Gun Thread: More 2022 Edition!

It's still 2022!

Howdy, Y'all! Welcome to the wondrously fabulous Gun Thread! As always, I want to thank all of our regulars for being here week in and week out, and also offer a bigly Gun Thread welcome to any newcomers who may be joining us tonight. Howdy and thank you for stopping by! I hope you find our wacky conversation on the subject of guns 'n shooting both enjoyable and informative. You are always welcome to lurk in the shadows of shame, but I'd like to invite you to jump into the conversation, say howdy, and tell us what kind of shooting you like to do!

I mentioned last Sunday I hadn't been to the farm-o in a while, and between the snowstorm we had in the Mid-Atlantic and my work expecting me to do, well, some actual work, there was no change this week. I am hoping to rectify that soon with a trip to WeaselAcres, so we'll see.

With that, let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

Last week we took at look at a modern pistol, the Sig Sauer P230SL, and this week we have something a little older from my personal collection; a Smith & Wesson K38 Target Masterpiece manufactured in 1948 with a serial number under 50,000. Those of you who have been reading the Gun Thread for a while know that I am partial to S&W revolvers, particularly from this era. I have said it before, but these firearms were effectively custom made by today's standards, with the final fitting and assembly performed by experienced gunsmiths. With a little bit of care they give a lifetime of trouble-free service. As you can see, this gun is no safe queen and has the all the signs of years of use in the form of some honest wear. However, the action is still tight and it is a fine shooter! As the name implies, this old friend is a target gun, with a 6" barrel, standard hammer and trigger, and factory original magna grips. I use a milder target load with a 158 gr. bullet and targeted velocity around 700fps which I find plenty accurate. It is a lot of fun to shoot just plinking at steel from about 25 feet which is about the only use it sees now.

Here is a great article on the entire a Smith & Wesson Masterpiece lineup from American Handgunner.

I know many share my love for these vintage firearms. Are you one of them?

Q: Weasel, why are you such an idiot?
A: It's a gift and comes naturally.

Q: Weasel, what knife do you use the most?
A: This little guy!

Benchmade Mini-Griptilian

.22lr cartridge for scale

The Benchmade Mini-Griptilian is a great little knife for every day chores. Mine mostly sees service opening boxes and packages, holds a great edge and with a blade just under 3" is the perfect pocket knife. I love mine! Incidentally, Benchmade is having a sale right now.

Q: Weasel, what knife do you use at Weasel Acres for bear fightin'?
A: This slightly bigger fella!

Benchmade Bushcrafter 162

The Benchmade Bushcrafter 162 is a very nice knife for opening bigger boxes and packages and bears with a blade length just under 4.5". I gave this one to me for Christmas, however, I was not in love with the sheath that came with it. It's a perfectly fine sheath, but it seemed like the knife deserved something, I don't know, a little nicer!

So I ordered this from Sagewood Gear, minus the firesteel loop.

I haven't received the sheath yet because they are made to order and the wait is currently about 6 weeks. When it arrives I will post a follow-up, but I suspect it's going to be too nice to take outside!

Just in time for the post-holiday travel season, here is a good discussion on federal statute (18 USC section 926A) that is supposed to protect you when traveling intra-state and crossing jurisdictions which might not be as gun friendly as your point of origin and destination.

So I was behind the curve on the holiday travel dealio. To make up for it, here's a video from Mas Ayoob on defending yourself against a mob.

My obsession with Seafoam Deep Creep continues.

Ammo?

It occurs to me I haven't had ammo advertisements filling my inbox for some time. Are you buying ammo, and what are you seeing with regard to price and availability?

Cigar of the Week

No cigar for you!

I am working on a list of cigar shops recommended by you people. We had a few suggestions in the comments last week, but a list of three or four is barely a list at all! So if you enjoy cigars and have a local shop you like, let us know who they are and why you like them. The idea here is to steer some bidness to the smaller shops and rollers.

Gun Basics 101
Here's the She Equips Herself girl with concealed carry considerations for Moms.

How about it? Do we have any Moms who carry?

Link-O-Rama

I'm really very seriously not kidding around anymore. Buy Ammo
AmmoSeek - online ammo search tool
GunBot - online ammo search tool
SG Ammo
Palmetto State Armory
Georgia Arms
AmmoMan
Target Sports USA
Bud's Gun Shop

This always makes me giggle like a little girl.

Please note the new and improved protonmail account gunthread at protonmail dot com. An informal Gun Thread archive can be found HERE. Future expansion plans are in the works for the site Weasel Gun Thread. If you have a question you would like to ask Gun Thread Staff offline, just send us a note and we'll do our best to answer. If you care to share the story of your favorite firearm, send a picture with your nic and tell us what you sadly lost in the tragic canoe accident. If you would like to remain completely anonymous, just say so. Lurkers are always welcome!

That's it for this week - have you been to the range?

posted by Weasel at 07:00 PM

| Access Comments