Category: The Gun Thing

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

Other Fine Guns

Friends and Family, Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Comment by Reader Velocette about our little TDSA excursion:

“That Winchester High Wall is the class act of the lot, unless you were enjoying an 1873 Colt or a P 35 Hi Power”

Not quite an 1873 Colt, but we did have a 1980 Colt Python 6″ (.357 Mag), not mine, alas for I own one not:

…and yes, a Browning High Power:

…and sundry 1911 variants, of course:

  

…as well as several .22 pistols and revolvers, and a few other .357 Mag/.38 Spec revolvers.

Also on hand, a Winchester 1894 lever rifle (.30-30):

…a Taurus (Winchester copy) Model 63 ( .22 LR):

…the aforementioned Browning High Wall (.45-70 Gov):

…and lastly, my M1 Carbine (which Doc Russia managed to break;  Mr. FM’s comment:  “It survived WWII and Korea, but not one range session with Doc”):

There were other guns, most of them high-tech / gadget-loaded 9mm and .223 EVIL BLACK RIFLES WITH SILENCERRRRRRRS, but of them we will not speak.

I can’t believe that we blew through so much ammo, but considering that firing commenced at about 10:30am and the guns finally fell silent at 3:30pm, perhaps it’s not all that surprising.

In conclusion, I cannot say enough good things about TDSA and its owner Len Baxley.  If you haven’t ever been there, you should.  Mr. FM has been there twice (two separate trips Over Here), and says it’s the most fun he’s ever had, on both occasions.  If you want to try the place out, let me know and I’ll give you advice on what to take and not take so you can have a great time.

Visitors Etc.

Good Stuff, The Gun Thing

The secret is out:  Mr. & Mrs. Free Market are Over Here for Doc Russia’s nuptials, so of course while Mrs. FM went off to deplete his millions do some shopping, her husband, Doc and I went to TDSA to shoot off, as it turned out, well over a thousand boolets.

Here’s Doc, doing his bit to keep noise pollution down:


(note the pattern on his shirt)

…Mr. FM shooting what turned out to be his favorite gun of the two dozen or so we took out there:

Then he and Doc did a little run-and-gunning:

…and later, Mr. FM went all Warsaw Pact:


(no, he wasn’t shooting at the paper target blowing around in the wind)

Your Humble Narrator was to busy taking pics and loading mags to shoot much (maybe a hundred .45, and the same of .357 and 9mm), but the most fun for me was going old-time .45-70:

A full report to follow once I’ve got all the product descriptions from Doc.

A day at the range with BBQ sandwiches and ribs, good friends and no range Nazis, shooting whatever we wanted, in whatever quantity  we wanted, teasing each other mercilessly and friendly, no-score competitions followed by a little beer time afterwards… we all agreed that it just doesn’t get any better than this.

I love these guys.

Great-Uncle Jimmy

The Gun Thing

Your great-uncle Jimmy was a lifelong lover of Smith & Wesson revolvers, but when he passed away, he left his entire collection to his sons.  However, in order to spread the goodness, he sent Collector’s Firearms a gift card in the amount of $2,000 in your name,  with the proviso that it could only be spent on a S&W revolver.

So feel free to peruse the lists  (old and modern) thereof, and tell me in Comments which one (or ones) you’d buy, and why.

Me, I’m partial to this old M&P, at $1,495:

The pre-war Target Models are wonderfully accurate, and while I’m not especially partial to the pearl grips, it would make a fine Governor’s BBQ gun.

A very close second would be this Model 624, at $1,395:

Not quite beautiful enough to be a BBQ gun, but damn close.  (And amazingly, .44 Special ammo is not as expensive as it used to be — or maybe it’s just that the other calibers have caught up with it.)

Bad Idea

The Gun Thing

I carry guns all the time, but I never carry openly, except at the range.  In fact, I’m kind of paranoid about letting anyone know I’m carrying, even acquaintances.  (All my friends know that I’m carrying, just as I know they are, and we seldom if ever even talk about it.)

I’m not interested in “making people comfortable about seeing guns in public” for the simple reason that some of those people will want to take my gun away from me.  Not going to happen.

Here’s someone who agrees with me, and has some good reasons behind his position.  I agree with all of them.

You may or may not agree with me, but argument is pointless because I’m not going to change my mind about it.

Carry On

Politics, The Gun Thing

Looks like Alabama has joined the ranks of the “Constitution Carry” states, thus closing off a revenue stream to various county sheriffs, boo-hoo.

As has Ohio — well done, everyone.  That makes 23 states who agree with the Second Amendment’s “keep and bear arms” provision.

Georgia is likewise poised to the same, their House Bill now with the Senate for “reconciliation” with their own (already passed) bill, thence to the GeorgiaGov’s desk for his (promised) signature.  Get it done, kids, let’s make it 24.

What makes it all the better is the socialists’ response:

Lever Monstrosity

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Reader John C sends me a pic (with all sorts of apologies) and a plaintive cry of “How can anyone do that to a lever gun?”

Strangely enough, I don’t think it’s completely horrible, especially given the times we live in.  If you take away the lever action and replace it with a bolt action, it becomes a simple “chassis” rifle, e.g.

Is it ugly?  Oh hell yes, and I’ve made my feelings clear about this plastic nonsense on many an occasion.

If we are going to level criticism at the chassis lever rifle (CLR), it would be this:  note that while the CLR has a bipod, it’s fitted with a red-dot sight and not with a scope — and for good reason, because at its heart, the primary terrain of the lever rifle is in the deep woods, where a scope is more often than not counterproductive in that it can limit the shooter’s field of vision.

The second criticism is this:  removing the standard wood stock and adding a bipod and chassis must add weight to the rifle, which therefore takes away the lever rifle’s most important features:  its lightness and handiness.

All that said, I don’t have a problem with adding a bipod to a lever rifle;  there are times when I, for one, would have found it quite useful — i.e. when faced with a 100-plus yard shot across a clearing in the woods.

(As an aside, if you do a search for “lever rifle with bipod”, there are precious few pics thereof, which might mean something.)

Lastly, I would suggest that unless the bipod is extended quite substantially (as in the above pic), the downward drop of the lever will slam on the ground and prevent the action from cycling properly.  Shooting from prone, therefore, would be awkward.

Also, I quite like the idea of adding a red dot sight to a lever rifle, although it compromises the clean, classic shape of the thing.

So yes, the chassis lever rifle is as ugly as Nancy Pelosi with a hangover, and definitely falls foul of the maxim that “even if you can do something, there’s no reason why you should“.  Frankly, though, I think its impracticality is more of a reason why it should be ignored with extreme prejudice.