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Ruger BSR9
Today’s Thursday Day at the Range was, shall we say, both interesting and a bit humbling. After posting the “Five Best” 1911 targets below, this week’s targets weren’t nearly so impressive. That’s the humbling part. The interesting part is the contrast between this Ruger BSR9 (“B” for black slide) and the SR9 from a few weeks ago. The recent SR9 shoot was somewhat disconcerting because the front sight decided to attempt a walkabout. Needless to say, the accuracy results were somewhat compromised by a sight attempting to escape its dovetail. While contemplating a remedy for that pistol, which has a stainless bare finish slide, I decided to break out another SR9,…
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.30 Luger Ruger P89
This week’s Thursday Day at the Range includes a reshoot of the .30 Luger Ruger P89. If you recall from the earlier Thursday Day at the Range report, Ruger offered a .30 Luger conversion kit for the 9x19mm P89 pistol. I was reminded at that time the Ruger actually offered a two-caliber version of the P89, the “P89X.” The .30 Luger barrel and recoil spring assembly had their own little recesses in the plastic pistol case. This particular setup was a separate kit, apparently offered by Ruger to use up extra .30 Luger ensembles. Our previous experience with the ersatz P89X involved adapting a P89DC (decocking) slide to a P89.…
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Ruger P91DAO
Today’s Thursday Day at the Range is brought to you courtesy of two Thursday Days at the Range ago, a shoot saved for a day when I could not make it to the range. You see, today instead of the customary range session I got the first fitting for my new hearing aids. Ironic, no? Well, you might ask, what about the gun? Those who are regular readers of these Thursday Day at the Range reports will recall the Ruger P89 and P89X sessions. During the discussion of these Rugers the comment was made, “I have a P91DAO; have you ever had one?” The P91 is, for practical purposes,…
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.45 ACP CDR SR1911
This week’s Thursday Day at the Range is a back-to-the-.45-SR1911 Day. Ruger’s SR1911 Series is a refreshingly direct rendition of the classic M1911. You’ll find no extraneous ornamentation – at least if you look past the Doug Koening Custom Shop Special, that is. This time we’re reshooting the steel .45 ACP CDR SR1911. Why? Well, we had good luck improving the accuracy of another M1911 pistol by upgrading the stocks. So, when we added this set of beautiful stocks from Bill Griffith to my steel .45 Ruger CDR, we wondered if history would repeat itself. Well, doggone it, it sure did! If you were to scroll down to the earlier report on…
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We Wish They Could Talk – And Sometimes They Do (Part 2/2)
We Wish They Could Talk – And Sometimes They Do – Part 2 By Scott Duff Records of some serial numbered older US weapons from the Civil War through the early 20th century are more prevalent in the National Archives than are World War II arms. If you have the time and money and live near the Archives it can be a gold mine for ID’d small arms. Many years ago Frank Mallory began a business named Springfield Research Services (SRS) that conducted exactly that type of research. Frank compiled his research at the National Archives into a series of books listing small arms by model, serial number and document…
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My Favorite M1 Carbines (Part 2/2)
This Blog post is on my Inland M1A1 carbine. The M1A1 carbine was a modification to the M1 carbine that replaced the standard stock with one that folded and was intended for issue to newly formed airborne troops. Many paratroopers were issued the M1A1 carbine for jumps into combat. Those paratroopers included my father-in-law. As I related in my Foreword to our book “The M1 Carbine Owner’s Guide” I wanted an M1A1 carbine in my collection because: Most of us know someone who carried a Carbine in World War II, Korea, or Vietnam. There is often an emotional tie. For me it is my father-in-law, Thomas Shoen, Jr. (11th Airborne…
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My Favorite M1 Carbines (Part 1/2)
This post is my second about my favorite World War II US arms. The following paragraph is repeated from my earlier Blog post entitled “My Favorite M1 Garand.” As a researcher and serious student of American history I like comparative technological study. Therefore, my theme for World War II focuses on the year 1943. By 1943 the primary US arms were well developed and production was at or nearing its peak. Americans were engaged in combat against the Axis powers around the world. My World War II collection includes 1943 manufactured arms: an SA and WRA M1 rifle, an Inland M1 and M1A1 carbine, a Colt M1911A1, and so on. …
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We Wish They Could Talk – Sometimes They Do (Part 1/2)
Over the many decades I have been a collector and dealer of US martial arms, I have often heard fellow collectors say “I wish this rifle (or pistol) could talk.” Or “I wonder who carried it and where it has been.” In a few very rare cases we have been able to answer at least part of those questions. The 30 Guam Garands are one unique example. These 30 M1 rifles were given to the Guam Security Patrol Force after the battle in 1944 and eventually ended up with the Guam Police Department. In 1994 that Department wanted to update their inventory of small arms. A trade was made with…
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More Super .38 Shenanigans: The Pachmayr-Tussey-Patton Pistol
More Super .38 Shenanigans: The Pachmayr-Tussey-Patton Pistol Colt Super .38 Some years ago, whilst researching “The M1911 Complete Owner’s Guide,” I came across a Pachmayr custom M1911 in .22 Long Rifle. It was built with a .22/.45 Conversion Unit. Nothing particularly puzzling there, except for one nagging question: what was the source of the frame? Clearly, the frame was produced prior to 1968, at a time when, while the serial number (if present) of American-manufactured firearms was to be marked on the frame or receiver, the manufacturer was free to place the company name and address and model name anywhere it chose. In the case of automatic pistols,…
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10/22 Deja Vu
You’ll have to read the text to find out what this is… Here’s a question for you: what is this that is pictured above? Take your time; I’ll wait… Got it? Or not? Anyway, it’s the trigger assembly from a Winchester Model of 1905. The Win ’05, as it is commonly termed, is a long-recoil autoloading rifle developed by Tom Johnson and introduced, presumably, in 1905. Now that you know what it is, here’s a second question: why is it the subject of a blog post here? After all, we’ve never done anything on the Win ’05. Take your time to answer; I’ll wait… It’s here because it’s the direct…
