Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

Okay, so you’d like to shoot your 1911 Government, but the cost of the manly .45 ACP ammo is eating into your Booze Fund.  What to do, what to do…

Well, in the past you could always just buy one of those ACE conversion kits, but they were spendy and anyway, you were too lazy to do all the mechanical work involved in stripping and reassembling.  So you just never bothered.  Far easier, therefore, just to buy a .22 pistol like a Ruger or Browning. (This paragraph, by the way, describes me perfectly.)

But in fact there are now a couple of alternatives that enable you to shoot cheaply and keep your eye in with your Colt 1911.  Here’s one:  the Walther-Hammerli 1911:

…or, if you want to take away that long 5″ barrel for a lighter gun, you could go for the Combat Commander-style shortie:

Finally, of course, if that modern “cheese grater” look grates on you [sic], you could always just go for the Walther-Hammerli “Made under Colt license” 1911 model:

And the best part?  The above two retail (ATOW) for about $350, and the licensed model costs only forty-odd bucks more.

No need to wait for those winning lottery tickets, in other words.

That matchless Colt 1911 trigger in an affordable .22 LR package:  irresistible.

Note:  just as a point of interest, Hammerli’s own .22 pistol (called by the romantic name of “X-Esse”) costs well over a grand.  Yes, it has a 6″ barrel:

But in the dictionary under “Tack Driver” you’ll find this pic.

Here it is, in its competitive “Sport” iteration:

Okay, at first glance this is a weird one:

Now before everyone starts falling about with laughter, let’s just look at what this piece brings to the party.

One of the problems with the similarly-chambered Taurus “Judge” revolver is its size:

I mean, that lo-o-o-o-ng cylinder makes it a monster, which makes it problematic in terms of its utility.  You can’t carry it comfortably and frankly, the shorty barrel makes it unpleasant to shoot.  (Ask me how I know this.)

While the little .410 shotgun shell is a weeny compared to its larger cousins in 12-, 16-, 20- or even 28ga, it still announces its ignition with a very meaty slam into your wrist if chambered in a handgun.  (I once owned a Bond Arms Derringer in .45 LC/.410ga, and shooting it was an ummm interesting experience.)

Frankly, therefore, a handgun chambered in .410ga is not really a viable or even pleasant proposition.

Now let’s look at that Rossi Circuit Judge again.

In a stroke, it does away with all the disadvantages of the .45/.410 revolver by adding a longer barrel (helps with recoil and ballistics) and the shoulder stock turns it into a handy little carbine.

Ignoring the .45 Colt part for a moment — because we all know and love the old cartridge for its deadliness — what this Circuit Judge brings you is a tiny and manageable .410 shotgun, with six rounds capacity.  Find me another .410 shotgun that compares.

Would I want a Circuit Judge for myself?  No, because I have no real need for it.  But if I lived in an area where potting crows and rabbits and such is part of an early evening’s entertainment with friends while sitting around a fire pit with a glass or two of single malt at the elbow, such as at Free Market Towers in Hardy Country…

…I’d buy one in a heartbeat.

Whilst idly browsing the shotguns at Collectors, I happened upon this wonderful piece:

Now, one might balk at paying $27,500 for a gun made in 1907, but one would run the risk of being called ignorant of Boss & Co.’s storied heritage.  And unlike some other marquee shotgun brands (Purdey coff coff ) who are part of the Beretta conglomerate, Boss is independently owned.  And as Boss has been in existence since 1812, one might assume that the London-based gun company is well-known to many discerning gun owners because of the excellence (“Best”) of their products.  And one’s assumption would be correct:

It should be remembered, by the way, that it was Boss & Co. who designed and made the very first over-and-under shotgun, back in 1909 (okay, I’ll forgive them this heresy) so in this, at least, John Moses Browning was a copier and not an originator.

And Boss haven’t made only long guns, either:

Boss & Co. are unashamedly devoted to making a premium product, and only a premium product — hence the term “Best Only”.  And yes, that premium comes at a steep price;  but to own a Boss shotgun is to own a work of art and a piece of history and heritage like few others.

And that’s the reason why I think that the old 1907 shotgun at Collectors is an absolute bargain.