NATO).  It looked something like this:

Of course, as my very first centerfire rifle, I was as proud as all hell about it — I even took it to the annual family reunion (on Ouma’s birthday) and showed it around.

One of my uncles peered at it like a suspicious dog, then took it, worked the action expertly, and smiled broadly.  When he handed it back to me, he asked in Afrikaans, “Do you know what they call a Boer without a Mauser?  No?  An Englishman!” *

Many chuckles from all the men sitting around, with murmurs of agreement and pats on my shoulder.

So yesterday I took possession of my latest badge of Afrikanerdom (courtesy of Longtime Reader BobJ, thankee squire), and OMG…

Pre-war manufacture, all the proper cartouches, and matching serial numbers.  The “42” refers to the Oberndorf factory, 1938 the year of manufacture, and the serial number has only four(!) digits.  I haven’t been so excited about a gun in years.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range.

* “Weet jy wat hulle ‘n Boer sonder ‘n Mauser vernoem?  ‘n Ingelsman!”

In the Army (no explanations, it’s too long a story), the CO of my commando unit referred to it as “that Jewish Mauser” (“daardie Joodse Mauser”).

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Manurhin MR 73 (.357 Mag)

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Mentioned in Comments by Reader Motoguzzi on my Difficult Choices post on .357 Mag revolvers, and also in email from Longtime Reader Martin K.:

Please allow me a few questions: do you have any experience with the MR 73 revolver from the MANURHIN factory? Have you ever shot one? If yes, what is your opinion on this model?

Okay, I have to make a HUGE admission of guilt right up front.  Because ‘Murka is the fountain of Fevolverdom (Sam Colt, Horace Wesson etc.), I’ve always looked upon European revolver offerings with something of a pitying smile — one exception being the non-Euro British Webley revolvers, of course.  The source of my condescension can be seen in the Austrian Rast & Gasser Mod 1898:


…which has to be the ugliest revolver ever made.

And indeed, I’ve always known about Manurhin guns in general, but tended to dismiss them because, well, my American chauvinism coupled with the fact that one doesn’t see them that often Over Here — my logic being that if they were any good, there’d be a market for them in the U.S., but there isn’t.

Also, the older Manurhin guns were nothing special to write home about:

HOWEVER, as I delved more into these guns (prompted, it should be said, by Martin’s question and the fact that I respect Reader Motoguzzi’s opinion of guns), I came across this little article:

Interest in the historic Manurhin MR73 has increased since Beretta announced its plans to import several models to the US—and for good reason.  It’s called the “best revolver in the world,” designed to endure several dozens of shots per day, every day, for the lifespan of the gun. As the first official GIGN revolver, it has never been officially retired after nearly fifty years of service.

Wait, what?  How did I miss that last little snippet?  (See above for reasons.)

And then the pictures:

And if that weren’t enough to make my trigger finger itch and my wallet tremble, there’s a stainless steel version, the MR88 SX Inox:

Are you kidding me?

And of all that weren’t enough, Gun Jesus Ian McCollum loves it.

I WANT ONE — that stainless Inox.  Annnnnd it displaces the S&W 686 in my top three .357 revolver list.  It’s going to be spendy, but I can always sell a couple guns of lesser quality, right?

Finally, to Manurhin-Chapuis:  je suis désolé, messieurs.

Wagons

The Gun Thing

In a Comment thread a while back, a few of you talked about your difficulties in getting to the range (i.e. from the car to the shooting bay);  some required two or more trips (e.g. me), or some just humped the whole shooting match — guns, ammo, range bags, rests etc. — in one go (also me, only a lot less frequently lately).

When I used to go to Cowboy Action (CAS) meets, I was impressed by the lengths that some guys had gone to schlep all their cowboy shooting gear from bay to bay, event to event.  Here’s one such example:

…which is super-purrdy, until you see the price (“Hand me a couple them tamp’ns, Margaret, Ah need to plug mah nose”).  Also, they’re almost as heavy as the damn guns and ammo they carry, not to mention bulky (I don’t drive a truck anymore, which most of these old boys seem to do).

As always, I’m probably late to the party and everyone is just going to laugh at me, but of late I’ve been seeing quite a few Ole Pharrts using these little things from Academy to get to and fro:

     

…which seem to fit the bill quite nicely.  They cost around $45, and I think I’m going to get one.  Bass Pro and Cabela’s carry similar ones too, only quelle surprise  theirs cost $85 and $110 respectively.  (Cabela’s “All-Terrain Multifunction” description no doubt justifies the price variance with Academy’s humble “Sports Cart”.)  Scheel’s has one priced between the two extremes.

Anyway, the next time I’m at Scheel’s or Academy, I’m going to look into it.

Such Sympathy

The Gun Thing

…a.k.a. “With friends like these…”

In response to my plea for someone to sell me an old Mauser 98k they no longer wish to keep, I received several emails of this nature:

” I happen to have an authentic German Mauser that my father brought back from Germany when WWII ended. He also brought back a Luger which my BIL got after dad died. No. I’m not selling it. Eat your heart out! My nephew lusts after it and he’ll get to add it to his massive gun collection when I die.”

That was from a certain grouchy old crippled bastard, somewhere in Georgia.  Then this:

“I have a sporterized Mauser in 8mm made in the Obendorf factory in 1944. It has matching serial numbers on the action and bolt. On disassembly, all the parts have the eagle Waffenstamp. It was a gift from the friend who turned me on to your blog. It’s a nice shooter, and fortunately I have a stash of ammo from Privi. You can’t have it, I like it too much.”

That’s just Krool & Hartless.

Anyway, the good news is that I have made arrangements with a Longtime Reader who happens to have just such a spare, and after some negotiation (not much on my part, admittedly), it should be wending its way to my FFL as we speak:

I’m like a little boy on Christmas Eve…

Difficult Choices

The Gun Thing

Old Hickock45 lays out his collection of .357 Mag revolvers, and asks the question:  “Which is the very last .357 I’d sell?”  (As always, he rambles on and on, but he’s a man who loves guns and loves shooting them — like me — so just sit back, relax and enjoy his dilemma.)

Now it may come as a surprise to you all, but VERY Longtime Readers may recall that the .357 Remington Magnum is not one of my favorite handgun cartridges to shoot, simply because the recoil gets a little tough on my wrists after a while and I develop a profound flinch in consequence.  In fact, I’ve always though that the .357 is best fired out of a revolver with at least a 6″ barrel — certainly no less — and preferably, one with a bull barrel or at least a barrel underlug (NRA definition:  “A term that relates most commonly to DA/SA revolvers, underlug refers to an integral extension of metal that runs along the bottom side of the barrel.”)

Now where Hitch and I part company are his criteria for his final choice:  something that is fun to shoot at the range, and can also be pressed into service as a self-defense gun.  (His eventual choice leans heavily towards the “self-defense” part.)  I am certainly not going to argue with his final choice, and especially not with his top three, because mine would be pretty much the same.

My criteria for “the last .357 I’d ever sell” would be (in no specific order):  fun at the range, Governor’s BBQ, and in-home (not carry) self-defense.

I don’t have fun shooting a .357 Mag revolver with anything less than a 6″ barrel, and preferably one with a 6″ barrel AND an underlug.  It has to be beautiful, and of course it could see duty on my nightstand.  (For carry, I’m going to stick with a semi-auto, most probably a 1911.)

Here are my Top 3 (in no specific order):

Ruger Redhawk:
I had one of these (before the Great Poverty Catastrophe of 2012), and it was good right out of the box.  A little work on the trigger, and it was fantastic.  I know, this Ruger’s barrel is 7.5″, but it also doesn’t have an underlug;  and anyway, I happen to like Rugers with 7″ barrels.

Colt Python:

No trigger work required on this baby, of course.  In Colt’s Royal Blue, the Python is arguably one of the most beautiful guns ever made.  That it has inarguably the best revolver trigger action ever made, and its hairsplitting accuracy all just add to its desirability.

S&W 686:

Nothing wrong with the 686;  I’ve owned two before, but this one is lovely.

I won’t spoil the ending of the video and reveal Hitchcock’s choice, but I think you all know which one you’d have to pry from my cold dead fingers…

Afterthought:  a couple of pics of some from my onetime collection of .357 Mag revolvers:


(sigh)  And there’s not a single one I wouldn’t take back in a heartbeat.

At least I’ve now got a replacement Model 65, so there’s that.