Going gun shopping

Accidental discharges and experts:

No expert here, but the best men I ever knew have made mistakes.

munk
 
Far from any kind of expert here in anything Monk.

Seen it happen though, it's unforgettable and I lost a young second cousin to a cap and ball repro revolver he never really learned the drill on a while back from just this kind of thing.

Shoot safe.
 
I'm not objecting. People make mistakes. Yours Truly shot a Lyman case tumbler one night because he was too sleepy to remember he'd loaded the gun.



munk
 
I'm not objecting. People make mistakes. Yours Truly shot a Lyman case tumbler one night because he was too sleepy to remember he'd loaded the gun.



munk

Did you kill it?
 
No objection percieved here Monk. I had my Single Six .22 mag go off once 20 years ago when I didn't want it to. Blame it on sweat, gun oil and single action but it was all my fault. That really set me in a watch what yer doing mind set from then on.

Over Yonder sounds like nice country, my GrandDad said yonder...think i'll take it up too.

Oh yeah, Florida Hurricane country here now and Katrina events are not to be taken lightly. I've seen grown men almost duke it out over bags of charcoal and candles here in the last few years.
 
I have a douglas premium barreled 32/20 single shot on a falling block action- a handgun. It had a hair trigger. Two stage, like breaking a tiny sliver of glass each time. I shot a running ground squirel at 65 yards with it once.
It also went off once. I'd put my finger on the outside of the guard- I must have engaged the trigger.

Well, I thought that was too close, and took it to a gunsmith who wore the sear off so it could not be fired at all. Another gunsmith restored the trigger, but could not make the trigger break lighter. I now have a hair trigger varmint pistol with no first stage to warn one the trigger is about it go.


munk
 
Most shooters have had an unforgettable "oopsie!!" experience, and usually, USUALLY! nothing but someone's pride is hurt.

I had my "shooting safety" epiphany when I was about 12.

We (me, my father, and 8-10 visitors, grown men) were fixing to head off after pheasant. We were standing about in a big circle in the front yard of my parent's farmhouse.

My father had loaned me his old 20 ga. double barrel, and I was unfamiliar with tang safeties.

As the men talked about this and that, my young mind wandered a bit, and so did my trigger finger.

Mistake number one; I had already loaded the shotgun. Mistake number two, I couldn't remember what position of the safety equaled "safe". Mistake number three; my finger decided to see if the safety was on by pulling the trigger of the shotgun.

Of course, the safety was NOT on.

Those are all the things I did wrong. The one thing I did right was to have the shotgun pointing at the ground about two feet in front of my toes. This also happened to be somewhere in the middle of the circle of men who were talking.

Now, let me tell you from first hand experience. A high brass 20 gauge shell full of number six shot fired from very close range (about one foot) into soft, rather damp earth does excavate a fairly large hole.

Well, a veritable geyser of dirt and grass flew up into the air, high into the branches of the big elm tree we were standing under, and pitter-pattered down upon our heads.

This was somewhat of a conversation stopper. I did wish that I was small enough to drop into the hole in front of my feet. I was not, however, small enough.

To the credit of all of those men, not one of them yelled, berated me, or made a scene. My father came over, relieved me of the shotgun, unloaded it, and said "Maybe you'd better not load that until we get into the field. Keep your finger off the trigger."

I do remember seeing some very small smiles, here or there. I'm pretty certain that the dumbfounded look on my own face, followed by abject horror and shame, indicated to them all that nothing more was needed. I had learned my lesson.

I certainly had. I haven't had an incident since. I am very, very safety conscious, although I handle firearms every day.

Andy
 
Speaking of oops stories, my grandad's buddy came over once to show him his brand new .44 special he'd just gotten. My grandad opened it up, dropped all the bullets out into his hand, closed it back up and pulled the trigger. Apparently he'd missed one out of the six bullets in the wheel and that happened to be the one under the hammer when it fell. Luckily, the bullet hit a wall and stopped (the other side of the wall is brick), but had it gone 8 in. to the right and it'd have been in his neighbor's house.

Does anyone here live in a large urban area, prone to 'civil' disturbance, or even natural disaster?

Yes; as a matter of fact, this is one of the reasons I'm looking to move off campus next year. Theres only so much you can do to prepare for a SHTF scenario when half the stuff you need is illegal to have on college property. And speaking of SKSs, it would be so easy to buy one this weekend at the gunshow, but I'd be stuck for a place to keep it....
 
Dang Andy that was hilarious! And familiar!

I won’t bore you with the story of my first 410 single shot, but you might find the image of a 6 year old, white as a sheet and a warm wet pant leg amusing. Scared me serious!

Hey Munk…you might already know about them, but just in case….there is a company just south of me, down in Union City Tennessee, called Dixie Gun Works that specializes in antique and unique fire arms, especially black powder. They will likely have the set trigger mechanisms you need. I haven’t been down in a couple of years, but the place is amazing. I think they have a web site. Heck, they probably make a version of your gun in house.

chiger
 
I have a Yugo SKS, and it's a great rifle. If you don't mind spending more, I would suggest an AR15 or a nice AK47.
 
hey Munk,

I didn't know you could charge the M1A from the top. That makes it more attarctive to me, tactically, and sentimentally.

That feature DOES tie it all the way back to the '03, and hence to the Mausers!

Tom

BTW, is there a provision for holding the bolt back while the mag is not yet empty? I never handled one of these.

Time to save pennies...

Must be walnut, of course!!
 
Anytime you get a nearly indestructable single action revolver, chambered for the potent 357 and the Nato Nine, you get the nod at the munk compound. You may even get an interview with the alien we've stashed in the basement, but I'm not promising.



munk

You and Spectre share uncommonly good taste in firearms. Blackhawks, particularly convertibles are very good things. Is the Alien preserved, or hungry, and or radioactive?:D
 
I can truthfully say that in about thirty years of handling firearms I have NEVER had an accidental (negligent?) discharge.
As much as I love guns they still just scare the shit out of me.
I realize that accidents do happen, but the potential consequences of those accidents have always made me overly cautious.
 
There is a button sorta thing on the upper left side of the receiver,
that is the bolt lock.
If you are planning on using the M1A platform for a brush rifle or for perimiter defense, consider the Socom 16, or the Scout variants. I have the 16" barreled Socom 16, and it's a great shooter, out to 400 to 500 yds.
Finding the strippers to feed mags from the top while in the gun isnt as easy as say AK strippers, but they are around at gun shows sometimes.

DaddyDett


hey Munk,

I didn't know you could charge the M1A from the top. That makes it more attarctive to me, tactically, and sentimentally.

That feature DOES tie it all the way back to the '03, and hence to the Mausers!

Tom

BTW, is there a provision for holding the bolt back while the mag is not yet empty? I never handled one of these.

Time to save pennies...

Must be walnut, of course!!
 
I've been an FAL fan for awhile and started building a few surplus kits the past few months.

camo1.jpg

This is an STG/Imbel build that I had finished by AZEX in Arizona.

My latest build - this month is a "Para - Franken FAL" of sorts... Imbel kit - (Chilean Surplus), 18" R-1 South African barrel, DSA Type 1 Receiver, FNC handguards, SAW pistol grip and an ACE Folding Stock.

newfal5.jpg


newfal6.jpg



newfal7.jpg

And the final version with the Optics mount top cover.

So, the end result of this is a nice compact .308 and one of the Evilest EBRs I've seen in awhile....LOL!!!
 
I hope to write a magazine article about the .35 Whelen Remington 7600 I'm planning on picking up when I'm home on leave late Nov/early Dec. I think this will be the perfect "truck gun", for a number of reasons:

fast action; powerful; manageable recoil; not an "evil ugly black rifle"; not horribly expensive.

And, when I start loading, I can load home defense/varmint rounds using my .357 bullets for my Whelen. :)

Slide-action (pump) rifles have a lot going for them, and they're even legal to hunt with in PA. :)

I put a .270 round through the ceiling when I was 16. I had cycled the action, but one round didn't get pulled out by the extractor. With the scope location, I couldn't see into the bore, and I didn't know how to withdraw the bolt...Haven't had a ND in the 18 years since.

John
 
I have had one accidental discharge of a firearm, in 1980. I traded for a Colt Commander in stainless, a used gun. I loaded it, threw it in the truck, and moved that day. When I got to my bro's in San Antonio, I dropped the mag, cycled the slide 4 times, looked in the chamber, released the slide, and pulled the trigger. BAM!! I hadnt seen the Speer case had not extracted when I cleared the pistol, nor did it extract/eject when fired. Closer inspection revealed a broken extractor.
Noone was hurt, there were 3 of us in the apartment, but one of my brother's Zyldjian cymbals still has the dent a jacket fragment made in it, to this day.
Now I stick my pinky in the chamber when ever I clear a 1911.

DaddyDett
 
You can have a lot of fun with a semi automatic Ruger 10/22 as your first rifle. It's very versatile and inexpensive to shoot.

Here's mine: LINK
 
If you really want to get down to it, guns are good.
There are many many firearms I'd be happy to own and depend upon.

Spectre, I thought using 357 mag projectiles in the Whelen case would be great for varmints or self defense. But I never got around to doing it.

Only thing bothers me about your plan is 35 Whelens are a little hard to find. I don't want to see it stolen from your truck. I've a Mauser 'sporter' in the calibre. It still needs work; it jammed on me once. IT's in a ugly cut down German stock done by me. The front sling swivel is off side; I eyeballed it, drilled, and discovered I'd made a mistake. It wears a butt pad from a shotgun, upside down to fit. The blueing is all cruded up. No, it's not much to look at. It's not even close to my most accurate rifle, either.

I hit a elk with it once though, and the animal dropped. Thunk. And for it's 300 yard range, it's plenty accurate enough for hunting. I like the 250 speers. They have more energy and drop a little less than the various 225 gr everyone thinks shoots so flat because it starts 150 fps faster.

munk
 
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