GUN LOOKING

El Fisho Jr. and Billy Ray and I went out gun looking today. We got El Fisho Jr. some basketball shoes for the big game coming up and then grabbed an excellent seafood lunch and then it was off to one of my favorite "not big time" gun stores.

I'll keep the name a secret for now, but guys like Big Ed can email and I'll trust them with my secret store. It's sort of a throwback store. They have some new guns and lots of used guns. Lots of used guns. Some of the new guns are big names, like Ruger and Smith and Wesson, and they also carry some of the more reasonably priced guns, like the Chiappa .22 LR version of the 1911, Taurus and Rossi. They also sell some of the "novelty" guns you're not likely to see at the higher end gun stores or gun ranges, like the Dragonov AK pistol (very nice and very cool) or the CZ Skorpion .32 (also very cool).

They sell a variety of five or six different types of AK's, both surplus and new, and all of those seemed to be overpriced to me. They had four new Ruger Blackhawks in several calibers and barrel lengths, all of which were very nice. They had some black rifles of some sort and a variety of scoped bolt action rifles in various calibers. A few shotguns as well.

Which I like to look at, I mean the more reasonably priced guns as well as the high end guns down the street at the big time expensive store that has all kinds of high end guns with high prices to match.

At this store, prices are more reasonable. They have a huge selection of magazines and ammo and a fair selection of holsters, gun cases and reloading gear. They have a big selection of used guns, being in a neighborhood that is probably 40-50 years old, a blue collar working class neighborhood.

Their treasure trove lay in the used guns they have. The owners have told me a lot of their used guns, particularly some very nice hunting rifles, come from kids selling off their father's guns after their death. Likewise, there is always a wide variety of used handguns, and particularly revolvers to look at.

Today, they had a nice Colt Anaconda and a very nice old school Beretta .32 that caught my eye. Yes, the Beretta was the size of a Walther and far heavier than the Kel-Tec .32 that lay next to it in the counter, but I knew which one I'd want to take into a gunfight between the two of them, sight unseen.

There was an abundance of new and used .22 revolvers, mostly with 4" barrels but a few were snubnoses. None were "big" brands like Ruger or Colt or Smith, but instead were Rossi and Taurus and a High Standard that was unfortunately beat to hell. But you never know what they'll have, used revolver wise, and often their pricing on used revolvers seems to be pretty fair. I've looked at a bunch of used revolvers there, and they've all been tight and well functioning.

I wanted to walk away with the Colt Anaconda today, just because it was in great shape. I have absolutely no use for a .44 Magnum, much less than with a 4" barrel. If it had of been a 6" barrel, I could have tenuously justified it to the powers that be (the bride) by claiming it to be a "hog hunting" gun, or perhaps for deer. Though it's been a long time since I hunted deer. But just in case I get the feeling one year to go hunt deer, it'd be nice to have the pistol already purchased and scoped up and such and ready to go.

In case I ever decide to take up deer hunting again, er em.

So I resisted all temptation and walked out with no guns. The Dragonov AK pistol was tempting as well. With a laser/flashlight combo mounted to the gas tube with a rail adapter, it would be a very serious and effective home defense weapon. It felt good, not too heavy and I think it comes in at about 4 lbs unloaded.

There were two very cool rifles there. One was a Marlin lever action guide gun in .45-70 with an extended magazine and large loop. It was quite a bit lighter than I expected it to be, and felt great in my hands and fit my shoulder well. Again, as with the aforementioned Anaconda, I have no real need for a .45-70 (we have no bears where I fish in Texas) guide rifle but it really was a good feeling rifle in my hands and it pointed very well.

The other was some kind of very "old timey" Remington or Winchester bolt action with a fixed magazine that was in good shape. Unfortunately, it was in some wildcat caliber but had it been in .30-06, I would have been interested in it.

So what will be the next used gun bargain that I find? I'd like to find a .12 gauge Remington parkerized police 870 with 18" barrel and extended magazine AND wood stock. I'd like to find a bargain on a used auto .20 gauge with a 28" barrel and a Remington 1100 would be just great.

A Ruger SP101 in .357 is a great gun, but I wish Ruger would market it with a spare s9mm cylinder. Alternatively, I wouldn't mind having a 9mm version of this pistol that Ruger used to make, since 9mm is so cheap to shoot.

A Ruger Blackhawk with a 5 1/2 barrel in .357/9mm convertible would be another great dual caliber handgun to have. And after seeing all of these "kit gun" sized 9 shot .22 revolvers today by Rossi and Taurus, it kinda made me want to shot one of those as well.