Saturday, January 19, 2013

Gun Appreciation Day


A coalition of firearms rights organizations proclaimed today, January 19th 2013, as 'Gun Appreciation Day'.  It's intended to demonstrate public opposition to the demonizing of firearms and their owners by President Obama and the left-wing, so-called 'progressive' sector of US politics.

Here's what I did to make it a celebration.

First, there's a disabled shooter who's been trying to get together the money for an effective, worthwhile .357 Magnum revolver for a long time now.  She's on a very small disability income, and her spare cash is extremely limited, so it's been a slow, laborious process.  Last week she had a minor domestic disaster, and had to replace an appliance . . . so there went her gun fund.  She was despondent, almost in tears as she confessed that with the current rush on guns, and the resulting insane prices, she doubted she'd ever be able to afford something worthwhile.

What's a man to do?  I gave her my prized Smith & Wesson Model 65 stainless steel 3"-barrel revolver.  It's probably the 'perfect packing revolver';  the ideal balance between size, weight and power.  (That's why its Model 13 blued-steel predecessor was the FBI's standard-issue weapon for many years, until they switched to Glock pistols.)  It'll tuck into a compact holster, out of the way until it's needed.  With Crimson Trace Lasergrips (which I'd fitted to it some time before) it'll deliver pinpoint accuracy, and with the right ammunition it's deadly effective as a defensive weapon.  (Yes, I gave her the grips and a couple of boxes of decent ammo to go with it).  She's a happy lady - and I think it made a perfect way to celebrate Gun Appreciation Day.

I have other guns I can (and will) carry until I can replace the S&W - which I'll definitely do as soon as possible.  I think I'll start looking around for a 4" S&W 686 or Ruger GP100.  If anyone out there knows where one can be found at a reasonable price, I'm in the market.  (Contact me via e-mail - the address is in my blog profile.)

The other thing I did to commemorate this day was to do an ammo swap at a local gunshop.  The recent panic buying of firearms and ammunition has left almost all stores very short of ammunition in all popular calibers;  but less popular ones can still be found, if you know where to look and who to talk to.  Last week I took some of the money I made selling accessories and magazines at a gunshow the previous weekend, and invested in a couple of hundred rounds of good general-purpose .357 Magnum ammo.  (Yes, I was able to find it at pre-panic prices!  I wouldn't have bought it otherwise.)

I also checked my .44 Magnum ammo stash, and wasn't satisfied.  I had a couple of hundred rounds, but it was spread among eight or nine different manufacturers, bullet weights and types, etc.  I didn't have enough of any single all-purpose load that would serve for defensive or hunting use, in revolver or carbine.  I wanted to fix that.  Fortunately, a local gunshop had a decent stock of Hornady's excellent 225-grain FTX load.  I've used it before, and like it very much.

This morning I took several boxes of my assorted .44 Magnum ammo (all of it good stuff from reputable manufacturers) and went to visit them.  I proposed an ammo swap - Hornady FTX for my stash.  They liked the idea, and after a bit of horse-trading, I came away with five boxes of FTX in exchange for six boxes of my assorted loads.  Added to what I already had, that gives me well over a hundred rounds of the FTX in stock - plenty for the next few years, given that I don't shoot that caliber often.  It's now my primary .44 Magnum 'stash' load, and its versatility and effectiveness mean it'll stay that way, I'm sure.

So, that was my Gun Appreciation Day.  Phlegmmy celebrated it in fashionable style, and Tam and Roberta went to the latest Indy 1500 gun show.  What did you do to celebrate the day?  Let us know in Comments.

Peter

9 comments:

  1. Good on ya, Peter! I learned that a long-time friend of mine, a U.S. Army veteran, was trying to locate one the vanishingly scarce AR-15 style rifles without any luck, so I called to offer him one of my EBRs (Evil Black Rifles) and a couple of magazines for as long as it takes him to find one to purchase. That's how I celebrated the day.

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  2. I tried to get a Marlin .44 carbine, but no one has them in stock. Cabela's said they should have some, but their inventory system is running way behind. What they had was a used Rossi. I refuse to pay $1000 for a used Brazilian copy when the retail for that Marlin is $700.

    Sigh.

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  3. I took a young lady friend of my daughters to the range for her first time.
    After the range rules and the FOUR, I had her on a 10/22 with a nice scope and in no time she was all in the ten.
    Twenty through a sporter 7mm Mauser, and she wanted to try the the Savage 10 in .308.
    I am fairly certain the smile will still be there in the morning.

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  4. If you can find one, take a close look at a Ruger Security Six.

    Gerry

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  5. Gerry, I've owned a Security Six before. They're very nice revolvers, but suffer two problems today that make them unsuitable for me. First, it's very hard (almost impossible) to get aftermarket grips for them, and the factory grips are very uncomfortable in my hand. Second, Crimson Trace doesn't make Lasergrips to fit them.

    For someone whose hand fits the factory grips, and who doesn't want to put Lasergrips on his revolver, I agree the Security Six is a very sound choice.

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  6. Model 65 3 inch is maybe the best "carry" gun ever. They are just made for hot .38+P loads! Much more effective (accurate) and easier on the old K-frame than full house .357.
    Locally we assembled a few hundred kindred souls downtown and got lots of media coverage. My wife open carried her pearl handled model 65 and got lots of coverage on local TV.

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  7. I celebrated in front of the State House in Annapolis Md. at noon with about 300-500 of my warm close personal friends, which wasn't a bad turnout in the People's Democratic Republic of Maryland, with only a week to gin up a crowd.
    My son tried to take a friend to an indoor range today, but they had a 2 Hour wait to get on the line, all rental guns checked out and no ammo left. I get panic buying, but panic range practice?

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  8. John in MD, I wonder if it is people who are planning to get guns and are sampling different makes/models, and people who just bought guns and are learning the quirks of their new tools. The only indoor public range/ pistol rental place in this area has had an overfull parking lot every time I've driven past this last few weeks.

    LittleRed1

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  9. Good job! I had a 686 that I bought from a dear friend. Paid way too much for it; didn't care cuz he needed the cash. Sold it a couple months later when I need Christmas money and took a big hit on it. I would love to get my hands on another one, but the 65 is looking good, too.

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