Old Photos

One of my hobbies is collecting old photographs. I like all types of photography but particularly photos of people and especially those that show my favorite historical era, the 1920s through the 1960s. I've already been sharing some of those photos on this blog with my People With Guns category but I have decided to expand a bit and show some of my favorite photos of people without guns.

I thought that I would start this new feature with a pretty girl, can't go wrong there, everybody likes a pretty girl. How about this stereotypical 1920s beauty? I can just see some guy wanting to get a photo of his pretty girl and his new car together, the two most important things in his life. Extra bonus points for anyone that can identify this car for me.

CHAPTER FOUR

The fourth chapter of my book is now posted. As usual if you have comments you can leave them here.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

It is my wish that all Americans have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Today is a day to be thankful and everything else should be put aside for that. We as Americans have a lot to still be thankful for. Thankful for the blessings in our own lives and that we are blessed to live in the greatest and freest nation in the history of the world. So have a great day!

New Rifle!

This is my new rifle that I alluded to in yesterday's post. It's a MSAR (E4) chambered in .223/5.56. I've wanted a bullpup rifle for a while now. I have been thinking about buying one of these for years but it wasn't until more recently with the "E4" model (accepts M16/AR-15 magazines) that I seriously started looking for one. Already owning mags for it and not having to go out and spend an extra $200-300 on more was the tipping point for me. I have read the good and the bad about these rifles on the net but when I found this particular gun at a good price I decided to take a chance on it. My plan is for this to be used as a shorter range defense rifle, from 0-200 yards. I believe it has several desirable qualities that help it in that role. It's lighter than my AR-15 carbine and despite having an 18-inch barrel (compared to the AR-15 at 16.5) is considerably shorter too. It is a very handy little rifle and with the optical sight I intend to install should be very effective for the intended purpose. I want to put a C-more or micro Aimpoint on this one to keep the profile and weight down. I won't be spending any more on it until I am happy with its performance. Right now I have an old Tasco red dot on it and when I'm completely satisfied with the rifle's reliability then and only then will I spend any extra $$$$$ on the gun. Range report coming up, hopefully soon!

AR Update

Lately I have been spending some money improving my "Bush & Wesson" AR-15 so I thought it was time for an update. Originally I had planned to mount a red dot sight on this rifle, probably a C-more, EOTech or Aimpoint. But recently I purchased another 5.56 (a separate post coming up soon) and decided to put the red dot on it and mount a scope to this AR-15. I really didn't want to spend too much on the scope or mount, eventually I went with a Millett DMS along with a LaRue Tactical scope mount and rings. I purchased the scope when it was on sale at Midway so the mount actually cost more than the scope. This was my first purchase from LaRue and I am very impressed with the material and craftsmanship of their product. Even if I decide to upgrade my scope I don't think I will ever need to change the mount. The Millet scope is also quite nice and is a good buy at the price. If you are wondering it is made in China and that's the reason they can keep the cost down, I have no doubt an American made scope of this quality would easily be double (maybe triple) the price. The scope is a 1-4x variable power with a very practical illuminated "donut - dot" reticle. It also has clear glass with little distortion and good eye relief. It's a little heavy for the size but overall a quality scope at a decent price. Everything that I read about them on the net said they were rugged and a good value, and that is my initial impression too, but only time will tell. I do need to get it to the range this year to zero it in and see how it actually performs.

I probably won't do much more to this rifle, I might upgrade the trigger, the stock S&W is okay but there is definitely room for improvement. I was also thinking of changing to a standard fixed stock. This adjustable one I don't ever use except fully extended and it has a rattle that is already starting to bother me. I never really intended to put too much money into this project and I believe that I am quickly reaching that point. But I've decided to put a few hundred more rounds through it before making anymore changes, if I make them at all.

Movie Guns

Jason over at Jason's BLOG had a post about Rossi's new pistol the Ranch Hand. I wanted this type of gun bad after seeing Zombieland but quickly lost interest when I found that they cost in the $1000+ price range. This new one made by Rossi has a suggested retail under $500 and can probably be had for $100 less than that. At that price I might have to look into a .38/357 version next year although I freely admit I have no practical use for it at all!

His post also got me thinking about guns that I purchased after seeing one in the movies. There have been plenty of movie guns over the years that I would have liked to have but there were only two that I had to have. I purchased my first Smith & Wesson N frame (a Model 25) because it had a remarkable resemblance to Dirty Harry's big .44 (Model 29). The only other gun I ever bought because of a movie was the Beretta 92 pistol. I purchased one in the early 1990s after seeing Bruce Willis with them in the Diehard movies. I went through a Beretta "phase" in the early and mid 90s and those films (and to a lesser degree Mel in the Lethal Weapon films) really fueled the desire. I had at least one of every model from the 92S through the 92FS. Eventually I lost interest in the caliber and the pistol but I can say they were all great guns!

Did you ever buy a gun because (or partly because) of a movie? If so you might be a gun nut...

Something a little different

This time instead of a chapter from my novel I am posting a short story that I have written. I actually started this after my book. It is just shy of 9000 words (19 pages) and it's a science fiction piece, definitely more good humored than my novel. Hope you enjoy it. Don't worry my book will resume in a couple of weeks.

People with guns collection # 31

Since this ending week saw both Veterans Day and the 235th Anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps this photo seemed quite appropriate. Great shot of some tough WWII Marines with their Springfield rifles, and at least one that appears to be enjoying the wonderful aroma of something, coffee maybe? Hopefully...

Veterans Day

and a big THANK YOU too!

No more Queens

All of my "Safe Queens" are now gone. Early this year I decided to redo my gun collection a bit, with more emphasis on shooting tools rather than collectible guns that I also shoot (which was a large portion of my collection). I had several guns that I owned for years and maybe shot once or twice, I also had a couple that were never shot at all. Most were Smith & Wesson revolvers that were in nice shape and I just couldn't bring myself to use. I started back in the summer by selling a 3 ½ Inch S&W .357 Magnum "Pre Model 27" made in 1954. The gun was in super condition and in the original box. I had owned it over five years and never once could bring myself to shoot it. It had to go. Several more have gone since then including the only two K frame .38s that I owned and hardly used. Now I have received my final consignment check for the last of them that were sold at auction a few weeks ago, including another nice N frame that I had also managed to never getting around to using in the nearly three years that I owned it. I can't say that I am out of the collectible game completely, there are a couple that I have been looking for and if I find them at a good price I would probably buy them, but that's about it. From now on I will concentrating more on the tools that I need and that includes a couple of rifles that I've been wanting a while now. I will be using that money on those rifles and some optics that I need too.

CHAPTER THREE

Chapter three of my book is now up, hope you enjoy it.