Splendid Isolation

Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Going Medieval

Mocking Furriners, Rights, The Gun Thing

Britishland:

Brits:  “If guns are banned, can we use swords?”
Britcops:  “No.”
Brits:  “How about crossbows, then?”
Britcops:  “We’ll get back to you on that*.”

*The Home Office has launched an eight-week consultation to see if there should be a licensing system to control the use, ownership and supply of crossbows.

Frogland:

The Principality of Monaco plans to follow in the footsteps of its surrounding French neighbours by organising a national day dedicated to the collection of weapons and ammunition that have been found or inherited by individuals.

At the end of 2022, France managed to collect more than 150,000 weapons without inflicting legal or administrative proceedings on the weapons’ former owners.

The head of the Administrative Police Division, Rémy Le Juste, addressed the topic at the Monaco Police’s well wishes for the New Year, saying “this is a major subject which deserves everyone’s attention, given the somewhat troubled international context that we are going through.”

Le Juste admitted that “It still happens that our services intervene with individuals who find themselves owners through inheritance of undeclared weapons dating from the Second World War,” and added: “We encourage, from now on, all people who find themselves, despite themselves, possessing weapons to call on our services: either to have them destroyed or to make them unfit for their use, and this, without these people being subject to criminal charges, subject of course to the agreement of the judicial authorities.”

Only knights, the King’s men and the king’s favorites may own weapons of war.  Peasants:  non.

U.S.:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Combo Guns

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Among members of the gun fraternity, “combo” / “drilling” guns (multiple-barreled rifle/shotguns) have never been as popular Over Here as they are in Yurp.  Here’s an example of one, the Merkel 961L as seen at Steve Barnett’s Luxury Death Dealers’ Emporium:

This one’s a little different from the norm in that it features two side-by-side 8x57mm JRS (rimmed) rifle barrels over a single 20ga shotgun barrel as opposed to vice-versa, but the concept is the same.  And let it be known that I have absolutely no problem with a pairing of 8mm Mauser with 20ga, no sir not me.

For those who would prefer something a little more manly, here’s a Merkel 96K, with two 12ga barrels over the wonderful 9.3×74R chambering.

Here’s the thing.  Combo guns have always had a devoted following amongst big game hunters of previous generations (much less so nowadays), but I have to tell you that in no way shape or form would today’s hunter be undergunned out there in the bush with either of the above.

Yes, they are heavy, but at around 8lbs unloaded they compare well with, say a modern single-barreled Steyr rifle in .300 WinMag which weighs about the same or even more.

But as examples of the gunmaker’s art, little can compare to the majestic drillings, and certainly not the pedestrian rifles such as the Steyr.

If I were offered one of the above two, it would take me hours to decide between two rifles/one shotgun or two shotguns/one rifle.  (I already have one or two single-barreled rifles, as any ful kno.)

Assuming I were able to go into the African bushveldt again, I’d probably pick the 12ga/9.3x47mm pairing if hunting anything dangerous, but the 8x57mm/20ga for smaller game.

By the way, the price differential ($19,000 for the 961L vs. $9,000 for the 96R) reflects the greater precision work required to register two rifle barrels vs. two shotgun barrels.

I love both, for obvious reasons:  hogsback wooden stocks, exquisite workmanship, manly chamberings… I need to stop now.

Dept. Of Righteous Shootings

Righteous Shootings

Alert Reader Hugh S. suggested that I might enjoy this story, and indeed I do.

In north Minneapolis, of all places:

The shooting happened around 3:37 p.m. in an alley near the intersection of Golden Valley Road and Russell Avenue North.  Police Chief Brian O’Hara said two armed suspects flanked a Mercedes SUV stopped in the alley and that both men fired their guns. One of the gunmen was found shot on the ground and was pronounced dead. Police found the second gunman nearby, determined he was a suspect and placed him under arrest.

Go ahead and read it all.  As far as I can tell, the cops are still trying to figure out who shot whom, but none of that is relevant.  There’s another dead goblin off the street, and that’s all we care about.

Gun? What Gun?

Crime, Legal Stuff

From his lair deep in the Soviet Republic of Taxachusetts, Reader Mike L. sends me this report:

Christina Sumner of Roanoke said she was shocked and concerned there was a loaded gun left in her rental car.
Sumner rented a car from Enterprise in Roanoke on Feb. 2, and everything seemed normal at first. Then Enterprise called her a day later, telling her there may be a gun in her car.

Well now, this is an interesting situation.  Note the qualifier “may be” in the last sentence;   in other words, Enterprise didn’t actually know there was a gun in the car — or perhaps they did, but wanted to cover their corporate asses.

However, this poses an interesting situation.  What if you’d already found the gun in the car, but told Enterprise that there had to be some mistake:  you could find no gun nor indeed any evidence of a gun in the car? 

Of course, I would be deeply conflicted.  On the one hand:  a “free” gun.  On the other hand, it was just some Europellet delivery vehicle, and therefore of little interest to me, so I wouldn’t mind handing it over.  Also, it being a 9mm means that the erstwhile owner may have been a state or federal official — especially if it was a Glock — and given the latter’s reputation of losing guns, or leaving them in public toilets etc., it wouldn’t surprise me at all that this might be the case.  That might certainly influence any decision between “Oh yeah, here it is, come and collect it”, or “What gun? / Finders keepers, numbnuts”.

But it’s a damn good thing the “missing” gun wasn’t a Les Baer or Kimber 1911 .45ACP…

Talk about temptation.

Discuss, in Comments.

Head & Shoulders

The Gun Thing

Sent to me by Reader Tony H (thankee, squire), an analysis of shotgun brands sold.

Executive summary:  It’s Mossberg (43%), and then all the others.  (Add Legacy, at 24%, and that’s two-thirds of the market.)

I’m rather surprised at Mossberg’s dominance, but no overly so.  The shotgun is the most basic kind of firearm extant and the fact that Mossberg’s budget-priced line dominates the market reflects its commodity positioning.

Me, I’m casting longing eyes at the shotgun I’ve always really wanted, the Mossberg 590 Mariner (~$625 street):

And yes, despite my preference for the 20ga chambering in general, I’d get it in 12ga because nothing says “Fuck Off And Die (FOAD)” like a couple pops of 00 Buck thereof.

Self-defense in its purest, and most basic form.