New Guns!

Yup, I splurged and spent the big bucks.

Well, not actually. My brother came home from Iraq recently and decided I'd have better use of Dad's and Paw Paw's guns than him. THESE guns at least.

If you look WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back to July, at my second post on this here blawg thingy, I mention a single shot break action 20 gauge shotgun my grandfather used to dissuade rabbits from raiding his garden. I got that. The last time it was fired was 1986. The last time it was cleaned was 1986. Got a bore snake to remedy that at Ye Olde Local Gonne Shoppe, Potomac Traders. Gonna go clean it as soon as I post this. Guess what brand it is? Sears. Sears Roebuck. My grandfather was a firm believer in the power and value of Sears. It makes sense he'd get a reliable, inexpensive firearm there, too. It's not a Craftsman shotgun, it's a Sears.

The other is the .22 bolt action my father used when he was on his High School Rifle team in Bethesda Maryland back in the 50's. Yup, they had a rifle range in the basement, nary 4 miles from the District of Columbia in what is now Uber-Leftist People's Glorious Republic of Montgomery County. The rifle is a Mossberg Model 144. It has Lyman style peep-through that I just love. It's not a primo target .22, but it isn't shabby, either. It has some stamped metal and bakelite furniture on it. Like the trigger guard is bakelite. Has Mossberg ALWAYS put plastic trigger guards on stuff? And the trigger is a bit sloppy. If I were to do anyting to it, I'd replace the trigger guard and get the trigger works themselves tuned up by a gunsmith. That's the bad. The good is, it's my Dad's, bought by my Grandfather FOR him, so there is the HUGE familial connection I like so much. The stock is real walnut. The bolt has cool looking case hardening discoloration and mottling that people are spending so much money on these days because it looks so cool.

Oh, and the bolt handly doesn't have a regular knob, but a t-handle arrangement. That's good for me, as I can more easily reach over to work the bolt with my left hand without losing sight pucture.

I can't wait to try it out at the range.

Ooo, AFTER I get a magazine for it. Dunno where the origninal went. My local gun store had some Mossberg magazines, but they wanted me to bring the gun in to fit the magazine to be sure. And I've seen websites with a few for sale.

And MBtGE has a whole turd-ton of .22LR ammo that he is at a loss to use up. It was a good value so he bought bricks of it, but that particular ammo doesn't feed well in his Ruger semi-autos. Well his folly is my gain! He's a small-minded slow-head and he never reads this blog (I don't think he CAN read, actually) so I can probably talk him out of his ammunition and make him enjoy the experience of me fleecing him out of his hard earned gummint workman's comp check. Oh I didn't tell you? He worked for the county road deptartment until he faked an on the job injury. Ever since he's been suckling on the taxpayer teat.

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UPDATE: MBtGE is a fine, upstanding, well-educated citizen, that always adheres to a high-minded civic duty. He is a tax paying private sector professional with a work ethic beyond reproach, and would never DREAM of taking a dime not earned. This statement was not coerced in any way. -Bolt

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Anyway, here's a pic:

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