Les Jones

Guns > Gun Links #34

• Geek With a .45 - Going shooting with Kim du Toit. There's an idea for a good reality show. Man I miss Conquest.
• Alphecca - A new bill introduced in California would require every gun to stamp its make, model, and serial number onto spent casings. Did these Mensa members actually ask an engineer what it would take to do that? It's not trivial.
• Hell in a Handbasket - History and revival of the Teleshot silent shotgun cartridge.
• SayUncle - Media coverage of the NY Mall Shooting.
• Ten Ring - Lead and shooting ranges.
• Jeff Cooper - February commentaries.
• Triggerfinger - Updates on the CNN issue. Recap and a link to a few posts here.
• FreedomSight - If the CNN reporter travelled to Texas to buy a gun, then took it back to Georgia, he broke the law. Now CNN is trying to claim they didn't really take the gun back to Georgia, but that's certainly the way they made it look in the report.
• New York Times - Who is The Thug, made famous on the New York Police Department targets? Via Countertop.
• Colby Cosh - Fascinating article about U.S. military progress in front-line medical treatment of wounded. "And, as a result of all this, the wounded-to-killed ratio for American forces in the Second Gulf War (and the Afghanistan conflict) hasn't been three or four to one. It's more like ten to one. To put it another way, the United States has arguably made more progress in saving the lives of wounded soldiers since 1991 than the human species did in all history before that date. The new techniques are spreading fast: Israel, the U.K., and Canada are getting on board, and more will follow."

SKS Range Report

Last weekend I went shooting with SayUncle and tried out the SKS, a Yugoslavian 59/66 I wrote about here. In 200 rounds of Wolf ammo it worked flawlessly. There were no misfires or jams, and the bolt locked back every time after the last shot was fired. This is an amazing gun for $125.

We were plinking, so I don't have any formal acuracy results. The little bit of paper target shooting we did showed that it was on the paper and in need of a slight windage adjustment. I found the instructions for the adjustment at Surplusrifle.com. Basically, you move the front sight horizontally in its channel using a small tool that looks like a "C" clamp.

The SKS was also good at bump-firing, which is rapid fire using the gun's recoil. Holding the gun at hip level, push forward with your off hand. With your strong hand, push back on the trigger. When the gun recoils, it recoils far enough to reset the trigger, then your forward push pushes the trigger back into your trigger finger. The effect is similar to full-auto, in that it's fast, and not very accurate, but it's a lot of fun.

I've got four coats of Tung oil on my stock now. With the humid winter weather we've been having I have to wait a full day between coats. It's looking pretty good, but I was humbled when I saw this before-and-after picture of someone else's 59/66. Click for a larger version.

Mine looks a little better than the before picture, and looks fairly good, but the after picture is amazing. This post on the SKSBoards.com explains how he refinished his stock. If I ever get bored, I may refinish my rifle to that level.

I also found a curious historical note at SurplusRifle.com. The SKS is a Soviet design and shoots Soviet rifle ammo, but the Yugo 59/66 grenade launcher shoots NATO-spec grenades. Odd.

Dave McCracken on the Ultimate Shotgun

First, build the ultimate shotgunner. Get an 870 or other good pumpgun. Get the stock fitted and the trigger clean and 4 lbs or less. Now, buy as much ammo as you can afford and shoot it up. Do so until the weapon feels like a body part, not a tool.

Shoot clays, steel plates, landfill rats, quarry pigeons, and so on until almost everything you shoot at is destroyed PDQ. BA/UU/R.

At that point, you're a shotgunner. You can pick up most any shotgun and be deadly with it. And, youve got INFORMED opinions on what addons and mods will help you complete your mission and what are just bling. Anyone can have an opinion, but INFORMED opinions based on real world experience are the only ones worth considering. " A checkbook is a poor substitute for expertise"....

Found here. More here.

Lee-Enfields and the Gun Pic of the Week

I've been waiting for an excuse to use these links. First, the links. Any Lee-Enfield owners or adminers should visit 303British.com
and the Lee Enfield Rifle Association, which has an excellent link page.

Now, the excuse. Oleg Volk photographed the Lee-Enfield for his latest gun rights posters. The first one is the Gun Pic of the Week.