Range Note

The tourists were gone and the locals hard at work, leaving the range empty yesterday. Daughter, son-in-law and old man took advantage and monopolized the 25-yard range for a couple of hours, shooting the SS Colt 1911 and some of the guns that don't see enough use.

Dave favored the Winchester '94 but  did his best work with the 1911 -- one group just under four inches with one in the x-ring, making for a near tie between spouses.  I decline the honor of referring the  point about who shot better.

Then there was the BL22, a rifle I like a lot and one I would nominate for a  high place in the list of best-machined lever-actions ever. We didn't get compulsive about measuring the Browning's groups, just ran 60 or 70 rounds through it Chuck Conners style, fast and offhand.

My personal satisfaction peaked with the three-screw SA .22. You may recall me grousing here about the shoddy Ruger work and non-existent customer service installing the "safety" conversion. The home-brew fix  worked fine. My only regret is forgetting to bring the Stetson to round out the six-shooter and Buscadero rig. Next time.

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For what it is worth, these two young folks are not totally unknown as players in the MSM, and you can safely bet that they won't let some cop or Brady-ite  get away with calling a 10-22 an assault rifle in their pages.

Not everyone can be lucky enough to raise a weapons-aware news kid, but you can always invite one  to go shooting with you.

More on the uggo 1911 project

About a month ago I posted a bit on carbinizing a 1911A1. Sunday a reader was kind enough to ask about it.

"I assume that you, like me, bought one of those "carbine conversion kits" and then found that you were expected to grind away the back of your 1911 frame to get the shoulder stock to fit."

This stock requires mangling only an arched mainspring housing -- grooves for  the screw-clamp and a detente groove  in the rear for a tightening stud. I suppose guys working on a GI issue model would just buy a dedicated spare housing. 

"I couldn't find many other posts on on your blog about this topic, and I will be interested to hear about your progress."

No progress to report because (a) the shop is too damned cold and (b) I always have too many stupid projects pending to do prompt justice to any of them. This one should be ready to shoot in April or so -- depending on whether a possible March trip to Merry Old England actually occurs.  

"Can you direct me to any other web resources on this topic?"

Google "carbinize Colt 1911" and you'll get some hits on a newer kit that uses a lot of that crappin' plastic. I'd like to know more about my walnut-stock version (gun-show find)  but haven't found a thing yet.

Thanks for asking.