Rifle Ramblings

I bought a Marlin 795SS .22LR rifle on Saturday and went out shooting on Sunday. That thing is a blast to shoot. It is super accurate even shooting off-hand with open sights, didn't fail to feed or eject a single round the whole day, and was just loads of fun. Maybe for Christmas, I will buy myself a scope for it. I am super pleased with my choice here.

Also, while talking with the owner of the land where I go shoot, it came out that I had an air rifle. He seemed very interested in it, and I he was talking about taking it on a deer hunt. He said that quail come and sit only 10-20 yards from the deer stand while they are sitting there waiting for a deer to show up, and he wanted something to take the quail that would not be loud enough to scare them off, was accurate, and allowed multiple shots in succession. Sounds like a job for the 1077. So he will be off tomorrow for the hunt with my loaner 1077 in tow. He was convinced he needed to just go buy one ASAP. I figure he'll get one after he gets back if it works out for the quail. I know that with the red dot I could make head shots at quail at 15 yards and certainly the 1077 will kill them with head shots. It's quiet enough, and allows reasonably quick follow-up shots so you can shoot multiple quail sort of "at once". Novel idea. Here's a case where a more powerful or well-accepted single-shot air rifle would not get the job done.

Uh-Oh-Bama

I think we, as a society, as a population of Americans, collectively failed.

We failed to be qualified to vote.

Sure, most of those of us who voted were legally qualified to vote, but we were intellectually unqualified.

Don't believe me? See this web site, and watch the video.

If most people are idiots, then the result of Democracy is that the country is run by idiots.

When Seconds Count ... The Downfall of Gun Free Zones

This video, and the accompanying article, are sobering reminders of what happens when only the criminals have guns, and the risk of relying upon the police to provide 100% of our armed defense.

Quotes from the video:

"'All schools are gun-free zones. These people know that when they go in there.'"
"That's right. The vast majority of mass murders have occurred in so-called 'gun-free zones'"
"Someone who's intent on committing mass murder isn't really going to be deterred by a sign that tells them that they can't have a gun at that location"
"And now the tacticians believe these signs may actually serve as an invitation to mass murderers."
"So they choose a school or a mall that has the signs on it that says 'come here and shoot me because there is nobody here that is armed."

Another quote: "Statistics show shootings kill far more students than fires".

Listen people: the police cannot protect you. It is simply a mathematical impossibility. They cannot be there fast enough. "Gun-free zones" simply disarm law-abiding citizens, but it makes them sitting ducks for someone who intends to do mass murder. I mean, how exactly is someone going to stop armed gunmen from coming into a gun-free zone?

For example, my workplace is a "no-guns" place, with a gunbuster sign as well as a probably-not-enforceable 30.06 sign. The front desk is manned by a receptionist. There is no armed security in the building. There are security personnel who roam the halls but they are unarmed, not even "rent-a-cop" level people. Really they are mostly there to make sure someone didn't leave a tripping hazard in the hallway or the fire exits are not blocked. If a disgruntled employee, who has a valid badge to get into the moderately-secure door, were to come in they would simply walk right past the receptionist with whatever guns in plain view, use their badge to get in the door while the receptionist pees her pants, and then go in and shoot whomever they please including the cowering security guys armed with their walkie-talkies. This would go on for about 20 minutes until the police could show up and MAYBE get in there and take out the bad guy. How many disarmed people would he be able to kill?

There is no sense in gun-free zones.

Marlin 795

I went back to Academy and asked if they could get a Marlin 795 in. They looked and found they had three in stock, just none on display. So they opened one up so I could take a look at it.

I think this is the one. It does indeed have a similar feel in the hands as a Model 60. The stock appears to be just about the same size, shape, but just synthetic. It has a number of different features from other .22 rifles I checked out that set it apart.

• Excellent sights. Ghost ring front, orange dot, folding rear sight
• Bolt locks open when the chamber is empty, has a release lever ahead of the trigger where the crossbolt safety is on most rifles. For someone used to running semi-auto pistols, this is very cool. Put in the mag with the bolt open, flip the lever and let it chamber. I like it.
• Comes with sling swivels installed from the factory .. hey it's a small touch, but one less thing to mess with
• Monte-Carlo type stock, with a raised comb for better fit.

I do think the Mossberg 702 is a copy of the Marlin 795 mechanically. However it doesn't have the bolt release lever, and the stock is shaped differently.

Now I just need to get the money to go out and buy it.

.22 Rifles

If you've read my Nonconformist Guide posts, then you know that I did not start out shooting guns like most adults who own guns.

When I was a kid, growing up in Arkansas, indeed I did want to get guns like normal southern boys did. I got my first BB gun when I was about 8, for Christmas. It would have been normal for me to get a .22 rifle when I was 12, but we had moved to Texas and I got a guitar instead. The rest is history.

At the moment I have no interest in hunting. But I have really enjoyed shooting my pellet rifle and we had a kick shooting my dad's .22 rifle at the range. I didn't think it would be so much fun. Pistols are strictly functional for me. I carry one for self defense, I shoot it for practice. But shooting rifles is fun.

So my next gun purchase will probably be a .22 rifle.

I want a semi-automatic. I am still making up my mind on the rest. I think I want a box magazine. I also am leaning towards a stainless barrel and synthetic stock. I am looking in the $200 range. I went to Academy the other day and handled most of those on my short list. Bear in mind, I have not shot any of them. Here are my comments on my short list:

Mossberg 702, $99 for blued/synthetic version. This gun looks a whole lot like a copy of the Marlin 795, except for the shape of the stock, and of course the overall feeling of quality. For $99 this gun looks like a killer deal. In fact, it was among my favorites in terms of just feel and handling. The factory sight is really cool, with the ring front sight. The gun feels real solid, and the bolt lever is very nice. The gun does not exude quality of workmanship or refinement of finish and parts, but for $99, what do you expect? I am very tempted to buy one of these. I am not in love with the stock, and I would prefer stainless.

Savage 64, $119 for synthetic/blued includes a pack-in scope. I didn't actually get to handle one of these. I have heard reports that this is a copy of a Marlin 795 but clearly it is not. I might be tempted for the price, but for $20 less and no scope, I would take the Mossberg.

Marlin Model 60, $139 for blued/birch version. I handled this gun and I liked it a lot, right off the bat. The feel was very comfortable. It has a superior quality feel to the gun, the fit and finish are superb. The price is great! This may be the best possible value. If I were into a wood stock, blued finish, tube magazine gun, I would buy this in a second. Maybe I need one of each. The raised comb on the buttstock fit me better than any of the other guns I tried and it felt more like a "full size" gun than most of the others. I like it. I like it a lot. I might have to change my preferences.


Remington 597, $149 or blued/synthetic version. I handled a couple of these, in synthetic and wood, and including a .22WMR gun. These have a superior feel of quality, excellent balance, and just look and feel great. I really liked this gun a lot. I am going to have to spend some quality time with this vs. a Marlin 795 before I can make up my mind. If I find one with a stainless barrel it will make this a much harder choice. 30-round magazines are available aftermarket, although not abundant.


Marlin 795, $199 for stainless/synthetic version. I didn't actually find one of these to handle, but Academy has them on the web site. From what I hear, this is basically just like a Model 60 but with a box magazine. I loved the feel of the Model 60 in my hands. It looks like the 795 is identical in dimensions, stock shape/design, etc. If so,then this will probably end up being the one. It will be a tough choice between the Marlin and a SS Remington 597. I cannot find any high-capacity magazines for this gun. That may be a deciding factor.


Ruger 10/22, $229 for stainless/synthetic version. Everybody suggests the Ruger 10/22 is the "ultimate" semi-auto .22. They say it's the standard by which all others are judged. I don't know. It did not feel right to me. It felt too small. I also handled a birch stock 10/22 and it was a couple of pounds heavier, as well as fatter. The gun just does not feel like a real gun. The abundance of aftermarket parts may make it possible to change the stock, trigger group, other parts in order to get it to have the better feel but why? It costs more than the Remington or Marlin and does not have the feel. The lifetime warranty and excellent track record, plus easy to find 30 and 50 round magazines are the biggest selling points.

If I had to just drop the money and do something, I think I want one each, a birch and blue Marlin Model 60 and a synthetic and stainless Remington 597. I am going to have to spend some more time with these two guns and do some more research before I can make up my mind.

This is my Christmas list, if anyone's buying :)

Please leave comments about these choices since I'm all ears.

Cheap Ammo?

You can look at gun-deals.com for ammo deals, which may appear to be a great deal at first. Today, the best deal on quality 9mm (that is, not Monarch or reloads) is CCI Blazer aluminum-case ammo. The Blazer ammo has mixed reviews and reports of extreme failure in some cases, but it is cheap! On the other hand, the Winchester "White Box" 9mm ammo you can get from Wal Mart is widely regarded as top quality.

So let's compare the deals.

The Blazer 9mm from Natchez is $7.50 for a 50-round box. Rounding a couple of pennies, Winchester White Box from Wal Mart is $20 for 100 rounds. So it seems like a pretty good deal, right? Let's look at the numbers, including tax or shipping as appropriate.

# rounds WWB@WalMart Blazer@Natchez
100 $21.60 $27.94
200 $43.20 $43.40
500 $108.00 $89.84
1000 $216.00 $170.17

So if you buy more than 200 rounds at a time, the Blazer at 75% of the price of WWB is a better deal online. But for 200 rounds or less, you might as well pick up the better ammo at Wal Mart.

I realize this is comparing apples to oranges, or in this case, brass to aluminum. The WWB is probably better ammo and worth a little more than the Blazer, but for bulk practice ammo there may be little difference.

If you are buying other things online, of course, then the shipping charges are being paid for by some other item's price, so you might as well throw in some ammo while you are at it.

Ammo bargain hunter, signing out.

The Dreaded "Man Purse"

I admit it: I have a collection of messenger bags. Yes, some like to call this a "man purse". Really, that's what it is. You may know them by their other names such as "man bag", "shoulder bag", "jack pack" with reference to one carried by Jack Bauer on 24.

From a practical standpoint, it is hard to argue against the utility of carrying a messenger bag for guys. Let's face it, these days we carry a lot of junk with us. It used to be just a wallet, keys, maybe a pocket knife. None of these items would crack or break if flexed wrong or banged on a table as you walk by. Now we have a cell phone, iPod, sometimes a PDA in addition to the cell phone, digital camera, maybe some other things we'd like to always have with us like a pen, note pad, a pack of gum, etc. Just add some makeup and you have the contents of a typical purse!

Some of us also carry a laptop, which fits easily in most messenger bags.

Once you can get over the stigma of carrying a bag that some rednecks call a "man purse", then you may find them very useful. Right now, I have the following things in my bag: my keys, a Bible, a notepad, couple of pens, iPod, two pairs of earphones, business cards, two multi-tools, a pocket knife, a flashlight... and depending on where I am going I might also have a portable 4-track digital recorder in there, my laptop, maps, or whatever else I might need.

Normally, I carry a nice leather messenger bag that I got from Wilson's Leather Outlet. This bag looks good with nearly any casual clothing up to a sport coat and jeans. I also have a messenger bag I carry when I commute on my bicycle; a nylon/polyester Eastsport bag that is bigger, carries my laptop, sometimes clothing, my lunch, spare tubes and CO2 cartridges, etc. I have a variety of other messenger bags that I use for other purposes like hiking or if I need to keep things dry, etc.

Now the use of "off-body carry" for a concealed handgun is a very controversial topic. A messenger bag lends itself to this mode of carry quite well, better than a typical woman's purse and better than a fanny pack in many respects.

First of all, a fanny pack is not a normal, fashionable accessory. I am sorry if you are older or have outdated fashion sense, but for Gen-X guys, a fanny pack is also known as a "fag bag" or a "dork pack". Some say a fanny pack "screams gun", which means, anyone will guess you have a gun in there. I don't agree. It may "scream gun" to a bunch of other CHL holders or cops but it "screams" dork to everyone else. Furthermore, if the rest of your clothes do not say dork then a fanny pack looks out of place. This is why it "screams gun", because most of us CHL holders would see this out of place fashion accessory and figure, why would that guy be carrying that, other than to carry a gun?

A messenger bag, on the other hand, looks much more normal for a fashion-conscious Gen-X guy to be carrying. Maybe some folks are going to make fun of you for carrying a "man purse" but they are not going to immediately associate it with a gun. In fact they are more likely to immediately associate it with carrying a laptop computer.

Messenger bags have a lot going for them for concealed carry. One of these things is positioning. I carry my messenger bag over my shoulder, with the strap over my left shoulder and the bag on my right side. The strap is adjusted so the bag sits right where my strong side hand can get into it easily. Another thing it has going for it is misdirection. Since a gun is not the only thing in your bag, most people will not figure you are getting a gun out of the bag. If you suspect trouble, you can reach in the bag and get a grip on your gun, even draw it, while still keeping it concealed. You may not even expose the gun in case the threat is resolved without drawing, but you will have actually drawn the gun under the flap of the messenger bag.

Now, there is not a lot of information out there about using a messenger bag for concealed carry. There is a lot of information for women about using a purse for carry (which is not the greatest idea, IMHO), but not much of it applies to messenger bags. There are a number of dedicated messenger bags or shoulder bags out there made especially for concealed carry, which include a hoslter inside the bag. The Maxpedition packs of this variety are not only expensive, but they are overly tacticool looking for most normal use. Maybe if you are really a bigtime geek, they will look natural. The maker of Crossbreed holsters offers a nice looking leather messenger bag for CCW but it is very expensive. You don't need this type of dedicated bag. Almost any normal messenger bag can be made to work. It helps to know what to look for when shopping for a CCW-compatible messenger bag.

Most messenger bags have some features in common. Normally they are constructed with a large main compartment and a large flap that completely covers the front of the bag. Under the flap, the outside of the bag usually has a variety of shaped pockets to hold things like pens, an iPod, cell phone, etc. Usually inside the main compartment, they will have one or more pockets, often times one on the body-side with a zipper to hold change or things like that, and sometimes other pockets inside the main compartment. Many messenger bags also have a body-side pocket that is closed with velcro or no closure, that is flat and thin but runs the whole length of the exterior of the bag that rests against your body when you carry it. And most messenger bags also have some kind of large pocket on the flap that folds over the front of the bag. These pockets are the key to the usefulness for CHL.

Thinking about how you would draw from the pack, opening the flap does not seem like the best way. So getting a bag with a body-side pocket can be a very good thing for the storage of your CCW. However, keeping the gun in position in this type of pocket may not be simple. The easiest way is to fit a holster (such as a cheap Uncle Mike's or other pocket holster) into this pocket, and perhaps secure it in there somehow so it doesn't move around. You might use safety pins or something to hold it in place. In one of my bags, I made a panel that is the size of the interior of the pocket with velcro that allows me to stick a holster in there. The problem with this approach is that if you use a very big gun in there, it tends to hold that pocket open and interferes with good concealment. With the right thin, light pistol such as my Kahr CW9 or a Kel-Tec PF9, this solution is about the best way of using a messenger bag for concealed carry.

The next option is to put the gun in the main compartment somewhere. A bag with a zipper or other pocket that lays flat with the inside surface that is nearest the body side is the best choice for this. The zipper pocket should be large enough to fit a pocket holster in it, and to fit the pistol in there. Then you can just put a pocket holster in it and put whatever gun you want in there. To change the angle or get the grip to stick up out of the pocket, use safety pins to change the depth or shape of the inside of the pocket.

The outside zip pocket that you typically find on the flap of a messenger bag might be a good place to keep a gun but it will knock around a whole lot when you do have to get to anything other than the gun in the bag. I wouldn't suggest it for this reason. Those outside-flap pockets are great for subway maps or business cards.

With a little creativity and a pocket holster, you can adapt most bags to work. It would probably be best to get the right pocket holster first, and then take it shopping with you for the bag. Test-fit the holster in the pocket you intend to use and see how it's going to work. Getting a bag that has a strap that can be adjusted so that you can carry it on your strong side and get the correct grip on the gun is important.

Now, one last note about using a messenger bag for off-body carry. Just like any other mode of carry, practice makes perfect. If you are going to use a messenger bag to carry a weapon, then you should probably get in the habit of carrying the bag most of the time. When you have a gun in there, you absolutely have to carry the bag 100% of the time, don't set it down, don't leave it anywhere. If you don't always carry in the messenger bag and don't want to get made by friends or acquaintances who don't know you carry, then you should make a habit of carrying the bag all the time even if you are not carrying a pistol in it.

For example, I carry my messenger bag all the time. Most of the time I carry my Kahr IWB with a FIST K3. Sometimes I have the pistol in the bag. Everyone knows I have this bag with me all the time. Often friends will ask for gum or to borrow a pen and they see me going in and getting it from the bag. Sometimes I leave the bag (with no gun in it) unattended and direct my friends to help themselves to gum or paper or whatever they might need out of there. So when I am carrying a gun in the bag, they would never suspect it.

I really like messenger bags, not just for CCW but for general use. Don't let the rednecks calling it a purse dissuade you from trying it.