Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Taken To Task

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

You know, when I talk about a gun that has taken my fancy (e.g. the gorgeous S&W Model 25 of last Friday), that doesn’t mean I think it’s the only good gun, nor even the best gun;  it just caught my eye and I felt like talking about it.

So when I drooled over the Model 25 (and 625), that didn’t mean I was ignoring others of the ilk, nor even saying ugly things about them.

Such is not the case among my Readers, yea even unto the Comments.  Saith Reader MPW250:

“Sorry, but being raised by one of the few (at the time) Colt New Service collectors, I have to disagree and go with a New Service in plain or Flat Top Target configuration.”

I know all about the New Service line — hell, back in the old Racist Republic, I used to carry a modified 1917 (shortened barrel, adapted to use moonclipped .45 ACP):

…because .45 Colt ammo was nowhere to be found in South Africa at the time, but .45 ACP was plentiful.

So don’t think I’m being dismissive of the Colt DA revolvers just because I was talking about Smiths.

And then there are the legions of Ruger devotees, such as Reader MikeL, who sent this to my email addy:

I have to disagree slightly on your choice of 45 revolver.
The model 25 is nice. Don’t get me wrong. However in addition to me being a much bigger fan of Ruger over Smith & Wesson – there is another factor.
The Ruger Redhawk 45. With the Redhawk you can not only chamber 45 ACP (using moon clips of course) but also 45 Long Colt.
This gives you a versatile tool.
Also with Ruger, according to Buffalo Bore Ammo, Ruger RedHawks can handle stout ammo. The Plus P 45 long colt approaches entry level 44 Mag level power.
And for those days when softer recoil is needed – 45 ACP or regular 45 Long Colt ammo types will do just fine.

Again:  I have nothing repeat nothing bad to say about the Redhawk — as with the 1917 above, I’ve actually owned one (albeit in the .45 LC-only version):

…and I loved the thing.

But (and I cannot stress this too strongly) on the day during which my gaze fell upon the S&W Mod 25 at Collectors, I didn’t see whether there were any Colt New Service revolvers, nor Ruger Redhawks either:  because I wasn’t looking for them.

So please:  when I drool over a gun, don’t think I’m making a comparison — unless I actually make a comparison (as I did between the two rifles chambered in 7.62x39mm last Saturday).  I know there are always different options, but let me rave on in peace.

Bolt-Action Choices: 7.62x39mm Rifles

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

As part of my desire to pull back from longer-distance shooting — perhaps “desire” is the wrong word;  “forced by crap eyesight” is longer, but more accurate — comes the need to look at a rifle which would suit my purpose better than those I already have.  Here’s one such example of a gun currently sitting in Ye Olde Gunne Sayfe, a CZ 550 (6.5x55mm Swede), topped with a Meopta 6-24x56mm scope:

As any fule Longtime Reader kno, I love me my 6.5×55 Swede cartridge, and I love equally the gorgeous CZ 550 Mauser rifle with its sweeeeet single set trigger.   To replace this beauty would require ripping out a piece of my heart;  but, at the same time, it has become too much rifle and honestly, would better suit someone who could actually use it to its full potential.  I’m not that person, anymore.

But if I were going to replace this paragon of excellence, the new bolt-action rifle would need to fill several criteria:  reliable, accurate, and chambered for a cartridge which would not require me to spend almost as much on new ammo as on the rifle and scope.  Something like the 7.62x39mm Russian (of which I have a ummm  modest supply already in Ye Olde Ammoe Locquer).

There aren’t too many of these extant, but here are a couple, with their comparative features side by side:

Given my long and affectionate relationship with CZ rifles, one would think that the 527 would have the inside track;  but I have to tell you, that stubby little bull barrel of the Ruger looks very tempting. I’m not too concerned about the difference in barrel length, because as it is, the 7.62x39mm works just fine in an AK’s 16.5″ barrel, and the shorter barrel would make the Ruger less unwieldy.

And I know that the Ruger’s standard trigger isn’t as good as the 527’s set trigger, but given the price disparity between them, a drop-in Timney (about $150) would still bring the Ranch Rifle’s price in below that of the CZ 527, and if I set it to a sensible 2.5lb pull, that would be more than adequate.

I hate the Ruger’s plastic stock material — or is it a painted laminate? either way, it’s awful — and of course the CZ’s walnut is exquisite by comparison, albeit somewhat heavier.

As for glass:  the 24x Meopta is much more than I need when my likely (and preferred) shooting distance would be somewhat around (and probably less than) 200 yards.  Something smaller (and lighter, as a bonus) would work just as well on either rifle, and I’d be looking at something like a Leupold 3-9x40mm 3HD, a Leupold 2-10x42mm VX-5HD, or else the Minox 2-10×50 ZX5i (all with illuminated reticles, to help my pathetic eyesight):



I have a long and satisfying association with both Leupold and Minox scopes too, so this would not be short-changing myself at all.

One more thing:  I’m not a huge fan of rail scope mounts such as on the Ruger, because they do raise the scope high off the action.  Low scope bases (lower even than on the CZ 500 pictured) would definitely work better for me.

As I said earlier, all the above is certainly food for thought, and I will be considering the whole thing carefully for a while before I drop the hammer, so to speak.  I hate selling guns, but if I’m replacing one that I can’t shoot properly for one that I can, it does make the process easier.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: S&W Mod 25-2 (.45 ACP)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

As I was meandering through the Gun Dork Forest (as I do occasionally), my eye was caught by a couple of rather fine-looking older guns from Messrs. Smith & Wesson.  Here’s the first, the lovely Model 25-2:

Now for those who are unfamiliar with this creature, or those who are perhaps new to this corner of The Gun Thing, you might ask:

“But Kim:  how can you chamber a rimless cartridge into a revolver cylinder?  Don’t the boolets just fall through and out onto the floor?”

Indeed you might think so, Grasshopper, but there are these things called “half-moon” or “full-moon” clips:

I’m not quite sure what brand those cartridges are, but let’s go with “G.I.” (Gay Issue).  (I know I know, it’s really inert ammo shuddup.)

Back in the day when I owned one of these wondrous guns, I always preferred the full-moon clips because I found them easier to load, less likely to bend than the half-moons, and of course it’s a one-step reload.  (Another benefit:  when you slam the ejector rod on a full-moon clip, you don’t have to spend the next five minutes scrabbling around on the floor picking up expended cartridge cases.)

My particular model wasn’t the Mod 25, but the stainless 625 Version:

And if that doesn’t make your trigger-finger itch, I don’t want to talk to you anymore.

Anyway, there are several good reasons to own a Mod 25/625 in .45 ACP, chief among them being that if you already own a 1911 pistol thus chambered (and you should), it means that you won’t suffer from Caliber Proliferation Syndrome in your ammo locker by having to buy .38 Special and / or .357 Magnum ammo.

Finally, of course, there’s nothing wrong with using .45 ACP in your revolver (especially if it has a 5″ barrel), because duh it’s John Moses Browning’s .45 ACP.

Gotta say, though, that blued Mod 25 above sure is pretty, because this is Kim speaking — and blued steel over wooden grips always looks better than bling steel over rubber.

It’s at Collectors, of course.

Next week, I’ll be talking about the other lovely guns I saw there.

No Fun Anymore

Health, The Gun Thing

I used to play golf, a long time ago, and I quite enjoyed it because while I wasn’t that good, at least I was good enough not to make a fool of myself at company golf days, or playing with clients — a competent social golfer, in other words, with some really good shots and not too many abysmal failures.

The problem was that I had to play a lot of golf (at least three rounds a week) to keep that standard up.  And as time went on and I moved into upper management, there was less and less time to play.  Three times a week turned into every other week, then once a month… and my game went to shit.  So eventually I stopped playing, because the most frustrating thing is to know what shot to play, but no longer being able to play it;  and I was just making a damn fool of myself by even trying.

I’ve reached that point with shooting.

People sometimes say that a bad day at the range is still better than a good day at the office, which is total bullshit, of course:  I’ve had days at the range where equipment broke, where I’ve arrived at the range but forgotten my ammo at home — you all know what I’m talking about here.  And I’ve had some days at the office which were pretty spectacular, both from a career perspective and just feeling the satisfaction of having done a really good job that day.

But in my whole life, I’ve only done things until they stopped being fun anymore;  and I’ve reached that point with shooting.  I’ve always been a competent handgun shooter, and a little better than average with a rifle, but I’m no longer either.  My eyes are absolute shit — despite several surgeries, I have advancing glaucoma (which is incurable, and can only be arrested with prescription eyedrops) and even worse, my always-severe astigmatism  seems to be getting worse with advancing age.  Crosshairs in a scope now appear to be two overlapping sets of crosshairs:

 

and a red-dot sight looks like a Mastercard symbol:

 

When trying to place a shot into a 1″ target at 100 yards, it’s almost impossible to shoot consistently because sometimes the left-hand image is in focus, and other times the right-hand one seems to be the one to use.

Frankly, after squinting and refocusing for what seems like minutes, I sometimes just pull the trigger to get it over with.  With predictable — i.e. shit — results.

It’s no good using the best equipment either, because no matter how good, the results are going to be terrible because I just can’t shoot for shit anymore.  And I get no joy out of shooting the good stuff anymore either.

I’m not looking forward to this year’s Boomershoot, where the ranges start at 400 yards, and go out to 900.  If I hit one Boomer over two days, it’ll be a miracle.  And that’s no fun at all, especially when I’m not some newbie shooter — not after sixty-odd years of shooting — even though my targets look like one.

And I’ll be trying like hell not to have to drive at night to get up to Idaho, because:

Last Thursday I was at the range, doing some final adjustments to both Boomershoot rifles — the .308 Win CZ 557 Varmint (this year’s ULD raffle prize) and my 6.5×55 Swede 550.  When I finally gave up, checked out and the counter guy asked me if I’d enjoyed the session, I replied, “No.”  Then I added, “I think my shooting from now on is going to be Coke cans at 25 yards.”  And as I said that, I realized that this really is going to be the case.

I’m done with the Gun Thing.  This will be my last Boomershoot, I won’t be hunting deer in Scotland or birds in Devon with Mr. Free Market, and most probably not even sporting clays.  My only shooting will be to keep in training with my self-defense guns, and a little plinking with .22 rifles at large targets (cans, oranges, that kind of thing) at close range.

I will probably be selling most of my guns — details to be announced later — keeping only a very few that I’m comfortable shooting.

It’s just not fun anymore, so shooting is going to go the way of golf.

Membership

Funny Stuff, The Gun Thing

I’m all in favor of gun rights groups — the more, the merrier, because it stops the existing ones from getting too comfortable and cosy with the politicians, by giving us gunnies more options.  And new ones have been starting up all over the place in recent years.

So, Gentle Readers:  should I join this group?  I certainly qualify.

To mark the occasion, I’d probably get one of these:

(link embedded in the pic)

Alternative History

History

About once a month, the Fiend Mr. Free Market sends me listings of guns which he (rightly) thinks will make me drool.  Here’s one, from Holt’s Auctions, an exquisite double rifle in .303:

However, what grabbed me was not the gun, but an anecdote and observation (bold) from its onetime owner the Duke of Portland:

The Portlands received Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Welbeck Abbey for a week in 1913 when the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne visited England. During the stay he took the Archduke shooting on the estate when, according to Portland’s memoirs, Men, Women and Things:

“One of the loaders fell down. This caused both barrels of the gun he was carrying to be discharged, the shot passing within a few feet of the Archduke and myself.  I have often wondered whether the Great War might not have been averted, or at least postponed, had the Archduke met his death there and not at Sarajevo the following year.“

Fascinating thought.