Woke at quarter to four with moonlight streaming in through the loft’s vent window. Went back to sleep and awoke less than an hour later to hard rain on the roof. More rain…more…aw, hell, it’s been raining all morning and the road is soup again. I think I even saw a damp snowflake on the Jeep’s windshield when we drove, not walked, to morning chicken chores. The weather not only changed right on schedule, it did so very abruptly. Tonight the temp’s supposed to get down in the twenties, and winter has officially arrived.
Spending this damp morning inside doing some gun housekeeping…
And thinking dark thoughts about enabling something I really want to do by doing something I really don’t want to.
I’ve carried the Taurus .44 as my EDC pistol for going on three years now, off and on for more than four. As a proof of concept (Resolved: a big-bore revolver makes a better everyday boonie gun than a beater 1911) it has been a smashing success. But as a shooter, it kind of sucks and I’ve grown damned tired of always having to guess at my point of aim. I want a better revolver.
Simply going out and buying one is completely out of the question, of course. But I’m not entirely out of resources…
Every fiber of my being, he said with an unforgivable cliché, cries…
And yet let’s face it: It hasn’t been out of its case in years, and for good reason.
Okay: Let me say something here, and it’s going to sound like the silliest thing you ever heard unless you have a little threeper in you. (This turned lengthier than intended, sorry)
I believe every adult sapient biped on the planet should have a battle rifle – lots of mags, lots of ammo, at least passable skill and a certain amount of willingness to use them – handy at all times. This has everything and nothing to do with politics.
Being a rather old-fashioned person in a lot of ways, I believe (in my heart, not my head) that that battle rifle should be chambered in .30 cal and boast a big heavy club of a wooden stock. But that’s just me. I’ve mellowed about ARs as I’ve grown old and sore in the joints. And since moving to the boonies I’ve grown rather fond of my AK, which is the rifle that actually graces my wall rather than being buried in a case.
I got a carbine as soon as I started actually needing to have a long gun around, because damn. And a few years ago I nearly went blind, and since my surgery I really can barely use open sights at all. So the M1A became a safe queen and the AK sprouted a scout scope. Since then I’ve kept the M1A for reasons that, more and more, seem purely sentimental.
There’s nothing sentimental about my desire – dare I say need – for a better-quality pistol. That’s the gun I actually carry and sometimes violently use. And let’s face a fact: If we’re all depending on old blind, one-legged Joel to save the day by blasting JBTs at 600 yards with open sights*…I’m sorry to report that the republic is doomed.
Consequently, on this rainy, gloomy morning I’m thinking the unthinkable. I’m thinking of getting a friend (with an FFL, of course, because I’d never dream of doing anything remotely illegal) to work a deal. It would break my heart, and also make my year because I’d sure love a decent revolver.
—
*Yes of course I’ve thought of scoping the M1A. I think about it all the time. But it would be very expensive, and still sit useless in its case. And I do have a scoped .30 boltie.
Been there done that. If you aren’t using it and can get an upgrade for your EDC gun go for it. Just remember once the deed is done, it is done. So what kind of wheel gun are you looking for? Just curious…
I’ve got an M1A that fortunately I don’t need to sell, but I get your points. These guns are really for young eyes. I bought an FNAR that is designed for scope use and is a much better proposition for me, not to mention being way more accurate. As to AK’s, I’ve got little use for them.
I am tempted now and then to get either a Keltec SU16 or a Sub2000, just because a fold-up carbine can be pretty darn useful. But the SU16 is seriously fugly and the other is a pistol cartridge – hell I might as well have a .357 lever gun if I’m going that route.
Another revolver? No thank you, not interested in hauling all that weight around (although I have to admit to drooling over this gun:
http://www.ruger.com/products/newModelSingleSixDE/specSheets/8161.html
And this (sigh, no longer available):
http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_766187_-1_757895_757775_757751_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y
Does it have to be double action or would single action do ? Because if a ‘cowboy revolver’ would do, a used Ruger Blackhawk in .45ACP / Long Colt would probably do the trick for a decent price. I’ve seen them in the $500 range. The 4 5/8″ barrel is very handy.
I’m actually getting close to same position, I have a pair of Garands that are great to shoot, but too doggone heavy and cumbersome to tote around. My vision is bifocal, so its likely just a matter of time before peep sights in the heavy brush are no longer usable.
Have you seen the old S&W original Wondersight ? I have this on a 1917 Brazilian contract.45ACP revolver. Look Maw – no more ‘Kentucky Windage’ needed !
http://www.hollowpointmold.com/wondersight/
Good luck with your choice.
A tool unused is a tool unappreciated . A fine tool in the hand ( or on the belt ) is a joy every day .
I’m pretty open. Prefer to stay with .44 just ’cause I’m geared up for it, and prefer double action. But it may not be possible to be too choosy. In terms of cascading priorities I’ll stay with a caliber that starts with 4 if possible, but might take a .357 DA over a .44 or .45 SA. Depends on the gun, I guess. I can get used to almost anything with an action that doesn’t bind up at embarrassing times and that puts the bullet where the sights say it ought to go.
Also definitely prefer something not new, that I’m not afraid to scratch.
I hate that dilemma. And my own history with it is hardly clear enough to make it easier “next time”, either. (Having been looking for work for just about a year now, the topic is also extremely…contemporary.) In general I have never exactly regretted sacrificing something to update what I really do use every day, but I’ve definitely regretted a few things let go, years down the road.
And I get what you’re saying about that M1A, albeit for slightly different reasons. Mine is already ready to accept a scout scope when that becomes necessary, and I’ve got some years left in good irons, so it’s not that, primarily. For me, it’s more that if I need to grab something to solve a problem, I’m going to grab the Scout first–and I don’t know if that’s ever really going to change.
Same is true for the AR, honestly. I got mine originally because I just figured I needed to know how to run one, and while I’ve grown to respect it a great deal–I’m still going to grab the Scout first, to solve any unknown problem.
I’ve got that bit-o’-threeper in me too, for sure, and so I knows me some M14 and some AR because skillz and all, but honestly, knowing myself, if the classic need for a “battle rifle” as you are talking about it really does come up…well, I’m going to get about being somewhere else, and then engaging on better terms. With the Scout.
Actually, I think your investment in AK-fu significantly complicates your dilemma over mine. Within its range limitations (which for most of us is truly not that limiting, given what we can actually produce on demand), the AK is close enough to “real rifle” that letting go of the M1A should, theoretically, be easier. Except that “because M14”, and all: you’re not looking for a reason to keep the rifle, you’re looking for a reason not to let go of it.
Which sucks. Because were it me (and at least conceptually, that sort of dilemma may get to be me, if things don’t improve), I’d know immediately that the right answer would be to secure an impeccably functional EDC, first.
Get the EDC, Joel, of course. I’ve had to sell three handguns in the last few years, and I didn’t like it at all, but none of them were guns I would have carried anyway, and two of them I couldn’t even shoot very well to begin with. So far, I’ve managed to hang onto my rifles, but if the time comes I really need to sell something again, it will be the SKS that hits the road. I can hardly even lift the darn thing anymore. 🙂
Personally – over the last several years I’ve developed a real appreciation for the Ruger Six series. Not the Single Six – but the Security/Service/Speed Six produced between the early 70s and the late 80s. I guess the main downside to them is they’re out of production and Ruger is not officially servicing them anymore – but parts are still fairly easy to find on Gunbroker and at Numrich. Too – they’re only typically chambered in .357, .38, and 9mm.
They’re easy to strip down for maintenance and fit and finish work – modular and drop-in components that usually don’t require complicated fitment. As long as the buyer does their job on inspection it’s unlikely to develop issues afterwards – and they’re heavily built in terms of topstrap, forcing cone, and cylinder. You’d have to work at it to wear one out.
They can often be found for between 3-4 hundred dollars – often running about 100 less than the GP100 (used) which replaced them. I saw a 6″ Security Six – blued – in a LGS recently priced at 325.
Personally I find the Speed Six in stainless with the 4″ heavy barrel easy to look at and a joy to handle.
BLASPHEMING BASTARD!!!!!!
You are going straight to gun control hai-ell…….!
I condemn you to live in San Francisco.
This has been a public service announcement from the Church of the Immaculate M1A in association with the John C. Garand Society.
That said, I get it. The old and broken factor weighs heavy on me of late. The last long range shots I made with a full size battling type rifle were with a Mosin out at 400 yards….and I walked them in artillery style. The thing is, I walked a few shots into the same target with the AK….faster.
These days, I eyeball my AR more than anything else for go-to-ness. Not that I wouldn’t like a nice M1A Scout, but I ain’t got one. I do have a .308 AR that is politely less heavy and I can change barrels in a snap and draw the stock in and out to adjust for confinement or lack of. I live in a motor home a lot now. Adjustable is a credit. It’s more accurate and less prone to getting all stuffed in the action with mire if I get froggy, too.
I’d have to agree, optimizing the stuff you use and may have to bet life on is more important than the sentimentality of old iron that doesn’t really serve you.
The Church hereby reverses it’s condemnation and sanctions your painful decision.
I hope you look closely at Ruger Super Blackhawks – – strong, simple revolvers that can be had in stainless and give you the option to shoot in .44 Magnum in addition to your favorite .44 Special. Just glancing at Guns America’s listings for SB’s, I find this one with a 4 5/8″ barrel for $550:
https://www.gunsamerica.com/908331634/Ruger-Super-Blackhawk-Revolver-44-Ma.htm
Oh Robert, Super Blackhawk is a hunk of outstandingly heavy handgun. I had one back in…um…the late seventies sometime. Shot Hunter Pistol Silhouette with it, traded it for a Thompson/Center. In .44 mag, of course. It had like an 8 1/2 inch barrel or something, and was not something I’d want to carry every day. And you know I could not get that thing to group at all with .44 special loads. It wanted hotter and hotter and oh god hotter. At 24 grains of 2400 with a 240-grain cast bullet – which is how I remember that – it became excellent. And also a little painful. I never saw a pistol so reluctant to shoot a big bullet slow. Never did figure that out.
Joel, in my neighborhood, that M1A and your Taurus would bring you home a NIB RIA .45, AND a used Smith or Ruger in 44 ,.45 or .357, AND your choice of a 10/22 or Mossberg 500 in good used shape. May you be blessed with fine trading and wonderful toys!
I’m with you. I finally figured out that extra firearms are merely toys (heresy, I know) and that having other, more useful items is more important to me. I sold a nice AK, an Eddystone, and a beautiful Remington Rand ’03A3 to name a few in order to get some things I really needed. Besides, the folks who bought those rifles left happy.
I have a suggestion, if it’s practical. Why not offer the extra rifle to your readership, at a premium? Sort of like an auction. And the rifle might stay in the family, so to speak.
Good luck. Hope you get lots for it.