From my friends at Ammo.com, a selection of sale items (more at the link):
Remember, I get no kickbacks of any kind from anyone. (I wish I did, but there ya go.)
Tag: Guns and such
My favorite toy
Gratuitous Gun Pic: TNW Aero Survival Rifle
It’s a perennial discussion point on this here back porch of mine:
“I want a carbine-type companion piece to my handgun.”
Well, here’s one I had not heard of until recently and nor, it would seem, had the venerable Hitchock45: the TNW Aero Survival Rifle. (Ignore that silly MSRP; here it is at BassPro, hardly the cheapest retailer on the planet.)
I have to say, I really like the look of this little darling; it’s like a grown-up AR-7 Survival Rifle (.22 LR).
It also takes Glock magazines for the caliber of your preference — did I mention that you can pick your favorite chambering among 9mm, .357SIG, .40S&W, 10mm and (my choice, of course) .45ACP? I’d buy a few Glock 21 mags — 13-rounders, of course, just to piss off the GFW Brigade –and yes, I’d prefer that the Aero took 1911 mags, but only because then I wouldn’t have to buy more of them. But at about $20 per mag, I could do the Glocks easily.
The Aero does not have iron sights, which is another minor irritant, but I can see why: a front sight on the barrel could cause packing- or unpacking hassles. Okay, then: I’d top the Aero with one of these Springfield red-dot scopes.
Your choice may differ — heading upmarket towards Holosun, Trijicon or Leupold — but I’d be happy with the less inexpensive choice. Also, size is important because the Aero disassembles into a teeny lil’ packaway thing which would easily fit into a light backpack; and the Springfield Hex is, from all reports I’ve read, extremely rugged and can handle the .45’s recoil with ease.
By the way, when you watch Hitchcock’s video, and you should, please note the difficulty he has with some of the Glock mags — but he resolves the issue in the same video: load the mag firmly with the bolt closed, and all will be well.
If you are sensing from my tone that I want one of these little beauties very badly, you would be correct; and the Aero and accessories are going onto Santa’s list as we speak.
Jonny’s Guns
What we in Texas would call “a good start“…
Some quotes:
“What is a man without a Silver Pigeon?” (and in the background, Mr. Free Market nods in agreement)
“Every person should own a pump action.”
“How many high-end boutique hand-built semi-automatics are there in the world? Not enough, I tell you. Not enough.”
“I could shoot the absolute ass out of this gun.”
Jonny’s our kind of guy.
My only quibble is all those pistol grips; but then again, he shoots far better than I ever could.
Proper Ranking
From my friends at the Texas State Rifle Association:
Let’s just look at that for a moment:
- Grand Prize: an old rifle, last used in the 19th century, firing a black powder cartridge that’s mostly unavailable except to hobbyists and reloaders
- Consolation Prize: the Mattel AR-15 Plastic Fantastic
LOL.
Hey, I didn’t set the competition up, they did.
En passant: I fired the 71/84 once, and like a most black powder shooting, it was a lot of fun, but very messy. [insert sex joke here]
Gratuitous Gun Pic: S&W M&P22 Magnum (.22 WMR)
Longtime Reader Mike S. sends me this missive:
“Knowing your fondness for the .22 Mag cartridge…”
[whimper]
And the Outlaw almost likes it too, mostly because of a couple of feeding issues (something I noticed with the Kelt-Tec model as well, but the Kel-Tec was terrible — multiple FTF in a single magazine).
Still…
Can you say: “Kids’ Joint Birthday Present For The Father Figure”?
Want. WANT.
Sticking Out
An interesting take on the concealed-carry thing:
So how do we blend in? Well, for starters, when you decide to join the concealed carry lifestyle and have a defensive gun on you whenever you can, you’re going to have to figure out how to conceal your gun. For years, the conventional wisdom on this was that a gun should be comforting, not comfortable, and that you had to “dress around the gun.”
We should keep in mind, however, that the source of that advice was usually someone with a military or law enforcement background. The mission of both of those professions is radically different from the mission of the armed citizen, and that affects how they think about their guns. Fashion and cultural issues aren’t really applicable for most military servicemen, and aside from undercover work, not really an issue for law enforcement as well. For the rest of us, the idea of “dressing around the gun” is yet another roadblock on the path to the concealed carry lifestyle.
What we’re seeing now, though, is a new generation of firearms trainers whose roots are in the world of the armed citizen, not in the precinct or barracks. Trainers like Claude Werner and the crew at Citizen’s Defense Research stress training with real-world concealed carry solutions. In addition to this, the popularity of small and thin 9mm pistols like the Smith and Wesson Shield and Springfield Armory Hellcat and new methods of carry like the PHLster Enigma mean that it’s easier than ever to have a pistol on you when you need it the most, but not look like you have a pistol on you.
For various reasons, I find it very difficult to blend in, and I have no explanation for it. You know that situation when a comedian or magician picks out someone in the audience to participate / be humiliated in his show? If I’m in the audience, there’s a 90% chance that I’ll be the one picked out.
And that’s before I carry my big ol’ 1911 in its Don Hulme leather holster. Now, given that I have a body shape that’s more like Lizzo’s than Amanda Holden’s, it means I have to wear a tent-style shirt to ensure that my carry rig doesn’t “print” to any interested onlookers. (In summer; in winter, one of my several coats or gilets generally does the trick.)
However, I do have a sartorial characteristic that may help in the concealment business: I wear a hat. And of course never a stupid baseball cap because I’m a.) not a baseball player, b.) not a farmer and c.) not a nine-year-old boy. Generally speaking, it’s a Panama-style or fedora in summer, and a wool cap in winter:
Now what those lids do, I’m told, is make me even more distinctive in appearance. So how does that help me to “blend into” a crowd?
It doesn’t. What it does do is draw attention towards my head and away from my gun, giving me if needed a precious second or two to respond to a potential threat. And, of course, if things start going sideways, my plan is always to ditch the hat to take away the identifier and make me less conspicuous.
Not that I’ve ever thought about the situation, or anything. [eyecross]
I know it’s not perfect, but it’s what I’ve got. At least I have a plan, flawed though it might be.