by Tom Gaylord, The Godfather of Airguns™
Writing as B.B. Pelletier
This report covers:
• Other dealers
• Rossi FAL trainer
• Other rare things
ª On the range
• Things I missed
• Something that found me
Back to the show report today. I was not expecting the level of interest the first report got, so I left out a lot of things. Today, I’ll rectify that.
Other dealers
In the first report I focused on the major dealers, but a show like this cannot prosper unless some of the key smaller dealers attend. Let’s start with Dennis Quackenbush. I know Dennis was busy all day, even though I scarcely got a chance to visit with him, because his table faced mine. Whenever I looked over, he had one or two people talking to him — and they wanted to buy guns! Dennis doesn’t usually have a lot of guns to sell at a show, because he builds to order; but he does bring a couple, and people were hounding him about them this time.
Before the doors opened, Dennis Quackenbush (left) had a chat with Tyler Patner of Pyramyd AIR.
Several guys were not finding what they wanted on Dennis’ table and turned around in the aisle to look at my two Quackenbush rifles that were clearly marked Not For Sale. I finally got so frustrated explaining that I didn’t want to sell them that I put a dollar price on one of them. That slowed things down. One man almost took me up on it, however, even though I priced the rifle at $200 more than Dennis charges — and he was opening his list for the next batch the week after the show (this week). I finally convinced the guy to wait a couple days and save the $200, thus keeping my rifles safe for another day.
Scott Pilkington of Pilkguns Competition brought lots of 10-meter guns and related products, and I had told him the gun club members who were putting on the show had asked for 10-meter guns for their junior shooters. But I don’t know if he sold a any that day.
Ten-meter airgun dealer Scott Pilkington of Pilkguns Competition brought target rifles and pistols. He even had a nice selection of vintage FWB 300s.
Scott is also the man who designed the AR upper that became Crosman’s MAR177, and he gave me one of the original prototypes for my collection. Some of you know that I only have an AR because of Crosman’s upper. I had to build a lower so I could test the upper. When I returned the upper, I had to find something to do with the lower. So, in a way, Scott got me into ARs.
Scott Pilkington gave me one of his prototypes of the upper that became the MAR177
Speaking of things people gave me, one of our blog readers, Jerry in Texas, presented me with an autographed book he co-authored on wildlife photography with the late John Wooters, Wildlife Photography – A Complete Guide to Outdoor Photography. He gave it to me at the reception we held at the hotel the evening before the show. John was a longtime writer for Field & Stream magazine and well-known to the shooting sports. Jerry in Texas is Jerry T. Smith, author of at least two books on wildlife photography. The other is Wildlife Photography: The Gentle Sport.
Reader Jerry in Texas wrote this book in the 1980s on wildlife photography.
Edith any I both enjoy wildlife photos, so this book is very special to us. We both want to thank Jerry for his kind gift.
One final dealer I’ll comment on is Mike Melick of Flying Dragon Air Rifles. Apparently, Mike’s low-priced PCP was the hit of the show! The gun club volunteers told me they made many trips to the range with people who were testing his rifles. And I know of a couple sales. These rifles are no longer $100 PCPs, as the batch of low-cost guns is no longer available; but Mike’s still holding the line at a very low price for a very nice product.
Rossi FAL trainer
Okay, Fred_BR, you’ve waited long enough. After your guest blog about your Rossi Model Sport 82 ran, Larry Hannusch asked if I would like to see the military version of the air rifles. Would I? So, he brought it to the show and allowed me to photograph it for you.
There it is, Fred. How about that? Larry Hannusch brought this trainer to the show so I could photograph it. The “magazine” is a painted block of wood!
Other rare things
Speaking of things you never see, there was a super-rare firearm at this show. One of the club members has been telling me about a rare version of the Remington Number 4 musket he has that was made for the American Boy Scouts. That’s right — not the Boy Scouts of America, which was founded in 1910, but a rival organization, founded by William Randolph Hearst — also in 1910. No doubt there was some jealousy, since the Boy Scouts of America was founded a couple months earlier by rival publisher William D. Boyce.
The American Boy Scouts was founded along more military lines and was later known as the American Cadets and also the U.S. Junior Military Forces. They ordered a special batch of Remington Number 4S rolling block muskets chambered in .22 short. These muskets were known as the “official rifle of the American Boy Scouts” and sold with a pot-metal bayonet that, today, is rarer than the rifle, itself. Of course most veteran airgunners know about that. They probably went the same way as the bayonets Daisy supplied with their Number 40 BB guns — concerned parents separated them from the guns, and over time they were lost.
We showed the rifle to Larry Hannusch who had never heard of it. You don’t know how hard it is to have a gun Larry doesn’t know about, so that made my day! I now have the rifle on loan to photograph and to research for an article.
Remington made this Number 4S musket for the American Boy Scouts.
Only a few rifles were marked this way.
On the range
While all this was happening inside the hall, the 12 airgun ranges were percolating steadily. Crosman and Pyramyd AIR were on the ranges all day, allowing the public to shoot their airguns.
The Crosman team show their new Bulldog .357 to Rossi.
Jim Chapman prepares to shoot the AirForce Escape.
I watch Rossi shoot the new P12 Bullpup from MrodAir.
Things I missed!
Until I looked at the photos Edith and I took, I didn’t realize all that was at this show. And then I saw David Enoch’s photos on an airgun forum and saw that I had missed a Sheridan Supergrade I’d been looking for! The show was so busy that I walked past many tables and never saw what was in front of me.
Until I saw Edith’s pictures, I didn’t know there was a Diana model 10 target pistol at this show!
Something that found me!
Remember, this show allowed firearms as well as airguns. Of course, any sales of firearms had to comply with state and federal laws; but for Texas residents, those laws are very reasonable. I was sitting at my table when a fellow Texan came up and saw my 1917 Erfurt P08 pistol (German Luger) in the lookalike display. He then opens a black plastic case and offers me a new-in-the-box American Luger that Stoeger sold in the 1990s. This one is complete and unfired. I may have bruised Edith’s hand, ripping the money out so fast!
This new-in-box American Luger climbed right into my hands at the show.
And that’s the way it went all day long. It was like an Easter egg hunt where you didn’t know whether you were going to find an egg, a chocolate bunny or a 20-dollar gold piece! That may be why people were still buying tickets at 3:15p.m., and why the crowd was still in the hall when the show closed at 4.
All things considered, the first Ft. Worth Airgun Show was a huge success.
Maybe I’ll be able to catch the 2nd one, now that I have a years notice.
BB
Was that Stoeger arms made you got in 9mm or was it a 22 LR caliber. I was just wondering as I have a Stoeger arms in 22 LR that is a sweet shooter. I have not seen one in the polished metal style though.
Nice gun, so is Edith’s arm ok.
Buldaswg
Buldawg,
This is the 9mm. And it is stainless that’s polished bright.
B.B.
Nice score!
BB
I thought it probably was a 9mm , but had to ask and its even better in stainless just could not tell for sure from the picture. Great score.
Buldawg
Nice Luger but you must have plenty of cash at these shows to pay for guns like this on the spot. I guess there’s no other way. R. Lee Ermey said that he did so poorly with an AR-15 at Camp Perry that he shouted, “This damn gun is for sale.” And he sold it on the spot for $1800.
Matt61
Matt,
I’ve seem 3 BB guns change hands for $41,000 15 years ago. Edith and I witnessed a military Girardoni sell for $3,500 in the aisles of one show. Yes, it does take money.
B.B.
Tom,
I have been at vintage guitar shows and often watched five figure transactions and a handful of six figure ones, always cash. Once I was sitting down at a friend’s booth and playing his 1959 Les Paul Standard through an amp I had for sale that had been owned and toured with by the late Frank Zappa. I was using the guitar to demo the amp to a potential buyer. (I still have the amp, so he didn’t bite.)
A local former rock star who wrote three number one hit singles (one in the ’60s, two in the ’80s) comes over and to my surprise remembers my name from previous shows. “Hey Mike, is that Paul’s ’59?” “Yep______,” I reply. “I just bought it. Mike, would you be so kind as to slide it in its case for me?”
As I gingerly put it in its case, the former rock star counts out over three thousand $100 bills (In bank bands of 100 bills each) into my friend’s hand. Even in Benjamins, $300+ thousand takes up an awful lot of space.
I have always assumed gun shows and airgun shows are entirely cash and carry just like guitar and amplifier shows.
Michael
Michael,
Yep! Though I’ve never seen a 6-figure deal at an airgun show.
B.B.
Tom,
You now own a gun in stainless? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, LOL.
Michael
Michael;,
Oh, I bought it to get rid of it. I still don’t like silver guns. I’m floating my balloon right now.
B.B.
So frustrated that Benji/Crossman hasn’t made a bullpup out of the Sny/Mrod components yet. They just aren’t getting it! America wants a .22 and .25 moddable shooting platform in a bullpup form. You have to get on the list for a Kaliber, spend the better part of TWO thousand dollars for an a Edgun, or try and find the actuall rifle somewhere under the metal “trim” of an evanix. But there at the show, you have the P12. Why do the Chinese have a better understanding of what we want to look at and hold than Crossman,where we cut our BB teeth? Sure, Crossman is playing with the bulldog. But just WHERE is the gun under all of that sheet metal? What are they trying to hide? Crossman missed the target with the Rogue, and the Bulldog, although better, is still shy of the simple, clean guns we want. There is a reason there are a cottage industries all over the globe supplying parts for the 1377/22, the C02 pistols and rifles, and the Marauder platforms–they are SIMPLE, CLEAN PLATFORMS THAT WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN!
I followed your HPA conversion because I want a light, small squirrel/pidgeon gun. I own three versions of Airforce rifles, a nice RWS springer, multiple Sheridans, Benjamins, and pistols, two Nitro pistons, one NPXL, and one Gen two Nitro piston. I’m not a collector–the kids and I hike and stump shoot. We hunt pests and rodents, and many a pidgeon pot pie has been collected via air riffles. A compact bullpup with wood furniture that won’t scare the neighbors would be just the ticket. There are hundreds of threads on bullpup Mrods out there. Why is Crossman not listening? I could buy an aftermarket stock, but then I’m paying Crossman money for parts I’m gonna throw away. I WANT to buy American. I try to. But gonna end up through ing my money at a 257 conversion for the Airforce because I can tinker with it, or I’m gonna buy a Kaliber bullpup. I would happily buy a 357 from crossman instead of modding ANOTHER Condor–if they don’t bury the gun in crap we don’t need. And I’m probably going to lay down the $1400 kaliber needs for a bullpup .22. Id rather give the money to crossman, but they think every buyer is a wannabe kommando needing to put a lazer lightshow on a gimmicky gun. Sorry for the rant, but pictures were a stark reminder that Crossman needs a fresh look at what WE want to buy, not what THEY WANT TO SELL US.
Zack
Crosman
Not Crossman.
Sorry.
Had to laugh at the slingshot comment–girls, boys, even the wife all have wrist rockets. We started playing with wrist rocket archery last year. The boys and I also make the old style slings. Wanna see a kids eyes light up? Pick up some egg sized rocks and fling them a hundred yards. My oldest son is the only one of us accurate enough to hunt with one. He honed his skills on feral cats that used to hunt Grandma and Grandpa’s chickens. He can hit a pie pan consistently at twenty paces. That is HARD to do. The neighbors are retired folk fleeing Phoenix. They don’t think anybody should have guns. They called the sheriff’s office, and to their horror, were amazed that shooting archery and even .22’s in your back yard is legal here. The deputy that responded is a member of our local archery club. He was amazed at the accuracy of the Condor.
I don’t mind the AR/black rifle look. It is a tool, like a hammer, and has its place. Wood though…nice, warm, pretty. I made wood grips for the Condors. I have ridiculously large hands, and spent weeks carving a pistol grip and forestock out of Koa from a vacation to Hawaii. I made a second out of a small chunk of African Zebra wood. My wife’s is carved from American Cherry to fit her tiny hands. It is too soft to be a good wood, but she wanted it to match the cabinets. True story.
I hope you’re right about getting one. And a collector? Nahhhhhh. A COLLECTOR owns guns that they don’t shoot. Mine all WORK for a living!
We home school using a charter school several counties over. We do physics lessons, chemistry, biology, and math using our hobbies. Right now the youngest is building old school putt-putt boats for a combined history and science project. We did a science project trying to predict the poundage of a self bow for a seventh grade project. Kid missed by three pounds, but did a great write up. They wouldn’t allow him to display the bow, only pictures in the county contest.
Lots of my acquaintances ask how we get the kids so involved.mi told them they have to sacrifice ONE thing. Cable TV. We have had cable for three months when my oldest was four. I was stunned at the amount of time the family lost to that danged tube. Turned it back of, and only watch the occasional broadcast. When we want a movie, we rent one.
Zach
Had wrist rockets when I was a kid and still got one. Can still hit good with one.
Sounds like cool wood carving.
And glad you can even shoot a .22 still. I’m guessing you mean a rimfire gun.
LOL! BE patient Zack, they will likely build one for you in the near future I am sure. Very likely what you will see is a scaled down Bulldog with the side lever cocking as that would be easier to use than the traditional bolt action on a bullpup. That is one of the reasons I do not care for the bullpups I have seen so far.
There is a new generation of bullpups coming out that have the cocking lever up where it belongs. Maybe that is what Crosman will bring out when they do such.
The funny thing about your rant is that Crosman is listening to your generation and building their airguns to look like Mattelomatics instead of more traditional styled rifles and pistols which I would prefer. I never warmed up to the black rifle look. I will not buy a Crosman sproinger because I do not want a pistol grip on my stock.
As for the neighbors, they will still freak out. They will think you have a submachinegun or a Nububian Death Ray. They would still lose it if you just ran around with slingshots. Anything that hurls a projectile is verboten.
And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you ARE a collector. 😉
Don’t even know where to begin. All cool stuff.
And there is some things you just don’t bring to a show no matter how cool it is and you just want to show it. It was like that at the car swap meets. Don’t put it on the table unless its for sale. And if some body wants something bad enough they will still try to buy it if you over price it to settle things down.
And all the things are very interesting that you told about today but the one that interests me the most is the book that Jerry gave you. Its one thing to take good pictures. Its another to be able to publish a book. But to do both and it involves wild animals as they are in nature is another thing. To me that is the hardest thing to do is capture a photograph of a animal in its natural habitat and not alert the animal that your there. Totally cool stuff Jerry T.
No pics of the Supergrade?
Reb,
I never saw it. David Enoch has a pic, though.
David?
B.B.
The Supergrade wasn’t my picture but it was in my thread about the show. Here is a link:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/79537/thread/1410124644/The+Texas+Airgun+Show+was+great!
David Enoch
Thank you David.If I ever do run across one, I wanna know what I’m lookin’ at.
Reb
B.B.
Can’t stop staring at that Luger. That is one COOL gun & you are so lucky! I always liked the Luger and marvel at the ingenious toggle action. Wonder why it was never adapted by others? Probably the upward recoil was too much because of the toggle action?
Errol
Errol,
No, the Luger shoots as cool as it looks (not this one, but a 1917 Erfurt I have). The recoil is very low.
B.B.
B.B.
Well! talk about German craftsmanship & ingenuity.
Errol
Errol,
I think this pistol was made in Houston, Texas.
B.B.
B.B.
Yes Sir. You did mention it. Sorry.
Errol
So why did the Luger fail in the pistol trials that produced the 1911? I believe Mike said that it suffered stoppages from dirt. I heard that the Army board was prejudiced against a German design. Another source says that Luger voluntarily withdrew since they figured that an American design was predetermined.
In combat, the Luger proved to be very accurate and sensitive to dirt. Is that right?
Matt61
Matt,
I don’t know about combat, but my 1917 Erfurt is very accurate. And it is so finely machined that dirt will probably stop it sooner than a 1911. But no first-hand experience.
B.B.
Only the link moves upward, the “bolt” still moves straight back.
One reason for not adopting it — on most models, the rear sight is part of the link, so it moves around with every shot, and is dependent upon how well fit the lock-up is between shots.
The Stoeger .22lr Lugers are straight blowback models, no locked bolt/barrel.
As I recall, Stoeger (at least in the 70s) owned the rights to the name “Luger”; versions manufactured and sold by other companies had to be listed as a “Parabellum” or P.08, but never as “Luger”.
And I think I remember the Diana model 10 from the ARH catalog.
Didn’t the pistol cock by turning the barrel and then cocking. Maybe I’m thinking of something else though.
GF1,
Yes, the front of the barrel has a plastic shroud that gets turned around to protect the hand during cocking. The early ones were flat, and the later guns like the one shown here have a square hump.
B.B.
Oh Man! That thing is my second most coveted air pistol! It is my goal to add one of those to my “collection” this coming year, even if it means my Izzy must find a new home.
BB
They used a recoil system if I remember right. The double piston? Not the slide. The FWB pistol at that time used the slide I think. I read about them a long time back and maybe I’m switching the two pistols operations around. I knew they both had a type of recoil system though.
Was there a price tag on that pistol? Those were fairly pricey pistols even when they were new. And again if I’m remembering correct.
Yes, the Diana used the double piston and the FWB used the slide.
RR
I knew the Diana 54 Air King used the slide that’s why I couldn’t remember what was what on the pistols.
GF1,
The 10 uses the Giss contra recoil system, which is 2 pistons.
As far as a price tag goes, I didn’t even see this gun until I saw the photo of it.
B.BN.
BB
Are they that rare now days or do you mean that you didn’t get to see the price tag on this particular gun.
GF1,
I never saw the pistol at the show, so I didn’t see the price.
B.B.
BB
Gotcha thanks.
Tom,
I think the Diana 10 was either on Arnold Smith’s table or Ron Robinson’s table. I kind of think it was Ron’s.
David Enoch
How is the trigger pull on the Bulldog .357? Bullpups have a bad rep for trigger pulls due to the long trigger linkage.
Mike
Mike,
I didn’t shoot it. Steve Criner (television’s “The Dog Soldier”) said it is crisp and light. I hope so.
B.B.
BB
Didn’t you or Edith say that you will be testing the Bulldog .357 pretty soon?
GF1,
I will test it when it becomes available.
B.B.
BB
Hopefully pretty soon. When it was at the range did anybody mention what velocity the gun was shooting at. And I know you mentioned they had a new .357 round for the gun. Do you know if that’s what they were shooting at the show.
I guess I’m jumping the gun so to speak. But just maybe this could be my first big bore gun if they keep the price down in the 700 to 1000 dollar range like I believe some body said in part 1 of the show report.
GF1,
It was I who was told about the price. I wish I could tell you about the bullets and the velocity but the truth is I have just plain forgotten. I asked and was told the grain weight but I just can’t recall. I do remember that the ME was 190 ft-lbs. The trigger was pretty nice. I only shot it 5 times but the trigger was consistent. The second stage was well defined and broke clean.
As I said they just indicated an expected price range and were not concrete about it.
Off topic I also shot the NP2 later on. Really, really bad trigger. Just like all the other gas ram Crosman triggers that I have shot. No definition and long and creepy and gritty and heavy. Also the shroud spins around the barrel which I found annoying while cocking.
Mark N
Mark
That’s good news though about the trigger. That seems to be one of the down falls about the bullpup design. So that makes me happy to here that.
And do you mean they estimated 190 fpe? If so again that sounds like a good number. I wish you remembered how much the pellet/bullet weighed so we could kind of estimate the velocity.
But sounds like Crosman did a little home work this time.
You didn’t like the NP2 trigger? I was hoping it would turn out good. That’s a bummer.
GR1,
The muzzle energy of 190 ft-lbs is what I definitely remember. 10 shots on a fill. I think I remember the velocity being in the upper 700’s but I just hate to put that out there when I really don’t remember. Big bores are way out of my area of “knowledge”. I was just sipping the cool-aid. If I was to buy a big bore I would go for a DAQ for the same $$$. I almost did and wish I would have.
The good news on the NP2 trigger is that the aftermarket offerings will work in the new rifle. Which is good but could be a bag of worms for Crosman since this is supposed to be a whole new trigger.
Mark N
Mark
700 fps. with a 175 grn. projectile is at 190 fpe. That’s a very realistic and respectable number. I only hope they hold the cost down.
And since its a modern day PCP shooting at that fpe I only hope its shrouded and quiet. If it ain’t quiet why waist the time on a air gun, I may as well buy the real deal.
A fire power gun.
Mark
And sorry. I was excited about the news about the Bulldog and forgot to say thanks.
WOW. Awesome! Thanks a lot for you and Larry Hannusch for the photograph of the Rossi FAL Trainer. It is known here as the FAC, and according to the best of my knowledge, not many of these are in private hands here in Brazil. I am so surprised to find that one has travelled overseas!
Did you notice the “flash hider”? The carrying handle? The sling swivels? The odd position of the front sight? These things differ from the civilian version, although the false magazine is definitely the biggest difference and visually catches your eye.
Again, I can only thank you so much! And, Larry, if you read this, take good care of that rifle for me!
Fred_BR,
I was so glad to be able to photograph that rifle for you. And — it is HEAVY! I guess they were serious about it being a trainer.
B.B.
Off topic. In the blogs about cleaning air gun bores, I don’t recall any warning concerning cleaning agents getting into the air transfer ports in the barrel. For example, the barrel of a Benjamin Discovery. How do you keep bore cleaner out of the air transfer port, or is it a major concern? I think the felt cleaning pellets may help, but they don’t really seem to get down into the rifling like a patch does. Have you addressed this and I just missed it?
Lionel,
No one I know uses solvents to clean airgun bores. So, problem solved.
B.B.
Derrick said that my IZH 61 bore was terribly fouled after 80,000 shots, so it must accumulate over time. But I don’t know how he cleaned it out. I certainly shoots with more pop after his treatment although that was probably due more to the spring replacement.
Matt61
“bore cleaner” is meant to dissolve powder residue and COPPER fouling — better hope you don’t have a copper lined barrel.
For lead build-up, just a bore brush, maybe JB paste, patches, and felt pellets (which are /not/ meant to “fired” through the bore though that’s the most common way I’ve used them — stack two of them to provide some back pressure to a spring gun).
I have only recently become aware of Mrodair, and would appreciate any insights or background on this company. For starters, will their products be available through Pyramid Air?
Mark,
I asked Pyramyd AIR about them, and they said they would not be stocking them.
Edith
B.B., Why 2 hammers on the American Boy Scout? Is it a side by side?
The front blade is not a hammer. It’s used to open the breach for loading. The rifle is a single shot and a very good design.
Mike
I found the part about it being a rolling block about 5 seconds after submitting.
Sounds like fun. Glad to see Mike Melick doing well. He told me that he was so busy that he couldn’t even work on my IZH 61 last time, and I can see why. With the parade of airgun enthusiasts, I’m a little surprised at how hard it was to find someone to work on my spring guns. Thank goodness Derrick came through with the super job and Duskwight has made available parts direct from Russia! Maybe the run of airgunners is just a lot more capable than I am at doing their own work.
Edith, that is visually dramatic with the analogies between bullets and assailants of various sizes. But while a large person bumping you will not cause damage, a large caliber blackpowder round certainly will. The Civil War wounds were horrific and the many amputations were not just because of their primitive medicine. In many cases, there was nothing left to save.
J. and Michael, thanks for your information about bullets. The Geneva Convention does take some twists and turns. It obviously was not in effect during Russia’s Winter War with Finland. Ultimate sniper, Simo Hayah, who took out 700 enemy soldiers fighting for Finland was taken out by a shot to the head with an exploding bullet from a Russian sniper. The fact that he jumped up and took out the sniper is part of his legend. There isn’t much doubt about the type of bullet that hit him if you look at pictures of his reconstructed face. On the other hand, while at an ROTC camp, I heard a soldier say that the Geneva Convention prevented him from using the M2 Browning machine gun against personnel because of its size and destructive power. But he said that he would not let that stand in his way under the theory that it’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6. In spite of it all, I can’t object too much to rules that limit damage. I believe that the Geneva Convention must be responsible in some form for the prohibition against the use of poison gas that has remained more or less intact since WWI and that is certainly a point in its favor.
Interesting about the U.S. Army’s theory about the value of wounding enemy combatants instead of eliminating them. Something about that doesn’t ring quite true. The Army seemed to have no problem with early unstable M16 bullets causing horrific damage. Incidentally, this early model and the subsequent twist rate modification to stabilize the bullet are one objection that I have to this gun design. And this is while fully acknowledging the great time I had shooting the M4 and its fine accuracy. At least you can say for the original assault rifle concept that the design was simple. The observation was that combat distances were far inside the range of full power battle rifles making much of their power useless or even counterproductive with the recoil. To bring the gun’s effectiveness inside the combat radius, they retained the bullet size and shortened the case. That way the bullets retained their punch without the recoil and with less weight to carry. Simple. For the M16 on the other hand, you had a much smaller bullet destabilized for the apparent purpose of wounding troops while also causing terrific damage. Then because of dubious accuracy in Arctic conditions, the bullet was stabilized so that it now boasts match-grade accuracy. The lethality part seems to have been lost as part of all this. I just cannot believe that such a higgledy-piggledy design history won’t lead to problems on the battlefield whatever it has accomplished on the target range.
J., I had never heard that .303 bullets were designed to wound since they seem very much in the style of battle rifle calibers. Why would they wound?
Yes, the “bodkin” reference rings a bell. As Hamlet says,
“For who would bear the whips and scorns of time
…
When he might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin…”
He is referring here to a medieval dagger design that looked like a spike. It has not modern counterpart because I believe it was designed to slide between the cracks of armor and required no edge. It is an interestingly different take on the Japanese tanto design, currently enjoying great popularity, which featured a greatly reinforced point for punching through armor. On the other hand, the bodkin design adapted to arrows turned out to have an armor piercing capability as well.
Matt61
Matt,
I concede that my analogy wasn’t accurate. But it was the only way I could make sense of what Tom wrote in the blog. We’ll just have to leave it that way. I’m learning just like the rest of the readers — but I think at a slower pace 😛
Edith
Edith
One thing for sure when a bullet hits it hurts and on the other hand I guess your lucky if you get a chance to tell somebody it hurt.
I don’t want to get hit by anything flying from a gun be it big or small.
Matt, a couple of things…
The Geneva Conventions never did relate to small arms in any way. Those had more to do with the treatment of prisoners of war, civilians, the wounded and other non- or no-longer-combatants. The Genevas went a long way in defining the concept and definition of “War Crimes.”
You’re thinking of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and again in 1907.
I always love this one because it’s an excellent way to trip-up never-read-a-history-book liberals and lefty know-it-all lawyers…who decidedly should know better than to quote the wrong convention in their arguments.
We, on the other hand, the John Does, Great Unwashed, and the Uneducated, are not expected to know historical trivia like that, which makes the tripping ever the more sweet.
Later in the twentieth century some machinations occurred to blur the situation but…
I have a photograph of my Mother and friend, both Combat Nurses, siting in the rubble of Shuri Castle, smiling at the camera. The one and only time she explained the photo she said, “Just out of the frame, was a Japanese tank…and the Japanese were still in it.” Probably it’s needless to say, the occupying Japanese had moved on to a different plain of existence.
While she subsequently always refused to acknowledge it, in the photograph there clearly is a GI issue holster on her right hip, undoubtably containing a 1911A1.
About the time I was home on leave, actually living a block or two from exactly where that photo had been taken, 28 some years later, I asked her about that. “Mom, because of that Geneva Convention thing, medical types like you weren’t supposed to be armed, right?
“That’s true,” she said, “but the bastards never signed the agreement,”
When is the Roanoke airgun show.
Winston,
The Roanoke show isn’t being held anymore. It was held last year the end of Sept. However, the show’s promoter hasn’t supplied any info this year.
Edith
B.B.,
Perhaps it’s just me but one thing about this show that I thought was pretty neat was how the gun club members who were there reacted to us airgunners. I think they were genuinely surprised and impressed by our enthusiasm and also the quality of the enthusiast and the airguns.
Of course I could just be imagining this. I tend to wear rose colored glasses. But I don’t think so. The crew that owned the place, at least as far as I could tell, were all smiles. Bravo sir.
Mark N
I’m the one who sold you the Stainless Steel Luger. You can refer to that particular model as a post Stoeger model. After Stoeger dropped the gun from their line AIMCO, the real manufacturer, built a small number to sell. That is one of the last. Although AIMCO, later calling their self Orinco for some reason, said they would make more, they never did, closing another chapter in the Luger story. I hope you enjoy it…
Johnny,
Thank you for that information. It explains why the Stoeger guns I am seeing are marked differently than this one.
B.B.
Edith
I got mail from Pyramyd AIR advertising a new version of the Umerex Legands Lugar with blow back. Can you tell me if the toggle moves on this one?
Ton,
You don’t explain what pistol it was that they emailed you about. This is the pistol that has blowback:
/product/legends-blowback-p08-co2-pistol-full-metal?m=3485
B.B.
Ton,
Yes, it does.
Edith
Does anybody remember daisy 1894? Why did they stop making it?
ValG,
The 1894 was a very popular Daisy lookalike BB gun that was made from 1961 to 1986. No doubt it was discontinued when sales dropped.
B.B.
Nice event! I may have to get all of my shots current so I can make next year’s! 😉
Great write up! I was wondering, if you still had the .308 Quackenbush that you convinced my buddy not to buy. I am interested at $900. Let me know.
Coming at you from TEXAS…
Gabe,
I still have it. I’m in Ohio at the Pyramyd AIR Cup this weekend.
I offered that rifle at $900 at the airgun show just to get people off my back. If they can’t buy it they will pay anything, but when there is a price they start looking at their shoes.
Your buddy called Dennis and got on the list the next week, so he is being taken care of. And he saved almost $200. I recommend you do the same the next time the list opens.
B.B.
B.B.
Had a great time at the 2014 show, are there plans for a 2015 show?
Arnold,
Yes! It’s planned for Saturday, August 29.
B.B.