The general firearms thread!

[Enoch]

Visited with my parents over the long weekend, and there was a shootin' stuff outing. 

 

My brother-in-law and his dad are members of some backwoods hunting club, which has a rudimentary spot set up for target shooting that members and guests can use.  I've handled shotguns and rifles from time to time growing up-- some hunting with my grandfathers when they were still spry enough.  (Bird hunting was lots of fun but logistically challenging.  Deer hunting was boring, cold, and, in the event that you got one, a revolting bloody mess.  Powerful and worthwhile educational experiences, but not something I'd set out to do as an adult of my own initiative.)  Anyhow, this was my first experience in firing a handgun.  And it was rather fun.  I can't recall the makes and models, but I know I fired a couple of 380s and a 9MM (the last of which kept throwing the brass back at my head for some reason). 

 

There also may or may not have been a military surplus firearm that my grandfather has owned since the '60s and that is most likely now flagrantly illegal in the state in which he lives.  Were it present, that gun would've been a hell of a lot of fun to fire. 

[Woldan]

When a gun flings brass onto your forehead/face the extractor claw needs to be cleaned, little brass pieces from the fired cases love to collect in the extractor claw slot. This, or the claw is worn out. (rounded edges or a weak spring) 

[Nepenthe]

Visited with my parents over the long weekend, and there was a shootin' stuff outing. 

 

My brother-in-law and his dad are members of some backwoods hunting club, which has a rudimentary spot set up for target shooting that members and guests can use.  I've handled shotguns and rifles from time to time growing up-- some hunting with my grandfathers when they were still spry enough.  (Bird hunting was lots of fun but logistically challenging.  Deer hunting was boring, cold, and, in the event that you got one, a revolting bloody mess.  Powerful and worthwhile educational experiences, but not something I'd set out to do as an adult of my own initiative.)  Anyhow, this was my first experience in firing a handgun.  And it was rather fun.  I can't recall the makes and models, but I know I fired a couple of 380s and a 9MM (the last of which kept throwing the brass back at my head for some reason). 

 

There also may or may not have been a military surplus firearm that my grandfather has owned since the '60s and that is most likely now flagrantly illegal in the state in which he lives.  Were it present, that gun would've been a hell of a lot of fun to fire. 

 

There really is nothing like full auto. Old Kalashnikov knew what he was doing, when he set it for one-click full auto, two-clicks semi auto.... :D

[Walsingham]

Our firearms instructor was almost obsessed with the virtues of firing single aimed shots. I leave it to Monte to say whether he was right, or just waffling off.

[Nepenthe]

Our firearms instructor was almost obsessed with the virtues of firing single aimed shots. I leave it to Monte to say whether he was right, or just waffling off.

 

I think that's what they pay them for. Efficient =/= fun.

[Gorgon]

In combat that first usually inaccurate shot counts for a whole lot I surmise.

[Walsingham]

 

Our firearms instructor was almost obsessed with the virtues of firing single aimed shots. I leave it to Monte to say whether he was right, or just waffling off.

 

I think that's what they pay them for. Efficient =/= fun.

 

 

I suspect that running out of ammunition is also unfun. ;p

[Nepenthe]

 

 

Our firearms instructor was almost obsessed with the virtues of firing single aimed shots. I leave it to Monte to say whether he was right, or just waffling off.

 

 

I think that's what they pay them for. Efficient =/= fun.

 

I suspect that running out of ammunition is also unfun. ;p

That's what bayonets are for.

[Raithe]

Heh, did you ever see that quote from Kalishnikov over how he regrets having inveted the AK? After all these years he'd have preferred to have invented something "truly helpful, like a lawnmower."

[Woldan]

I'm currently working on an extremely hot-rodded 12 gauge slug round, using a tougher brass case instead of weak plastic and shooting heavy slugs in the 500-700 grain range. I even had to design and build a special crimping die for it. Here it is on the left compared with a  168 grain 7.62x51 NATO ( A round which most sniper rifles and medium machine guns are chambered in) 

 

 

 

Hard work tough, the crimping die is so big I have to use a huge industrial vice because it doesn't fit in my reloading press. The overpowder wads are custom too,  they have to be a tad bigger than the standard 12 gauges. 

I'm aiming for a safe load that pushes 700 grainers close to 500 meters a second and can still be shot from 12 gauge shotguns that have a 3'' chamber (if you survive the recoil, I recommend muzzle brakes). This is going to take a lot of experimenting with different powder types and charges.

 

I still have to name it tough, what about ...hmmm.... the 18.5x72 mm hellbat? Or 18.5x72 mm Woldan el speciale?    

Edited December 20, 2013 by Woldan

[Walsingham]

You're Austrian, right. It's massive and Austrian and a bit scary and inappropriate.

 

The 18.5x72mm Skorzeny.

[Aram]

I bought four broken Manurhin MR-73s from a surplus place and I'm slowly making them work again one at a time.

[Woldan]

You're Austrian, right. It's massive and Austrian and a bit scary and inappropriate.

 

The 18.5x72mm Skorzeny.

 

Using your logic I could also name it 18.5x72 Conan. 

 

I bought four broken Manurhin MR-73s from a surplus place and I'm slowly making them work again one at a time.

The quality of Manurhin revolvers is crazy, I remember them at the international firearms fair last year. I hope you can restore its former glory!  

By the way, why are all four broken? Do all of them come from the same idiot owner? 

Edited December 20, 2013 by Woldan

[Aram]

Depends if you consider the French police idiots. They seem to be in most movies.

 

One of them had no fewer than three bullets stuck in the barrel.

 

Yep.

[Woldan]

Louis de Funès was a cool bro though. 

 

3 bullets stuck in the barrel? I don't even.....    Is the barrel still sound or did it bulge somewhere? 

Edited December 20, 2013 by Woldan

[Aram]

I haven't shot it yet to see if it still groups. No visible bulging. Will definitely shoot when I try. If the barrel is wrecked, I'm going to put a Python barrel I have floating around on it and create the world's first Pythurhin.

 

One needed a new hand fitted. Easy enough, luckily.

 

One needs the single action seer recut. Working on that now.

 

One is trashed. Luckily it was an organ donor.

 

They all need to be refinished.

 

Still, not bad for under a grand.

[Walsingham]

I bought four broken Manurhin MR-73s from a surplus place and I'm slowly making them work again one at a time.

 

MR-73

 

http://world.guns.ru/handguns/double-action-revolvers/fr/manurhin-mr-73-e.html

 

Sounds dangerous, but according to the link above, they're high end firearms. They look bloody nice, too!

[Walsingham]

I haven't shot it yet to see if it still groups. No visible bulging. Will definitely shoot when I try. If the barrel is wrecked, I'm going to put a Python barrel I have floating around on it and create the world's first Pythurhin.

 

One needed a new hand fitted. Easy enough, luckily.

 

One needs the single action seer recut. Working on that now.

 

One is trashed. Luckily it was an organ donor.

 

They all need to be refinished.

 

Still, not bad for under a grand.

 

I'm asking from ignorance here. But wouldn't fitting new subcomponents be an engineering safety issue?

[Aram]

****in A it is.

[Walsingham]

****in A it is.

 

Oh.

 

Well.

 

I guess that's OK then.

[Woldan]

I post this pics as tribute to Mikhail Kalashnikov, the designer of the iconic Avtomat Kalashnikova (And many other weapon systems), who passed away today at the age of 94. He was a pretty cool person.  RIP Mr. Kalashnikov! 
 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2013 by Woldan

[Walsingham]

If your idea of cool is designing a weapon so simple and attuned with guerilla warfare that a 12 year old makes a perfectly acceptable soldier...

 

Only half kidding.

[Agiel]

Something neat from Viktor Suvorov about the AK:

 

 

"I adore weapons. Of every sort. I love military equipment and military uniforms. One day I shall open a small museum... (An) exhibit in my museum will be a Kalashnikov automatic assault rifle. Not one of those the terrorists used to kill the Olympic athletes or the one I had with me in Czechoslovakia or one of those the Communists killed doctors with in Cambodia. No, it will be one of the thousands captured by the American marines in Vietnam and used in their desperate attempt to halt Communism and to avert the calamity which threatened the Vietnamese people.

American soldiers in Vietnam often mistrusted their own weapons and preferred to use their Kalashnikov trophies. This was not so simple, for they could hardly expect to be supplied with the proper rounds for these weapons but they used them nevertheless, capturing more ammunition as they fought. What is the secret of the Kalashnikov? It is uncomplicated and reliable, like a comrade-in-arms, and these are the two qualities of greatest importance in a battle."

 

And from Mikhai Kalashnikov himself:

 

"I'm proud of my invention, but I'm sad that it is used by terrorists ... I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work — for example a lawn mower."

Edited December 23, 2013 by Agiel

[ManifestedISO]

That ... is news to me, American soldiers keeping and using enemy AKs in Vietnam for any length of time. If you're trained to hear that report as the presence of the enemy ...  

[Woldan]

If you're trained to hear that report as the presence of the enemy ...

I call BS on that one, I spend hours on shooting ranges each week and all the rifles that are fired there all sound alike. They all go BOOOM and thats it, no matter what cartridge is used. The only distinctive difference in muzzle report in long guns is between a shotgun and a rifle, the shotgun makes a sharper, higher sound.

While the usual rifle goes ''BOOOM'', the shotgun makes a short ''POW''! Thats probably because much faster powder is used in a shotgun, pistol powder and flakes while the rifle cartridge is filled with slow burning stick and ball powder.

 

I've shot rifles and shotguns without ear protection and I can tell them apart. While the muzzle report of a rifle is manageable a shotgun is outright painful and makes my ears ring for an hour.

 

And about Americans using the weapons of fallen enemies, I've heard many reports of soldiers in A-Stan using captured AK's and Dragunovs. Mercenaries also prefer to use the AK and the FN-FAL over the AR.