Les Jones: Carnival of Cordite #14

May 20, 2005

Guns > Carnival of Cordite #14

Welcome to the 14th edition of the Carnival of Cordite.

Peter White at the Revolutionary War Veterans Association blog has the schedule for the Memorial Day Extravaganza in Ramseur, North Carolina.

Yosemite Sam at The Ten Ring looks at anti-gun bias in the media, and in particular the anti-NRA stance at the Houston Chronicle.

SayUncle speculates on what the military might use for a semi-auto sniper rifle. He also expands on what he's dubbed Ravenwood's Law: "As a discussion about guns grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Dodge City or the Wild West approaches one."

Analog Kid tried to upgrade his SKS to 20 round magazines and had a bad time. That's consistent with what I've heard about after-market SKS mags. The best advice I ever got about the SKS was to appreciate it for what it is rather than spending a lot of time and money trying to turn it into something else.

The Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog tracks the under-reported stories of the defensive use of guns. Cabinboy sends in this story of an Oklahoma City woman who shot a home intruder who asked to use the phone and then tried to force his way in. The intruder is a two-time ex-convict.

Gunner notes that if Carolyn McCarthy's bill - allowing the right to keep and bear arms to be taken away for foreign convictions exceeding one year in prison - had gone through, you could lose your right to own a gun if you gossiped in Colombia, which carries a maximum sentence of four years.

Like the .45? Like the 1911? So does Anarchangel. This week he offers his thoughts on which of the competitors is the second best .45 auto. He also talks about his ideal 1911.

Jeff Soyer's Weekly Check on the Bias focuses on Condi Rice's recent statements of support for gun rights.

Kim du Toit has his report from Boomershoot 2005.

John Ross's sage thoughts on concealed carry. "My definition of the difference between preparation and paranoia is the degree of disruption of your life in comparison to the likelihood of the threat."

Head, always the go-to guy for information about Communist bloc firearms, wrote a feature-length post on the Romanian PSL.

James Rummel keeps his eyes open for guns when he's in front of the tube. Check his posts on Guns of Battlestar Galactica (the new series on the Sci-Fi channel) and TV Guns.

Barry at Model 29 is bloging about efforts to repeal the Wahsington, DC gun ban.

My gun blogging has been pretty minimal these past few weeks what with the trip to BlogNashville and this week's Star Wars blogging. Browse the Guns category for past articles and Gun Links.

LATE ADDITIONS:

Anthroblology is blogging .50 machine guns on bombers.

Mr. Completely is sponsoring a different kind of postal match.

Discussion of the Week

Here's a tradition I'd like to start with the Carnival of Cordite. I'd like to ask the host to start a discussion about guns or gun rights in comments.

Here's this week's topic. You've probably heard the expression "the only thing better than a boat is a friend with a boat." Which gun would you like to be able to shoot that you probably wouldn't buy for yourself? It might be a gun that's very expensive, or it might be a gun that you just don't have any practical use for. To go back to the boat analogy, if your best friend asked you to go shoot his new gun, what would you most hope that gun would be?

To make things a little more interesting, leave off Class III weapons like fully automatic firearms and silencers. My pick is in comments.

Gun Pic of the Week

From Head's Romanian PSL post. According to Head, even though it looks a lot like a Dragunov, it's actually a different design and is internally closer to the PRK version of the AK.

Last Week's Carnival of Cordite

Posted by lesjones

Middle Class Mom linked with Time for Cordite
Random Nuclear Strikes linked with Down and Out
Resistance is futile! linked with Carnivals!
Alphecca linked with Carnival of Cordite
Watcher of Weasels linked with Weekly Roundup of Weekly Roundups

Comments

For the discussion topic ("Which gun would you like to be able to shoot that you probably wouldn't buy for yourself?") my answer would be the Magnum Research Desert Eagle. It's heavy, expensive, and impractical compared to a magnum revolver, but it's a cool gun that I'd love to shoot some time.

Posted by: Les Jones at May 20, 2005

The Desert Eagle is indeed a cool gun, one of the reasons being it fires a .50 caliber round. In that same spirit I would love to shoot one of the big new S&W .50 revolvers.

Posted by: countertop at May 20, 2005

An NFA registered AR15 lower reciever equipped with an XMG belt fed upper receiver (http://www.brpguns.com/xmg.htm)

Let's see, pre-86 registered lower: $15K
Belt fed upper: $5K
308 conversion kit: $1K
Taxes: $2K

Total: $23K

Then you have to buy ammo. Geez.

Posted by: SayUncle at May 20, 2005

Oops, I broke the rules :)

Complying with rules would be a 50 BMG of any kind.

Posted by: SayUncle at May 20, 2005

Dang...first I was going to say some kind of machine gun, and then I was going to say a .50 BMG.

Just call me Mr. Original.

Posted by: Thibodeaux at May 20, 2005

Okay, I'll bite on the discussion topic. Like SayUncle, it would have to be a .50 BMG. If I had my complete wish, it would be a Barrett M82A1. It is semi-auto, holds ten-rounds, and costs $7,775.00. I've always wanted to shoot a .50 BMG, but I don't know anyone with one, there are few ranges in my area that allow one to shoot one, and then there's the money. I did pick up and examine a M82A1 at the NRA Convention. It is a nice piece of technology.

Posted by: Denise at May 20, 2005

Can I join the "Me Too!" chorus for the Barrett M82A1? 'Cuz I'd probably never buy one, since I don't have anywhere to shoot it, and I'm not a good enough shooter to shoot things 1000 yards away even if I did. Unless of course, I'm firing an M242 Bushmaster 25mm from a powered and stabilized gun turret...but that's another matter.

Posted by: Heartless Libertarian at May 20, 2005

Uhh, I was gonna say a .50 BMG but it doesn't seem so original now.

How about a fully tuned bench rest gun on one of the benchrest actions like a Stolle or a Nesika Bay. Something that at an indoor range should shoot about .09" center to center or less at 100 yards.

Or a 1000 yard benchrest gun at a 1000 yard shooting range.

Posted by: Marc at May 20, 2005

Add me to the Barrett Boys! If my gunsafe was taller, I'd be tempted.

Posted by: Cowboy Blob at May 20, 2005

Liberator pistol. Always wanted to play with one of those.

Or maybe one of those cool artillery lugars with the shoulder stock and the snail magazine.

And a Chicago palm squeezer! What'd that be like?

Posted by: Mike at May 20, 2005

What's the name of that new full-auto 12 gauge shotgun the military is getting? Yeah, I KNOW it's full auto, but this sounds SO cool. 300 rounds a minute. How could you NOT want to shoot it at least once? Maybe not TWICE, however.....

Posted by: Mr. Completely at May 21, 2005

I'd pick two: a Quigley model Sharps(in .45/110 of course!) and a Barret .50. One I flat couldn't afford, and the other I don't normally have access to a range long enough to suit it.

Posted by: Mark at May 21, 2005

I'd want to try out any of the super-expensive .50 BMG rifles that I will never be able to afford otherwise!

Posted by: Gullyborg at May 21, 2005

I tried out a 20mm Lahti anti-tank rifle at a machine-gun shoot last weekend.

It was _really_ cool, but I could imagine it would be a real pain to maintain.

The thing's over seven feet long, almost 110lbs, and slings a 2000+ grain bullet somewhere around 2600fps.

Posted by: jesse at May 21, 2005

Since we Californians can't own AKs or ARs, and since those models are ones we are most likely to salvage during some sort of crisis, I'd love to learn how to use them effectively.

Stupid state...

Posted by: Scott Ganz at May 23, 2005

I'm gonna have to cast my vote for an M60 or a SAW. I have no practical use for fully automatic, but damn, it's gotta be a great stress reliever.

Posted by: Brandon at May 23, 2005

Good carnival.

Nitpick: the link on Archangel's ideal 1911 is wrong, should be http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2005/05/ultimate-1911.html

THE SAUDS MUST BE DESTROYED!

Posted by: Stephen M. St. Onge at May 24, 2005

Sort of echoing Jesse, I think it would have to be a 20mm Solothurn. Of course, centrefire semi-autos are illegal here...

Posted by: John Daragon at May 24, 2005

Thanks, Stephen. Fixed.

Posted by: Les Jones at May 24, 2005

Comments on the old blog are closed.