No summary here; you have to read the whole article.
Suffice it to say that the stupid ran deep with this asshole.
Tag: Guns and such
My favorite toy
“So There I Was…”
…up in El Dorado, Kansas — just me, Reader JimW and a whole bunch of other Old Pharttes who love old rifles and such:
…plus boatloads of ammo for said old beauties, so that new shooters and old ones alike could shoot away to their hearts’ (and pockets’) content.
Which I did.
The event is actually a fundraiser for the local WWII museum (which, sadly, I didn’t get a chance to go to, but will visit next year). The fundraising works as follows: you pay $2 per round, all proceeds of which go to the museum. I should point out that all the ammo provided comes from Reader Jim’s personal ammo locker, and the guns from his gun safe, so I hereby anoint this man a National Treasure.
Next year, I will be repeating the trip, and will bring along the Son&Heir. Let’s make it a Nation of Riflemen event, shall we? I urge everyone who can possibly make it to mark it in your calendar for around this time next year (Jim will supply the date when it’s finalized).
I need to meet more of you guys in the flesh — let’s face it, we’re all getting older and time is passing by — and this seems to be as good a reason as any, and better than most.
Having done the drive up from Plano (6 hours), I can attest that it’s not too bad from Texas provided that you do as I did on the way back, and avoid I-35 like the plague. (U.S. Routes 377, 177 and 77 take you almost to the front gate of the range.) I drove because I took a couple-three of my old ladies (K98k, SMLE and M1 Carbine) in case there weren’t enough guns, but as it turns out, they weren’t needed.
My advice, therefore, if your drive is too long or you’d rather fly, is to fly in to Wichita (ICT) on the Friday, rent a car and drive the half-hour to El Dorado. There are plenty of hotels available, so accommodation shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t need to bring any guns (unless you want to), so the flying thing should be limited to the usual PITA nonsense from the TSA goons at the airport.
And let’s have some kind of NoR dinner at one of the local BBQ places in El Dorado after the event — I tried two whilst up there, and both were good.
Watch this space…
Oh, I Almost Forgot
I’ve always had a yen for the WWI/WWII Italian Carcano M38 (6.5x52mm, a.k.a. 6.52 Carc), because as I’ve wandered through this life, trying all sorts of different guns, the Carcano somehow eluded me. Specifically, I was interested in the later model with the folding pig-sticker, i.e. the Carcano Moschetto Modello 91/38 Cavalleria (Cavalry Carbine*):
(*The Italians didn’t have any cavalry; what they did have were ceremonial mounted troops, but they were issued the earlier short M38 with the folding blade bayonet. Got all that? It’s more confusing than Ferrari nomenclature.)
Anyway, National Treasure (and Fiend) JimW persuaded me to pop off a few rounds through one of his Carcanos, and after the first shot my eyebrows disappeared unto my hairline, my mouth dropped open and well, I haven’t experienced such gun lust in the last twenty years of shooting. Of course, the owner had no intention of parting with this wonderful little rifle, but I put my considerable negotiating skills to work, adding pleas, blandishments and in the end, a fat bribe and a swap of one of my own rifles (no details necessary). And I bought a couple boxes of ammo from him too.
Say hello to Miss Sophia, y’all.
The bayonet isn’t bent out of true, by the way; that’s how they were issued. The design probably comes from Alfa Romeo or Maserati.
So, to business. The Carcano uses an en bloc six-round stripper clip like the Garand, except that when the last round is chambered, the empty clip falls down through the hole in the mag well. Sounds strange, and it is, but it works. Many criticisms of the Carcano’s bolt action have been leveled: gritty, hard, etc. but I have to say that while it’s no Lee-Enfield nor even a Mauser 98, it’s no Mosin-Nagant either; and coupled with the mild recoil of the little 6.5mm boolet and a smooth two-stage 4lb trigger, it’s an absolute pleasure to shoot.
And on the latter topic, let us all sing hymns of praise to Prvi Partizan who, for a bunch of ex-Commies, have their shit together and make all sorts of cool calibers for gun geeks such as myself — including the 6.5mm Carcano:
And there’s quite a bit available online, so as soon as I’ve ordered a half-dozen clips, the ammo will be next in line.
Ooooh I love shooting a new gun — not so much an out-of-the box gun, but one I haven’t shot much before.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range. Oh, and I have new glasses, so my sight picture has improved quite drastically.
My Choice
After Sunday’s post about sub-machine guns, I guess I’d better reveal my choice:
I’ve fired most of the others (especially the Uzi while in the army, and the MP40 — actually, an MP-38, but whatever) but never got a chance with the MAT-49.
However, after watching this range report, I picked it over the others.
- slow-ish rate of fire (~600 rpm), so it’s easier to squeeze off singles or double-taps
- solidly made and reliable
- easily stowed without having to take the mag out
- and it looks the bee’s knees when the mag is swung into battery:
WANT
In the hands of an untrained shooter, a slow rate of fire is preferable to that of, say, the Suomi, S&W 76 or MP-40 because it’s more easily controlled. That’s why the French never bothered with a selector switch. (Anyone who’s ever fired an M3 Grease Gun, which has a similarly-low rpm and no selector switch, will know what I’m talking about.) I also like the front grip, because as any fule kno, one way to make a magazine malfunction is to hold it while shooting.
The reason I picked the 9mm cartridge over the .45 ACP et al. was that the Europellet is the most common caliber among subbies, thus yielding a wider choice.
And yes, I’d happily go to war with any of the choices I listed — so there are no wrong answers, in my book.
Seems like this was a popular “conundrum”-type post, so expect more as time goes by.
We Scared
So SIG Sauer aren’t going to be at Shot Show 2022, are they?
Good. I think we’ve seen enough of their guns in those SIG-only cases in what seems to be every new gun store in the country, and they’ve stretched the concept of “line extension” so far that even the gun pimps writers are running out of superlatives to describe the new 365 TTXLS which is such an improvement on the old (released in May 2021) 365 TTXL, honest to God.
And then there’s this:
“For over 30 years SIG Sauer has attended SHOT Show, and we did not come to this decision without much thoughtful deliberation,” the company explained in its announcement. “Our number one priority throughout the pandemic has been, and will remain, our employees. SIG Sauer has an extremely large presence at SHOT Show sending over 140 employees to the show and our pre-show Range Day event. Maintaining this presence, or even a scaled back minimum presence for 2022, represents a significant health risk to all 2,600 of our employees across our 13 U.S. locations, as individuals attending the show return to our facilities and risk continued exposure to our entire employee base.”
Bunch of fucking pussies.
Consider Your Verdict
As mayor of your small town, you are faced with a huge problem. All civic order has broken down, your town is under attack by [insert villains of choice here, e.g. ANTIFA, Afghan “refugees”, whatever] and your local police force is woefully undermanned. The state cops are off fighting federal agents — who are trying to enforce White House mandates on compulsory vaccinations, arresting parents for daring to oppose school boards all over the state, and [insert further examples of gross government action here].
Fortunately, fifty of your townspeople are willing to be deputized for things like guard duty at supermarkets, drug stores, churches etc. For the sake of argument, however, it turns out that all the volunteers own personal weapons in different calibers, and to make resupply simpler, you need to issue them with common weaponry in a single caliber.
To the rescue comes a crusty, bad-tempered old fart (let’s just call him Kim) who reveals that over the years he has accumulated just over four dozen full-auto sub-machine guns of a single brand, along with 10,000 rounds of 9mm Europellet ammo (200 rounds per gun, and also two spare mags per gun), all stashed away in his fortified barn. And he’s prepared to let you “borrow” said guns and ammo for the duration of the crisis, as long as you never let on to the the ATF that there are no Class III licenses to be found anywhere.
Your job, as mayor, is to pick which sub-machine gun you would like to see in ol’ Kim’s barn when he swings the door open (video links in case you’re not familiar with any particular model). Critical, of course, is that the selected gun can be operated without too much training.
Here’s the list (and absolutely no substitutions allowed):
Remember: you get to pick one, and only one — and only from this list.
I’ll be posting my choice on Monday.