Category: Gratuitous Gun Pics

Entry Level

Gratuitous Gun Pics

So you’re a young-ish man or woman, and you want to get into the wonderful world of Hunting / Target Shooting, Rifle Division.  But when you start looking at what’s out there, you’re bowled over by the prices.

You might saunter over to Collectors, and snatch up this one, for only $600:

Here’s the checklist, all answered in the positive:

  • well-known brand
  • good, adjustable trigger
  • bull barrel which won’t start to wilt after only three rounds fired
  • popular cartridge, relatively cheap for practice, not horrible recoil
  • includes an acceptable Nikon scope (for hunting;  for greater distances, buy something more powerful)
  • lightweight stock

Caveats:

  • it’s consignment, which means Collectors hasn’t tested it for function (as they do when they buy guns from individuals)
  • the bolt may be stiff and clunky to operate (common fault of Savage rifles that haven’t been worked on

Honestly, it’s a dandy for an entry-level shooter.  Me, I think the positives outweigh the potential negatives, bigly.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Walther P38 (9mm Para)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Considering that the P38 / P.38 design was groundbreaking at its launch, was used during WWII by the German military and for many years post-war by several police forces around the world, I guess you can say that Walther done good.

The silly Europellet chambering aside (see rants passim), the P38 is a brilliant pistol:  reliable to a fault, safe to carry and use (except for the individual on the naughty side of the muzzle), and considering its non-adjustable sights, way more accurate than almost anyone who shoots it.  I’ve fired many P38s, made either by Walther, Mauser or Spree — they’re identical — and almost uniquely among pistols, I never once experienced any kind of stoppage or failure.  The only thing I can fault about it is that silly heel-located mag release (common among many pistols of the time), and the quality of workmanship makes this a gun I would happily carry today, without a single reservation.

The WWII-era P38s are too expensive nowadays, of course, even though close to two million were made — for some reason, people prefer the steel frame over the replacement P1’s aluminum frame, but I can honestly say I can’t tell the difference between the two — and certainly not in operation.

Want.

Solving A Problem

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Last week saw a whole bunch of Gratuitous Gun Pics, so why not continue with another one or two this week, say I?

Here’s one which provides a solution to the notoriously-difficult question of mounting a scope onto a Mosin-Nagant 91/30:

Now I must admit that mounting a Scout Rifle-type scope onto the 28″-barreled (and sporterized) 91/30 looks somewhat goofy — without the full-length front stock, the barrel does look a little overlong — but it is nevertheless a solution to the scope problem.  And you could do a whole lot worse than spending less than $600 on a proven rifle which includes a scope, and is chambered in the manly 7.62x54Rmm.

I still think, though, that the scope mount would look better on one of the shorter M44 carbine models.

I Had A Dream

3 Inexplicable Things, Gratuitous Gun Pics

…but it wasn’t anything like Martin Luther King’s, or ABBA’s dream, nor about Joe Hill (no link because Commies), and sadly, it wasn’t about Cass Elliott.

No, I dreamed that a wealthy Reader (who looked a lot like Ginger Baker, FFS) offered to buy me three guns, with the caveat that they couldn’t be guns I’d owned before, nor any old guns at all — they could only be new guns.

At least it wasn’t cars, because then I’d have been in real trouble.

Anyway, I woke up without having made any choices, but the dream has kinda stuck with me all day.  And being prevented from getting a gun that I’ve owned before makes the list really short, because… well, you know.

So after some considerable thought, here they are, the top 3 guns I’d like to receive as a gift:

1 – Dan Wesson Valor (.45 ACP)

Some may consider this a cheat (because the 1911 is old, and I’ve owned several in the past);  in my defense, however, I’ve never owned a pocket 1911, nor anything made by Dan Wesson.  But I’d love to, and this one makes my bang-switch-actuator itch.  Badly.

2 – Ruger No. 1-S Medium (9.3x62mm)

Never owned a No. 1, nor any rifle in the venerable 9.3x62mm.  I would even consider going on an(other) African hunt (but with Doc Russia and Mr. Free Market) if I could take one of these.

3 –  A.H. Fox FE 20ga (as made new by Connecticut Shotgun Mfg. Company)

This beauty ticks all the Kim Boxes (side-by-side, double trigger, straight stock, 30″ barrels) and if the Dan Wesson was disqualified because rules, I’d just get a matched pair.  And then I’d head off to join Mr. FM in Dorset later in the year, you betcha…

Anyone else had a dream like this one?

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Winchester Super X AR 308 (.308 Win)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

When is a Winchester semi-automatic rifle not a Winchester semi-automatic rifle?

When it’s actually a Browning BAR made by FN Herstal — like this one:

Let’s see:  a tried-and-tested semi-auto rifle action, in hunting guise, with a ten-round magazine (two, as advertised), and in a manly chambering* — all for just over a grand?

Oh yes, Kimmy WANTS.

*I took inventory of Ye Olde Ammoe Locquere over the weekend just past, and discovered that I have a little under 500 rounds of .308 Win, but no rifle thus chambered.  Hence my interest in the above.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Brno Mauser (6.5x55mm)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Longtime Reader Preussenotto sends me pics of gunny gorgeousity:

Saw this on fecesbook.  Captured the pictures for you because I know you love Mausers and the full underbarrel stock.  Plus the double-set trigger.  The caption said it was Swedish Mauser caliber.  Enjoy. 

How could I not?

 

I don’t want to shoot it.  I just want to hold it, stroke it and work the action…

…and then shoot it.  A lot.

I am SO weak.