Thursday, September 24, 2009
Russian Mosin-Nagant 91
Every once in a while, Big 5 Sports gets a load of surplus rifles in. Several years ago, we bought an Enfield that ended up being so nice a shooter, we shipped it off to have it refinished. It's weird when it happens, because you feel like your buying a pair of Adidas, or something.
In any case, we tend to shop the grocery store flyers on Tuesday and decide what Sunday dinner is going to be. In leafing through, Big 5 had an ad and were advertising Mosin-Nagant M91 Russian rifles for $99.99. I know a lot of people are fans of this gun, but I've never had any interest because being chambered in 8 mm is just too big of a pain in the ass.
We shot down Wednesday morning and scored this guy.
Much of the appeal was that it is chambered in 7.62x54R. The old man's Dragunov is chambered in the same round and the surplus remains cheapHe used to be true blue on WWII American rifles but then he bought them all, with exception of an HBAR.
Instead of Nazi shit, he decided to move on to Ivan's shit. All well and good.
To me, the sight is extremely unusual. You pop it up and set the range and then slap it back down and, theoretically, should be on.On initial inspection, it just looked like the old 19th century graduated peep sight.
The bore was rust-free and the rifling looked intact, so I guess we'll see how she shoots.
According to what I've read, base on the rollmark, the rifle was produced in 1937 at the Tula Arsenal in Russia. Apparently, this plant was shut down for the latter half of WWII because of the German invasion. I'm not sure that this rifle is worth shit, but it seems to be a rarity.
Next up, I might be buying another Glock. But they all look the same so I probably won't post on what the old man calls "another stapler."
Cheaper Than Dirt was kind enough
Cheaper Than Dirt was kind enough to do a post on CCW Insurance. Their blog is impressive, though hard to find. I think that will change.
Uncle was kind enough to kick us some linky love, as well. Greatly appreciated.
Uncle was kind enough to kick us some linky love, as well. Greatly appreciated.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Kingman Disaster Resolved
This is all that I pulled out of my carry, after the extractor broke at the Nevada border. Looks like the thing snapped off right after the butt.
The other half got chucked into a trash can at the Silver Legacy after a dude from Hi-Cap checked it out. Crazy fucker though he might be able to fashion an extractor in under 48 hours.
Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards. I had to use the old man's carry to compete. And using the word "compete," is generous, at best.
Nonetheless, got home and hit Brownell's on Wednesday morning. Sure as shit, the parts showed up Friday (I say parts because I got an extra extractor and a sear spring, because that broke on my old man's carry about 3 weeks ago.)
Wilson readily admits that their extractors are tight. The slot for the firing pin stop is shallow, so the extractor is extremely taut. 
As such, I had to take some material off of the right side of the firing pin stop. Of course, these are the things that my mechanical incompetence shows through on.
As such, I had to take some material off of the right side of the firing pin stop. Of course, these are the things that my mechanical incompetence shows through on.I started out using Emory cloth. In retrospect, I could have gone through about 18 sheets and still not accomplished the task at hand. Then I switched to a fine diamond file, when I should have used a coarse one. All in all, it took about an hour and a half to fit the extractor. There is some fine tuning that remains to be done, but I should have my pistolsmith take a look at it this week.
I worked a bunch of snap-caps through it over the weekend and it seemed to work fine. This is my carry, though. I won't be carrying it until it gets a complete workout at the range with live safety function checks and the like.
Molly scored another link
That young lady impressed a great many people.
I don't know who provided Rawles with the link, but he posted it.
I don't know who provided Rawles with the link, but he posted it.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Blogger Rendezvous Pt. II - The Trip Out
We disembarked on Wendesday of last week. Our route was rather simple: Take I-40 over to Kingman, AZ and then head north from there.
We soon found out that the gas tank's capacity was only 12 gallons. That makes for a lot more gas stops than I am used to.
Everything went fine until Kingman. I have a NM CCW and a Utah CCW. Well, right about the time we were making reservations and planning this trip, Nevada decided it would no longer recognize UT licenses. They never recognized NM.
So I unload and case in Kingman. The bitch was, my extractor broke while I was unloading. I brought a one-shot 1911 to Reno. Ended up using my dad's. Needless to say, I ordered 2 extractors upon returning home.
Then, at the Nevada border, we hit the Hoover Dam. If you read that link, it is word for word bullshit. There were no bypass signs posted, no indication of what kind of clusterfuck you were driving into, and no non-commercial route.
At the dam, we got a little freaked out. It looked like they were searching every 5th car. At that particular moment, we realized that we had a Russian sniper rifle in the car, along with a shitload of Russian ammo, and I was smoking Ukrainian cigarettes. Luckily, we weren't the on in five, or whatever.
Nonetheless, it took an extra hour just to get through a fucking dam.
That put us in Vegas right around rush hour. We're from New Mexico; we're a couple of hicks, at this point. It freaked me out.
We agreed that we would stop at the first good looking place north of Vegas. I didn't realize that there is pretty much nothing between Vegas and Reno. ZERO.
We finally stopped in a town called Beatty and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. We ate and drank (and smoked) at the Sourdough Saloon, which was 100 feet from the door of our motel room. I don't understand why anybody would be in Beatty, but if you are, the Sourdough has the best burger I've had in several years.
Past that, we arrived and fucked around with valet parking and dyslectic bell-hops.
More to follow.
We soon found out that the gas tank's capacity was only 12 gallons. That makes for a lot more gas stops than I am used to.
Everything went fine until Kingman. I have a NM CCW and a Utah CCW. Well, right about the time we were making reservations and planning this trip, Nevada decided it would no longer recognize UT licenses. They never recognized NM.
So I unload and case in Kingman. The bitch was, my extractor broke while I was unloading. I brought a one-shot 1911 to Reno. Ended up using my dad's. Needless to say, I ordered 2 extractors upon returning home.
Then, at the Nevada border, we hit the Hoover Dam. If you read that link, it is word for word bullshit. There were no bypass signs posted, no indication of what kind of clusterfuck you were driving into, and no non-commercial route.
At the dam, we got a little freaked out. It looked like they were searching every 5th car. At that particular moment, we realized that we had a Russian sniper rifle in the car, along with a shitload of Russian ammo, and I was smoking Ukrainian cigarettes. Luckily, we weren't the on in five, or whatever.
Nonetheless, it took an extra hour just to get through a fucking dam.
That put us in Vegas right around rush hour. We're from New Mexico; we're a couple of hicks, at this point. It freaked me out.
We agreed that we would stop at the first good looking place north of Vegas. I didn't realize that there is pretty much nothing between Vegas and Reno. ZERO.
We finally stopped in a town called Beatty and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. We ate and drank (and smoked) at the Sourdough Saloon, which was 100 feet from the door of our motel room. I don't understand why anybody would be in Beatty, but if you are, the Sourdough has the best burger I've had in several years.
Past that, we arrived and fucked around with valet parking and dyslectic bell-hops.
More to follow.
Confession and Evidence
Much like Uncle did, I need to admit that this blog now has a vested interest in a commercial enterprise. So on the issue of insurance and firearms, consider me fairly biased.
That being said, the above linked "enterprise" caught a lot of shit back in July. People seemed to think that their existing insurance would cover a self-defense situation.
Well the California Supreme Court has spoken. As goes California, so goes the nation. And for a California court to take the side of an evil insurance company is unheard of.
Here's the link. Read it and think about it:
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2009/08/05/102768.htm
Given, this is not a case of the use of a firearm, but the doctrine holds.
That being said, the above linked "enterprise" caught a lot of shit back in July. People seemed to think that their existing insurance would cover a self-defense situation.
Well the California Supreme Court has spoken. As goes California, so goes the nation. And for a California court to take the side of an evil insurance company is unheard of.
Here's the link. Read it and think about it:
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2009/08/05/102768.htm
Given, this is not a case of the use of a firearm, but the doctrine holds.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Blogger Rendezous Part I
I'm not going to post my recollections in a consecutive stream. I'll post what strikes me when I sit down for the next week or so.
My biggest shout out is to the West Nevada Pistol League. They provided the steel for the pistol match. I could have not shot and had a great time. I got my ass kicked by a pre-teen girl and an old guy.
Regardless, the range had some really cool shirts. Actually, this is my favorite shooting shirt now. It doesn't seem like anybody else noticed them in the range check-in. I thought they might me online, but, apparently, are not.
If you make to Reno, buy a cool shirt.
My biggest shout out is to the West Nevada Pistol League. They provided the steel for the pistol match. I could have not shot and had a great time. I got my ass kicked by a pre-teen girl and an old guy.
Regardless, the range had some really cool shirts. Actually, this is my favorite shooting shirt now. It doesn't seem like anybody else noticed them in the range check-in. I thought they might me online, but, apparently, are not.
If you make to Reno, buy a cool shirt.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Rare Book Review
I read The Road last weekend.
I need to qualify this post by saying that I have had experiences with Cormac McCarthy, and, in my humble view he is a complete cunt as a human being. I think he's a vain, hypocritical motherfucker that is badly in need of a really good ass-kicking.
All that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel (while pretending somebody else wrote it.)
It is not, as most reviews say, an "apocalyptic" novel. More a post-apocalypse apocalypse novel. The premise being that the earth cannot grow anything and all wildlife is dead. Survivalist shit doesn't really have anything to do with it.
With the continent or planet (he never specifies) in that state, it comes off as more a race to the end or who can outlast who. Regardless, it is clear there is no goal beyond tomorrow.
To go any further would probably contain spoilers, and I ain't down wit that.
The novel can be read in about 2 hours flat, given the font size and spacing.
If you can borrow it from a friend, I highly recommend this book. If not, I guess you might have to add to this asshead's coffers.
Did I mention that I don't like Mr. McCarthy?
I need to qualify this post by saying that I have had experiences with Cormac McCarthy, and, in my humble view he is a complete cunt as a human being. I think he's a vain, hypocritical motherfucker that is badly in need of a really good ass-kicking.
All that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel (while pretending somebody else wrote it.)
It is not, as most reviews say, an "apocalyptic" novel. More a post-apocalypse apocalypse novel. The premise being that the earth cannot grow anything and all wildlife is dead. Survivalist shit doesn't really have anything to do with it.
With the continent or planet (he never specifies) in that state, it comes off as more a race to the end or who can outlast who. Regardless, it is clear there is no goal beyond tomorrow.
To go any further would probably contain spoilers, and I ain't down wit that.
The novel can be read in about 2 hours flat, given the font size and spacing.
If you can borrow it from a friend, I highly recommend this book. If not, I guess you might have to add to this asshead's coffers.
Did I mention that I don't like Mr. McCarthy?
Creeping Up
I guess the Rendevous is a mere two weeks away, or less. We've got the rental car and all that shit. I'm still trying to figure out Nevada gun laws.
