Humbling

As mentioned, I went and shot the Pull! for Patriots benefit yesterday. The organizer had made his best effort to spread the word - he hit at least three online forums that I know of, and sent event information to every media outlet in the area - but pre-registrations were very low. (They limited attendance to 125; he told me there were 12 pre-registered.) Numbers did increase as the day went along; I think about 20 shooters went through the morning rotation. No idea on the afternoon as I had to head out and work at BBHIS.

Fortunately, they're not going to give up on this event due to a first-year low attendance - the organizer is already thinking about next year and how he can increase attendance. He's definitely counting on some word-of-mouth for it, I think - and I know I'll be there if my schedule allows it any way.

I. Had. A. Blast.

I'd never shot sporting clays before yesterday. I shot some skeet and trap in college - using a borrowed gun and a grouchy old fart as an instructor. I shot an occasional round of trap after I got my first shotgun, but the club I was going to wasn't real welcoming to new shooters and I faded away pretty quickly. I shot five-stand once a few years ago, and that may have been the last time I shot any clays.

Not one to be deterred by inexperience, and particularly since this was for a good cause, I got up early yesterday and tossed the 1100 and 870 in the car along with a half-case of shells. I got to the range right on time, registered, had breakfast, chatted with some of the other shooters, was assigned to a pick-up squad, and we headed out to the course a little after 9. We were the first group through, so there were some technical issues along the way, but nothing major and all solved in a cheerful manner.

I can't begin to describe all the stations - there were 16 of them, for a total of 100 targets - but they were creative, varying, and above all, fun. Rabbits, straight-outs, floaters, crossers, and one godawful steel squirrel that ran up a post. Singles, report doubles, following doubles, true doubles... variety!

I made some newbie mistakes - I'd forget to take a second shot at a missed single, or forget that a report double had a second bird coming - but the guys on my squad were good about it. I got some very good pointers, busted some tough birds, missed some easy birds, and generally made an acceptable showing - 61/100 birds. (The top score on our squad was an 84, two guys were in the 70s, a 69, and me.)

The 1100 ran like a top, with zero failures of ANY kind, using Remington bulk-pack sport loads (1-1/8oz #8). It was the "cheap" gun of our squad too; the next least-expensive was a Beretta O/U with beautiful wood. (One guy in another squad was going to shoot his new gun that he won at a state shoot - a Blaser O/U. MSRP? $16,000. Holy crap.)

Overall, it was a beautiful walk in the woods with a good bunch of guys, and I will definitely go shoot their course again from time to time. It's an hour away, but they shoot clays once a month with breakfast prior. Definitely worth the trip!

I will admit to being glad I had the gas-run 1100 instead of needing the 870. Not only would the 870 make true-doubles a challenge, it would have beat my shoulder up even more. As it was, there's a purple mark there now:

Country Livin'

One of the things that I like about living out in the boonies is that we have wildlife. Deer are a common sight in the fields across the street, hawks and vultures circle on the thermals above us regularly, there are at least two dens of red foxes within a mile of the house, and most nights I can hear coyotes singing in the valley.

I tend to take a "live and let live" approach with the critters. I don't mind having them in the yard, wandering by, building nests in my garage (although the polka-dot effect on the truck gets old), or just standing there looking tasty. I like watching deer (and envisioning proper shot placement) and always get a chuckle out of fox kits wrestling in the grass.

Where I draw the line, however, is when "wildlife" changes to "nuisance wildlife". When they start causing damage to property (and crapping on the truck is not damage, just annoying), they need to go.

There's been a growing hole under the shed for a few weeks thanks to a woodchuck (gopher, groundhog) that has successfully avoided me so far. I've spotted it out on the lawn several times, and grabbed the .22, but it's always made it back to the hole before I got a sight picture. The shed holds our lawn tractor and assorted other implements, and having the floor collapse would be a Bad Thing. Woodchuck needs to go.

A coworker suggested cheap bubblegum as a good way to get rid of them - apparently it will block up the GI tract and eventually kill them. I chucked a handful of Double-Bubble down the hole a few days ago, and the gum disappeared.

This morning as I was getting ready to leave for work (just before 6am) I looked out the kitchen window and saw the 'chuck sitting right at the mouth of the hole, chewing bubble gum and kicking ass, except he was all out of ... wait, no. Wrong movie, sorry.

The 'chuck was sitting there, noshing on green something-or-other (likely a strawberry plant from the bed next to the shed) and looking sleepy. I opened the safe and grabbed the .22 in the front row (my Savage target gun*), and quietly slipped onto the deck. Instead of going to the rail and trying for a shot that way, I just took the shot from the door, between the balusters, and watched the woodchuck look surprised and then fall over backwards.

I finished getting ready for work, put my stuff in the truck, grabbed a pair of gloves, and heaved the carcass over a nearby embankment. The foxes, 'yotes, crows, and vultures will enjoy it.

And at 6am in the country ... no one calls in a gunshot.

* - A Savage MarkII BTVS, with Nikon ProStaff 3-9x40 scope, and usually loaded with Federal bulk-pack 36gr HVHP. It's a great 'chuck gun, Appleseed gun, and bench gun. Not so much for plinking because it's a heavy sumbitch.

Range notes

Aside from the ammo testing I did, I also test-fired the Remington 1100 and the Ithaca 37.

I used standard low-brass bulk-pack trap loads, both of them cycled perfectly, and both booted my shoulder pretty hard - I've been spoiled by the R3 pad on the 870. (Not to mention the weight of a 3.5"-receiver pumpgun.) The 37 slamfires just like it's supposed to, and the trigger is still heavy. I'll swing it by Diamond Gunsmith one of these days to see if Les can clean it up some. The 1100 is a dream - swings smooth, trigger breaks clean, and cycles perfectly - and I only tried to pump the gun once. I expect I'll invest in a lace-on leather recoil pad for both guns as well.

Once the long guns were put up, I ran a few magazines through the M&P9, and it functioned perfectly. Unfortunately, the LaserLyte RSL didn't do so well. The spring in the switch is apparently weak enough that recoil from a 9mm will change modes (from off to on, steady to pulse, and pulse back to off), and the set screw doesn't hold the sight in place - I wondered why my group was walking left until I changed mags and noticed the whole assembly had shift a few 16ths of an inch left.

Burned through the carry ammo I'd had in the Kahr since last fall, and headed home, gunpowder-lust sated for a while.

Ammo Review: .223

Back at the NRA Annual Meeting in May, LuckyGunner hosted a nice little cocktail reception for a bunch of us on Thursday evening. One of their guys chatted with me a bit and asked if I could do some ammo reviews at some point. Free ammo? You bet.

They got a list of calibers I'd be interested in reviewing and a few weeks later I had a box of three different .223 loads sitting on my front porch. There was one box each of Remington UMC 55gr MC, PMC Bronze 55gr FMJBT, and Sellier&Bellot 55gr JSPBT.

Life got busy for a while (in truth, it's still busy), but I finally had a confluence of time, weather, and health sufficient to get to the range to take care of this.

I added a box of my own plinking ammo - American Eagle (Federal) 55gr FMJBT - just for comparison's sake.

All testing was done with my AR-pattern rifle, which is a 20" A2, stainless 1/8" HBAR, with a (tight) .223 chamber, with a rough battle zero (0-300 with no adjustment). I used a front rest only and shot from the bench. It was approximately 11am, temps were in the upper 70s, and wind was varying 5-to-15mph, gusting slightly higher, from about 10-11 o'clock.

I started by running one short magazine (5 rounds) of 45gr JHP at 25m to check zero and foul the barrel. This was the result:

Two inches low (8MOA) from center and 1/2" left (2MOA), 3MOA group. As a battle zero, this is quite acceptable and the group met my standards. (Which are low, but I do have them!)

Following that, I ran five rounds from each box through, at a rifleman's cadence, and allowed a few minutes between each group for the barrel to cool. This was how things came out (again, 25m):

Aim points were the *outside* corners of the large black square, and groups are located accordingly.

Top right: American Eagle, 4MOA left, 12MOA low, 7MOA group.

Top left: PMC Bronze, center windage, 6MOA low, 6MOA group.

Bottom left: Sellier & Bellot, center windage, 4MOA low, 5MOA group.

Bottom right: Remington UMC, 4MOA left, 4MOA low, 4MOA group.

I *should* have made a windage adjustment to my sights and gone about 3-4MOA right, but chose to not fiddle with it.

From there, I moved the target back to 100m and swapped to shoot'n'see targets (which are something of a misnomer, cuz I can't see hits at 100m). I shot ten rounds at each target, at cadence.

Top right: American Eagle, 3MOA left, 1MOA high, 6MOA group. (Possible breathing issue, the group is 3MOA wide and 6MOA tall.)

Top left: PMC Bronze, 2MOA left, zero elevation, 4MOA group.

Bottom left: Sellier & Bellot, 2.5MOA left, 2MOA high, 6MOA group. (Again, possible breathing issue?)

Bottom right: Remington UMC, 4MOA left, 3MOA high, 4MOA group.

From *there*, I had five rounds of each type left and decided to stretch out a little bit. My club has an 18" steel at the far end of the range - 250m and slightly uphill. It's visible in the top left corner of this picture:

I found that my front sight (a KNS hooded reticle) completely obscures the plate at 250m, but good hits were entirely possible by simply making sure the target was hidden.

American Eagle: 2/5

PMC Bronze: 3/5

Sellier & Bellot: 1/5

Remington UMC: 2/5

There were no failures of any kind from any of the ammo - good feeding, ejection, and ignition on everything. If there were going to be issues, this would be the rifle to show them. It's ripped the rim off steel-cased stuff more than once (requiring a dammit stick to remove the spent case) and has blown primers when I unintentionally put in a magazine of 5.56x45.

There were a few things of note, aside from the shooting characteristics. Remington tends to wildly over-package their ammo, in a rack that holds each round separate and immobile. Probably overkill for plinking ammo, but the racks are great if you handload precision rounds and want to keep them from rattling around. S&B and Federal both use a small plastic divider to keep rounds lined up, which works well but may allow minor contact between cartridges.

PMC doesn't use any divider, which results in things like this, which is what I saw when I opened the box:

19 rounds. Where's 20? Buried sideways between the rows of bullets.

Of particular note on the Sellier & Bellot: the box is labelled .223, but the brass is headstamped 5.56x45.

I decided to shoot the ammo anyway, and checked the brass for pressure signs after the first few rounds. The primers appeared to be on the verge of cratering, but otherwise there were no signs of issues - no blown primer, no pierced primer, nothing.

I pulled out a few pieces of the S&B brass and a couple pieces of known .223 when I got home and checked water capacity; they were all within a tenth or two of 30gr water capacity. I can only assume the brass isn't stamped properly and wouldn't hesitate to use it again.

As far as accuracy goes, any of these would be perfectly acceptable as a plinking or practice round, with a slight nod to the Remington UMC or PMC Bronze. There is some question about the effectiveness of lighter rounds (namely, the 45gr I started with) in higher-twist-rate barrels. At least at the 25m I started at, that doesn't appear to be an issue - although some would argue that a 1/8" rate is not a faster rate.

Your best bet for finding a good practice ammo, of course, is to buy a few boxes and test it out.

At long last...

I teased y'all a few times with this one, and believe me, the wait was harder for me than you.

I had seen this go through the classifieds on the S&W Forum for a few weeks with a few price drops and no nibbles. I sent the seller a trade offer which he declined, but he also asked if I was really interested and wanted to work something out. I decided to take him up on the offer and made two payments on the gun. He shipped it earlier this week, and my FFL emailed me to let me know it had arrived yesterday.

I stopped out after work, dropped the transfer fee on the table, filled out the 4473, and brought this beautiful piece of history home:

That's a 1968-vintage Remington 1100. The seller's father bought it new, fired a few hundred rounds, then cleaned it and put it away - and it looks it. There are a few tiny marks on the barrel ring (which hides under the fore end), but other than that it looks like it's new out of the box. The wood has beautiful figure for a field-grade gun, and the balance and trigger are just magic.

It's a 2-3/4" chamber, so no heavy loads, but it will be wonderful for clays and birds. The barrel is 26" plain (no rib), single bead, with a fixed Improved Cylinder choke (according to seller; I couldn't find a marking). As it sits the gun is not a rarity or collectible (Remington still makes 1100s and has since the early 60s; there are millions in circulation), so I will probably send the barrel to Briley at some point for a set of interchangeable chokes.

The other thing that was in the box with the gun - and the seller hadn't mentioned - was this:

A slightly yellowed original instruction manual.

With price list.

(Receiver Assembly, (includes Action Spring Tube, Barrel Lock, Interceptor Latch Spring, Interceptor Latch Stud, Magazine Tube Assembly, Receiver)...$32.90)

I can't wait to get this honey to the range.

Adding to the safe...

At a time in life when I have trouble scraping up two free hours to go to the range, it seems odd to add things to the safe - but I'm fortunate enough to have a second job to provide some play money and acquire a few things I've wanted. On the plus side, guns don't go bad, so they'll be there for me to enjoy as time does permit.

I just got notice from a seller that the latest acquisition has been shipped.

Guesses are welcome, with the following hints:

1) It's a long gun.

2) It's previously-loved.

3) It was made in NY.

4) It's not *quite* C&R-eligible.

Those who saw the info go by on #GBC, behave. ;-)

Sweet Ruger!

Uncle posted this up earlier, so you've already all seen it.

So be it.

I have a more-than-minor case of The Wants for the Ruger 77/357.

No indication on whether it will chamber .38s; even if it doesn't a handloader could go places with this. My mouse-fart .38s would be awesome plinking rounds, and as a woods gun this could comfortably handle most anything likely to be seen east of the Mississippi. (Yes, including black bears.)

Their factory sights, unfortunately, suck. That is begging for a fiberoptic bead with a ghost ring, or a super-light holo dot.

Unfortunately, I've blown my gun fund on something else that should be along in a few weeks, so this one will have to wait.

Day 1, wrap up

Good grief, what a day. I ended up bailing on the Happy Hour at Tilted Kilt sponsored by Crimson Trace far earlier than I might have - I was exhausted, the restaurant was loud, and I'd had my fill of people. Sometimes being a bit introverted can be unpleasant, but I've generally learned to heed the little voice on my shoulder that says, "Hey, enough. Time to bail."

So, the day, in rough order of events:
MrsZ and I caught up with Newbius and his wife for breakfast in the hotel. MrsZ stayed at the hotel for the day, I carpooled in to the show with Newbius and his wife. 13 miles - 1:40 from hotel door to parked. Pittsburgh has NO idea how to handle this kind of event. Traffic was a mess, parking was a disaster, and I heard lots of mutters around the show about commute times etc. It was bad enough that I'm debating whether or not I really want to go back to the show tomorrow. (I will go again Sunday, but we may just be lazy tourists tomorrow.)

We walked the four blocks from our parking lot to the convention center, found the media room, got our credentials, and headed for the show floor. I wandered on my own for the better part of the day, with occasional stops back in the media room to see who had accumulated, or just to sit down and have a cup of coffee for a moment.

In no particular order, the things that caught my attention, for good or bad:
The Smith & Wesson M&P 22. If you carry an M&P as a duty or personal weapon, this should be a no-brainer. Size and weight are similar to a standard center-fire M&P, manual of arms is identical. With an MSRP of $419, expect to see these on the street for $350-375ish. Reliability, of course, remains to be seen, but given S&W's reputation for standing behind their products, I have high hopes for this one.




The Remington Centennial 1911R1. I like Remington products, generally speaking. I swear by their 870 series of shotguns, and clay- and wing-shooters alike will sing the praises of the 11xx series autoloaders. This just seems ... misguided. It's a government-size 1911A1, with three-dot sights, a lowered/flared ejection port, stainless barrel, flat MSH, GI beavertail, etc. The grips are coarse-checkered wood of some kind, and the checkering is aggressive enough that simply holding the gun was unpleasant. Shooting it with anything resembling a full-house load would be painful. There's a touch of engraved scrollwork on the slide that strikes me as an afterthought more than anything else. With an MSRP of $1250, I expected more from Big Green.




On the flip side of that coin, however, Remington may have cracked one out of the park with the new VersaMax autoloader. A series of gas ports self-adjusts the amount of gas vented or cycled to the action, meaning it (at least in theory) can go from light 2-3/4" trap loads to high-brass field loads or 3-1/2" waterfowl loads with no adjustments to the gas system. Major-plus features in my book are the large button to disengage the safety (a treat for waterfowlers wearing gloves in the blind - no need to fumble that tiny button!), a vent-rib with checkered top to reduce glare, and twin beads to help alignment. Shouldering feels much like the 870; I had to make one tiny adjustment the first time I brought the gun up and then it was like it was made for me.






Kimber has just released their new "Solo Carry" compact 9mm. Initial impression: if you're used to the 1911 manual of arms, or don't like the idea of a gun with no manual safety, this may be an ideal alternative to the Kahr PM9/Ruger LC9, etc. Fit and finish is, as expected, excellent, and the gun points well. If anything, I think the grip is a bit too narrow, but that's easy enough to beef up with some new panels. Some stippling or checkering on the fore- and back-straps would go a long way towards grip as well.




Chiappa Firearms has a few real beauties out this year. The Rhino remains an ugly duckling, but I won't denigrate it for ugly. They have a lever-action pistol out, a la the Rossi "Ranch Hand" series; their show model was chambered in .44-40. Perhaps of more interest to many, however, are the new "Plinkerton" series of single-action revolvers. All chambered in .22LR, they are available in several finishes and barrel lengths, and, depending on price, could be wonderful "fun" guns - potentially giving the Single Six a good run for its money.






Tactical Solutions had a nice setup, with their products mounted on several Browning Buckmark lowers and Ruger MkIII lowers. Thanks to Ruger serializing the barrel on the MkIII series, a TS upper means going through an FFL; the Browning barrels were available at the show. I asked one of their booth guys for advice on how best to disassemble and reassemble a MkIII; he provided me with a few tips that I'll explore when I get home.






Springfield Armory had an extensive display of XD, XDm, M1A, and 1911 pistols. I poked at their recently-released "Range Officer" model and was not wildly impressed. For the price - they're running $7-800 on GunBroker right now - you should be able to get into a Ruger SR1911, which I think will be a far better value.




Ithaca Gun had a display of their shotguns and 1911s. The shotguns look halfway decent but are, of course, not as buttery-smooth as a gun that's been used for fifty years. The 1911 I tried had a trigger pull in excess of 10 pounds (by my rough guestimation), which is FAR too heavy for ANY single-action sear. Also, I'm biased, and seeing "Ithaca Gun Co, Upper Sandusky OH" just rubs me wrong.

Other things of interest... Silver Stag knives are pretty, but their managing partner is rude. I'm not a knife guy, I'm a gun guy, and I don't know all the gun makers out there. No way I'm going to know all the knife folks out there! Don't be insulted if someone doesn't know your name, treat them as a potential new customer!

I *did* buy a set of ceramic kitchen knives from the folks at Stone River; show pricing ($75) and some fondling convinced me to take a chance on them.

I also picked up an ESEE Izula (in pink!) and Fire Kit from the folks at EMGear. Yes, pink. The other options were black, tan, and olive green. If I dropped one of those in the yard, I'd find it when the lawnmower did. At least I have a small chance of finding a pink knife!

My own mistake ate several of the pictures I took today - so there are some things missing I wanted to show y'all. I'll try to re-take the important stuff before I come home!

Gunnie prom tomorrow, looking forward to seeing y'all some more!

Collecting Firearms and You

I don't consider myself a firearms expert - not by any stretch of the imagination. If you want expertise on antique and/or collectible guns, there are plenty of other sources out there. I know a little bit more than the average bear about a few particular guns, and one of those is the Ithaca 1911. It's my one and only Grail Gun at the moment; I would gladly trade almost anything in my safe for a correct sample.

I was curious when I got an email from Goose Hillock that they would be listing used handguns online, so I clicked over and saw that they had a listing for an Ithaca. Sure enough, it's a 1911, and listed for $1400 - a pretty fair price if the gun is correct.

"Correct" to a collector means a few things: proper markings (slide, barrel, frame, inspection, ordnance, etc), proper parts (grips, mainspring housing, trigger, hammer, grip safety, etc), and does not necessarily put "overall condition" high on the list. These are things that the average counter ninja at $BoxGunStore isn't going to know to look for.

An "Ithaca Gun Co" slide can be had on Gunbroker for as little as a hundred bucks, and a cheap 1911A1 can be another $500. Put them together and you've got a gun that clearly says "Ithaca" on it, but there's only about $600 worth of investment. Turn around and take it to $BoxGunStore and ask for $1000 trade value; leave with a new AR or what-have-you and you're money ahead, and the store is sitting on a worthless gun.

So, here's a few things to look for - or at least the things that caught my eye.

We'll start with the overall gun:




Looks like a pretty decent gun. Some wear, but that's to be expected with a 65-70 year old gun, right? But a few things jump out...
The trigger:


Ithaca used a knurled trigger face on their 1911s, and it had a fairly significant radius to it. You should be able to see the knurling on the leading edge from that angle. Also, there should NOT be a gap between the trigger and the frame - along the bottom half of the back edge. Additionally, a gun of this age should have much more wear on the sides of the trigger.

In the same photo, above and to the right of the trigger is where the ordnance inspection mark should be stamped. "FJA" was the inspector at the Rochester Ordnance Depot and was responsible for ALL of the Ithaca 1911s. (Cite.) There should also be a "P" under the magazine release - indicating a proof test.

Same photo, note the difference in wear and patina between the slide and frame.

The mainspring housing:


Ithaca used a seven-groove MSH for their 1911s. This one *appears* to be un-grooved; in other words, a replacement. Also note the significant color/patina difference between the MSH and the frame.

The right rear of the frame:


To the left of the grip panel is where the ordnance acceptance stamp (crossed cannons) should be.

The hammer looks ... wrong. Can't quite pin it - perhaps short? - but it's not right, either. Same for the grip safety. Again, finish and patina consistent with the overall gun should be a big clue.

And, last but not least, the serial number:


Government-purchased 1911 serial number ranges are very well documented. Ithaca did not produce ANY in the 400,000 range. On top of that, all the Ithacas should be stamped "US GOVT PROPERTY" immediately under the serial number.

There is a LOT of money in collectible guns - no question about it. If you choose to get into it, arm yourself with knowledge before buying, and take a second set of eyes if you're looking at a large price tag. This Ithaca is stickered at $1400, but the reality is whomever buys it is probably getting a mix-master pot-metal gun with an Ithaca slide slapped on, worth perhaps $4-500.

Caveat Emptor.

The last gun of 2010

Friday, Dec 31, 2010. I drove up to $LakeShoreCity in the early afternoon in order to look at and probably purchase a Remington 572. (And perhaps a shotgun as well, more on that later.)

I had originally told the seller that I would try to make it up Thursday - but that didn't pan out due to my wanting a bit of sleep. I emailed him Thursday evening and apologized and told him I'd be up Friday if it was convenient for him. He agreed, gave me his phone number, and suggested I call before leaving to get directions and to give him a rough time frame.

I did so, and headed out... TomTom and I had a bit of a disagreement on how best to get there; the highlight of that was a "Go straight on" direction ... past a "DEAD END" sign. I instead chose to take the turn on to the "SEASONAL ROAD NO MAINTENANCE DEC 1 - APR 1" road. It was, indeed, unmaintained, but passable. Fifteen minutes and several miles of 4wd later, I was back on normal roads and heading the right direction.

The gentleman selling the 572 had listed several guns, and on the way up I had resolved that if he still had one of them (a VERY nice Ithaca Model 37 16ga) I would pick up that one as well.

I arrived right when I'd estimated, shook hands, and was introduced to the seller's "good friend who I haven't seen in five or six years". I looked over the 572, which showed a bit of its age and needed a thorough scrubbing, but was otherwise in good shape. The seller let me try a couple rounds through it just to make sure it fed properly and would go bang.

I handed over the money, and said, "By the way, you also had an Ithaca 16ga listed... any chance you still have that?"

He smiled and said, "Yep. I HAD it listed. JimBob here (indicating the friend) just cleaned me out of most everything I had. I only saved the .22 because you asked about it, figured you'd get first dibs on that one."

The friend is apparently giving that Ithaca to his grandson for a 14th birthday present. I hope the young man knows what a fine shotgun he is getting and treats it accordingly; cynicism and memory of myself at 14 suggests that by the time this young man is old enough to vote the Ithaca will have been neglected and abused.

I also have a bit of a sour taste on an "old friend" who's been off the radar until there are good prices on some very nice guns... but such is the life of being a day late, I suppose.

I brought the 572 home, figured out how to disassemble it, cleaned it thoroughly, and have put just a couple rounds through to double-check function. The barrel - which is essentially free-floating - has a tiny wobble to it, and I'm debating how best to address that. A "shim" of some sort is the best idea I have, but I'm not sure what material would work best. I'm guessing it needs to be only a few thousandths of an inch thick...

In any case, on with the pictures!

The scope came with the rifle; it's a Weaver Marksman fixed 4x scope with absolutely crystal clear glass.



The rifle is pre-1968, as it has no serial number. The only evidence of age is the date code stamped in the barrel. Using this page, I figured the barrel to have been manufactured in October 1959. The rifle is now entered in my C&R book...



One of the wonderful things about the 572 is its ability to feed essentially ANY .22 round (non-magnum). Short, long, long rifle, shotshells - all work fine. A .22 CB Short in this - often known as a "gallery round" is a wonderful thing. If you're teaching a youngster to shoot and they're flinching from the snap of a HV .22LR, drop a few rounds of .22 short in this and have at it! They're so quiet that you can often hear the firing pin drop; they're really no louder than an air gun. I expect I'll be stocking up on shorts soon...

Brief run down

Nothing of major import over the past couple days, but a few things worth noting.

I've been carrying the PM9 for a few days now. It's light and easy to carry, definitely on par with the 642. 6+1 of 9mm compared to 5 of .38Spl is a personal choice, I'm fine with either. I remain unimpressed by the High Noon that it came with, although it's better than the JMG I have for the 642. (The belt clip on the JMG has shredded a couple of t-shirts.)

I've gotten some excellent holster suggestions from folks and will be making a choice/ordering in the next couple weeks. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, I received my latest flyer from MidwayUSA, and happened to notice that they had the Maxpedition K.I.S.S. on sale for $40. I've been toying with the idea of a tactical man-purse (it's OK if it's tactical, right?) for a while and decided it'd be worth trying for $40. Maxpedition's info can be found on their site. Short form: slightly lighter-weight fabric and fewer bells and whistles than the standard Versipacks. I added the three-magazine pouch and universal holster, and expect I'll be turning this into a variation on the get-home bag. Two mags of .40 or 9mm, a flashlight, and slip in the appropriate pistol as needed.

I did manage to convince the CFO that acquiring the Mossberg 500 mentioned before was a good idea. We picked that up Thursday, along with a few boxes of Hornady SST slugs. I ended up opting for 20ga, and will be heading to the range soon to get the scope zeroed. It looks like the sale has continued for another week, so if you're on the fence about a great multi-purpose shotgun, you still have time.

Holster, revisited

Until ... well, today ... I'd been carrying my 642 in a $35 IWB from JMG Holsters. It's not a bad holster, but was lacking something.

When I got the 242, I looked around for holsters and found... nothing. The problem with a low-production gun is that there aren't many holsters for it. I emailed Ray over at Lobo Gun Leather and asked what he could do.

He got right back to me with a price, and I sent out payment. He emailed me Wednesday morning to say my holster and accessories were done and going out in the mail, and included a couple quick snapshots of them. He also apologized for the delay (five weeks instead of the normal 3-4), as he'd goofed the dump pouch (made it six shots instead of seven) and wanted to make sure he sent the proper equipment.

Well, it arrived Friday, and looks fantastic. Nicely formed leather, both sets of belt loops are nicely formed and edged, dump pouch holds the expected seven shots beautifully ... just a wonderful product overall.

I'll definitely be ordering from him again, and for anyone looking for a semi-custom holster, I can't recommend him enough. Look for pics later today or tomorrow!

Make the buffalo squeal*

In my last post, I mentioned Uncle Mike's holsters as being inexpensive but functional. "One size fits many," as it were. I stand by that opinion: a functional IWB holster for ten bucks isn't a bad deal at all.

However, that got me to thinking about options for an inexpensive carry setup. What are the bare minimums you need to carry safely. (Emphasis on safety; we don't want anyone rocking their carry piece Plaxico-style.) I'm not going to get into off-body (purse or fannypack) carry because I don't carry that way and can't provide insight into it.

So what do you need?
- a belt
- a holster
- a gun
- a spare magazine

I'll address these individually...

The Belt
If you're going to be carrying, a sturdy belt is essential. The braided-leather or single-ply nylon/canvas belts aren't going to cut. For that matter, most department-store leather belts aren't really sturdy enough either.

The belt is going to be taking the weight of the gun and holster, and distributing it across your hips. It needs to be rigid enough to support the full weight of the gun without allowing it to flop around, but also flexible enough to be comfortable to wear. This is not the place to skimp.

There are plenty of good options out there across the price range. On the lower end are the good nylon belts a la the Wilderness Instructor belts. Moving on up the scale we get to things like Filson bridle belts (this is what I wear, about $50 from LL Bean) and then to the even more expensive things like buffalo hide and into the exotics. It's easy to spend well into the $150-200 range just for a belt, but it's not necessary.


The Holster
This is where personal preference really comes into play. For style, leather wins. For comfort, leather usually wins. For durability, you're going to be looking at Kydex or other synthetics. If you want to go inexpensive, there are "one size fits many" nylon options from places like Uncle Mike's and Bulldog** for as little as $10-15.

A slight step up the price range gets us to un-formed leather from folks like JMG Holsters. I carry my 642 in an IWB 7.0 from JMG, and my only complaint about it is the sharp edge on the clip chewing up my shirts.

In the $40-60 range, you're starting to look at mass-produced leather and kydex that are formed to a specific gun. BLACKHAWK!, Fobus, Galco, Bianchi, Don Hume, etc, all have good holsters in this range. Alternatively, there are LOTS of small leather shops - often some guy working in his home shop a few evenings a week - that can produce one-off holsters in this price range. The tremendous advantage to this is the customer service. You want an IWB with 1.5" loops and a rear cant? No problem, just ask! (I have an IWB with two sets of loops and a dump pouch on the way for the 242. $80 from Lobo Gun Leather.)

Move up to the three-digit price range and you can get even more interesting bespoke holsters from larger names. Milt Sparks comes immediately to mind; as does Tauris Holsters. You can start looking at exotics, carving, stamping, etc.


The Gun
If you stop by the newsstand and pick up a handgun magazine (not to be confused with an "outdoors" magazine like F&S or OL), it's likely got some pictures on the front of some very pretty carry guns. Kimber is a perennial favorite, as are Dan Wesson, Sig-Sauer, Smith & Wesson, Wilson Combat, etc. It's not often you'll see the likes of KelTec, HiPoint, Bersa, Rossi, Taurus, or the other "budget" guns getting a cover story... but these are the guns a lot of us carry.

At the extreme low end, you can pick up a HiPoint C9 for about $150. No comment on reliability; I don't have one and wouldn't choose to carry one if there were other choices. However, it IS better than harsh words, and I look forward to the results of MultiGun's testing.

KelTec, Rossi, and Bersa can be found in the $250-300 range, but the list goes on. Smith & Wesson J-frames can often be found starting around $400.

A spare magazine for an auto will run you $25-30, a speedloader for a revolver is $10-15, and a pair of speed strips is $5-6. What you use there is up to you.

So, if you're going to go CHEAP:
Wilderness belt: $35
Uncle Mike's holster: $10
HiPoint C9: $150
Magazine: $15
200 rounds FMJ: $50
50 rounds JHP: $15
Grand Total: $275

That's for a full carry setup with enough ammo to practice, check reliability, and a box of carry ammo.


Move up one notch:
Filson belt: $50
JMG holster: $40
KelTec PF9/Bersa Thunder9: $270
Magazine: $25
200 rounds FMJ: $50
50 rounds JHP: $15
Grand Total: $440

That'll get you a slightly-to-significantly higher-quality carry gun, a better holster and belt, and practice ammo.


What if a revolver is your thing?
Filson belt: $50
Lobo holster: $75
Smith & Wesson 642: $425
Speedloader: $15
200 rounds FMJ: $60
50 rounds JHP: $20
Grand Total: $645

We're moving in to serious money here, but it's still a relatively inexpensive setup.


Let's look at the top end without getting into true custom guns:
Beltman elephant belt: $200
Milt Sparks VM2 w/ sharkskin: $145
Dan Wesson VBOB: $2000
Magazine: $40
200 rounds FMJ: $70
50 rounds JHP: $50
Grand Total: $2505


Literally an order of magnitude difference in price - but either one can save your life. It's just a question of how good you want to look doing it.


* - two internets to whomever can tell me the origins of the title
** - I had a Bulldog IWB pouch for the 642 while waiting for my leather to arrive. It was a POS and the stitching came out within two weeks; I re-stitched it with some heavy thread and that held it together for the few weeks I had left to wait. I can not in good conscience recommend their products.

Brigid has a post about the .38 Things I Learned From Shooting. (Incidentally, I have no idea why she wasn't on my blogroll. Fixxored!) There's something on that list that every shooter should be able to identify with. I snarfled at this one:

(28) Bullets don't multiply but they do migrate. (How did this stripper clip end up in my sock drawer).

This is SO damn true in my life. A few weeks ago, MrsZ decided to clean out my truck, which has a habit of accumulating a winter's worth of detritus and hunting clutter every year between mid-September and ... oh ... summer. She piled the vast majority of it in one place designed to get me to sort it. (Blocking the access to the DVD player - the pile got shoved, not sorted.)

However, with company coming for the holiday weekend, I finally shoveled some of it into more appropriate places. In the pile, I found:
- my turkey vest, containing my calls, gloves, and no less than ten shot shells of various shot sizes and weights
- my woodland-pattern BDU jacket
- a pair of SureFire Sonic Defenders
- a tub of cover-scent wafers (fresh earth, mmmm!)
- my turkey hunting seat (a fold-down 4" tall mesh affair. Worth its weight in gold.)
- two feet of 550 cord sheathing, missing the core strands
- two winter hats
- one pair of winter gloves
- an UnderArmor camo hood
- three snow brushes
- my Dammit Stick (a 3/16x36" brass rod, rounded on one end, for clearing bores and chambers at the range)
- no less than six loose (and one full box of) Remington CopperSolid 12ga sabot slugs
- my electronic coyote call, with external speaker and speaker wire

And that was just from the back seat. I'm sure there's a partial box of slugs in the console still, and probably a magazine of .45 floating around in there somewhere.

It's not uncommon for me to hear, "Hon ... why is there a bullet on the kitchen table/garage floor/bathroom counter/bookshelf/coffee table/dresser/etc?" The answer is always - always - a shrug and, "Dunno." The top shelf of the safe has become something of a repository for loose ammo, and right now, off the top of my head, has a 12ga slug or three, a couple rounds of buckshot, a couple rounds of high-brass field loads, a handful of .22LR, a .22 CB Short or two, a .380, a few 9mm, a couple .44Spl, a box of .44Mag, a few .38s ... essentially, something for everything! (It's not unusual for spent brass to show up in the washing machine, too.)

While in my home state, this isn't an issue. In fact, in most states, it's not an issue. However, if I cross into Massachusetts, that empty case stuck in my floor mats is a felony. If I slide down into New Jersey, that loose sabot slug in my console is probably illegal - if you can make sense of that particular bit of law, more power to you.

And completely off-topic - to whomever in the 817 area code sent me the 4th of July email, thanks! ... Now, who are you???

Gun maintenance

Now that most of the hardware is in the big safe and easy to get to, maintenance becomes a bit less of a challenge. There had been a few things on my to-do list that I finally got done.

Last time I was at the range with the AR and the 1911, they were both having issues. The AR was refusing to strip rounds from the magazine, and the 1911 was stopping the slide about 1/8" out of battery.

I started with the AR, and scrubbed/oiled the bolt assembly very thoroughly. It now seems to feed just fine and I need to take it to the range to run a mag or two through for function.

Once that was back together, I field-stripped the 1911 and scrubbed all the waxy buildup off the feed ramp, frame rails, and the inside of the slide as best I could, then oiled and reassembled. It's running a lot smoother, but doesn't feel 100% yet. I need to run a few mags of ball ammo through it rapid-fire and then strip it and wipe it out while it's warm... and buy better cast bullets next time around. (These are either over-lubed or the wax melts at too low a temperature - the insides of the gun just get coated with gunk.)

Most of my S&W's are still pretty clean; I left them alone for the day but need to detail-clean the 242 soon. Last time I dry-fired it there was a bit of oil seeping out of the sideplate, and there are some sticky bits of old oil under the stocks. A good hosing-out with GunScrubber should do the job nicely.

Gun safe, part 2

After a very little bit of fiddling with the cracked shelf, and a judicious application of Elmer's Wood Glue, the safe is back together and should be fine. A stop at Home Depot yielded some extra shelf brackets, and more important, an LED rope light.

The safe has a handy-dandy "electric pass through" - fancy talk for "an outlet in the safe" so the lights and a Golden Rod Dehumidifier can be installed without trying to drill through a safe wall.

I installed the lights this afternoon, and they work wonderfully. Best of all, they're cool enough and low-draw enough that I don't feel the least bit concerned or guilty about leaving them on all the time.

Here's what it looks like with the door closed (note golf bag/clubs on right for scale):



And door open, with the lights in place:


I'll be ordering a GoldenRod soon, installing that, and then cleaning up the wiring so the bottom space is functional.

Blogshoot 2010

It's fast approaching, kids!

I started knocking out some more ammo for the event, and pruning the list of what to bring. I won't be repeating last year's "move in via Marko's van" approach... I spent more time running back and forth from the line to the gun cases than actually shooting or chatting, and that's silly!

So, without revealing what-all I'm going to bring, if you want to shoot my hardware, I'll have some ammo, but bringing a bit extra might be a good idea. Calibers to bring:

.22LR
.38Spl
.357Mag
.44Spl/Mag
9mm
.30-30

I'm starting to get excited!

(Jay: will there be after-shoot malt-beveraging?)

Side note: I have some extra .380 ammo occupying space that I wouldn't object to parting with, as well as a gun cabinet (Sentry sheet metal 10-gun dealie) ... if anyone is interested in either, drop me a note, and delivery to the shoot could be arranged.

Gun safe

I finally got around to upgrading my gun storage.

Several years ago, I got one of those inexpensive sheet-metal cabinets for my guns. Good for keeping small fingers out, or annoying a smash'n'grab burglar, but no real protection. It filled up a long time ago, and my closet was beginning to show the effects.

I got a smaller safe for my pistols - that filled up much faster than expected as well. (Funny how that happens...)

I had replaced the closet door with something a bit heavier, and put a deadbolt on it, then put a home-made rack on the wall in there. That got things a bit more organized, but was still leaving my collection relatively unprotected.

We finally got around to getting a fire safe. I'd looked at options at Dick's, but didn't really like what they had for the money. Lowe's had a few, but all smaller than what I wanted. Over at Tractor Supply, they had Cannon safes, which were fire-resistant, well-built, had an internal outlet, and much better finished than the other stuff I'd seen.

I was going to go for the 21-gun safe, which would hold my collection with a bit of careful packing. MrsZ pointed out that the collection is bound to grow, so I might as well get the "wide body" gun safe and have room for it. Then she saw the "tall wide body" and realized that would give us room for the miscellaneous small important things we have.

TSC mailed us a ten-percent-off coupon this week, and I used it today. Basically, it saved us tax. I took down the trailer, and they loaded up this bad boy. I very carefully drove it home, with a stop at Uhaul to rent an appliance dolly. When I got home and opened it up to take the shelves out, I found that one of them had broken on the drive. I'll be calling TSC and Cannon tomorrow to see about a replacement.

Long story short: next time I buy a safe, I'm paying the money to have in-home delivery. It took me, my father, and the neighbor to get this thing into the house, with helpful commentary from MrsZ, my mother, and one of MrsZ's teammates. Next time, let the guys with the right tools do it. Seven hundred pounds is nothing to play around with, and we're lucky no one got hurt in the process.

It's in, though. Once we've cleared out the den and I've put a floor jack in the cellar, it'll move in there - but that'll be an easier sliding move instead of the headache we just dealt with.

In other news, some digging revealed that two LR44 batteries can be used in place of one DL1/3N cell. I grabbed some at Walmart this morning and found that the free Aimpoint works just fine. Now to figure out which gun to put it on! The Marlin is a leading candidate at the moment...

Gunsmithing

I've had some thoughts kicking around in the back of my head about tweaks and mods I'd like to make on several of my guns. Some minor, some major. The next step is to find the fundage, prioritize, and start doing this stuff - while continuing to grow the collection.

What mods, you ask?
By item:
Savage .17 - new stock (laminate thumbhole, possibly wide fore-end), new scope
AR - swap A2 upper for A4 upper, add scope
870 20ga - put on youth or adjustable stock, run it through a couple hundred rounds to work in the action
28-2 - convert to round butt, red insert in front sight, refinish to mirror blue
242 - magna stocks, tritium front sight
5946 - night sights, Hogue stocks

I'm sure there's more, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. And before someone screams "heretic" for doing major mods to a 28-2, it's already been tinkered with (nickel finish), and they are not uncommon guns.


In the vein of growing the collection, I've reached the point (financially speaking) where I'm getting picky about what I buy. I still appreciate utilitarian, but I can also start looking for utility with nice touches... instead of a Willys Jeep, I'm looking for a Humvee with leather. :-) The basics are covered, now I can look for luxury.

On the list of guns to acquire:
- a semi-auto 12ga. Likely an 11-87 or 1100.
- a double-barrel 20ga. I'm very interested in the Stevens 612 but want to put hands on one.
- a better bolt-action large-game rifle. .270. Probably the Savage 114 "American Classic".
- a dedicated target rifle in .223. Savage Model 12 is a leading candidate.
- a polymer bottom feeder. XD9 or M&P9 are the likely options, but I'd consider a .45 as well.
- a S&W .22 wheelie
- an NAA Mini
- finish an AR into a tacticool M4gery (VFG, light, optic)
- S&W 296 (because I have to have the big brother to the 242!)
- correct Ithaca 1911A1 *GRAIL GUN*

Doubtless, some of these will be things I trade for, in part or in full. To that end, I've picked up inexpensive things to keep around as trade fodder/sweeteners.

I also need to get around to buying and setting up a progressive reloading press - when a 45-minute range trip can burn 100 rounds of .38 without rushing, doing it single-stage gets old.

Arrived!

Last week I dropped a few hints on a pistol I'd stumbled into. To the best of my knowledge, only two people correctly identified it (JayG and LokiDude).

Here are the posts I was originally referring to:
Tam posted its big brother.
JayG lusts.

I quite literally stumbled into this one. A fellow had posted on the S&W Forum that he had seen one at his local shop in "pretty good condition", but was having trouble finding any solid information on it. I grabbed my SCSW3 and checked that, and posted a reply suggesting he buy it ASAP. The next day, there were eight or ten more replies of a similar ilk, and I took a chance. I asked him to pass along the shop number if he didn't buy it.

He emailed me the next weekend and said he'd been in there again, the shop still had it, and he wasn't going to buy it. I called them the next day after the aforementioned negotiations with the CFO, and the first answer was, "We don't ship guns to New York." I talked with the owner some more, and he decided he could ship to my dealer after all. Paid with my credit card, my FFL sent down information, and it was shipped out.

All of this sight unseen by me. Yes, I took a chance, but the model and price were worth the risk, IMHO. I picked it up this morning. Looks like it was "carried lots, shot little". Rifling is crisp and clean, cylinder is clean, finish shows some minor nicks and scrapes and shiny spots. I'm already considering modifications - VERY high on the list is replacing the front sight blade with a tritium dot - either an XS, or a Meprolight, or possibly Trijicon, depending on who actually makes one to fit.

So, without further ado, the latest addition to the Z collection:




A Smith & Wesson 242Ti. Produced for about six months in 1999, there just aren't that many out there. L-frame, titanium cylinder, sleeved 2.5" barrel, and seven shots of .38 Special +P.




Shown here with my 642, which is a J-frame 5-shot .38. The extra two shots and the switch from steel to titanium carry a weight penalty of about 2oz, along with an extra inch or so in length and about 1/4" in cylinder diameter.




And last but certainly not least, the family portrait. From left to right:
21-4 .44 Special, 4", nickel, with S&W laminate combat grips. N-frame.
28-2 .357 Magnum, 4", nickel, with S&W "football" target grips. N-frame.
242 .38 Special +P, 2-1/2", alloy/Ti, rubber grips (Uncle Mike's). L-frame.
67 .38 Special, 4", stainless, Ajax grips. K-frame.
642 .38 Special +P, 1-7/8", alloy/steel, rubber grips. J-frame.

Obviously I need to work on acquiring an "I" and an "M" frame...