Letters, We Get Letters…
Posted by Hazel Stone | Filed under Q&A
Dear T&H:
You’ve mentioned gun rights and shooting in passing, do you all actually shoot?
Signed,
Curious in TX
Hi Curious in TX!
Short answer: Yup.
Long answer: Both Ted and I learned to shoot at a rather young age, both starting with a .22 rifle, a plinker. Ted’s dad was Chief Investigator for a county (that sees a good bit of the drug trade) in Lower Alabama, former Navy corpsman, and former undercover narcotics officer in southern California. My father is a former Green Beret, and a former State Trooper. So it was inevitable that we’d be taught to shoot.
Ted remembers shooting cans, buckets, melons, bottles, pinecones,
I remember my father and uncle up at his cabin, splitting logs with dad’s nickel-plated S&W .44 magnum. We kids would set up milk jugs full of water, empty “coke” cans (in the Southern patois, “coke” stands for any soda can), anything we could find and practice knocking it down. Later, in my teen years, we had a good bit of acreage through which ran a seasonal stream that was positively infested with cottonmouths. Each weekend saw us starting at one end of the stream, walking down to the other end, shooting snakes as we went. I recall using a very old, very reliable German Luger once to plink one that was lurking about under our bridge.
Our current “arsenal” includes the following:
Ted’s primary carry piece, the Glock 23:
My primary carry piece, the Glock 27:
The obligatory .22 rifle (albeit a Mossberg), on which our kids will learn to shoot:
Ted’s pride and joy, a beautifully preserved SKS:
My “gator,” the unflappable Hi-Point .40 carbine:
And my cowboy gun, a beautiful Marlin 30-30:
The Glocks are…Glocks. Dead reliable, never jam or stovepipe ejecting shells. I think you could probably fire them in the vacuum of space, but don’t care to volunteer to test it.
The Mossberg is likewise old reliable. It was strictly purchased as fun gun, and for teaching the kids to shoot.
The SKS is awesomeness in gun form. It kicks like a bloody mule with that 7.62x39mm shell, but is beautifully accurate, especially in the hands of an artiste like Ted.
The “gator” (HiPoint carbine) is pure fun, I tell you. It shoots the same .40 round our Glocks use, which makes bulk ammo purchases rather sensible, and due to the length offers almost no recoil at all. Which, of course, makes it hyper-accurate. When the goblins come through the door, this is what I’m reaching for.
We regrettably haven’t yet fired the Marlin, mainly due to lack of free time, but it’s been checked over by a local gunsmith and pronounced clean and ready to go.
So, those are the basics, anything purchased going forward will strictly be for pretty’s sake, ie. this beauty:
Or this gorgeous beast:
I tell you what we need, a good shotgun. Ted wants a pistol-grip, I’m not so picky, other than a desire to spend less than 1K on it. Any suggestions?
Tags: 2nd amendment, guns are good
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February 4th, 2008
Patios? Do they call them that on porches too? ;o)
You can delete this. I’m just in a very silly mood today.
February 4th, 2008
Shaddap, rabbit.
February 4th, 2008
And now my comment makes no sense…
I love your gator. I never noticed before that it does have a gator head-ish shape.
February 4th, 2008
Oops!
You shot it didn’t you? At that little range in Tampa? Or did we have to leave it in the car because it was a handguns only range… Ah, the memory, she is not what she used to be.
February 4th, 2008
I’d consider myself the resident gun nut. My list includes
Glock 29 (10mm) as my carry
Dan Wesson Model 15 357 Magnum for scaring children 3 counties away
Ruger Mark III Hunter .22LR for target practice
Mossberg 500a 12g. for Home Defense (inside)
Mosin Nagant M44 for Home Defense (hurricane – outside perimeter). Also good for scaring children and the elderly
Armscor M1600 .22LR rifle for plinking.
I have a range membership and shoot *at least* once a week. Sometimes twice if the Mrs. forgets I’ve already gone.
I pack my own bullets to save money (when you shoot as much as I do, it comes in handy).
So, yeah, guns are near and dear to my heart. Not for the “gun” part, but the part that it’s a tool that keeps criminals and the government at bay (though I repeat myself)
February 4th, 2008
Yes, at that tiny place that’s barely trailer-sized. It’s surprisingly low-recoil and I couldn’t believe how accurate it was.
February 4th, 2008
I got a Mossberg 500 with the 6+1 tube and a Monte Carlo stock for just under $300 retail. I mounted a heat shield on the barrel and a 6 round shell keeper on the stock.
First day I had it I put 50 shells through it and had a blast. Then I cracked out my S&W M&P .45 and actually tried to aim at something (rather than shoot the target until it almost falls off of the hanger).
February 4th, 2008
I’ve heard great things about the Smith & Wesson 1911s; as of yet my collection of JMB’s masterpiece only includes offerings from Springfield, Kimber & Dan Wesson. I’ve had great experiences with all of them, though I think the Springfield & Dan Wesson are better values when one factors in the price. I also have a couple of Ruger P-Series pistols…sort of like the A-10 Warthog of the defensive sidearm world, quite ungainly but built like a bank vault. Next up on the list is some sort of EBR, in .308…
February 4th, 2008
Seems like you need a shotgun to round it all out. May I suggest a Saiga-12, or -20? I have a -20, and am looking into getting a -12 as soon as I can afford one. AK action, reliable as a sunrise, now with 10 round mags, if 5 or 8 isn’t enough for you.
February 4th, 2008
Er, yes, please!!!
February 5th, 2008
http://www.saiga-12.com/
There is also a forum at http://www.forum.saiga-12.com/
Good people.
February 5th, 2008
Let me second the Saiga recommendation. I have a Saiga rifle and want a new Saiga shotgun. I put these into the same category as the Hi-Point carbine (love mine, too)…they’re fugly but FUN.
I’ll likely buy a 20, but a 12 gauge would be fine. Can’t recommend the .410 simply because .410 ammo is so expensive compared to the other two. It may not ‘seem sensible’ that a smaller round would cost more than the larger (but more ubiquitous) stuff, but hoot there it is. The guns should cost somewhere around $350.
February 6th, 2008
Shotgun suggestion:
Mossberg 590
http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/sh04-e.htm