Category: The Gun Thing

Not just the guns, but all the stuff that goes with them

Crossing America — 2022

Guy Stuff, The Gun Thing

Time to play this game again, as many people have written to ask for it.

The Challenge:  You have the opportunity to go back in time, arriving on the east coast of North America circa  1650 in the early spring, and your goal is to cross the North American continent, taking as much time as you need.  When / if you reach the Pacific coastline, you’ll be transported back to the present day.  Your equipment for this journey will be as follows (taken back in the time capsule with you):

— enough provisions for the first five days’ travel
— a backpack containing some clothing essentials
— a winter coat, raincoat and boots
— waterproof sleeping bag
— an axe
— a couple of knives, and a small sharpening stone
— a box of 1,000 “strike anywhere” waterproof matches
— a portable water filtration system
— a set of topographic maps of North America
— binoculars and a compass
— a current U.S. Army First Aid kit
— ONE long gun (shotgun or rifle) and 300 rounds of ammo (but no scope;  and no interchangeable-barrel rifles like a Thompson Center Encore or Blaser;  drillings are acceptable, but you still only get 300 rounds of ammo, total)
— ONE handgun (and 200 rounds)
— ONE rimfire gun (either a rifle or handgun, with 500 rounds).

Once there, you’ll be given a horse, a mule and a dog or two — but apart from that, you’re on your own.  Remember you’ll be traveling through deep woods, open prairie, desert and mountains.  You may encounter hostile Indian tribes and dangerous animals en route, which should be considered when you answer the following questions (and only these):

1.  What long gun would you take back in time with you?
2.  What handgun?
3.  What rimfire gun?

Unlike previous surveys, I’m not going to tabulate the answers;  just have at it in Comments.  Reasons need not be given, as the choices will pretty much speak for themselves.  If you must  justify your choices, keep it short (as I have with mine).

Oh, and one last thing:  you can’t keep your previous choices of firearm;  you must find new ones.  So in my case, for example, I can’t pick the 1896 Swedish Mauser / CZ Safari Magnum and Ruger Redhawk .357 revolver / Springfield 1911 from the last couple of times — so my own new choices for this year are below the fold. Read more

Ummm No

Anti-Gun Nannies, Marxists, The Gun Thing

It seems as though some of the Terminally-Deluded think that Beto O’Rourke won the Texas governor’s election, given their list of gun control legislation to be proposed in the 2023 Texas legislative session:

  • House Bill 22, House Bill 106, House Bill 284 & House Bill 324 requiring the REPORTING OF LAWFUL SALES of certain firearms and magazines to state and/or local law enforcement — not gonna happen
  • House Bill 76 CRIMINALIZING the failure of a victim of gun theft to report having his or her firearms stolen — are you kidding me?
  • House Bill 88 & House Bill 447 further TAXING the sale of firearms and/or ammunition and firearm accessories — higher taxes?  in Texas?
  • House Bill 110, House Bill 146 & House Bill 308 BANNING private firearm transfers at gun shows — LOL no
  • House Bill 123 & House Bill 136 red flag GUN CONFISCATION legislation requiring surrender of firearms without due process — nope
  • House Bill 129 & House Bill 565 RAISING THE MINIMUM AGE for purchase of semi-automatic rifles — not a chance
  • House Bill 155 & House Bill 236 BANNING private firearm 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 — stomach’s starting to hurt, here
  • House Bill 197 BANNING the sale or transfer and possession of standard capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds — was that a unicorn I just saw?
  • House Bill 179, House Bill 216 & House Bill 244 RESTRICTING long gun open carry, with limited exceptions — maybe in hospitals… nah, not even
  • House Bill 298 establishes a 3-day WAITING PERIOD for firearm sales — like in California?
  • Senate Bill 32 BANNING the sale or possession of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms — we do not live on the Planet Manhattan.

Maybe in New York / Illinois / California / Connecticut / Massachusetts or hellholes of similar foulness would these silly dreams get more than an airy laugh or disbelieving looks from the elected politicians.

Not in Texas.  They’ll be taken out and shot in the back of the neck.  I wish we could do the same to the fuckheads who have created this list, but apparently there’s some stupid law against it.  I’ll call my TX House Rep and Senator, and see if they can get that changed.

That amendment would have a greater likelihood of passing than the above list.

And Just In Time For National Ammo Day

The Gun Thing

…comes this news, also via CW:

Ammo maker announces Georgia factory, hiring spree for hundreds of jobs

In July, Italian gun maker Beretta bought Norma Precision and other ammunition makers from RUAG International, a company owned by the Swiss government, for an undisclosed price. Norma Precision had already announced that it was moving its headquarters to Georgia, setting up a factory in the Savannah suburb of Garden City.

Norma said 88 current employees in Georgia would be offered transfers. Employees will make an average of $57,000 a year, said company spokesperson Rose de Vries.

Last year, Norma Precision said it imported more than 400 containers of ammunition from factories in Europe, while also delivering more than 30 million cartridges of ammunition made in the U.S. De Vries said Norma would also export ammunition from the Georgia plant. 

My only knock against Norma ammo has always been its cost.  If that were taken out of the equation, and somebody were to tell me I could only shoot Norma rifle ammo for the rest of my life, I’d be perfectly happy to do so.  Hell, I’d be ecstatic.

Reminder:  National Ammo Day is on November 19th.  You all know what to do.

Evolution

Drive Time, Gratuitous Chick Pics, Gratuitous Gun Pics, Old Fartism

In my innocence, I always imagined that evolution was a Good Thing, in that v.2.0 would always be an improved version of v.1.9.9, and so on.  (Of course, that belief has been massively degraded by having to deal with software companies, but that’s for another time.)

I understand, therefore, that evolution is not necessarily an improvement, but by and large it has proven to be so — a 2021 Corvette is a much better car than its 1961 ancestor, at least mechanically speaking.  As for its shape?  I’ll let you decide:

Regardless of the shape change (ugh), I think we can agree that the 2021 model performs much better than the 1961 model, mechanically speaking, because let’s be honest, engine technology, materials and things like suspension- and brake technology are better now than they were sixty years ago.  And even the modern shape is no doubt far more efficient in terms of air management than the older one, so at least there’s that.

Now let’s talk about guns.  Here we have a situation where the technology has hardly changed at all, materials have improved somewhat, but (say) a .22 pistol’s operation and efficiency have stayed pretty much the same.

So sixty-odd years ago we had .22 pistols that looked like the High Standard and Beretta:

 

…which, I think we can all agree, did an excellent job of putting the boolet into its intended destination.  Modern pistols, of course, do just as good a job of that — pistols like the FN and SIG:

 

…but for all their improved technology and materials, they somehow end up looking like a dog’s ass.

To return to the cars for a moment, it’s as though the Corvette:

…somehow ended up looking like this:

I know, I can hear y’all now:  “The old fart’s lost it again, jabbering about the Good Ole Days.”

Yeah, maybe.

But I’d still rather own a Beretta 101 than any of the current crop of .22 hand-bricks.

And to wrap this whole train of thought up, I want somebody to explain how ideals of female beauty like this:

…have somehow evolved into this:

Same form, same basic functions between the two models… but ugh.  No thank you.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Winchester Model 64 (.32 Win Special)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Kimmy likes this one:

The Model 64 was produced from 1933 to late 1957, and from memory well over 65,000 were made, making this rifle not especially rare.  (It was re-issued in 1972 for about a year, chambered only in .30-30 WCF.)

What is rare about this rifle is finding one in excellent condition, because like most lever rifles of the era, they were used hard and often.  No safe queen, this one.

And as always, you can’t go wrong with the excellent .32 Winchester Special cartridge, which turns the .30-30 “deer” round into a more powerful “black bear” round.  Its only drawback, of course, is its scarcity (and therefore 4x the cost) compared to the .30-30 WCF.

That said, just as a dangerous game rifle chambered in .375 H&H is not going to be used that often (and its ammo cost is therefore irrelevant), the same can be said nowadays for a Win 64 in .32 Win Spec — it has become a specialist rifle rather than an everyday one.  So if you’re doing a black bear hunt in Pennsylvania or Maine, for instance, you could do a whole lot worse than carrying one of these into the woods.

And I love that breech-mounted peep sight: