In ascending order of dreadfulness, as always:
Your votes in Comments.
From Reader Brad_in_IL comes this love letter:
[I have a] Mosin-Nagant Model 44 carbine, built in 1945. Rifle probably never saw combat as the bore is bright and shiny [I’ll say — K.]. Was probably Ivan’s gun when he stood a guard post.
I call it my Russian Blunderbuss. Damn thing BELCHES fire when touched off… and makes a roaring concussion. I once had an “AR” guy at the next station ask, “What the CHRIST was that?”
I myself have always had a soft spot for the Mosin-Nagant rifle, most especially the M44. Here’s one (not Brad’s):
Like Rolls-Royce cars and Chicago politics, everything you ever heard about the Mosin rifle is true. It kicks the crap out of you — true. It sometimes requires a mallet or a piece of two-by-four to work the bolt — true. When you shoot it, the jet of flame from the M44’s muzzle is almost as long as the gun itself — true. It will carry on working almost regardless of ill-treatment or neglect — true. And so on, and so on.
I think the reason I like the Mosin is that at the end of it all, it is a man’s gun. This is not something that any G.I. Jane (of almost any nationality except maybe a Russian dyevochka circa 1943) would be able to handle — whether operating the bolt after the fifth round, being able to shoot ten rounds in a row of the manly 7.62x54mmR without developing a massive flinch and/or dislocating a shoulder, or loading the mag through the open bolt action without coming away with pinch-blisters. Hell, most men can’t do all the above, so it’s not anything to be ashamed of, ladies.
In days gone by, the M44 made for an excellent trunk gun, in that it could be banged around ceaselessly and still function, was small enough to fit in just about any size trunk, was cheap enough to be easily replaced if stolen, and would be capable of handling just about any circumstance of mayhem, especially if equipped with the issue cruciform bayonet, thus:
If the expression “pig-sticker” comes to mind when you see that picture, it should.
But we live in a different world nowadays [deep sigh], where the rising tide of Obama-era inflated gun prices has affected even the lowly M44. Case in point: the rifle pictured above which, even though it is of Russian make in mint condition (!) with matching serial numbers (!!), still has an asking price of $600 (!!!) — which makes it roughly ten times the cost of the same rifle a decade or so ago. (My old Hungarian M44 cost me, if I recall correctly, about $90 and I was teased mercilessly by some old Mosin cognoscenti for having spent so much.)
Which kinda takes away the fun part of the Mosin for me. It was always a rough-and-ready, go-anywhere and handle-anything gun precisely because of that sub-$100 price point — the perfect weapon for peasants, as it were. Now… not so much, because $600 is a serious investment for us pore working-class types, and the perverse joy of owning a piece of stubbornly-utilitarian junk like the Mosin has been sadly diminished.
I hate the modern day. Here’s me with my old 91/30, in happier times (note the length of the bayonet):
The smile says it all.
It seems that if a young actress wants to live to a ripe old age, she must at all costs refuse to play the wacky but lovable sister of any of Hugh Grant’s movie characters.
Item 1: Charlotte Coleman, wacky sister Scarlett in 4 Weddings And A Funeral:
Dead at age 33 (asthma).
Item #2: Emma Chambers, wacky sister Honey in Notting Hill:
Dead at age 53 (kidney failure).
Is Hugh Grant the Devil? I think we should be told.
So, O My Readers, riddle me this: we have two Colt double-action revolvers on display, first a Trooper Mk III:
and next, a Python:
Both have 6″ barrels, both are chambered for the fine .357 Magnum cartridge, both are excellent revolvers — quite possibly two of the best ever made — and yet even though the idiots at Colt don’t make either of them anymore [100,000-word rant deleted] the Trooper typically retails for under $1,000, while the Python is stratospheric ($2,300 and up).
I know the Python was built with no-expenses-spared quality, while the Trooper wasn’t — not that it was shoddy, anything but — and maybe it has a different feel to the Python’s silky triple-snick cocking sound. But I find it difficult to believe that the Python, based on its price alone, is three times better than the Trooper.
I’ve fired both revolvers many times, and owned a Python at one time. Yet now, as a retired old geezer, the chances of me ever owning a Python again are not good (actually, I probably have a better chance of winning the Pick 4 lottery). So why, I ask you all, should I not set my sights on a Trooper instead?
You Readers who are Colt cognoscenti, give me the scoop in Comments (after wiping the drool from yer keyboards, of course). And for once, ignore any arguments involving beauty and / or status. It would be my new bedside gun only.
Oops. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been caught with its dirty little fingers in the fudge drawer… again.
NOAA has been cooking the books. Yet again – presumably for reasons more to do with ideology than meteorology – NOAA has adjusted past temperatures to look colder than they were and recent temperatures to look warmer than they were.
We’re not talking fractions of a degree, here. The adjustments amount to a whopping 3.1 degrees F. This takes us well beyond the regions of error margins or innocent mistakes and deep into the realm of fiction and political propaganda.
This all started when some smart guy looked at the raw data covering the recent polar vortex storms in the Northeastern United States, and found the disparity as noted above. The data had been “smoothed” (weasel statistician word meaning “altered”) and guess in which direction? Why, to support the Glueball Wormening narrative, of course.
And by the way: you know how the Arctic ice cap is at its lowest level in history? Ummm not so.
And you know how it never snows in Rome? Also not so. And Naples?
And you know how The Independent said that British children will grow up never having seen snow? Not this generation, anyway.
Enjoy the read.
Longtime Readers may remember that the Son&Heir once belonged to a shooting club here in Dallas known as the Shooting Stars, doing air pistol, air rifle and free (.22LR) pistol disciplines. For a tiny club, their output has been impressive. When the Son&Heir was a member (he’s now emeritus):
So: the Shooting Stars need some equipment, i.e. some of the electronic targets that are used in airgun competition, which are especially needed as the club often hosts the state championships. They are looking for some angels to help them out.
That would be you lot. Once again, this is not a bunch of goofballs; they’re a serious outfit who have contributed much to the shooting sports in Texas as well as nationally and internationally. Here’s their website (check out their recent achievements, good grief!), and follow the link to their GoFundMe appeal.
With all the nonsense that’s being thrown at us shooters these days, this is a worthy cause. I’ve sprung for $100; I just wish I could do more.
Please join me in helping them out.