Pay heed to the man who carries a single shot weapon,
he likely knows how to use it
Today we are going to consider the idea of waste and why Crockett and Tubbs should be hunted down and eliminated.
In the day a man knew how to shoot. He'd pick up a weapon, draw a bead and the story was over. Think about it, the 1903 Springfield was used in at least three of our wars and compared to modern firearms it might as well have been single shot. Guys could shoot. Civilians could shoot. We shared a connection all the way back to the murderous Kraut bastards that created the Western firearms ethos in the 14th century. "Make every shot count", "don't fire till you see the whites of their eyes" and so on. Men with a purpose: squeezing off shots. Considered shooting one might call it. Even with the advent of semi-automatic arms,
Enter Crockett and Tubbs. We do have a bit of a debt to them. Thanks to Miami Vice a certain grittiness, a welcome grittiness if you are a guy, became the norm on TV cop shows. They get a couple of points for that. Where they loose points is with their championing of what I call Ethnic Sideways Shooting or ETS for short. See, Crockett and Tubbs had a raft of bad guys to deal with but just as they couldn't be normal schlub cops, their adversaries had to be extreme in the other direction. They had to sneer, they had to look threateningly ethnic and they had to shoot sideways. You might not remember the impact of this on the guy community.
"Shit!!!! You see that !!!! That damn greaseball was holding his piece sideways!!!! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!! It's just WRONG!!!"
Naturally, every real life lowlife followed suit, as did some other folks who should have known better. Every moron who had a semi automatic handgun held the damn thing sideways as they emptied their magazine into parts unknown. Now, they not only hold their piece sideways, they have a good foot of boxer shorts showing above their belt. Thanks Crockett. Thanks Tubbs. You are responsible.
Here is a picture of an idiot holding a firearm sideways. Just so that there is no misunderstanding.
Let me be clear on one point. If I feel that my life is in jeopardy, I am in favor of sending many pounds of lead downrange in as short a time as possible. The trend now in many places is to not only hold firearms sideways but to pollute distant berms with devilish mixtures of copper and lead and other stuff in mass quantities delivered with remarkable speed. The term is, I believe: "Spray and Pray". Apt. This has had an effect on me and on many others.
Over the past couple of years I've bought a lot of guns. But what I have bought the most of are Old Model Thompson Contenders. I now own 5 frames and maybe 25 barrels. Why? Because shooting a single shot is like a loud form of Zen: it helps me relax. It is considered destruction. It is the antithesis of what that moron in the picture above does. It is civilization as opposed to anarchy. So, what am I shooting? Couple of things, 204 Ruger, 17HMR and the 17HM2. Think about the .204 Ruger for a minute. If I shot at your nose when you were standing 300 yards away from me, that bullet would only have to arc 4.2 inches above the point of aim. Put another way, I could shoot thru a 300 yard 6" drainage pipe and not touch the sides. Pretty flat. Here is a shot of the .204. The barrel and frame are stainless. The scope is a 3-6x NC Star which is surprisingly nice and a tremendous value.
These are fun calibers, things that make a noise, wreck havoc at the other end and don't break the bank doing it. Now, the Old Model Contenders have a bit of a limitation. As I recall they are not warranted to handle pressures north of 30k psi which means that the .308 and more powerful cartridges are out. I'm over it. You can pick up frames for $300 or less, particularly when bought with a barrel and the cost of individual barrels is laughable. Even stupid, arrogant, nasty eBay allows the barrels to be auctioned off (think they are smelling the cash that Gun Broker generates?). Now, shooting a single shot pistol is not everyone's cup of tea. You'll be on your first box of ammo when Mr, Cool, above, opens his second crate but you will be one calm SOB at the end of the day. That's a firm guarantee from the Sandman.
These are fun calibers, things that make a noise, wreck havoc at the other end and don't break the bank doing it. Now, the Old Model Contenders have a bit of a limitation. As I recall they are not warranted to handle pressures north of 30k psi which means that the .308 and more powerful cartridges are out. I'm over it. You can pick up frames for $300 or less, particularly when bought with a barrel and the cost of individual barrels is laughable. Even stupid, arrogant, nasty eBay allows the barrels to be auctioned off (think they are smelling the cash that Gun Broker generates?). Now, shooting a single shot pistol is not everyone's cup of tea. You'll be on your first box of ammo when Mr, Cool, above, opens his second crate but you will be one calm SOB at the end of the day. That's a firm guarantee from the Sandman.
Ha, you and I are on opposites sides of the political spectrum. HOWEVER we both probably share one thing in common. An I choose to comment on this particular rumination because it touches on a distant memory of growing up in the sticks (well what do you call those quick-growth Georgia pines?. I agree. And thus going into much more that would rile your feathers....I will add that I came here from a link about the Martin/Zimmerman case. No I don't think it is beneficial to try to examine the private heart. But, regarding that law, and I read what the Fla. legislutator who introduced it in Fla. said, but I say, "it's existence encourages people like Zimmerman to act out their fanticies, not on targets but on people. Any way, back to this blog entry, NICE....I like Zen. and I have respect for bushido, as I live "there"
ReplyDeleteI think that Americans are closer politically than the media would have us believe. Harmony does not sell ad time.
ReplyDeleteMJ