Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Virginia Flashpoint #1

Marxists, Politics, The Gun Thing

From Reader Mike C comes this email:

Like many Virginia voters, the speed at which the combination of the legislators and governor moving to the Democrat side and the pending legislative session yielding draconian gun laws and possible door to door confiscation caught me by surprise. Politics up to this point has been a bit of a genteel affair, with the Dems and Reps making small changes one way or another and the pendulum swinging slowly this way and that.. until now. As I’m sure you have heard, it’s about to get real here.
So to summarize what I’m sure you already know, they are set to pass gun control laws outlawing evil black guns, any pistol that holds more than 9 rounds, any shotgun that holds more than 6, and similar magazine restrictions on rifles. Apparently it will be a felony to own any of these. Most counties including mine have passed resolutions saying they will not enforce such laws. However, for my purple county, the board of supervisors will turn into a Democrat majority in January and that resolution will be overturned. Since the new laws will not grandfather in previously purchased firearms, it will have the immediate effect of making millions of lawful gun owners instant felons. If that doesn’t make your blood run cold, nothing will.
How does this affect me personally? Well, as perhaps you may recall from previous discussions, I have never liked pistols much as I never was very good with one, even though I was a competitive rifle shooter as a young man and qualified and carried a 1911 in the army. That, coupled with living and working in the pastoral suburbs means I never felt the need to carry and don’t own a pistol, evil large mag or otherwise. I do own a few bolt action classics in various calibers and a few single shot shotguns that for now are safe from prosecution. Having carried and disliked the M16 during my Army days, I am not a fan of nor own any evil black rifles. However I do have what you would call a standard plinking tool, a semi-auto .22 whose round count in the tube capacity will run afoul of the new law and make me a felon.
While I can stow my felony-inducing .22 with relatives in another state, the question is, should I, and what should / can I do to protect myself and my family from this tyranny where millions of Virginians will now face a midnight knock on the door because some neighborhood informant has clued the Stasi in on our felony possession of a semi-auto .22 (which frankly doesn’t shoot that well, is a pain to clean, an antique, and frequently jams and misfires)?
The rebel in me wants to go to the final gun show of the year (or ever) this coming weekend and purchase a evil black rifle lower, just so I can show solidarity with the black rifle brethren. What if a lot of people did that? On one hand, it would definitely send a message. On the other hand prosecutors across the state would rejoice, because they would significantly increase their conviction rates due to better leverage in plea bargain negotiations.
A friend tells me there is going to be a rally on the 20th in Richmond to let the legislators know how we feel. Having gone that route with the tea party on the Mall and seen it have no real effect, and knowing the new legislators and governor are sufficiently bought and paid for, I know such demonstrations are really just pissing in the wind. I would not be surprised to see Antifa and even neo-Nazis show up just to make the legitimate protesters look like kooks for the media. Worse yet, just like the tea party and anti-abortion yearly protest, these demonstrations will probably be ignored by the media, no matter how many people show up.
The question still remains though, what is the right thing for an average guy to do? It’s all well and good to speak of pitchforks, ropes, and trees, but having faced down apartheid, you know better than most how quickly and devastatingly resistance can degenerate into Sarah Host’s dystopian “blood in the streets”. I fear for my state in this. Worse, the police here will be faced with millions of newly minted, hostile felons. What then? On top of that, with so many new “criminal class” citizens, what will be the real criminal class response against the weakened sheep and hunkered down police?
The best case here is that the police will take no positive action as a result of this new legislation. While there will be millions of new de facto felons, they will only be changed incidental to detainment for other reasons – traffic stops, self defense, 911 calls, divorce fights, and Swatting incidents among them. The only real recourse I see for us is to try to do something about our severely compromised voting system and hope that enough Virginians remain enraged enough to overcome the fraud factor in a year or two. Or move, and a few years after that pen a heart rendering ode entitled “Let Virginia Sink”.
Your thoughts?

Let’s address the low-hanging fruit here first.  My advice:  ditch the unreliable old .22 rifle and get yourself a new one — say a Ruger 10/22 — which has the advantage of being so popular, not to say ubiquitous and which means that (bet on it) that any future legislation will “grandfather” ownership of said rifles.  Also, get a boatload of spare 10-round mags (5-10 would be a good benchmark) in case your politicians ban future sales thereof.  Also, at least a couple thousand rounds of .22 LR in case the fuckers ban purchase of “large” quantities.

In that same vein, let’s talk about getting an Evil Black Rifle (EBR).  Don’t get an AR-15 lower, because these bastards will just include them in the ban and worse, you won’t have a usable gun.  Get a working gun — AR or AK — and if you want to circumvent a magazine ban, get an SKS.  I know, it only has a 5  10-round mag, but you would be surprised how quickly you can load 7.62x39mm rounds with a stripper clip.  Ordinarily, I’d recommend getting a Russian one (as below, with integrated eeeevil bayonet), and not the non-Chinese Type 56 SKS, but if needs must… [sigh]

What’s more important is to lay in not a boatload, but a Carnival Cruise liner-sized load of ammo.

Here’s why I want you to get an EBR:  the more EBRs that are out there in citizens’ hands, the more difficult it would be to pass legislation against them, and even greater the difficulty in confiscation thereof.

If you are worried about doing this (and I can quite understand your trepidation, btw), then you must  get a semi-auto 12- or 20-gauge shotgun, which are pretty much un-bannable because of their ubiquity.  I’ll leave the brand choice up to you, but if there’s a money constraint, Mossberg makes an excellent line of budget guns, such as the 930 or SA-20, for around $500.  (Get the wooden-stocked “sporting” model so it looks less scawwwy to the gun-grabbing assholes.)

Now all that said, I think the Bastard Gun Controllers [some redundancy]  may find it a little more difficult to start their little confiscation reindeer games, if people like this are to be believed (emphasis added):

If the Virginia legislators want to push this issue, it could get ugly. And oh, by the way, plan on seeing the vast majority of the Virginia National Guard become Conscientious Objectors. It will be really hard for them to arrest cops and confiscate guns when none of them will carry the necessary arms to enforce said arrests and confiscations.
How do I know this? I am one of them and will be one of the first to lay down my gun and walk away. I will not be a pawn in a tyrannical game of human chess. Neither will most of the men and women I serve with.

Bravo, my son.  Let’s hope it never gets this far.

And for the rest of us, who live in the United States and not Virginia, California, New York or Illinois, etc., we need to be on our guard, constantly, lest our own states start moving in this direction.  With the constant invasion of fucking socialists from so-called “liberal” states, what’s happened in Virginia could happen to any of us.

Let’s start talking to our local pols, and remind all of them exactly what they’re up against if they even begin  to think of cute little stunts like Virginia’s pols are planning to enact.  Start with the city and town politicians, move out to the county government, and make sure they and the state legislators know exactly where they stand.  Let’s get into their  faces first.

And FFS, join your local 2A organization like the TSRA and such, no matter how ineffectual you think they are, because if their numbers are suddenly swelled by a hundred thousand new (and more fervent) 2A supporters, they will have to change too.  Never mind the NRA for the moment — because this battleground is going to be in your area and in your face, not at the national level;  and to be honest, the NRA is often worse than useless in any kind of local activism.

Good Shooting

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

Some guy has put together a video of the Best-Shooting Pistols.  Frankly, I’ll take his word for it, because I do not ever  want to get into a gunfight with him.  Watch the video to see why.

This, folks, is why one needs to practice a lot — although I will admit that having a little gun range in one’s backyard (as he does) without any discernible neighbors in the area doesn’t hurt.  If I had one of those, I’d be the world’s best .22 rifle shooter (and have the world’s largest collection of .22 rifles with burnt-out barrels).

Anyway, the pistols (from #5 to #1):

  • CZ P10-F (full-size version of the P10-C)
  • Walther PPQ Q5 Match (steel-frame)
  • Archon Type B (I’d heard of this German gun, but never actually seen one before)
  • CZ 75 Shadow 2 Black & Blue (finally, a decent and affordable DA/SA competition-ready pistol, and even the base 75B is hardly a slouch)
  • STI 2011 (beloved by competitive shooters;  also:  available in .45 ACP or 9mm — apparently, any caliber — but its 9mm mags hold 27 rounds).

Honorable mentions:  Browning P35 High Power;  S&W M&P 2.0 5″, Glock 34.

After watching the video a couple-three times, I came to realize two things:  1) I have got  to shoot more often, and 2) I need to look at the CZ Shadow 2.  (Forget about the STI;  I can’t even afford the “base” model Staccato P.)

Hell, at least I have a High Power.  Now all I have to do is ahem  practice a bit more.

Musketry

Military, The Gun Thing

I have spoken often of my old high school, St. John’s College in Johannesburg, and of its rigorous academic- and sporting regimen.

What I haven’t talked much about was one of the extra-curricular activities called “cadets”.  This was a military course:  close-order drill, full dress uniforms and discipline.  It took place once a week during school hours, and would involve getting dressed into uniform before school started, then breaking from class, going to the armory, drawing our drill rifles (decommissioned SMLEs), then running in formation down the stairs you see in the above pic, and drilling on the “A” rugby field.  (pic is not of us, but another school)

At the end of the drill period, we would run back up the stairs to the school and to our houses, where we showered, changed back into school uniform and continued with regular classes.

Of course, discipline was harsh because private school duh (to the point where most private schoolboys, once drafted, would find actual Army boot camp not too onerous).  “Defaulters” was feared — boots not shiny enough?  uniform not pressed?  not drilling properly?  late for parade?  etc. — and Defaulters involved one hour after school or on Saturday morning spent running up and down said stairs (two hundred and twenty-seven, ask me how I know this), carrying the aforesaid rifles overhead and shouting “Coll-ege!  Coll-ege!”

Secretly, I loved cadets.  I loved the polishing of my boots (to where you could tell the time in their toecaps’ reflection), I loved the precision of the drill, I liked the camaraderie of the shared misery with my buddies;  but most of all, I loved Musketry.

Once a week, instead of drawing SMLEs, one lucky platoon would draw BSA-Martini falling-block single-shot .22 rifles from the armory and head off to the 50-yard shooting range for an hour and a half of target shooting.  Here’s the rifle we used:

…the rear aperture sights requiring adjustment (“side screw one click, top screw two clicks”) as we shot.  (The range master was a U.S. Marine Corps Korean veteran from Georgia, a.k.a. the school chaplain.)  We shot from prone, unsupported (“no dead-resting!”) and the greatest disappointment of the day was the final “Cease Fire!  Cease Fire!” command, delivered in Fr. Fitzhugh’s stentorian bellow (“Sayce Fahr!” was what it actually sounded like).

With my old and decrepit eyes, I probably couldn’t shoot this vintage thing for peanuts these days, but despite that I would head off to Collectors and get this beauty in a heartbeat, if I had the spare dollars.

Nostalgia is its own reward.

Comparison

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Following my post about the Brno ZKM-611, Reader JohnF asks in an email:  “The 611 is a non-starter because it’s so expensive.  If you like CZ’s semi-auto rimfire rifles so much, why not just go for the newer 512 model?”  (I should add, for those who don’t know, that CZ eliminated the “Brno” brand, but the CZ/Brno labels are essentially the same gun, e.g. Brno 602 = CZ 550 Safari.)

Good question.  Here’s a look back at the 611, followed by the 512 (both in .22 WinMag):

 

Fact is, if I were looking to buy a semi-auto .22 WinMag rifle, I’d give the CZ 512 a long, hard look simply because it’s a CZ.  But if I wanted to add a beautiful  rifle to my meager collection, gimme the Brno any day of the week.  Is the 611 hundreds of dollars better  than its successor?  Nope, but that’s not the question.

And the 611 is a takedown rifle, whereas the 512 isn’t.  That feature also points to the ZKM-611 as the better choice.

Digression:

I should also point out that new  semi-auto .22 WinMag rifles other than the CZ 512 are like hen’s teeth, simply because Ruger stopped making their 10/22M line, the idiots.  Apparently they claimed unsolvable feeding issues for the decision, but I never had that problem, not once.  I wish I’d never sold mine.

As far as I can see, the only other manufacturer currently making a .22 WinMag semi-auto rifle is Savage, with their A22 Magnum.  Predictably, being Savage, it’s pig-ugly:

But on the other hand, the A22 features Savage’s excellent Accu-Trigger, so it should be a worthy alternative to the CZ 512.  (I’ve never fired the A22 before, so I can’t say.)  Savage also claims to have fixed the .22 WinMag’s alleged feeding problem by making it a delayed blowback action.  Typically, the A22 sells for just over $400 as I write this, compared to the CZ 512’s $500+ (although it’s discounted by $100 at Cabela’s).

And here’s a side-by-side comparison of the two.  The CZ 512 wins, hands down, in just about every department.  Clearly, the $100 premium is worth it.

Now where did I put that piggy bank?

Useful Stuff

Good Stuff, Gun/Ammo Tests

One of the things I hate about rifle practice is the inability to see clearly the bullet strikes on the target (unless using expensive Shoot-N-C targets) — and even more, scanning / photographing and recording the results for, say, posting here.  Step forward, this neat item:

Features

    • 300 yard range
    • High Definition at 960P
    • Adjustable Wi-Fi transmitter
    • Built-in, locking cantilever
    • Cantilever has 90º tilt-n-lock, and rotation for line of sight
    • Wi-Fi transmitter LED indicator for power and signal strength
    • Easy on/off switch
    • Wi-Fi independent charging system
    • 1/4″ standard camera tripod mount (tripod not included)
    • Built-in camera sun-shade
    • LED illumination for low light conditions
    • Flip up telescoping legs for angled use 15º to 25º
    • Base has serrated gripping feet for level use
    • Weather resistant construction
    • Green identifying highlights

Note
Download the free Bullseye Target Manager App to your mobile device (available on GooglePlay or Apple App Store) to seamlessly pair to the Target Camera System on-board Wi-Fi to view shot placement in real time!

I don’t have the two hundred bucks spare to buy this thing right now, but others might.  (And there are longer-range ones also available at Midway.)

Anyone know anything about this particular gizmo?

(Standard disclaimer:  I don’t get any compensation, cash or otherwise, for doing stuff like this — damn it.) 

Varmint Truck Gun

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Back in the days of yore (when I still lived in Seffrica that is), I had occasion to rent a cottage in what was then bush country, somewhere between Johannesburg and Pretoria.  While sorta-developed, the area still had dirt roads, and the property sizes were of a type called a “smallholding” — anywhere from five to twenty-five acres, as memory serves.  It looked something like this:

…and yes, people still rode horses around, either for recreation or to go shopping for groceries and such at the little general dealer on the main road.

The problem with living out there, as anyone who’s done it can attest, is that the place is alive with critters — even though you’re thirty or so miles away from Johannesburg and a little more from Pretoria, Africa can turn from city to bush very quickly in terms of its wildlife.  (I remember a leopard once being trapped in the Wanderers Cricket Ground, which would be like finding a mountain lion in the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena.)

So on the far outskirts of Kyalami (just south of the Formula 1 track, as it happens), a night-time drive along the dirt roads would often reveal anonymous glowing eyes in the darkness on either side, and only in the next day’s light could you see in the dirt the tracks of jackals, rabbits and so on, but especially the former.  Jackals (larger than foxes but smaller than coyotes) were a particular pest, and while usually solitary scavengers, sometimes also hunted in small family groups.

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And while skittish about humans, that didn’t stop them from preying on other small animals like, say, household pets, which they regarded pretty much as candy, and they would wreak havoc in the chicken coops, of which there were many in the area.  Only large farm dogs like ridgebacks or boerboels were more or less safe…

…unless, of course, the jackal had rabies (very common) in which case nothing  was safe.  Shooting them, in other words, was very much a public service at that time and in that area.

So of an evening I would sometimes sit on the little front porch of my cottage armed with a six-pack of Castle Lager, a lantern and my faithful old .22 Winchester Model 63, and shoot at them as they scampered through the fence and onto the property.  (I should add that the ground sloped down towards a stream called the Jukskei River, the trees and dense bushes forming an impenetrable backstop at the property line.)

The only problem with hunting in Africa is that the animals are tough as nails, and no matter what caliber you’re using, it never seems to be quite enough.  And this was the case with jackals and the .22 LR.  Unless you got a heart shot (and a jackal’s heart is not large), all you’d end up with was a yelp and a puff of dust.  Shit.  Now to track a wounded animal through tall veld grass, in the dark, across a stream and over property fences into the neighbors’ plots of land, which were guarded by the aforementioned ridgebacks and boerboels.

Not an optimal situation, I think we can all agree.

Then on a business trip to Bloemfontein down in the Orange Free State, I was sitting having a sundowner with a client in his office one evening.  He was an older man, an Afrikaner who’d grown up on a farm;  and when the subject turned to shooting, as it often did with him, he just shook his head when I told him about shooting jackals with a .22 LR.

“Use a .22 Magnum,” was his advice.

So the next day I stopped in at a gun store in downtown Bloemfontein on my way to the airport and looked for something in .22 WinMag.  And there it was, on pegs just behind the counter, an exact replica of this Brno 611 semi-auto.

And it had been sold only a half-hour before I walked into the store.  (Back then in Seffrica, there was a waiting period while your license application was being processed by the police, so you had to leave the gun behind in the store.)

Shit shit shit.

I’ve had occasion to shoot the Brno 611 several times since then, and to this day I’ve always wanted one.  Only the nosebleed prices thereof have stopped me — and the magazines are almost as costly as the damn guns themselves, because CZ stopped making them many years ago.  The one in the pic is at Collectors, and runs for just over a grand.  If you have a spare G lying around, treat yourself to this beauty for Christmas.  And by the way, it’s a takedown:

…so you can carry it in your truck as an almost-ready-to-go varmint killer.

And should you have buyer’s remorse — you shouldn’t, but hey — console yourself that you still have the perfect rifle for hunting the South African black-backed jackal.

Postscript:  the area I described in the above tale is now a bunch of housing developments, office buildings and a fucking golf course.

Pppbbbbbt.