Category Archives: Weapons
Gun Industry Irritations
As much as I love the Gun Industry, there are some irritations about it that just make me cringe.
1. Magnum Research names ever dang self loading pistol a “Desert Eagle“. Freaking stop that. The new 1911 isn’t just a “1911”. It’s the “Desert Eagle 1911G“. It’s like they were trying to hide the 1911 in the name… you might miss it. Well, to make sure that you don’t miss it, they put “DESERT EAGLE 1911G” in huge bold block letters on the slide so large that the whole gun is a billboard for the DESERT EAGLE 1911G. Come on. Oh, wait… there is one gun Magnum Research has that isn’t a “Desert Eagle”, it’s the small .380 auto. That’s the “Micro Eagle”. Okay, they kept the Eagle theme, fine. But Desert Eagle 1911G? Putting the same name on everything, maybe Magnum Research should move their headquarters to West Virginia.
2. Bond Arms makes great little Derringer. Probably the best made in the business. But most of their advertisements isn’t showing the gun… it’s showing a poorly drawn illustration with really weird perspective angles showing a pattern of pellets. I just hate those cartoons. They offer a bunch of different calibers, but always illustrate the bloody .410. This puts you in competition with the Taurus Judge. You offer more than that, show that. And not with another cartoon. Come on… Show the GUNS. They are great looking guns! If you want to sell me on the gun, show me the gun. Instead, you are trying to sell comic books… that you don’t sell. Show me the GUNS!
3. EAA. You have this skinny girl with no lips making sexual innuendo in front of a backdrop of fireworks or something. She’s not that attractive. At least she’s not hinting about her panties anymore. Drop the Skank stuff. Look, I love the 10mm Witness. I gave it a positive review for Concealed Carry Magazine, because it’s a fine handgun. But I can’t take EAA seriously because your advertising is so bad. Who’s idea is this advertising? Jack Black? Come on. Change your advertising and you guys would be doing so much better. I know one of the biggest dealers in Utah who doesn’t stock your guns because the advertising is offensive. It’s all about the image, and the marketing is putting out a real sorry one.
These are my irritations. What are yours?
Heaven Help Me.
In a moment of weakness… I picked up a Weaver Rail that will fit nicely on my Rossi M-92.
What evilness have I brought into my home? I am ashamed. Okay… I’ll return it to normal sooner than I thought. I still might experiment with an optic on it… just so I can get a better idea on the rifle’s accuracy… and then this rail is coming off and another sighting system is going on. Because the factory sights on these guns are a let down. They are preventing these rifles from hitting their potential.
Now, before you hate me for what I did… I did nothing as bad as what Mossberg has done. Mossberg took the Lever Action, and defecated all over it. This rifle just might be put on display at the SHOT Show. If it is – someone please Falcon Punch the guy at Mossberg that did this.
That is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen some seriously nasty things.
UPDATE: I took the rail off and put the rear sight back on. It’s as if it never happened. I’ll look at other sight options.
Remington 700 LTR
We transfered through a Remington 700 LTR rifle today. If I was to have taken my XCR Compact Tactical Rifle, and sprayed it down with flat black Krylon, that’s just what it would have looked like… but without everything that makes the XCR so much better.
Granted the LTR is a bit less money… However you do not get the Trinite Coating that makes the XCR completely weather resistant. The LTR is just a cheap matte finish that didn’t look or feel very good. The polishing on the bolt and action makes the XCR so much smoother… and the LTR doesn’t have the X40 trigger system that is so much better than LTR’s trigger. I’m not sure what trigger the LTR has in it… but it didn’t feel nearly as good as the XCR’s. It couldn’t have been an X40. For a couple hundred bucks more than the LTR, you could get the rifle that I think is so much better. Somethings are worth splurging some extra cash for… seriously, get the XCR if that’s what you are in the market for.
My Trinity
For 2012, there are three firearms that I am going to acquire. These are the last guns I want to add to my collection… unless something new pops up that I never knew I always wanted.
1. I want my own Crusader Rifle. A real Crusader Weaponry, top down. I’m tired of seeing the best rifles I’ve ever seen… shipping out to other lucky blokes… I can’t take it anymore. I’ve got to have my own. This is going to be the first of my guns to get… my highest priority. To do this – I’m going to sell my Rock River. As great as it is… it’s not a Crusader. More on selling the Rock in the near future.
2. A Browning High Power. I almost had one, but it slipped through my fingers. One came available about 5 days too late or I’d have had it. I’ve always wanted one and by Odin’s Eyepatch, I’m getting me one.
3. A .44 Magnum 5″ S&W 629. Nightcrawler’s revolver has been haunting me all the more lately… shooting it planted the seed. Shooting Fenris’s new 629 sealed that. I must have one.
These three guns are my top priority, in order. Maybe I’ll stumble on other guns through 2012… but these three are the year’s Holy Trinity for me to get.
SIG’s Adaptive Carbine Platform
SIG has jumped on the pistol to PDW bandwagon. Joining ranks with Hera and CAA, SIG now has a kit you can attach your handgun into, to turn it into something different. Whatever it is, it’s not a Carbine and this is a poor use of the word. SIG would have been much better off to have simply created a real pistol caliber carbine.
There are a lot of critics of the result of turning your pistol into an SMG wannabe. Guys who want this would probably be better off with a real SMG type weapon such as an Uzi or Steyr TMP or something along those lines. These are your basic “PDW” platforms… Personal Defensive Weapons. They have their place and purpose. Now, converting your SIG or Glock into one of these type guns seems questionable to many. But when you lock your Glock into such kit, you do gain some things… Stability is one. Recoil is reduced and Control is enhanced… Accuracy is improved. Quicker target engagement and ease of target engagement is gained. If you use it properly as demonstrated in the video by SIG’s shooter. Holding the weapon out against the sling gives you an anchor point. It’s not as ideal as a stock, but it does work. The unit with the folding stock is better, but then you have an SBR. A Short Barreled Rifle. This is a Class III type firearm and as you can tell, it’s obviously more evil and malicious than using a floppy single point sling. One other thing to be aware of is that attaching a vertical foregrip as shown in the video, well that’s the spawn of Satan as well… Doing that creates a new form of wickedness called an AOW… or “Any Other Weapon”. Something the ATF has been unable to appropriately classify. So you can have this SIG ACP kit on your gun and legally it’s just a pistol still. Until you put that Vertical Foregrip on it and then you have an unregistered AOW. You can’t do that unless you go through the same Red Tape as you would to register your SBR. Now, you can put a Bi-Pod on your handgun. That’s legal. You can even fold down one leg as use it as a VFG… Because it’s still a Bi-Pod. So watch out for that. AOW’s, SBR’s… Oh my. So many ways to commit a felony.
The only thing that could make this SIG ACP any better would be to mount a Taurus Judge in it.
Suggestion for Ruger
Your new .22 Pistol will sell very well.
But what would do better… would be to make it in .22 Magnum. People keep asking for the KT PMR-30… and KT can’t deliver the volume.
Make your SR-22 pistol an SRM-22, in .22 Magnum with night sights and a real high capacity magazine… and you would have a ferocious Home Run Hit on your hands.
CZ vs The High Power
Don’t get me wrong here… I love the CZ 75, and clones. The P-01 and SP-01’s are fantastic. CZ does indeed deserve much love.
But not matter how good the CZ is… it’s a mere shadow of the awesomeness that is the High Power. The High Power is the original design that the CZ apes. The High Power, even in 9mm, is one of the greatest handguns of all time. I know that Colonel Jeff Cooper spoke very highly of the CZ, laying on it much accolades… but I am going to go out on a limb here and say that Cooper was mistaken and he should have named the High Power as the advanced handgun that could unseat the 1911 as the next greatest thing ever.
Look at it… Similar single action function to the 1911. High capacity. Low recoil. Attributes that many of the top shooters are advocating. So many shooters are going for expensive custom 1911’s chambered in 9mm. Efforts to regain what was there all along… in the High Power.
If I was sitting at a chair around the board table at CZ USA, a company that has listened to my suggestions before… I’d strongly suggest that they take the CZ75 platform, and not just many a single action only version for competition… But make a new High Power of it, suitable for Duty use. No magazine disconnect or brake, night sights, lock and load carry, and a higher capacity than the original. Make it look like a High Power. And put it out with those awesome grips that are on the SP-01 and P-01 pistols.
Lever Flavors
In one of the comments was the question… What Caliber for a Lever Gun?
This depends on the purpose of the gun. For just having fun, for defense, or for hunting big game? Really it comes down to a Rifle Caliber or a Pistol Caliber.
For a Rifle caliber, you have .30-30, .35 Remington, and .45-70.
For a Pistol caliber, you have .357, .44, .45, or .44-40.
Each option in either category has it’s following. For plinking and defense work, a pistol caliber will do just fine. The .357 is mild and most of those rifles can also run .38 Special. Loaded hot, .357 magnum can be a beast from a rifle barrel… making it just fine for any big game you want to take a bite out of. For defense it’s probably ideal. If you are going to let kids or delicate womenfolk who think they are too sensitive for anything stout shoot your gun, load those .38 Specials and it’s a pussycat.
Stepping up, I really like the .44 option. I’ve killed a lot meat with .44 Magnum out of a 16″ barrel and it’s a bigger push than .357, but very manageable and you can still shoot it fast. With full house loads I’ve made accurate hits out to 400 yards. With Cowboy Action loads, really downloaded lead heads, it’s spot on at 100 yards. I’d have to put an optic on it to really get the accurate out of it that the gun is capable of. But I don’t want to do that. Yet.
I’ve not been impressed with .45 Colt, and .44-40, while a great round, is not one I’ve spent any real time with… only a box or two over the years.
In the rifle options, you can take the biggest game in North America. The .30-30 is the classic and will do most anything you want unless you are Bear Country.
.35 Remington does better on bruin and elk, but has no popularity in the wide open western spaces. A great option for timber country. It shoots much like a .30-30 but does so with a bigger heavier bullet. It’s a personal favorite as well, but in Utah they are as rare as hen’s teeth. Hitting with a bigger bullet is always preferred over hitting with a small bullet – when it comes to making loud noises and breaking things.
That leaves .45-70 Government… the authority… the big stick. It can drop anything in North America that has a heart beat, but has some dramatic thump to it… I like the .45-70 a lot… and from recent posts, you guys already knew that.
So for general use and flexibility, I’d probably say a .357 Magnum is the one to go with. This was the original caliber I was looking for in a Rossi Lever with a 16″ barrel. Waited a year for the .357 before I gave up. But I am glad I did, because I am truly loving the .44 Magnum. For a tactical, defensive type rifle or a plinker to have fun with… I don’t think the .357 option can be beat. If you can find one.
Rossi M92 Carbine .44 Magnum
I’ve spoken of it before… You guys know I have this little .44 Mag Carbine, an M92 Rossi. It’s a simple Winchester 92 Clone. Short 16″ barrel, lever action, really light and fast handling. Super smooth thanks to multiple Slipstream applications. It’s like melted butter on butter.
Shooting it, it is dead nuts on using 240 grain loads, specifically cowboy action loads, at 100 yards. With 180 grain full house magnum loads, it hits like 4 feet high at 100. Which actually puts it on for longer range shooting. 300 yards is very doable with this gun. Shooting the cowboy loads, it’s a pussycat. Real mild and pleasant. It’s fun. You break the shot, feel and hear the bang, and then… and then… you see and hear the impact of that 240 grains of lead smacking the target. Hard.
It’s a blast. So much fun, I could have gone through several boxes of shells in it… but I was being sparing with my ammo. I am not yet ready to start reloading here.
I have to say that right now, at this moment, the M92 Carbine is my favorite rifle.