Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Fixed

Guy Stuff, The Gun Thing

Several people wrote to me — close to a dozen, in fact — all offering help in replacing the broken extractor from my battered but much-loved Inland M1 Carbine, and to all those people, please accept my sincerest thanks.

However, Longtime Reader Hank T. not only offered to replace the busted part, but to show me in person how simple a job it is — ha! — provided that one has the proper little G.I. tool which acts as a third hand.  As he lives less than an hour from my apartment, that meant not having to send parts to different parts of the Lower 48.  So yesterday I went over to his place, handed over said broken carbine, and within a half-hour the whole thing had been stripped, cleaned lubed and oh yes had received a new extractor.  It works!

I’m bending the truth a little here in describing the above as a half-hour job, because while the operation itself only  took about half an hour, I spent close to three hours in his workshop because he has all sorts of wonderful bangsticks in his possession.  And you know what that means, right?  I had to hold, and caress, and work the actions of said guns one by one because I’m a gun molester lover and the easiest way to make me purr is to hand me a beautiful gun with an exhortation to “just try that trigger”.

Drooling, lots of drooling, followed.  But clearly my orgasmic cries had disturbed Hank’s darling wife, who came to the workshop to see what all the fuss was about, and that added an hour onto the whole thing because a) she’s a darling and b) she has traveled to many of the places I have, so much experience-swapping took place.

I love to spend time with my Readers on a one-to-one basis, because while you’ve heard many of my stories and adventures on this back porch, I haven’t heard your stories and adventures, and I drink that stuff like I would a fine single malt.

And when I get a renewed gun out of it, as I did here, it’s all the finer.  I am the world’s worst gunsmith because I’m not mechanically-minded (rather the opposite), and I have no patience with inanimate objects — not your best qualities for a gunsmith, I think we can all agree — so I far prefer to hand my problem over to someone who knows what he’s doing and (as in this case) has the proper tools for the job.

So many thanks, Hank, and yes I absolutely want to spend some time at the range with you.  Let me know when you’re free.

Random Thought

Righteous Shootings, The Gun Thing

…about that guy in Houston who turned Replica Robber into Swiss cheese:  from the sound of the gunshots and the zero recoil, I’m thinking a small-caliber chambering —  9mm Luger at best, more likely a.380 ACP or even .32 ACP.

Which means he had to empty his mag to get the thing done (for the moment, we’ll ignore the coup-de-grâce shot right at the end).

And here’s something we all need to acknowledge:  when shooting a handgun in such a situation, bullet size matters.  Even velocity is not as important, because as all the smart kids know, the difference in velocity between (say) a .38 Special and .357 Mag bullet — when fired from a short-barreled carry revolver — is negligible.  You’re still left with a .36″ projectile to do your dirty work.

As hunters of dangerous game animals also know, you don’t use a .270 Win cartridge to hunt buffalo, even though its velocity is perfectly capable of penetrating a buffalo’s thick hide.  You want impact, and shock — and that comes from a heavier bullet delivered at .270-like velocity.

I’ll explore the personal implications of the above in a later post.

Winter Of My Discontent

The Gun Thing

I have moaned before about a) relinquishing my beloved 1911 and b) finding the Browning High Power to be a rather inadequate substitute (apart from its Europellet chambering).

Let’s be clear:  this BHP is a lovely gun.

I have yet to experience a single failure to feed, regardless of what magazine I use, and it shoots every single type of Europellet I put through it — hollowpoints, solids, lightweight or heavyweight, it handles them all and says, “Please Sir, may I have another?”  It’s also a lot easier to clean than the 1911, which is A Good Thing.

All is well, in other words, except for the trigger which does not come close to my 1911’s bang switch, perhaps excusably given how much work and shooting has gone into the latter by comparison.

And then there’s the Europellet, which I still think is inadequate as a stopper.

For the first time in my life, I feel undergunned when I walk out the door carrying the High Power, and that feeling is unaccustomed, unsettling and unwelcome — which makes me grateful for the extra seven rounds in the BHP’s mag.

I discussed all the above with the Son&Heir over dinner last week and he, bless his heart, suggested that we swap guns:  my 1911 back to me, and the BHP over to him.  Which all sounded good, until he tried the BHP’s trigger.

Understand that as a one-time TeamUSA competition shooter, he has a far greater degree of skill and control in his trigger finger than I do — and he hated the BHP’s trigger.

So all talk of a swap ended at that point.

Ad then I got these suggestions from the Peanut Gallery  my Loyal Readers, who made suggestions such as “I think it’s the gun, not the ammo”, “The other thing to consider is a new 1911 chambered in 9mm”, “I couldn’t carry a gun I didn’t enjoy shooting”, “Sig 1911 Ultra .45”, “CZ RAMI 75BD”, “CZ 75B… CZ P07… CZ P10C”, “Para Ordnance P-14”, “Turkish-made 1911 in 9mm”… and lots more.

I think you can all see where this is heading:  get a gun which suits you, Kim.

I don’t think that anyone needs to be reminded that I’m quite possibly the world’s most susceptible gun buyer on the planet.  Okay, “gun whore” if you want to be blunt.

Unfortunately, I’m no longer a self-employed consultant paying the I.R.S. over $20,000 dollars per quarter;  I’m a retiree on a (low) fixed income and savings that are nearly 80% lower than a couple years back (FJB).  But what the hell, I can always sell one of the guns that I managed to recover from The Tragic Canoe Accident of 2014 (-15? -12? whatever).

So if I wanted to stay with the 9mm Europellet — a GREAT BIG HUGE “IF” — then all sorts of lovely guns become available — (hammer-fired / full-sized*, of course), e.g.


Now let’s just turn that “IF” (above) into “Ah fuck no“, and decide that it’s time that my damn body started to man up and just deal with the pain of shooting the .45 ACP…

I think we’re all familiar with where I’m going here:

Option C, therefore, is to trade or sell the High Power and buy the Springfield Garrison in .45 ACP for around $780 (sigh). Then I could just swap the “new” 1911 for the “old” 1911, so to speak:

I mean, why should the Son&Heir have to deal with an old, worn gun?

Your thoughts in Comments.

*my hands are large-ish, so I have no problem shooting a full-size 1911, but I do occasionally have a problem with a gun which holds a 15-round mag.  And if I’m going to stick with light (175-185gr) .45 ACP ammo, I’d prefer the Government size over the Commander (which I’ve owned in the past, so I’m familiar with it).

RFI: Actually, A Couple Of Them

Advice, The Gun Thing

RFI #1:  Someone said they had a spare M1 Carbine extractor floating around.  Please email me so we can arrange delivery, payment etc.   I managed to get hold of a G.I. Armorer’s Manual for the gun, so I can probably install it myself.

RFI #2:  I need to get a shotgun for much later in the year, but I’ll have to part with one of my old WWII-era bolties to pay for it.  The shotgun will probably be the CZ Bobwhite SxS G2 (20ga) which runs about $700, what with with all the paperwork and shipping involved:

As for the bolties… hell, this will be like parting with a child.  If anyone’s at all interested in one, let me know by email and I’ll reply with pics of the guns you can choose from (because I can’t make up my mind).  Obviously, Texas Readers will get first kick because of the hassle-free transaction / no shipping cost / plus free ammo.  Obviously too, I will entertain offers from anywhere in the lower 48, but without the ammo, which would require separate shipping ergo cost.

Think on it, I beg you.

Heads, Meet Brick Wall

Anti-Gun Nannies, Resistance, The Gun Thing

You have to hand it to the Gun Control Party*:  they never seem to realize that the liquid running into their eyes is blood from continuously beating their fool heads against the wall of conservative, Second Amendment-loving Texas.

Courtesy of the Texas State Rifle Association (TSRA), here’s their latest laundry list of wishful thinking:

  • House Bill 22, House Bill 106, House Bill 284, House Bill 324 & House Bill 662 requiring the REPORTING OF LAWFUL SALES of certain firearms and magazines to state and/or local law enforcement. [nope]
  • House Bill 76 & Senate Bill 172 CRIMINALIZING the failure of a victim of gun theft to report having his or her firearms stolen. [unenforceable, according to the State Police]
  • House Bill 88 & House Bill 447 further TAXING the sale of firearms and/or ammunition and firearms accessories. [higher taxes? in Texas? lol]
  • House Bill 110, House Bill 146, House Bill 308 & Senate Bill 360 BANNING private firearms transfers at gun shows. [was that a unicorn I just saw?]
  • House Bill 123, House Bill 136 & Senate Bill 144 so-called “red flag” GUN CONFISCATION legislation requiring firearms surrender without due process. [no due process… yeah, maybe they could get away with that in Illinois]
  • House Bill 129, House Bill 565, House Bill 761, House Bill 781, House Bill 925, House Bill 996, House Bill 1072, Senate Bill 32 & Senate Bill 145 RAISING THE AGE for firearms sales, restricting firearms transfers to, or purchases by, young adults. [lowering the age would have more chance of passing]
  • House Bill 155, House Bill 236, Senate Bill 170 & Senate Bill 370 BANNING private firearms transfers between certain family members and friends, requiring FFLs to process these transactions that would include federal paperwork for government approval at an undetermined fee. [yeah, we just love getting the feds’ noses stuck in our bidness in Texas]
  • House Bill 817, House Bill 925 & Senate Bill 32 BANNING the manufacture, sale, purchase or possession of commonly-owned semi-automatic rifles, pistols and shotguns. [there aren’t enough body bags to enforce this little wet dream]
  • House Bill 197 & House Bill 632 BANNING the sale or transfer and possession of standard capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. [see the point above]
  • House Bill 179, House Bill 216 & House Bill 244 RESTRICTING long gun open carry, with limited exceptions. [you mean, over and above the restrictions we already have, and that most Texans hate like poison and mostly ignore?]
  • House Bill 298 establishes a 3-day WAITING PERIOD for firearms sales. [uh huh — I know we’ve got a lot of Californians come here recently, but we still ain’t California yet]
  • House Bill 887 CRIMINALIZING the practice of home-building firearms. [sorry, I need to go get another hanky]
  • House Bill 925 requiring enforcement of a whole host of newly-established firearms restrictions through PRIVATE CIVIL ACTIONS. [once again, this isn’t California or New fucking York]
  • House Bill 1092 REPEALING Texas’ firearms industry non-discrimination act from the 2021 session. [considering the margin by which the latter was passed in 2021, that ain’t gonna happen either]
  • Senate Bill 205 REPEALING Texas’ campus carry law. [because of all the dozens of mass shootings on Texas campuses over the past few years, maybe?]
  • Senate Bill 253 STREAMLINING signage requirements for posting areas off-limits to gun owners, making it easier for property owners to ban carrying on-premises. [actually, that we have any such signs at all is something I and others intend to take up with our legislators]

Every single one of these has been copied and pasted, so to speak, from years gone past;  all have gone down in flames or else been “tabled” without making it out of committee.

And lest we forget, the Texas Legislature is only in session for six months every two years.  Amongst other things, they have to build, debate and pass a two-year budget — which the U.S. Congress can’t do in a full year — and ours have better things to do than debate this foolishness in the short time available to them.

*Actually, what I’d like to hand to them is their own severed heads on a pike, but we can discuss that some other time.

Making The Transition

The Gun Thing

I’ve been shooting 1911s in .45 ACP for pretty much all my adult life.

While there have been many forays into revolvers (Colt Pythons, various S&Ws etc.) it can truthfully be said that my bread, butter and jam has been the above gun.

Which is no longer mine, having been given to the Son&Heir for his birthday.  Along with every single round of .45 ACP out of Ye Olde Ammo Locquere.  (“FFS, Dad:  I’ll never have to buy ammo ever again.” )  Okay, I did find a small stash of another hundred or so rounds later (everybody here knows how that can happen), but the S&H is coming over tomorrow for dinner so I’ll give him those too.

Yep, not only did I make a clean break from the 1911, I also made it difficult to go back should I be tempted to do so.

Which is all very well, except that I have a serious shortage of 9mm, never having done much Europelleting in the past.  In fact, as I discovered when preparing for a range visit a couple days back, I did indeed have a couple hundred rounds of premium self-defense 9mm (don’t ask me why), but not a single box of standard 115gr. practice stuff.  So I had to buy a couple boxes at full retail price (!!!), which made it almost as expensive a proposition as .45 ACP.  Fortunately, I had a small cash windfall (as described yesterday), so I could buy that hundred rounds of practice ammo with only a small amount of chagrin.

Nevertheless, as I hadn’t shot the High Power in earnest for well over five years, I had to put in the practice considering that the BHP is now my everyday carry piece.

Aaargh.  I couldn’t shoot it for shit — I mean, compared to the results I’ve been getting from the 1911 in, well, forever — and I found the trigger not just different, but horribly different.  The 1911’s trigger had been seriously worked on, and fired over 30,000 times — use your imagination.  The High Power hasn’t been touched, other than the substitution of the original spur hammer for a bobbed one, as in the pic.

I’m not happy.

Bear in mind that the paper results were not that bad, considering, but nothing close to what I’m used to, and the “unpleasant” trigger made my first proper outing with the BHP no fun at all.  And I’m not familiar with coming away from a range session feeling bad about my shooting;  I’ve worked too hard and practiced too much to have to put up with this.

So I’m grappling with the thought that carry duties, which I’d planned on giving to the BHP exclusively, may be shared with the S&W 65 (my bedside piece).

Not that this would be a hardship, mind you:  I took the 65 to the range along with the BHP, and shot both .38 Spec+P and .357 Mag through it, with excellent results.

In fact, I had so much fun with the revolver that I might well use it as a carry piece instead of the High Power.  (I also have what may be described as an “adequate sufficiency” of both .38 and .357 ammo on hand, so no hardship there, and therefore would require no building up a supply from scratch as would be the case with 9mm Europellets.)

I wish I still had my 1911.