Gun Thread: Happy Day After Veterans Day Edition!

Yes, yes we do!

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!

Holy Shitballs! How in the ever-loving Hell did it get to be the day after Veterans Day? Owing to the vagaries of the calendar, I'm a day late, but that doesn't mean the sentiment is any less heartfelt. For those of you who made the commitment to serve, thank you.

Thanks again for all of the kind comments and email this past week regarding WeaselDog. We're still getting used to not having her around, but FSJ is enjoying all the attention and dog treats. Also, I mentioned before that I am waaaay behind on my Gun Thread email correspondence, so thank you for your continued patience as I get caught up!

With that, step into the dojo and let's get to the gun stuff below, shall we?

So I guess this means it's officially fall. What, if any, changes are you making to your shooting and training regemin? Do you do more shooting in the winter, less shooting, or about the same amount of shooting? For those with access to both indoor and outdoor ranges, do you just move the show inside? Does anyone have a preference for indoors versus outdoor shooting?

Legend has it some shooters meticulously clean their weapons after every range session. If true, I appluad their dedication, but do not share their vigorous commitment. Don't you see the slippery slope before you? What's next? Regular tooth brushing and bathing? With soap? *shudder*

Anyhoo, my ancestors ascribed to the "about once or twice per year" school of firearms maintenance for weapons not used at least semi-regularly. Think of fall weapons maintenance as you would replacing the battery in your smoke detectors when the clocks change, or draining the fuel and changing the oil and spark plug in your small engine equipment.

Q: Weasel, we want to be just like you. What does WeaselDoctrine tell us?
A: Why, I'm happy you asked. WeaselDoctrine teaches us to inspect and lightly maintain our stored weapons at least semi-annually.

I have to admit to having several overstuffed gun safes, and it's not practical to visually inspect the contents at a glance. Although I don't get all nutty with cleaning, I do my best to eliminate moisture and the attendant problems with products such as DampRid, changing and refilling them every few months or so. My basement, where most of the safes are located (near all of the torches and cutting tools) isn't particularly damp, but these moisture absorbers do a fantastic job keeping the safe innards dry. If you really want to be on top of your humidity game, take a look at these temperature and humidity sensors. I am absolutely sold on these little fellas! I have them in all of my cigar humidors, as well as the basement refrigerator/freezer and my gun safes, all set to alert me when preset thresholds are exceeded.

What is the proper humidity for gun storage you ask? Well, an admittedly hasty internet search returns a range of between 25% and 75% relative humidity. Seriously? why not simplify matters and just say between 1% and 100%, or recommend "some level of humidity" as proper for gun storage? I happen to think the NRA Museum probably knows a thing or two on the subject, and they recommend a year-round temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and a target relative humidity of around 50%. As a matter of fact, there is a whole paper, "Caring for Your Collectible Firearms", available for download at the link, or as a PDF HERE. Also, our pals at Guns America have a really good series on gun safes and stored weapons care, and part 9 on moisture control is linked here.

Anyway, about twice a year I pull everything out for a once-over with an oily rag from my collection next to the furnace and can of spray lube such as Ballistol or Deep Creep, at the ready. You don't need to spend a bunch of time on each one, just a quick function check and peek at the action, then a spritz or two of lubricant and wipe down, and you're good to go for another six months to a year. The last thing you want to do is open your safe and be greeted by a bunch of rust where Mom's 12 ga. used to stand.

If you like to clean guns after every use, then by all means do so. Breaking down a weapon and cleaning it immediately after returning from the range can be a ritualistic part of the fun of guns 'n shootin', and unless you're really going about it in a retarded way, you're not likely to damage anything. This is your hobby and you should feel free to do it your way as long as it's safe to those around you. With the exception of my carry guns, I give about equal weight to preserving function, and eliminating rust and corrosion.

For those of you with larger collections, when was the last time you had everything out for a look-see?

Rifle opener next weekend in the Northwoods. Which gets grown men excited like 9-year-olds on Christmas Eve.

Digging through the stockpile, I've decided on the trusted Rem Model 700 for this season. It was my first rifle purchase, back in '98. It's not an eye catcher but is a fine wrench in the toolbox. It's stainless with synthetic stock and shoots the tightest groups in my collection. It is chambered in 30-06, topped with a Leopold VX-II with a standard Duplex reticle, the sling is flexible/springy for all day carry, has had a trigger job (I had a gunsmith do it), and the extra butt plate sleeve/pad was added the year I had shoulder surgery (baseball injury, not self-pleasure injury) and I've not removed it.

Why 30-06? Mostly because I didn't know shit from apple butter about firearms at the time and my brother-in-law and father-in-law said to buy that. After smartening up a bit over the years, I'm fine with that selection. It's a solid utility round for deer hunting in the woods and swamps of the upper Midwest and it has served me well in my big 'ol country hunts out west. I'm sure it has been mentioned in the Weasel thread before, but it doesn't get old hearing that the 30-06 was adopted by the US Army in 1906, when real men were serving, not Mulvaney types. It is reliable and ammo can be found at pretty much any small-town hardware store. Which is important when a Moron might have had that hot feeling of fear/embarrassment in Wallowa, OR, when realizing they've forgotten to pack their ammo. It also shoots flat enough and hits hard enough for my hunting needs.

A bit of nerd stuff: This one has a hinged magazine/floorplate vs. detachable box, can be unloaded from the bottom side, and has the standard thumb safety (can operate bolt while on safe or fire). According to the Remington site, the Model 700 was introduced in 1962, and is available in over 80 configurations and 50ish chamberings.

Cool stuff: In 1966 the Marine Corps adopted a version of the 700; the M40 for their sniper rifle, chambered in 7.62 NATO. This was not the Carlos Hathcock sniper rifle, he used a Winchester Model 70; a badass in their own right (Both Hathcock and the pre-64 model 70). The Army followed later and adopted the M24SWS version of the 700. Law enforcement loved the 700 receivers for their sniper rifles. Seems logical that the military put it through their usual beating/testing prior to adopting (when we had serious minded people doing such things) that they found it both accurate and reliable. Good enough for me and don't make me no nevermind.

Complaints and gossip. 1) Push fed vs. control round fed. I prefer push fed (others do not, apparently). With push fed, one can manually load rounds from the top, with the bolt open. Which I needed one cold fall day - no-father-good-in-law mentioned that he thought I shot, but then thought - no, he has a bolt action and that was a semi-auto going off - who the hell is hunting on our land! Well, it we me. Cycling that bolt with the fervor of - well, nevermind. Incidentally, the bullets in the sling came in quite handy as I was stuffing them in through the top. 2) The extraction mechanism. I've not had any poor experiences. However, for any concerned, I've read that a qualified Smith can change that out. 3) Trigger recall. This did occur. Unintentional discharge (I know, phrasing). Remington recalled all Model 700's – almost 8 million rifles. 4) This configuration is a bit nose heavy. Long SS barrel and the synthetic stock makes it difficult to shoot off hand as it's not balanced particularly well. Works well for stand hunting and target shooting (blowing up things with Tannerite - I've heard people do such things).

It simply gets the job done. Which I value. I'll have dad's Marlin 336 in camp too in case I'm feeling nostalgic. Good luck and wishing many great stories and memories to all the tellers of tall tales.

Excellent work, scampydog! This is a bigly good write-up. Thank you!

And as long as we're discussing Smith & Wessons, here's a look at a Model 19-3.

Pop Quiz! What is the frame designation of the Model 19?

The Denel NTW-20 anti materiel rifle used by snipers.

It's a magnificent beast, clocking in at up to 34kg unloaded. For easier transport, it can be quickly disassembled into two parts. It can fire 20x82mm, 14.5x114mm, or even 20x110mm rounds, putting it well into "cannon" territory. The latter round has a muzzle energy of ca. 42,000 Joules, more than double the energy of the famous .50 BMG. One of these rifles in 14.5x114mm was used by a South African sniper for the 9th longest sniper kill on record, 2013 in the DR Congo.

I performed approximately 0.0 fact checking so I have idea if any of this is correct, but with it coming from the usually reliable internet and all, I'm certain it's right (wiki). Plus, it sure looks cool!

Well This Is Bullshit
I personally have the worst bunch of Mail Persyns in the world. They don't deliver mail so much as randomly distribute envelopes when its convenient for them. And the wind, snow, darkness of night business is gone, too. Long gone. Anything approximating inclement weather and you guessed it! No Mail.

Cigar of the Week

Have I recommended these before? Well, if I have, I am recommending them again, so stop your complaining. The Corrida Nicaragua is worth every penny of $8 each. I've never found them for sale domestically but cannot say enough good things about Cigar One in Geneva.

WeaselReview: Great Cigars! Buy some!

Here are some different online cigar vendors. You will find they not only carry different brands and different lines from those brands, but also varying selections of vitolas (sizes/shapes) of given lines. It's good to have options, especially if you're looking for a specific cigar.

Cigarsinternational.com
Cigarpage.com
Famous-smoke.com
Cigarsdaily.com
Neptunecigar.com
Smallbatchcigar.com
Bobalu Cigar Company
Cigarbid.com

A note about sources. The brick & mortar/online divide exists with cigars, as with guns, and most consumer products, with respect to price. As with guns - since both are "persecuted industries", basically - I make a conscious effort to source at least some of my cigars from my local store(s). It's a small thing, but the brick & mortar segment for both guns and tobacco are precious, and worth supporting where you can. And if you're lucky enough to have a good cigar store/lounge available, they're often a good social event with many dangerous people of the sort who own scary gunz, or read smart military blogs like this one. -rhomboid

Anyone have others to include? Perhaps a small local roller who makes a cigar you like? Send me your recommendation and a link to the site!

Ammo 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
American Elite Ammo NEW!

This week's mailbag entry is from our pal Fungus Boy.

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

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