First, Senator Arlen Specter provided the instrumental Republican support to get anti-gun Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed by the Senate.
Then, he singlehandedly pushed through the massive economic bailout, the so-called stimulus bill, which contained several provisions of concern to gun owners.
So it comes as no surprise that liberal anti-gun Specter, who has no loyalty to the Constitution, also has no loyalty to the political party that elected him. Specter announced this week that he will leave the Republican Party and run as a Democrat in 2010.
Specter's announcement comes only after poll after poll showed him trailing pro-gun conservative Pat Toomey in a Republican primary.
Specter thinks that changing parties will improve his chances of winning next year.
What he's going to learn is that the voters of Pennsylvania are much more concerned about their Constitutional rights than they are with what political party a candidate belongs to.
Every time Attorney General Eric Holder opens his mouth and talks about reinstating the Clinton gun ban, gun owners know they have Arlen Specter to thank.
Back in early January, Sen. Specter said he had “grave concerns” about Eric Holder. He made it sound like he was going to join other pro-gun Senators and oppose the Holder nomination.
It was standing room only at the Soldotna Sports Center last night as many from the Kenai Peninsula attended the rally of the Second Amendment Task Force of the Kenai Peninsula.
Even the presenters discussed the turnout, including Bob Bird of Nikiski.
He was gratified with the turnout.
He explained to the audience that the rally was not called as part of the National Rifle Association, or as part of the Gun Owners of America.
Those speaking at the rally wanted to relay the message that there is a reason American’s should be concerned that the freedom to keep and bear arms is being threatened. Read more
A coalition of nearly two dozen organizations is launching a campaign that demands the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and an apology from President Obama for labeling those who hold traditional American values and conservative ideals as terrorists.
“We, the law-abiding Citizens of America, demand: 1. The Resignation or Removal of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano for her partisan political profiling of veterans and conservatives and her abuse of power,” says the petition, which is posted on the website for the coalition that goes under the name No Political Profiling.
It also demands, “An apology from President Barack Obama to ALL Americans for his administration's call for domestic spying,” and “The Immediate Retraction of the ‘Rightwing Extremism' report for labeling law-abiding citizens as ‘terrorists' because of their political views.”
As WND reported, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security cited executed Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as an example of why “right wing” interests must be monitored closely by his agency in the United States. Read more
The [New York] Assembly continues to chip away this evening on a package of bills to combat gun violence. The legislation would help police investigate illegal firearms, prohibit felons from buying guns, require child-proof devices on guns, and banning advanced firearms and ammunition used to kill police officers, according to the Assembly.
A number of Republicans, who are in the minority in the Assembly, are speaking against the bills.
A bill that is being debated now would require that semiautomatic pistols manufactured or delivered to any licensed dealer in New York be capable of microstamping ammunition. Microstamping means information that identifies the make, model and serial number of a gun is “stamped” onto a cartridge as the weapon is fired.
The legislation is sponsored in the Senate by Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, who is holding a news conference tomorrow with Assembly sponsor Michelle Schimel, D-Nassau County.
For more of the Assembly’s release about its gun legislation, read on:
“New York is one of the safest states in the nation and it must stay that way,” said Silver (D-Manhattan). To achieve this, we must craft laws that prevent dangerous felons from possessing weapons while assisting law enforcement agencies as they combat gun trafficking. Although the majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens, we must ensure that guns do not fall into the hands of violent felons or children. This package contains bills that address public safety, while weighing the needs of hunters and sportspeople.” Read more
Civil disobedience is defined by Websters New World Dictionary as: nonviolent opposition to a government policy or law by refusing to comply with it, on the grounds of conscience”.
So what is civil obedience? It is a term that I could not find in the same dictionary where I found civil disobedience.
I’ll take a stab at it. (Note: where ever you see the word “citizen” it is an interchangeable term with “voter”)
Civil obedience is the expectation that citizens follow the law and those citizens expect others to do the same, particularly law enforcement officers. Law abiding citizens expect the police to understand the laws and to act lawfully. This is a very minimal expectation of citizens for the police to meet. Citizens will not tolerate the police abusing their “police powers” and treating citizens who do absolutely nothing wrong like a violent or dangerous criminal, by drawing their guns and pointing them at citizens and threatening citizens with death or great bodily harm. Read more
High-power shooters always benefit from position practice. Here Tim Cornish limbers up with his 8mm Persian Mauser.
Sometimes the acts done by a country – as much as acts performed by an individual – have unexpected results. So it is with almost a of century of American presence in Nicaragua. While many aspects of the US presence are well known (most recently the confrontation with a far-leftist government in the 1980s), what is less well known is that every significant involvement the United States undertook in Nicaragua resulted in American arms of that era being imported to this small, Central American country – and then left behind.
Perusing little-known nooks and crannies, usually looking for old and rare books, has provided an interesting source for aging American military weapons. And with a bit of ingenuity, sweat – and a very able machinist – I now have several of those old battle rifles – a Krag, Springfield, Garand and M-14 – up and shooting; in some cases shooting very well.
Reading mirage, doping wind. or simply relaxing? Mrs. Nellie Luna, distinguished rifle and pistol shot, considers her distant target.
“Civilize 'em with a Krag”
When I first started hanging around gunshops back in Michigan at the tender age of about 12,1 got to know some old machinists and gunsmiths, usually of German background, who spoke English with an accent, chewed tobacco, were cranky, and knew their business. Chronologically, that was about the end of the Eisenhower administration; a world much simpler, when most gunshops were awash with old WWII gaspipes – and some older pieces, like the Krag. I remember selling from the gun rack several sporterized Krags for $25. The word, from my tobacco-chewing mentors, was that they were a ‘smooth action' but pretty old and therefore not worth much. Also, even in those days, there were a lot of Krags with rotted barrels. There was still floating around some of the original GI ammo with corrosive primers that would frost a barrel overnight if it wasn't cleaned with soap and water soon after shooting. Still in all, I liked the Krag, especially when loaded with the venerable Lyman cast bullet design #311284. I decided one day I would have one of those elderly rifles.
Fast-forward through the decades to a time much later. in the spring of 2000 I was in Masaya, a regional town about 20 miles from Managua, looking for some old books. There had been a series of earthquakes caused by a local volcano that had shaken up many of the old adobe houses. People began cleaning out their back rooms and selling a few things. Quite by accident I found a house where the owner had an old collection of very rusty rifles. In looking them over, they appeared to be a collection of rifles that had been used in every revolution (of which there have been many) – successful and unsuccessful – since the 19th century. The collection began with an Erfurt Mauser Model 71/84, a Remington rolling block 7mm, a Model 1916 Spanish Mauser, a rusty (but still functioning) Model 1892 Winchester in 32-20, and a couple of really rusty Krags – one with bolt and action intact, but missing most of the furniture. The barrel was so rusty, light would barely shine down it. As usual, I paid too much for that piece, went next door to my favorite Mexican restaurant and celebrated with some fine mole.
The stock had termites, but I gassed them and found that with some judicious glass bedding I could make that stock work again, especially as a carbine. The major problem was the barrel – it simply had to be replaced. I soon found that Krag barrels in good condition are just about impossible to find. Even William Brophy's fine The Krag Rifle proved to be of little help in obtaining the dimensions of the Krag barrel at the shank end, where everything mattered.
In desperation I e-mailed Brownells and asked their advice. I said I wanted to communicate with an old, cranky gunsmith, who chewed tobacco and who remembered how to rebarrel a Krag. Four days later I got a response from old Reid Coffield, member of the staff of Brownells and gunsmith extraordinaire. He said he did not chew tobacco but otherwise met the bill as he was pretty old, remembered perfectly how to rebarrel Krags, and surely was cranky. Aha! I thought, a blast from the past. As one would figure, the Springfield barrel shank is really quite close to the Krag's, with a slightly different diameter and pitch of thread. Also, the extractor cut in the Krag barrel is on the top and completely unlike that of the Mauser-type Springfield. And, the chamber of the 30-40 Krag is different enough from the 30-06 so that it had to be rechambered if one used a Springfield barrel.
I found, in the old bodega of Somoza's army, a couple of Springfield barrels and so had only to find a machinist who could do the work that ‘Doctor' Coffield suggested. As it turns out, the tropics had an allure not just for me, but also for a semi-retired master machinist Catalunian, Don Jose Sanchez. Hailing from Barcelona, long Spain's manufacturing center, Don Jose simply knew his business. In his front room he has a large lathe, and he can make most anything out of metal that is required. I gave him the rusty Krag, the barrel, a chambering reamer for 30-40 Krag, a translation of ‘Doctor' Coffield's missive, Brophy's book -and a week later I had a Krag barreled action with a new barrel.
Having fired all four “war-horse” rifles, Ms. Shany Perez reports the ’03 Springfield kicks the most.
I specified that I wanted him to duplicate the Model 1898 carbine, complete with a 22-inch barrel and cut-down stock. He was able to cut down the stock, plug the termite holes, form a new handguard and braze on the original front sight -all without breaking into a sweat. The rear sight is still the 2nd model of the Model 1902 rifle sight, but I can live with that. I have not installed the saddle ring as they make noise and I use this carbine for deer hunting down here.
At the range, the virtue of a new barrel tightly bedded into the stock became apparent as, from the first, the carbine grouped 1 inches at 100 meters. The load? An FN 30-caliber 147-grain FMJ in front of a reasonable charge of 4064. Velocity? Probably 2400 fps. The result? A fine deer rifle that shoots well and handles surprisingly well. In fact, the Krag carbine, with its 22-inch barrel and shortened stock, handles very nicely, much like the trapdoor Springfield carbine. It is simply a lovely carbine, and one that is a pleasure to shoot. It would be at home in the forests of my native Michigan or in the black timber of the Yellowstone country, and would make a dandy rifle for the hunter that wants to put the hunt back into hunting and leave his ‘digital' rifle at home.
The M1903 Springfield in Action
As much as anything, Paul Mauser's Model 1898 bolt-action 8mm spelled the end of the Krag's career in the United States Army. By 1903 the Army had adopted a modified Mauser action that retained some of the lines and furniture of the Krag. The quaint side box magazine was changed into a conventional Mauser-type staggered box magazine fed by 5-round stripper clips. The action was straight Mauser, with the distinctive knurled cocking piece retained from the Krag. The barrel was set at 24 inches in length and the sights included a modified late-model Krag rear sight calibrated for a 30-caliber bullet of 150 grains at about 2750 feet per second.
The result was a rifle that was surprisingly light and that made a very fine target rifle. For horse cavalrymen like Col. Frank Tompkins, who led the chase after Pancho Villa after his raid on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916, the M1903 was a bit long for cavalry use. Later, writing of the incident, he evaluated the equipment he had used in north and central Chihuahua. He noted, regarding the rifle, “The present rifle[the M1903 Springfield] is too long and too heavy for the cavalry. I suggest a carbine about the size of the old Krag carbine chambered to shoot same ammunition as the infantry rifle.” (Tompkins: 235).
Still, the Model 1903 did have an interesting moment at the little-known encounter at Hidalgo de Parral. Known as the place where Pancho Villa was assassinated in 1923, in 1916 it was the scene of one fine shot by a good rifleman and a Springfield. Col. Tompkins and his mounted troopers had just been run out of Parral by irregular Mexican cavalry. The Mexican troops stopped on a hill about a half-mile from the Americans and appeared to ponder what to do next. One Captain Lippincott, a member of Tompkins' squadron, laid down on top of an adobe house and prepared to fire at one of the horsemen, a target he calculated to be 800 yards distant. He adjusted the Springfield's sights, slipped into the prone position, correctly used a tight sling and, with one shot, dropped one of the cavalrymen from his saddle.
In Nicaragua, the era when the Springfield spoke was the Marine intervention to fight against Cesar Augusto Sandino, 1927-1933. Much has been written about this guerrilla action, and much of what has been written is a bit fanciful. Total Marine casualties in the field for that six-year period were 43 dead; more died in brothels, barroom brawls, of disease, and suicide than died on the battlefield.
In the field the Marines used two weapons, the M1903 and the M1921 Thompson sub machine gun. The native troops were given the Krags. Due to the heavy growth on many of the mountains, the arm of choice of the Marines was the Thompson. Probably the last Marine living in Nicaragua was Mr. George Smith. He was the Marine provincial commandant of Esteli while his friend Chesty Puller was the Marine provincial commandant of Matagalpa, the next province to the east. Interviewed by the author in 1991 a month before his death, old George was emphatic that he went into battle and ambushes with a Thompson with four 50-round drums of ammo and left his Springfield at home. He was never sorry.
Still, the Springfield had its uses; one imaginatively applied by Matthew Ridgway, in the 1930s a young officer on duty at Managua. He developed a passion for hunting the Central American alligator, or caiman, that abounded in the waters of Lake Managua. He evidently spent many a happy afternoon crawling through the mud on the shores of Lake Managua drilling caimans with the Springfield. He even lost his West Point ring in that slime.
With the Masaya volcano in the background, the rebuilt Krag gets the once-over from an admirer.
A more important use of the Marine Springfields occurred in the July 16, 1927 Sandinista attack on the Marine headquarters in the northern mountain town of Ocotal. The Marine commander, one Capt. G.D. Hatfield, with 34 Marines under his direct command, entered into an exchange of telegrams with Augusto Sandino a few days prior to the attack. The exchange ended with Sandino writing, “I remain your most obedient servant, who ardently desires to put you in a handsome tomb with beautiful bouquets of flowers.”Hatfield replied,” Bravo General. If words were bullets and phrases were soldiers you would be a field marshal instead of a mule thief”. The attack came a couple of days later; with hundreds of Sandinistas attacking the Marine barracks in the town hall (and the town hall of Ocotal still today). The Marines fought off the Sandinistas with a couple of BARs, but mostly Springfields. The native troops, the nascent Guardia Nacional, were holed up two blocks away and fought off the attackers with their Krags. The fighting was fierce and the Marines were in a difficult position until a couple of Marine bi-planes flew up from Managua, saw the situation and returned to Managua for reinforcements. By middle afternoon five DeHavilands appeared over the Sandinista troops and began dive-bombing the troops, dropping small bombs. The air attack lasted only 45 minutes but it broke the back of the Sandinista attack. It also wrote a new page in military history by being the first organized dive-bombing attack in history, years before the German air force was credited with inventing this new use of the, warplane.
By chance I ran across remnants of a Springfield, built by Rock Island Arsenal. As usual, the barrel was rotted out, there was no stock, and the action was not exactly in mint condition. No matter, I checked with all of the gun repair shops in Managua and found the parts I needed: a stock, and a barrel in good shape. Again, old Don Jos? Sanchez came to the rescue and installed the barrel. I did the rest, installed the stock, handguard and furniture, glass-bedded the action into the stock, and put on a Lyman aperture sight, much lamenting they no longer make the great #48 sight. The result is what you would call a parts gun, but one that had the potential to shoot.
More interestingly, the action was made at Rock Island Armory, with a serial number of 374XXX. That rifle was made at – or shortly after – the end of WWI and may have taken part in the Marine activities in the U.S. intervention of 1929-1933. At least the serial number is correct for that period. And, judging from the deep pits in the action, that rifle had been in tropical America for a long time. Unfortunately, when I took the rifle to the range to test-fire it, I could not get it to shoot worth beans. I then had to enter into the voodoo world of Springfield bedding.
There are (or were, since few people still shoot the Springfield in its military condition – and especially at 300 meters, as was my intent) two schools of thought on Springfield bedding. One school, represented by the eloquent writings of Col. Townsend Whelan, argues for a free-floating (more or less) barrel within the military stock, including the handguard. The other school of thought was impressed on my tender sensibilities by some of the old WWII vets that shot at the local rifle club and who, in the early '60s were in their 50s. One old boy, Salvatore, told me that Springfields always shot better with a lot of upward pressure on the barrel under where the front band and bayonet lug was located. He told me to hang a coffee can of lead shot under the front of the stock and apply glass-bedding so that when the glass ‘set up,' constant pressure upward on the barrel would dampen barrel vibrations and improve accuracy.
On my second foray into glass-bedding with Brownell's original recipe, the kind you had to add in the glass fibers and dye powder -and that set up with a puff of smoke, I got the job done but it did not look good. My father, who thought my brother's and my enthusiasm for guns was a perversion of youth, found the sight of my Springfield, dripping that runny glass-bedding onto the floor – and with a coffee can of lead shot hanging from the front of the stock, complete with glass fingerprints all over the rifle -a funny sight indeed.
That was my first experience with what ‘Professor‘ Jerry Kuhnhausen calls ‘mechanical locking.' After not so gently separating the stock from the action and getting rid of the hard drips of glass, I took the rifle to the range. I found that Salvatore was right because that Springfield would really shoot and keep all of its shots inside of the old 5-ring at 300 yards, with many in the 5V-ring.
orty years later I found myself in the same predicament. I forwent the coffee can treatment and decided to use shims and a system of bedding that I found that worked on an old Model 52 Winchester and the 7.62 54Rmm Nagant carbine. The Winchester was one of the first ones, without the speed lock, and was bedded – mostly – with a very tight front barrel band and a tight forward screw. The action was almost loose in the stock. That old rifle would shoot inside of an inch at 50 yards with iron sights, with many groups approaching a half-inch. The Nagant was bedded the same way, with the barrel completely shimmed so that it could not flop, or vibrate very much at all.
I took the Springfield to the range with some file folder shims and tested out a couple of thicknesses until the Springfield began shooting sub-two-inch groups at 100 meters, with a couple groups approaching one inch. The accumulated thickness of the shims was 0.015 inches and the barrel within the front band was tight. I then substituted tuna fish tin-can shims for the paper shims – cut to the same thickness – and went back to the range. The Springfield easily shot into 1 1/2 inches on a regular basis. With a 100 meter ‘zero' the Springfield is sighted for the NRA 300-yard slow-fire target with 23 clicks elevation on the Lyman #57 sight. The Springfield, silent for over 70 years, was again honorably punching holes – in paper – in Nicaragua.
In the newly-ordained rifle matches down here held at 300 meters, shot from the sitting position and using the NRA 300-yard slow-fire target the Springfield, using old ball ammo, holds its own against the newer Garand and M-14. And, it is a pleasure to hear the bark of a Springfield that has been down here for almost 80 years and see the precision with which it can still punch 30-cali-ber holes in a target more than three football fields away.
Clearly putting in a full day at the range, author’s compadre Tim Cornish holds two classic U. S. battle rifles: the M14 (left)and the venerable M1 Garand (right).
The M1 Garand During the long, sleepy 40-year interlude of the Somoza family's political control of Nicaragua the prevalent arm of their army, the Guardia Nacional, was the M1 Garand. All of them were supplied by the United States. The Guardia carried their Garands everywhere. Later, after the Sandinistasdrove out Somoza in 1979, the arm of choice became the AK 47 and the Garands were relegated to guard duty, and finally oblivion. In fact, in the last 10 years it has become hard to locate an intact Garand. After some considerable efforts I located two junkers and began to rebuild them. As with the Krag and Springfield, the barrels were rotted and some parts inside were broken or missing. For some reason, both had parts of the rear sights missing, and the top of the safety lever broken off.
I must admit that I had, for years, a prejudice against Garands. While a young lad, I began sighting-in rifles for deer season at the local gun shop and had the opportunity to get to know many different rifles. At the range I never could get a Garand to group better than three inches, and I thought that all Garands were mediocre in the accuracy department. Then one day I had that youthful illusion shattered. While at the 300-yard range test-firing an FN 270 Winchester, I noticed that one Johnny Zajac came to the firing line with a Garand in good shape. Old Johnny was the city plumbing inspector, spoke English with a plainly Polish accent, and always chewed cigars, usually unlit. But old Johnny could shoot. I watched him, from the sitting position, shoot 10 rounds in one minute with his Garand. I then drove him down to the target and saw nine shots in a circle of about three inches, with one shot that had ‘leaked' two inches outside of the group. He was furious with that leaked shot and used cusswords in both languages. I became converted to the accuracy possibility of the Garand.
In Nicaragua, parts for the Garand can still be found locally and I rebarreled both rifles. Since, like the Springfield, I intended to use both rifles for high-power target shooting at 200 and 300 meters, I had to do something to improve their 4-inch groups. The answer was simple. I bought one of the first copies of ‘Professor' Jerry Kuhnhausen's book on accurizing the Ml and M14.1 read the book several times and went to work. The result was two highly accurate Garands that will shoot 5- to 6-inch groups at 300 meters, with the ‘issue' iron sights. And they will probably shoot better than that, but my eyes don't see the front sight as clearly as they once did.
‘Professor' Kuhnhausen's theory is that by tightening up everything that hangs from the barrel, including the entire gas system (and ensuring the gas system hangs directly under the barrel assembly, what he calls centerlining), and by glass-bedding the action into the stock so that it is drawn down tightly into the stock by closing the trigger guard, the Garand will shoot as well as any bolt gun and do so for many rounds without changing point of impact. One of his secrets is ‘pressure bedding,' or glass-bedding the action in such a fashion that the barrel is flexed downward by some 25 to 40 pounds of pressure. Obviously, with the gas system, one cannot speak of a free-floating Garand barrel, so the service armorers began to experiment with ways to dampen barrel vibration – exactly as I had done with the Springfield. Their solution – and Kuhnhausen's -was to apply Rube Goldberg technology. A small fixture is made and placed under the barrel so that, when the action is glass-bedded, the back of the action must be forced down to the stock – by either a clamp, fixture or surgical elastic tubing. It really looks weird but it works like gangbusters.
The result is a rifle that must be assembled with some force, but which will not change its point of impact even under repeated shot strings. It changes the Garand from being a run-of-the-mill battle rifle, that will group 3-4 inches with a good barrel, into a precision instrument that will group between 1-2 inches – even with the half-century-old ball ammo that I shoot – and not change its point of impact, regardless of barrel temperature. The Garand becomes every bit as accurate as the Springfield.
The M14 The last of the American battle rifles commonly found in Nicaragua is the M14. How it came to Nicaragua has to do with one of the more colorful Contra commandantes, Eden Pastora, “Commandante Zero.” Never one to suffer from an inferiority complex, during a couple of years in the Contra War he had considerable support of the United States government. He was known for his unorthodox manner of waging war. For example, he would perform amorous interludes with known Sandinista spies in the hopes of converting them by means of his prowess. He also had the Contra headquarters with the most information leaks. When he decided to attack the southern border town of Greytown in the middle 1980s, he scrounged a bunch of M 14s from some American warehouse, some in almost-new condition. The Sandinista Army, of course, knew all about it and confiscated the arms cache of about 1500 rifles. A decade later many of them were sold to Century Arms. A few of those rifles made their way into civilian hands and the Nicaraguan army retained a small amount.
My rebuilt Krag balances nicely in the experienced hands of Ms. Perez. She took up shooting to share an activity with her boyfriend – and she now shoots better than he does.
I was asked to accurize several M14s and so I turned to ‘Professor' Kuhnhausen again. In dissembling the M14 it occurred to me that it is nothing so much as an Ml with a much-improved gas system and with the ability to accept a magazine from the bottom of the receiver. That's about it. It does have a selective-fire switch, but that is about useless as the cyclic rate is so high that it climbs uncontrollably. Should one have any doubt of its limited use as a machine gun, try firing a G-3 on full auto – and then the M14 – and it becomes obvious that the G-3 has a very useful rate of fire and the M14 just wastes ammo. Moreover, the M14 is made completely of forgings and has no stampings. It is one fine rifle.
To accurize the M14, the exact same theory that was useful with the Ml can be applied. The process involves tightening up the gas system in relation to the barrel, and pressure-bedding the barreled action tightly into the service stock with adequate ‘draw' from the trigger guard. In fact, of all three American battle rifles the M14, at least to me, is the easiest to accurize. And they really do shoot. From the bench, with iron sights, several that I have worked on will group 5-7 inches at 300 meters. And I am sure that younger eyes could improve on that grouping, seems to shoot best with either FN ball ammo or Portuguese ammo that was imported into Nicaragua in the early 1980s. And, like the Garand, when properly glass-bedded the point of impact does not change in slow- or timed-fire. As good as is the Garand, the M14 is a bit better.
Regarding Ammunition, Ergonomics, And Rifle Use
One of the more interesting, but little-known facts about the 30-06 and 7.62mm NATO rounds is that they are ballistically identical. Frank Barnes, some time ago, collected all of the ordnance data on U.S. military cartridges, including powder charges, and found that the standard load was a 150-grain (or thereabouts) bullet traveling at 2750 feet per second at the muzzle. That appears to be the case from WWI, except for a time when the M72 bullet of 172 grains with a boattail was substituted for the 150-grain ball. The common charge was 50 grains of 4895, a hotter load than found in modern loading manuals. That load became the standard load for WWII and afterward; when the 7.62mm NATO was adopted in 1957 it was loaded to the same, exact ballistics – which leads to some unanticipated advantages.
For example, when the Ml is sighted correctly to shoot off the front sight at 100 yards and the rear sight is indexed on the 100-yard setting, the ability to sight for longer distances is made very easy with the aperture rear sights, which have one-minute clicks and are calibrated to distances past 1200 yards. The sights on the M14 are almost the same, being set for 100-meter intervals and the clicks being one minute at 100 meters, rather than yards. But they are set up the same fashion as the Garand sights. And since they shoot equal weight bullets at the same velocity, the trajectory is the same.
At 300 meters, and shooting at the 18-inch bullseye of the 300-yard slow-fire target, my sight setting, using a 6 o'clock hold, for the Garand is the 300-yard setting, plus three clicks. The center of the target is nine inches, or three minutes of angle, above the point of aim. Ditto for the M14, where my sight setting is also the 300-meter setting, plus three clicks. No other battle rifle known to me has this facility for changing sight setting, or returning to an old sight setting, with no change in point of impact.
After going through the exercise of reconditioning old American war-horses, the inevitable question is which rifle shoots the best. In answering the question, some consideration should be given to the type of shooting in which the rifles have been used. The Springfield, Garand and M14 all have been used with iron sights in offhand, sitting, and prone positions; the last two positions with a tight sling. The common range has been 300 meters at the Nicaraguan regular rifle matches, and the target is the NRA 300 yard slow-fire target. The Krag sits in a class by itself. It is a fine offhand rifle – period. Of the four American battle rifles, it handles most like an American sporting rifle. It is my choice for hunting the small Nicaraguan whitetail deer in thick forest. Its smooth bolt action is unparalleled and it is the most fun of all the battle rifles to use to kill rocks and tin cans. And it is, to my eyes, the most nostalgic and attractive of all American bolt-action rifles. No gun collection can be complete without a Krag.
The ’03 Springfield, proudly wearing faded military markings and showing some wear and tear on the forearm, now sports a fully adjustable aperture receiver sight.
For me, the Springfield is the most difficult rifle to shoot, for two reasons. First, it is the lightest, making it very easy to throw a shot into the white, or beyond. Secondly, its stock has a lot of ‘drop' and so the recoil, during a shot string, is more noticeable than with the other two rifles. The Springfield has the most nostalgia and the best trigger – but I don't shoot it as well as the others, I am sad to say.
The Garand is muzzle-heavy and some days seems to just go to sleep under the bullseye. My Garand has a better trigger than the M14 and the scores I shoot with it and the M14 are almost identical. But I average a few points more with the M14 than the Garand. Why? I dunno. Finally, when the pressure of a match approaches and my friends all become enthusiastic competitors, I reach for the Winchester M14 that I got, courtesy of some governmental agency and Eden Pastora. It is the first M14 that I ever glass-bedded and I made a bunch of mistakes in that first attempt. But occasionally I will get a one-inch group from a benchrest at 100 meters, and at 300 meters I can call almost every shot – even the bad ones that go wandering toward Masaya volcano. It is a bit lighter towards the muzzle than the Garand and should be a bit more difficult to hold steady from the sitting position. But it is the rifle that somehow shoots the best for me, and in which I have confidence. It goes to every match and always shoots better than I. It is much rifle.
Lastly, a few words are in order about modern rifle use. One of the biggest impediments to getting shooters to participate in the Nicaraguan national rifle matches has been “shooter shock” at shooting at 300 meters and shooting with iron sights. Many of my friends read English-language gun magazines, reload and can quote the latest article about the 300 Dragon Killer Diller that shoots a 150-grain bullet at almost 4000 fps. They also are adept at benchresting such flamethrowers at 100 meters, and discussing the fine points of pillar-bedding, rifle powders, etc. But get them off the bench, suggest they learn to use a sling and shoot at 300 meters – and some folks become plainly nervous. When some folks try shooting at the bullseye with scope sights, they discover that the scope is not necessarily superior sighting equipment, if you have a fixed point of aim for iron sights and those iron sights are properly sighted in. With its image vibrations the scope may actually be a hindrance.
Times change and fashion changes. The old riflemen at the Bay City Rifle Club that got me shooting decades ago are long departed. Somehow the idea of teaching the basics of rifle shooting with 3- or 4-position shooting of the 22 long rifle at 50 feet got lost in America, as did the idea of shooting high-power rifles – using the same theory of position, sight alignment and trigger control – as for the 22 rimfire. The use of the tight sling becomes almost a lost art. More velocity, synthetic stocks, and other innovations cannot replace the pure theory and practice of rifle fire, and no medium has reduced rifle fire to its essence, or to its classic simplicity, as does shooting the American battle rifle from position, at extended ranges and with iron sights. ‘Digital' guns have their use, and are now most popular, but somehow the magic and skill of directed rifle fire has gotten lost in technological developments. A return to using American battle rifles, those dependable warhorses, so much a part of the American past of target shooting and history, should once again become a part of the present and future of shooting. There can be no more elegant use for a centerfire rifle.
For further Reading:
Brophy, Lt. Col. William S. USAR Ret. 1985 The Krag Rifle, The Gun Room Press, Highland Park, NJ
Kuhnhausen, Jerry 1985 The Gas Operated Service Rifles A Shop Manual, Volumes I&II, VSP Publishers, McCall, ID
Macaulay, Neill 1985 The Sandino Affair, Duke University Press, Chapel Hill, NC
Congress is moving closer to a showdown over the largest expansion of government in modern U.S. history — a bill which would require virtually every single American to buy government-approved health insurance, whether they wanted it or not. And, in the process, that bill would feed all of your most confidential medical data into an enormous database, which could be used to take away your guns.
This is a bit complicated. But here's where we are:
Once a year, the 1974 Budget Act allows Congress to pass a bill — solely for the purpose of balancing the budget — and that bill cannot be filibustered in the Senate. Hence, it can be passed with only fifty Democrat votes (plus the vice president), without any Republican support.
Now, that supposed “budget-balancing bill” is called the “reconciliation bill” — and it can only be created if the annual budget resolution mandates it.
Three weeks ago, the Senate considered its version of the annual budget resolution. Gun Owners of America asked you to oppose passage of the Senate version of the budget resolution for two reasons:
* First, although the Senate version of the bill did not contain language mandating the giant anti-gun database and the huge $10,000+ per person government health mandate, the Pelosi-devised House version did. Read more
Among comments to my last piece, “Lautenberg gun show bill as bad as expected,” several were from well-meaning gun owners who honestly questioned why S. 843 – ostensibly submitted to close the “gun show loophole” – is really so bad.
A typical and knowledgeable comment went like this:
“I am a very pro-gun person. I own a couple of rifles and I will never support any [‘assault weapon’ ban]. I don't even support the ‘86 [McClure-Volkmer] automatic ban. But background checks should be required for any and every sale. If that means transferring it at the dealer, then fine.
“But any kind of government-kept record of who owns what I am strongly opposed to. Make the bill less ridiculous and get rid of all of the registration clauses and I will not oppose it.”
While reasonable and well-intentioned, the argument contains a presumption which, unfortunately, rarely pertains in politics: It presumes the intentions of the bill are honest. Below are the main three reasons why legislation purporting to require “background checks” is unacceptable. Read more
An apparent organized flexing of Second Amendment rights last weekend was a bit too Wild West for some local citizens and business owners.
Police and deputies responded to a number of complaints about citizens packing sidearms at restaurants, stores and other public areas.
None of the gun carriers was cited.
Michigan's 2001 shall-issue concealed weapons law greatly increased the number of citizens packing handguns. The public, however, does not notice the guns because they are hidden under clothing.
But a shopper with a handgun on his hip in Target is another matter. Security officers followed the man Saturday and contacted city police.
“One of our officers had contact with the man in the parking lot, and that was the end of it,” Lt. Christopher Simpson said. “He was carrying legally.” Read more
Kenosha-area lawmakers are lining up behind a recent legal opinion confirming the legality of toting unconcealed firearms in public places.
Some even say it could be an entrée to revisit the controversial issue of concealed carry in Wisconsin, though the current political winds in Madison would make that prospect appear unlikely.
State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen last week issued a memo citing constitutional grounds allowing for the open carrying of firearms, so long as it is done without disturbing the peace and within specified restrictions, such as not taking a gun into a school.
Some have questioned whether that is possible in many settings, particularly in urban areas. Milwaukee authorities have said Van Hollen’s memo will not change the manner in which their officers approach people with guns.
Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, criticized the timing of Van Hollen’s opinion, but he was not about to argue with the content.
“I think the timing was poor, bringing it out right when the 10th anniversary of Columbine was out there,” Wirch said. “But I think that he’s on pretty solid legal grounds with this.” Read more
At the Terry Road Pawn Shop in Jackson, military-style long guns don't stay in the cases long. What's more, it has become increasingly difficult during the last few months for owner Kevin McDonald to stock his shop with auto-loading rifles such as AR-15s and SKSes.
“The demand has gotten so high, I don't think the manufacturers can make them fast enough to keep everybody supplied,” McDonald said. “Often when we get them, we go ahead and sell them online because we can sell them at retail price or better.”
Mississippi apparently is not immune to the national surge in gun sales in response to the election of Democratic President Barack Obama and widespread speculation over a possible reinstated federal ban on assault weapons, based on the latest Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics.
FBI gun checks, an indication of gun sales because they are required for purchases, numbered more than 181,000 in the state 2008 – the highest yearly total since 1999.
“The people in Congress and the presidential administration are too wishy-washy (on gun control). There is a perception there will possibly be a ban on guns like when (former President Bill) Clinton was in office,” said Randy Reeves, owner of Randy's Sporting Goods in Oak Grove. “At the present, people are buying all the guns they can get their hands on and all the ammo they can get their hands on.”
Reeves estimated his sales have shot up 50 percent in the last six months. Read more
In it's latest attempt to derail the concealing of permit holder information, the AP has come up with the worst that it could find about the Tennessee Handgun Carry permits. So far (unlike here in Arkansas) nothing has worked.
The latest is this, KTHV is only too happy to comply, “Nearly 1,200 Tennesseans have had their state-issued handgun carry permits revoked or suspended for running afoul of the law over the last four years.
Under a bill advancing in the Legislature, the public would be barred from finding out their names or the circumstances that caused them to lose their rights to carry loaded weapons in public.
The measure sponsored by Democratic Rep. Eddie Bass of Prospect and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville would bar the release of any information related to “the issuance, renewal, expiration, suspension, or revocation of a handgun carrypermit.” Read more
Gun Digest is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews and practical how-to instructions. Subscriptions are the First Amendment way to stand up for your Second Amendment rights. Click here to begin your subscription to Gun Digest.
Inside This Issue
– Accessorize your AK or Mini-14
– Performance Handloads: Long-range handgun loads
– Trends of Value: Browning rifles, Winchester shotguns and early Colt handguns
– Gunsmithing: Change out your AR-15 trigger
– Plus! Pages and pages of gun classifieds listings and auctions
Exploiting the tenth anniversary of the Columbine tragedy, perennial gun control advocate Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced his latest gun show bill. Lautenberg was joined at the press conference by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Jack Reed (D-RI). “The Hill” quotes Lautenberg as saying:
“There is no rational reason to oppose closing the loophole,” said Lautenberg, the bill’s sponsor. “The reason it’s still not closed is simple: the continuing power of the special interest gun lobby in Washington.”
The bill is S. 843: “A bill to establish background check procedures for gun shows.” What makes it a greater threat than other gun bills in the 111th Congress is the fact that Lautenberg has signed eleven powerful Democrats as cosponsors, including formerly pro-gun Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
Although text of the bill is not available at the time of this writing, it is expected to be substantially similar to Lautenberg’s gun show bill of the last Congress, S. 2577.
Lautenberg went on to add still more to the “90% lie” being promulgated by both the Obama administration and Mexican officials:
“Thirty percent of the guns that go to Mexico are bought at gun shows. We don’t know whether they’re bought from unlicensed dealers, but logic would say let’s have some idea who it is that bought those guns and what their intentions might be.”
LIKELY DETAILS
“Gun show promoters” would have to register with the Attorney General of the United States “in accordance with regulations promulgated” by the AG. Given the predispositions of Eric Holder, one can only imagine what regulations he would “promulgate.” The AG would also set the registration fee at any level he or she wished.
All “vendors” would be registered. “Vendor” would include you if you wanted to sell even one firearm. You would have to present government identification to the gun show promoter, who would be required to retain that information.
All sales would be registered with the FBI. No private transfers would be allowed at shows, and would have to be processed, at unknown expense, through federally licensed dealers via the computerized National Instant Check System (NICS). Read below to find out why that creates a de facto gun registration system. Worse, Lautenberg notes that under the new bill, all guns sold, including model and serial number, will be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms via its national gun tracing center.
Attorney General Eric Holder says he is concerned that a law limiting the use of gun-trace data may be too restrictive.
Holder said at a congressional hearing that the so-called Tiahrt amendment the subject of a long-running legislative battle between opponents and supporters of gun control may limit evidence-sharing by state and local authorities. Read More
Mass public shootings are a horrific feature of modern life. Many of the bloodiest examples of this scourge have occurred on college campuses. As professors, we are particularly sensitive to this danger.
Despite this – no, because of this – we support a bill currently pending in the Texas Legislature that would permit the concealed carrying of firearms on college and university campuses in the state by holders of concealed-handgun permits.
Any public policy involving matters of life and death should be decided only after weighing carefully the competing risks. Examining the relevant facts and data indicates that permitting Texas permit holders to carry weapons on college campuses would improve safety because:
•The best available empirical evidence shows that concealed-carry laws reduce the incidence of mass public shootings.
•Mass public shootings occur almost exclusively in places – like universities – where concealed carry is proscribed.
•There are numerous examples of firearms owners acting to disarm would-be mass murderers, thereby saving lives.
•Concealed-handgun-permit holders are overwhelmingly law-abiding individuals. Read more
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.