Guns & Gun Related Stuff

[rangerbluedog]

Never heard of it, but that is the closest thing to mimicking a quail in flight I've ever seen.

[jerryd6818]

Anyone here ever try their skill at Helice target shooting? I recently learned about it but haven't tried it. Seems it would be good practice for game birds like quail and dove which fly in very unpredictable paths. Looks like fun.

Ken

Not for me. If the target is sitting still, it's dead and just don't know it yet. If it's moving, it's as safe as a babe in it's mother's arms.

[Steve Warden]

That's cool!

[Colonel26]

I’d heard of it but had never seen it. Looks fun!

[Mumbleypeg]

Not for me. If the target is sitting still, it's dead and just don't know it yet. If it's moving, it's as safe as a babe in it's mother's arms.

Nothing like a man who knows his limitations!

Not me though. If it flies pretty much straight, like a duck or a goose, I do fair. But if its flight is erratic it's a good bet I'll miss. We don't have many quail around any more but on doves I average hitting about 2 birds per box of shells. On a good day.

I'm thinking maybe that Helice practice could do me some good. But after reading up on it a little and watching a few more YouTube videos about it I think I'd have to invest in some different hardware. I'm an old school pump gun shooter - I don't own an auto-loader and only one double (a 20 guage side-x-side). My dad always said an auto loader was an ammo waster.

Looks like them ol' boys and gals shooting Helice are outfitted with autos and over/unders. I think you'd have to be really really good to use a pump.

Ken

[jerryd6818]

I shot Skeet back in the late '70s and tried Trap. Nope. If it moves, it lives to fly another day. I think I shot a 24 at Skeet, maybe twice.
We lived down a bit south of Champaign, IL when I was in my mid teens and hunted pheasant a few times. The only one I killed was a hen with a .22 rifle down in the creek that ran behind our house. I thought it was a rabbit moving around in the brush.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

That looks really cool. I'm with Jerry - I would only try it if there is also a video where 9 out of 10 of the shooters miss. That would make it more inviting to me. Back when I was bird hunting, I was pretty good with pheasants that popped-up flying straight away from me, and I was also OK with sitting in a ditch and waiting for the dove to fly over me. However, anything that required me to pan, track, lead and fire - forget it.

[FRJ]

When I was a kid I once shot a running ground squirrel with my 22. That was fun.
Shot a boat load standing still. I'm glad they don't fly.

I got this old Hoppe's No. 9 at the flea today. $5.

[treefarmer]

The ZZ target shooting reminded me of an event about 50 years ago. Seems one of my wife's uncles was always wheeling and dealing with folks that were big in shooting, hunting and fishing. He ran the hunt club on the family's ranch. Most of the members were local business men, well to do and then he also invited a couple of us younger fellers to join, for a fee of course.
We were informed that on such and such a weekend that there would be a "pigeon shoot" on the north side of the camp. Uncle told us to keep the deer dogs, horses and four wheel drive trucks and buggies south of a bridge on the little creek that ran through the camp. Parking was marked out on the north side of the camp and a strange looking shooting range was set up facing the vacant land under the large power line that went through the property.
For the days of the "pigeon shoot" he hired some of his uncles, old retired fellers, to man the gates that led to the ranch. The road to the camp crossed through another ranch so there was a gate as you got off the hard road and another at the property line about 3 miles from the main road. The old uncles opened and closed the gates for all the folks that were invited to the pigeon shoot. The parking place was filled with big fancy motor homes and lots of Cadillac's and such.
When the shooting started we crossed the bridge and watched the activities. There were about 6 spring loaded traps set out in an arc out away from a point where a cord from each trap was at a center point, that was occupied by a person called the trapper. Each trap was loaded with a live pigeon, a pull of the cord and it propelled the pigeon up and naturally it would fly away providing a target for the shooter. Seems they rolled the dice to determine which trap was activated. (The 2nd year all this was done electronically rather than with the pull of a cord.) The shooter had two shells, both had to be fired at the pigeon even if it was killed with the 1st shot, rules you know. All this was in an area surrounded by a low chicken wire fence, similar to the low fence in the video. The shooting was done very politely. The "trapper" would say, "Is the shooter ready?" The shooter would reply, "The shooter is ready, Pull!" Out from a trap would fly a surprised pigeon....
The shooting went on for hours and it finally dawned on me what was going on. This was some sort of a gambling deal. The folks in the big motor homes followed a circuit of "pigeon shoots" around the country. They had the finest double barreled shotguns, several sets of barrels in fancy cases and all were dressed in the finest of shooting fashions. One particular shooter, a lady, was dressed in very short leather skirt, she got a lot of attention.
The interesting part of this escapade was Uncle must have made a killing hosting this event as he did it for a couple of years. The shotgun shells the shooters used had to be purchased from him and each shooter was required to fire two shots at the pigeon. The shell were $5 a piece. The pigeons were purchased from, I think, New York City. They had some sort of live trapping campaign going on to reduce the number of pigeons in the city. So Uncle had 10,000 pigeons shipped to him for the pigeon shoot. Lots of them escaped untouched and some flew off carrying a bit of lead. Dead pigeons were not uncommon around the camp house for several weeks.
This was most likely not lawful back about 50 years ago and I'm pretty sure it is not legal anywhere in the country in the politically correct society we live in today.
Just a recollection of Central Florida before it was completely overrun by tourists and others. All this once ranch land is now covered with housing projects, condos, shopping centers and asphalt.
Treefarmer

[Quick Steel]

Used to shoot skeet during my Army days. Shot best with a 20 ga. which is not saying I shot well. Had a fine Charles Daly O/U.

[royal0014]

Interesting story treefarmer. Doesn't seem ethical, but I suppose
trapping the pest birds in the big city sorta helps ....

That zz thingy flies fairly low. Wonder how often the 'launchers' get shot ??

[Doc B]

This is interesting...if you post a picture of your gun...and the serial number is able to be identified by software..Google and Facebook are cataloging that information. You may want to Photoshop out any serial number...
https://www.tacticalshit.com/facebook-a ... u-0KkIpe9U

[Colonel26]

Well isn’t that just lovely. If true, nothing good can come of that.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

While the basic facts of the story may be true, it is a bit less insidious than it sounds. They are running OCR (optical character recognition) on ALL images, and using any text found in the image or the text on the page those pictures are found to help retrieve those images in searches. I'm not saying Google & Facebook are innocent (I would NEVER say that!), just that the whole story was not included in these reports. They would also find VIN numbers of cars and serial numbers of all other products that might have been put on the internet.

Bottom Line: ANYTHING posted to the internet is potentially searchable. If you don't want the info to be found, don't post it.

[Steve Warden]

Cimarron single action army - thoughts?
Looking at this ---> https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/front ... -2-in.html
Gotta save my pennies, but not if the pistol isn't worth it.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

I've not shot one, but I've read mixed reviews on the Cimmaron replicas. I think it depends on what your goals are. If you want a very faithful replica of a original Colt, and all the good & bad that entails, then these can be a good deal. On the other hand, if you just want a really good shooting SA pistol right out of the box, then the more modern technology in something like a Ruger New Vaquero is undoubtedly a better shooter (at a much higher price!)

But, I think what I might do is find out if there is a local SASS club in your area. They would have plenty of opinions on SA cowboy guns!

[Quick Steel]

Just acquired this FN [Fabrique Nationale] Compact 9. I have had a soft spot for FNs ever since I had a Belgian made HighPower, which I should have never sold. This model was a very good buy which came with 3 magazines: two 12 rounds and one 17 rounds. The 17 and one of the 12s carry the finger extension. I still get pretty good purchase with the non-extended mag. I appreciate single actions but I wanted a double action only being somewhat oriented towards revolvers. I will share my experience with this gun after I have taken it for a test drive at the range.

[steve99f]

Cimarron single action army - thoughts?
Looking at this ---> https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/front ... -2-in.html
Gotta save my pennies, but not if the pistol isn't worth it.

Steve

You could pick up a used Ruger Vaquero or Blackhawk for about the same money as that Cimarron. It is exceedingly rare to wear out a gun and Ruger's are bank vault strong. 38/357 is a good way to go. Think about 45 Colt too. Think about the barrel length you want, shorter is handier.

[steve99f]

QS, nice gun, looks handy and I like the leather you have for it too. Make a very good carry package.

[Quick Steel]

Thanks Steve. It will become my concealed carry assuming it demonstrates the usual FN reliability. My Ruger SP 101s will become bedside guns. The holster is from South Africa, Azula brand. Came with my initials stamped on the back.

[Steve Warden]

Cimarron single action army - thoughts?
Looking at this ---> https://www.cimarron-firearms.com/front ... -2-in.html
Gotta save my pennies, but not if the pistol isn't worth it.

Steve

You could pick up a used Ruger Vaquero or Blackhawk for about the same money as that Cimarron. It is exceedingly rare to wear out a gun and Ruger's are bank vault strong. 38/357 is a good way to go. Think about 45 Colt too. Think about the barrel length you want, shorter is handier.

Thanks Steve.
Will definitely be going with the 38/357. The 38s are cheap enough for plinking, the 357s have the oomph, if I want it.
Will probably go with the 5-1/2" barrel. Just seems to be the right proportion.
Getting used may prove interesting here in Jersey. While I do have my firearms ID, that'll only allow for an "any time" purchase of a rifle. To get a handgun, I need to get another permit that is only good for 90 days. My worry would be finding the pistol I want, then having it sold while I wait for the permit paperwork to go through. Jersey government isn't known for their speed. I'll certainly look into buying used when I have the cash ready to buy.

Edit to add: just took a look at the Blackhawk. Can't say I like the looks of the front sight. Just doesn't say, "Wild West" like a blade post on the Cimarrons. And there's the reason I'm looking at the SAAs - that Wild West look.

[Mumbleypeg]

Steve, have you looked at Uberti? https://www.uberti-usa.com. I haven't shot one but have handled and dry fired several different models. They pass muster from what I can see and I'd like to take one or two to the range and try them. Olde Cutler speaks highly of them (do a search for Uberti here on AAPK if you're interested).
Per their website there are several models with MSRP under $700 which usually means they can be bought for less from dealers. The website shows several dealers located in New Jersey.

Ken

[stagman]

Just re-gripped my Ruger Vaquero and took it out too try it out...
Wow...new grips are twice as fat at bottom as the stock ones are...
fills the hand and gave me much, much better control of the gun,
especially when you are firing off several shots in succession.
Gun is 45 Long Colt....
They are Ivory simulated from Arizona Custom grips..
Pic of my rig with new grips below

Stag

[Steve Warden]

Just re-gripped my Ruger Vaquero and took it out too try it out...
Wow...new grips are twice as fat at bottom as the stock ones are...
fills the hand and gave me much, much better control of the gun,
especially when you are firing off several shots in succession.
Gun is 45 Long Colt....
They are Ivory simulated from Arizona Custom grips..
Pic of my rig with new grips below

Stag
000_0012.JPG

WOW! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!

[steve99f]

I'll say! Looks like a good rig stagman.