Short Bolt

Caleb started this meme, jonesing for a Scout Rifle type rifle that shot .223.

Firearm Blog dreamed what it could look like.

And Tam expounded and commented, while Says Uncle just don't get it.

It is intriguing, a scout type bolt action rifle shooting NATO 5.56mm and taking standard AR magazines. Caleb's contribution is to that Cooper Scout concept is to add commonality of magazines with AR's.

I admit the whole concept has intrigued me, and I have agonized on a proper personal bolt action selection process here on this blog for 2 years, and here I go again.

I fell for the spell of the Scout Rifle that Cooper was such a proponent. A light, handy, general purpose bolt action rifle good for nigh everything. The problem with the actual Scout by Steyr? Cooper lamented the lack of a left handed alternative. And everyone else lamented the price.

Both are reasons I don't have one right now. I would have bought one as one of my first purchases near when I started writing this web log.

Instead I still wait for an alternative that is appropriate for me.

Why a bolt action? Because their mechanism is simple, leading to fewer chances of mechanical failure. Like a revolver. And that is a handy feature to have if you are alone, relying on your rifle, for hunting or survival or defense.

Unlike Caleb, I'd prefer the original .308 concept. But his .223 idea almost fits in with my carbine desires. I'd prefer that carbine in a pistol caliber I already have.

As for MY version of the Scout. My requirements are simple.

• .308
• iron sights as backup to a scout scope mount
• left handed bolt
• decent quality (pretty much ok with any middle of the road)
• rugged as a milsurp, but not super heavy. (Copper specified 6 kilos [correction: 3kg], but I'm not that picky)
• costs around $1000

Now, thanks to Caleb, I want to be able to feed it from an M1A magazine. Perhaps not a 20 rounder, but a 10 round magazine in a bolt action would make that Scout Rifle as good or better than any other bolt action ever fielded by any army.

My fantasy bolt action is just that, a fantasy. A bolt action pipe dream. I could have a rifle made to these specs, but it will cost more than $1000. I can get some flavor or left handed Remington and have iron sights added.

There is probably a SAKO or CZ or Remington out there that comes close, but nothing really gives me that spark to acquire it. And Savage 10 might best hit my price point. Maybe that's the attraction of the Scout by Steyr. Cooper's marketing of same made it sound most desirable. And he talked down the other verisions and clones to make me hesitate.

And now, as I mentioned, I want it to take a common magazine. And I sorta want that .223 version Caleb dreams about, too, now. Dammit.

[And I'd jump on this Aussie '5th Generation' Enfield in .308 with BOTH feet if it came in lefty! Oh my goodness. They even use M1A magazines, with aperture sights and provision for a scope... MUST investigate further.... {if there is even RUMOR of a lefty: WANT!}]

Featherweight/Scandium

SO, having a really lightweaight pistol is nice. You can carry it much easier than an all steel version. But I've heard from several source that you don't want to shoot the crap out of one.

For one thing, they can hurt. Not a lot of weight there to absorb recoil.

And folks recommend you not shoot too much to avoid excess wear on the softer metal, anyway.

But lets say you ARE a masochist. And your hands are particularly tough. And you just go to town at the range.

How soon before you DO damage the pistol? You shoot your snubbie loose or wear out a scandium slide? Would it be safe to say that if I shot 5000 rounds through a featerweight I'd notice some problems and warpage? How bout 1000 rounds? Has anyone ever heard of someone wearing out a lightweight gun?

News Roundup

I saw a link to this Liberty Sphere site on Says Uncle.

The interesting feature is that this guy does a regular 2nd Amendment news rondup. And he seems very thorough. Worth checking back frequently.

THANK YOU!

Jenny said... "Tighten the screw in line with and about an inch back from the loading gate. That's connected to the "tang" of the gate itself and it should tighten right up no fuss. Might want to loc-tite it. That was my first "oh no, it's broken!" gun moment, on a .30-30"

Oh my goodness! That did it! THANK YOU!!! I guess some kitchen-table gunsmith was all it needed, and it was certainly within my skill set. My 1894C is ostensibly functional again. It ain't done broke no mo.

This is exactly why I started this blog. To learn stuff I didn't know by tapping into a wide variety

While you CAN repeal the 2nd Amendment

You aren't repealing a right. The 2nd doesn't GIVE Americans a right. It's something everyone in the world possesses. Repealing the Amendment doesn't make the inherentness of the whole thing go away.

Repealing the 2nd just allows the Government to poop all over that right under the guise of law. You may be ruled as a subject and unable to arm yourself, but you still have a right to arm yourself for self-defense and to oppose tyrants.

They don't hate guns, they hate US. They don't hate us because we are gun nuts and have a gun or two or whatever; but because we may resist Evil, where they won't, and they don't want to be reminded of this failing.

Cleaning Rod

So I wanted a cleaning rod to push patches through my rifles. And I wanted one piece rods that had no segment seams and I wanted something softer than steel. Why? My rifles have to be cleaned from the muzzle end, and I didn't want to ding the soft edge of the crown and the very end of the rifle barrel.

I had heard Tetra one piece cleaning rods were good. And the one I have seemed ok at first. But the coating on the rod is peeling off like it was made of 50 year old black paint, leaving flakes everywhere. Krep!

I'm thinking maybe a Dewey. They seem to be everywhere.

Mickey D's

I don't know what to think about FTC types encroaching on blog content. Sounds misplaced. Doesn't the FTC have better things to do? Or, ideally, LESS things to do? Shouldn't they be concerned about weaselling out of over-generous pensions for retired FTC workers and layoff as many people as possible in their DC offices? It'd be a great service to taxpayers.

What I DO know is I could really go for some McDonalds food right now. Mmmmm-mmm! A Big Mac with that sumptious and juicy quarter pound of USDA grade A beef. And the special sauce is nie on manna from Heaven. I don't need to tell my readers how superior their french fries are. Makes my mouth water. After eating I'll wash it all down with an icy cold, refreshing, Coca Cola. I'm lovin' it!

Don't eat at those other fast food restaurants. They make their burgers out of Soylent Green.And Soylent Green is made from people.


[full disclosure... I don't eat McDonalds burgers. Not since 1975. I don't like onions and their burger comes with onion. It too much of a hastle to get them to hold the onions. It took the invention of the McNugget in the early 80s before there was anything I'd want at all off their menu save fries and a vanilla shake. While I don't eat their burgers, I WILL indeed cash any checks made out to me that the McDonalds corporation wants to send. Hurry, Ronald, before the FTC sticks their noses into the transaction.]

Yet more links

Defensive Handgun

And

Straight Forward in a Crooked World

This Perturbs Me

It truly does.

Massachusetts Law Enforcement are sucking up the surplus full auto military hardware to issue their policemen.

If machine guns are just good for slaughtering people then why can the police get new ones, but ordinary citizens have to settle for antiques set to a much higher price point? Do the police have a need for gunning down lots of people? Or are machine guns not so bad, and may have a defensive, protective purpose, in which case ordinary citizens may have a legitimate use for them and they aren't so unusual?

Remember, guns get stolen from the police all the time. And not all cops are angels.

The police aren't soliders. They are civilians like you and me. Their job is just taking the law and order burden off of the rest of the people's hands so they can go about their other business with that role taken care of.

As far as arming of the whole populace, and in light of the Second Amendment, it is my feeling that if the police can equip themselves with an arm, then everyone else can too. It'd be an easy rule to remember. And it shuts down the "Where do you stop? nuclear weapons? Attack submarines with torpedoes? 155mm howitzers? Fragmentation grenades?" argument of the hoplophobes by drawing that line. Cops don't have howitzers. The police don't use fragmentation grenades. Johnny laws doesn't have officers armed with guns hidden in cell phones, but they do have a snub nosed pistol on their ankle sometimes.

It's a starting point. Get to that line and then we'll discuss civilian ownership of M1 Tanks, with or without the cannon in the turret.

After news about them doing that arm-up got out... they rescinded that policy of weapon acquisition, so... Glad folks were watching and questioned those authorities.

[Update: But THIS Sheriff has the right idea. Sell over-priced collectible machine guns to private citizens. It's win-win.]

My Gun Done Broke

What? AGAIN?! Was it the 1911 again?


No, I hinted at this yesterday. The 1894C is out of action. I gotta make an appointment with the gunsmith.



You know the gate dealie that you load rounds into the rube through? It's funky. Droops down, and out of alignment. Maybe a spring is not holding the gizmo right anymore. And this is causing some feed problems. Jams up the whole damn thing. So, how do you UNLOAD a lever action by prying cartridges back into postion to hopefully bring them out the way they came in? With a metal tipped screwdriver, or course. And too close to the primer to make me feel really comfortable, I tell you what. There was some pucker factor but I got them out. I'd hate to set off the back of a tube and then get the chain reaction of exploding death.



And there is no way I am taking this apart for some kitchen table gunsmithing. I have no idea if I could get the verschlagging thing back together, and I like the rifle too much to risk it. The few shots I got off before it jammed up permanent were very accurate. More so than I deserve to be.

The Goods!

Oh come ON! You didn't think I'd really have risque photos posted here did you? I have much more respect for the sensitivities of my readers than that.

New Shooter Report

So, my brother came down to go to Hap Baker rifle range. He brought his son with him, and the boy had never shot anything more powerful than a nerf gun before. My brother wanted some rifle time and to familiarize his firstborn with firearms. He was given the drill and had memorized the 4 rules.


The trip to the range was POURING rain. But that is typical lately. It is traditional this year for any day of the week ending in a 'Y' for water to actually come out of the sky. It made me happy because rain usually means a less crowded range.


To start off, we shot the pump .22. Taurus' discontinued line of a clone of the Winchester model 62. The boy was not a natural, but he was no slouch either. I don't have a pic of his targets, as he took those home as a souvenir.


Next up was the the 1894c lever action rifle. But then again it wasn't... more on that later.


And finally, I had put on the new trijicon front sight on the M1A. And I wanted to be sure it was still sighted in ok. It was. Easy swap out, that. And after checking, we blasted a few. The Nephew tried it for one shot. He is a waif of a boy. 14? 15? I can't keep track. But skinny. We were lucky to convincing him after my brother complained about shoulder pain. Hmph.


The first thing we worked on with the nephew was sight picture and then squeeeeeeezing the trigger for a surprise break. After the first cease fire I could have kicked myself. I forgot to tell him to focus on the front sight, not the target. He got much better results with he did that.





I'm no deadeye, but I kept all the shots on the splatter target. Inside the splatter's 10 ring is inside the 9 ring on the official NRA 100 yard target. So no .30 caliber scored less than 7 for me. Meh. Nothing to write home about but I'm certainly effective at 100 yards. And I called the flyers at 2 and 9 o'clock. There is even a coupla three .22 I got out there, but real .22 at 100 yards, for score, is a pipe dream for us.



And my brother was no slouch, neither. At least he wasn't an order of magnitude better than me, as he is with pistols. And the rifle sling is set up for me, not him.






Since we were both hitting lowish generally, I went from 9 clicks elevation to 10 clicks. Could probably go with 11. More info to play with on a future range session. And that is probably the new front sight being sized just a few hairs different than the original.

We would have brought the Paternal Parental unit along, but dad just had some hand surgery and I doubt he could have shot well. I'll try to drag him along by the fall.

[It's a shame Taurus isn't making a Model 62 clone anymore. And this is a new development. But Taurus introduces and drops models like it's going out of style. They are really fun guns, pump 22s. Get yourself one. Better yet, get the actual Winchester. The Winnie is a bit pricier, but worth the 800 beans, if you got that kind of money for .22s.]

Gunnie Types

I've mentioned in the past another hobby of mine. I used to be more active with it. Woodworking. Now woodworkers can be like Norm Abrams, all decked out in expensive new big machines with a HUGE 3 car garage to do their projects. Others have a few low end Craftsman tools and make beutiful pieces of art out of plywood. Others like to work with Japanese handtools only, and their shops resemble a Shinto temple, sparse, and almost alien to Western woodworkers. Others only carve little ships captains and they need only a saw, a pencil, and a knife or two. Others use antique handtools.

I use antique handtools. Mostly Muhrikin. Though there are a few Brit ones in there. Very few Continental tools, but I've always been enthralled with the idea of a French bisaigue. Need to get me one of those...

I was deep into the nitty gritty of tool types and eras and makers and when the quality sloughed off and when it got better. (Hey! I bet Roberta know the difference between and Irwin and a Jennings...)

But it was only recently that I absorbed the data about the significance of the S&W 5-screw revolvers. Until that, I had no idea. It's taking a while to absorb this minutia, and I don't know if I'll retain that. I don't know why. It took forever to figure out the difference between round butts and square butts, too. (On revolvers. I got the whole thing down on butt-shape for people.)

In the tool world, there are types. Collectors, Users, various degrees of both. Some concentrate on one of everything, some on one company like Disston or Stanley or Norris. Some on one tool type. I know of 2 anvil collectors. One had structural problems until he moved all of them from the living room to the basement. Some users will still use modern tools for some procedures. Some won't use anything that wasn't available before 1812.

And gunnie types are the same. There are 1911 collectors. Colt collectors. Smith and Wesson collectors. Some go for milsurp rifles of the US, every issued rifle from 1776 on.

Tool types have an issue with Gunnie types. Gunnie collectors of Winchester stuff put a higher premium/price on some tools because Winchester made some handtools for a while. Ruger made a pistol shaped hand drill.

And there are gun users, that use their race pistol to shave off time at competition. These types may LIKE the idea of a Garand, but don't own one. Other users shoot target 1000 yards away with a souped up bedded rifle. And don't even own a pistol.

And there are combinations of all three.

What am I? I am less a gun collector than I was a tool collector. That's a reason I don't have a handle of the fine bits and details yet. Plus, gun collecting is more expensive. I'm a bit of a user, but I've done no competition, just a bit of training, and I'm not even a weekly gun range goer. There is another gun type. Politico. I'm that, too, as most of us are. But again, I'm not a Snowflakes in Hell type, or even a SaysUncle.

But all I excel in in guntypes is thinking on what type a guntype various people are.

Hey T-Bolt!

Why do you want/prefer to disarm by removing the whole holster, rather than just take the gun out and leave the holster on your belt?


Several commenters wondered when I mentioned that in THIS post.


Well, I've got a reason.


I am of a mind that you take the gun out of the holster to shoot it to clean it, ideally. If you unholster you are now handling a firearm that may be cocked and locked (if you have a 1911 type) or just have one in the chamber ready to go with a trigger that isn't that hard to pull (ala Glock types.) Handling a firearm in a somewhat casual situation, like stowing it in the car while you go into church or the courthouse, you increase the chances of that finger you endeaver to keep off the trigger 99.999% of the time. If it was still in the holster, and that holster is a good one, then you have reduced the chances of snagging that bang switch on something and putting a hole in your dashboard or something more valuable.


I'm still getting used to the safety idea surrounding carrying with one in the chamber. On one hand, when you need it fast, not having to rack the slide is a safe thing. On the other hand, if you go around with a round in the pipe you got that one chance for an unhappy discharge when you monkey around with the gun, putting in the nightstand or under your pillow at bedtime, or under the floor mat when entering your kid's school to accept the scholastic accolades for raising such a smart student. Or whatever.

So my thought is, keep it in the holster as much as possible, and keep it ready to fire.

Where did I get this attitude about keeping the pistol in the holster as much as possible? I'm pretty sure it was Tam, but I can't find the old post of her'n to be sure. And hell, I respect Tam's thinking. Makes sense, to my melon. And things that make sense can be few and far between.

My preference errs on the side of safety and caution, all round. That doesn't mean someone can be careful and do things the tuthuh way. I don't judge. Not unless you start spinning your pistol around like a cowboy trickster with great flourish, finger in the trigger guard... with a 1911... THEN I'd need to find someplace else to be. In a hurry.

Spammer

Great. I got a commercial spammer. At least he 'says' my posts are great in the comment. If he shows up again, I'll have to turn on moderation for all posts. I've deleted several.

JayG had a post about a Happy Ending

A happy ending to a home invasion. The bad guys got shot after a doing a horrible job at victim selection. The thing that caught my eye was this:

So the robbers rounded the home owner and the rest of the folks in the house (according to the TV coverage) into a room... that contained a shotgun. LOL! Bad luck, robbers. Good job, homeowner!

Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear about a home invasion where the bad guys herd the residents of the home into one room, I start thinking execution. At the very least, they're getting everyone in one place, which means they're planning something IMHO. Pretty ironic that they chose the room with the gun

I don't think the invaders were thinking about anything more than robbing, necessarily.

A big tactic of home invaders is to round people up and put them in a windowless room with no phone. Like an interior bathroom. That way, one guy can watch that door, containing the residents, while other/s go about their business rounding up the valuables. Then they can slip away when done.

You DO keep a firearm in your bathroom, don't you? And all other windowless/phoneless rooms? JayG may have enough firearms, but he also has young kids and friends of kids that use the bathroom unsupervised.

Perhaps a single-gun safe under the sink in the bathrooms is in order. Something like these, which I use. For people that are afraid of guns, an old cellphone, charged, may be a good idea to have stashed. They are supposed to work for 911 calls only, if you don't have a calling plan for that old model.

Homeland

So it's been about 140 years since my paternal ancestors left our family's ancestral homeland in the shadow of the Alps and near the shores of the Bodensee. We were a simple people. Herdsmen and cheesemakers. The one time impressed into Napolean's Grande Armee for a little stroll to Moscow. And a bit of a jog back. But great great great great great grandpa (grosse grosse grosse grosse grosse Opa) made it back, at least.

I wonder how my long lost cousins are doing now, back in the old country?



Oh. I see. Maybe there was a reason our family left.

T-Bolt

Another Blog

I stumbled across Eagle1's blog yesterday, and while he's not prolific, I am still going to give him a read. Initial impressions are positive.

And one more. Hsoi

Pincus

I was listening to Gun Nuts Radio a couple Tuesdays ago. (You DO listen, don't you) and they had Rob Pincus on as a guest.

Guns! Nuts!

That's Marko's picture. Mmmm, walnut... Buy Marko's book. It's coming out soon. I'm gonna. Probably review it here someday, if you are hesitating to get it without knowing anything about it.

The man does lots of training of other people, and has done lots of self-defense training himself, so I wanted to re-listen to the show.

He sorta makes a dig or two at Jeff Cooper, and that sets my defense mechanism off. Til I realize, and Tam tells me, that he trained under Cooper at Gunsite "Back when the Colonel had his Tactical Tricycle." And his digs aren't really digs. They are elucidations. Clarifications. They are no skin of Cooper's back.

Example: Rob Pincus, quite diplomatically, knocks Cooper's color code system of alertness. Or so you think at first hearing. But he's actually telling us gun-toters to not rely on color code as a force field of invulnerability. Don't fetishize the code. Following it isn't like some sort of cargo cult, where the immune-from-bad-guy plane will land with gun goodies just because you made a facsimile of landing gear and a radio set out of coconuts. Just because your situational awareness went from Code Yellow to Code Orange doesn't mean you are safe from the bad guy you noticed. It's a helpful mindset. It helps you, individually, keep alert to your surroundings at an appropriate level. Alertness might, might, make you a less attractive target. Or it might make a determined bad guy change his tactics from direct boisterous confrontation to one with an ambush. Maybe when you go to code Orange you need to skeddaddle rather than think about where your CCW is on your hip. Maybe while you were at code Yellow half an hour before you should've decided to avoid that area you are now code Orange in before it goes all Red and you don't notice the ambush coming from 3 sides to your rear. Don't take stuff for granted.

The Color Code is a good start. It gets you thinking about mindset. But don't STOP thinking about mindset and situational awareness just because you memorized the code.

Another example: Many gun types, including Cooper, repeat a trope. "Only hits count." If you miss well you've given the bad guy his chance to take you out and you are dead meat. Pincus said, "well, misses count too..."

What?!!! What balderdash is this?! It goes against all conventional wisdom! Is Pincus trying to get me killed? Does he think a miss is as good? That's insane! Are we to lay down suppressing fire or somethng?!! Madness.

Well, when you think about it, a miss does have some value. Would Pincus prefer the good guys always hit the bad guys, TWICE, in the sinuses, turning them out like a light? Of course he would. But hits aren't guaranteed. And in a stressful self-defense situation you are more likely to miss. He's not saying you should TRY to miss. But if you do, you have raised the stress level of the bad guy adversary a whole bunch of notches. There is some value in that, sometimes. Yes. A missed shot can help, rather than hesitating and waiting for the ideal shot. Waiting for a bad guy to act most like a paper range target is not good for your longevity. Get good at hitting, and don't be paralyzed by a fear of missing. Don't be casual about your shots, by any means.

He makes me want to take his training course, after re-listening, Rob Pincus does. And check out his book.

And listen to Gun Nuts. Dammit.

[update... i was apostrophe crazy on this post...]