firearms poll

[NiteFlyer]

Damm! I thought i was normal but instead im above normal.

Great! Normal is overrated. Isn't the abbreviation of "above normal", "abnormal"? Anyway, it is more fun to not be normal. I wear a western hat and boots with a suit in Washington, DC. A former boss and I would go to lunch about every day together and every now and then, someone would make a comment about me (some good, some bad). My boss hated that and would ask why I couldn't just dress normal. I told him, I would rather be noticed then ignored (like him).

 

[Weather]

Gayle Trotter - the republicans Sandra Fluke. I love it!

 

[NiteFlyer]

The guns I have in order of when and why I got them (as best as I can remember):

1.) Remington Fieldmaster 572 .22 short/.22 long/.22 long rifle (it accepts all three with no configuration changes needed)
- This was my father's rifle. The trigger has about a 2 ounce pull with zero travel, making it VERY accurate and a bit unsafe when the safety is off. I can slap the stock and it will fire. It has an aluminum/steel barrel. The gun weighs under 3 pounds.

2.) Remington 1100 12 gauge (with extended magazine which must be removed and a magazine plug inserted for hunting). A shotgun may only hold three rounds (one in the chamber) when hunting. Mine can hold nine.
- I got this for skeet shooting and to hunt water fowl and squirrels (which, after three tries, I determined taste like dry but greasy dark meat chicken that I can't stand to eat unless it is smothered in BBQ sauce).

3.) Marlin 75-20 (20th Anniversary Edition) .22LR
- I wanted a .22 auto. I got one. This gun is not accurate. I once flushed a rabbit near my feet when out shooting with this gun. I traced a nice arc behind the rabbit as he ran around me in a circle about five feet away. After the hammer clicked following the shot of the 12th? round, the bunny bee-lined away. He was zipping around me so fast, I couldn't seem to get a lead on him. Every round hit a few inches behind him (that was my fault, not the gun's).

4.) Ruger Redhawk .44 Magnum
- This is a very nice handgun. I can rapid fire all six shots and make a decent grouping (12 inch pattern) at 15 yards. My first pistol.

5.) Remington 7400 .270 (I no longer have this one)
- I needed a decent deer rifle. My 1st wife liked to hunt too. I let her have this one when we split and I kept a .30-06 I got later.

6.) Remington 7600 .30-06 (the 7400 is an auto, this is a pump; pumps have more power since some is used up on an auto's ejection method)
- I wanted a more powerful rifle. When shooting at deer, you don't notice the recoil. When sighting in the scope and after shooting 10 rounds, you notice. Once when sighting this in, after the 10th round, the scope met my brow. After wiping away the blood, I figured it was sighted well enough.

7.) Chinese SKS 7.62x39mm
- This was given to me as a Christmas present by my brother. It is fairly heavy and has low recoil due to the weight and the short cartridge size. It has a bayonet lug (no bayonet) and only an internal 5 or 6 round magazine. This is loaded with stripper clips; the rounds are slipped into a strip of metal (the stripper clip) by their flanges. To load the gun, you open the bolt, insert the clip through the top of the breach, and push (strip) the bullets off the clip into the magazine. It is a fun way to load. Later, you reattach rounds to the empty clips. I have 5-10 clips. I've only had this gun out shooting once. I prefer the .30-06 or the .22 Fieldmaster (depending on target).

8.) Winchester 1906 .22 short (this is an old shooting gallery gun from around 1910
- I was given this from my great aunt's collection when she passed away. A .22 short is so slow and quiet, I could hear the bullets going through tree leaves when I shot it.

9.) Smith and Wesson 1076 (FBI 10mm)
- When the FBI decided to stop using the S&W 10mm, they were sold to the public. My father purchased three. One went to me, one to my brother, and he kept one. Mine later went to my first wife since I had the .44 Mag. (I AM an idiot but, was happy to see her leave, though I do miss those two guns.)

10.) Israeli Arms Desert Eagle .50 action express (means magnum but, that's trademarked)
- I wanted it. My wife (2nd / current) gave it to me for a Christmas present. These come in about 10 different finishes. Mine is gold tiger-striped

11.) Ruger LCP (light, compact pistol) .380
- At 9.9 ounces, 5.16" long, .82" wide, and 3.6" tall, I can hide this on a table by putting my hand over it. I have a concealed handgun permit but, you may have noticed the other two handguns I have can only be concealed under a jacket (maybe). This one can be carried a the front pocket of a pair of shorts. However, it hurts to shoot it (I can only get 1 and a half fingers on the grip) and the accuracy is awful. It has an integrated laser sight that is pretty much worthless (except maybe to blind an attacker or scare him even more).

I would like to get a Luger 9mm, an 8 or 10 gauge shotgun, a double barrel shotgun, a target pistol (not sure what yet), a .50 Barret, and an M2 HMG. I will need to be very well off to get that last one. An M2, if you can find one for sale, is easily $60K now and the ammo is about $5 per round (or roughly $100 per second / $6,000 per minute).

 

[burrocrat]

Great! Normal is overrated. Isn't the abbreviation of "above normal", "abnormal"? Anyway, it is more fun to not be normal. I wear a western hat and boots with a suit in Washington, DC. A former boss and I would go to lunch about every day together and every now and then, someone would make a comment about me (some good, some bad). My boss hated that and would ask why I couldn't just dress normal. I told him, I would rather be noticed then ignored (like him).

there's not too many of your breed left out there i imagine, someone has to show 'em. you ever been to texas? keep the faith, golden.

 

[NiteFlyer]

... you ever been to texas?...

I've driven through the pan handle twice on I-20? and I've changed planes in Dallas/Ft. Worth once (holy crap, that airport is the size of a small city). I've never stayed in Texas more than several hours.

 

[ILoveTDs]

Took me almost a whole day to drive through it once.

 

[nnuut]

Once a Texan always a Texan!

 

[Handballer]

Once a Texan always a Texan!

I was stationed in San Antonio as a young AF guy back in the 1970s. Got me some boots, shirts, fancy belt, and nice hat back in the day. Wear them when I go to Vegas every December when the cowboys are in town for the rodeo events. All the cowboys (and girls) from TX, OK, MX are in town. I wear my duds too and have a good time.

 

[burrocrat]

i am encouraged by the civil manner in which people have shared their preferences (or not) about various firearms. this is a thread meant to respect and accept others thoughts on the matter, well done fellow tsp'rs.

that being said, a couple of folks have mentioned a specific model (glock 26) on their 'wish list' and i recently went through the same decision matrix but arrived at a different choice. i would like to check my logic vs others who went a different route. if this is too specific or unpleasant of a topic to discuss here then somebody please tell me stop or move the discussion so as not to detract from the value of this thread. my intent is to learn, not promote or villify.

i'll posit the question in a separate post for ease of moderator surgery if needed.

 

[burrocrat]

a glock 26 is a subcompact semiautomatic handgun for personal defense. it has no other purpose. there are many other firearms for many different tasks, and there are many other firearms for exactly just this task. so why a g26 then?

for 25 years my 'handy' gun was a 4" barrel stainless steel .357 revolver. excellent ballistics, such mechanical simplicity paired with decadent beauty, exceptional form and function, you can't break it if you tried, and it will fire everytime, underwater or anywhere else for that matter. but i recently decided the world had outgrown it's capabilities and traded it straight across for a new glock with additional accessories and extra ammo, no money out of pocket (never fear, with a ffl dealer above board for all the 40% of guns illegally sold at gun shows conspiracy theorists, the s/n#'s went in and out of the 'book').

semiauto's now offer: comparable reliabilty, 1/2 the weight, twice the capacity, and three times quicker reload, drop and swap not fumble with individual rounds or tricky speed loaders under stress. so which model to get?

glocks come in 3 sizes all comparable no matter the caliber, differing only in a couple rounds capacity and terminal ballistics. standard = 8" l x 5.5" h, compact = 7.3" l x 5.0" h, and subcompact = 6.5" l x 4.2" h.

i don't need jumbo size hip carry for instant battle any time any day. midsize preserves familiar ergonomics. i also don't negotiate the concrete jungle or see a need for a tiny boot gun. so compact it is for me. local climate does not favor bermuda shorts and flipflops so the little i lose in subcompact dimension does not affect concealability and results in loss of capacity. the ergonomics was the deciding factor. compact = 3 finger grip, while subcompact = 2 finger grip means i have to cup the bottom of the mag with pinky finger. reduced physical control was the deciding factor. better to handle it safe than buy an insurance policy i may not be able to make perform.i should mention caliber weighed heavy on the choice. i was not willing to sacrifice .357 v 9mm, so i went for .40sw, a reasonable compromise i think. if 9mm met my original needs then i'd probably conisider the baby glock.

now i want another one to save hassle of transfering from body to auto to home to outdoor stash. do i get another g23 to preserve familiarity? or go with g26 and introduce a whole different caliber with additional spare parts, ammo, and infrastructure needs?

a personal decision highly dependent on individual circumstance for sure. but either way i get a new glock! how can i lose?

any input or thoughts on the matter welcome, just don't call me crazy, or late for dinner. i've heard and had worse so it won't do no good.