Saturday, November 4, 2017

Jonesing for a new firearm

Mrs ERJ walked into the study where we have the computer.  She noticed my wallet was open and my credit card was on the desk.

"Whatchya buying?" she asked.

"Oh, just buying a few magazines." I replied.

"Anything I will want to read?" she asked.

"Probably not." I replied.

"OK.  No biggie.  It is good for you to get stuff that is just for you." she said.

I am not really sure what there is to read on a magazine.
Every once in a while I get to Jonesing for a new firearm.  I think many of my readers feel the same itch.

 If I sit quietly and take deep breaths I can manage the urge.  Often I can defer it to my next check or windfall. By then more immediate needs pop up and I forget about my itch.

One of the items on my bucket list is to get one, or more, firearms that is chambered for 5.56mm NATO ammo.  5.56mm ammo is easy to come by as are reloading components.  In spite of what the mass media outlets say it is a cartridge of very modest power.

Its strength lies in the firearms it is packaged in and the ability of those platforms to send many round downrange with little trauma to the shooter.

Handguns are all well and good, but if you are serious about hitting a target you want a long gun.

Shotguns throw a lot of lead downrange with each pull of the trigger but ammo is bulky, heavy and reloading is tedious.  Studies of shootings suggest that a hit rate of 1-in-10 is pretty common.  A typical shotgun holds five rounds.  You do the math.  The popular press also contends that shotguns have a limited range.  This is less of an issue that it first appears.  Virtually any shotgun will put Foster Slugs into a paper plate at 40 yards.  Virtually any court in the country will convict you of manslaughter if you shoot a goblin at 40 yards unless he is actively shooting back.

Attempting to be clinically realistic here, there is probably a 25% chance that semi-automatic, centerfire rifles will be "illegal" in 10 years.  I don't want that to happen but the possibility is somewhere north of zero.

I know that sounds defeatist and I know that some of my readers are thinking "When they pull it out of my cold, dead hands." but there are some other things to think about.

If you accept that the human is the weak link in the system and that it might become unwise to practice outside with a semi-automatic weapon, what are the other options for the thousand repetitions that you will need to grease-in* the muscle memory that will pull you through sensory distortions caused by a massive adrenalin dump?  How are you going to be able to maintain that muscle memory?

The magic of the Mossberg MVP series is that they are designed to accept AR style magazines.

It is not semi-automatic but it is not very long, not very heavy and will accept a Red Dot scope.

20 rounds of 5.56mm is nothing to sneeze at in the hands of even a moderately competent shooter.  To give you a sense of perspective, the .44 Remington Magnum (Dirty Harry's handgun) maxes out at 24 grains of powder and the 5.56mm round comfortably holds 25 grains of powder.

The .44 Magnum holds the edge when you have grizzly bears coming through the window that that is rarely the problem.  The 5.56mm NATO round certainly it has more than enough power to readjust the priorities of Hominid goblins at ranges of 5-to-500 feet especially when loaded with a tough +55gr soft-point or a mono-metal bullet.

I don't have the budget to buy the entire rifle but I had enough extra in my checking account to buy a few magazines.  I figured I better pick them up while things are calm. And I did pick up a few 10 round magazines, just in case.

*"grease-in" is a term that is rarely used any more.  Presumably from the application of "elbow grease", another term you don't hear much anymore.  If any of my worldly readers have a better explanation for the origin of the term "grease-in" I would love to hear it.

1 comment:

  1. Buying magazines...heh. That one would probably work on me least once...just saying.