The Gun Show
You might not have been able to get anything at the gun show but it gives you the oportunity to look at and get the feel for the guns your interested in. I used to have a Springfield 1911 in 45 ACP. Although it was 12 years ago when I got it, it had a known defect concerning the firing pin and hammer which could, and did, cause the gun to fire if a round was chambered and you pulled the slide back to unload it without first cocking the hammer. I had one and it did it, putting a hole in the bumper of my Dodge Ramcharger and scaring the crap out of me. After it happened I called a gunsmith who told me of the defect. I never shot the gun again and sold it, informing the next owner of the defect. Hopefully Springfield has fixed the problem as they do have nice guns for a decent price.
Posted by Bob
08/23/2004 at 03:57 PM
Like Bob said, going to a gun show gives you a bit of hands-on on firearms you’re considering picking up. Well, that and it’s a great place to stock up on ammo… and beef jerky!
Posted by Ohms
08/23/2004 at 08:31 PM
Damn! I fogot that, Ohms--the jerky. Fuck! There mist have been 3 or 4 dealers trying to get me to taste deer jerky, cow jerky, elk jerky, hell I don’t know WHAT some of that stuff was---could have been armadillo jerky for all I know.
MMMMMMMMM....’dillo jerky.
Good news for Bob, Springfield did fix the problem and now is producing one of the best 1911’s around. FBI SWAT chose a Springfield over all the others two years ago. I’ve owned 2 (traded up a standard 1911A1 for a Loaded Light Weight 1911A1)and would do it again (unless I find a good deal on a Kimber Ultra CDP II - Yowza!).
Vilmar, you listed some great guns. Do you have a role that you expect the gun to fill? CCW was the reason for my last 3 picks (that, and a good deal from an estate) a Glock 26 (9MM), Glock 30 (.45), and a Taurus Ultralight Titanium (.38 special). Or, is this purchase more along the lines of “Gee, I’d sure like to have a ...”
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Posted by tacberry
08/24/2004 at 09:53 AM
Bob, it sounds like your gun had a firing pin of excessive length. The original 1911 design has a floating firing pin which is not long enough to protrude from the breechface even when held in place at the rear; when struck by the hammer, its inertia carries it forward with sufficient force to set off the primer, and then it rebounds.
What you’re describing is not so much a “known defect” as an “oops, we put a part in this gun that was out of spec.”
You could have bought a GI firing pin for five or ten bucks and fixed it yourself in ten minutes. *shakes head*
Posted by Earthquake McGoon, World's Dirtiest Wrassler
08/24/2004 at 02:19 PM
Tacberry,
As to purpose: to kill criminal moonbats attempting to invade my home and when the shit hits the fan, to kill lots and lots of enemy moonbats.
Notice I said, “WHEN.”
So I am looking for something that can take thousands of rounds through a barrel (if need be) and not let me down.
CCW will be a few months down the road.
Next on the list will be a shotgun but I’ll post about that when the time comes.
No, it wasn’t the firing pin as I took it out and used my micrometer to measure it against the one in my Colt. Aparently it was a actual design fault in the gun. After talking to the gunsmith, I got the paperwork out that came with it and sure enough there was a slip of paper (warning)stuck in there describing exactley what happened to me. Comparing it with my Colt, I noticed on the Colt as soon as the slide starts back, the hammer not only moves but but breaks contact with the back of the slide. On my Springfield, the hammer remained in contact with the slide and like you said, the inertia of the hammer on the firing pin caused it to fire.
I’m glad to see Springfield corrected the problem. They do make some nice handguns and I wouldn’t mind getting a light weight compact for CCW now that Missouri allows it.
Posted by Bob
08/24/2004 at 03:56 PM
V.
Do you have an AK varient yet? Everyone should - cheap gun, cheap ammo, always goes “bang”, not a tack driver, but again, ammo’s cheap… use lots.
For a lot of shooting you can’t go wrong with Ruger. Again, every gun you listed is a solid shooter. Preference is yours.
OMT: Is ‘dillo jerky Atkins friendly?
Posted by Tacberry
08/25/2004 at 09:11 AM
Tacberry, no I do not have an AK variant yet What are some models? Price ranges?
The cheapest AKs are the Romanian ones imported by Century. Quality control is very poor (look for front sight bases leaning to one side or the other and bent front sights) and the receiver is very thin sheet metal, which dances the hully-gully due to torque as the bullet goes down the skinny barrel into the rifling; also, Century has to swap out Romanian internal parts for US-made internal parts to sell the guns in the US, and the cheap-ass cast trigger, hammer, disconnector, etc., were the cheapest they could find and are prone to painful trigger backlash as well as to rapid wear and breakage. Few Romanian AKs will shoot better than 4 MOA with any ammunition and many won’t do better than 8 MOA. Last time I was at a gun show, I saw tables full of Romanian AKs for around $300. They are AKs, of course, and they do work. They go BANG, at least before the cheap internal parts wear badly. They’re just not very accurate.
Nicest AKs out there, if you want a pure AK and not an AK-based Western service rifle, are the Bulgarian ones imported by Arsenal (beware “Bulgarian AKs” that are made from a Bulgarian parts kit on a flimsy stamped sheet metal receiver from Hesse or Vulcan Arms), and I’ve heard the Russian rifles imported under the Vepr name by Robinson Armament are equally nice. Bulgarian AKs are built on receivers that are heavy milled forgings instead of flimsy stamped sheet metal and tend to have heavier barrels than the Romanians (which considerably reduces oscillation and wobbling as the bullet goes down the barrel); a Bulgarian AK is likely to shoot 2 1/2 MOA or better, maybe under 2 MOA with high-quality ammunition (Remington, Federal, Winchester, PMC, old “Hansen” brand that was made by IMI, maybe some production lots of the old South African that came in a brown plastic “battle pack"). Supposedly the Russian Vepr rifles are equally accurate, due to being made on heavy-gauge stamped steel receivers. Bulgarian and Russian AKs go for around $600. I recommend getting one with the Warsaw Pact mil-spec scope rail riveted to the left side of the receiver, as it is otherwise very difficult to mount optics on these rifles.
I strongly recommend getting an AK in 7.62x39mm over 5.45x39mm or 5.56x45mm NATO. There’s only one choice available in 5.45x39mm ammo in this country (low-quality steel-case stuff imported by Wolf), and the 5.56x45mm NATO AKs have a poor reputation for reliability due to the fact that just about all 5.56x45mm AK magazines are half-assed conversions of 5.45x39mm magazines rather than being newly manufactured for the 5.56x45mm round (which would be illegal to import for civilians under the 1994 Clinton gun ban, which we hope will expire soon). There is a much wider variety of decent-quality ammunition and good-quality magazines available for 7.62x39mm AKs than for either of the other calibers.
If you get a Bulgarian AK, I suggest getting some Bulgarian surplus “waffle” mags for it; they are made from glass-filled nylon with steel plates here and there for reinforcement. They’re rustproof and bombproof, and weigh less than half what a steel AK mag does. Bulgarian “waffle” mags may not fit perfectly in other AKs.
And if you’re looking for the very nicest AK-based rifles, you’ll have to look at a pre-ban Galil or Valmet, but those go for healthy four-figure sums and it’s not easy to find magazines for them.
Posted by Earthquake McGoon, World's Dirtiest Wrassler
08/25/2004 at 02:33 PM
McGoon knows his AK’s. I bought one of the Romanian SAR-1 versions. I haven’t done any serious range work with it, but have had great success from 25 to 50 yards popping cans, clays, and those ‘ornry water bottles. Only complaint is that the SAR-1 needs Romanian magazines, the steel mags from China don’t fit. For a Feinstien/Schumer scaring weapon, and to repel boarders, it does the job for me. If I want to be serious about a battle rifle I use my Ruger Mini-14.
Posted by tacberry
08/25/2004 at 04:19 PM
In reading my above comment I realize that I need a bigger calibre battle rifle. I wonder what will be available by November 13?
Posted by tacberry
08/25/2004 at 04:41 PM
Tacberry, I’ve had a Mini-14 for years, but I wouldn’t call it a ‘serious battle rifle’. The barrel’s too thin and, while I like the 5.56mm, there are plenty of good arguments against it. Personally, I’d take a pistol-caliber levergun over a Mini-14. Sticking with the Mini-14 style layout, but packing more of a punch, you could go with either the M1 (Springfield just rereleased it) or the M1A1 (civilian version of the M14). For something “scarier”, maybe go for an SA58 from DSA or something. Just a suggestion or three. Hey, who ate all the ‘dillo jerky?
Posted by Ohms
08/25/2004 at 06:47 PM
I’ve got a few military cal. rifles, including a Century Arms Sportster 99 (post ban HK 91), HK usc45, the AK, the tommy gun, a pre-ban CAR, and the mini14. Now I need a serious battle rifle and the Springfield M1A1 is on the list. Do you think the prices will go down after the 13th?
Posted by tacberry
08/27/2004 at 11:11 AM
One comment about the 5.56 NATO (AK) magazines. There are a TON of Bulgarian waffle mags available in 5.56 NATO and they are NOT converted from 5.45x39 Russian. I picked up half a dozen of these (5.56nato) and had them converted by Tromix for my Valmet (223) and they work like a charm—feed better than the Valmet factory magazine.
They also still fit fine in the Romanian .223 AKs. I tried a guy’s rifle at my range (SAR2? SAR3?) in .223 and the guy wanted to buy my mags because he’d never seen them.
Posted by plautus
08/28/2004 at 04:43 PM