Firearms Law - Change is Coming:

This morning Sunday - Radio New Zealand National "Insight" broadcast a thirty minute 'debate' on "Gun Control".

Frankly there wasn't much new in the presentation - just the latest opinions from the usual collection of 'experts'. They presented the voices of the Police Association, Senior Police officers, a Gun Dealer, a Collector, a spokesman from COLFO etc. etc.

Same Old - same old ...  Claims that thousands of illegal gun imports are increasing criminal gun use were countered by the police official statistics of reducing gun crime at a very low level in overall crime figures.

Opinion voiced that EVERY GUN SHOULD BE REGISTERED ..

One clown voiced concern at how easy it was to convert an 'A-Cat.' rifle into a 'MSSA' !

To This?

- Really?

Ah well - the end result is more calls for a "REVIEW" and counter claim that They would be better to spend that review money on better policing of existing regulations.

You can bet your bottom dollar that the outcome will in due course involve more restrictive rules and more expense for firearms users.

Fifty four dollars will buy you membership of SSANZ and a years subscription to New Zealands best shooting magazine 'NZ Guns & Hunting' in one deal .. CHEAP

Marty K.

The Custom Revolver (Hamilton S Bowen, Ross Seyfreid)

This e-book was only published in 2012 - but the original dead tree version was dated 2001.

(I see Amazon are asking US$300 for a used copy!)

It's a bloody good read - informative and entertaining from a guy who qualifies as a well known custom revolver craftsman. The Kindle version cost me only $7.67 and is worth every cent - as I expect to read it again very soon. Like a favourite dinner from the menu - it will be savoured whenever I fancy.

The Custom Revolver contains some sharply humorous comments and asides - together with much stuff that I didn't know about revolvers, ammunition - and gun making craftsmanship.

Hamilton S Bowen must be a talented guy to work as a gun maker, successful business director - and still find the time to set down and write such a good read.

- His guns make me wish I had a lot more money to spend eh.

Just Look At This Custom Vaquero Barrel.

 

Good stuff .. now some borrowed video

- Bowen Perfected Bearcat.

 - Just The Holster Rig For You eh Cutters

 

Marty K.

Hurunui Avian Wildlife:

Just before midday today (Thursday) I went to the door intending to fetch in some firewood and what did I spy in the front yard but ..

 This Cute Plump Couple Having a Seed Feed - California Quale.

 

 

- So having done my best to get these pictures through the window glass - I was returning the camera when I spotted in the back yard ..

 Mrs? Pheasant on my veggie garden.

I  think that it may be all the 'wild greens' and weed seed that's attracting them to my section - I was a bit crook in the last couple of years and it's got away from me a bit eh.

 

- It may be either a Common or a Golden Pheasant - hard to tell on a very dull morning - but I certainly considered fetching my quiet .22 rifle - but that would have entailed disturbing the bird to go get the "Shiny-thing" from its 'lock-up'.  - And anyway - is there a restricted season around here?

 

 

- I've just recently read a review of Benjamins Trail NP2 gas piston .22" calibre air rifle in NZ Guns & Hunting .. now if I had bought one for NZ$500 it should have been ideal eh - apart from the cost..

 

 

Marty K.

 

AR15s Infest Pistol Club Range:

This weekend nearly all the range shooting bays seemed to have some version of an AR15 'Black Rifle' lurking ready to shoot.

This one boasts a double optic set-up and silencer - and comes with the warning not to shoot at steel plates!

Nice.

 

- The second one spotted was just about all light weight plastic and being freshly purchased was being sighted-in:

- A "real" leggo toy - with another 'Silencer'.

 

Interesting action this one - being a light-weight carbon fibre filled ' Receiver':

 

 

 

Windham Weaponry say that they aim to produce the finest AR15s - they certainly seem to have built a very light version using injection moulded carbon-fibre polymers to make the receiver parts. - It is definitely lightweight and handy. 'Cutters' says he has a bad back and reckons that this carbon-lite is much easier to handle than his chunky Russian Saiga AK.

 

'CARBON' Video Review:

 

 

- A third AR that crept into sight proved to be a 'Bushmaster' lower that is being homebuilt as a registered & restricted 'E Cat' by JBTFL.

 

 

Keeping out of sight was my own AR? Just Right Carbine in 9x19mm (full over-barrel silencer):

 

- There are another couple of ARs not shown but hiding around.

 

This is a pistol club eh ..  but we pistoleros do mostly seem to have good taste for wide ranging technology and ballistics.

 

The use of 'silencers' in the confined shooting 'tin shed' with hard ply dividing partitions definitely has the welcome effect of moderating the shockwaves / blast from the .223" muzzles. - 'Naked' rifles can bounce a percussive pressure wave into nearby shooters bays and really disturb a quiet day :-0

 

Marty K.

Polishing My Nipples (Ruger Old Army):

The nipples (cones) on my fixed sight Old Army 'cap'n'ball' were hard to cap (as bought used) - so I unscrewed them ,- chucked them up in my drill press and gently filed them to shape using a small 'Swiss file'.

- Actually this was complicated by my needing to buy a 3/16" A.F. socket to fit the Ruger brand of nipple - and that was complicated further again by also needing to buy a socket driver with a 1/4" drive .. these were not cheap either!

- I also had to grind the end face of the socket to reduce the lead-in and give as much grip on the hex-nuts as possible.

All up - it proved to be not as simple to do as it was simple to plan-to-do eh.

- Anyway job done and each nipple was "gauged" using #11 caps - and they worked perfectly on range yesterday. Proof-of-the-pudding was that I managed to hit the 6" steel plate at 25 metres two out of three 'off-hand' with cast balls (Give-up while you're ahead eh)

"Labour Weekend Holiday" here and the weather did the decent thing with sunshine but a blustery 'Norwester' wind.

We are meant to get our veggie gardens all planted over the 3-Day w/e and I'm well up with that task.

Life is Good: - by-the-by - something that makes it good is the way the 'old fashioned' fixed sight ROA looks .. I do know why the adjustable sights are needed for accurate shooting at distance - but that smooth rounded top surface such as on this gun and Vaqueros is so very graceful, ergonomic, and evocative of the 'Wild West' and Frontier history:

Eh.

Marty K.

ON THE FIRING LINE NZ Police Assoc Conference Today:

I missed last nights TV3 story about a .22" rifle being illegally bought - by a woman reporter - using a false Firearms Licence and an unsigned 'Mail Order Purchase Form'

 .. However you should be aware that today the NZ Police Assoc. are starting their three day Conference titled ' ON THE FIRING LINE' - and according to a radio interview on 'Nine to Noon'  with Professor Alexander Gillespie - this assembly of police officers will be looking at our current New Zealand firearms legislation and their concerns as they see it ..

CURRENTLY:

96% of guns here are not registered.

Estimated 1M to 1.5M guns currently in NZ

230,000 current Firearms Licence Holders

All guns used to be registered up till 1982 - and computers now may make it practical to again require registration of all firearms.

Concern about 'on-line' gun sales.

Estimated 100,000 firearms are not in the possession of their licenced owners.

Registration and 'Buybacks'.

Customs estimate that there are 2,000 attempts every year to illegally import firearms into NZ. (That probably includes my impounded $9 after-market lightened trigger spring eh!).


IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY A MEMBER OF SSANZ - PLEASE SIGN-UP.

Marty K

Ruger Ammunition:

The latest e-mail from 'Ruger Newsroom' details new "Ruger" ammunition that is manufactured by Polycase. 

They are offering the normal full range of  pistol calibres in this branded ammunition that uses injection moulded bullets that are their own blend of metal powder filled polymer.

- While Polycase also manufacture plastic cartridge cases - it seems that the 'Ruger' range of rounds are using conventional brass cases to market these moulded 'defensive' light weight - high velocity loads.

As noted previously - I consider that injection moulding technology should mean LOW COST product and not highly priced ammunition that is marketed as being something specially effective.

It must surely be only a matter of time before another brand of ammunition takes-up this low cost bulk production technique to market an equally effective "economy line".

Marty K.

Colourful plastic cartridge cases & brass on right.