QUALITY - 'Unicorns' & Nutters.

Former NZ Minister of Police, Gun Banner Stuart 'Nutter' Nash  has withdrawn his attempt to re-enter Parliament as a candidate for New Zealand First ..

- ex? Waikato Police District Commander, Superintendent Bruce Bird is presently the Acting Executive Director  in charge of  the 'independant'  (non-Police) 

NZ FIREARMS SAFETY AUTHORITY .. The Gun Register:

He does not have an exemplary record of police service ..

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/.../NH3LKM5ZZVCBLIUCBABMS4T34A/

https://www.stuff.co.nz/.../waikato-cop-investigated-over...

#56 Orange varnished handle contrasted with a London Gun .. 

You CAN tell the Difference

'no.56' (top) is a cheaply made antique pistol with a wood handle - when new it would have worked - but nobody would have shown it proudly to their kids as a treasure .. The other is a quality 'London Gun' having decent engraving, fine checkering on walnut grips, better fitted parts, London Hall Marks & superior finish. - Not all which is old is a treasure - they made some crap back then to palm-off on the underpriviledged, just as they do now.

 An endoscope view of no.56 down the 10mm bore to the combustion/nipple chamber

Many of these old black powder 'Muzzle Loader' pocket pistols have rough bores - in this case it appears blackened by use, with a corroded 'build-up' .. but even the "clean" smooth bores that I have seen mostly seem to have been roughly drilled (.. but I did recently get my grubby hands on a quality PAIR of London marked pocket pistols having almost shiny bores)

There are illegible assembly numbers on No.56's barrel and also on the varnished orange stock - but no makers logo nor proof marks.

But at least this one wasn't loaded when received. - You do need to check every firearm is safe.  Even antiques - Every one.

As bought - this low budget boxlock antique was in less than decent condition apart from a crushed rusted nipple that I had to grind away and chip out with a pin-punch. - Rough Enough.

QUALITY: We can only buy what we can afford - but please think twice before feeding yourself and kids on cheap slurry-paste Mechanicaly Separated Meat sausages in animal hide collagen skins. The list of chemical additives in meat trimmings "food" is scary .. hydrophilic & lipophilic binders, phosphates (STPP & SAPP) Diglycerides & Monoglycerides, fillers & extenders, sulfites & Nitrites & Nitrates, Cochineal & Red40/Allura Red ..

Note: Pic's New Zealand made PEANUT BUTTER is no longer sourced solely from Australia.

AND .. McVities "Chocolate Digestive" biscuits - once a long time favourite - are now sprayed with a "Cocoa Reduced Alternative" of palm oil, shea oil (used for skincare), and sugar.

- Have you sussed that YouTube sells costly advertising to sellers (that we consumers pay for) - AND then sells us viewers the Premium option of paying to NOT have advertising?

Despite the world being led by power crazed psychopaths - Life is Good

Are You Fit and Proper? Are NZ Police 'FIT AND PROPER PERSONS'? - SEVEN Police Commissioners have retired/resigned in disgrace - The Executive Director of the FIREARMS SAFETY AGENCY The Firearms Register has "retired" - so should we now expect things to improve?

 The Immaginative President of NZ Police Association - CAHILL has "stood down" and RETIRED from The Police.

- NOW Police Commissioner CHAMBERS is the EIGHTH Senior Administrator to be subject to investigation.

In the interest of Public Safety

FIREARMS LICENCES FOR NZ POLICE.

I bought another 'something useful' ..

A French Antique Coffee Roaster - hand turned

- soon I will again fill the house with coffee bean smoke ..

BRAZIL Cerrado Arabica beans .. French roasted in rural South Island

First tasting from my French Press, medium grind, was 'Pleasantly CHARRED with a Little bitter Cocoa' .. Highly rated with a spoonful of condensed dairy milk

Marty K.

Shooting Gear - The Older the Better: Detail ..

Have owned a few new guns over the years - Multiple Glocks in mixed calibers and barrel lengths (and colours), and several freshly imported Rugers including a pair of 4 inch SP101 Stainless Steel Revolvers - one in .22 LR and 'tuther in 327 Federal Magnum, but naturally me being a working class family man - just about everything that I've owned over decades is well used, second-hand - or nowadays it's fashionable to say "Preloved" ..

.22 Ruger,  and an Israeli Stamped 38/200  Caliber Webley MkIV

Ruger bought new - but the Webley has a lot of history over the years with a 'Star-of-David' stamp forward of the cylinder. - These MkIV's started with British Military service back in 1932, and while many of them were finished with black enamel paint - this one has very nice, but worn commercial  bluing.

Tell me that a modern battery needed plastic version will last as long as this Salter Armourers Trigger Pull Gauge from World War One ..

An internal spring lasts much longer than a dry cell or a rechargeable battery and it won't break when dropped either:

This "double "Damascus" barreled Pocket Pistol" is a wee beauty as-bought antique, with pattern welded steel barrels - but has some corrosion pitting from usage close to the nipples.

Whereas this next, London Proofed 'Old Girl' was in an awful, disgusting, orange-brown-rusty- scabby-corroded condition when bought and I seriously planned to make a replacement barrel .. but hours of refinishing managed to bring it back ..

Oddly - The bore had been greased and was near perfect & glossy ..

but the rest was disgusting.

I had to do so much remedial metalwork to restore that 'lovely' - that I know some expert know-all fuds will declare I ruined it's collector value and have lost all of it's historic PATINA. Sure, but it was a scrap metal RELIC until I worked on it for hour upon hours .. And I'm proud of it.

Yes I know how the Ruger came to New Zealand as I paid for it's Permits, Importation by air and Registration - but I can't start to guess at how and when these vintage and antique pieces made their way to New Zealand - in whos hands they had wandered the world, what seas were crossed on which vessels?

Here's another two older, mid-19th Century pocket pistols - one Birmingham marked, one London marked

I like them both BUT compare the 'close-up' detail quality of their Dolphin hammers ..

'London' v Birmingham .. Fairly Obvious DISPARITIES of quality ..

but was the 'London' Gun truly made in London?

Now, - I know nothing about engraving other than the cutting tools are called 'gravers' and there is some wonderful handwork to be seen .. but take a look at this below which is a fairly common kind of antique from maybe 170 years ago that is on a piece that has a lot of use, wear and damage. Every single shading line hand cut ..

- a poor image from a cellphone - but look at the hand-cut detail 

- this is NOT a presentation gun but only a battered old working self-defence tool.

                                         Are You Fit and Proper? 

Are NZ Police 'FIT AND PROPER PERSONS'? - SEVEN Police Commissioners have retired/resigned in disgrace - The Executive Director of the FIREARMS SAFETY AGENCY The Firearms Register has "retired" - so should we now expect things to improve?

 Immaginative President of NZ Police Association - Detective Inspector CAHILL has "stood down"  AND RETIRED FROM THE SERVICE ..  

 Police Commissioner CHAMBERS is the EIGHTH Senior Police Administrator subject to investigation. - Plus, now Detective Inspector VERRY is under employment investigation as over 50 of his cases are re-opened

THESE are the same  people who dictated the rules judging LAW ABIDING 'FIT AND PROPER' LAWFULLY LICENSED GUN OWNERS ..

It was Police Failure to properly vet the SCUM Australian killer Tarrant, that preceded him killing 51 innocents in 2019 ..

WHEN will The Coronial Inquiry into the Christchurch Masjidain Attack be completed? 

- And when will it release the full and final findings following the conclusion of the Inquiry?

Are they waiting until the Findings will be regarded as "Old News"?

Findings may include recommendations under Section 57 (3) of the Coroners Act 2006, aimed at preventing deaths in similar circumstances in the future.

- In the interest of Public Safety -

FIREARMS LICENCES ESSENTIAL FOR NZ POLICE.

Life is GOOD ..

Marty K.

ALUMINUM Revolver FRAMES Rubbish? v SCANDIUM Brilliance?:

 Wow .. The .22 Rimfire BB Cap was introduced way back in 1845 (that's 181 years ago, doesn't time fly?) in France by L-N Flobert and S&W introduced the 'Short' into America twelve years later in 1854-57. - I guess you might say that both the .22 "Short"  and "Long" rimfire cartridges were for use in handguns, while the .22 Long Rifle was focused for Rifle use.

                     Flobert 'BB Cap'              Short                          Long                 Long Rifle

'TWO-TWOS'

These early rimfires used BLACKPOWDER propellant and it wasn't until the 1920's that "Smokeless" powders completely replaced Blackpowder & semi-Blackpowder loadings. These names are modern usage .. they wouldn't have called the 'short' cartridge 'SHORT' until the "Long" was developed eh.

Other, larger rimfire cartridges were used back in the day - right up to 56-50 and the .56-56 Spencer blackpowder rimfire cartridge that had a big part during the American Civil War.

56-50 compared to .22 L.R.

You might say that the development of the more powerful SMOKELESS PROPELLANTS (Nitro based) ended the larger rimfire rounds - because rimfire brass needs to be thin and malleable for the firing pin to crush at the rim, and that leads to case ruptures in the bigger calibers when powerful smokeless propellents are loaded. - Centerfire cases can be as thick and strong as you need.

I just read an online story about what a bargain unsung hero the old Hi-Standard Sentinal 22 L.R. revolver can be .. link:

https://gunsmagazine.com/guns/rifles/overlooked-rimfires-gem/

Aluminum framed Sentinal revolvers are decent quality and perform fine with the low recoil rimfire cartridges.

Earlier I have watched "James Teeth Reeves" of TFB TV flashing on/off while advertising S&W Revolvers - including their marvellous SCANDIUM FRAMED hi-tech airweight models.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNFuaBm-s2w

NOW .. It would be rude of me - not to mention remiss - NOT to point-out that so called ultra-lightweight SCANDIUM is a very high priced metal alloy of ALUMINUM mixed with as little as 0.1 % scandium metal.

A PIG OF A THING To Shoot .. But it IS light to Carry:

However - that small percentage of scandium alloyed into aluminum does greatly increase the tensile strength of that alloy, so that when used in a revolver frame with proper design, the lightweight revolver can withstand recoil forces from firing 357 Magnum cartridges. - BUT the same may not be claimed for the shooter, whose hands will be painfully stung and whose Intrinsic and Extrinsic CARPAL LIGAMENTS may well suffer permanent injury. 

Gawd help anyone suffering from arthritis ..

I ought point-out that other modern aluminum alloys are also well suited for use in firearm actions when properly tested and designed .. but my preferred choice would be full weight stainless steel alloys due to their resistance to corrosion coupled with the capability of scratches and dings to be removed with careful 'sanding'. - A fine example here might be the stainless Ruger Old Army 44 Percussion revolver that uses it's mass to gently handle the heavier charges ..

Here's One I Polished Earlier .. My Favorite Ruger Old Army:

I love this big gun despite it having been scratched, dinged and corroded, and with a bent cylinder Pin when sold to me over the phone "as unfired, new condition" by Auckland branch Gun City.

I've owned three ROA's .. but, are these properly classed as .44's or .45's ?? - Either way they are lovely to shoot loaded with 35 grains of black powder.

Are You Fit and Proper? 

Are NZ Police 'FIT AND PROPER PERSONS'? - SEVEN Police Commissioners have retired/resigned in disgrace - The Executive Director of the FIREARMS SAFETY AGENCY The Firearms Register has "retired" - so should we now expect things to improve?

 Immaginative President of NZ Police Association - Detective Inspector CAHILL has "stood down"  AND RETIRED FROM THE SERVICE ..  

- NOW Police Commissioner CHAMBERS is the EIGHTH Senior Police Administrator subject to investigation. 

- In the interest of Public Safety -

FIREARMS LICENCES FOR NZ POLICE.

Marty K.