Guns

Three girls, lots of guns.

Some photographer friends wanted to do a photoshoot with guns. The range being a much better location for this than the beach (one probably needs a permit and a police escort on the beach these days…), we all hied off there at oh-dark-early this morning, to catch the sunrise.

I didn’t really know what they wanted to do, so I threw most of my rifles, revolvers, pistols, leather and camos in the back of the car. And we ended up using pretty much all of the above.

Savage ’99, Norinco JW-21, Winchester ’94.

Started with leverguns on the steps, then moved to the IPSC / IDPA “funhouse”.

Only one of the three gals had ever handled a gun before, so I started the morning by showing them how to keep their fingers out of the trigger guards, how not to point the guns at people, and the like. But to get realistic photographs, one has to break those rules.

Good thing is, this gal asked me if I was sure when I said “point the gun at me” :-)

I just know that if I don’t say anything, someone is going to run across this posting, Photoshop the above picture, and find out that yes, indeed, that Astra 44 Magnum is loaded for bear.

So before I get an email “Finger on trigger! Loaded gun! Sky! Falling!”… I made dummy rounds specifically for this, because this kinda picture with an empty cylinder is just silly, OK?

After all of this I took one of the gals to the target range, where she shot the Astra NC-6 22 revolver, the Llama XIV 22 pistol, the Norinco 22 levergun, my CZ 22 silhouette boltgun, and the Star DKL 9mm short pistol.

In other words, a Good Day :-)

Star MB. Six shots at 10 meters standing. The magazine was giving me problems, so this was a two shots, clearance drill, one shot, clearance drill… kind of thing. It came with four magazines, but I’d left the other three at home… silly me.

The Star MB is a Model BM built on a Model M (large) frame, but chambered in 9mm. Like many Star pistols, anyone who knows the Colt 1911 will be familiar with the mechanicals. It comes with a detachable rifle type stock which also doubles as a holster, and with extended magazines.  This one is nicely accurate (no, I’m not hiding flyers under the gun).

This is one of 350 built in 1972, and one of 1 757 made in total.

Star Firestar M43. A fairly modern 9 mm (they were made in the nineties, shortly before the demise of the Spanish firearm industry). A few years ago, I was looking at buying one of these new — I would have chosen the 40 S&W model — but I couldn’t bring myself to pay R 5 500. I got this one for considerably less.

Astra Police 357 Magnum. This revolver is very similar to the standard Astra 357, except that there’s a button that releases the cylinder crane, then you can swap in a 9 mm Parabellum or 357 SIG cylinder (neither of which I have, unfortunately).

I also managed four shots with my Browning 1900. Shot #5 was a missfire, and this is where I learned that the extractor is broken. Bugger.

In any case, the Browning 1900 is a fascinating design. The barrel sits under the recoil spring, and the recoil spring also doubles as the hammer (striker) spring. And the back end of the lever which drives the striker doubles as a “cocked” indicator, blocking the (rudimentary) sights when the gun is not cocked.

My Rossi Puma 357 levergun shoots into 40mm off a rest at 25m using 38 Special handloads. Not great, but I should be able to fix that with better ammo. And it’s a damn sight better than my Winchester ’94, which struggles to get 4 inches at the same distance.

My “silhouette load” 180 grain lead bullet 357 Magnum loads keyholed into 45mm, so I guess I should stick to 158 grainers with this gun.

Last year I bitched about the lack of licences for my Browning-designed ironmongery. Just before Christmas, the situation improved markedly.

So I could shoot my 1911 and my Winchester ’94 on Saturday the 23rd of January.

Post ’64 Winchester ’94 in .44 Magnum. Not a particularly good example of a Winchester, the beancounters got involved and the post ’64 Winchesters are cheap (the beancounters were supposed to make things less expensive, and got confused about the difference between cheap and inexpensive).

1944 Remington-Rand produced M1911A1. Carries British proof marks on the barrel. An excellent example of a 1911. Made towards the end of the Second World War, I’m pretty sure this pistol never saw service. Sat around in stock until being sold as war surplus.

My friend Etienne bought it and fitted the Pachmayr grip and magazine. I liked the gun so much I told him if he ever wanted to sell it I wanted it. He emigrated to the USA, the 1911 stayed behind.

This is one sweet pistol.

(And Tamsyn really liked the Norinco 22 levergun).

If you happen across a second hand firearm in a somewhat loud caliber, and the first four shots on the target group high and right, what does that tell you about the previous owner?

Yup, he cranked the rear sight all the way up and to the right.

10m, standing, 240gr cast reloads I got with the ’94 Winchester, 1400 fps.

My excuse? It was windy. (Actually, I suck at standing).

At the National Championships, I borrowed Gunther’s Freedom Arms .22 revolver. Gorgeous gun.

Walked over to him after the event, said “I owe you money”. “Huh?” “Well, you’re not getting your gun back”.

Now with a gun like this, those are fighting words. Good thing we’re buddies.

Ludi overheard and mentioned he had a Freedom Arms revolver for sale, on behalf of someone else. This only happens when someone dies or emigrates — there is no upgrade path, so people tend to hang on to these things. Fortunately, in this case, the fellow emigrated. So that same evening I bummed some computer time off a friend, and a ridiculous amount of money changed hands.

Behold, Biatchez! My shiny new toy (apologies for crappy phone photograph).

Now to convince the nice fellows up in Pretoria to give me a licence before I die or emigrate… :-)

I’ve been spending more time on fun & games and less time on the house. Naughty, naughty me.

This is our silhouette range at Atlantis. If you look really closely you can see the Koeberg Nuclear Reactor poking out towards the right hand side of the picture, behind the flagpole.

This is the view from the False Bay Gun Club.

This is the hard work that I need to do so that I can go and enjoy the outdoors at the abovementioned venues.

And that is why nothing’s happening around the house.

OK, I promise to post pics of the completed drip tray cupboard above the kitchen sink as soon as the backsplash is tiled.

Last year, at a GOSA meeting, Adrian persuaded Thomas and me to shoot IDPA with him (didn’t take much persuasion, truth be told).

Also last year, I joined the False Bay Gun Club. I mean, it’s 5km on the dot from our house, I can just about walk there. Good excuse to shoot more often. I initially thought it was a pistol range only, but it turns out there’s a 130m rifle range too. Amazing what one can fit into an old quarry.

So when I heard, on Friday, that they were shooting IDPA qualifiers on Sunday, I had to get my act together. I had 40 odd rounds of 38 Special lying around (158 grain SWC, 5.5 grains of MP200, PMP magnum primer). Took that to the range on Saturday, to check where it shoots relative to my carry ammo (125 grain Hornady XTP, 1400 fps). Turns out it shoots to exactly the same point-of-aim. Bonus!

Then I had to rush off to Bellville to get primers and powder to make more ammo. While in Bellville I helped Pieter pull a 3 phase circuit into his kitchen extension. Back in Fish Hoek I set up the Lee Pro 1000 and made a few hundred rounds.

Sunday morning was the qualifier, which took a bit longer than anticipated. I think more than the expected number of people pitched. A second range was quickly set up, and great fun was had by all. I was told I did OK for a beginner, will see when the scores come out :-)

Things I learned:

I’m used to silhouette shooting. That’s slowly aimed single-shot single-action work. IDPA is fast and double-action. I need to practice my offhand double action shooting.

Also, revolvers strike the primer a little bit harder in single-action than in double-action mode. I had a few soft strikes. Of course with a revolver the trick is to just keep going, in general the round will fire the second time it’s hit. If not, well, then you need to reload. But I need to shim the hammer spring just a little.

I have a habit of trying to collect the brass. This can get you killed in a real-life confrontation. I need to learn to ditch the brass, pick it up later.

And my carry holster works fine for its intended purpose, but it’s not going to work for IDPA. I needed to remove the holster, holster the gun, and then slip the holster back IWB. I have other holsters, but they’re in Bellville…