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 48: Marlin 1895M Rifle (.450 Marlin, Lever Action)

This one was quick and ugly. The Beast has been hibernating in its cage for many months, but there was no hesitation when the latches flipped open.

I was booked for an out-of-town appointment for the evening, so I had hustle home from the office, prep the targets, set up the camera, find a spot 10-12 yards from the backstop, take my aim and fire away.

Two shots did about as much cut tree trunk damage as any hundred of the .17s …

I can’t claim to have any practical need or sensible use for a man-portable quasi-cannon, but the Marlin 1895M lever action rifle chambered in .450 Marlin is as close as I ever need to come to owning a portable cannon, and this one is mine.

Here’s a calm and peaceful– bucolic, even– “before” picture of my water-filled targets as a stand-in for the slow motion video I’m trying to get edited and uploaded. They do NOT look like this “after” …

Almost every time this rifle crosses my mind, the possibility of selling or trading it also occurs to me. The raw, shocking, brute force of the recoil is very intimidating, and even out in the woods and pastures it can shake windows and sound more like field artillery than a sporting carbine.

I can get myself wondering if it’s worth messing with.

Yes, those are some of the things I think about when I think about it, and I do know that if trading or selling ever became a necessity, this would be the easiest to let go.

But.

When I’m actually holding this hunk of finely finished hardwood and satiny black steel and when I shoulder it and take easy aim with it and when I pull the smooth, light trigger and when the thunder-stick-to-end-all-thunder-sticks shoves me back at the cheek and collar-bone and when something downrange jumps or jerks or peels open or explodes in a mist of vaporized liquid, then all I can do is smile and laugh and give it a friendly look and a good, solid shake with an energetic, enthusiastic, approving grunt or adrenaline-buzzing, stress-busting shouts.

And then all I can think about is how much I like this gun and how glad I am to own it, and … how much I like to hear the Beast roar.

Speaking of which, here are two slow-motion videos of The Gun-a-Day Great Pepsi Bottle Massacree, circa “ought’leven.” In the first, there’s a fascinating “first one left standing” effect. The bullet was going so fast and hit so hard that the neck and cap disappeared, and the rest of the bottle barely moved. I like the “wait for it” sound effects at the end, too. The lever action cycles, and we’re ready for shot number two …

The “first is made last” in video two, and the “narrative” documented is so much more than could have been planned or arranged. Many things happen, and the slow motion timing makes it possible to track fluttering debris, wood chip “snow fall,” water mist and run-off (complete with sounds of running gurgles and falling “raindrops,” and, maybe best of all, the “dance of the dead” Pepsi bottle which was flipped back with just enough water in the bottom to act as a counter-weight, bringing it back to stand up again on the flat surface of the old railroad tie. One of those happy, wonderful serendipities of life caught on video …

These clips were made with my iPhone 4’s regular video editing tools and the Nexvio app, “Slowmo.” Yes, a bit of stubborn-ugly goes a long way! Tried to use iMovie to put these two clips together as one, but something wasn’t right. More to learn!

Gun-a-Day 2: Marlin Papoose 70P blue/wood .22LR

About 3 years back, I pawn-shop-traded a Llama .380 + 5 mags for this (complete with its red Marlin take-down carry bag and original tool kit). It was not a great deal book-value-wise for me at all, but, then again, trading for this rifle made it possible for me to start shooting regularly again by using the almost-silent (from a rifle-length barrel, at least) Aguila Super Colibri rounds.

The Micro-Max had been stowed away, unfired, in the range bag for many months. It was a great fit for my hand, and there was some sentimental attachment. I’d done some personal fitting work, and I liked the look of it quite a bit, but it also had stove-piping issues, so it wasn’t a reliable option for home defense or concealed carry.

Our house at the time was infested with a huge family of squirrels, and a .380 was no help for that problem (especially inside city limits!). I took my first squirrel (first several squirrels) with it, and the chatter-boxing, bushy-tailed tree rats learned to fear and flee when I had this Marlin in hand, and that’s a fact. It served me well for pest control and rekindled the target shooting bug I’ve always had and rarely taken time to indulge.

It also opened my world up to the Marlin rifle experience, and every Marlin rimfire I’ve ever come across makes the sweetest crack when a round goes downrange.  I’m a fan.

This model 70P is the reason I have the model 70PSS. After “ending up with” this one, I decided I really wanted the updated, fiber sighted, weather-tough version, so I traded it for an extra .223 Beta C-Mag gathered during an ill-advised spending spree in the days before a certain change of national governmental administration.

Overly expensive that way (since when have I ever come out well on a trade or hedge investment?), but pleasure and productivity are valuable right along with price, so it’s all okay.

Wasn’t sure this one was safe to fire when I found a very loose receiver mount screw while cleaning it up after the trade. Yes, it’s true: I often find out what I should have checked more carefully after I’ve put my money down.

Oh, well. Sad but true. Trying to do better this year. Really.

Anyway, a bit of hardware tightening and careful cleaning (and a cautious double-check with my local gunsmith of choice– three cheers for Dan!) made me confident it was safe. My 70P is just a cheap, simple, little plinker, but it’s blooded, so there is a place of pride in the gun cabinet for what has become a genuine family treasure (though it’s still just a non-precision, utility-tool rimfire– a very temperamental one, at that– in need of some maybe-more-than-gentle “micro-adjustment” the next time it comes out of the cabinet).
Shot o’the Day is really the shot that never happened at all. It’s a jammed and bent round that was mashed up on a spent case that didn’t eject. Oh, the things that might have been …

I don’t know if that was a rare quirk or if the extractor is becoming unreliable. That’s an issue which must be resolved … and that’s a good reason to get it out again this year from some more tinkering and plinkering.

Gun-a-Day 1: Marlin 70PSS (“Papoose”), .22LR, Bushnell 3-9×40 scope

Gun-a-Day 1: Marlin Papoose 70PSS, 22lr, Stainless/Synthetic

Happy New Year! “May God’s mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.” (Jude 2)

Not only did God bless me GREATLY today with the rediscovery of the Honda and Kia keys and electric openers (all very expensive to replace — $80+ just for the Honda key) I thought I’d lost forever about a month ago (GLORY! Psalm 115:1!), but the wife and I got some time to work on the last of the major recovery work on the cabin damaged in December due to frozen pipes (due to lousy installation, actually). By the time I got to the property, my wife and youngest daughter had already dumped many, many gallons of ceiling-crud-contaminated water.

Still more to do, but it’s livable and clean. What a relief.

As if that weren’t enough, I also got some time to start my 2011 project/goal of firing at least one of my guns every day this year. The occasional house-threatening squirrel may be dealt with, but mostly it’ll be simple target shooting.

Today’s tool was my Marlin Papoose rifle. It’s a .22 caliber (22LR) take-down style with a stainless steel barrel in a black synthetic stock. It happens to be the first real firearm aimed, fired, and returned to safe position (for Scout firearm safety training) by my nephew, known in some parts of the galaxy as Robbi-Wan-Kenobi, and, today, it happened to be out at the cabin.

I made some “Great Stuff” cans dance (emptied a couple of weeks ago into the newly replaced and repainted bathroom exterior wall), and here’s my shot of the day (25 yards with the scope — kind of a weenie shot to be using a scope, but, hey, it was raining and kinda foggy!).

Almost center-punched the can, and that’s good enough for today (and plenty good enough for me almost any day).

Looking forward to every day God blesses me to experience this year. He is my Strength, my Song, and my Salvation (see Psalm 118:14).