The rant that was here has been moved to my thoughts page.
I want to talk a bit about the firearms that I own, why
I like them, and perhaps why you should buy them, if you are interested in
firearms (which I guess you are; after all, you came here, didn't
you?). At the bottom I will place a "wish list" of
sorts--purchases I plan to make before I die--hopefully, well before I
die! The biggest problem with the P-89, in my estimation, is it's bulk. It
is an extremely difficult weapon to conceal. As such, I sold it, and last
summer purchased... I have three shotguns. All were gifts from my folks. I don't have
pictures of any of them yet, but stay tuned. Mossberg 500 with Accu-Choke: I received this gun as a gift
from my parents when I was 14, I think?...It is a 12-ga. pump shotgun. At
the end of the barrel is an adjustable choke which is turned by hand to
adjust between full, modified, and imporoved cylinder. Mine is the only
one I have ever seen like it, so if you know anything about why it is no
longer made (or if it is), please let me know. Winchester Model 1897 Pump 12-gauge: My father-in-law has a
similar, slightly newer shotgun which I have shot skeet with and is
absolutely brilliant: handles well, and is superbly accurate. I fell in
love with it. My folks, therefore, found one for me for Christmas:
slightly older, with 2" less of barrel length. As a result, it handles
even quicker, and is just as accurate. If I were to recommend one shotgun
to anyone, it would be a Winchester 1897 (unless you were a goose hunter
or something specialized like that). NEW! Savage/Springfield double-barrel 12 gauge: My latest
acquisition. It has 2 3/4" chambers with 30" barrels. It looks
like a damned anti-aircraft gun but handles as quick as an air rifle.
It's a quick-handling side-by-side (though sighting down the barrel is
a bit like looking down an expressway until one gets used to it), and
I can't wait to try it out on some North Dakota ducks. I own two rifles: Chinese SKS: Look out, I have an assault rifle! Just
kidding. It was purchased before the ban, so I have a bayonet still on
it, which makes a handy monopod. I have a plastic 30-round detachable
magazine for it, which jams like crazy, so mostly I use the non-detachable
10-round that came with the rifle, or I borrow my brother's steel
30-rounder, which doesn't jam at all. The trigger is very stiff on it,
and has been since I got it. I keep meaning to take it to a gunsmith and
get that straightened out, but when I think about it I have no money, and
when I have money, I don't think about it. It's a fun rifle to shoot, and
it can still be fired much more cheaply than most high-powered rifles due
to imported military surplus ammunition. Since I haven't had time to enter the specs for the following members
of my wish list, right now all I have is the make, model, and a
picture of the leaders on my wish list (at least one of which would be
illegal for me to own, incidentally--#1). I plan to link these
pictures with the manufacturer's page, but I haven't had the time yet.
Also, if anyone knows where I can get a decent JPG or GIF of a
Chinese SKS, please let me
know!Pistols
Ruger
P-89: My first handgun
was a Ruger
P-89, 9mm. It came
with 2 15-round magazines, and had an ambidextrous safety (a big deal for
me, a lefty). It was also very inexpensive. Upon getting it home from
the gun show, however, it was highly inaccurate. After 100 rounds or so,
I was still lucky to hit the paper at 25 yards. I sent it in, and Ruger
replaced the barrel free of charge, after which it shot just fine.
Smith and
Wesson 4006.
This pistol came with two 10-round magazines (thanks to the high capacity
ban), and possesses an ambidextrous safety. It's barrel is an inch
shorter than the Ruger, but seems to weigh twice as much. Also, it is a
.40 caliber, which to me is a fine, fine round...A jacketed hollowpoint
weighs in at 185 g, compared to the 115 g of a 9mm. It doesn't touch the
230 g of a .45, but it will hold 10 + 1. It was, of course, much more
than the Ruger as well, but in this case one really does get what one pays
for--I couldn't be happier. It shoots dead-on center at 25 yards, putting
it a little high at a more practical range of 10 yards. In summary, this
weapon is heavy, accurate, and holds a generous number of heavy bullets.
I would suggest it to anyone looking for a .40.
Shotguns
Rifles
Glenfield
Model 60 .22: A
great semiautomatic. It
has a squirrel carved in the stock, and shoots very well. I purchased the
rifle
for $50 at a gun show, and I love it. It is difficult getting parts for
it--Marlin doesn't print the old manuals anymore, and all the parts that I
have seen for it are for the "new" Marlin model 60. The trigger plate
doesn't quite fit right from a new one, and mine is slightly broken. I
plan to carve a new stock for it this summer, and hopefully I will make
the stock so that the new style trigger plate will fit it.
Wish List
The Heckler & Koch MP5
submachine gun
The Ruger GP100 series
revolver (in .357
magnum, chrome finish, please!)
The Sig Sauer p230
.380
The Heckler & Koch PSG-1
semi-automatic
sniper rifle
The Beretta 92 9mm
