The Gauss Rifle

 Would you like a hand-held rail gun?  It's now available for pre-order.  Instapundit linked to it this morning, and I had to jump down the rabbit hole. The linked article is here.

The GR-1 Anvil Gauss rifle is made by Arcflash Labs, LLC, the co-founder of which, David Wirth and Jason Murray, are "Aerospace Engineers, former US Air Force officers, and experts in pulsed power supply development with 20 years of combined experience," according to its website. The company says the weapon is “capable of accelerating any ferromagnetic projectile (under 1/2″ in diameter) to 200+ fps [feet per second]” and can produce up to 100 Joules of force, or 75 foot-pounds, similar to the muzzle energy of some .22 rifles, making it the “most powerful coilgun ever sold to the public, and also (very likely) the most powerful handheld coilgun ever built.”

I don't think I'm in the market, but some might be.  This is the way progress is made, one little step at a time.

Do The Maintenance

I'm a big fan of both Mark Novak and Eric at Iraq Veteran 8888.  In this video they pair their platforms to talk about collecting, maintenance and how to preserve guns that we all love.

Mark has made the point many times that no one can tell him when rust becomes patina.  That is a point well taken.  They also talk about the guns that are found in closets or attics, and how to bring them back to life.  

What struck me is looking forward, 50 years from now, the guns that folks will be fining in closets will be AR15s, or that old SKS, or some AK variant.  And, at that point, my 1964 Winchester 94 will be over  100 years old.  I need to make firm plans to get the safe queens out and do a little basic maintenance.

When does rust and grime become patina?  That is a very good question.

Cleaning the EDC

 In the midst of the chores today, when I took a break for lunch, I decided to clean the EDC.  My choice is a SW Shield in 9mm.  I bought it during the height of the pandemic, and during the height of biden's gun-run.  July of 2020.  It rides in a nylon Comfortable Holster from Craft Holsters.

Ten minute job, easy-peasy.  A brush through the bore, a drop of oil here and there, and inspect it as I re-assemble it.

It's a quick easy job and I try to do that ever couple of weeks. Just to make sure that everything is copacetic.  How often do you clean your EDC?

The S&W No.3 Russian Model Made at Tula in Russia

I didn't realize that the Russian .44 was the reason that a .44 caliber cartridge now shoots a 0.429 bullet. (Yeah, your .44 Magnum is really a .43 caliber, but that is just the way things are.)

Of course, the most modern example today of a heeled bullet is the .2LR

Fascinating stuff.

Australian Gun Owners Warning to Americans, If It Happened to Us It Can ...

Anvil 090: Mainspring Fabrication

Want to know ow to build a spring?  This is interesting stuff.

Seen on Facebook.

 I guess I never thought about it like that.  According to the definition. Sporting purposes, you ask?  Oh, yeah, we could have great sport with that.

Browning A5 Friction Ring Setup

Mark talks about how to set up the friction rings on a Browning A5.

The page from Browning is here.

Forgotten Weapons, the Zip 22

I've been watching Ian for several years, and I've never heard him describe a firearm in quite so desultory terms.  Evidently, this thing deserves everything he calls it.

I can see now why he calls it a horrible pistol.  Next, shooting it.  Or trying to shoot it.

I Lol'd, I did.

What Is A Stalking RIfle?

 Dave asks in comments:

Does a stalking rifle have to have open sights? Or are peep sights allowed?

We can agree that the "stalking rifle" probably came about during the heyday of the African safari.  A rifle of serious caliber that could be carried a lot and shot very little.  Most of those rifles had express sights, but I've seen a few with peep sights.  Back in those days, rifle optics were worse than not having sights at all.  Iron sights ruled, simply because they were durable,  quick, and reasonably accurate for the task at hand.

The staking rifle, as I appreciate it, is light, quick, and of sufficient caliber to do the job.  In this modern era, Jeff Cooper's Scout rifle could be considered a stalking rifle.  Light, quick, easy to use.  I have an old Remington 700 in ,308 Win that might fit the bill as a stalking rifle.  It has an 18 inch tube, a low power variable, and is very fast to get on target.  

For that matter, my Winchester 94 might be considered a stalking rifle.  It's light, at about 6 lbs, has a good peep sight, and if very fast in the woods.

To my mind, a stalking rifle is defined more by what it is not.  It is not a precision rifle.  It is no a bench rifle, it is not known for one-shot groups, although many stalking rifles are capable of good accuracy.  It's a rifle that you an carry all day, and take one good shot in the field.

If you're interested in good, classic British stalking rifles, here is a good place to start your education, but beware; this is a rabbit hole that you might not find your way out of.

The Mauser 98

I'm much too old for a stalking rifle these days, but I've long considered the Mauser 98, in 7X57 to be perhaps the quintessential stalking rifle for North American game.  If you want ammo availability, go with the .20-06, bu the Mauser is one of the classic rifles in game fields all over the world.

Smith and Wesson Model 30-1

 Some husbands buy flowers, but Belle loves revolvers in .32 caliber.  

Yesterday, cruising around my Merchant of Death (tm), I happened to see a little Smith and Wesson Model 30,-1 in .32 SW Long.  The Smith and Wesson Model 30 was produced from 1903 until 1976.  I have not yet been able to nail down a birth date for this particular little revolver, but the warranty card inside the box is dated April, 1953.  I know that the I-frame Model 30 was discontunued aat some point in favor of the J-frame Model 30-1, but I also know that they overlapped for a while.  At this point, 1953 is a pretty good bet, which makes this revolver 67 years old.

Looks nice, doesn't it?  Here's a shot of the model number, under the crane.

She hasn't seen it yet.  I bet she will be pleased.

Support Your Local Gun Shop

 I wandered in to my local gun shop today.  It's a local guy who loves guns, and he really tries to support the community.

"What't'cha looking for today?" He asks.

"9mm Luger, if you have it."

"Yeah, " he replies. "I've got a couple of boxes of Blazer Brass, but I have to charge and arm and a leg for it."

I checked the price.  A lot less than scalping prices, indeed, under 50 cents a pop.  I bought a box, just because.  He's my local dealer, and I'd rather give my money to him than give it to the big box stores (which are currently out of handgun ammo).

He always has neat stuff in there.  Today, it was a Smith and Wesson Model 30, produced in 1953.  It appeared to be new-old-stock, with the box, papers, and cleaning rod.  I was sorely tempted.  I told another .32 junkie about it, and I may regret doing so.

Support your local gun shop.

Training Changes

 In 1975 I picked up the first pistol that someone had the audacity to hand me.  It was a Remington Rand 1911A1, and it was handed to me by an armorer at the Armor School at Fort Knox.  One day of training in a classroom, and one day of shooting on a range, and I was smitten.  It became a life-long love affair with handguns of all types.  1911s would come and go, based on the whims and needs of the Army, but I retained the training that they gave me back in those heady days.

It seems that there was this little doo-hickey on the left side of the slide.  It conveniently locked the slide back when the pistol was out of ammo.  The Army called it a slide stop, and the instructors were quite adamant that it was never to be used to release the slide.  To use it to release the slide would cause untold damage to the firearm, resulting in unauthorized damage to the weapon, rendering it un-usable and requiring costly maintenance.  They were quite explicit on that score.

Once the slide stop engaged, the proper method of reloading the pistol was to eject the magazine, then slingshot the slide home.  That's the way I was trained, and it was ingrained into my handgun DNA.

Fast forward to last week.  My grandson and I were out shooting, and when he changed magazines, he reached for that little doo-hickey, thumbed it down, and the slide went home.

"Who taught you that?" I asked.

"The Army."  Grandson is a school-trained small-arms repairman, MOS 91F, recently returned from that school at Fort Lee, VA.  Evidently, there has been a change in the curriculum.

Being the inquisitive type that I am, I did some Googling, and evidently there is a huge debate on how to use that little doo-hickey on the side of the slide.  It's a huge debate that seems to me to be a tempest in a tea pot.  Oh, the spittle is flying on both sides of the issue.  And, the ignorance is entertaining.

For myself, I'll continue to slingshot the slide.  It's the way I was trained.  I suspect that grandson will continue to thumb the doo-hickey.  It's the way he was trained.

New Sights on the Shield.

This is an update.  I left this here for a couple of hours this morning, and went about other business, like installing the XS DXT2 sights on my SW M&P Shield.  I needed the video to get my grandson on the right track.

Grandson is a school-trained 91F (Small Arms Repairer).  The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hey, Slick, want to put some sights on a pistol?"

Him: "Yeah, we did that in school."

Me: "Great!  Sit your butt down here and weatch this video so that you can see the process for this pistol."

Ten minutes later we were out in the shop, putting soft jaws on the vise.  Thirty minutes after that, the sights were installed.

Now, I have the same sights on my 1911 and my little Shield.  Serendipitously, after the tools were put away, we were able to enoy a noon meal of Red beans and rice, fried squash, and cornbread.

Now, I'm in for the afternoon.  We have another proect planned for tomorrow.

Lunch

 Belle and I do a big Sunday lunch, and we literally never know who will show up.  Today was fairly standard.  We cooked chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, white gravy, with Lima beans.  We planned for about 10 people, but only six showed up at the meal  Eventually, we ed another six folks.  With two eighteen-year-old boys in the house we don't worry about leftovers.  Very little gets thrown out.

Today we spent a great deal of time talking about concealed carry.  Termite brought his wife and we sat around the table after lunch and talked about handguns and holsters and other accessories.  It sounds like a cop-out, but I told her what I tell everyone.  Find something that works for you.  No husband should pick his wife's handgun.  That decision is as personal as the type underwear you choose.If it works for you, use it.  It may not work for anyone else.  Same thing with holsters and the way you carry your gun.  Inside waist band, outside waist band, appendix carry, strong side, whatever works for you and your individual body type.

The choice of revolver or pistol is, again, another individual choice.  I know ladies who absolutely disdain semi-autos in favor of revolvers.  I know other ladies who like semis.  It's an individual choice, and it should be left to the individual.   "Nuff said about that.

It was a great lunch, with good people, and now we're back i the house.

Trajectory

It's hard to explain to people what a bullet does when it leaves the barrel and how the interaction of gun, sights, and shooter all combine to make a bullet fall down at a particular spot.

So, there's this guy, Mark Novak, who works on guns, and explains things.  He will take you down a rabbit hole, as long as you are willing to follow.  This episode is about trajectory.



Yes, there is math involved.

The Winchester Model 67

Belle came home from her mother's house the other day and took a rifle out of the car.  A Winchester Model 67.  It had belonged to her step-dad, and before that, it had belonged to a family friend.  For the past decade or longer, it had languished in the family gun case.

The Winchester 67 is a bolt action, single shot rimfire rifle, chambered in .22 Short, Long, or Long Rifle.It was the "value-priced" line in the Winchester family, selling for the exorbitant price of $5.50 when first produced in 1934.  It stayed in production until 1960 when it sold for $18.95 MsRP.

The Model 67 was produced without serial numbers, which makes dating it a little sketchy, but it shows a nickeled bolt, a nickeled safety, and a finger-gtooved for-end.  From what I have learned about the little rifle, I believe that it was manufactured sometimes between April, 1934 and December 1935  After that, they discontinued the finger-grooved stock.

It needs to be cleaned and oiled, and in time it will be fed appropriately ad used to train new shooters.  Belle asked what it is worth today.

I told her, "It's probably still worth $5.50."

So What? It's Not Illgal

I see breathless reports coming from California that the school shooter last week used a "ghost gun".  These are generally defined as a gun without a serial number, assembled from parts.  They put in in scare quotes, like its a bad thin.

Let me tell you a little secret:  All guns are assembled from parts, and serial numbered frames were not required before 1968.  These are still perfectly legal.

Large manufacturers like Colt, Smith and  Wesson, Remington, Winchester et. al.  used serial numbers to help with book-keeping, but many manufacturers did not.  Adding a serial number was an additional manufacturing step and was not required by law until 1968. 

Properly made firearms might last well beyond the fifty years since serial numbers have been required.    It is not uncommon to stumble across and old gun that was found in granddad's closet that doesn't have a serial number.  There is nothing malevolent about these guns.  They were simply manufactured at a time before excessive government regulation.

And,, to recap:  All guns are built from parts.

Make Assumptions, Fail Miserably

So, it seems that there was this journalist who wanted to buy a gun from Wal-Mart to show how easy it is to get a gun.  In doing so, she completely collapsed the anti-gun narrative.

Upon returning a couple of days later, a woman was able to help sell the gun to Peterson. She walked Peterson through the process, had her pay $2 for her background check fee, and began filling out the paperwork. Peterson was stopped almost immediately, however, as her address didn’t match up the one displayed on her driver’s license:

It's a compelling story, and I have to say that I was mildly amused at the number of times she went to the store before she finally gave up, concluding that it is incredibly difficult (her words) to buy a gun from Wal-Mart.

I have bought guns from the past in Wal-Mart and it is no harder there than it is from anywhere else, except for the limited selection.  But, I've bought guns before and I now how to navigate the background checks.