The past two months have been absolutely crazy. I've made many attempts at writing here going back to late August, and part way through writer's block or just plain dissatisfaction sets in and I save it to a draft file.
I do have a lot to say about a lot of things political, and I'm going to leave those alone right now, and maybe forever. Who knows. All politics is local, pretty much, and I've adopted a wait and see attitude on this situation I'm alluding to.
More importantly, we'll be doing some shooting in a variety of settings over the next few weeks. El Fisho Jr. and I were starved of much outdoor shooting this summer due to the stifling temperatures and string of record-breaking 100+ degree days in my part of the Heart of Texas.
We've gotten a bit of rain lately, and my very localized area has had no real water issues during the drought, owing to a lot of man-made factors that do a little rerouting of nature. Still, my Bermuda grass is coming back well and the San Augustine has shown signs of life outside the shaded areas where it survived the summer. Despite watering and all sorts of hired gardening and lawn help, the part of the yard hit by the direct sun for most of the day just gave up the ghost about mid-August.
Our rose gardens made it and are doing pretty well, but thanks only to some shade and lots of drip watering.
One day soon we'll be in a locale and residential setup where we'll have gardens and crops and no yard to speak of. Not self-sufficient by any means but certainly able to move in that direction over time.
Getting back to the lack of shooting we were able to do this summer, I mean, stuff was and really still is so tinder dry that the flame discharge from a firearm could easily ignite a serious fast spreading fire. As we had in our area just a few short weeks ago.
Indoor range shooting is always a mixed bag. There are certain ranges in Houston and College Station that are well-ventilated. Being well-ventilated is the key not only healthwise but as far as having as much as a level of comfort as one can in a shooting gallery with loud hand cannons blasting away.
Still, a well designed HVAC system that not only keeps it cool but keeps the air filtered is always the mark of a great range.
We'll be shooting at a competition next weekend, an informal qualification in some sort of combat handgun competition. I'll be shooting a stock out of the box Glock Model 19 with the only modification being a Pachmayr slip on grip. I'll be shooting cheap ammo too, yet I think I'll do well.
My buddy who is one of the organizers says they're big on Sigs in this group and not so big on Glocks. Pity.
Then it'll be off to a friend's HUGE family farm about 100 miles or so west of Houston. Rolling hills. Water. Several homes and cabins. Several places set up to shoot shotguns and rifles and pistols. Without any pressure from time constraints or someone wanting our stall or shooting position at the long distance rifle range.
That's what I miss about not having our own place, as it's been for a few years now, but that will soon change.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
GINGER BAKER
As a drummer now for 4/5th's of my life, going back now 40 years, I was heavily influenced by drummers of the sixties like Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell. Not that I play like either of the two, au contraire, but if I could I certainly would. Yeah, I can play their parts on most of their works, but having seen videos and listening to some of the stuff they laid down that wasn't more commercial in nature, I know well what these folks are capable of. Massive hyper-technical drumming that would blind the drummers who play the massive hyper-technical zillion drum and cymbal setups.
A brief example of this virtuosity can be found in the double Sonor bass drum kit phase that Mitchell briefly visited in the late sixties, the album of which escapes me but I'll try to update late. Sheer lightning drumming of a blinding nature, unlike anything else he played with Hendrix.
What Mitchell and Baker share are several things. First, both have a strong jazz backround, which they merged with a hard blues drumming style to make what became the blueprint, if you will, for hard rock and roll drumming in a trio format.
Second, taking their respective jazz backrounds, they each had their own take on setups. Mitchell's became much emulated (24" bass drum, one wing tom, snare, two floor toms and one ride and 2 or 3 crashes, and a high hat) while Baker's double bass kit was more idiosyncratic with stacked cymbals and such. Both players used kits were mostly Ludwigs.
I'll say this: if you have the right folks in the rock trio, meaning guitar-bass-drums, it can be no tighter musically. Three people can merge better than four, anyday of the week. Sometimes four or more is better, but with the right three members, you can't beat a trio.
And therein lay the lesson of Baker and Mitchell. Be simple, be sparse, but when you do speak, speak loudly and say something worth hearing.
The whole origin of this post just came when for some strange reason today I recalled an article I read in a music magazine about Baker way back in the mid-80's. It was a short interview piece with Baker, who by the way my good Irish friend Patrick and BIG "THE CREAM" fan calls "JEN-JAR BAY-KURR". It was one of a now defunct group of magazines, like Musician or Rhythm, that had the article. I tore the article out and stuck it in a notebook that houses a few other articles I've been struck by over the years, and perhaps one day I'll update this reference as well.
At the time, the mid-80's, Baker was living in Italy outside of some small village on an olive farm. His home was a plaster and rock type home, if memory serves, on top of a huge hill on his property. There were pictures with the article showing a relaxing terrain with a white washed plaster house on a hill, perhaps a several hundred year old home, with large windows cranked open.
His Ludwig White Marine Pearl double bass set was also in a picture or two, more or less what he played with Cream. The article said that when Baker would jam out, that his neighbors and the nearby villagers would gather and listen as his sounds resounded through the hills and valleys.
At the time, Baker had released a great CD with Bill Laswell producing called Horses and Trees, an instrumental CD I still listen to regularly. The story was that Baker just walked into the studio and laid down tracks on the drums, and then Laswell came in with a crowd of NYC and Middle Eastern and African musicians and laid down the music. It's a great CD and it rocks like nothing else.
The focus of the article was not all of that, however, but involved Ginger's pontifications about "How all time moves in Four", with which I agree wholeheartedly in terms of music. Mr. Baker does understand his mathematics when it comes to applying them to music and various time signatures, all root based in four.
When you think of four, and play in four, and subdivide four, and play different parts of the count of four, then you're moving in time and you're making time. Add to that, a drummer has four limbs, capable of playing independently of each other. They call that four way independence.
So all of those thoughts have been floating around my head today, thinking of various Baker tunes moving in four. And how I'd like, right now, to be esconced in that Italian hilltop home from that article, with a nice drum set and nowhere else to be but there, watching the olives grow.
A brief example of this virtuosity can be found in the double Sonor bass drum kit phase that Mitchell briefly visited in the late sixties, the album of which escapes me but I'll try to update late. Sheer lightning drumming of a blinding nature, unlike anything else he played with Hendrix.
What Mitchell and Baker share are several things. First, both have a strong jazz backround, which they merged with a hard blues drumming style to make what became the blueprint, if you will, for hard rock and roll drumming in a trio format.
Second, taking their respective jazz backrounds, they each had their own take on setups. Mitchell's became much emulated (24" bass drum, one wing tom, snare, two floor toms and one ride and 2 or 3 crashes, and a high hat) while Baker's double bass kit was more idiosyncratic with stacked cymbals and such. Both players used kits were mostly Ludwigs.
I'll say this: if you have the right folks in the rock trio, meaning guitar-bass-drums, it can be no tighter musically. Three people can merge better than four, anyday of the week. Sometimes four or more is better, but with the right three members, you can't beat a trio.
And therein lay the lesson of Baker and Mitchell. Be simple, be sparse, but when you do speak, speak loudly and say something worth hearing.
The whole origin of this post just came when for some strange reason today I recalled an article I read in a music magazine about Baker way back in the mid-80's. It was a short interview piece with Baker, who by the way my good Irish friend Patrick and BIG "THE CREAM" fan calls "JEN-JAR BAY-KURR". It was one of a now defunct group of magazines, like Musician or Rhythm, that had the article. I tore the article out and stuck it in a notebook that houses a few other articles I've been struck by over the years, and perhaps one day I'll update this reference as well.
At the time, the mid-80's, Baker was living in Italy outside of some small village on an olive farm. His home was a plaster and rock type home, if memory serves, on top of a huge hill on his property. There were pictures with the article showing a relaxing terrain with a white washed plaster house on a hill, perhaps a several hundred year old home, with large windows cranked open.
His Ludwig White Marine Pearl double bass set was also in a picture or two, more or less what he played with Cream. The article said that when Baker would jam out, that his neighbors and the nearby villagers would gather and listen as his sounds resounded through the hills and valleys.
At the time, Baker had released a great CD with Bill Laswell producing called Horses and Trees, an instrumental CD I still listen to regularly. The story was that Baker just walked into the studio and laid down tracks on the drums, and then Laswell came in with a crowd of NYC and Middle Eastern and African musicians and laid down the music. It's a great CD and it rocks like nothing else.
The focus of the article was not all of that, however, but involved Ginger's pontifications about "How all time moves in Four", with which I agree wholeheartedly in terms of music. Mr. Baker does understand his mathematics when it comes to applying them to music and various time signatures, all root based in four.
When you think of four, and play in four, and subdivide four, and play different parts of the count of four, then you're moving in time and you're making time. Add to that, a drummer has four limbs, capable of playing independently of each other. They call that four way independence.
So all of those thoughts have been floating around my head today, thinking of various Baker tunes moving in four. And how I'd like, right now, to be esconced in that Italian hilltop home from that article, with a nice drum set and nowhere else to be but there, watching the olives grow.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
GREAT WEBPAGE ON .357 MAGNUM HANDGUNS
Funny how you can stumble upon very informative web pages, just what you were looking for but not finding in your googling, and BAM! COOL WEB PAGES.
.357 MAGNUM PAGE ONE
.357 MAGNUM PAGE TWO
No, it's not like Elmer Keith himself is writing a compendium of history of the .357 Magnum, but the author does a very nice job of concisely covering the history and guns of the .357 Magnum in a very interesting short read. I'd recommend it for anyone wanting to know more about the .357 Magnum, which is much forgotten by many nowadays it seems, and for them I say go read the ballistics testing again.
The site has some great pictures of some great guns, some old and some new. I like the S&W tricked out Performance Center gun with a laser under the barrel and a red dot atop the gun. It would be nice to see the Performance Center do a gun for sale based on the XXX S&W Performance Center gun carried first by Vin Diesel then by Ice Cube in the sequel.
I realize the gun used in the XXX movies was a S&W Model 629 in .44 magnum, but the concept remains the same.
Or how about the simple but cool scoped S&W Model 67 4" barrel revolver from the Escape From New York movie? You could make that now with the very cool S&W Performance Center Model 67 and a holographic scope and update it a few decades. Just for grins. Throw a green laser and small flashlight on it too.
Last year I wrote about this cool gun, the Smith and Wesson Peformance Center Model 67 Carry Comp and it could only be cooler as a replacement for Snake Pliskin if he ever does a follow up to the Escape movies.
The past year has been a .357 Magnum revival for me personally. My slavery to cheap 9mm ammo has overwhelmed much of my shooting time and dollars the past few years, by virtue of finding good and cheap 9mm ammo in bulk. I can shoot 3x's as much right now with the 9mm ammo I have versus what the most reasonable but decent 38 Special ammo is going for. And we can't even talk about .357 ammo prices without shaking our heads in disbelief. It's almost unAmerican how expensive ammo has become, for the guy like me.
Nonetheless, I've been scouting and finding deals on .38 Special and even .357 ammo. Finding a screaming deal on an Australian police trade in Model 66-7 with a 2 1/2" barrel in just great condition. It looks much carried and little shot, and an exam of the innards seems to confirm that theory.
It's as tight as the day it walked off the assembly line, and on that day S&W disabled the dreaded safety lock that lies next to the cylinder release. It just turns and turns and does not lock up the gun in any way. Web lore says you can get this fact noted in a S&W factory letter, as police guns apparently can have this feature deactivated at the factory.
I thought it was cool in this day and age that a department was still issuing revolvers and that they were the Model 66-7 in .357 and not some bogus .38 Special +P "rated" revolver. I found reference to the practice of governments trading in old service weapons for new and the controversy it can relate about these very pistols. Various social critics in Australia just think these deals enrich the gun companies. And maybe they do.
But what else are you going to do with hundreds or thousands of basically combat level handguns, guns issued to police to keep public order? Who does the agency sell these weapons to once they decide to change or upgrade?
In any event, for the past year or so, these Australian Model 66-7 police trade in's have been making the rounds. I've since seen several 4" and one 6" version of these guns, and although their bores looked a little more used than the 2 1/2" version I bought, the guns were uniformly in excellent condition with really, really nice trigger action.
The Model 66-7 didn't go into production until sometime into the early 2000's, so I found it cool that ten years ago or so a major Australian police agency STILL went with revolvers, some 10-15 years after pretty much every other police agency IN THE WORLD went with Glocks and Sigs and other brands and 9mm's and then 40's.
Behind the times, yes, because of course they traded in the Model 66-7's on new S&W M&P semi-autos some twenty years after the rest of the world.
Sounds like my kind of place. I'll write more about the gun and department later. Happy Labor Day, fellow laborers!
.357 MAGNUM PAGE ONE
.357 MAGNUM PAGE TWO
No, it's not like Elmer Keith himself is writing a compendium of history of the .357 Magnum, but the author does a very nice job of concisely covering the history and guns of the .357 Magnum in a very interesting short read. I'd recommend it for anyone wanting to know more about the .357 Magnum, which is much forgotten by many nowadays it seems, and for them I say go read the ballistics testing again.
The site has some great pictures of some great guns, some old and some new. I like the S&W tricked out Performance Center gun with a laser under the barrel and a red dot atop the gun. It would be nice to see the Performance Center do a gun for sale based on the XXX S&W Performance Center gun carried first by Vin Diesel then by Ice Cube in the sequel.
I realize the gun used in the XXX movies was a S&W Model 629 in .44 magnum, but the concept remains the same.
Or how about the simple but cool scoped S&W Model 67 4" barrel revolver from the Escape From New York movie? You could make that now with the very cool S&W Performance Center Model 67 and a holographic scope and update it a few decades. Just for grins. Throw a green laser and small flashlight on it too.
The past year has been a .357 Magnum revival for me personally. My slavery to cheap 9mm ammo has overwhelmed much of my shooting time and dollars the past few years, by virtue of finding good and cheap 9mm ammo in bulk. I can shoot 3x's as much right now with the 9mm ammo I have versus what the most reasonable but decent 38 Special ammo is going for. And we can't even talk about .357 ammo prices without shaking our heads in disbelief. It's almost unAmerican how expensive ammo has become, for the guy like me.
Nonetheless, I've been scouting and finding deals on .38 Special and even .357 ammo. Finding a screaming deal on an Australian police trade in Model 66-7 with a 2 1/2" barrel in just great condition. It looks much carried and little shot, and an exam of the innards seems to confirm that theory.
It's as tight as the day it walked off the assembly line, and on that day S&W disabled the dreaded safety lock that lies next to the cylinder release. It just turns and turns and does not lock up the gun in any way. Web lore says you can get this fact noted in a S&W factory letter, as police guns apparently can have this feature deactivated at the factory.
I thought it was cool in this day and age that a department was still issuing revolvers and that they were the Model 66-7 in .357 and not some bogus .38 Special +P "rated" revolver. I found reference to the practice of governments trading in old service weapons for new and the controversy it can relate about these very pistols. Various social critics in Australia just think these deals enrich the gun companies. And maybe they do.
But what else are you going to do with hundreds or thousands of basically combat level handguns, guns issued to police to keep public order? Who does the agency sell these weapons to once they decide to change or upgrade?
In any event, for the past year or so, these Australian Model 66-7 police trade in's have been making the rounds. I've since seen several 4" and one 6" version of these guns, and although their bores looked a little more used than the 2 1/2" version I bought, the guns were uniformly in excellent condition with really, really nice trigger action.
The Model 66-7 didn't go into production until sometime into the early 2000's, so I found it cool that ten years ago or so a major Australian police agency STILL went with revolvers, some 10-15 years after pretty much every other police agency IN THE WORLD went with Glocks and Sigs and other brands and 9mm's and then 40's.
Behind the times, yes, because of course they traded in the Model 66-7's on new S&W M&P semi-autos some twenty years after the rest of the world.
Sounds like my kind of place. I'll write more about the gun and department later. Happy Labor Day, fellow laborers!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
EXCELLENT POST ON ULTRALIGHT FLY FISHING
I've had the Fishing For History: The History of Fishing and Fishing Tackle on my blogroll for sometime now, and the above link is to a recent post about ultralight fly fishing. Excellent post and pictures. That is exactly what I need is a nice 5' two weight fly rod with a nice cork seat. One day soon I'll find a nice one like that.
Dr. Todd Larson is the author, and I haven't read his bio so I can't tell you much about him, other than I share some of his arcane interest in old fishing tackle and the history of it and the companies who made and sold it. Why, it's the story of fishing in America itself!
I'm particularly interested in efforts like this, however. This rod and reel is a nice little find for the good doctor.
Dr. Todd Larson is the author, and I haven't read his bio so I can't tell you much about him, other than I share some of his arcane interest in old fishing tackle and the history of it and the companies who made and sold it. Why, it's the story of fishing in America itself!
I'm particularly interested in efforts like this, however. This rod and reel is a nice little find for the good doctor.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
TEN GUNS I'D LIKE TO SEE...
under my Christmas tree!
Mrs. El Fisho replaced our keyboard and this one has some sort of wildcard key on either side bottom row that basically BLANKS OUT everything you've typed into explorer even if saved. Bummer. This is the third time I've attempted this post.
From http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l602/GED011/S22LRexprt.jpg
1. THE WALTHER PPK/S INTERARMS .22 LR
I bought mine in the 70's, and foolishly sold it in the 80's. I think I paid about $276 for mine new, now used they go for about $900-$1500. I recently saw one for a grand and it was gone in minutes.
I don't know why Smith and Wesson/Walther don't offer this model. They make the PPK/S in .32 and .380, why not .22? I mean, all the design and heavy lifting has been done, and I guess there would be some firing system parts to be changed for rimfire and the barrel and magazine but basically you're slightly modifying an existing product.
And given the quality of the PPK/S and the raging popularity of "replica" guns in .22, I this the PPK/S in .22 L.R. would sell, sell, sell!
from http://www.americanrifleman.org/Webcontent/gallery/104/2021ColtSeries70.jpg
from http://cdn.armslist.com/images/posts/634244718332335143mbz00sob.jpg
from http://www.collectablearmsllc.com/products/Colt%20Python/images/2Colt%20Python%20357%20-%206%20inch%20Barrel%20Blue%20-%2098%20percent%20Very%20Nice%20-%20pix02.jpg
2. VARIOUS USED COLT FIREARMS
I can't afford to pay what is quickly becoming the low end pricing for all the older Colts I want, i.e. about $1,200. I'd like to have a 3rd generation Single Action Colt. A 1970's series Government and/or Lightweight blued Commander. A 6" Python.
You can find deals on all the above guns, although I'm sure feeling ready for some more deal-stumblin'-into as it's been awhile. I see 4" and 6" Pythons (as well as .22 caliber Diamondbacks, another fine gun) in Very Good to Excellent condition on auction sites going for less than $1200 at times, and see the 1970's series 1911 guns going for $700-$900 in excellent condition. The Peacemaker or it's variants are always the pricey guns. I don't have a real Colt single action, and I'd like one.
What I'd really like to see in a Colt under my tree would be a very good condition Government 1911 that's at least 50 or 60 years old. It can have patina. It can be holster worn. Well cared for but with some use. It could be in .45 ACP or even .38 Super.
If you're wanting a Colt but can't afford the guns mentioned above, I'll note that I've seen a few Detective Specials 3rd generation lately in excellent condition going for from $500 to $700. IMHO, these are amongst the finests snubnose 38's available. I'd like to have a 2nd generation Cobra or Detective Special as well, because they are fine firearms.
from http://www.proguns.com/images/browning-blr-lightweight-w-takedown-pistol-grip.jpg
3. THE BROWNING BLR LIGHTWEIGHT TAKEDOWN PISTOL GRIP RIFLE
An ingenous design that makes for a compact and handy rifle. Available in numerous chamberings and corresponding barrel lengths, it's a classy, quality weapon. I've hefted one recently in 30.06 Sprgfld, and what a nice gun. Beautiful wood. Serious metal. Flawless action and trigger.
Although the Southern Man in me feels the need to have a 30-06 in this gun, the experienced shooter in me says a lightweight gun is not the forte for the 30-06 for me. I'd have to go for the .308 for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I find it much more pleasureable to shoot.
Althou
I'd personally opt for using the receiver scope mounts, but it can also be set up like a scout rifle if one prefers. A very versatile weapon.
from http://www.ruger.com/products/gunsiteScoutRifle/images/6803.jpg
4. RUGER GUNSITE SCOUT RIFLE
I got to handle one of these, including some dry firing on snap caps, a few months ago. Saw it at a Cabela's and at one other small local gun shop. Since then, nada. Have not seen one and the dealers say they're like the other new, in-demand guns that they can't keep or sometimes get in stock right now.
I was surprised by the weight. I knew the weight of the gun before I picked it up, but was still surprised that it was lighter than it looked. I didn't care for the appearance of the laminated stock, to me it is just not attractive. I'd rather have a rubber Pachmayr composite stock or some good old American Walnut. Anything but the depressing gray laminate.
The gun itself, other than the stock, was an attractively built weapon. It felt solid and the bolt felt like almost any other Ruger M77 I've shot. I don't know if the Gunsite Scout bolt is a M77 but it felt as solid to me as the M77 does.
Ruger makes a good gun. No doubt about it. I'm hoping they tweek this design a bit. Take a few cues from the Steyr Scout. Composite stock with a built in disappearing bipod. Space in the stock for an extra magazine. An adjustable cheek piece. These mods wouldn't cost too much and would make the rifle actually worth it's current MSRP of a grand. Cabela's was selling them for something like $750.
You can read some of the late Jeff Cooper's thoughts on his Scout rifle design here at Eric Ching's Scout Rifle Archive. You'll note that the Ruger does not meet some of Mr. Cooper's criteria, for example, Mr. Cooper lists things like having a stainless barrel that's about 19" long. I have no doubt that the Steyr Scout rifle, which costs about twice what the Ruger does, is a better, more accurate approach to the rifle Mr. Cooper envisioned.
The Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle has been both hailed and cursed by the gun press and online critics. On the one hand, it's a handy length ranch rifle, by a gunmaker known for reliability, durability and product support. Critics attack the magazine as unnecessary, but I like the feature of a detachable mag.
This rifle should not sell for more than $600 street. It is overpriced and it sorely needs some different stock options. I'll have one ultimately, but I'll be waiting for a used one and then putting a different stock on it.
from http://gunsforsale.com/ghg/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/kel-tec_pmr30_01.jpg
5. THE KEL TEC PMR-30
Yes, everyone wants this low priced, 30 shot .22 magnum pistol that weighs 13.8 oz. unloaded and less than 20 oz. fully loaded with 31 rounds (one in chamber) of .22 magnum. According to Gunblast, it fits perfectly into holsters for the Glock 9mm's like the 17 and 19, so those with Glock holsters are ready to go.
Some folks call it a poor man's 5-7. The .22 magnum hardly holds a candle ballistically to what the Herstal 5.7 round can do. Indeed, as we've discussed here in a previous thread about the FN Five-seveN pistol, it's combat ability was fully proven by the traitorous Army officer in Killeen.
The Herstal 5.7 round behaves far differently than the .22 magnum once they enter into ballistic testing materials, with the theory that in practice the effect would be similar on a live target. I need to look up some more data on this subject but from the limited amount I've read the PMR-30 may be a poor man's 5-7 in terms of capacity and low recoil, we are talking the difference between low end Ford and perhaps a Benz/Beemer here in terms of design and performance.
In any event, the ammo cost for the PMR-30 is less, of course, and the cost for admission is 2 and a half times less. I look forword to shooting, or even seeing, one of these guns in the near future. They're scarce right now, with one large Houston gun dealer telling me he hopes to have them in stock by the Christmas holidays!
from http://gunnuts.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/ruger-sr-1911.jpg
from http://www.chuckhawks.com/ruger_deerfield.gif
6. RUGER SR1911 AND THE DISCONTINUED RUGER 99/44 DEERFIELD CARBINE
We've talked about it before. American Made. Street price at one of the higher priced gun stores is $750, but they don't have it in stock yet. There have been a few here and there, but like the PMR-30, there's waiting lists everywhere for them.
Made in America. Slide milled from solid steel. Selling for the price, give or take a couple hundred bucks, of far lesser quality foreign made clones of so many brands. Even the brands who have high end 1911's import their low end entry level models.
Ruger has never made a 1911. That's ok, I figure the design is sound enough that Ruger's crack team figured it out. It's a full size, full weight 1911 with nice aftermarket features, and I can say before even seeing it that it will have that Ruger build quality.
I personally have 40 years of off and on shooting experience with a small variety of Ruger firearms. Blackhawks. Super Blackhawks. Single Sixes. Bearcats. Mark I-III. 10-22's. Mini-14's. Security Six. Model 22/45. I've either owned, still own or my family at one time owned these various models. And there remains a list of Ruger guns I'd like to have.
I'd like a Ruger 99/44 carbine, or it's predecessor model. But the more recent model that uses a 4 shot rotary magazine would be more my liking. A .44 magnum rifle and a great companion for when I'm toting a .44 Magnum handgun. Of course, this is another example of a rifle I could have picked up "back in the day" before it was discontinued for a reasonable price. Now they are selling for a big old high price, and I'm not likely to spend that kind of money on that gun. But if I find one a little less than pristine in finish but mechanically sound for a decent price, I'd buy it in a minute.
AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF A SAVAGE 24-V IN 30-30 OVER 20 GAUGE FROM
http://www.22-250.com/24v.jpg
7. THE ELUSIVE LARGE RIFLE CALIBER COMBO RIFLE SHOTGUN
Searching high and low I've been for a variety of acceptable caliber combinations in several brands. I'd be happy as I could be with a late model Savage 24 30-30 over a 20, which is built on a lighter frame than the 30-30 over a 12 gauge. However, either would be fine. But nary a one at a reasonable price have I been able to find. In fact, I found one on a gun auction site a few weeks ago and it disappeared a day into the 10 day auction.
The few .357 over 20's that I've seen, Savages, have been going and going strong on auction and ending up in the $1,300-$1,500 range. That would be a nice combo to have, as I bought into the whole .357 thing as a young police officer studying ballistics and police shootings. I think it's a magnificent round, and in the right gun it's a sheer joy to shoot.
I have several of the "right guns", both hand and long, with which to shoot the .357, and now El Fisho Jr. has caught on to the long distance accuracy (for a pistol anyway) and knock down metal plate shooting power that this round has. El Fisho Jr. has found that his dear old dad was right about heavier guns having less felt recoil and the miracle of Pachmayr Presentation grips on a K frame (or any gun, really) sized .357.
So I'm totally discounting the .357/20 due to the out of control pricing on this particular combination gun unless someone starts making them in a newer, cheaper combo rifle.
Frankly, it would seem that if Savage, for who so long was THE GUN to have in a combination gun in this great country (along with Stevens and a few others), would see the writing on the wall and say hey, people are paying into the mid-$1,000's for these guns, maybe we should make them and sell them for like $700. With a Walnut stock. Scope ready. Nice blue and case finish.
This is a favorite gun for one of my favorite things in the world to do, which is take a walk in the woods. My next post will be about that, so I'll pick this combination gun thread up there.
FROM
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/152/izh9403nx2.jpg/
THE BAIKAL IZH94. NOTE THE DOUBLE TRIGGERS VS. THE SINGLE TRIGGER ON THE SAVAGE 24-V.
I'm also interested in the Baikal IZH94, which has been in and out of importation the past decade, and like the SKS, I never got one on the cheap just 7 or so years ago when you could get one for 3 bills. These Baikal combo guns are supposedly now being imported by EAA and are on their website, coming in either .308 or .30-06 over 12. I'd prefer the .308 but would pretty much jump on the other as well at a reasonable price.
Remington also sold these Baikal guns a few years ago under their brand, I forget the model number, but likewise I'd take one of those as well. Certainly, I'd also consider the 7.62 x 39 over 20 that Baikal once made, as well as a .223. There are several Savage 24-V's, .222 over 20's for sale that I've seen, but again I really would like a .308 or 30-06. Besides, I want something if possible that shoots cheap, or cheaper ammo, as in mil surplus. Also, I'd like a popular caliber, not because I want to be popular, but because I'd like to be able to get ammo for it. Calibers like .223, .556, 7.62 x 39, .308, 30-06 are mostly reasonably priced and good bulk deals can be found. Calibers like .222, very popular in Europe due to the fact they can't use calibers like the ones I listed above because they are military calibers, are a wee bit expensive here. 30-30 is a bit more pricey but deals on good quality ammo can be found, and that's when you stockpile.
And although I have a few guns in calibers that are somewhat expensive for ammo, it's just a couple. And every purchase into a new ammo area, particularly one where cheap ammo is not now available nor expected to be available in the foreseeable future, is a carefully considered prospect.
In any event, help a brother out. If you see a combo gun such as I've mentioned in your LGS or elsewhere, send me an email and a link. I'd be mighty grateful.
FROM http://forum.saiga-12.com/style_images/1/Saiga.gif
8. SAIGA 12 GAUGE SEMI-AUTO SHOTGUN
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Yeah, I know. But I've shot one, and I LIKED IT! A LOT! I've also shot the .410, and the problem with that one, which was an older one from years ago during their first run, and it would only function with metal cased .410 shells, which are el expense.
The 12 gauge, owned by the same fellow, digested everything. All plastic. Cheap shells. Expensive slugs and buckshot. Cheap buckshot. Medium and expensive priced shells. Like a Glock, it'll eat anything.
In fact, he had numerous 20 round drums loaded with everything from the cheapest of the cheap on sale mil surplus 00 buckshot to expensive 12 gauge rounds and slugs and sat up all night at the deer feeder at a friend's ranch that is plagued with big ole' hairy and toothy East Texas Hogs, with night vision goggles on awaiting the evening feeding crew. They came en masse, about 50-75 of them large and small, he saw, he conquered. Massively. With the shotgun forearm resting on a heavy duty bipod and a laser sight going, it was like a .50 caliber plowing through the herd of nasty beasts.
Of course, it would be a poor choice indeed to invade this man's home if one were of the home invasion criminal persuasion as guess what gun is this man's home defense weapon. You guessed it. A folding stock Saiga with drum magazine, flashlight and laser. BAM!
He and his crew were cleaning small hogs until the early morning light and then off to the processing plant to get it all butchered up. They began hauling it after he was halfway threw his first drum, but they were so clustered to begin with that it was shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel (which, by the way, Outdoor humorist Ed Zern once wrote a hilarious article about how shooting fish in a barrel is actually not that easy of a task). Literally, many small, medium and large hogs fell from the first drum of the shotgun alone, and several of his companions were using rifles with the cheaper, spotlight fed infared scopes to pick off some of the larger, more destructive hogs.
So the Saiga was proven in battle action to me from those exploits, and it seems like a dandy home defense weapon. A Saiga could very well end up under my tree this year. Besides, relatively cheap to shoot, a proven and simple basic AK design, and it works with all kinds of ammo. And if for some reason I don't like it, one of my friends will and they'll have something cool to trade. What's not to like?
I blew about 10 boxes of pretty cheap #7 shot shells through the Saiga 12 a couple of years ago on the visit to the friends place when other Houston friends did the great hog hunt. It had no failures to feed or eject. It worked like it should. It was a hoot to shoot, and it shot well point shooting from the hip.
FROM
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/images/images-by-title-name/1911-22-A1-MID-051802-m.jpg
THE LLAMA MINI-.22LR PISTOL FROM DAYS OF YORE
9. THE PLETHORA OF REPLICA .22'S OUT THERE, PARTICULARLY THE 1911 VARIETY.
I'm waiting to see the Browning version. It would be nice if someone would make a reasonably priced Gold Cup version WITH NO RAIL and if it didn't feel janky when you handled it. I've been almost ready to buy one of several different makes of these guns when on extreme sale recently, only to decide to keep on waiting after handling them.
The Sig version is the same as one of the other imports, and looking at all the guns has left me unexcited. Critics of the Browning cite their 7/8th size scale to the real 1911 but that doesn't bother me. Although I have medium hands, the 1911 itself fits me just perfect, as if it were made for me.
But in the same breath I'll say that one of the more fun .22's I've ever shot was the mini-1911 Llama .22 (also sold in .32 and .380, I think) back in the 70's. It was bigger than the little Sig .380 single action 1911 clone, but not by much and smaller than the 3" mini-45's being sold by so 1911 makers. Wish I'd have bought two of them at the bargain sub-$100 prices back then.
So the idea of a not exactly exact clone in size doesn't bother me. I'm more interested in the feel of the gun and how well made it is. Again, some of these guns have been through some of the larger gun shops I've traded with, but they go right away, like in less than a day, and it'll be some while before gun shops have these just lazily laying around awaiting a willing purchaser.
That being said, with all the guns mentioned above, you never know when you'll walk in a gun store at the right time to find a new and in demand gun being traded in that someone just bought but didn't like or perhaps a new shipment of a new gun that isn't spoken for. It happens, but it's all contingent upon being in the right place at the right time.
10. RUGER BLACKHAWKS AND THOMPSON CONTENDER BARRELS
After seeing my cousin Jimmy's extra fine handmade gun (see my previous post), I've been eyeing and spying the Super Blackhawk with the non-fluted cylinder in blue with the 4 7/8's (or something like that) barrel, realizing that even if Jimmy kicked up production today, it'd be a long while until I could get one.
That being said, as I've mentioned ad nauseum, my dad and I shot Blackhawks and Super Blackhawks pretty extensively at one time. They are easy to find on the used market, along with the regular Blackhawk, for reasonable prices. Like all Ruger products I've owned (the ones made from metal), they're a gun you can rest assured given a reasonable amount of care that your great-great grandchildren could still be enjoying a Blackhawk, and lamenting your memory for having such fine taste in guns.
In terms of "if you could only have one handgun", if some kind of dangerous game or long distance hunting was involved, it'd be hard to beat the Ruger Blackhawk in .41 or the Super in .44. Neither of these guns would be at the top of the list (sorry, Glock beats out the Blackhawk as does the venerable Ruger Security Six, but the Blackhawks are in the top five).
But I have not been seeing any Super Blackhawks with the short barrel in blue with the non-fluted cylinder. I DO keep seeing a plethora of very tempting Ruger .357/9mm Blackhawks in both new and used. Some months ago, I saw a pristine version of the .357/9mm with no cylinder line and really, it looked unfired. $325. I didn't have the cash that day and it was gone two days later.
But even new, which lately the prices I've seen have been right around $450, it's a deal.
Lots of internet critics bemoan the lesser accuracy of this type of setup of combo cylinders, stating the .357 bore is larger and thus doesn't allow the 9mm to get enough stability to be as accurate as it could be. That may be true, and I'd make the analogy to those folks who claim to have "dog's ears" that can hear the difference between sounds that I would suspect could only be differentiated digitally.
I spent a very enjoyable afternoon many years ago at a friend's cattle ranch near Crockett, Texas. His several cattle tanks (small usually shallow ponds) and two large lakes (what I call a lake, which is a pond over 1 acre) were low on water due to a drought. Nutria had somehow multiplied like the members of the rat family they are and were everywhere.
My friends tanks and lakes were dependent upon several springfed creeks that originated on his property, and his ancestors had spent much time and effort, as had succeeding generations, in keeping these springs unplugged and in arranging the watercourses so they fed the lakes and tanks with clean water.
The nutria, and an astounding number of cottonmouths had basically located themselves around the spring head that spawned one of the larger creeks. The nutria kept building dams at the wrong places and diverting the water flow to other natural creases, bypassing the lakes and ponds.
My friend who owned the place recruited me and another of our friends for a day of nutria and snake cleansing. He got about 1,000 rounds of 7.62 x 39 ammo and another 1,000 of 9mm. We were going to do some shooting.
We made the trip from Houston, and long story short, I ended using the Ruger Blackhawk with the 9mm cylinder for most of the day. I found it to be an accurate gun, or at least accurate enough to take out big thick 4'-6' snakes and lots of nutria with head shots. So call me skeptical when folks on the internets are saying thay can't even hit the inner torso of an FBI target at 25 yards with the 9mm equipped Blackhawk. Like the late, great Houstonian Issac Peyton Sweatt's most famous song "The Cotton Eyed Joe" proclaims repeatedly, I call B.S.
I'm getting interested in doing some more shooting with my Contender. My LGS has a ton of extra barrels he took in trade, and I do plan to get a couple of those before too long. They've been under his counter for several years now, and I think the time is getting close to making a deal on a few to expand my library.
The Contender has many uses. First, it's a fun gun to shoot. For over 30 years, my .45LC/.410 has been one of my go to snake guns. LARGE Copperhead or Cottonmouth in my yard? Contender. Snakes when fishing? Contender.
I always meant to expand my barrel selection, but then I quit the police department and went to law school and the funding for barrels dried up, more or less. Back then, my good friend Mike the Mercedes Mechanic, who more or less re-built my first engine, a 351 Cleveland out of a Mach 1 Mustang back when we were in high school. Truth be known, he basically rebuilt the entire vehicle.
In any event, post high school Mike, dubbed by his friends THE RAVEN, who was probably voted least likely to succeed by our high school hypocrits, actually became far more successful than the doctors and lawyers spawned by our class. And lots happier than the professional crowd as well. I've always been so proud of The Raven.
Anyway, about the time of our fifth year reunion, The Raven was doing exceptionally well with his own shop after leaving Mercedes (he still is doing fabulously, by the way, 30 years on) and had accumulated through trades and good buys an incredible collection of Contenders and barrels and accessories. So I got to do lots of shooting and experimentation with various calibers and setups.
I want to get a stock and some rifle barrels, as well as a few pistol barrels. Double up on some of the calibers I have in other handguns that work well in the Contender. There's also custom barrels available, and I'd like to have a 10" or 12" barrel in 7.62 x39 done custom.
The coolest thing about the Contender, which by the way can be found in the Harrington and Richardson Handi-Rifle, is that a man or woman of very limited means can acquire a nice variety of caliber options with a few interchangeable barrels and one receiver. The H&R version even sports full length shotgun barrels in addition to some large caliber centerfire choices.
No, the trigger, feel and overall stoutness of the H&R is not what the T/C features, but again, on a budget the H&R comes in much cheaper for rifle alternatives. A trigger job and a good scope goes a long way on the H&R rifles.
The H&R's are not in my future, but expanding the Contender barrel collection is certainly a long term goal.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
That, of course, is the artist formerly known as EL FISHO's recreation of twenty rounds of 12 gauge being fired very quickly from a Saiga 12 with a 20 round drum.
Mrs. El Fisho replaced our keyboard and this one has some sort of wildcard key on either side bottom row that basically BLANKS OUT everything you've typed into explorer even if saved. Bummer. This is the third time I've attempted this post.
1. THE WALTHER PPK/S INTERARMS .22 LR
I bought mine in the 70's, and foolishly sold it in the 80's. I think I paid about $276 for mine new, now used they go for about $900-$1500. I recently saw one for a grand and it was gone in minutes.
I don't know why Smith and Wesson/Walther don't offer this model. They make the PPK/S in .32 and .380, why not .22? I mean, all the design and heavy lifting has been done, and I guess there would be some firing system parts to be changed for rimfire and the barrel and magazine but basically you're slightly modifying an existing product.
And given the quality of the PPK/S and the raging popularity of "replica" guns in .22, I this the PPK/S in .22 L.R. would sell, sell, sell!
from http://cdn.armslist.com/images/posts/634244718332335143mbz00sob.jpg
from http://www.collectablearmsllc.com/products/Colt%20Python/images/2Colt%20Python%20357%20-%206%20inch%20Barrel%20Blue%20-%2098%20percent%20Very%20Nice%20-%20pix02.jpg
2. VARIOUS USED COLT FIREARMS
I can't afford to pay what is quickly becoming the low end pricing for all the older Colts I want, i.e. about $1,200. I'd like to have a 3rd generation Single Action Colt. A 1970's series Government and/or Lightweight blued Commander. A 6" Python.
You can find deals on all the above guns, although I'm sure feeling ready for some more deal-stumblin'-into as it's been awhile. I see 4" and 6" Pythons (as well as .22 caliber Diamondbacks, another fine gun) in Very Good to Excellent condition on auction sites going for less than $1200 at times, and see the 1970's series 1911 guns going for $700-$900 in excellent condition. The Peacemaker or it's variants are always the pricey guns. I don't have a real Colt single action, and I'd like one.
What I'd really like to see in a Colt under my tree would be a very good condition Government 1911 that's at least 50 or 60 years old. It can have patina. It can be holster worn. Well cared for but with some use. It could be in .45 ACP or even .38 Super.
If you're wanting a Colt but can't afford the guns mentioned above, I'll note that I've seen a few Detective Specials 3rd generation lately in excellent condition going for from $500 to $700. IMHO, these are amongst the finests snubnose 38's available. I'd like to have a 2nd generation Cobra or Detective Special as well, because they are fine firearms.
3. THE BROWNING BLR LIGHTWEIGHT TAKEDOWN PISTOL GRIP RIFLE
An ingenous design that makes for a compact and handy rifle. Available in numerous chamberings and corresponding barrel lengths, it's a classy, quality weapon. I've hefted one recently in 30.06 Sprgfld, and what a nice gun. Beautiful wood. Serious metal. Flawless action and trigger.
Although the Southern Man in me feels the need to have a 30-06 in this gun, the experienced shooter in me says a lightweight gun is not the forte for the 30-06 for me. I'd have to go for the .308 for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I find it much more pleasureable to shoot.
Althou
I'd personally opt for using the receiver scope mounts, but it can also be set up like a scout rifle if one prefers. A very versatile weapon.
4. RUGER GUNSITE SCOUT RIFLE
I got to handle one of these, including some dry firing on snap caps, a few months ago. Saw it at a Cabela's and at one other small local gun shop. Since then, nada. Have not seen one and the dealers say they're like the other new, in-demand guns that they can't keep or sometimes get in stock right now.
I was surprised by the weight. I knew the weight of the gun before I picked it up, but was still surprised that it was lighter than it looked. I didn't care for the appearance of the laminated stock, to me it is just not attractive. I'd rather have a rubber Pachmayr composite stock or some good old American Walnut. Anything but the depressing gray laminate.
The gun itself, other than the stock, was an attractively built weapon. It felt solid and the bolt felt like almost any other Ruger M77 I've shot. I don't know if the Gunsite Scout bolt is a M77 but it felt as solid to me as the M77 does.
Ruger makes a good gun. No doubt about it. I'm hoping they tweek this design a bit. Take a few cues from the Steyr Scout. Composite stock with a built in disappearing bipod. Space in the stock for an extra magazine. An adjustable cheek piece. These mods wouldn't cost too much and would make the rifle actually worth it's current MSRP of a grand. Cabela's was selling them for something like $750.
You can read some of the late Jeff Cooper's thoughts on his Scout rifle design here at Eric Ching's Scout Rifle Archive. You'll note that the Ruger does not meet some of Mr. Cooper's criteria, for example, Mr. Cooper lists things like having a stainless barrel that's about 19" long. I have no doubt that the Steyr Scout rifle, which costs about twice what the Ruger does, is a better, more accurate approach to the rifle Mr. Cooper envisioned.
The Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle has been both hailed and cursed by the gun press and online critics. On the one hand, it's a handy length ranch rifle, by a gunmaker known for reliability, durability and product support. Critics attack the magazine as unnecessary, but I like the feature of a detachable mag.
This rifle should not sell for more than $600 street. It is overpriced and it sorely needs some different stock options. I'll have one ultimately, but I'll be waiting for a used one and then putting a different stock on it.
5. THE KEL TEC PMR-30
Yes, everyone wants this low priced, 30 shot .22 magnum pistol that weighs 13.8 oz. unloaded and less than 20 oz. fully loaded with 31 rounds (one in chamber) of .22 magnum. According to Gunblast, it fits perfectly into holsters for the Glock 9mm's like the 17 and 19, so those with Glock holsters are ready to go.
Some folks call it a poor man's 5-7. The .22 magnum hardly holds a candle ballistically to what the Herstal 5.7 round can do. Indeed, as we've discussed here in a previous thread about the FN Five-seveN pistol, it's combat ability was fully proven by the traitorous Army officer in Killeen.
The Herstal 5.7 round behaves far differently than the .22 magnum once they enter into ballistic testing materials, with the theory that in practice the effect would be similar on a live target. I need to look up some more data on this subject but from the limited amount I've read the PMR-30 may be a poor man's 5-7 in terms of capacity and low recoil, we are talking the difference between low end Ford and perhaps a Benz/Beemer here in terms of design and performance.
In any event, the ammo cost for the PMR-30 is less, of course, and the cost for admission is 2 and a half times less. I look forword to shooting, or even seeing, one of these guns in the near future. They're scarce right now, with one large Houston gun dealer telling me he hopes to have them in stock by the Christmas holidays!
6. RUGER SR1911 AND THE DISCONTINUED RUGER 99/44 DEERFIELD CARBINE
We've talked about it before. American Made. Street price at one of the higher priced gun stores is $750, but they don't have it in stock yet. There have been a few here and there, but like the PMR-30, there's waiting lists everywhere for them.
Made in America. Slide milled from solid steel. Selling for the price, give or take a couple hundred bucks, of far lesser quality foreign made clones of so many brands. Even the brands who have high end 1911's import their low end entry level models.
Ruger has never made a 1911. That's ok, I figure the design is sound enough that Ruger's crack team figured it out. It's a full size, full weight 1911 with nice aftermarket features, and I can say before even seeing it that it will have that Ruger build quality.
I personally have 40 years of off and on shooting experience with a small variety of Ruger firearms. Blackhawks. Super Blackhawks. Single Sixes. Bearcats. Mark I-III. 10-22's. Mini-14's. Security Six. Model 22/45. I've either owned, still own or my family at one time owned these various models. And there remains a list of Ruger guns I'd like to have.
I'd like a Ruger 99/44 carbine, or it's predecessor model. But the more recent model that uses a 4 shot rotary magazine would be more my liking. A .44 magnum rifle and a great companion for when I'm toting a .44 Magnum handgun. Of course, this is another example of a rifle I could have picked up "back in the day" before it was discontinued for a reasonable price. Now they are selling for a big old high price, and I'm not likely to spend that kind of money on that gun. But if I find one a little less than pristine in finish but mechanically sound for a decent price, I'd buy it in a minute.
http://www.22-250.com/24v.jpg
7. THE ELUSIVE LARGE RIFLE CALIBER COMBO RIFLE SHOTGUN
Searching high and low I've been for a variety of acceptable caliber combinations in several brands. I'd be happy as I could be with a late model Savage 24 30-30 over a 20, which is built on a lighter frame than the 30-30 over a 12 gauge. However, either would be fine. But nary a one at a reasonable price have I been able to find. In fact, I found one on a gun auction site a few weeks ago and it disappeared a day into the 10 day auction.
The few .357 over 20's that I've seen, Savages, have been going and going strong on auction and ending up in the $1,300-$1,500 range. That would be a nice combo to have, as I bought into the whole .357 thing as a young police officer studying ballistics and police shootings. I think it's a magnificent round, and in the right gun it's a sheer joy to shoot.
I have several of the "right guns", both hand and long, with which to shoot the .357, and now El Fisho Jr. has caught on to the long distance accuracy (for a pistol anyway) and knock down metal plate shooting power that this round has. El Fisho Jr. has found that his dear old dad was right about heavier guns having less felt recoil and the miracle of Pachmayr Presentation grips on a K frame (or any gun, really) sized .357.
So I'm totally discounting the .357/20 due to the out of control pricing on this particular combination gun unless someone starts making them in a newer, cheaper combo rifle.
Frankly, it would seem that if Savage, for who so long was THE GUN to have in a combination gun in this great country (along with Stevens and a few others), would see the writing on the wall and say hey, people are paying into the mid-$1,000's for these guns, maybe we should make them and sell them for like $700. With a Walnut stock. Scope ready. Nice blue and case finish.
This is a favorite gun for one of my favorite things in the world to do, which is take a walk in the woods. My next post will be about that, so I'll pick this combination gun thread up there.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/152/izh9403nx2.jpg/
THE BAIKAL IZH94. NOTE THE DOUBLE TRIGGERS VS. THE SINGLE TRIGGER ON THE SAVAGE 24-V.
I'm also interested in the Baikal IZH94, which has been in and out of importation the past decade, and like the SKS, I never got one on the cheap just 7 or so years ago when you could get one for 3 bills. These Baikal combo guns are supposedly now being imported by EAA and are on their website, coming in either .308 or .30-06 over 12. I'd prefer the .308 but would pretty much jump on the other as well at a reasonable price.
Remington also sold these Baikal guns a few years ago under their brand, I forget the model number, but likewise I'd take one of those as well. Certainly, I'd also consider the 7.62 x 39 over 20 that Baikal once made, as well as a .223. There are several Savage 24-V's, .222 over 20's for sale that I've seen, but again I really would like a .308 or 30-06. Besides, I want something if possible that shoots cheap, or cheaper ammo, as in mil surplus. Also, I'd like a popular caliber, not because I want to be popular, but because I'd like to be able to get ammo for it. Calibers like .223, .556, 7.62 x 39, .308, 30-06 are mostly reasonably priced and good bulk deals can be found. Calibers like .222, very popular in Europe due to the fact they can't use calibers like the ones I listed above because they are military calibers, are a wee bit expensive here. 30-30 is a bit more pricey but deals on good quality ammo can be found, and that's when you stockpile.
And although I have a few guns in calibers that are somewhat expensive for ammo, it's just a couple. And every purchase into a new ammo area, particularly one where cheap ammo is not now available nor expected to be available in the foreseeable future, is a carefully considered prospect.
In any event, help a brother out. If you see a combo gun such as I've mentioned in your LGS or elsewhere, send me an email and a link. I'd be mighty grateful.
8. SAIGA 12 GAUGE SEMI-AUTO SHOTGUN
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
Yeah, I know. But I've shot one, and I LIKED IT! A LOT! I've also shot the .410, and the problem with that one, which was an older one from years ago during their first run, and it would only function with metal cased .410 shells, which are el expense.
The 12 gauge, owned by the same fellow, digested everything. All plastic. Cheap shells. Expensive slugs and buckshot. Cheap buckshot. Medium and expensive priced shells. Like a Glock, it'll eat anything.
In fact, he had numerous 20 round drums loaded with everything from the cheapest of the cheap on sale mil surplus 00 buckshot to expensive 12 gauge rounds and slugs and sat up all night at the deer feeder at a friend's ranch that is plagued with big ole' hairy and toothy East Texas Hogs, with night vision goggles on awaiting the evening feeding crew. They came en masse, about 50-75 of them large and small, he saw, he conquered. Massively. With the shotgun forearm resting on a heavy duty bipod and a laser sight going, it was like a .50 caliber plowing through the herd of nasty beasts.
Of course, it would be a poor choice indeed to invade this man's home if one were of the home invasion criminal persuasion as guess what gun is this man's home defense weapon. You guessed it. A folding stock Saiga with drum magazine, flashlight and laser. BAM!
He and his crew were cleaning small hogs until the early morning light and then off to the processing plant to get it all butchered up. They began hauling it after he was halfway threw his first drum, but they were so clustered to begin with that it was shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel (which, by the way, Outdoor humorist Ed Zern once wrote a hilarious article about how shooting fish in a barrel is actually not that easy of a task). Literally, many small, medium and large hogs fell from the first drum of the shotgun alone, and several of his companions were using rifles with the cheaper, spotlight fed infared scopes to pick off some of the larger, more destructive hogs.
So the Saiga was proven in battle action to me from those exploits, and it seems like a dandy home defense weapon. A Saiga could very well end up under my tree this year. Besides, relatively cheap to shoot, a proven and simple basic AK design, and it works with all kinds of ammo. And if for some reason I don't like it, one of my friends will and they'll have something cool to trade. What's not to like?
I blew about 10 boxes of pretty cheap #7 shot shells through the Saiga 12 a couple of years ago on the visit to the friends place when other Houston friends did the great hog hunt. It had no failures to feed or eject. It worked like it should. It was a hoot to shoot, and it shot well point shooting from the hip.
FROM
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/images/images-by-title-name/1911-22-A1-MID-051802-m.jpg
9. THE PLETHORA OF REPLICA .22'S OUT THERE, PARTICULARLY THE 1911 VARIETY.
I'm waiting to see the Browning version. It would be nice if someone would make a reasonably priced Gold Cup version WITH NO RAIL and if it didn't feel janky when you handled it. I've been almost ready to buy one of several different makes of these guns when on extreme sale recently, only to decide to keep on waiting after handling them.
The Sig version is the same as one of the other imports, and looking at all the guns has left me unexcited. Critics of the Browning cite their 7/8th size scale to the real 1911 but that doesn't bother me. Although I have medium hands, the 1911 itself fits me just perfect, as if it were made for me.
But in the same breath I'll say that one of the more fun .22's I've ever shot was the mini-1911 Llama .22 (also sold in .32 and .380, I think) back in the 70's. It was bigger than the little Sig .380 single action 1911 clone, but not by much and smaller than the 3" mini-45's being sold by so 1911 makers. Wish I'd have bought two of them at the bargain sub-$100 prices back then.
So the idea of a not exactly exact clone in size doesn't bother me. I'm more interested in the feel of the gun and how well made it is. Again, some of these guns have been through some of the larger gun shops I've traded with, but they go right away, like in less than a day, and it'll be some while before gun shops have these just lazily laying around awaiting a willing purchaser.
That being said, with all the guns mentioned above, you never know when you'll walk in a gun store at the right time to find a new and in demand gun being traded in that someone just bought but didn't like or perhaps a new shipment of a new gun that isn't spoken for. It happens, but it's all contingent upon being in the right place at the right time.
10. RUGER BLACKHAWKS AND THOMPSON CONTENDER BARRELS
After seeing my cousin Jimmy's extra fine handmade gun (see my previous post), I've been eyeing and spying the Super Blackhawk with the non-fluted cylinder in blue with the 4 7/8's (or something like that) barrel, realizing that even if Jimmy kicked up production today, it'd be a long while until I could get one.
That being said, as I've mentioned ad nauseum, my dad and I shot Blackhawks and Super Blackhawks pretty extensively at one time. They are easy to find on the used market, along with the regular Blackhawk, for reasonable prices. Like all Ruger products I've owned (the ones made from metal), they're a gun you can rest assured given a reasonable amount of care that your great-great grandchildren could still be enjoying a Blackhawk, and lamenting your memory for having such fine taste in guns.
In terms of "if you could only have one handgun", if some kind of dangerous game or long distance hunting was involved, it'd be hard to beat the Ruger Blackhawk in .41 or the Super in .44. Neither of these guns would be at the top of the list (sorry, Glock beats out the Blackhawk as does the venerable Ruger Security Six, but the Blackhawks are in the top five).
But I have not been seeing any Super Blackhawks with the short barrel in blue with the non-fluted cylinder. I DO keep seeing a plethora of very tempting Ruger .357/9mm Blackhawks in both new and used. Some months ago, I saw a pristine version of the .357/9mm with no cylinder line and really, it looked unfired. $325. I didn't have the cash that day and it was gone two days later.
But even new, which lately the prices I've seen have been right around $450, it's a deal.
Lots of internet critics bemoan the lesser accuracy of this type of setup of combo cylinders, stating the .357 bore is larger and thus doesn't allow the 9mm to get enough stability to be as accurate as it could be. That may be true, and I'd make the analogy to those folks who claim to have "dog's ears" that can hear the difference between sounds that I would suspect could only be differentiated digitally.
I spent a very enjoyable afternoon many years ago at a friend's cattle ranch near Crockett, Texas. His several cattle tanks (small usually shallow ponds) and two large lakes (what I call a lake, which is a pond over 1 acre) were low on water due to a drought. Nutria had somehow multiplied like the members of the rat family they are and were everywhere.
My friends tanks and lakes were dependent upon several springfed creeks that originated on his property, and his ancestors had spent much time and effort, as had succeeding generations, in keeping these springs unplugged and in arranging the watercourses so they fed the lakes and tanks with clean water.
The nutria, and an astounding number of cottonmouths had basically located themselves around the spring head that spawned one of the larger creeks. The nutria kept building dams at the wrong places and diverting the water flow to other natural creases, bypassing the lakes and ponds.
My friend who owned the place recruited me and another of our friends for a day of nutria and snake cleansing. He got about 1,000 rounds of 7.62 x 39 ammo and another 1,000 of 9mm. We were going to do some shooting.
We made the trip from Houston, and long story short, I ended using the Ruger Blackhawk with the 9mm cylinder for most of the day. I found it to be an accurate gun, or at least accurate enough to take out big thick 4'-6' snakes and lots of nutria with head shots. So call me skeptical when folks on the internets are saying thay can't even hit the inner torso of an FBI target at 25 yards with the 9mm equipped Blackhawk. Like the late, great Houstonian Issac Peyton Sweatt's most famous song "The Cotton Eyed Joe" proclaims repeatedly, I call B.S.
I'm getting interested in doing some more shooting with my Contender. My LGS has a ton of extra barrels he took in trade, and I do plan to get a couple of those before too long. They've been under his counter for several years now, and I think the time is getting close to making a deal on a few to expand my library.
The Contender has many uses. First, it's a fun gun to shoot. For over 30 years, my .45LC/.410 has been one of my go to snake guns. LARGE Copperhead or Cottonmouth in my yard? Contender. Snakes when fishing? Contender.
I always meant to expand my barrel selection, but then I quit the police department and went to law school and the funding for barrels dried up, more or less. Back then, my good friend Mike the Mercedes Mechanic, who more or less re-built my first engine, a 351 Cleveland out of a Mach 1 Mustang back when we were in high school. Truth be known, he basically rebuilt the entire vehicle.
In any event, post high school Mike, dubbed by his friends THE RAVEN, who was probably voted least likely to succeed by our high school hypocrits, actually became far more successful than the doctors and lawyers spawned by our class. And lots happier than the professional crowd as well. I've always been so proud of The Raven.
Anyway, about the time of our fifth year reunion, The Raven was doing exceptionally well with his own shop after leaving Mercedes (he still is doing fabulously, by the way, 30 years on) and had accumulated through trades and good buys an incredible collection of Contenders and barrels and accessories. So I got to do lots of shooting and experimentation with various calibers and setups.
I want to get a stock and some rifle barrels, as well as a few pistol barrels. Double up on some of the calibers I have in other handguns that work well in the Contender. There's also custom barrels available, and I'd like to have a 10" or 12" barrel in 7.62 x39 done custom.
The coolest thing about the Contender, which by the way can be found in the Harrington and Richardson Handi-Rifle, is that a man or woman of very limited means can acquire a nice variety of caliber options with a few interchangeable barrels and one receiver. The H&R version even sports full length shotgun barrels in addition to some large caliber centerfire choices.
No, the trigger, feel and overall stoutness of the H&R is not what the T/C features, but again, on a budget the H&R comes in much cheaper for rifle alternatives. A trigger job and a good scope goes a long way on the H&R rifles.
The H&R's are not in my future, but expanding the Contender barrel collection is certainly a long term goal.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
That, of course, is the artist formerly known as EL FISHO's recreation of twenty rounds of 12 gauge being fired very quickly from a Saiga 12 with a 20 round drum.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
MY COUSIN AND THE GUN
Normally, within the colorful confines of my family tree, a post with this header would, could and should conjure possibilities of a East-Texas Hillbilly-esque fued replete with gunfire or at least gunplay.
And I strongly suspect that at some point in my families history it has happened, folks. Either with firearms or swords or knives or whathaveyou deadly weapon of the day and age. Some inter-family feud spawned some sort of combat.
And more. But I don't want to air the family dirty laundry, fortunately I want to rave about my great cousin Jimmy and a simply magnificent creation of art as a firearm and a TRULY custom and handmade firearm as a superior example of it's genre, that being the single action revolver.
Handmade. Hand machined. All parts made from solid steel. You can literally feel the sturdiness and excellence of the lockwork just by fondling the very attractive and might I add, very well done non-fluted cylinder.
I'm a sucker for a non-fluted cylinder on a SA revolver, heck, on any revolver, and although Jimmy doesn't know that, I bet he'd tell you my eyes really lit up as that fine weapon cleared the holster and I spied the lack of fluting and said something instinctual like "ohhhhhh, that's nicccceeeeeeeee" as my finger shot out to touch the cylinder, as if to confirm my aging eyes were not deceiving me.
I don't want to give too many details, because I'm not familiar enough with the gun and don't want to err in it's description. I'll get more details, as I've promised to do the legal research to find out what he needs to do to explore starting a firearm company. It's a daunting and serious proposition, but he's a serious craftsman and has some great support in his immediate family. It'd be my pleasure to do it pro bono, i.e. free, as Jimmy and his clan have always been there for my family, in sickness and in health. Literally.
And besides, they are close family. They're the kind of folks that make you proud you're kin to them because they are honest and earnest and they support and take care of each other within their family, as does my family.
And my cousin Jimmy has always been a highly talented individual, not only occupationally, working his way into management as a success story, but with his kids and grandkids and wife as well as with his parents and siblings. But I'd like to see him get some recognition as an artist, which when you see some pics of this pistol, you will say to yourself, "Self, that's a work of art. It's also a revolver but it's truly a work of art. It's a gorgeous simple yet sturdy design, and it just glows with quality.
I'm sure I'd "have to demand" as part of my pro-bono contract an early sample, not for keeping "long term" but to ensure my ethical requirements of adequately representing my client are fully developed. So I can tell people what an absolutely excellent firearm it is for multiple purposes, and truly know what of I speak. LOL.
Jimmy hails from what I'd consider the normal side of my gene pool. Indeed, his mother and lovely wife, three brothers and sister are all sterling examples of what any family tree could claim as their finest. Jimmy's mother and my father were siblings and close in age. Raised in the depression in a poor farm family, they've seen the things that make this nation great. Several of her sons served our country, and all of her children have successful family and work lives.
They, like my parents, wife, sister and I, have a work ethic. They can't imagine not working. Their hard working mother, making sure they wanted for nothing materially or spiritually or in a family sense, spoiled them with not only good love but with common sense as well. Like my father, my Aunt (Jimmy's mother) was more successful than most of her siblings but shared that success readily with her mother, relatives in need and of course, taking care of her family first.
So first I have to establish that these are the cousins I'm always been impressed with, and I do come from a large family. Mannerly. Friendly. Very sweet and kind and genuinely loving to our family for many years, as long as I can remember. Non Toxic to us.
I just wanted to establish that these are good people. Good Americans. Good Texans. To me that's important because I'm trying to talk my cousin Jimmy into going into the custom handgun business. Read on, and I hope to inspire him to chase the American dream.
It seems that 20 years ago, my cousin Jimmy, a one time machinest extraordinaire who later became an administrator and management type, got associated with a veteran artist in revolvers and had the opportunity, as I understand it, to build three single action revolvers under the license and tuttledge of this master handgun craftsman who built/milled most or all of the parts by hand.
I don't have the full story and but I'll be getting it. I'll have more details later and will clarify. I can't recall the fellows name but I have heard it before. This master's name was engraved on the buttstrap of the frame of the gun, as was my cousin's on the barrel.
So Jimmy pulls out this holstered gun that appears as it sits in the holster to be of a cross between a Ruger Super Blackhawk and a Colt Single Action/Peacemaker with what I can see of the gun in the near full coverage Hunter holster it's in.
First now, I've have not seen Jimmy in over a decade, and we've never discussed holsters in the past, yet I see he and I favor the same type of Hunter holster for traveling, a near full coverage belt holster with an old school strap and snap instead of a thumb break for keeping the gun under the seat or on you.
This is the type Hunter holster that has the flap on the rear with a loop and snap so the holster can be placed on the belt while wearing the buckled belt. It's sort of the standard Hunter holster of years gone by.
So I have several Hunter holsters and began using them as a kid in the early 70's, buying them via mail through Herter's catalog. I just got a new one at a great ebay price for a Colt .357. And I found it "DNA/Same bloodline" interesting that here two cousins tend to use the same type holster when traveling with big guns.
So once the revolver, finished in a deep, deep, deep, deep blue begins to clear leather, I can see it is neither a Colt nor a Ruger. I later learn there are only two screws for the entire exterior of the gun. It is a .44 Magnum for sure, and it looks magnificent.
It seemed that the barrel is a bit larger, bigger than a Ruger or a Colt. Jimmy's gun had adjustable rear sights. It seems lighter on handling that the Ruger Super Blackhawks that I've owned and shot, and if this makes sense, it WAS lighter than it looked.
The barrel, as I said, was of larger diameter than a Colt or Ruger, although not by a whole lot. Enough to be noticeable to someone like me or perhaps a handgun expert and "genius gun chooser/trendsetter" like James Zachary would notice. In any event, Jimmy's lovely wife reports that the gun has minimal recoil in her opinion, shooting full on magnum loads. That tells me a heavier barrel has something to do with it, as well as a well designed gun with the right tolerances.
I have never in my life had the urge to call anyone, as I did with Jimmy today, over to my gun safe, open it, stand back and say start looking for gunS (note the plural GUNS) you want to trade me for that work of art you made.
I'll be honest. I thought about it. Before we split up today, I joked about it, and I think he and his brother knew I was really not so joking.
It's nice to know that even though I don't own any of these guns that there are some REAL family heirloom weapons in the family now. El Fisho Jr. was with me today, and of course he like me appreciates fine horseflesh in the form of a firearm. He was near speechless for a few moments upon the initial inspection of Jimmy's gun. That's because as you go from feature to feature to feature, you see the quality and detail built into every part.
El Fisho Jr. noted the wide hammer and the very nice grooves in it. He noted the comfortable grip angle and like me, also said the gun felt lighter than he thought it would. He noted the tight cylinder lock up and liked he way that gun felt in his hand. The trigger face was comfortable and wide as well, reminding me of a fine German trigger face on the high end guns.
Note to self: Ask Jimmy more questions about the gun next time instead of staring in awe at it as you pawed your mitts over it's gleaming surfact. Like, how much does it weigh? Why is the barrel bigger? Do you have any idea the kind of money that gun people with money would pay for a gun like this?
In any event, before I could ever get Jimmy to make me one, no matter how much I would pay, and trust me on this, I would pay A LOT more than I've ever paid for any gun for the gun I saw today, or one made by the same hands.
Of course, part of that is the family tie. I wouldn't be willing to spend that kind of money, even on a Bowen gun or other like dream gun, but the fact that one of my favorite and *has always been very nice to me* cousins made this fine instrument with his own hands would motivate me to do some ebaying and some serious saving to pay enough money for the blood, sweat and tears that would go into crafting a single action masterpiece, built from solid steel.
But a big part of it is the gun. I didn't get to fire it, live or dry, but felt the action and cylinder which to me is as important as trigger pull. And something *just tells me* that a gun with that much handcrafting and attention to detail and custom features he built into the gun did not get neglected in the trigger department. I listened to the lockwork as my cousin worked it, and opened and closed the extremely nice feeding gate. Oh man, the firm yet easy feel of opening and closing the feeding gate was enough to tell you this is no normal single action.
Like me and most of the rest of my cousins, Jimmy's been a shooter all of his life. His dad who passed recently was a legendary North Texas lawman for decades. Twenty years ago, I heard numerous excellent stories about Jimmy's dad duing several teaching stints I had at the DPS academy, where many of the old timers who worked with their dad and had known him for decades had stories to tell me and respect for him.
So Jimmy has not only been around general shooting, he's been around lots of law enforcement shooters and lots of the philosophy and opinion about defense shooting that comes along with hanging out with coppers socially.
So although the gun I saw today is not per se a self defense gun, I'd surely take it into a gun fight. I'm not one of those who believes that a single action is too obsolete for personal protection, but you need a back-up piece and you better be a good shot and good at reloading a single action revolver.
But if I owned Jimmy's gun, you can bet I'd have a Bianchi or Mernickle holster for the occasional carry when it is serious jacket or coat weather and a larger gun like this can more easily be concealed. And I'd carry it often in the field. And I'd be proud that I was carrying it.
So I'll be doing an update and if Jimmy will allow, some pictures and let me flesh out the story. I'm still struck by the fact that Jimmy's lovely wife (I'm not using a lot of names here on purpose) told me it kicks less than a 9mm, and she's an astute and very experienced handgun shooter as well. And thus I have absolutely no reason to doubt her as she's never steered me wrong before so I'll accept her assersion about the recoil sight unseen and simply say: Please put my name on the waiting list for one today. Exactly like the one I saw.
And I strongly suspect that at some point in my families history it has happened, folks. Either with firearms or swords or knives or whathaveyou deadly weapon of the day and age. Some inter-family feud spawned some sort of combat.
And more. But I don't want to air the family dirty laundry, fortunately I want to rave about my great cousin Jimmy and a simply magnificent creation of art as a firearm and a TRULY custom and handmade firearm as a superior example of it's genre, that being the single action revolver.
Handmade. Hand machined. All parts made from solid steel. You can literally feel the sturdiness and excellence of the lockwork just by fondling the very attractive and might I add, very well done non-fluted cylinder.
I'm a sucker for a non-fluted cylinder on a SA revolver, heck, on any revolver, and although Jimmy doesn't know that, I bet he'd tell you my eyes really lit up as that fine weapon cleared the holster and I spied the lack of fluting and said something instinctual like "ohhhhhh, that's nicccceeeeeeeee" as my finger shot out to touch the cylinder, as if to confirm my aging eyes were not deceiving me.
I don't want to give too many details, because I'm not familiar enough with the gun and don't want to err in it's description. I'll get more details, as I've promised to do the legal research to find out what he needs to do to explore starting a firearm company. It's a daunting and serious proposition, but he's a serious craftsman and has some great support in his immediate family. It'd be my pleasure to do it pro bono, i.e. free, as Jimmy and his clan have always been there for my family, in sickness and in health. Literally.
And besides, they are close family. They're the kind of folks that make you proud you're kin to them because they are honest and earnest and they support and take care of each other within their family, as does my family.
And my cousin Jimmy has always been a highly talented individual, not only occupationally, working his way into management as a success story, but with his kids and grandkids and wife as well as with his parents and siblings. But I'd like to see him get some recognition as an artist, which when you see some pics of this pistol, you will say to yourself, "Self, that's a work of art. It's also a revolver but it's truly a work of art. It's a gorgeous simple yet sturdy design, and it just glows with quality.
I'm sure I'd "have to demand" as part of my pro-bono contract an early sample, not for keeping "long term" but to ensure my ethical requirements of adequately representing my client are fully developed. So I can tell people what an absolutely excellent firearm it is for multiple purposes, and truly know what of I speak. LOL.
Jimmy hails from what I'd consider the normal side of my gene pool. Indeed, his mother and lovely wife, three brothers and sister are all sterling examples of what any family tree could claim as their finest. Jimmy's mother and my father were siblings and close in age. Raised in the depression in a poor farm family, they've seen the things that make this nation great. Several of her sons served our country, and all of her children have successful family and work lives.
They, like my parents, wife, sister and I, have a work ethic. They can't imagine not working. Their hard working mother, making sure they wanted for nothing materially or spiritually or in a family sense, spoiled them with not only good love but with common sense as well. Like my father, my Aunt (Jimmy's mother) was more successful than most of her siblings but shared that success readily with her mother, relatives in need and of course, taking care of her family first.
So first I have to establish that these are the cousins I'm always been impressed with, and I do come from a large family. Mannerly. Friendly. Very sweet and kind and genuinely loving to our family for many years, as long as I can remember. Non Toxic to us.
I just wanted to establish that these are good people. Good Americans. Good Texans. To me that's important because I'm trying to talk my cousin Jimmy into going into the custom handgun business. Read on, and I hope to inspire him to chase the American dream.
It seems that 20 years ago, my cousin Jimmy, a one time machinest extraordinaire who later became an administrator and management type, got associated with a veteran artist in revolvers and had the opportunity, as I understand it, to build three single action revolvers under the license and tuttledge of this master handgun craftsman who built/milled most or all of the parts by hand.
I don't have the full story and but I'll be getting it. I'll have more details later and will clarify. I can't recall the fellows name but I have heard it before. This master's name was engraved on the buttstrap of the frame of the gun, as was my cousin's on the barrel.
So Jimmy pulls out this holstered gun that appears as it sits in the holster to be of a cross between a Ruger Super Blackhawk and a Colt Single Action/Peacemaker with what I can see of the gun in the near full coverage Hunter holster it's in.
First now, I've have not seen Jimmy in over a decade, and we've never discussed holsters in the past, yet I see he and I favor the same type of Hunter holster for traveling, a near full coverage belt holster with an old school strap and snap instead of a thumb break for keeping the gun under the seat or on you.
This is the type Hunter holster that has the flap on the rear with a loop and snap so the holster can be placed on the belt while wearing the buckled belt. It's sort of the standard Hunter holster of years gone by.
So I have several Hunter holsters and began using them as a kid in the early 70's, buying them via mail through Herter's catalog. I just got a new one at a great ebay price for a Colt .357. And I found it "DNA/Same bloodline" interesting that here two cousins tend to use the same type holster when traveling with big guns.
So once the revolver, finished in a deep, deep, deep, deep blue begins to clear leather, I can see it is neither a Colt nor a Ruger. I later learn there are only two screws for the entire exterior of the gun. It is a .44 Magnum for sure, and it looks magnificent.
It seemed that the barrel is a bit larger, bigger than a Ruger or a Colt. Jimmy's gun had adjustable rear sights. It seems lighter on handling that the Ruger Super Blackhawks that I've owned and shot, and if this makes sense, it WAS lighter than it looked.
The barrel, as I said, was of larger diameter than a Colt or Ruger, although not by a whole lot. Enough to be noticeable to someone like me or perhaps a handgun expert and "genius gun chooser/trendsetter" like James Zachary would notice. In any event, Jimmy's lovely wife reports that the gun has minimal recoil in her opinion, shooting full on magnum loads. That tells me a heavier barrel has something to do with it, as well as a well designed gun with the right tolerances.
I have never in my life had the urge to call anyone, as I did with Jimmy today, over to my gun safe, open it, stand back and say start looking for gunS (note the plural GUNS) you want to trade me for that work of art you made.
I'll be honest. I thought about it. Before we split up today, I joked about it, and I think he and his brother knew I was really not so joking.
It's nice to know that even though I don't own any of these guns that there are some REAL family heirloom weapons in the family now. El Fisho Jr. was with me today, and of course he like me appreciates fine horseflesh in the form of a firearm. He was near speechless for a few moments upon the initial inspection of Jimmy's gun. That's because as you go from feature to feature to feature, you see the quality and detail built into every part.
El Fisho Jr. noted the wide hammer and the very nice grooves in it. He noted the comfortable grip angle and like me, also said the gun felt lighter than he thought it would. He noted the tight cylinder lock up and liked he way that gun felt in his hand. The trigger face was comfortable and wide as well, reminding me of a fine German trigger face on the high end guns.
Note to self: Ask Jimmy more questions about the gun next time instead of staring in awe at it as you pawed your mitts over it's gleaming surfact. Like, how much does it weigh? Why is the barrel bigger? Do you have any idea the kind of money that gun people with money would pay for a gun like this?
In any event, before I could ever get Jimmy to make me one, no matter how much I would pay, and trust me on this, I would pay A LOT more than I've ever paid for any gun for the gun I saw today, or one made by the same hands.
Of course, part of that is the family tie. I wouldn't be willing to spend that kind of money, even on a Bowen gun or other like dream gun, but the fact that one of my favorite and *has always been very nice to me* cousins made this fine instrument with his own hands would motivate me to do some ebaying and some serious saving to pay enough money for the blood, sweat and tears that would go into crafting a single action masterpiece, built from solid steel.
But a big part of it is the gun. I didn't get to fire it, live or dry, but felt the action and cylinder which to me is as important as trigger pull. And something *just tells me* that a gun with that much handcrafting and attention to detail and custom features he built into the gun did not get neglected in the trigger department. I listened to the lockwork as my cousin worked it, and opened and closed the extremely nice feeding gate. Oh man, the firm yet easy feel of opening and closing the feeding gate was enough to tell you this is no normal single action.
Like me and most of the rest of my cousins, Jimmy's been a shooter all of his life. His dad who passed recently was a legendary North Texas lawman for decades. Twenty years ago, I heard numerous excellent stories about Jimmy's dad duing several teaching stints I had at the DPS academy, where many of the old timers who worked with their dad and had known him for decades had stories to tell me and respect for him.
So Jimmy has not only been around general shooting, he's been around lots of law enforcement shooters and lots of the philosophy and opinion about defense shooting that comes along with hanging out with coppers socially.
So although the gun I saw today is not per se a self defense gun, I'd surely take it into a gun fight. I'm not one of those who believes that a single action is too obsolete for personal protection, but you need a back-up piece and you better be a good shot and good at reloading a single action revolver.
But if I owned Jimmy's gun, you can bet I'd have a Bianchi or Mernickle holster for the occasional carry when it is serious jacket or coat weather and a larger gun like this can more easily be concealed. And I'd carry it often in the field. And I'd be proud that I was carrying it.
So I'll be doing an update and if Jimmy will allow, some pictures and let me flesh out the story. I'm still struck by the fact that Jimmy's lovely wife (I'm not using a lot of names here on purpose) told me it kicks less than a 9mm, and she's an astute and very experienced handgun shooter as well. And thus I have absolutely no reason to doubt her as she's never steered me wrong before so I'll accept her assersion about the recoil sight unseen and simply say: Please put my name on the waiting list for one today. Exactly like the one I saw.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
GUNS I'D LIKE TO SEE (AS IN, FOR SALE, AT MY LGS)
'Tis the season of awaiting some of the supposed new models introduced at the SHOT show and other venues this year. There are a lot of very reasonably priced guns that came out in the past few years, with new models and variants trickling out this year.
For example, the supposedly street priced Kel-Tec PMR-30, the 30 round magazine holdin' .22 mag-a-num. Although the .22 magnum pales in comparison to the 5.7 round shot by the FN Five-seveN pistol, more than one reviewer of the Kel-Tec has referred to it as the poor man's 5-7. And to some extent, I have to agree.
Thirty rounds in a 16 oz pistol that fits in Glock 9mm holsters (According to Mr. Q at Gunblast, I think) that will cost, once supply begins hitting demand, about $300. And, it actually comes with an extra magazine! How about that in this day and age of companies selling what I consider to be high end guns with only one magazine included in the deal. You buy one of these guns and get a crappy plastic box you'll likely never use again and some kind of crap gun lock and frankly, I'd rather have a cardboard box, fired casing, the paperwork, maybe a cleaning tool and an extra magazine instead of the plastic box and gun lock.
In any event, I'm looking forward to the day of getting to feel the heft of the PMR-30 in my hand. The grip angle. Depending on where I run into it, perhaps sample the trigger pull, with or without a snap cap, depending on store preferences. You already know that with a .22 magnum the grip will be long, probably not unlike the old AMT or whatever they were autos in the 80's that shot .30 caliber rounds. But I suspect it won't be bad at all.
Likewise, all my friends have been wanting to see this Ruger version of the 1911. It's the big boy, and weighs in at full 1911 weight. I'm hoping they come out with a Commander sized version with an alloy frame and get that weight down to about 26 to 28 oz with empty magazine. I'm a big Ruger fan, and so even if this ends up being the only 1911 they make, I'll have to get one someday.
If Ruger could ever get some inventory out there to the stores, they could be well competing with the TONS of entry level and foreign made 1911 clones that are out there for sale at or just under the street price that the few Rugers I've seen reports on have been going for. Even near the full list price, me thinks it's a good deal based on who is making it, it's made in America and that it comes with many mods from the factory.
Those that have seen it and handled it say the Ruger version of the 1911 is a tight pistol and well made. In fact, several friends at several different gun shops report the 1911's coming in and that only one person out of about 10 that advance ordered did not buy the gun after it came in. The pistols are apparently coming in one or two at a time, and far apart in time.
I'm glad for Ruger and for Kel-Tec. They've got a little feeding frenzy going on with their product lines with these two guns. Both are American companies and they make many very cool products and I think they deserve our support. Lots of folks I know are ready to buy either or both if they hold up upon actual physical inspection to the great reviews and internet lore that has been circulating about them.
I've been looking at a lot of the .22 clones of different guns coming out, and it's a cool market in this area right now, with lots of reasonable and semi-reasonably priced weapon out there. A couple of observations. It would be cool to see a AR-15 clone that shoots .22 magnums. Also, why hasn't a company made a .22 replica of a light machine gun, with some kind of belt feed?
And since Colt has all but abandoned the making of double action revolvers, perhaps Umarex could start making some .22 double actions revolvers from the past Colt catalog. Perhaps start with the Diamondback and the Cobra in .22 LR AND .22 Magnum. Alloy frames. Steel barrels and cylinders. Nice triggers. Tight lock up.
Billy Ray has been waiting to see the Governor. Me too. I've wanted to handle one, in hopes it feels more sturdy than the countless Taurus Judge and Public Defenders I've messed with. The full size all steel 3" Judge feels the most sturdy, but the lockwork and the trigger, to me at least, are lacking. They just don't feel sturdy to go the long haul shooting shotgun shells.
So I'm hoping that the Smith is like the Smith of old or at least the better Smiths of new and sturdy in it's construction and heft. With a nice trigger.
The added ability to shoot .45 ACP with the Governor over the Taurus is another big win. I'm a big fan of .45 ACP and for a defensive weapon like the Governor, a followup of three .410 buckshot shells followed by three .45 ACP Cor-Bon's or Federal Low Recoil (depending on the shooter and environment) shells would be a great combo.
I've owned (note the past tense) S&W 25-5 revolvers and although both were excellent quality handguns in every way, the .45 Long Colt did nothing for me. I much prefer the .45 ACP, as does my wallet, incidentally.
There are other guns out there, of course, that have caught my interest. The crop of 1911-22 clones in .22 long rifle seems to be getting larger every year. In reading about the various guns on internet forums, it seems the Chiappa is not very well regarded, but the GSG version (same factory as the Sig .22 btw) has some finish issues and it sure seems like a lot of them are breaking internal parts, if the internet reviews are correct.
I did get to handle the Umarex Colt Rail Gun, and although it seems to get the best forum frenzy going about it, I wasn't that impressed. I want to wait and see the Gold Cup model their website touts, which I have not seen in stores. I've just seen the Rail Gun.
I was more impressed with the construction of the Umarex than the Chiappa, but liked the construction and "feel" of the GSG better than the Umarex. I wish these companies wouldn't feel the need to throw a rail on everything to make guns "cool and upgraded" for cheap, or at least wish the rail could easily be detached. One problem, gun makers, with rails is that I have a bunch of 1911 holsers for 1911's without rails and don't really want to have to buy yet another holster just because a rail is a cheap way to upgrade a gun for marketing purposes: it becomes "tactical".
I'll talk more later about the new crop of .22 LR 1911 clones as well as some of the .45 ACP clones of the 1911.
I'll close with this, about a gun I'd like to see that is not currently on the drawing boards. The Walther PPK/S in .22LR. Why doesn't Walther/Smith and Wesson make this a part of their lineup? It was made in German made PPK's for many years, and although American made PPK's are sold in .380 and .32, they're not made here in .22 LR.
Why not, Walther?
For example, the supposedly street priced Kel-Tec PMR-30, the 30 round magazine holdin' .22 mag-a-num. Although the .22 magnum pales in comparison to the 5.7 round shot by the FN Five-seveN pistol, more than one reviewer of the Kel-Tec has referred to it as the poor man's 5-7. And to some extent, I have to agree.
Thirty rounds in a 16 oz pistol that fits in Glock 9mm holsters (According to Mr. Q at Gunblast, I think) that will cost, once supply begins hitting demand, about $300. And, it actually comes with an extra magazine! How about that in this day and age of companies selling what I consider to be high end guns with only one magazine included in the deal. You buy one of these guns and get a crappy plastic box you'll likely never use again and some kind of crap gun lock and frankly, I'd rather have a cardboard box, fired casing, the paperwork, maybe a cleaning tool and an extra magazine instead of the plastic box and gun lock.
In any event, I'm looking forward to the day of getting to feel the heft of the PMR-30 in my hand. The grip angle. Depending on where I run into it, perhaps sample the trigger pull, with or without a snap cap, depending on store preferences. You already know that with a .22 magnum the grip will be long, probably not unlike the old AMT or whatever they were autos in the 80's that shot .30 caliber rounds. But I suspect it won't be bad at all.
Likewise, all my friends have been wanting to see this Ruger version of the 1911. It's the big boy, and weighs in at full 1911 weight. I'm hoping they come out with a Commander sized version with an alloy frame and get that weight down to about 26 to 28 oz with empty magazine. I'm a big Ruger fan, and so even if this ends up being the only 1911 they make, I'll have to get one someday.
If Ruger could ever get some inventory out there to the stores, they could be well competing with the TONS of entry level and foreign made 1911 clones that are out there for sale at or just under the street price that the few Rugers I've seen reports on have been going for. Even near the full list price, me thinks it's a good deal based on who is making it, it's made in America and that it comes with many mods from the factory.
Those that have seen it and handled it say the Ruger version of the 1911 is a tight pistol and well made. In fact, several friends at several different gun shops report the 1911's coming in and that only one person out of about 10 that advance ordered did not buy the gun after it came in. The pistols are apparently coming in one or two at a time, and far apart in time.
I'm glad for Ruger and for Kel-Tec. They've got a little feeding frenzy going on with their product lines with these two guns. Both are American companies and they make many very cool products and I think they deserve our support. Lots of folks I know are ready to buy either or both if they hold up upon actual physical inspection to the great reviews and internet lore that has been circulating about them.
I've been looking at a lot of the .22 clones of different guns coming out, and it's a cool market in this area right now, with lots of reasonable and semi-reasonably priced weapon out there. A couple of observations. It would be cool to see a AR-15 clone that shoots .22 magnums. Also, why hasn't a company made a .22 replica of a light machine gun, with some kind of belt feed?
And since Colt has all but abandoned the making of double action revolvers, perhaps Umarex could start making some .22 double actions revolvers from the past Colt catalog. Perhaps start with the Diamondback and the Cobra in .22 LR AND .22 Magnum. Alloy frames. Steel barrels and cylinders. Nice triggers. Tight lock up.
Billy Ray has been waiting to see the Governor. Me too. I've wanted to handle one, in hopes it feels more sturdy than the countless Taurus Judge and Public Defenders I've messed with. The full size all steel 3" Judge feels the most sturdy, but the lockwork and the trigger, to me at least, are lacking. They just don't feel sturdy to go the long haul shooting shotgun shells.
So I'm hoping that the Smith is like the Smith of old or at least the better Smiths of new and sturdy in it's construction and heft. With a nice trigger.
The added ability to shoot .45 ACP with the Governor over the Taurus is another big win. I'm a big fan of .45 ACP and for a defensive weapon like the Governor, a followup of three .410 buckshot shells followed by three .45 ACP Cor-Bon's or Federal Low Recoil (depending on the shooter and environment) shells would be a great combo.
I've owned (note the past tense) S&W 25-5 revolvers and although both were excellent quality handguns in every way, the .45 Long Colt did nothing for me. I much prefer the .45 ACP, as does my wallet, incidentally.
There are other guns out there, of course, that have caught my interest. The crop of 1911-22 clones in .22 long rifle seems to be getting larger every year. In reading about the various guns on internet forums, it seems the Chiappa is not very well regarded, but the GSG version (same factory as the Sig .22 btw) has some finish issues and it sure seems like a lot of them are breaking internal parts, if the internet reviews are correct.
I did get to handle the Umarex Colt Rail Gun, and although it seems to get the best forum frenzy going about it, I wasn't that impressed. I want to wait and see the Gold Cup model their website touts, which I have not seen in stores. I've just seen the Rail Gun.
I was more impressed with the construction of the Umarex than the Chiappa, but liked the construction and "feel" of the GSG better than the Umarex. I wish these companies wouldn't feel the need to throw a rail on everything to make guns "cool and upgraded" for cheap, or at least wish the rail could easily be detached. One problem, gun makers, with rails is that I have a bunch of 1911 holsers for 1911's without rails and don't really want to have to buy yet another holster just because a rail is a cheap way to upgrade a gun for marketing purposes: it becomes "tactical".
I'll talk more later about the new crop of .22 LR 1911 clones as well as some of the .45 ACP clones of the 1911.
I'll close with this, about a gun I'd like to see that is not currently on the drawing boards. The Walther PPK/S in .22LR. Why doesn't Walther/Smith and Wesson make this a part of their lineup? It was made in German made PPK's for many years, and although American made PPK's are sold in .380 and .32, they're not made here in .22 LR.
Why not, Walther?
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