"Lightning Jack" real name Jacob Finlayson of West Otago NZ has done exceptionally well in this years 'End Of Trail' held in Albuquerque New Mexico (USA).
Lightning Jack who shoots here in Gore with his father 'Tuscon' (Ron)came 8th in the world championships and was today interviewed on National Radio here.
COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING was started in 1982 in California and has a positive image with the media due to the 'dress-up' part of the image.
'CAS' shooting is basically similar to IPSC '3-Gun' action shooting - but the rifles, shotguns and revolvers used are replicas of the guns we all admired in the old Western Movies from our childhood matinees or ' Saturday Morning Pictures'.
Today here in New Zealand our respected public figure - The HONOURABLE John Banks - ex Minister of Police, - ex Member of Parliament, - ex Mayor of Auckland - but current convicted criminal - was convicted and sentenced for breach of electoral law.
- The offence that he was found guilty of - was declaring a large cash donation from a known donor as "anonymous" .
Banks's sentence is 100 hours community work and a curfew imposed for four nights a week for up-to four months.
Banks stated today that he would be appealing the verdict & sentence as he has " fresh un-impeachable water-tight evidence".
Banks is held close to the heart by New Zealand shooters - as the man who mis-represented the firearms used in the ARAMOANA SHOOTINGS and was responsible for the introduction of severe restrictions to the use of MILITARY STYLE SEMI-AUTOMATIC rifles.
Banks claimed to be unable to remember being flown to the millionaires mansion in his private helicopter to arrange a 'political campaign donation'. - However - several witness's had better memories of this.
It's amazing what you can discover in old books - 1970 Gun Digest in this case. John Webster Cochran 1814-1874 of New York built this design in an attempt to get around the Samuel Colt patent. This ingenious seven shot under hammer design was a brilliant idea that unfortunately failed to deliver - being highly dangerous and indeed it killed one turret designer - a Mr Porter in 1851 when working on his variant - by a flash-over.
- Of-course 'flash-overs are not unknown with cap & ball revolvers too - but at least their chambers all face forwards.
1837 Cochrane Turret Revolver: Black powder fired by percussion caps
The design of the turret sadly results in there always being a rearwards facing chamber - that would probably make me flinch and snatch at the trigger a little! It's an antique design that for-tells the joke 'Irish revolver' !
Clever Idea eh - But ...
The turret was hand indexed / turned - and less than 50 examples are known.
Porter Turret Rifle 1851
Both Cochran and the unfortunate Porter built both rifles and pistols using their respective turret designs.
- Another example of an rare and expensive collectable that is rare & collectable because it was rubbish and didn't sell in its day - like more than a few Ferraris !!
Marty K After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it? https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
- Well, just when I was starting to get bored with the whole affair - I've been e-mailed to say that my Ruger SP101 8 shot .22 RF revolver has landed on the shores (- well, the under-bond cargo sheds) of our fair land.
Again - it's not actually been sixty years - it just feels like it !! I've been waiting over fifteen weeks since paying a deposit and will likely have another couple of weeks to go while the importer sorts-out his Customs import paper-work, delivers the package to the Auckland Firearms Dealer, who will then request my police 'Permit to Procure' be sent to him and then will be able to courier the package to me.
Then all I've got to do is drive down the mountain to the Central Police HQ with the piece (in a locked container) - and the permit, so that they can register its serial number to my files.
It will be a pleasure !! - provided the bloody thing works properly when I get to try it on range - otherwise I'll have to reverse the whole procedure and return it to the Dealer who would have to return it to the importing agent - who would have to ship it back to America where Ruger might start the process all over.
It's times like these when I am tempted to don my spaghetti-strainer, 'religiously-significant' head covering and prostrate myself before the image of the Great Flying Spaghetti Monster - bless his pink and sticky appendages.
We will no doubt see.
P.S. - Isn't it tomorrow that former Minister of Police "The HONOURABLE "Military Style Semi-Auto" John Banks is due for sentencing for being found guilty of breach of electoral law? - I am eagerly anticipating his sentence !
My main problem here is that while 'The Law' is one thing - its application by police in the various British counties is different - and indeed - there are exceptions to the law as well!
- There is a 212 page Home Office 'firearms law guidance to the police' - originally issued in 2002 - with a revised version published in October 2013.
UK 'Section One' Firearms.
The British 1997 law did not refer to pistols at all - but rather to "small firearms". - This seems to have resulted in pistols and revolvers being totally outlawed into the hands of criminal thugs - unless they have a barrel at least 30cm long (just under one foot) and an overall length of 60cm (approx. Two foot long overall).
UK 'Section One' Revolver.
-Possession of a single live round is a serious criminal offence - unless correctly licenced and recorded.
However it seems that muzzle loading 'small firearms' such as revolvers and single shots are allowed and licenced - and generally fire black powder. - But ingenious shooters have come-up with legal options such as the 'Patriot' muzzle-loading pistol that uses modern nitro smokeless powder - by hand-loading primers, powder charge and bullet into the chambers of five round 'charging blocks' that are hand indexed across the pistol for each shot.
The standard load for this .32" 'Patriot' is a 98gr .311" dia. wad-cutter over 1gr of Bullseye powder.
Loading a British PATRIOT Pistol.
PATRIOT Muzzle loading Five Shot Bullseye Pistol
Air rifles and pistols have become even more popular despite the low power levels allowed (12ft.lbs for rifle and 6ft.lbs for air-pistols) for target shooting and small game hunting - and some truly fine accuracy and advanced designs are to be found.
How do kiwi IPSC shooters feel about shooting their matches using 'soft-air' (plastic-pellet) pistols ? - Or how about clay-shooters using electronic laser 'shotguns' that play a recorded "bang' when you press the trigger and register "hits & misses" on a display screen?
"Real" rifles and shotguns may be owned by qualified (land owners etc.) and licenced shooters - but the strict requirements are varied in their application.
I am unclear about this - but limited 'exceptions' seem to have been applied to permit Olympic and Commonwealth Games target pistols to be legally held and used - For some time target shooters were keeping their guns in Belgium or France and going over once a month to train.
- All NZ shooters should try to inform themselves of these stupid British gun laws and might well consider that we New Zealanders are also BRITISH and that we are constantly under threat of toughened regulation. - All it seems to take is another nutter amok killing.
May I please get you to again think about the need for a strong and unified kiwi voice like the NRA before it becomes too late - and get you to read my "Herding Cats" post of 25 July.
Marty K After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it? https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
Well done Sally Johnston - A much deserved Gold Medal for 50M prone small-bore rifle. Such an achievement when you learn that her rifle bolt and all her ammunition went missing on the flight up to Scotland and still hasn't turned-up!
Sally who won a Bronze at the Commonwealth games in Kuala Lumpur 16 years ago is a "Southern Girl" being born and bred in Invercargill at the bottom tip of the South Island ('Mainland') New Zealand - now lives in the capitol city.
Sally (who is reported to have a couple of 4s in her age and keeps fit by doing 'pole-dancing' twice a week!)) has been able to celebrate with her parents who are well pleased to have watched her compete and win in Glasgow. Her parents Ken & Jenny are both shooters.
Other team members have done well but missed-out in the medal scramble. - Some of them are moving-on to the world championships in Spain next month.
I had a full weekend with a drive down the hill to Christchurch for the Arms & Militaria Show on Saturday - and then on Sunday another lengthy drive, up-country to our rural Pistol Club range.
The Gun show was well worth the entry fee with a selection of excellent displays and a good showing of trade tables artfully tempting your wallet to open in exchange for more 'must-have' items. I returned home with a considerable mass of used books - mostly 'Gun Digest' annuals and overseas magazines. They make a stack nearly half a metre tall on the carpet by my reading chair - and should keep me happy for a few weeks!
- Should be a few ideas for topics to post in that lot! - But the best thing about the trip into town was meeting-up with more than a few old friends. One special guy "Prickles" and I have shot through-out areas of central Australia - mostly south-western Queensland - with a good bunch of Ozzie mates - staying in shearers quarters, eating off the best of ozzie tucker, and exploring some grand big country full of feral pigs.
- Problem is that Prickles has had a serious stroke and it's cramped his style somewhat! - but inside he's still all there and retains a good sense of humour.
Sunday was range day and I burned a few hundred rounds of rim-fire and 9mm ammunition. I was pleased with where the pills hit on the targets - and with all the others enjoyed the sunshine, shooting and talk - and clouds of black-powder smoke drifting away from two of the blokes shooting single-action replica Uberti Colts.
Now, - I've just had a phone call requesting I have a security inspection visit (police) for my handguns. - All completed OK and accompanied with a decent chat and a cuppa.
This type of check is all part of being an endorsed restricted firearms user here in New Zealand - and I don't really object in any way - but I'd guess that US shooters would feel it was intrusive and unconstitutional ?
- There again, there are probably anti-gunners out there who'd consider such checks as irrelevant because they'd "BAN THEM ALL" !
That's what happened in UK (after 'Dunblane') and any keen shooters left there are now using some really odd firearms that work within the handgun ban - such as a "harmonica" muzzle loading pistol that uses five-shot loading blocks.
'Patriot' Muzzle Loading Pistol - made by Zylab
.32" Calibre - legal for British Shooters.
I have only just started to read about the British scene in some old (2005) magazines - but will return to the topic when I have researched more and confirm the current situation. They also seem to have a class of legal "Long Revolver" that has very long barrels and a stock extension that lays back along the shooting arm.
UK Legal Taurus Long Barrel Revolver.
"legal" that is - with a FAC (Fire-Arms Certificate)
And I've also glanced at a story telling about using gas-operated 'soft-air' pistols to shoot UK practical matches ! - Indeed why not - you've got to make the best of what you've got eh.
- It's amazing what you can learn from a $3 box of old magazines. - And best wishes from Gods-own Country to all my UK readers.
I've ordered a 'Hardy' over-barrel silencer to be fitted to my JRC 9mm 'A-cat' long-arm and am expecting a good-looking effective unit from a very professional sounding Auckland based outfit.
Fitted Silencer Should Look something Like This.
I've also ordered a cheap set of Magpul polymer back-up sights advertised as second-generation:
These sights have a good on-line reputation .
I'm unsure whether my 'MBUS' sights are the genuine item or "rip-offs". There are conflicting on-line descriptions of identifying features - however they appear to be very sturdy, well formed, and useable - the only clue to "bad" is that the clamp bolt for securing the sights is a hex-head rather than a slot-head. - As the purchase price was low - I'm not complaining (yet).
The 'Magpul' Back-Up Sights I bought Online.
Those shown in the Ad have slotted head bolts.
- Sometimes here in NZ there is a limited choice of products available and we are tempted to snap-up any item that looks promising without checking too deeply into its pedigree. (We are a small market and remotely located - closer to the Antarctic circle than we are to our big neighbour Australia.)
- I certainly don't have a problem with the MBUS sights being made from plastic (all right - polymer !) - as I've been using Glocks with plastic sights for more than 25 years with no complaint.
I've also taken a chance on a low-cost 3-9x42 EG Scope with a side-mounted Laser.
I'm not expecting too much from this unbranded (NcStar ?) item at the price - but who knows - you don't always get what you pay for even with the genuine gear - and it looks like 'the real thing' - so maybe if I'm gentle with her she'll do the job. - Again, there are mixed reviews on-line as to quality and performance - even claims that these are from the same Chinese factory that builds a similar branded scope.
- I've seen advice that you should pay at least twice as much for a telescopic-sight for a rifle as you paid for the gun - which may well be correct, - but if you don't have a fat bill-fold you have to be more experimental eh.
- Sometimes 'cheap and cheerful' works - like buying "Own-Brand" canned baked beans at the supermarket - Failing that - it does come with a Quick-Detachable mount to allow it to be easily thrown away - I've always got the "flipping" back-up sights! - maybe!
I see some 'bum' here has just been jailed for under six years for buying and cutting-down a lot of guns for a gang to use.
Every time there is an issue with *GUNS* in New Zealand I have to wince at the lack of any unified voice to really speak confidently for all of us.
- We are, after-all, proven to be the most law-abiding and select group within our society.
No other group of Kiwi citizens can claim to be as worthy as we are - a diverse group of firearms users and outdoors folk who have passed extensive in-depth police investigation - and all have the stated judgement of both close family members and unrelated associates - that we are fit and proper persons to own guns.
We have no criminal record - we have no history of mental illness or violence - we do not associate with known criminals or gang-members.
However - getting us to stick together and to work for our mutual interests is best described as being like "herding cats"!
When there is public discussion about any event that has involved irresponsible use of guns - voices are raised in dispute, and impatient stares will dominate the conversation. - Every group seems to push its own needs like a class of teenage kids in front of the headmaster - "It wasn't us Sir - we don't even use xxxx." - And, we don't have a very strong 'brand' image as gun owners.
Hunters see the issue this way - small bore rifle shooters see it that way. Deer-Stalkers want more of that and less of those. - Pistol shooters think that we shouldn't be included with them. - Collectors are above it all - while black-powder shooters just want more hot soapy water! - If you'd really like to see school-yard cliques at play - try grouping ISSF Bulls-eye shooters with IPSC Action shooters - in the same clubrooms!
I know that there are a couple of national groups that seek to be representative umbrella groups - COLFO & SSANZ * - but therein lies the problem - 'a couple of groups' Both do an excellent job in their own separate way - but talk about 'divide and conquer' . - Two different groups each trying to present a unified voice with Authorities and Government - and to speak for some ten plus distinct shooting organisations. - I repeat - "LIKE HERDING CATS"
- I don't say that America is the best place in the world for everything - BUT they have got The NRA - and we kiwis need to sort-out something similar here. - How about combining what we've got into "LSA-NZ"? (Licenced Shooters Association NZ?). - Get thegun shops to join too, as sponsoring members. - Why not recruit licenced law-enforcement personnel with a discounted membership?
Actually - the nearest thing in NZ to a united shooting voice here currently is the magazine 'New Zealand Guns & Hunting' - where publisher Peter Maxwell tries to give all shooters a fair suck of the sausage.
Very simple to do .. COLFO and SSANZ should merge and each of the various sub-organisations adds sixty bucks per member into the pool every year (and we all get a decent 'free' magazine too).
Now you're talking. - Now you've got a VOICE.
Come on guys - I can hear some of you already "What? - Sixy Bucks is way too much!"
- Guys who may own tens of thousands of dollars worth of rifles, shotguns, pistols, ammo and reloading gear - will cry into their coffee if asked to lash-out small change to protect their investments, rights, and sport!
- Hell - a truly National body could buy bulk ammo etc. and save its members each that much every year!
Here Pussy Pussy -230,000 licenced furry pets - but with claws!
* Coalition of Licenced Firearms Users * Sporting Shooters Association New Zealand
President Obama of USA has issued Executive Order 13662 that prohibits business dealings with an array of Russian concerns. - this is a reaction to the situation in the Ukraine and the destruction of Malaysian Flight MH17 with the tragic loss of all on-board.
The order specifically includes Kalashnikov Concern (Ishmash, Saiga etc.)
American dealers are already reporting increased demand for these products, but some are already claiming they have sold-out.
It would be any-ones guess as to how this will affect our local sales or around the world. Depending on the length of this US ban it may well reduce prices and increase availability elsewhere.
Here in New Zealand many AK and AR clones are imported from China (and Canada) and may well be totally unaffected. - Trouble is that these kinds of political moves have a habit of spreading like a rash.
Well - I got a rush of blood to the head and went and did it! - I guess I just got tired of waiting for my new Ruger .22" RF SP101 revolver to arrive from USA - it's been thirteen weeks now since I ordered it and paid my deposit - but I'm informed that the Importing Agent says that it has not yet left America and may be another four weeks! - Hmm.
JUST RIGHT CARBINE with 'NEW YORK SAFE ACT' Stock
('Thordson Custom FRS-15')
- So I've been considering all the pros and cons about handy rifle platforms and calibres for so long now that I couldn't (shouldn't) hold-back any longer.
My debate started with which is the better platform of the AR15 and the AK47 - regarding which can survive my neglect, then which can I afford to buy, and what calibre ammo I can buy or best cook-up myself at home - looking at 5.56mm NATO, 300BLK, 7.62x39 - All being rifle calibres that burn a fair bit of high velocity powder.
But all the time I was thinking that any of those calibre/platforms would need to work well with home-brewed sub-sonic ammo for my regular outings to the pistol club range. - And I really wanted to have an effective Silencer or Sound-Moderator fitted because I truly enjoy a "nice quiet day at the range!" - especially in good company with the sun shining.
My quiet .22" Shiny-thing (Ruger 10/22)
So, seeing as how I mostly use either a Glock 17 in 9mm, or myRuger GP100 .357 Magnum, or the .22" Rimfire conversion on the G17 (and soon? the 8 Round .22" Revolver - when it eventually lands) or my Ruger 10/22 silenced shiny thing - maybe what I needed is a 9MM, Silenced, Semi-autoCarbine. - one that can use Glock magazines perhaps?
Now - picking the Just Right Carbine doesn't actually mean that I've decided the AR15 platform is better than the AK47 - because the JRC is not a true AR - no 'Direct Gas Impingement' system here - as it's blow-back pistol calibre. Hopefully the JRC will prove to have the best of several worlds (or the choice of popular easily found bits'n'pieces to fit.)
Using the .22" calibres for cheap plinking and having fun with lead in the air I should be well covered with semi-auto pistol, revolver, and rifle.
- The .357 Magnum gives a wide choice of both heavy loads and light .38 Special rounds and any 'oddball' loads I'm playing with - both single and double-action. -- And the 9mm Glock is there for serious use in proper IPSC matches and only needs a good matching Carbine to complete the set - *Blingo*
Here comes the expensive bit. - Order and pay for one Just Right 9MM Carbine. - Order a Hardy 'Over-barrel' Silencer to be fitted. - Order a set of Magpul MBUS flip-up open sights, and - Buy a 3-9x42 EG Scope with built-in Laser. - Take a deep breath and check the cash balance.
- I decided to stick with the dog-leg 'Thordson Custom FRS-15' Stock that Serious Shooters are offering as their standard 'A-Cat' for several reasons - it looks interesting & different, - it might make take-down for cleaning a bit easier, - and it's their cheapest option! - if I can't get-on with it long-term, I can always get a divorce eh.
- I had earlier found that some of the 'A-Cat' legal pistol grips are a bit tight for my hands and "pinch" where they are linked back to the butt-stock. - The 'New York' stock is made of 30% glass fibre filled Nylon 6/6 - with moulded-in steel sling mounts and a storage compartment in the grip.
P.S. - I need to add here that I've been in contact with the Christchurch District Police Firearms Office several times over the last three/four months - and on every occasion the personnel have been as usual - very helpful and good to deal with.
- There have been "issues" with interpretations of Import Permit law and Customs application of regulations relating to "gun parts" - that have caused us all extra work - but the Christchurch Firearms Office staff have been great to deal with (as too were Customs) - while firmly sticking to the 'rules'.
Thank you all very much. - My 'negotiations' with NZ Customs Service are ongoing while they consider my three page 'Application for review of seizure pursuant to section 231 of the Customs and Excise Act 1996.' - This refers to two small after-market compression coil springs (hammer & trigger re-set). Value US$ 8.99.
Marty K After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it? https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
This years Commonwealth games are being held in Scotland - starting next week in Glasgow - but of-course the shooting events are not being held in Glasgow City itself.
The 'Full-bore Rifle' and Shotgun Clays are being shot in a Defence Ministry facility at BarryDuddon near Dundee - while the Small-bore (.22RF) Rifle and pistol shooting are happening at a "temporary facility" built at Carnoustie in Angus - where there is a golf-course.
The guns used for small-bore ISSF style "bullseye" shooting are very specialised devices - about which I know next to nothing!
These rifles have an intriguing and complex functional beauty to some eyes I'm sure - they certainly look expensive.
New Zealand has entered a team of nine shooters to compete at the Glasgow Games and I certainly wish them all the best - and pass my most considered traditional advise - "While there's lead in the air - there's hope".
We have two full-bore rifle shooters, two clay shooters, four small-bore rifle entrants, - and a single mens 50 metre pistol shooter, Ricky Zhao.
A Free Pistol.
Free-Pistol shooters in the outdoor 50 Metre range have two hours to fire single-handed sixty shots while carefully watching wind indicating flags and hoping to keep all their .22"RF shots in the nine-ring of the target.
- It might be interesting to get the Scottish police to publish their violent crime stats after the games eh - well, with that massive concentration of firearms in such a compact area there must be a disastrous effect on crime - for sure!! - More seriously - let's hope that the suspected local outbreak of Noro virus doesn't spread.
You learn something everyday eh - The only problem is when you get old and 'past-it' you forget several somethings every damn day!
Joke: "The older that I get - the more I believe in the Here-after. - I keep walking into rooms and wondering " what the hell am I in here after"!
- Some .22" RF guns are OK to dry-fire - but some can be damaged by the firing-pin hitting the edge of the chamber and that is not a good thing. - I have used fired cases as 'snap-caps' and that works fine - but I just came across an idea that is so good that I have to pass it on.
In USA this is known as a #4 drywall anchor - I'm not sure if we use the same name here in New Zealand (wall plugs) - but I'll certainly be looking for a pack next time I go hardware shopping.
Thanks are due to Greg Ellefritz and his Active Response Training site and his e-mailed "weekend knowledge dump" with the link to JTT (Jerking The Trigger.com) for this tip.
I happily told my mate John about it and he said "Didn't you know about that?" !! - Bloody know-all eh.
Dirty Harry:- Now I confidently started-out by claiming that the "Most powerful handgun in the world" was in fact not a real S&W Model 29 but a lesser calibre as it had to fire movie blanks - Wrong (apparently). - Further research indicates that in the first Dirty Harry Movie the revolver used may well have been a genuine M29 - albeit specially built - and that the .44"Magnum blanks were again especially made for use during the production. - Various web-site sources credit Clint Eastwood with practicing / training thoroughly before filming commenced.
S&W Model 29.
In may be that in the later 'Dirty Harry' movies the usual 5 in 1 Blanks were used in specially adapted Model 29s - but my reading on this has mixed reports - including that in some of the movies the gun was a "prop" fiction with its muzzle opened-out to a much greater bore so that it would appear even more impressive.
5 in 1 blanks can be used in revolvers chambered for 38-40, 44-40, and .45" Colt, plus rifles in 38-40 and 44-40 Winchester. - They are also known as 3 in 1 blanks.
These blanks were made by using a primed case loaded with a shallow layer of fast pistol powder then a layer of slow rifle powder - all held in place by a light wad. they are made as smokeless, black-powder - to give a nice cloud of white smoke, and half-and-half to give a lesser amount of smoke.
Currently the standard blanks have moved forward and are now built using plastic cases and are available in 44 Special, 44 Magnum, and .410 gauge. - they are made both crimped and open-ended 'Balloon' blank variant.
'Balloon' blanks are used by fast-draw shooters to pop balloons - the slow burning powder is driven forward far enough to burst the balloons on impact with the burning particles.
Now I'm not going to comment about this performance - real bullets or blanks? - he's still legend and faster than you or I will ever be eh.
- If you should be interested in what-ever gun it was in that movie you saw - try online at IMFDB.org - that's 'Internet Movie Firearms DataBase' - very useful and interesting.
Marty K After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it? https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
I woke-up this morning .. Correction - My cat woke me up this morning, - well before 07.00 in the frosty darkness of mid-winter. - As per normal I ignored her for as long as I could while she tried all her tricks (walking all over me - sitting on my head etc.) to make me rise-up and "Feed Me Seymore" - Yeah, it is a horror!
. Anyway I sat up in the dark and was startled to see (reflected in a mirror) bright flames shooting skyward above a nearby school - leaped out of my cosy pit with my lower cheeks rapidly chilling - raced to the phone - 111, "Fire Service" etc. etc. - Explained the problem - quickly fed the cat - threw-on some discarded clothing - and out the door for a shivering 'rubber-neck' at what was going-up in flames down the road.
Well - it wasn't the school building as it had appeared - but two huge piles of lumber-jacked pine trees (from a 'windbreak') roaring into the night sky while now being watched by the fire brigade. - The story goes that an early rising school principle decided to remove the eyesore/hazard using flame !!
So - 'The Gun Digest Shooters Guide to Handguns' byGrant Cunningham is well worth reading with lots of excellent photos. - Newer shooters will find it great value all round - but all of us would have to love the section at the end of each of the eleven chapters called "Want to know more?" - where pages of further reading are referenced complete with contact details and web addresses. - I'll certainly be following-up some of these sources.
- That's IT for today - I'm going to have a cup of coffee and a granny-nap in my recliner armchair - as long as the cat lets me.
Thinking about the Russian 'Silent Revolver' - the OTs-38 Stechkin that I found while writing about "silenced 44Magnums" earlier - it reminded me about other 'bottom-feeders'
Stechkin OTs-38 Silent Revolver.
The Stechkin fires from the bottom chamber of its five shot cylinder that pivots out radially and fires the captive-piston SP-4 cartridges loaded using a full-moon clip. The upper "barrel" is a laser pointer.
The first other 'bottom-feeder to come to mind is the Chiappa revolver.
Chiappa Rhino Revolver.
The Chiappa is the work of designer Emilio Ghisoni - a successful engineer who was interested in reducing muzzle rise when firing handguns. His first attempt was produced as the Mateba MTR-8 that places the cylinder in front of the trigger thus bringing the barrel line down.
Mateba MTR-8 Revolver. - Not many Sales.
Another example of radical thinking is GhisonisMateba UNICA autorevolver.
- Designed in 1997 the UNICA uses the recoiling barrel to rotate the cylinder and cock the hammer - and again the design fires from the bottom chamber of the cylinder which swings-out and down rather conventionally for Ghisoni. Only a few were built.
Mateba 2006-M - A Little more 'normal' looking ?
- There's certainly "more than one way to skin a cat" .. Maybe these different ideas will catch-on in a big way in the future - but sadly Emilio Ghisoni died in 2008 without striking gold.
- All this brings to mind the Russian (again!) Margolin MTS-3 Rekord "upside-down" semi-auto.
Designed by K Sheparskiy and first used in anger at the 1956 Olympic Games - this upside-down pistol was banned out of existence by re-writing the rules. - Seems to me to be a perfectly sensible design idea that upset everybody else that hadn't thought of it! - Hmmm .
Marty K After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it? https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
- Did you ever hear of a pistol called the "SAIVE HI-POWER"? - Naah, -neither have I - but we should have!
Dieudonne Saive (1889-1973) was a clever engineer who worked for FN in Belgium. - He developed his compact double-stack magazine in 1921 and then offered it to John Browning who was the chief weapons designer atFabrique Nationale - Browning worked the double-stacker magazine into his locked-breech design and applied for the patent with Colt - but then went and died months before the patent was granted.
Colts weren't interested in new designs as they were focussed on building and selling Brownings other, earlier design (the Colt 1911) - so Val Browning offered the patent etc. to FN where Saive had heaps of input into ongoing development of the semi-auto double-stacked 9mm that went into production as the "Model 1922" or "Grand Rendement" (High Yield) in 1922. - Then in 1935 the new version of this s/a pistol, much modified by Saive was released as the "Grand Puissance" - 'High-Power' .
West-German Police Hi Power.
Saive fled from German forces in 1941 to England where he re-drew all the plans for his pistol that went into production as the UK MkI model High Power.
The FN Browning High-Power had a capacity of fourteen rounds in a useable hand-sized grip and went-on to be adopted as the service weapon in Britain. The gun was built not only by the British Commonwealth nations but also by the Germans (65,000 renamed Pistole 640(b)
Canadian 'Inglis' Hi-Power.
Saive did much development work on other Browning designs at FN - and his own design for the gas-operated FN-49 Rifle was later developed into the FN-FAL select-fire Battle Rifle.
The British army were only last year (2013) replacing their Hi-Powers with the Glock 17. - That's a long run from 1941 - seventy three years.
There have been many different versions made, in more than 50 different countries - it would be quicker to list countries that haven't issued or used the Hi Power than to write those that have - but not many will have heard of the name Saive.
I thought that I knew about trench warfare during WW1 - things like the men using grenades and bayonets and periscopes to defend their positions in rival trenches sometimes as close as only 16 yards apart in the steep terrain above the beaches of Gallipoli. I'd even heard of shotguns being called "trench-sweepers" - the Winchester Model 1897 pump-action being the original type.
Winchester Model 1897 Shot-gun.
The M1897 had an external hammer and barrel lengths varied between 20 inches up to as long as 36 inches.
Rod has just reminded me by e-mail that the trigger disconnect design of the M1897 meant that by holding-back the trigger you can fire 9 ball buckshot as fast as you can pump or cycle the action! - "Very handy in the confines of a trench!".
British officers went into the war armed with the Webley MkV and from 1915 the Webley MkVI - top break revolvers in .455" calibre. This revolver was a sturdy and reliable gun - well suited to rough use in mud and filth - and was also issued to tank crews, trench raiders and machine gun teams.
WEBLEY Mk VI .455" Calibre.
Sappers were troops trained to specialise in tunnelling - a 'SAP' was a trench used to advance under cover on a fortress in earlier times - and Sappers or miners were also sometimes known as Pioneers. Both sides would try to literally undermine the enemy's lines and place explosive mines to use when an attack was to be attempted. - Dirty, hard, dangerous work while the opposition would be listening for digging - and placing their explosive charges to catch the other team at work at the right time. Boom.
The first world war saw Maori serving in the New Zealand Maori Pioneer Battalion.
Meanwhile, barely above ground the troops were trying to survive infiltration attacks - sneak attacks under the cover of darkness - and at close contact it wasn't only guns that were in use.
Trench Club Marked 'S&W' - 1914/18
Entrenching Tools were sharpened for affect:
German WW1 Entrenching Tool
WW1 US Mark 1 TRENCH KNIFE
- Brutal stuff - but the idea was to sneak-in, - cause maximum casualties and sneak back to the home lines undiscovered.
The surrounds of front-line dug-outs would have been protected by low-tech movement detectors of tin-cans suspended from wires to rattle when moved - in the hope that troopers would be able to snatch some sleep without having anyone drop by and use a mace on their head. - The steel helmets were never designed as bullet proof - but they might well deflect glancing blows.
The US Trench 'Bolo' was classed as a tool rather than a weapon.
-Add into the mix early tanks, artillery, airships, poison gas attacks, and hand-grenades being lobbed into your trench - with heavy machine guns waiting for any movement from the cover of the trenches, - and you'll get the idea that an infantry-mans lot was not an easy one.
British P1907 Bayonet (18 inch) for Enfield Rifle.
- New Zealand lost 16,697 killed and 41,317 wounded - a high casualty rate of 58%. A further 1,000 men died from their wounds over the following five years - and 507 died during training.
On the 15th August 1914 a force of 1,413 men with 6 nursing sisters sailed for German Samoa and landed on the 29th to no resistance from the Germans.
Marty K After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it? https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870
