Tag: Guns and such

My favorite toy

Self-Indulgence

Gratuitous Gun Pics, The Gun Thing

Does anyone else have a gun or two that you could just call “pure self-indulgence”?  My definition thereof is a gun that doesn’t necessarily serve a purpose — self-defense, hunting, etc. — but that is just plain fun to have and to shoot, when you’re sick and tired of doing your drills and you just want to bang away for the fun of it.  (And I’m specifically excluding .22 guns because plinking is just plinking.)

The other day I was rooting around in Ye Olde Gunne Clossette when I came across an aluminum handgun case, and for the life of me I couldn’t remember what I’d put in it.  So here it is:

Okay, that’s a little cluttered with the ammo.  Here it is sans the clutter:

The top gun is my much-loved Ruger Super Blackhawk 7″ barrel, in .30 Carbine, and the lower is the late Layabout Sailor’s S&W Model 15 6″ barrel in .38 Special.

I don’t know why I’ve held onto the Blackhawk for as long as I have.  It’s single action, chambered for an expensive and occasionally hard-to-find cartridge, and that lo-o-o-ong barrel makes it unwieldy.  But:  OMG when you touch off that trigger and are rewarded with a massive thunderclap and a 16″ jet of flame out the muzzle… like I said, there’s no reason to keep it, it’s pure self-indulgence.

And apart from sentimental reasons, there’s no reason to keep that battered old S&W revolver either.  It’s .38 Spec-only, I have gawd knows how many .357/.38 revolvers already, and I surely don’t need another one that’s just taking up space in the locker.  But:  the trigger is silky-smooth, made such by an uncountable number of rounds fired through it;  the gun is, to say the least, about 5x more accurate than I can ever shoot it;  and loaded with those 158gr. wadcutters as pictured, I can just shoot that thing all day — and I have, both with its previous owner (who was so generous in sharing), and by myself, when I just want to shoot something good and hard and for a long time.  In fact, it’s my “I don’t feel like plinking away with a .22, I want to shoot something bigger”  gun.  I think that every range session I’ve had with this gun has involved at least fifty rounds, and a few others a lot more.

So the two quite different guns each fill a very specific need, but both are undoubtedly an indulgence on my part.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I am so going off to the range.  Just talking about them has got me more excited than Christmas.

Shooting Bags & Contents

Shooting Sports, The Gun Thing

Via Insty, I saw this article (What to Bring to the Gun Range) and was immediately drawn to read it because guns.

Sheesh.  What a disappointment.  Hearing protection, eye protection and a couple other okay but sometimes silly suggestions.  In other words, duh.

So as it was time to tidy out my own range bag, I thought I’d share what it carries, more or less permanently (with some other stuff that I’ll get into in a moment).

Here’s the bag:

Alert Readers will spot that it’s not yer typical 5.11 tacticool range bag, but a humble tool bag available from any hardware store.  Reasons:  I want tough, and tool bags are tougher than they need to be;  and cheap:  this one cost about $15, compared to the typical range bag’s $50 (or more).  You can use a cheaper tote bag (I have), but they wear out pretty quickly.  Also, the Husky bags come in all sizes.  This one is a medium — I could have gone smaller, but I’ll give the reasons for that decision anon.  Also, note that little outside pocket, because its contents come next.

Now for the permanent contents.  In that outside pocket:

1 – Band-Aids, 2 – blood coagulant, 3 – eye drops, 4 – lens wipes, 5 – spare batteries for scopes, 6 – pen and marker, 7 – ear plugs, 8 – aspirin (for minor pains or those sudden heart issues), and 9 – Swiss Army Champ.

It’s by no means a comprehensive collection, but anything requiring more than that means a different set of circumstances.  (The coagulant, by the way, is for minor scrapes and scratches, because nothing screws up good bluing like blood.  Ask me how I know this.)

Now for the main body of the bag — and let me remind you that these are just the permanent contents:

1 – tape (for targets); 2 – Wheeler gunsmith’s screwdrivers, 3 – ratcheting screwdriver set, 4 – borelight tube, 5 – Loc-Tite, 6 – adhesive targets (familiar to those who’ve seen my ammo/accuracy tests), 7 – spare .45 ACP ammo, 8 – eye pro which fits over my glasses, 9 – hearing pro with volume control, 10 – cleaning rags, 11 – shooting gloves.

Okay, a few explanations:  the .45 ammo is in case the other guns I’m taking that day have a problem, in which case I can always just pull out the 1911 (which as you all know never leaves my side).  I generally don’t use the shooting gloves unless I’m doing shotguns and need a little heat insulation.  Finally, I don’t take any cleaning gear to the range because I do my cleaning at home.

All that, however, could fit into a smaller range bag.  Now here’s the reason why I got the bigger one:  regardless of what guns I’ll be shooting that day, I like to take a .22 (pistol or revolver) plus a bag of ammo with me every time I go, so I’ll just drop those in the bag.  That’s just in case I have something go badly wrong with the other guns, I’ll always have something else to shoot.  Obviously, those other guns will have their own case, and if for example I’m playing with the Frankenpoodleshooter, I’ll drop the spare mags into the Husky.  Also, I always add a can of Ballistol to the bag (it wasn’t pictured because I’d just finished cleaning my guns when I wrote this).

By the time I get to the range, that Husky is plenty full, as you can imagine.

Anyway, that’s my range bag.  Feel free to comment and add criticism or suggestions, as always.

Gratuitous Gun Pic: Walther-Hammerli 1911 (.22 LR)

Gratuitous Gun Pics

Okay, so you’d like to shoot your 1911 Government, but the cost of the manly .45 ACP ammo is eating into your Booze Fund.  What to do, what to do…

Well, in the past you could always just buy one of those ACE conversion kits, but they were spendy and anyway, you were too lazy to do all the mechanical work involved in stripping and reassembling.  So you just never bothered.  Far easier, therefore, just to buy a .22 pistol like a Ruger or Browning. (This paragraph, by the way, describes me perfectly.)

But in fact there are now a couple of alternatives that enable you to shoot cheaply and keep your eye in with your Colt 1911.  Here’s one:  the Walther-Hammerli 1911:

…or, if you want to take away that long 5″ barrel for a lighter gun, you could go for the Combat Commander-style shortie:

Finally, of course, if that modern “cheese grater” look grates on you [sic], you could always just go for the Walther-Hammerli “Made under Colt license” 1911 model:

And the best part?  The above two retail (ATOW) for about $350, and the licensed model costs only forty-odd bucks more.

No need to wait for those winning lottery tickets, in other words.

That matchless Colt 1911 trigger in an affordable .22 LR package:  irresistible.

Note:  just as a point of interest, Hammerli’s own .22 pistol (called by the romantic name of “X-Esse”) costs well over a grand.  Yes, it has a 6″ barrel:

But in the dictionary under “Tack Driver” you’ll find this pic.

Here it is, in its competitive “Sport” iteration:

Tempting Offer

Shooting Sports, The Gun Thing

Ooooh, something from my local range, Texas Legends of Allen:

If anyone’s interested in joining me, send an email with your preferred date(s).  It’s been a long time since I did anything like this, and it’s about time I did.   Now, if I can just drag the Son&Heir away from his treadmill at GlobalMegaBank Inc…

Different Take

The Gun Thing, Traditions

Well, here we go again:

Rhode Island Democrat House members are pushing legislation to require Rhode Islanders to obtain a “Firearm Safety Training Certificate” prior to purchasing a gun.

The text of H 7755 requires the would-be buyer of a handgun to “Present to the person selling the firearm a valid firearm safety training certificate issued by the office of the attorney general.”

The text further states: “The firearm safety training certificate shall certify that the purchaser has completed and passed an approved basic firearm safety training course within the previous five (5) years.”

Of course, your initial reaction to this is going to be a snort of fury and the ensuing Red Curtain Of Blood coming impeding your vision — as was my initial reaction.

But then I started thinking.

Somebody remind me:  what does that Constitution thing say about guns?  Oh yeah (sing along with me):

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

…and a damn fine piece of writing it is, too.

Now, for the benefit of the hoplophobes, let’s just get a few definitions out of the way.

“Regulated”, when it was written, did not mean “subject to laws and regulations” (as it might mean today).  Back then, “regulated” meant “trained”, as exemplified  by how several states used to mandate some kind of monthly military training (marching in step, learning to obey military commands, and so on).  That regulation also required learning proficiency in the use of firearms (and other military equipment, such as cannon).  We’ll get back to this in a moment.

“Militia”, also when it was written, did not mean the National Guard or anything like that, simply because the Guard hadn’t been invented yet.  A militia meant armed citizenry — and the United States Code goes on to define who constituted the armed citizenry as “every able-bodied man of at least 17 and under 45 years of age” (Teh Wimmens were added later, by the way).  And just so we’re all clear on the concept:  membership of the militia was compulsory.

So let’s take this proposal of the legislators of Rhode Island (lest we forget, one of the first states in the union) and make it comply with the spirit of the Constitution (because otherwise? it’s un-Constitutional).

  • Install mandatory firearms training in the operation, safety and handling for all high school seniors. The only exclusions are students who have a conviction for a violent crime resulting in a juvenile criminal record.
  • Certification must come from designated, qualified volunteer instructors (probably the sole reason for the NRA’s continued existence) who perform the function as a civic (i.e. unpaid) duty.
  • A passing grade — 90% or better, because this is serious business (as opposed to English Lit., which isn’t) — will entitle the student to a state-certified proficiency license which will guarantee the holder the right to purchase any firearm, most definitely including “military” ones, after their eighteenth birthday.
  • Re-certification must take place every five years until age 30 — once again, said service to be provided by volunteer agency and not the state — and after then at age 45 (kinda like how driver’s licenses require re-testing), whereupon the re-certification requirement ends.
  • The proficiency certificate can be withdrawn only in the event the holder is convicted of a violent crime (any, not just firearms-related).

So, Rhode Island legislators (and others of the same ilk):  how about it?

And by the way:  this is an either/or choice:  either institute mandatory firearms training in high schools, or drop your current idea in the trash because it’s un-Constitutional.

Oh, and fuck you, all of you.