Thursday, July 23, 2009

Broken Old Rubbish


You know how it is, sometimes you get in the mood to buy a gun, which is the way I felt Thursday afternoon after riding about and target shooting at the stable stock tank. So I walked down to the "Gold Nugget Gun and Pawn" to see what was on offer.

Not much. An SMLE which looked sound and tempting until I found out that the bolt fell apart. Then there was a Mauser and that looked alright too, but its magazine was missing. An SKS seemed in decent(ish) shape but it was Norinco, so if it wasn't broken it soon would be, then there was a series of synth stock Savages in various of brokenness and so on, gun after busted gun.

Don't get me wrong, I like GNG&P and always have a pleasant visit while browsing the weaponry - but today was a bust - except, perhaps, an old Winchester 70, which seemed OK but a little pricey for what it was.

Anyway, what I really want is a semi auto battle rifle in 7.62 - just to have fun blasting away and using against pigs if the opportunity presents itself. Tom from Boomers&BS (check his neat post on 'Dragonslayer' & Encore projects) recommends an M1A/M14 type rifle or one of the FN FAL variants - as I understand it they're about the same price and performance. But I've never shot the M1A/M14 whereas I've had plenty of time on the FN (years ago...); so I guess the latter has a kind of nostalgia value and I used to be familiar with it. I think that swings me in the direction of the one time rifle of the Free World - still, the other's attractive because its American and, to me, new. What to do? Get both! But I haven't recieved a government bailout! I guess its FN first - then save up for an M1A, or something like that. saying that, all advice welcome.

Speaking of kit - great thanks to Suburban Bushwacker for "magisterial" knife post, which lured me towards the useful looking F1/S1 and the great looking custom jobs made by the Backyard Bushman.

Hope to make a dent in the porcine menace today - they've gotten away with far too much.

LSP

4 comments:

Albert A Rasch said...

Ahhh...

An FN-FAL: the right arm of democracy! Maybe I'll build one when the stars align in my favor!


Best regards,
Albert
Trophy Merriam’s Turkey
Outfitter Chronicles Interview: J Scott Croner Part I

LSP said...

I know - its very, very tempting to get one. I'd like an L1A1 for old time's sake but perhaps they'd be shot to bits...

Many (belated) congratulations to the family on the occasion of Bear's successful completion of Basic. Excellent result!

LSP

tom said...

Don't forget I know where a transferable M-14 in good condition can be had right now in Texas. Bit of a tax stamp and some papers and you're in the business of using up ammo as fast as you like :-) I can't see the ATF turning down a Parson for a NFA weapon....

Thanks for the plug on my weird projectoids.

L1A1s that have been properly re-arsenaled and or newish aren't shot to bits, they just cost around 1,800-2,000+USD. But then Nice M1A1s new from Springfield Armory are running around $1,700.

tom

LSP said...

Thanks for that - all options sound really tempting. Of course the best bet is to get all three...

I'll have to save up the $$s!

LSP