Cursed Guns?

Many years ago I bought a cursed gun. It was a Ruger Super Blackhawk, stainless, in 44 Magnum with a 11 3/8 barrel. The previous owner had met his demise from a shotgun in the hands of a jealous husband. I gave $500 to his father for it. I kept it for about 4 years. There was nothing particularly noticeable about it, the only oddity was that every time I carried it hunting, I never saw, or shot, anything.

I traded it off for my STI on my wife's birthday in 2007. I did a spectacular job of covering up a $1500 pistol purchase. Needless to say when she found out, she wasn't happy. I understand that this was my own doing and not the pistols. The curse revealed itself in another way. Every major match I shot that pistol in led to gun problems costing me my trophies. No amount of money that I dumped into it seemed to make a difference. Two weeks ago, my patience wore thin. Doing mag change drills in the living room I broke the grip. The very next day I traded it off. I was going to go simple, take my 2k in gun trade in and go buy a Glock or a Spingfield XD, a few small changes, a trigger job, a pile of mags and I would be set. Of course, trade in values on a broken pistol were not what I expected them to be. But I think I made out pretty good on the deal:


I traded my STI, 7 mags, and holster for a Tangfolio (basically a matched out CZ75) in 40 S&W, 4 mags, a Bladetech holster, and 2000 bullets. So far I like it more then the STI, a solid metal frame makes it run alot smoother, and I noticed that it was easier to pick up the front sight during recoil. I have only put about 300 rounds thru it, but so far I am pleased. It was explained to me as a gun that even 'I' couldn't break.

My hope is that the money I lost on this deal is enough contrition to break the curse. So what say you? Any cursed gun stories?

Delusional Blunder

Many years ago, while still living in the Peoples Republik of Kalifornia, I had a good friend that was in a hard spot. He needed some money for one thing or another and decided to part with the first handgun that he had ever bought, a Smith and Wesson 686 with a 6" barrel. 357 Magnum, of course, and I had to have it! It would be the perfect pistol to carry out in the desert while chasing quail. The only problem was the wife, and I decided that I would deal with that later. I paid premium dollar for that pistol, after all, he was a friend. I handed him the $500, took it home and hid it in the gun cabinet. After all, that's what married men do. Right?

A few weeks go by and all is calm in the Sigboy household. I am in need of a little trigger time and start loading up the guns. I'm prepping all my gear, a bit of a drive out into the Mojave desert and I will reach a state of bliss that can only be caused by lead and the smell of burnt nitro-cellulose. A poor lack of timing on my part led to Mrs Sigboy entering the bedroom. "What's this?" she asked, picking up the 686. She opened the cylinder to check the weapon, closed it again and raised the firearm, sighting on an imaginary spot on the wall. My mind went into panic mode. What was I to do? How could I get out of this dilemma? Most importantly, how could I get out of this dilemma and still go shoot?

The solution came upon me in a flash. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I wanted it to be a surprise." Wait a moment for a dramatic pause, and breathe. "I bought it for you and I wanted to take it out and make sure that everything was okay before I gave it to you." My poker face was on, I betrayed no emotion as she pondered my explanation.

A flicker of doubt crept across my mind. Finally she says, "I like it. When will I get to shoot it?" I was safe, or so I thought. She loved that pistol, and shot it well. On every foray we had she carried that pistol. I didn't get to shoot it very much. I carried it in the field even less. Every time I would try and pack it, she would say, "Why are you taking my pistol? You have your own!".

Let this be a lesson to all of you. When you try to cover your indiscretion by making it a gift, just plan on not being able to use it for the purpose you intended.

Bug Out Firearms

Somebody save us, the gun blogs are fired up with the tired classic; what guns to you take when the zombies come and force you to flee your home.
First the obligatory link roll. Here are people that have already done this post:
JayG, TheFirearmBlog, and the original source is The Survivalist Blog.

So the question is, what firearms go with your Bug Out Bag? Luckily I have wasted time devoted alot of thought to this very problem. First, let me clarify my Bugout plan. I have no real desire to evacuate unless absolutely necessary. I have food, water and shelter at my home. I can think of few things short of zombies and/or total destruction that would cause me to flee. Should that day come, I plan on hooking up my hippy hating pickup to my camper and packing as much stuff into that as possible. This way I am taking my shelter with me and stand a lower risk of becoming a refugee. With this plan in place, there is a long list of firearms that will be traveling with me. They include about four pistols, two high power rifles, two shotguns, two 22 rifles, both AR's and about 400 pounds of ammo (thats about 181kg for those on the communist system). The food water and other consumables are beyond the scope of this post, we can cover those later.

The next stage of the plan involves no camper and just the pickup. This lack of room shortens the list to the following:
1) Sig Sauer P226 in 40s&w
2) Sako FinnBear in 30/06
3) Remingotn 870 12 gauge with 20" barrel
4) Ruger 10/22
5) Colt 22 pistol
6) Evil Black Rifle

But should the unthinkable happen and I needed to Bug Out with just what I could carry, I think that the choice would be my bolt action 30/06 and the Sig. If I had room and I thought that I could add the weight, I would add a 22 pistol and the AR.

Alot of people question my choice of a bolt gun over the AR, to me it is simply a matter of power and precision over rate of fire. I can do more with a bolt gun than I can with an AR, and the pistol fills in most of the bolt guns shortcomings. The bolt gun takes my effective range out to unrealistic distances for defense (If I can see it, I can hit it), and the pistol gives me a higher rate of fire.

I have one final question for you. When all these bad things happen, and some long haired hippy PETA lover lets all the lions out of the zoo, do you really want to shoot one with an AR?

These are my choices; what are yours?

My Latest Daydream

I have been daydreaming about a 7mm-08 rifle for a while now. What I wanted was a light, handy, bolt gun in 7mm-08. I was willing to spend the extra money and make install a detachable box magazine. I know that I talked about it a little when I was deliberating a scout rifle.
Texas has changed my ideas a little. First, Texas has no limit on magazine capacity while hunting. Second, hunting hogs at night is legal, and it would be nice to have something I could mount a flashlight on (Honestly, I have yet to decide if the idea of hunting at night is at odds with the sportsman side of me, but thats a different post).
So I am currently considering getting the new Remington R-25 in 7mm-08. I believe it is California legal with a four round magazine, so I can take it there if I want. It also will accept full capacity mags from DPMS (19 rounders). I can add rails to the free float tube for a flashlight. I think it would make a really good rifle to keep in the truck during hunting season.

Steve over at The Firearm Blog has a ton of details.

Scout Rifle Concept

First lets get the links out in front. Caleb wants a scout rifle that takes AR mags. Steve over at The Firearm Blog had visions of it, Tam ran with it, and http://www.saysuncle.com/2009/06/26/stuff-i-dont-get-small-caliber-scout-rifles/said to do it with a real caliber.
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I personally dont understand what is wrong with that Remington pump Model 7615 It takes AR mags, it even has a Tacti-cool Knoxx stock.

But onto a bolt gun idea, Caleb talked about Mausers this morning, and I remembered my own plans for a Scout Rifle. The German Army made 'trench magazines' for a very short time. They were 20 round magazines that installed into you Mauser bolt action and loaded from the top with stripper clips. There is a listing here. This would allow you to use any cartridge with a case head similar to the Mauser cartridges, this would include anything in the 308 and 30/06 family. My personal choice would be 7mm/08 or possibly 358 Winchester. My idea was to build a short scout rifle around this magazine. It would not be detachable, which makes for a hunting problem, but I was planning on solving that problem with a block of some sort, or another magazine. A Leupold 4x scout scope. Follow this with a good quality synthetic stock and we are set. In Texas hog country I would put a small piece of rail on the right side to mount a flashlight and it would be set.

Upon reflection, I think it's time to start thinking about this rifle again. Good thing my wife loves me.

MArooned: Safe Queens...

MArooned: Safe Queens...

So Jay G wants to know about safe queens:

I have two Winchester 101's. Both 12 gauge, one pigeon grade, one waterfowl model, they only come out when I need to impress the upper class with my clay busting, and/or pheasant killing skills.




I have a Browning BLR in 308 with detachable box magazine that I bought to use as a brush gun for pigs, until I decided it was too pretty for such dirty work.

There are a few others that dont go out often due to age or family heirloom status, but I do find it difficult to own safe queens.

Low Light Shoot

Last night I shot a low light match at the Lets Shoot gun club in Amarillo, TX. I didn't do as well as I hoped. Of course, I also haven't trained for this type of shooting for sometime. My grip wasn't right. Worse of all when the stage didn't go as planned, my fundamentals fell apart. I placed fourth. Tht is not the important part, the important part is that I learned some valuable lessons about my pistol training. I attempted to take pictures. They did not come out, there wasn't enough light. Here is video instead.
I really enjoyed the wide variety of stages. Ther was even one where you did not have a light, all that was illuminating the targets were some red strobes. ?The buzzer went off and you had to identify one target that was a no shoot, the rest were badguys and you hosed them. It was fairly quick, all my shots went low, but I didn't have any misses.

Blogger is not cooperating with me, second video is here.

Whats in your pocket?

So my question to you is this: Whats your every day carry(EDC)?
Mine varies upon the perceived situation.

This is my lowest level, it contains one knife, phone, wallet and keys. I use my J frame as my pocket pistol, with ten rounds of ammunition.
Generally I carry the pistol in my weak side front pocket. Draw to first shot at three yards is about 1.75seconds. The reload is incredibly slow, but that is not this guns purpose. I consider this gun to be used for the immediate defense of mine or my families personal well being. It is not for stopping a gun fight that looks like something out of a Hollywood movie.


We have reached the point where people start to think I am strange. This is the point I max out on my concealed carry gear. Notice that most everything is doubled up. Two phones and two knives. Two magazines for the primary pistol, two reloads for the S & W.

The primary pistol is a Sig P226R in 40 S & W. It is gassed up with Winchester 165gr hollow points. I have found that they shoot excellent in this pistol and the recoil and muzzle blast is very reasonable. I used to carry a certain 'golden bullet', they to were awesome, however they would blind you at night. The snubbie is stoked with 125gr +P ammo. The recoil is stout, however, I can count on the bullet to expand at slow velocities.

Also note that I carry a Multi-tool knife. You are more likely to need a pair of pliers before you need a pistol. I also carry a flashlight. Honestly, it's the last thing to be put on, but it is also the most used, when I have it.

So what are your thoughts, too much? Too little? Am I a paranoid gunnut that doesn't know any better? By the way, if you think this is alot you should see my car bag!

Muzzle Braked Shotgun

My online friend, Steve, over at The Firearm Blog, recently had a post about a new Mossberg scattergun. The gun is interesting, what is exciting was the illustration that went along with it: clicky to embiggen



Here is the photo of the shotgun:

I'm not a huge fan of Mossberg shotguns, however, it seems like an excellent marketing ploy to suck in both pirates and ninjas.
In a past lifetime I had to pleasure of insert proper adjective here: use, train, borrow, rock, pull the trigger on, a 14" ported barrel 870, there was nothing faster/ I could put five full power slugs on target in about 2 seconds. I have been debating porting or braking my home defense 870. More to follow on that later.

Master List

I have decided to create my own master list, or wish list as some may call it. Things will move around as my needs and desires may change on a frequent basis.

1. Ruger Vaquero in 357Mag I already have one and it needs a friend

2. Marlin lever action carbine in 357 Mag Cowboy shooting may be in my future

3. Kel Tec Sub 2000 in 40 S & W, that takes SIG magazines

4. Cheap bolt action rifle in 7mm-08. One that I can throw down a cliff and not worry about scratching the stock. Maybe a Marlin or a Mossberg. I have plenty of nice guns, I need a crappy one.

5. 20 gauge auto shotgun because the kids grow up awful fast

6. National Match M1a No explanation needed, everybody needs one.

7.FN SPR rifle in 308





8.FNSCAR-heavy. I'm probably dreaming on this one




9. STI tactical, 5" with light rail in 40

Who needs a shorty shotty?

I have always laughed at people who said that they want a short barreled shotgun. I have asked what can you do with 10" that you can't do with 18?

Funny how now I'm starting to appreciate it. What do you think? New car gun? Maybe I can wear it under my coat when I take the kids trick or treating. In all honestly this is more for the cool factor than anything else. I'd be one of the cool kids. Maybe after that I can get a 10" AR and use that as a car gun.

Proper Use of Nail Polish

Recently I have noticed a spat of nail polish use among the gun bloggers. Not being one to be left behind I have decided to contribute what I consider to be the 'proper' use of nail polish.

Note that I typically use colors that I won't allow my seven year old daughter to wear.

The uses that I have presented for you today is:

1. Numbering your magazines.

2.Marking bullets to denote ammo type.

3.Sealing primers to waterproof ammo.

Also observe that you do not need the expensive nail polish. Also, color is a personal preference thing.

My line in the sand

Sebastian had a blog post yesterday about some people discussing civil unrest if there was to be another assault weapons ban. I left this comment on his forum and wanted to expand upon it:

These are perilous times, yes, but I believe that this is all saber rattling from all sides involved. Do we need to prepare for a fight to defend our Constitutional rights? Absolutely. Do we have to exhaust every avenue available to us before we even consider violence? Absolutely. Imagine the news if the pro 2A people took to the streets and marched in their mall ninja tactical gear and tricked out AR's and SKS's. It would be a PR disaster. We should behave like civilized human beings and use the system that our forefathers left for us.

I'm not saying that it is wrong to have a line in the sand. I have mine, I'm pretty sure that I know where it is. I prepare for the worst possible outcome and hope for the best one. However, hope is not enough. Action has to be taken in order to affect the result. You cannot just sit there and expect your desired result by doing nothing or issuing veiled threats.
Over two hundred years ago many smart men came together and after much discussion, agreed on how this civilized country was going to be run. They put safeguards in place to prevent the immediate removal or violation of our rights. We should fully explore all options available to us. It's not truly about guns, it's about the constitution and all that it stands for.

Finally, good use for the 'Plastic Fantastic'

First, a clarification:

I do not own a Glock

I have never owned a Glock

I do not like the way they feel

I do not like they way they shoot

However, this is cool!

The only downfall is the price, you can buy a new Glock for the price of this thing-$425

http://www.makosecurity.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=UTA&Category_Code=_FAB

So what do you think? Waste of time? Waste of money? Totally useless item?

How many golf clubs do you need?

So in a bit of inspiration from New Jovian Thunderbolt and his post:
http://jovianthunderbolt.blogspot.com/2008/10/need-over-want.html

I have decided to include my .02.
When somebody asks you, "How many guns do you need?" ask them, "How many golfclubs does a golpher need?" The answer is always the same. Alot.

Here is my bare-minimum list:
1. Bolt action hunting rifle, capable of taking deer sized game.
2. 22 rifle, for small game
3. Semi-Automatic pistol, for self defense.
4. A carbine for zombie defense(AR or AK or Mini-14 your choice)
5. 12 ga shotgun for everything under 50 yds.

Bear in mind that is a minimum list. The full list is little longer. It also includes the ability to shoot a zombie at 8oo yards.