Gun Culture

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Pump it up

Another new toy, feels like Christmas

This wee beastie is a Franchi pump action 12g with a 7+1 capacity for the purposes of Practical Shotgunnery.
Distinctly second hand but I’ve been umming and ahhing for ages over a purchase so I just got the nearest thing to what I wanted from the shop.
Pump action is a disadvantage in PSG compared to the speed of the semis but I’m in it for the jollies not for the winning (just as well...) so a pump it is.
Choice of a tool for PSG was trickier than I expected, many of the choices I looked at on t’interweb are illegal in blighty due to being too short - either in the overall length or the barrel length.  This one here has the pistol grip I wanted and is the very necessary black!  Not quite so sure about the sights though, it just seems wrong to have sights on a shotty.  I’m told they are useful for slug.
If we lived somewhere sensible this would make a great truck gun, pump for reliability with a useful capacity and not expensive so you don’t mind it taking a bashing.  Add a semi-auto ar-15 type rifle and you’ve got all your bases covered.  Alternatively you would have a great home defense weapon.  This being blighty of course it has to stay locked up and I have to bend over and take it in the case of a home invasion.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Red dotted Ruger

Finally got around to fitting, and last night zeroing, my new red dot to my 10-22.  (More details of the rest of the build here)
I bought it some moons ago from Roger at Rimfire Magic aka South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies, but only just got around to fitting it.  In the time between buying and fitting I’d lost the allen screws for the weaver style base, but Roger was kind enough to send me another set gratis.
Fitting is very straightforward, dovetail base off and weaver on then bang on the red dot.  Even I couldn’t get that wrong.
I had a bit more fun zeroing in as I forget to take my CST modified (last round hold open) magazines as well as my spotting scope (I have two, couldn’t find one and the other had it’s tripod missing).  So it was single load and using binoculars to check for impact site.  Oh how I laughed.  Once I got my head around the direction of moving the the dot (I always struggle with these, despite being clearly labelled “up” and “r") it was much better to zero in than the ‘orrible Deben jobby I had previously where one click equalled about a half inch at 25 yds.  The biggest trouble was seeing the brown dots on the target down range, should have had specs and should have had my own targets.
So some piccies then!

This showing the rather useful rubber cover over the glass which I’ve just managed to mislay in the office somewhere.

This shows the dot size adjustment and the brightness adjustment.  The right/left adjustment is the allen screw with “R” near it.

From above.  The battery (CR jobby) goes in the brightness control.

Down the business end.
In use it is pretty good, plenty bright enough when you need it and plenty dim enough when you need that.  Usual pros and cons of red dots over ‘proper’ optics apply, very fast target aquisition but with the drawback of no magnification.

Dog likes the Monster Truck

Mine hound seems to be very happy indeed with the purchase of the monster truck.  Even happier that I’ve opted to keep the pickup style and not put a canopy on, which means he gets to sit in the back of the cab.

Doesn’t want to get out!

Spyderco Delica 4 FRN

A couple of pics, well three anyway, of my Spyderco Delica 4 in black FRN.
First up, closed.

Closed showing the pocket clip, this can be swapped around for tip up or tip down carry.  On a lot of knives the clip is quickly removed but on this model it doesn’t really interfere with the feel of the beast in the hand so it stays.  Additionally I sometimes find that knives can open themselves when carried on the clip (my Spydie Salsa for example) but this is nicely secure so it’s OK to clip without fear of being bitten when you put your hand in to retrieve change or whatever.

Finally open showing the blade. I find this blade style to be the best for general everyday duty.  The blade spine has serrations at the joint giving a good place for the thumb when you need to put a bit of pressure on.

The knife is a spine locker, very secure.  This of course makes it illegal to carry ‘without good reason’ (no, ‘cutting stuff’ apparently isn’t a good enough reason) however some flaunt the law because by and large folders just aren’t secure enough without a lock.  The very small chance of being ‘done’ is outweighed by the higher chance of cutting myself on an unexpectedly closing folder.  Another case where the law is an ass.
The FRN (plastic!) handle isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but for me it gives a lightweight unit with a nice grip - I much prefer this to something like the G10 of my Spydie UK Penknife.  For those who prefer something else the Delica is available in stainless steel handle (got one of those too, much heavier and not such a secure grip) occasionally in other exotic handle materials or if you search t’interweb you can find custom builds in any kind of style you care to mention.

A classic everyday knife.  Recommended!

Monday, December 18, 2006

Monster Truck

Happy Christmas to me!
My Seat Leon let me down once too often.  The final straw was when it decided that setting the alarm whilst I was driving was a jolly wheeze.  You’d be bimbling along, there’d be a faint clunk followed by a flashing red light somewhere by your right shoulder.  Then the sound and light show would start, followed by me attempting to look as small as possible.  It was in warranty and was fixed by the garage but the banana boat had pissed on it’s chips.
Enter stage left my new vehicle!

Swiftly christened the Monster Truck by ‘er indoors, this is a big bitch of a vehicle.  Fantastic.  Much bettter inside than any of the other double cabs I’ve tried, more car like and comfortable.  Definitely more comfy than the L200 by a country mile.
This is a cracking machine to drive, masses of road presence and a great feeling of solidity.  Major drawback of course is the parking.  I’ve specced parking radar which is handy but the main problem is the length plus turning circle.  This means that negotiating car parks takes a wee bit of patience.  The biggest problem is the width of the gap between lines of cars rather than the width of the actual space, there’s an awful lot of machine to turn.
This will be just the job for all my shooting clobber and the pot holed lanes that lead to the places I shoot.
Global warming?  What global warming?