Tag: Guns and such

We all know about rescue dogs, cats, etc. — but what about guns?

Longtime Reader Dave L. sends me his story:

Hi Kim
About 2 weeks ago I told you that I’d ordered one of those ex-Italian M-1 Carbines from Midway. I finally got it cleaned up and ready for the range and I thought that you might enjoy seeing a couple of pictures.
The carbine in the picture is a 1943 manufacture Winchester. The wood was black with dirt and Cosmoline and the action was filled with Cosmoline as well. I cleaned the stock up with Simple Green and a nylon scrubbing pad and the dirt came off pretty well. As you can see the wood has some dings but I think that’s part of the character of this almost 80 year old rifle. I applied a couple of coats of tung oil and I think that it looks okay. I also used Simple Green and Gunk engine cleaner and degreaser on the metal. The bore is excellent and I’ll bet that the round count is very low. [One hopes not for long — K]

As you can see my rifle has the late production adjustable sight and late lever safety. The sling and mag pouch are reproductions that I found on Amazon (forgive me) for about $30. I have two 15 round and two 30 round magazines that are recent Korean production. I know that finding good magazines has always been a problem for the carbine but mine will just be a range toy due to the limited supply of ammunition. I have other rifles that I can use for serious social purposes.
Right now I have 100 rounds of Prvi that I found on the Net. I will eventually pick up some reloading dies should small rifle primers ever miraculously fall from heaven.
As I said earlier, sometimes a guy has to spend the money so that he doesn’t spend the rest of his life regretting his safe, sane and sensible actions.

You see?  An old, decrepit and sick gun has been restored to health, has found a good home and can now enjoy the rest of its life in loving hands.

If I may add just one thing, Dave:  long after you’ve forgotten how much you paid for it, you’ll still be enjoying it.

Well done.

Reader Old Texan sent me this video, and ten minutes after watching it, I was still giggling like a little girl.  Hell, I laugh every time I think about it.

Enjoy.

As I’ve aged, a couple of things have happened to me that have affected my barely-competent handgun skill.  (Cliff Notes:  I’ve always been a much better shot with a rifle than with a handgun, the latter being just average.)

The problem is twofold:  as my age-induced arthritis continues to plague my hands, I find that I can no longer grip the gun as firmly as I’d like, which has led to Problem #2:  I’ve started to develop a profound flinch whenever I pull the trigger.  No matter how gently I squeeze the thing — and all my handguns have excellent triggers — I often catch myself dropping the hammer on an empty chamber and seeing my hand pulling the gun down at least an inch, with predictable results on the paper.  To put it bluntly, at the end of the session, my target often resembles that of someone trying to register their shotgun’s grouping, blindfolded.  (I think it was either Mr. Free Market or The Englishman who once commented caustically, “I had an old shotgun that printed better than that.”)

Loyal Readers will already have seen my dissatisfaction with firing 158gr .357 Mag loads, and selecting instead the much-lighter 110gr pills for my backup ammo.  With the latter, there is no flinch;  with the 158gr loads, a profound one.  Ditto, by the way, my .45 ACP preference for 185gr loads over the 230gr.  Heavy bullets = flinch;  lighter bullets = no flinch, or at least not enough to make a fool of me.

This is not affected by my usual shooting partners, they being either the Son&Heir or Doc Russia, both being horrifyingly proficient handgun shots whose one-hole groupings never fail to make me look like a complete beginner.

All this, by the way, is to introduce Champion Pistolero Rob Leatham’s video entitled:  Aiming Is Useless (!!!!).

So my next few trips to the handgun range are going to feature his training tips, along with Mas Ayoob’s Wedge Grip.

I’ll let you know how it pans out.