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The Ides of March - Jeff Cooper's comentaries
Jeff Cooper's commentaries ^ | Jeff Cooper

Posted on 02/26/2003 10:05:18 AM PST by harpseal

The Ides Of March

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Of all sorts of personal possessions, the personal firearm is the most nearly unique. This is because of its permanence. When you have acquired a good gun, there is no real need ever to acquire another - except possibly for replacement in case of loss. This makes the marketing of firearms a frustrating enterprise. Except when dealing with adolescents, the marketer must aim at making a prospective purchaser unhappy with what he already has. You wear out clothes and automobiles, you drink up wines, you shoot up ammunition, but your gun is still there, just as desirable and efficient as it ever was, assuming that you chose it wisely in the first place.

So the annual SHOT Show is pretty hard to take seriously. It is presumed to display what is new and superior in the way of guns. But trying to promote something new just because it is new is poor doin's, as we mountain men used to say. I saw a good many new guns at the SHOT Show, but none of them made me unhappy with what I've got. Some, of course, made for interesting discussion.

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The Winchester Short Magnums are being enthusiastically pushed, though I cannot see why. A shortened bolt throw is indeed a minor advantage, but not sufficient to complicate production.

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We were treated to a great display of 45 autos, most of which were very nice. Since the commencement of the Practical Shooting Revolution, we have opined that all the 1911 really needs are a trigger that you can manage, sights that you can see and a dehorning job. In addition, one might propose a deactivated grip safety (!), a lanyard loop, a bobbed hammer, and press-fitted stock screw sockets. One thing the original pistol does not need is a recoil spring guide, which is now a popular feature of new construction. (It is curious to see a certain amount of trouble undertaken to achieve a slight step backward.) Most of the new 45s feature an extrusion on the lower end of the grip safety, which does not work for me, though it may for you. (Fortunately the grip safety is easily pinned shut.)

As if to emphasize that pistols are for having, rather than for shooting, the Colt people are presenting a World War I replica, an exact duplication of the original 1911.

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Leading candidate for the 2003 Waffenpösselhaft Award is the 45 Short cartridge, introduced by Glock. We need a short 45 the way we need a three-wheel Ferrari. But I have no doubt that people will buy this item, if for no other reason than that it is new.

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I examined the Walther P22, which is indeed a nice little item. In some respects it is not quite as good as its ancestor the PPK, but for the rural household which needs a 22 at the ready and does not already have one, this is an attractive piece. (Let it not be said that I advocate the 22 LR cartridge for house defense. It is certainly not our first choice, but it will do when managed by a cool hand. I maintain that the best weapon for household defense is a self-loading 12-gauge shotgun, but such is obviously clumsy to pack around.)

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Of all the weapons displayed at the SHOT Show, the only one featuring a perfect trigger out-of-the-box was, as usual, the Blaser 93. It seems to me that most shooters, buyers or sellers, are not much interested in triggers. I can only assume that most shooters do not shoot very much, at least not today. The trigger on the M1 Garand that I was issued at Basic School had a cleaner release than anything I saw at SHOT, excepting the Blaser and the 22 Match rifles. Jim West puts a pretty good trigger on his "Co-pilot," and the Steyr Scout trigger can be tuned to perfection by a skillful smith. Some of the Scouts came from the factory with superb triggers, but more recent examples did not.

The Remington people have seen fit to reintroduce their excellent 350 Remington Short Magnum cartridge in a new rifle called the 673. I fancied the 600/660 series carbines for my own use, but a surprising number of people seem to think that they "looked funny" - as if that matters. The action on the 600s was compressed to the rear, calling for a swept forward bolt handle which was ergonomically sound, if distressing to the esthete. The new gun is redesigned, making it slightly longer overall. If you have one of the old ones, keep it. The Model 673 retains the odd "Halloween" open-sight system with its pumpkin foresight, but this arrangement is readily scraped off.

All rifles of this series fit a squared-off thumb safety, which may be a bother unless it is rounded off. The proper place for the thumb is on the starboard side of the rifle, as anyone who has shot the short-stocked Garand can tell you. And the light-weight 350s do kick briskly.

I have fancied the Remington 350 Short Magnum since its inception, having now taken a deer, nilgai, wildebeeste, zebra, and my one and only lion with it. It is a superb cartridge for Alaska and for the African bushveldt, and now you can buy factory ammunition for it again. (It may not be quite up to the 376 Steyr, but the difference is slight, and the ammunition is easier to come by.)

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Standing out amongst new handguns is the "Dino Pistol" of Smith & Wesson. This is a gigantic 5-shot wheel gun taking the 500 Smith & Wesson cartridge. It is so big and heavy that it reintroduces the job description of "gun bearer." It is to pistols what the 700 Nitro cartridge is to rifles - an exercise in the possible without any consideration of what might be desirable, needful or necessary. I bet it will sell like Big Macs.

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We noticed no less than three manufacturers featuring replicas of the 1851 Colt Navy pistol. This, of course, was one of the arms that "won the West," but I think it did so largely because it was war surplus at a time when the need for a reliable, defensive handgun was particularly felt. So you can buy a new one now, as a training aid for a history class.

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The Moors seem to be ahead in the Holy War at this time, at least they have succeeded in making domestic air travel inconvenient and ridiculous. It might make some sense to regard all Moors at airports with suspicion. At least it would avoid subjecting obviously upperclass ladies to random body search. It is clear that you can't make a fool of anyone unless he submits to it. And we, as a nation, are certainly submitting to it.

Not Ted Nugent, however. Whether you like his stagecraft or not, you must respect his spirit. When confronted with this foolishness at the airport, he just threw back his ticket and left the scene.

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(Excerpt) Read more at dvc.org.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: banglist
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Some of the most pithy of the Colonel's comments are farther down than the excerpt
1 posted on 02/26/2003 10:05:18 AM PST by harpseal
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To: *bang_list
This has to go on the bang list
2 posted on 02/26/2003 10:05:54 AM PST by harpseal (Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown)
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To: Travis McGee; Squantos; sneakypete; SLB; Lurker; Joe Brower; Eaker
Ping
3 posted on 02/26/2003 10:10:12 AM PST by harpseal (Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown)
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To: harpseal
bang
4 posted on 02/26/2003 10:10:49 AM PST by chuknospam
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To: Ides of March
I had an overwhelming urge to ping you to this. :)
5 posted on 02/26/2003 10:11:32 AM PST by Constitution Day
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To: .45MAN; dansangel
When I first found these online a few years ago, I did nothing with my free time but read all the old ones. Cooper is one of a kind. Well worth reading if you haven't already done so.
6 posted on 02/26/2003 10:16:09 AM PST by FreedomPoster (This Space Intentionally Blank)
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To: harpseal
When you have acquired a good gun, there is no real need ever to acquire another

Heresy from the Pope of GunSite!

7 posted on 02/26/2003 10:19:33 AM PST by fourdeuce82d
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To: harpseal
>>Some of the most pithy of the Colonel's comments are farther down than the excerpt

Had to post this one:

I am bemused by the continuous attempt on the part of various commentators to establish "a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda." Somehow I do not see a problem there. When I was in school, there was no difficulty in establishing a link between the Stanford football team, the Stanford band, and the Stanford faculty. They were all "sons of the Stanford red." All these Moors are card-carrying Moors.

So the wise and the powerful are still looking for a connection between various sorts of Moors. When I was a lad I assumed there was a connection between Admiral Nagumo and General Yamashita. They did not wear the same uniform, but they fought for the same divine emperor. There was a link.

8 posted on 02/26/2003 10:21:39 AM PST by FreedomPoster (This Space Intentionally Blank)
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To: fourdeuce82d
The operative word is need. Given different guns for different situations one may presume that what the Cololen is saying is once one has every situation covered there is no need to aquire other firearms. However, there may be a desire to do so for purposes of pleasure etc.
9 posted on 02/26/2003 10:22:46 AM PST by harpseal (Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown)
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To: harpseal
"Gun bearer."
That's good.
10 posted on 02/26/2003 10:23:52 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Eric in the Ozarks
That about sums up the new .50 S&W.
11 posted on 02/26/2003 10:26:42 AM PST by harpseal (Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown)
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To: Constitution Day
I had an overwhelming urge to ping you to this. :)

Consider me pung.

Such titles spring up this time of year!

12 posted on 02/26/2003 10:28:24 AM PST by Ides of March (Beware.)
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To: harpseal
Carrying this puppy on your right hip might require a very large pocketknife in your lefthand pocket.
13 posted on 02/26/2003 10:31:28 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: FreedomPoster
Thank-you for the heads up. I read what was posted here and will return to read the excerpted part. I can see why you'd become "addicted!" LOL!!
14 posted on 02/26/2003 10:35:35 AM PST by dansangel (America - love it, support it, or LEAVE IT!)
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To: harpseal
The Colonel just gets crustier and crustier.
It's wonderful.

So9

15 posted on 02/26/2003 10:42:54 AM PST by Servant of the Nine (Republicans for Sharpton)
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To: harpseal
God bless Col. Cooper.


16 posted on 02/26/2003 10:57:54 AM PST by Joe Brower (http://www.joebrower.com/)
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To: archy; First_Salute
ping
17 posted on 02/26/2003 11:03:02 AM PST by harpseal (Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown)
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To: harpseal
I was thinking exactly that when I first read about that gun. It's not like that's a new theme with Cooper.
18 posted on 02/26/2003 11:04:05 AM PST by FreedomPoster (This Space Intentionally Blank)
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To: Joe Brower; harpseal
God bless Col. Cooper.

Needs repeating!!!!


Stay safe; stay armed. Thanks for the ping!!
Eaker Freeper Status

19 posted on 02/26/2003 11:14:11 AM PST by Eaker (64,999,987 firearm owners killed no one yesterday. Somehow, it didn't make the news.)
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To: harpseal
Glock is offering a .45 short? What the heck is that all about?

I checked glocks web page, and google, but could find no other info about it. I wonder if it would work in my .45 acp derringer?

20 posted on 02/26/2003 11:19:27 AM PST by MikeJ
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