Master List 4

Getting simpler over time. Had a half dozen of so on Master List #2.  Fewer on #3

In order of desire...

1.  A .45ACP rifle with a big honking suppressor.  DeLisle repro
2. I kinda jones for S&W Model 65 with a 3 inch barrel?  K Frame, "the perfect carry revolver".
3. A .308 rifle good for hunting, with glass.  A tikka?  
4. S&W Model 625.

And I am just sorta spitballing now.  If I happened in to my favorite gun store and Tom said, "Hey, we just got this in" and it was one of the above?  Credit card snap.  I can't think of anything else that would do that.  Not in the sub $3000 range.  

---

I'd buy a $10,000 gun, but I'd have to think on it.  I just can't think of a gun that price I would want.  Working BARs go for much more.

Am I weird for wanting a relatively low magnification fixed power scope for a hunting rifle.  4x can get you pretty close to the action for any venison.  And sniping bad guys...  Hell 500 yards is pretty far and Marines routinely quality at that range over iron sights.  A 4X ACOG is pricy, but all decent scopes are pricey.  Kinda weird hunting with a bolt action and ACOG combo.  But why not?

Though it is not like I am going to go rifle hunting anytime in my future.  No, wait, you never know.  A hunting trip could fall in my lap, some season, somehow.  "I'll drive you to my buddy's lodge in West Virginia, we'll hunt and then cigars and bourbon.  The stands are a easy stroll from the warm comfy beds."

BAG Day

Today is Buy a Gun Day.

You are supposed to take your refund from the IRS and buy a gun with it.

I dunno about you, but I blogged already that I had to write a bigger check to the Treasure Department this year.  I only got a $1300 tax cut from Trump, not the $2000 my payroll department at work assumed.  Either way, I haven't gotten a refund back in ages.  I arrange my witholdings that way on purpose.

But so?  Doesn't mean I can't join in the fun and buy a gun anyway, right?

Yeah, I have a gun or two.  I have filled the niches that need filling.  When I started this blog I had a list of guns I needed gettin.  So now it is all wanting.  And I want for nothing, right now.

The list of possibles, today, is down to a paltry 4, and none blow my skirt up this month.  Maybe next month?

1. Do something with the extra 1911 frame I have. 
2. A .308 rifle good for hunting, with glass. 
3. A .45ACP rifle with a big honking suppressor. 
4. Maybe a plastic 9mm modern service pistol...? S&W/Sig/Whatevs.

Easiest is #4.  Those are still thick on the ground.  Any gun shop has #4.  The others take some doing. 

Tried to do a hunting rifle already.  But that Savage 99 was a lemon.  I still have an M1A doing that job, if push came to shove.  1 and 3 are gunsmith jobs.

So, if I was gonna buy a gun it's that pistol.  Not a very exciting option, emotion-wise, huh?   

The return of Monday Bupkis

So, now I gotta free-associate gun content.

Plus, ya know, turkey day stuff.

Hmmm.  Nope.  Nuffin.

Thinking of selling some odds and ends.  Like a 1970s era plated Commander.  Not enough meat on the rails to rebuild it, but it might be the bees knees for someone else.

Heh.  I have 3 custom 1911s.  What the hell happened to me?  But once you have custom 1911s in plentiful quantities, ordinary ones with no other sentimental or historical/collector value seem sorta surplus to requirements.

"Ever think about a 4th, T-Bolt?"

You know, now that you mention it.  I have a threaded barrel.  I have an unworked frame with my name on it (002) and I have a lotta high end parts, perhaps more than enough to complete a new pistol.  And I kinda want a suppressor someday.  So, perfect.  The only thing I am missing is a slide.

30 years is still a long ways off, but then again it will be here before I know it.  I don't wanna have to worry my heirs dealing with a dozen boomsticks. What will I still have when I am 80, I wonder?  The 1911 I built and it's backup.

Unless I am more crippled.  Then it'd be nuffin. 

Master List 3

Getting simpler over time.  Had a half dozen of so on Master List #2.

1. Do something with the extra 1911 frame I have.
2. A .308 rifle good for hunting, with glass.
3. A .45ACP rifle with a big honking suppressor.
4. Maybe a plastic 9mm modern service pistol...?  S&W/Sig/Whatevs.

And none of those blows my skirt up with a case of the wants.  Clearly I am not a collector-collector.

Maybe I need a gun specifically for training.

Got nuffin

I need to hit the range.  Should schedule that for later today.  I feel kinda relaxed.

Also got a hankering to buy a gun.  It's been a while.  Let's see what's doable on the get-list:

1. Custom single stack Commander length 9mm 1911. 
2. DeLisle style new made bolt action rifle, left handed. .45
3. S&W M&P
4. .22TCM/9mm single stack Armscor 1911
5. CMP vintage Colt 1911. 
6. Hudson H9

Well the first two have a long long lead time.  And a CMP vintage gun...  Not feeling it right now.   Same with the Armscor .22TCM.

That leaves an M&P or H9.  I'll see where my mood lies when I get to the gon sto.  H9s should be gettable in Maryland by now.

It's been so long!

Hudson H9

I really can't wait for someone I know to review a Hudson H9.  I am a little excited about this new pistol.

After that I wanna chance to handle and maybe shoot one myself.  In a few years, after the initial release excitement has died down. This gun might make my Want List.

What the heck, I'll add it now.  It might go UP in rank, tho.

Why?  It's just neat.  And it just feels like its a gun that might live up to the hype.




You know, tho, if I walked into a gun store tomorrow and saw one with a $1,200 price tag I'd have a hard time not opening my wallet immediately.

According to reports from shot show, they are coming out with an aluminum frame version.  H9A.  8 ounces lighter.

That's a lotta guns, nut...

Been noticing the want list.


"If you got all the 1911s on the list, how many would that be, T-Bolt?"

Well....

The Ciener, the Springfield rebuild, the T-bolt 001, 002, the Hardcore, the TCM, the CMP, the Custom...  8?

Yikes.

"How many revolvers?" 

Two 640s, a 617, a 686...  4?

Any other pistols?

Well, of course.

"Rifles?"

Bout as many as revolvers.  Oh, you mean .22s, too?

"Shotguns?"

Bout as many as revolvers?

"So, a score or coupla dozen firearms?"

Sure!  Let's say that.

"You are a gun nut, now, aren't you?"

Not really?...

Maybe I should sell some.  In my defense, I don't HAVE some of those.  Tbolt 002 is just a frame!  The TCM is just a notion.  One shottie is a parts gun.  But.  I didn't count any of the guns I have buried in special containers on land near Bedford listed in tax records as belonging to a Mr. Josephus Donnerbolzen.  Or inside gunsafes in the elaborate bunker system carved into the Pennsylvanian hillsides, there.

At the bottom of every 5 gallon bucket of rice is a loaded Keltec .380 or Ruger Elsie Pea in a sammich baggie.

MASTER List 2

Modified again...



For now, in no particular order (but probably in order of priority):

1. Custom single stack Commander length 9mm 1911.   Just cuz.  And Sam has an extra frame already...  And I have a barrel and slide....  This is crazy talk!
2. DeLisle style new made bolt action rifle, left handed. .45
3. S&W M&P 2.0 or Sig P320.  Full size.  With a light rail obviously.  House pistol.  9mm prolly.
4. .22TCM/9mm single stack Armscor 1911.
5. CMP vintage Colt 1911.  
6. Hudson H9
7. A Browning BLR in .308

And in there, somewhere, is this stainless steel Caspian frame I gotta turn into something.  Commander .45?  That's a thought.

NEW Master List.

I have an old one I started 10 year ago.  It's still somewhat valid.  Things like ".22 revolver" used to be on there.  And ".357 lever action rifle."  They aren't anymore because I got those.  And there isn't really a priority anymore.  Everything now is 'just because it'd be neat.'

1. .22TCM/9mm single stack Armscor 1911.
2. CMP vintage Colt 1911.
3. S&W Model 19.  No lock.  Earlier model?  Like a dash 3?  Or the Stainless version 66-3.  Condition is important, naturally.  Full length extractor rod with the shorted barrel do-able.  So, 2 and half inches, I guess.  I'd have to hammer down the details.
4. Custom single stack Commander length 9mm 1911.   Just cuz.
5. DeLisle style new made bolt action rifle, left handed.
6. S&W M&P 2.0 or Sig P320.  Full size.  With a light rail obviously.  House pistol.  9mm prolly.

Or bag it all and just get the .22 TCM full size with a light rail and the custom Commander with no light rail.  Then call it a day, forever!  Depends on the mood.

Huh.  Pistol heavy.  I must be getting old.  I wonder what I'd be like if I lived next door to a nice rifle range...

I may get any one of those on the list soon or never. 

Random Thots on the Sig P320

So, the Sig P320 must be on the OK list in Maryland because my local gun store has them for sale.

The 320 is the gun that won the Army slection process and is set to replace the Beretta. In case you have been living under a rock and don't know: It's a modular gun. The serial number part is the removable trigger group. This pops out of the frame. So you can swap frames easily. Or slides and barrel combinations. It's neat.

One of the things they use to sell the gun is an in-store display with the 3 different grip sizes for you to handle, small medium and large. I have to say, even the large isn't that large compared to the fat baseball bat that other Sig models seem to feel like in the grip. And the small feels downright concealable. Good idea, Sig, these displays. If you buy a gun and want a different grip you can order a new size sent in the mail for $40. I'm thinking there is potential for further customization in aftermarket shops. There could be as many P320 grips as there are 1911 grip panels.

I was prejudiced a bit against Sig before this. If I was rooting for anything it was for Smith and Wesson, but for no real rational reason. Mere nostalgia. But this will be fine. Part of that attitude is the apparent quality of the gun. The other is me shedding firearm prejudices as I learn more about shooting.

I am wondering how crazy the swappable barrels will be. How many different calibers will be possible. The standards, yes. But then what? My gun-geek mind boggles. .32 ACP just for poops and grins? Why not. 10mm for those people? Is that even possible? .38 Super? Ok...

I could get one.  Lemme get better with my new 9mm before thinking about another pistol, with yet another OS, acquisition. 

The List

I need to update the old Master List.  The List of guns I want.  It is List season after all!

Been a long time since I updated it and it has been a long time since I 'needed' anything right away.  I have a few guns.  There is no hurry to get more.  I have my hats.  I am at the stage of Gunny-dom where people know about it and steer unwanted firearms my way.  Plus I am buying Frames for 1911.  I have stripped lowers from before MD's gun control madness.  I sort of HAVE 'guns' that aren't really guns.

The List

So the Savage 99 take s really HUGE item off The List.  About all I'd want now is a .30 caliber lefty M24 equivalent.

So, of the remainder of The List, what do you want most T-Bolt?

Good question!

I wish I had gotten shotgun doubles, and not Model 11s.  Simpler.  If I need more, a rifle or a carbine is at hand.  Shotgunning never really took on me.

A DeLisle equivalent REALLY captures my imagination.  In Lefty or course.  If Ima go through all the trouble of a tax stamp I want it to be the best performing quietest suppressed gun I can get.  And .45 is what I have that would work for this. 

If I had all those bases covered somehow?  I'd have no 'want'.

Fun Show Find

So, I've been looking for a lefty friendly .308 hunting rifle since I began this blog.  I kinda had my heart set on a Winchester Model 88, though the right left handed bolt action would work.  Or the Steyr Scout Rifle if it every had come in left handed configurations. 

I even already had a spare Winchester magazine.

Well, none of those guns found me at the Fun Show.  A Savage 99 found me.  This one, to be exact.

Huh?  Not shabby.  Apparently it was supposed to be JayG's rifle, as when he heard about it he cursed my name.  The scope on top is just fine.  A fixed power Weaver with a square-ish lens in the back.  It feels like I am looking at a TV display.  I think it is 4x.  Model K4W.  I think they are known as Wide Angle.  Great reticle.  Happens to be my preference

Oh, and 3 magazines came with.  Price:  just shy of $700 after taxes tags and title.

We went straight to the gun range to test it out.  Dammit.  The fourth shot I got a Failure to Eject.  The gun was a little dry, and I was a little hesitant with my working of the action.  After getting it home a cleaning rod tappa tappa tappa got the spent shell out of the chamber, a thorough cleaning and lubing was next, then testing by chambering and ejecting without firing, point the rifle in a safe direction.  "Work the lever like you mean it T-Bolt and it will go ok."  Good advice.  I'll check again at the range this weekend with any luck.

The 3 rounds it fired showed it was nigh close to zero already so, I may not monkey with that. 

Finish is above 90%.  It's light and handy and thus has a bit of a kick to it, but I am no longer bothered by that. 

Here is a pic of JayG when he learned about my score.  He seems kinda mad.

Master List Update

I haven't looked at the masterlist in a while. My list of guns I want and how bad I want em.

I haven't looked because I haven't wanted much in the way of guns. There is no gap in the battery I need to fill. And I am spending gun moneys on other things. See: Gunsmith classes. And there is more of those to take. I really enjoy the classes. The instructor is good and I like learning and I am rarely afraid of being initially ignernt so my ego isn't bruised ahead of time. Plus I am a slow learner. Witness the slowness of my marksmanship improvement. When I learned how to brew beer it took me twice as long to get it down than the average new brewer. How do I know? I trained a couple dozen fellas when I got a brewery of my own to run. They picked it up faster than me more often than not.

But once I got something mastered I do ok. The trick, for me, besides patience, is to find a sufficiently advanced teacher so I can go as far as possible down the knowledge road.

So, money for gunsmith learning. Prolly got some shooting-training in my future too.

But, if I WERE to update the masterlist... I think I'd still like a Winchester Model 88. I can hunt with an M1A or even a Garand, but a purpose built hunting rifle still tickles my fancy. If I fell in love with the right left handed bolty the Model 88 desire would fall by the wayside.

With all the 1911 gunsmith training, I'd like to buy 3 or 4 very cheap but not ruined 1911s. RIA or Howas. Filipino 1911s. Just base guns. And practice on them. Tune em up with my new found skill. Go to more classes with them if my skill is still weak. After these, maybe play with a Caspian frame or three.

But this would involve the Maryland gun control regime. And I won't play their reindeer games anymore. I can buy the Winchester out of state without a problem, but pistols are problematic until Mance V. Holder takes hold. It would please me to no end to buy 6 guns in Virginia, denying sales tax to my home state. And all because of Maryland's hatred for Civil Rights.

You know, some how I managed to get 3 Remington Model 10's without even trying. Two in good working order, but that means the shortish-sightless barrelled one can swap for something longer. But if I had to do shotguns all over again I'd just get one or 2 mid level two-barrel jobs. I don't mess with shotties much. Occasional clays and hunting. And for those 2 then reload is plenty.

I've toyed with the idea of a M&P45 or a XD Slim .45 or both. Should prolly add them to the list. At least the secondary. So, half want these and the doubles, whole want the 88 and the 1911s

~* Master List *~

Here is where I will keep the master lists. Please ignore, this is for me and my reference. I'm trying to organize and centralize my thoughts to make them more concrete. Stuff will move around, get added to, and subtracted from, on this list.

PRIMARY means, "I'm gonna git this. Prolly soon." SECONDARY is, "It's of interest, but may be a while, if ever." TERTIARY is, "Would be cool to pick up if the price was right, but probably not."


PRIMARY

1. Nuthin...
2. ...
3. I want an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle! 
4. More 1911s?  Lots of cheap ones and bare frames so I can bork them all up with gun butchery and try to learn something.  I guess I have 2 of these already.
5. S&W M&P .45ACP.  Two.  One and a spare.

SECONDARY

1. ?
2. .45 Carbine,  DeLisle custom repro? That would be my one suppressed item.  I lean toward a no-compromise DeLisle reproduction custom job. First I need to find a lefty donor rifle.
   
   

TERTIARY

1.  Blaser 93? Remington 700 model 84229.  Sniper type scoped rifle.
   
   
2. Double Barrel 12 gauge. An "Over the Door" gun. Cheap. External hammers preferable.  Maybe 2.
3. I like the Smith and Wesson R8.  8 rounds of .357, a light rail, tritium sights, moon clips.  Heckuva revolver.

4. Springfield M6.
   Or combo gun equivalent.
   
5. Chiappa Rhino...  Dunno, it just appeals.
   

6. A revolver that shoots .45 ACP like the S&W 625, Model 22, or a vintage Colt 1917.
7. .17 rifle of some kind
8. Something in .45-70. That sounds fun. Quigley Down Under, mate. Or, if I have an AR, the .458 upper... A Thumper of sorts.
9. Krag Jorgensen .30-40 Why? To have the issue rifles of the US military. With this, the AR above, and the .45-70 below, I'll have the lineage from 1870 to the present.
10. Sprinfield 1873 .45-70 Trapdoor

Getting beyond the Secondary tier may take a while. For one, my safe will be full. The Primary is in order of desire, but maybe not order of future acquisition, though I am trying to tweak it so it MIGHT be close to desired order of acquisition. A lot depends on budgeting. A VERY good deal (or free) on any list item cannot be accounted for, timing wise. Ideally, gifts of the cheaper guns would be great, but less doable. The Tertiary are all "Huh, that'd be nice" but I could go my entire life, maybe, not getting any and never having too big a pang of desire.

My broker is E. F. Tamara

And she says...

When E. F. Tamara talks, people listen.

She told my buddy, get a pistol.  Well, sorta.

That whole internet thing...  What do you need or want to have?  A 3 guns system and spares plus a .22 in case the Zombocalypse comes!  If you can have only one, then a shotgun!  Marines get guy on just the rifle, so the AR is fine!  Naw, you want a man sized round instead of a poodle shooter, get an FAL...

And so on.

But what if you are sorta banking on civilized society kinda going on like it is not for the next 75 years?  Sorta like it has for the previous 75 years.  And you are a suburbs person, working in an office, with hobbies that don't include wilderness adventure?

Well, yeah, if only one gun is to be had, that one gun should prolly be a pistol.  Especially in a carry regime like Virginia's.

What If

What if I was still married and had kids.  Those 2 kids would be getting ready for college now.  Plus, raising them ain't cheap even before considering the cost of higher education.

But, a lot of my guns just sorta wandered into the gunsafe.  I didn't pay for them.  Or pay much for them.

A bunch of others were guns I wanted. Just because they are neat.  Not because I had a certain use for them. 

Then there was guns I had a use for and were overcome by events or I learned that my uses were better fulfilled with another model.  A Garand is a perfectly serviceable rifle and a joy to own.  But if you then get a M1A, that Garand becomes a second tier goto.

So.  If I had different financial straights I'd probably have to sell some.  Especially utilitarian stuff that doesn't fill a role or doesn't fill it anymore.

If I needed money for the rice-n-beans to feed the fambly, and get braces on the dog's teeth, and get the worm medicine for the Missus, and pay for a new roof on the oldest child I could pare back.  Ideally I'd have not gone up blind alleys, but sometimes you gotta pay for experience.   

Low Inspiration

I don't know what is wrong with me lately. 

There's been talk the last week or so about a new .95 caliber round.  When I started this blog I'd have had a blog post about that new .95 wildcat cartridge with comments about how I 'might want to shoot that once...ONCE' but I'd 'never want to own that' and while 'it wasn't a thing for me, personally' I was also 'glad the thing existed.'

I could swore I already blogged about that thing years ago.  Others have...   That thing has been around for at least 1 years.  Anyhoo...

I just don't have either the blog or gun enthusiasm I used to.

I need to update my Master List to reflect how many guns I have no interest in buying.

I do h ave some smithing/modification projects to get to.  I could probably combine a deer scouting weekend with MBtGE and a trip to his 1911 smith.  I better order the parts now.  And make the mods I can do without his help.  (I want to put on slim grips and a differnt mainspring housing.  The smith will have to help me out with the tritium sights.  Dunno if I want to attempt the thumb safety mods.)

I got nuthin'

I do plan to get a stripped lower after memorial day.  Via auction and transfer if I have to.  All because of the new laws.  Then I am squirrelling it away somewhere.  Maybe in the freezer or in the flour bin or with the air cleaner in my car or something. 

Anything else on the List I need to get?  No.  Just some gunsmith work done.  I got enough guns, I think.  Oh sure there is stuff that would be neat to have, but nothing shouts out my name.

Here is a gunsmith question... Let's say you were going to put an ambi-dextrous safety on a 1911.  Is it better to take the gun to the smith and let HIM order the parts, or buy the part yourself and take it to him and say "put this on this and make sure everything works hunky dory for me."? 

Double

Shotties.

I want a double.  A coach gun with external hammers.  With sling swivel mounts. I'd use it for hunting deer.  Light.  20" is fine for deer and duck.  Handy.  Plenty of capacity for what I want it for.  It could double as a backup self defense weapon.

The problem?  The price goes from $800 and up for a decent eastern European one (ouch), and there are also $250 ones from China that look and feel cheap.  Or maybe they aren't.  I haven't seen enough to check really close.  Things like Century Arms and Norinco.

Is there middle of the road side by side with hammers out there that I just haven't stumbled upon?

If someone could tell me that, "heck, those Chinese shotguns are every bit as good as a Sears for 1960, T-bolt,"  I'd get one.

Hmph... just occurred.  My real want list is a 1911, a double barrel, a revolver....  All old style designs... And another stripped AR lower to keep as a commodity.