Previously Gunsite Gossip
Vol. 2, No. 5 May 1994
Maytime, 1994
Spring has definitely sprung, and the
garden here at the Gunsite Sconce is bursting into bloom. Despite
the miserable state of the world and the nation, it is impossible
to be downhearted in this time of renewal, especially as we are
looking forward to our departure shortly for Africa. This adventure
may be the first of its kind in which all members are fully
qualified in both marksmanship and gun handling. We will not be
hunting buffalo this time, so all of our rifles will be of the
30-caliber persuasion, or thereabouts. After considerable
experience and a great deal more study, I remain convinced that if
you cannot do it with a 30-06, you probably cannot do it.
(Naturally I exclude buffalo and elephant from this concept -
not that untold numbers of both of these animals have not been
taken neatly with military calibers.)
Now it happens that our elected
government, after a fifteen year hiatus, has resumed the
destruction of 1911 45s, M1 Garands, 03s, and Springfield 22
Trainers. Note that this has nothing whatever to do with crime.
This is aimed directly at obviating the armed citizenry which is
historically the only guarantee of human liberty.
Act on this at once. If you have not got a 1911, get one. If you
have not got an 03, get one. If you have not got an M1, get one.
(If you can possibly afford it, get two.)
Do you know about the Korth revolver? I
have been approached with a prospect for promoting this piece in
the United States. In essence the Korth is a luxury 357, built of
the finest materials with the most meticulous craftsmanship and no
manufacturing shortcuts. It is sometimes referred to as the Rolls
Royce of handguns.
Much as we enjoy handling all sorts of firearms, we try to examine
them with some sort of reference to their essential usefulness. I
have not yet wrung out the Korth, and while I am willing to admit
that it is probably a beautiful piece of ordnance, I am not sure of
its "tactical niche." It doubtless shoots very well indeed, but
then so does the Smith, Colt or Ruger. For those who enjoy
"conspicuous consumption for prestige" it has a distinct appeal,
but as far as I can tell, the shooters who go for this sort of
thing are almost entirely shotgunners. Long observation suggests
that shotgunners tend to be rich, whereas riflemen tend to be
broke, and pistoleros tend to be more like riflemen than
shotgunners.
There are plenty of people who will buy cars for no reason other
than that they are expensive. This is true of shotguns as well. It
may also be true of clothing in certain circles. Whether it is true
of pistols is a matter to be explored. I have not yet held a Korth
in my hand nor fired it. Possibly the chance will come in Europe
this summer.
On that subject, the IPSC Rifle
Conference, which is intended to find the proper way for
international practical rifle competition to go, has been moved
from Bohemia to Catalonia, mainly because of administrative
difficulties in moving arms and ammunition across certain borders.
I was looking forward to Bohemia more than I am able to do toward
Catalonia but, of course, tourism is not part of the exercise. Both
President Jean-Pierre Denis and I will do our best to insure that
rifle competition worldwide will not be diminished by gamesmanship,
as has happened with the pistol, but there are many obstacles in
the way and all we can do is our best.
Note that the infamous traitor, Aldridge
Ames, had donated five thousand dollars of his Russian payoff to
the Democratic National Committee. No comment!
I am just back from Thunder Ranch in
Texas, where I assisted Clint Smith in the conduct of the general
purpose rifle class. This was a distinct pleasure for me for
various reasons. First, is was nice to work on Clint's fancy new
ranges, where he has installed some target systems which truly
constitute a great leap forward. Second, it was pleasant to get
back on the podium again, where I have not appeared since my
excommunication by the Gunsite Training Center. Teaching is what I
do, and when I do not do it I am frustrated. Third, our
granddaughter Amy was a member of the class and it was necessary to
get her checked out thoroughly before her participation in the
African expedition in May. Naturally she will be using Sweetheart,
this time loaded with 180-grain short-point Noslers.
I hope to be appearing with some regularity at Thunder Ranch,
teaching both rifle and pistol classes. That Texas hill country is
a nice part of the world, and there are interesting things down
there in addition to the school. For example I would like to line
up a nilgai for next winter.
Have you noted that the Heckler & Koch
branch in Sterling, Virginia, has now received an order for 7,500
new service pistols for the United States armed forces? Our new
"weapon of choice" will be in caliber 45 ACP, with a laser aiming
module and a sound/flash suppressor. We do not know much about the
design at this time, but at least it is of a good
caliber.
At David Kahn's suggestion, I have
undertaken to sponsor a special trophy to be awarded at the
Keneyathlon at the NRA Whittington Shooting Center each
year. This award will be in the form of a massive gold ring, a la
Super Bowl, properly engraved and inscribed and known as "Guru's
Gold." The idea is to award the contestant who does well in a way
most nearly in accord with the practical use of the rifle. This
year it will be presented to the shooter who, placing amongst the
first five, uses the lightest rifle of the group. Next year we may
reward the best man to use iron sights. Thereafter we may award to
the highest placed grandfather, the highest placed junior, or the
highest placed husband-and-wife combination. The list goes
on.
"Battle is the sensation of life. A human being is
never so alive as he is in combat. He may feel terror or he may
not, but the prospect of losing his life makes it surge and flare
within him. At no other time do his senses more acutely perceive
the world. At no other time does his nerve fire with such spark.
Never again will he weld as tight an emotional bond to others
around him."
Philip Edwards, in SOF Magazine
The media insist that crime is the major
concern of the American public today. In this connection they
generally push the point that a disarmed society would be a
crime-free society. They will not accept the truth that if you take
all the guns off the street you still will have a crime problem,
whereas if you take the criminals off the street you cannot have a
gun problem.
In the larger sense, however, the personal ownership of firearms is
only secondarily a matter of defense against the criminal. Note the
following from Thomas Jefferson:
"The strongest reason for the people to keep and bear
arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against the
tyranny of government."
That is why our masters in Washington are so anxious to disarm us.
They are not afraid of criminals. They are afraid of a populace
which cannot be subdued by tyrants.
I noted with some astonishment in Texas
that Sweetheart printed exactly to the same point of aim with both
the 150-grain boat-tailed Federal premium ammunition used by the
school, and with John Gannaway's 180 Noslers. This little rifle has
really no right to do this sort of thing, but there is a definite
magic about the piece which seems scientifically
inexplicable.
Correction I erred in a previous issue by
referring to a Scout Rifle as a "proscope," deriving from the word
proskopos, which is Greek for "the one who looks out before." David
Kahn, who is up on his Greek, informs me that the proper word is
proskoplopon combining proskopos (scout) with hopolon
(weapon). The Scout Rifle is, therefore, properly termed a
proskoplopon, and long may it wave!
In teaching the rifle, we discover again
that most sights are mounted too far to the rear, and most rifle
stocks are too long. While it would be nice if each weapon were
fitted personally to each shooter, the fact remains that a lanky
rifleman can get along very well with a short stock, but a shorty
will find it very difficult to do well with a long stock. Those of
small stature should note that Savage currently offers its 110 CY
rifle designed especially for ladies and young people. It is
available in a variety of calibers, including both 270 and 308.
This is an excellent item and should enjoy wider publicity than
heretofore. (We had two southpaws in the first class at Thunder
Ranch, and we reminded them that the excellent 99 Savage lever gun
is available in 308.)
As an example of the state of modern
journalism, one Mary Gotschall, writing in National Review
for April, refers to "bullet piercing ammunition" in her essay on
currently proposed disarmament legislation. Now what do you suppose
bullet piercing ammunition might be? The depressing thing about
this is not that Miss Mary was paying no attention to what she
said, but that a whole series of editors and proofreaders did not
catch this matter either. The problem is not so much that the
writer was ignorant, but that she was paying no attention to what
she wrote - and, what is worse, neither was anyone
else.
One of the things we are looking forward
to with great pleasure is the fact that we are not required to wear
"hunter orange" in the African bush. Making oneself conspicuous is
never a good idea, but trying to be conspicuous in the bush has
always seemed to me to be defeating the whole purpose of the
enterprise. That is just one reason why I love to hunt
Africa.
In Texas we ran across one of the more
curious pieces of ordnance to come to our attention. This was
essentially an M1-A1 of Garand ancestry, which had been reworked
into a sort of "bull-pup" with the action tucked back under the
shooter's face and a telescope sight mounted way up there over the
bore. I understand its selling price was about thirty-five hundred
dollars. Here is a classic example of the German term
Schlimbeserung which we noted in a previous edition. The
unfortunate owner did his best to keep up with the class, but it
was a hard fight.
When I make observations of this sort about new equipment, I am
accused of Ludditeism, a generally fuddyduddy tendency to disdain
the new and stick by the old. I admit being conservative in matters
of weaponry, but I resent being packed into a package, in view of
all the innovations which I have personally created. I might accuse
the people who refuse to produce a production scout or a really
good telescope sight of fuddyduddyism, but I won't. Ideas and
innovations should be examined on their individual merit and not on
their current fashion.
Did you catch that recent piece in the
Atlantic Monthly on the subject of firearms ownership? It
did not say anything we do not already know, but its appearance in
a magazine with notably left-leaning tendencies was very
refreshing.
Family member John Schaefer of New
Jersey asserts that,
"We act as if comfort and luxury were the chief
requirements of life, when all that we need to be happy is
something to be enthusiastic about."
Does that explain the overwhelming passion of a large portion of
the American public for the trivialities of professional sports?
People who know almost nothing at all about the activity being
demonstrated on the field can go practically hysterical in their
enthusiasm for it - having nothing else to be enthusiastic
about - it would seem.
We are straining at the administrative
leash to get our hands on the Blaser M93 rifle, which is promised
us for Africa. As I write, the chances of its arrival in time for
checkout are about 50-50. If I do not have it ready I will fall
back on the Lion Scout, which is a most comforting thing to fall
back on.
"Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long
exist."
Edmund Burke
I have been recently asked by several
correspondents about the difference between "Orange Gunsite" and
"Grey Gunsite." When the Countess and I moved over here many long
years ago, she selected as our official colors orange and chocolate
brown. All of our signs, notices, and banners were thus rendered in
those colors, establishing a tradition which we intended to follow,
rather like those of "Navy blue and gold, or forever and forever
Stanford red." When the current owner purchased the estate he
decided to wipe out that tradition and change the colors to drab
grey and black, and repainted all the signs. This was rather a
favor to us, since it marked a clear-cut dividing line between the
Gunsite tradition and the GTC operation. Now we can call Orange
Gunsite that institution which the Countess and I created. Grey
Gunsite is whatever the current owner desires to make of it. Hence
in conversation Orange Gunsite means one thing and Grey Gunsite
another. (And never the twain shall meet.)
We see that the Bahutu and the Watutsi
have resumed their age-old hostilities. Truly they enjoy this sort
of thing, and what they may lack in aptitude they make up in
enthusiasm. This, of course, is one of the rewards of independence.
The Belgian administration did not put up with it.
From Australia I received the following
newsclipping from the
Brisbane Sunday Mail:
"Customer at a one-person Brisbane suburban post office
last week passed a note over the counter demanding the contents of
the cash drawer. Quick thinking postie said she'd just banked the
day's takings and the drawer was empty. Bloke grumbled a bit, but
said that while he was there he might as well pay his telephone
account, which he did, handing over his bill and the cash. Cops say
their job is made so much easier when a crook leaves his name and
address at the scene of the crime."
As
the New American Revolution
looms on the horizon, we hear its echoes. Here is Walter Williams,
syndicated columnist, in
Conservative Chronicle:
"I don't know about you, but if you hear that Williams'
guns have been taken, you will know that Williams is
dead."
Shades of Patrick Henry!
Recently we read some wet-behind-the-ears
journalist referring to a self-loading pistol as "high tech" as
opposed to a revolver, which was thought to be "low tech." Since
successful self-loading pistols were in common use before World War
I, this does not speak very highly for current technological
innovation.
From
Business Week, March 14,
1994, page 33, via Bruce Heath:
"Talk about talking out of both sides of your mouth at
once. In late December `93, the Federal Gov't approved the massive
(approaching $100M) sale of US made "pump" shotguns and shells to
Russia. Almost simultaneously, the Treasury Sec. announced domestic
gun control restrictions on three types of semi-automatic shotguns.
Could the good Sec. please explain why one is less dangerous than
the other?"
"Commerce justifies the exports to Russia by saying they are for
home defense and hunting. Whoops... Seems like the Russian gov't
isn't doing too well lately in providing food and protection for
its citizens. And now, of all things, the common Russian wants to
be able to feed his family and personally protect them from
criminals. Sounds like a standard anti-gun control defense to me!
Alive & well in Russia of all places."
"Oh well... we should be used to this type of inconsistent behavior
from Washington. All this from a gov't that attempts (among other
things) to tax cigarette sales to pay for socialized health care
and ban smoking in public places while simultaneously subsidizing
the growers of tobacco."
There will now be a hiatus, while we
scurry around Africa. With luck I may get a new edition out before
I leave, but don't count on it.
Please Note. These "Commentaries" are for personal
use only. Not for publication.