My favorite toy
From our friends at Ammo.com, just in time for National Ammo Day this weekend:
I know I know, compared to Days Of Yore these prices are of the nasal ex-sanguination genre; but as I pointed out earlier this week, prices are not going to drop anytime soon, if ever. And buying in bulk now means that when .45 ACP costs $5 per pull, you’ll have sufficient supplies on hand to keep practicing.
Alerted by this little alarm bell via Insty:
“[Shooters] enthusiasts can expect cartridge prices to increase for the rest of the year and continue to do so through 2024.”
…in other words, shooters should get going before ammo gets really unaffordable:
…and it’s this very weekend. We now return to our regular programming.
I must confess to having mixed feelings about this offering from Steve Barnett:
I know all about Ed Brown’s 1911s: they’re fantastic bits of machinery, reliable to a fault, engineered way up the quality curve, and so on.
But the problem I have is that “way up the quality curve” thing: at the end of the day, it’s still a 1911. And just how much better is a quality offering like this one than, say, a Springfield Loaded 1911?
Four times better? (Because that’s the price difference between the two models.)
Like I said: mixed feelings. As any fule kno, I love me my quality guns, most especially shotguns of the H&H / Abbiatico genre. But those are hand made (which the Ed Brown isn’t), which has to count for something.
And maybe it’s just because it’s a 1911 — yes, essentially the same as a 1911 Government as used by Our Brave Boys in France, the Pacific, Vietnam and so on.
Finally, I have no issue with super-quality 1911s of the Nighthawk / Ed Brown ilk — several of my Readers own such pieces, I’ve been lucky enough to have them let me shoot their guns, and without exception, they’re wonderful to shoot.
But I have to confess to y’all: even if I won a lottery, I’m not sure I’d buy a premium 1911 — note, I said “not sure” because hell, I might just indulge myself, much as I might indulge myself with an Omega wristwatch for about the same money.
And maybe it’s because I’ve just been so well served by my plain ol’ Springfield Mil-Spec 1911 (and yeah I know, it’s far from standard issue, with a widened ejection port and polished trigger group). Maybe it’s because I just don’t see how much better an Ed Brown would work for me.
I must be getting old, for such common sense to have crept into my life.
I’m trying to be even-handed about Walther’s new little handgun (Cliff Notes: “unrivaled ease of use, carefully engineered to ensure an experience like no other, with minimal recoil and an effortless-to-rack slide” — from their blurb.) And it looks pretty much the same as the usual Plastic Fantastic:
Okay, I can see this gun’s application for people who have a problem with racking a slide — age-related, carpal tunnel etc. — but I have to say that the “PD” (personal defense) is going to be tricky with that underpowered Europellet. Even if it was developed by John Moses Browning, PBUH.
The PD380 weighs almost nothing (26oz loaded — note to gun manufacturers: I’m not interested in an unloaded gun’s weight because that ain’t reality). So that’s also a good thing.
For we the people who care about practical self defense, I’m thinking that maybe this would be a decent backup piece? but I’m unconvinced.
But whatever: let me not quibble about yet another means of putting bullets into a criminal (you know that’s what “self defense” ultimately means, don’t you?), but I can’t help but think that there might be some better options out there.
Your comments are welcome, as always.
I remember being mocked on these very pages — and it wasn’t that long ago — for paying $275 for my Inland M1 Carbine. Here’s an ad from J&G Sales:
Had I not lost it in the Great Canoeing Accident On The Brazos, I would now be sorely tempted to sell it and pay off the Ferrari. [/hyperbole]
I know, I know: some of you Olde Pharttes got yours for $50 (and no doubt some of you likewise sold them for “stupid money” — $350, for a 7x ROI — thinking yourselves clever).
Given that said rifles were made in these quantities:
Inland Mfg. Division of General Motors — 2,362,097
Winchester — 828,059
Underwood Elliott-Fisher — 545,616
Saginaw Steering Gear — 517,212
National Postal Meter — 413,017
Quality Hardware — 359,666
IBM — 346,500
Standard Products — 247,000
Rock-Ola — 228,500
Irwin-Pedersen — ~4,000
…one would think that there would be little or no “scarcity” pressure on their resale prices.
But what with the attitude of various Socialist politicians towards eeeevil guns (Clinton, Obama, Biden, Schumer etc.), I suppose it’s not at all surprising that the humble M1 carbine is now being priced at secondhand Ferrari levels, relatively speaking.
Still makes me sick, it does.
See if you can spot the bullshit in this otherwise-happy little tale:
Two alleged robbers entered the pizzeria around 8 p.m. “wearing hooded sweatshirts and masks.”
One of the alleged robbers was armed with a handgun and fired a round while trying to get behind the counter. One of the pizzeria employees then opened fire on the suspect, shooting the alleged robber multiple times.
The alleged robber was pronounced dead approximately 30 minutes after entering the pizzeria.
If you bust into a place wearing a mask and hoodie, and start popping off rounds, there’s no “alleged” or “suspected” involved: you are a fucking robber.
And in this case, you are fucking dead.
