Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Range Report: Walther-Hammerli B1 (.22 LR/WMR)

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

As Regular Readers know, I recently decided to do something about my .22 LR / .22 Mag situation, and sold my two Marlin rifles to a Reader so that I could free up space in both wallet and Ye Olde Gunne Sayffe for their replacement.

The old guys:

Their replacement:

…or, as kitted out by Yours Truly:

So last week I took it out to the range and got used to it, working the trigger, adjusting the red-dot scope, changing barrels and so on.

Everything about this rifle works as advertised.  The trigger is fine — a little stiff, but I’m guessing that a few bricks or so of .22 ammo should take care of that — and the straight-pull bolt is excellent, both positive and reliable.  (There was not a single issue with ejecting empties and chambering fresh ones, as expected from a rifle of this heritage.)  The B1 uses Ruger 10/22 mags, but:  please note that because the mag well is longer than a standard 10/22 rifle, you have to use a mag extender (supplied with the rifle) clipped onto the rear of the mags.  (Of course, the .22 WMR magazine doesn’t need the extender piece.)  This is a bit of a PITA only in that one needs to buy more of the extender clip thingies from Walther if there’s lots of shooting to be done without wasting time reloading mags, which is my preference.  It’s a minor hassle, but definitely not a deal-breaker if one should consider purchasing this gun.  (And one should, see below.)
I also like the ability to lengthen / shorten the stock according to preference:  one little button in the rear of the stock, and that’s all there is.

“How does the thing shoot, Kim?”

Well, I’d forgotten to bring my sandbag along, so I just shot off the bench, not expecting too much in the way of accuracy.  Ammo used was CCI Mini-Mag 40gr solid (my regular test ammo)

…and some Remington .22 WMR that was on sale at Bass Pro the other day:

Once I’d got the scope dialed in, I got the following, first at thirty feet:

…and then further out, at fifty:

I don’t actually know what happened with the .22 LR string — my eyes were getting tired, maybe, and that red-dot thingy was getting quite fuzzy.  Maybe I was getting tired of holding the rifle steady — it’s quite a hefty beast — causing the shakes?  Or maybe I just need MOAR PRACTICE.

Which leads me to my next point of consideration:

Am I going to use this lovely rifle for plinking, or just for serious target shooting?  (I know, it’s not an either/or situation, but bear with me.)

Perhaps, given that I may be shooting the Walther more seriously, as I did my two Marlin squirrel guns, perhaps a scope would be a better option?

Let’s see.  But whatever I decide about the sights, let me just say that this is a serious bit of kit, and it goes well recommended.  In my humble opinion, it would keep up with just about any rimfire rifle in a serious competition, for far less money.

Here are the specs for the gun:

Reaction

Anti-Gun Nannies, The Gun Thing

It is a well-known fact of sales and advertising is that if you want to create demand for a product, you show it, extol its features and wonders, and then say, “…but you can’t have it.”

I have a similar reaction to a product when someone might want to prevent me from owning it:  I get one.

Longtime Readers will be only too familiar with my attitude towards the AR-15 poodleshooter and its varmint ammo — the executive summary would be that I despise the frigging things.

However, the more that the anti-gun brigade wants to ban them as eeeevil assault rifles (“only the military”, “designed not to hunt but to kill humans” etc. etc. etc.), the more I think that every American citizen should own one (or more, as the urge takes).

Which is a long way of saying that I am really, really glad that I now have one:  not because of any love I may have for the thing, but because now that I own one, I’m never going to give it up to any government agency, no matter what laws or restrictions the government may pass to make them illegal.

Were the Nanny Hoplophobe Set not so keen on banning them, I wouldn’t own one in a month of Sundays, because let’s just say that I might happen to have alternatives that I would consider far more effective in the AR-15’s purpose.

But regardless, I’m glad that I have a poodleshooter… simply because some asshole doesn’t want me to own one.

And it appears that as many as 15 million Americans feel the same way that I do — and very many likely for the same reason.

So while news items like this are very welcome, we sure as hell don’t need to have some super-lawyers (e.g. the USSC) explain the Second Amendment to us.  We know what it means, regardless of what they think or how carefully they may parse penumbral meanings out of the Constitution.

As for the would-be gun-banning types:  FOAD.

Liquidation

The Gun Thing

I believe it was Reader GT3Ted who said:  “I need another .22 rifle like I need another wife,” and I can certainly see his point.

However:  I have seen a .22 rifle that I absolutely must have — I think pretty much all y’all are familiar with the feeling — BUT I cannot afford it.  And there is literally no room left in  the Ark  Ye Olde Gunne Sayffe.

So out they go.  I’m offering these two as a package deal:

Marlin 880SQ (.22 LR)

…and its companion:

Marlin 882SV (.22 Win Mag)

And together:

Scopes, bipods and sundry spare mags are included.  All will be shipped in a hard case.

Now the sales pitch, for those not familiar with their story.  As equipped and shown, these are both one-hole rifles — I’ve found that CCI Mini-Mag / Maxi-Mag 40gr solids work best — and while I’ve moaned about their triggers before, Combat Controller put it thus:  “FFS Kim, they are one-hole rifles.  How much smaller do you want to make the hole?” (or something like that).

I’d rather not split them up, because then shipping costs get ugly.

Price for the package:  $500 plus shipping.

Reply via email, please, and we can make arrangements.

And once that is taken care of, I’ll tell you about the rifle that will replace them.

Weapons-Grade Stupidity

Anti-Gun Nannies

…and no, this isn’t a dig against the .dotmil.  But you have to admit that this kind of stupidity is kinda different — an upgrade, if you will — from just the usual Congressional idiocy:

Pennsylvania state Rep. and former Democratic Party Vice-Chair Malcolm Kenyatta pushed a ban on “military-grade weapons” after the handgun/shotgun attack that occurred at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD).

Yeah, by all means let’s ban include pump-action shotguns and handguns in the category of “military-grade weapons” (whatever that means) — because after all, the military does use them, right?

Sheesh, when clowns like this can be elevated to the position of Democrat Party Vice-Chair, what does that say for the people who couldn’t make the grade?  And to use a sporting term, how deep is their bench of quality politicians?

Simple answer, of course, is that the current Democrat Party has no bench;  their talent pool, which may once have contained intelligent men like Tip O’Neill and Sam Rayburn have all been driven out of the party leadership in favor of vacuous idiots like AOC and larcenous malcontents like Ilhan Omar, all by the hard Marxists who are now the nomenklatura of the Party Of Jefferson — who by now would have used a handgun on pretty much all of them if he could see what they’ve done to it.

As for this moron Kenyatta, he’s just trying to leverage any opportunity to get guns out of the hands of citizens.  At least he’s behaving quite like his namesake, who was also an Afro-Socialist.

Go Vols!

Crime, Good News

And following on from the above, it looks like Tennessee has the right idea:

“The Senate passed SB 1847 on April 21st. The House followed with HB 1807 on April 23rd. If the governor signs it, property owners will be able to use deadly force to prevent trespass, arson, damage to property including livestock, burglary, theft, robbery, or aggravated cruelty to animals as soon as July 1, 2026.”

“If”?

Message to criminal scrotes:  FAFO.

Just a mischievous thought:  under that “aggravated cruelty to animals” part, what about those ATF and DEA agents who go after a homeowner’s dog as part of their warrant-free home attacks?