Arms Race
I bought another gun yesterday. This now makes a total of four (yes, four) firearms purchases within a two month time frame. I’m waiting for my phone call from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss the terms of my disarmament treaty.
However, this gun purchase was a little different from the others for two reasons:
- Saturday, April 15 was “Buy a Gun Day” according to the good folks at Cowboy Blob’s and Mr Completely. I’m all for the celebration of traditional holidays, especially when uncontrolled spending is part of the tradition.
- This wasn’t exactly a new purchase. I’ve owned this particular handgun before. Technically, I really didn’t buy it — I bought it back.
The picture at left is a Ruger Mark II pistol, .22 LR caliber, 5.5 inch bull barrel, stainless steel finish. I purchased it 16 years ago and modified it with a custom trigger job, an extended magazine release, Volthane ergonomic grips, and a Volquartsen compensator. It may look like something out of Star Wars, but I assure you that it is a very real firearm with very real accuracy.
My wife and I were avid shooters up until my son was born 13 years ago. We had to decide between bullets and burp rags, and the burps won out. In addition, we went through a period of unreasoning paranoia where everyone we knew said things like, “You have guns in a house with a child? What are you, nuts?” Regrettably, those voices joined with some financial difficulties, and we sold off our entire collection except for a Browning A-5 shotgun that was gifted to us by Stacey’s grandfather.
I sold my steel baby to a good friend of mine (as I remember, I gave him a very good deal) and got on with my life. It wasn’t until recently that I began to think that the sell-off was a mistake. Two specific events motivated this change of heart — watching the city of New Orleans completely crater under the onslaught of Mother Nature and government inefficiency, and being held up at gunpoint at a local convenience store.
We therefore decided it was time to once again take up that grand sport of target shooting. In short order, we acquired a Beretta NEOS .22 target pistol, a Taurus PT99 9mm, and a Marlin Model 60 .22 rifle.
I was pretty much done at this point (and my discretionary spending money was kaput). Or at least, I thought I was done. My good friend knew about my resumed activity in the sport and offered to sell “my baby” back to me at the same price he had paid seven years ago. He had fired less than 100 rounds during that entire time, and the Mark II was “out of production”, so he was offering me an incredibly good deal. It didn’t take me long to say “yes.” In fact, it took longer just to get the cash out of the ATM.
Why such an emotional attachment to a handgun? Back when I was an avid shooter, my baby and I signed up for the Sooner State Games and managed, somehow, to win the gold medal in .22 bullseye pistol shooting. Nobody was more surprised than me. Unfortunately, this was just a fluke — the following year, I placed 14th in a field of 14, so I wasn’t about to quit my day job and become the next Rob Leatham. But it still makes me grin to remember it. I’m not sure if Bruce Jenner has any emotional attachment to the javelins he threw in the decathalon, but for me this pistol is worth far more than what I paid for it.
So here’s to good friends, amicable wives, and cheap ammunition at the local Wal-Mart. And at this point, I’m really, really, really finished buying lethal weapons for quite a while. Please be sure to repeat this to any ATF agents that come around to ask about me.
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Maybe I should think twice about bugging you so much for tech support.
I actually remember that particular gun. It was the first one I shot when you took me to the gun range for the first time. It felt like a BB gun after you let me take a crack at your .357.
I think I’m in love……….
It looks like a sweet little shot. I’ve never shot pistols or revolvers much, mostly long guns. Many moons ago I was a pretty good shot with a 22 rifle, but I haven’t been shooting in years. Ever thought about getting some western style revolvers and holsters and trying your hand at quick drawing?
You think the .357 was bad, try my Browning 12 ga. shotgun next time you’re up. I took it to the range yesterday for a few test shots. I gave up after nine — my shoulder felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger had been poking it with his index finger.
I was baffled why it hurt so much until I remembered that I normally shoot it in winter (quail season). I never realized how much shock was taken up by my heavy winter coat.
Of course, a burly guy like yourself ought to be able to handle it…
Diane - I’m not the most dextrous fellow in the world. For me, quick drawing sounds like a complicated way of trimming one’s toenails (with some bits of toe thrown in for good measure).
Joe, not quite the burly guy I used to be. Last month at the doctor, I weighed 225 lbs. I weighed myself at the gym in Nancy’s hotel last night and I’m down to 211 lbs. My secret? 15 percent eating right, 85 percent STRESS!!
I could probably still hold my own at the gun range, though.
I don’t think quick draw is my thing either. I’d probably make out like Barney Fife, too, firing with the gun still in the holster. One thing about rifles and long guns, other than dropping them and accidental discharges, you REALLY have to go out of your way to shoot yourself with them.
You really need a better excuse for buying several projectile weapons than the fear of Oklahoma’s government collapsing after a huricane like event. Oklahoma’s government is filled to the brim with rubes but they are far better at handling large scale emergencies than the “Big Easy”. I have never fired a weapon but I suspect it is a rush controlling that kind of power.
Believe me, the rush quickly fades when you realize all those shots you aimed at the 10-spot actually hit the target next to yours.
The controll of deadly force truely is an illution.
I dunno. I seem to control mine pretty well.
And the rush also fades, as one guy put it, when your result is less a ‘group’ than a ‘pattern’.
I like the looks of that grip, I may have to find one for mine.
And by the way: ‘excuse’ for buying boomsticks?!? We don’t NEED no stinkin’ excuse!
I love the grip. I was already a big fan of the Ruger grip angle — it feels more natural and “pointing-friendly” than the steeper angles used by your average autoloading pistol (the 1911 and its brethren). Add in the fiberglass Volthane grip, and you suddenly have a pointing machine, baby. It makes me feel like the pistol is an extension of my index finger.
It also looks cool as bug juice and twice as slick.