a little update
I haven’t added anything here in quite a while. I’m hoping to address that a little bit, but I’m recovering from some pretty serious medical issues that have come up, so I don’t know how quickly I’ll be able to add content.
Category: Uncategorized
El-Faisan Shotgun
This shotgun is a bit of a mystery, It’s a spanish gun marked essentially ‘trademark the pheasant’ and is otherwise very nearly unmarked for maker.
It’s a very nice gun indeed, with selective ejectors, articulated front trigger, beautiful engraving etc.
If anyone knows anything about it, please let me know!
My somewhat ill-advised carry gun
Okay, so saying this gun is ill advised is probably a bit over the top, but I can promise that there would be a lot of internet experts that would lose their minds screaming at me about how inadequate the round the gun fires is.
To them I would say: If you’re willing to let me shoot you with it once, I’ll stop carrying it, and instead use something ‘more appropriate’.
What gun is it? why it’s the S&W model 1 1/2 centerfire. It’s a single action in the .32 S&W chambering, and boasts 5 shots, tiny sights and a birds-head grip. It’s also fairly accurate
The little revolver is lightweight, slim, and otherwise easy to carry. I’m also a pretty good shot with it, and able to put all 5 little bullets into a 2″ circle at 15 yards.
Took some friends shooting Again, August Edition
For some reason, my friends always want to go shooting at the hottest or coldest times of the year.
After spending a few hours shooting with some friends today, I grabbed some video of the always fun 10/22 bumpfire gun. Since I’ve actually been able to grab some ammo lately, I decided we could celebrate by burning through some of it.
Guns YOU should own. Or buy. Or whatever, they’re neat.
First, let me say, none of these guns are mine, I don’t know the sellers, and I’m not making any money on them. I’m posting them here because they’re neat, and if I had unlimited resources, I’d buy them myself. 4 of the 5 we’re looking at today are less than $200.
First, the Savage model 23AA: 
The rifle is pretty neat. It’s an older gun, and being .22 caliber, should be cheap to shoot (when you can find ammo) I also imagine that with the addition of a scope, it would be a great small game gun. Not bad for $160.
Next up: Another Savage.
This one is a Savage model 220. The 220 is mechanically very similar to the Savage 219, and the barrels are often interchangeable. This one is in 12 gauge, but finding a .22 hornet or 30-30 barrel would make it a very versatile little gun. And at $150, a real bargain compared to others on the market
The next one is a cute CVA single shot:
Like the Savage 220, it’s an internal hammer single shot, but the CVA model is a .410 bore. I believe these were made in Italy for CVA. I’ve shot one like this, an they’re very sturdy and good shooting guns. For $125, the price is as solid as the gun is!
The Cheapest gun today is the Butler derringer:
The little .22 single shot was likely made in the 70’s. I’ve owned several of them, and while they aren’t much for accuracy, there’s just something satisfying about shooting such a little gun, and being a .22, won’t break the bank when you do shoot it. The $85 price tag makes it’s novelty affordable.
My favorite, The Ballard Marlin:
In .32 long, the Marlin Ballard rifle is a great example of an old gun in an obsolete caliber. You guys know how I feel about .32’s. Since the firing pins could be reversed on a lot of these old ballard rifles, it’s quite possible that you could shoot this one as well. Since the .32 long RF shares cartridge dimension with the .32 Long Colt, swap the FP and getting some .32 LC ammo, and you’d be in business. Not cheap at $800, still a good price for the rifle.
.32 Revolvers, chapter 2: The S&W model 31
My last post on the subject of .32 revolvers was about the excellent S&W model 631. This post is about it’s older brother, the model 31.
The S&W model 31 is the progeny of the very earliest S&W ‘hand ejector’ model revolvers that got their start in 1896. With the introduction of their new hand ejector model, S&W also introduced the .32 S&W long cartridge. Originally loaded with black powder, the round offered improved performance over the predecessor, the .32 S&W cartridge.
That original hand ejector started it all, and since then, we’ve had nearly 120 years of “modern” revolvers. Virtually every double action revolver made in the last 90 years has been based on that original design, with very few mechanical changes. Even the massive X-frame .500 S&W magnum owes it’s design to the lowly .32 hand ejector.
The .32 hand ejector remained in production in one form or another from 1896 until the 1980’s. There are still occasional runs of modern variations, but there’s only been one in the last decade or so.
The model 31 that I own dates from the late 1960’s and sports a 4″ barrel. The model 31 is a blued steel J-frame in .32 S&W long caliber with a round but. I use smooth target grips on mine to give my hands a better purchase. With standard loads the gun is very accurate and shoots to the sights. With a 313445 bullet running at about 1000 FPS it’s a hard gun to beat for small game and field work.
