Gun-a-Day 49: More Marlin 1895M (“Let Him Roar Again …”)

The wisdom of C.S. Lewis provided guidance today as I decided to run a few more rounds through “The Beast” (my Marlin 1895M in .450Marlin). In The Problem of Pain, Lewis warns against a washed-out, weakened view of the power of Nature and the natural order as God has established Her in Creation and as She will be One Day when He redeems Her from the Fall in order to fulfill Her purposes in Eternity, and he uses the king of beasts as one example to paint his metaphoric picture of “the glory that will be revealed“:

But if there is a rudimentary Leonine self, to that also God can give a ‘body’ as it pleases Him … richly Leonine in the sense that it also expresses whatever energy and splendour and exulting power dwelled within the visible lion on this earth…. I think the lion, when he has ceased to be dangerous [as a part of New Heavenly/New Earthly ecosystem], will still be awful…. There will still be something like the shaking of a golden mane: and often the good Duke will say, ‘Let him roar again.‘

That made very good sense to me in regards to the Marlin 1895M, too. This gun can fill a person with awe, even when it is carefully managed. I decided to unleash the Beast and let him roar a few more rounds’ worth. At this stage in my shooting experience, 50 yards was too far for me to place a hit (it turns out … after missing with two shots from there), so I ended up at the 25-yard shooting station and moved in a bit for the last shot (on the Pepsi bottle– that video did not survive the editing process … live and learn).

I’d only planned on two shots but ended up sending six. Once I got started, it was hard to stop. I am very impressed with the quality of the trigger system on this rifle. It’s not feather-light, but I find no creep of any kind. It’s either cocked, or the hammer has fallen, and the thunder has rolled. There is as little “in-between” as in any other gun I’ve ever fired.

The cartridges were all Hornady. The last two rounds were ballistic-tipped Critical Defense rounds. I’d hoped to dig the slugs (the flat-tops weigh in at 350-grains each) out of the backstop, but they all buried deep after making a milk jug and a Pepsi bottle turn into short-lived mini-cyclones.

I hadn’t noticed that the cases for the CD’s are slightly shorter than the older, interlock slug-headed shells. Not that it seemed to make any difference; just a point of information I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been doing the Gun-a-Day thing.

The editing and uploading of the slow motion video recordings is still a work in progress. There’s a steeper learning curve than some of the other iPhone apps I’ve been using, but I’m gonna stick with my standard approach to such things: stubborn-ugly persistence. Hope to have them posted soon. Now posted below!

For now, Shot o’the Day is another “stand in” picture– an “after” of a Pepsi bottle which caught my eye at least as much for the appearance of heat-melted edges as for the banana-peeled effect of the explosive hit.

I think I’m seeing that right. It may just be stretching, but it looks for all the world like the plastic was melted as well as ripped and exploded.

It would have been nice to have some slow motion images of the plastic cap falling to the ground at least a full second or two after the bottle was hit. How high must it have gone to take that long to come down?!

In the interests of full disclosure, it should be noted that the addition of the recoil pad on this rifle (unlike the Savage 29B) is not just decorative nor merely used to increase the length of pull.

No, it’s on there to keep my right arm attached to my right shoulder when I fire it, and I’m not ashamed to admit it! I didn’t even bring it home in the first place without putting on that pad.

Yes, six shots was fun, for sure, but I am definitely feeling it in my collar bone tonight.

Here’s the video of the work done on a water-filled milk jug. It runs a bit long, but I got interested in the way the water spray floated across the frame from left to right, and then I heard the birds. Before and after, the same bird or birds are singing the same happy little song, seemingly undisturbed and unconcerned about whatever might have happened to make “that big, loud noise.”

Nature does not fear guns.

I say again: Nature does not fear guns.

So, the 1895M faithfully and effectively answered an impromptu call to action and receives recognition for a job well done. Now, all that’s left is a good cleaning before being laid to rest back in storage under lock and key.

The Beast is not dead, only sleeping. Here’s to the day when I’ll get to let him roar again.

Gun-a-Day 5: Remington/Baikal .22LR/.410, part 2 (CeeBee Time!)

Simple, spare, basic … There’s a potential for elegance in these qualities, and, for my time and money, the Remington/Baikal IZH94 has it, and it “jus’ plain shoots perty doggone good.”

The ejector is nothing flashy– no spring ejection, just a sliding bar that raises the cases on break-open. The flat-blade, square-notch rear sight (there is a groove for optic mounting, too) is about as simple as it gets with only a side-to-side dovetailing for adjustment. The matte black post front sight appears to be adjustable for elevation (never messed with it … don’t expect I’ll ever need to).

Plain and minimal … and amazingly accurate and useful. I was going to show shotgun results this time (could be fun for tomorrow), but my shot o’the day became immediately apparent when I fired one CeeBee .22 at yesterday’s box target (black dots mark the Super Colibri “shots by spotlight”).

I’m not concerned if it seems a bit naive to some that one single shot can somehow be “practice,” because my position is (and I’ll stand by it without hesitation) my own small measure of Gun Wisdom: any gun that can be picked up after weeks or months of storage and fired to the center ring on a first and only shot is a good gun.

I know full well that I won’t likely ever be mistaken for a match-level shooter, and my guns aren’t precision-tuned, and I don’t try to afford match-quality ammo.

I just try to do as well as I can with as little time as I get to practice with the tools/toys I have. This is noted to clarify the following points:

–>  25 yards is no big deal as a shooting distance

–>  CeeBee’s aren’t generally useful for accuracy testing

–>  Baikal rifles aren’t highly sought-after collector’s items or luxury guns (and the .22/.410 isn’t even still on market, is it?)

–>  I barely get time to shoot a few rounds at a time, and I have gone months at a time in the past few years without any real “range time”

So, none of my shots are anything important except as signs that I’m actually getting out and enjoying the outdoors and my firearms (one major reason for this online shooting diary, really).

And yet … when I walked up to this target and saw this 10-ring hit made with hand-in-sling-wrapped iron sighting, a mini-charge cartridge, and my discontinued-but-almost-no-one-noticed rifle, I still felt a great sense of satisfaction and got a big ol’smile on my face and shook my head in pleasant surprise.

And that’s the fun of shooting for me.

Thomas Jefferson remarks …

… in a letter written circa 1785 …

A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I advise the gun.

While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise and independence to the mind.

Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body

and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walk.

That makes good sense to me.

My goal for 2011 is to, every day, “take a walk with one of my guns” and do some shooting and to document the experiences here.