Posted on 10/25/2019 4:03:12 AM PDT by Kaslin
My last two columns really have my leftist detractors’ panties in a wad. I’m not just speaking metaphorically about the feminists who don’t wear them. I’m also talking about the anti-gun Beto males who do. Given the fact that these columns on recommended firearms have caused so much emotional distress to my adversaries, there is only one reasonable thing to do: Keep writing them!
In this installment, we are sticking to the theme of a man’s three principal responsibilities; defending the family at home, defending the family away from home, and raising responsible gun-owning children. But in this segment, we enter into the realm of non-essential firearms choices. In other words, these three are not necessarily needed if you have the six I have already recommended. But the first two in this installment are awfully fun to shoot – and the third will extend your deer hunting capabilities, which is a legacy you will want to pass on to your children. So here goes:
Winchester Defender 20-Gauge. Please allow me to be blunt. I like big shotguns but I don’t like big women. If you’re like me, then you might end up with a discrepancy between the two. At night, you have a large frame shotgun underneath the bed and a small frame wife on top of it. You have to consider what happens if you are out of town and she is left in charge of defending the home. Obviously, many women do not feel comfortable shooting a 12-gauge – especially those who are smaller in stature. So the simple solution is to have a 20-gauge home defense weapon in your arsenal. It will get the job done. It is also better for yard pests (e.g. raccoons, armadillos, and snakes) than a 12-gauge.
By way of confession, providing the woman with something comfortable to shoot is not my only motive here. I just love shooting this gun at the range. It is lighter and has less recoil than a 12-gauge. And if you really want to have fun at the range you can find a semi-automatic version of a 20-gauge defensive weapon. Mossberg offers an SA-20 tactical that is hard to beat for that purpose.
Kimber 1911 Model .45 ACP. I previously recommended two carry weapons – one in each column – that could be comfortably shot by both a man and a woman. But this selection is a man’s weapon. Sadly, some people shy away from using 1911-style .45s because they have lower magazine capacities – generally only seven rounds. Such criticisms are misinformed. Put simply, you don’t need as many shots with the .45 ACP round. If you are shooting a 230-grain hollow point then you have a tremendous amount of knockdown power. Firing these heavy loads is like hurling a cinder block in a bar fight. Unless you are an actor in a bad Hollywood action movie, you’ll never be in a position to reach for the eighth cinder block. The fight will be over by then and your opponent will be leveled.
Also, note that the seven-shot magazine is an advantage in that it is a single stack, which makes it easier to conceal. And, speaking of ease of concealing, I like Kimber because they make 1911s with three, four, and five inch barrels. I find the intermediate option to be small enough to conceal. It is also easier to manage the recoil relative to the three-inch option. Others will disagree. And that is precisely why Kimber offers several options.
Browning A-Bolt .270. I recommended a good brush gun in the last installment of this series. But as you continue to teach your children to hunt you will want to expand both in range and in the type of game you are hunting. The .270 can really reach out when you load it with a flat shooting 130-grain round. This can help when you are trying to take out game that is found in wide-open spaces and is therefore difficult to approach. (Please accept my apologies for those who now have an obnoxious Dixie Chicks song stuck in their head). Indeed, it is accurate and powerful enough to take down a pronghorn antelope at 200 yards. Stepping up to the 150-grain bullet allows you to take down any deer including mule deer and axis deer (which often requires through-the-shoulder penetration to hit the deer’s heart).
Of course, this .270 is not capable of taking down some larger game found in the western (and far northeastern) United States. And that is precisely why this column series must continue with another installment.
… To be continued.
I took a mule buck a couple years back at around 250 yards in the North Dakota badlands.
One side of the animal had a little .270 hole in it. The other side, I could put my fist into. Heart and lungs were shredded.
A flat trajectory is a wonderful thing in the field.
Plus there are low-recoil 12-gauge shells. Have the first shell be low recoil. In case that doesn’t do the job, have the rest of the magazine be full-power.
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/winchester-aa-low-recoil-low-noise-target-loads-shotshells
Or you could just use an autoloader shotgun with full house rounds. For example, you can use the Saiga 12 as a giant one-handed pistol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WJoh6djzGo
Forgot this as required by internet requirements - cute girl firing Saiga 12:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNjTkUShaP4
My non-essential firearms (before the boating...you know the rest) were the ones I enjoyed shooting the most.
This guy writes like a Dollar Store Rambo.
“Current production Kimbers are pretty bad. Of the five bought by friends in the last three years, 100% required the intervention of a gunsmith to run properly.”
Interesting.
I’ve recently purchased a Kimber Micro 9 and put a couple of hundred rounds through it last weekend. I fired all the weird 9mm rounds that other 9s have choked on, and it worked flawlessly. That’s standard brass-cased FMJ, poly-coated heavy Russian sub-sonics, short-jacket hollow points, 85gr frangibles, and some other off brand stuff.
Overall, I’m totally impressed with the quality on this thing — fit, finish, and firing.
I’ve been carrying a Ruger SR1911 for a couple years with a shoulder holster (and my chiropractor has been giving me a bunch of crap about it) so I’m shifting to the Kimber for EDC.
I also have a RIA 5” that’s the ‘fun gun’ beater, and both the RIA and the Ruger will feed-fail with the crappy Russian short-jacket hollowpoints and the more ‘square tipped’ premium hollowpoints despite mirror-polished feed ramps.
So I dunno... Send me a Kimber 1911 and I’ll try it out.
I carry the Pro Carry II everyday. Love it.
SIG 1911 guns. All mine run flawlessly, even the one in .38 Super which can be a notorious problem child.
I am not worried so much about how flat the .270 shoots as much as I am about availability.
The extractor claw in each of those pistols is probably unhappy with you over the steel cased Russian cartridges, poly coating or not. Chambers may be wearing prematurely, too.
Can't send you a Kimber 1911 as I am not a 1911 fan and I don't have any. I respect the 1911 design, but if I am going to carry .45 ACP, I am going to want more than just seven plus one, or ten plus one at best. Why? Because this was my introduction to "No, really, you *do need* a pistol."
My experiences since the LA Riots have done nothing but confirm that for some reason potential assailant only seem come for me in the super jumbo economy family size pack and not in singles or twin packs. Before you ask, no, I have no idea why.
I should mention that I am not in the above picture and that I am using it just to demonstrate the circumstances during the riots.
From my experiences, seven just *isn’t* enough.
Ms Kimber doesn’t take any sh**
Love that girl!
Agreed!
I bring out my other handguns just for show.
When I want to print “smiley faces”, Ms Kimber always delivers.
The LeMatt is a sexy beast!
Nothing like 4 rounds of .44 with a .60 smoothbore slung underneath.
Ruger SR 1911. Best value (features) and best construction for the money, IMNSHO.
And it comes in 9mm and 10mm, as well.
9 rounds of .44
If you want metal, STI is a start.
I had three metal 45s for target fun, and Colt Commander for carry. But sold them all for light weight carry guns, Glock 19 and 26, 9mm. Also have a Glock 21, .45 which is so easy to shoot, little recoil, just adverage accuracy, good for the house with a light on the rail. CZ85, 9mm was very accurate, and the most pretty to me.
“A polished feed ramp is nice, but the surface finish of the ramp matters a bit less than the angle and contour of the ramp. “
Actually, I’ve traced the feed issue on my 1911s to the design of the magazines more than the feed ramp itself. Polishing the ramp was part of a diagnosis, and that was done by hand with jeweler’s rouge and a Popsicle stick so as to not alter the inherent configuration of the feed ramp.
Basically, the 1911 was designed for FMJ ball ammo so it won’t feed squared-off hollowpoints reliably. They do just fine with the more conical hollowpoints.
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