Snowflakes in Hell

This is an older brand, cowboy style.

New gun blog to me, and it looks like he’s a pretty excellent photographer. We also have the ladies of the Swiss Army. My German is a bit rusty, but it’s refreshing to see the Swiss speak of the right to bear arms in the same way we do:

Nur eine bewaffnete und waffentaugliche Zivilbevölkerung ist eine Garantie gegen staatliche Tyrannei.

Meaning “Only an armed people is a guarantee against state tyranny.”

If the New Jersey AG or California AG declare this is a certified smart gun, it will be the only gun you’re allowed to buy in either of those states. Fortunately, Jerry Brown has been more friendly on the issue lately, and we just had an administration change in New Jersey. Nonetheless, it’s interesting how much it costs, and it’s only a .22LR.

I would call it gun porn, except said hottie is all dressed up. And here’s a close up.

UPDATE: I would like everyone to note the author on the above post. I have not become a switch hitter, or started to bat for the other team :) -Sebastian

UPDATE: I would like everyone to note that Sebastian just took the fun out of this post. :( -Bitter

Many of us, when we think of Webley revolvers, think of this iconic movie image, of Michael Caine and Stanley Baker playing Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead and Lieutenant John Chard in the 1964 movie Zulu, firing away with their Webley Mark VI in .455 Webley. Unfortunately for the movie, the iconic image is wrong. The revolver in question wasn’t introduced until World War I, thirty six years after the British Army fought the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. Nonetheless, the movie helped introduce more than a few people to the Webley, including me. When I noticed Century was carrying some Webley Mark IVs in their catalog late last year, I decided to grab one, since I had just renewed my C&R FFL. Delivered to my door a few days later. These aren’t very collectible revolvers, which their low price reflects, but they are in good condition, and should be a solid shooter, and a good introduction to the gun. The pistols are in .38 S&W, which is an older, than the .38 Special, and definitely more anemic than the man stopping .455 Webley. Unlike the Smith & Wesson designs, the Webley uses a top break reloading mechanism, where the entire barrel and cylinder can be moved away from the frame. This requires two hands to accomplish, so offers some obvious disadvantages to the more modern designs, but its’ still neat.

In the picture showing to the left, you can see the cross block safety that Century installed on these guns. That’s the main thing that kind of ruins these for collectors. Apparently it was done in order for Century to be able to import them under the ATF point system. Firearms explicitly listed on the C&R list can be imported by definition, without consideration to the point system (you can thank FOPA for that), but only the Webley Mark I is explicitly listed on the C&R list. These revolvers are C&R by virtue of the fact that they are older than fifty years. That gets it delivered to your door if you have a C&R FFL, but it doesn’t get you around the point system for importation.

In the picture to the right, you can see the origin of this particular pistol in Birmingham, England. I had wondered whether Century got these Webleys from one of the commonwealth countries, but I haven’t noticed any marks indicating that would be the case. I’m pretty sure that this Webley was never issued to any Commonwealth authority. It seems difficult to believe that it was imported directly from England, since I would imagine their export laws for pistols would preclude that possibility. In the picture to your left, you can see the proofs I am speaking of (click on the picture to see up close). Apparently all guns sold in the UK had to be “proofed” by one of several proof houses. This was one proofed by the Birmingham Proof House. The BV is the “Birmingham View” proof, indicating that the pistol passed visual inspection. The BP proof is a black powder proof mark, and NP is the “nitro proof” mark for certifying it will accept smokeless cartridges.

In the picture to the right, you can see up close how the Gun Control Act of 1968 forced Century International to butcher this pistol’s hammer. This would be a good collector piece otherwise. I didn’t even get a picture of the importer’s mark that was stamped on the underside of the barrel, something Bloomberg is demanding we make deeper and larger, in addition to adding a standardized extra serial number, further butchering imports and ruining them for collectors. You can see from the bit of serial number I didn’t Photoshop out, that it begins with A5, indicating a manufacture date of 1953. Had this pistol been imported into the United State prior to 1968, it would have been legal to import untouched, and an excellent collector piece. Thanks to our gun laws, it’s a shooter. I’m happy to finally have a Webley, and someday maybe I’ll spring for a collectable one. But for now I’m just happy to have something new to shoot.

Great Satan Inc has a rifle that would make Mayor Bloomberg’s stomach turn. Not only is it purple, in defiance of Mayor Mike’s crusade against colored guns, but the thumbhole stock makes it an evil assault weapon under some definitions, including New York City’s, I believe. The magazine that goes into the firearm is illegal in New York City (limited to 5 rounds).

That’s what Mayor Mike means when he speaks of common sense laws to fight illegal gun trafficking.

Or is that real guns that look like toys? I classify this as “giving criminals ideas.”  I don’t think any of them would have thought about it before, because half the point of carrying a gun if you’re a gansta or punk is to look cool. Pink gets in the way, don’t you think?

h/t to Jacob

UPDATE: A little creative photoshopping.

They call this a rifle, but it’s really a shoulder fired cannon. It takes an NFA stamp to own one. Click on the link to see it in action. It really doesn’t look like it has much recoil.

SayUncle has pictures. I guess the fish gills weren’t popular. I liked them.

… 3… 2… 1

The US Army abandoned this concept, but it seems the Koreans are prepared to deploy it. I can see the usefulness of an airburst grenade, but I don’t see why this should be general issue. In the US Army, my understanding is that only one member of a four man fireteam is typically equipped with a grenade launcher attached to his M4. It’ll be interesting to see how the Koreans do with this in Afghanistan, but that doesn’t look like something you’d enjoy carrying over that terrain.

A German company develops a .50 BMG pistol. I can’t imagine what it’s like to shoot this thing. Granted, it’s 15 lbs, so it’s unbelievably heavy for a pistol. Still, it’s good to know the Germans have a bit of  ”making it just because we can” left in their firearms industry. I doubt we will see it here because of the importation restrictions in the Gun Control Act of  1968, let alone the fact that it’s an AOW under the National Firearms Act.

A very interesting Smith & Wesson 686 over at Les Jones’s blog. Tricked out for Silhouette shooting. It’s interesting about custom guns not ever being able to recover what you will generally put into them. Not something I’ve seriously considered, by all my guns are production models, except for my Ruger Mk.III, which I put a Volquartsen trigger in. Much better than the Ruger stock trigger. Doesn’t matter if it doesn’t up the gun’s price by 100 dollars. If you shoot the gun enough, I agree it’s worth it.

… and think of England. That’s a nice L85A2, don’t you think?

h/t Instapundit

If Bitter had more money, I’m pretty sure she would collect derringers. She’s a big fan of them, and I’m sure she’d love this Williamson Derringer here, and even has a nice heart and gemstones on it. Shoots .41 rimfire.

I think I need to get one of these just for the sheer ridiculousness of it. A Picatinny railed mug that I can attach a standard AR carry handle to? I’m sold!

UPDATE: Considering the 200 dollar plus price tag, maybe I’m not sold. I’d be willing to pay 20 bucks for such a novelty, maybe even 30, or 40 on a good day. But no way over 100. Yet, I still think they will sell enough of these to make money.

After figuring out the hard way you really need to make sure you’re receiver is properly supported when you’re hammering pins in place, I have managed to epoxy my lower back together. The epoxy I used is a product called JB Weld, which auto mechanics use to fix cracked engine blocks. Hopefully if it’s good for that, it’ll hold together an AR-15 lower receiver under the impulse of repeated firing.

You can see the epoxy along the seam where it broke off. I don’t really know whether the epoxy will hold the ear in place or not. The trigger guard pin would not seem to be a high stress part, but I’m pretty sure if I beat the rifle up pretty bad, it’s going to break back off at some point. As long as it stands up to normal use at the range, I won’t worry too much. It’s not like I’m going to take it into combat.

A little bit of black touch up paint seems to have tidied up the seam nicely. If you get close, you can still see the monument to my stupidity, but from a few yards away, you won’t notice. It actually shows more in LED light than it does under normal light. Really, as long as it holds, I’ll deal with the minor blemish. I’d hate to think the Pennsylvania State Police went through all that trouble to enter my lower into their registry sales record database and not end up using it to do things that make the Governor cry.

Kevin has some pictures, including some video of a light artillery piece being fired.

Linoge has some pictures of Serial Number 0001 and 0002.

You can never quite predict what gun is going to scratch your itch, but looking at Uncle’s refurbishing of an old Trapdoor Springfield, I feel like I just have to try shooting one of these, and maybe get one for myself.

… I might as well go all the way. I have to agree with Steve here.

Suppressed shotgun.

Looks like there’s going to be a semi-auto replica of the Sturmgewehr 44 hitting the market soon. It’s even chambered in 7.92×33mm Kurtz.

Short barreled PDW AR variant made by SIG spotted at the DSEi Expo.

… a journalists guide to Firearms Identification.  I’d be pretty impressed with any journalist that could correctly identify all of these, but the joke is amusing, nonetheless.

UPDATE: Thanks to Robb for the photoshop correction.