I never learned to fight with a stick. The Army taught me to fight at 50 kilometers or so with Artillery before the bad guys could hit me with a stick. Now that I'm a civilian, I still feel better with a gun than a stick facing an adversary with a stick. In fact, I'm much better off with my M1A than any potential adversary is with an AR-15... by about 250 meters or so.
I agree under the condition that the firearm is reliable and well made. A cheaply made firearm is dangerous in that it provides a false sense of security and may fail you when you most need it. Lots of people own firearms for recreation, competition, collecting and other reasons that have nothing to do with self defense. Therefore, guns are not made for just killing as some people maintain. For example, I've got a .22 target pistol with adjustable barrel weights and adjustable sights. It, like a rock, could be used for self defense but it is designed and made to shoot paper targets. No, guns are not only about murder, self defense, and tragic shooting accidents because it is entirely possible to have a relaxing afternoon with friends shooting at skeet, paper targets, steel targets, rotten fruit and water filled tin cans.......... somethings you never outgrow. Thanks,
Gun Question: Have you ever put a scope in your M1A and if so, how did it work out? I tried out a scope in my M1A and ended up taking it off and relying on the old iron sights. What's your opinion? Thanks,
I'll wager that would be illegal in many European jurisdictions. I'm reminded of the first time I became aware of how asinine the Brits had become along those lines. Early 90s I think. A Brit homeowner fended off a home invasion using a decorative sword mounted on his wall. The intruder was seriously injured, and the homeowner was arrested & charged with "being a menace to burglars."
The anti-gunners who are terrified of guns can never understand that you can actually just have fun with one
I am not worried about someone 250 meters away. If I ran into any trouble it would probably be from some thug at a close distance. A gun is better but a walking stick doesn't draw so much attention. And a quick lunge with a walking stick increases reach and it is very quick. I guess I am kind of a sissy. I even worry about inflicting serious injury even with a stick. A stick to the throat could happen as quick as a punch.
One of the most popular selling rifles of all time. At one point they offered it in 22 magnum but they were having problems with the extractor braking and I guess instead of retooling they just dropped the caliber. Which is a damn shame because that would be one hell of a gun in 22 magnum.
yeah, now when I shot a mugger-already on probation after putting a security guard in a hospital when the mope hit the guard over the head with a motorola radio, I had to testify in front of a preliminary hearing then GJ then Trial. When I was going to the preliminary hearing, the chief of police said to my attorney-hey counselor, can I speak to your client -he's got 10 minutes before the court room opens up. My attorney gave him the WTF look and the chief said=don't worry, he's the good guy in this case so my attorney shrugged and said sure. So I go into the office with the chief and he said-what did you use and I said a Smith and Wesson 9mm like the deputies carry. And the chief said-yeah they work and he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a 4"SW Model 29 44 and said-if you shot that SOB with this, we wouldn't be wasting all this time Moral of the story, rural US Police are a lot different than Nanny state prosecutors in England
I have a super match M1AI with the Springfield M-21 mount on it and the then top of the line Springfield Armory Scope so I essentially have a M-21 without the adjustable comb on the stock. wickedly accurate-using Lake City national Match off a rest-hitting a tennis ball at 300 M was fairly routine
I'm retired. I don't intend to do any LRRP's anymore. Just defend my home and my wife. And i'm ready.
I have a scope on my M1A... a FIREFOX. At my age, a scope is essential. With the state of the art scopes today, iron sights are simply for backup. Especially for the 750 meter plus range of an M1A.
Ditto. Except for the retired part. If there's a power outage & the security system is offline, the dogs will give us ample warning to equip ourselves as necessary.
I've often thought about buying one. But i'm an old Army guy and need more of a combat weapon to protect my family.
I like a large bullet too but it when it comes right down to it if I don't have a gun I can take my shepherd sling and throw a 3 oz stone at 100 mph. That 3 oz Stone can have the same kinetic Force as a 40 grain bullet. It's 6 of one or half a dozen of the other. Of course a 40 grain bullet weighs 2 and 1/3 of a gram but it's traveling a lot faster.
You're right. Additionally, shooting is about the only sport in which gender, size and strength make no difference in your ability to win so it's no surprise that more women have taken an interest in the shooting sports. (1) I'm sure that you've noticed that suburban sprawl has made it harder and harder to find a place for recreational target shooting. My wife and I bought her grandmother's old farm house and surrounding 10 acres and attempted to buy the additional surrounding land that originally went with the farm from her greedy and dishonest aunt who inherited an adjoining 10 acres but sold it to a land "developer" (aka Sprawl Baron) who built another tacky McMansion behind my blacksmith shop and 20+ year old target range. Fortunately, the new neighbor is a friendly fellow who is far enough away and also likes to target shoot occasionally so there's been no complaining. I'm also lucky in that the rural county in which I live permits target shooting as long as you have an adequate backstop. How difficult is it for you to find a place to target shoot? Thanks, (1) "Top 50 Women in Competitive Shooting" https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2017/6/19/top-50-women-in-competitive-shooting/ EXCERPT "From action pistol and bullseye champions, smallbore, high power and precision rifle masters, trapshooters and Olympic gold medalists—SSUSA has compiled this list of 50 (52 to be exact) female athletes that are influencing the ever-changing landscape of competitive shooting—for the better. Note: This isn’t a ranking, though we purposely grouped the first four women at the front in recognition of the attention generated by their respective shooting careers. Otherwise it’s a random selection, with the goal of presenting female shooters from as many disciplines as possible."CONTINUED
Thanks for the information. I'll take a look at FIREFOX scopes too since my old eyes are probably no better than yours. I'm also not very fond of the iron peep sights on the M1A and found that open sights are much better for quicker target reacquisition. Since I like the old steel and wood semi auto rifles, I've got a Yugoslavian PSL - 53 and a WW 2 Russian SVT - 40 that are both quite accurate with the right ammunition. Thanks again,
That sounds a lot more sophisticated than my standard grade Springfield M1A firing Fiocchi 150 gr FMJ ammunition. Maybe it's time to upgrade.... Thanks,
Not terribly difficult here. I can't shoot in my yard but I can go to a friend's house just down the road that lives in a private community of dirt roads and everybody shoots there and no one complains as long as your bullets are not going on to their property. I live in a part of Florida that is still relatively rural. Of course that's getting harder to find by the day. Having lived in this small town for 12 years I've seen more than enough development and enough orange groves bulldozed to be sold off for the land
I use a bolt action .223 to deal with small wild animals that pester and attack my wife's pet cats and steal their food. I have killed skunks, raccoons, opossums, foxes and even coyotes on our property. Her cats have never had it so good.
At one point we had 9 cats that we either rescued, inherited or were dropped off at the end of our driveway. At that point, we fed them outside and, of course, the wild animals came. However, rather than trying to depopulate the forest, we simply moved the cat food into the house and put in a cat door. In addition to being cruel and unnecessary, what you're doing by essentially, baiting and killing healthy wild animals is against the laws in many states or should be. As long as you keep baiting wild animals, one of those coyotes or foxes is going to be snacking on cats unless you're willing to stay up all night long guarding cat food. I hope you'll bring the cat food indoors. The cats will be safer, you'll save on vet. bills, cat food and ammunition.
