Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

Yesterday I talked about shooting rimfire .22 ammo in my old age, and specifically the rifles with which to do so.  Well, I promised to talk about the handgun options for the same purposes, and here we are.

I wrote about the pleasures of shooting single-action revolvers some time ago (feel free to go there first to refresh the memory), and specifically, the guns I have already acquired to take care of this need.  Here they are, the Ruger Single-Six Brothers:

(Before anyone asks, I have one in stainless and the other in blue so I can remember which is loaded with which ammo:  SS .22 Mag, Bluey .22 LR.  That way I don’t have to mess with swapping out the cylinders.)  

But what if I want to eschew the hassle of ejecting and reloading the piece one round at a time?  We all know what that means:  double-action revolvers.

Here’s where I have to admit to a shortcoming, so to speak.  Also some time back, I talked about the exquisite S&W Model 48, which is chambered in .22 Mag (once again, feel free to go back in time thence to read my lament at not owning one).  In the Comments to the post, Reader Velocette had this to say:

You too have EARNED the right to make yourself happy. So DO it.

Well, it took me a while, but:

…and allow me to say that with the gun case thus almost-filled, I have had many an enjoyable, nay blissful range session since.

But now we come to the problem:  Alert Readers will notice a gaping hole in the Gun Case Of Bliss, namely, that there is a distinct lack of a .22 double-action revolver in the space provided.  Here’s what it should look like (with a .38 revolver for illustrative purposes only):

…but it leaves me with but one more job:  to pick a decent .22 DA revolver for the task.

Naturally, my first choice is a S&W Model 17 with a 6″ barrel:

…which is dreamy, but its street retail price of just over a grand (!!!!!) pretty much relegates it to “dream” status. I have no cash, in other words, to fund this little dream.

However:  if there’s a Reader out there who happens to have a Model 17 as above* in decent nick and would entertain a swap for some boomstick of equal desirability… email me and let’s talk.  (As always, north Texas Readers will get preference so the exchange can be made in the time-honored Texas fashion.)

And before anyone asks, yes I have the “.22 semi-auto” option already covered, thankee.

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*The Model 63 stainless would also be perfectly acceptable.

So hie thee to thine Gunne Sayfes, and let me know.

Ooooh baby:

First, what they are (i.e. via Gun Jesus, thankee Ian), and then one is brought back to life, with some shooty goodness at the end.

Of every sub-machine gun ever made, this might be the only one that could entice me to hassle with all the NFA bollocks.

My first exposure to the above type of gun was the Marlin Camp 45, a teeny, lightweight little thing that was so handy and easy to shoot — and it used 1911 .45 ACP mags withal — that I couldn’t understand why they weren’t as popular as .22 rifles.

Well, after the third breakage — I mean, parts that actually shattered upon extended use — showed me why the Camp 45s weren’t as popular as .22 rifles.  Nice concept:  total dud in execution.

There were others that came along — the Beretta CX-4 carbines were nice, and being Beretta were a lot better than the Camp 45 when it came to reliability.  Also kinda cool-looking.

I had one for a while, but traded it for something else at the range — as I recall, a Ruger Redhawk in .357 Mag — and to be honest, I didn’t miss the CX-4 that much.

However, this little thing from Ruger, the LC Carbine, has caught my eye recently, and I must confess to feeling a teeny lil’ tug at the old wallet.

Now the guys at TTAG seem to like it quite a bit, calling it a “real thumper”, and that appellation will always get my attention.  It has several features that do ditto:  it uses Glock double-stack mags (which are cheap and ubiquitous);  it looks easy to mount a decent tac-scope like an Aimpoint on the thing (and I happen to have a spare one or two in Ye Olde Gunne Sayfe);  and it has a threaded barrel for an eeeeevil silencer / suppressor / moderator (pick your preferred nomenclature).

We won’t discuss the ammo issue, of course.

And speaking of which, all the range tests I’ve seen for the LC have shown that it handles pretty much any kind (FMJ or HP), bullet-weight (185gr to 230gr) or strength (+P) with equal ease, and with excellent accuracy, as it should, with a barrel longer than a 1911’s.

I see that Bud’s is selling them for under $800, which is always a good indicator of “street price” vs. MSRP (over $1,000).

I might just sell one of my other guns for one of these.  Even though I’ll need to buy some Glock mags — yeah, guess why — and I’m debating whether to let the feds crawl up my ass just to “allow” me to get a frigging suppressor (don’t get me started), I might very well end up with one of these Rugers, under the “home defense / under-the-bed” rationale, so to speak.

Also, if anyone has any first-hand experience with the LC, please let me know.