Backstory is, I got my Wednesday Sierra Sun and in amongst the advertising supplements was one from Cabela's Reno store like there is every week.
A word about Cabela's if you're not familiar with them - a huge store, what we used to call a "sporting goods" store, now called "outfitters", which in actual fact can outfit you for every kind of outdoor activity from a short hike to a year in your bunker. Fishin', huntin', hikin', campin', shootin', boatin', ATV-in', blastin', an' grillin' barely begin to cover it. Mrs. G bought some delicious fudge too!
Anyway, they had an item on sale that I've wanted one of for thirty years. I wasn't actively pursuing said burning desire but it leaped off the page at me and off I went.
The store has a firearms counter about a hundred feet long with three full time staff. Enough rifles, pistols, and assault weapons to equip a small nation's army. Or make a gun nut pop serious wood. There were several of those there, but I took a number and got right up, serious buyer that I was.
I bought one of these. If you click the link you can "add to cart" and buy one at the sale price right there. It's called the "Model 1851 Confederate Navy .44 Caliber Revolver". I don't care for the Confederacy very much so it's just the "1851 Navy" to me, and that is how the manufacturer refers to it everywhere except when it comes in a Cabela's box.
It is made by Pietta in Italy. Them Eye-ties is a-catchin' right up in the field of modern weaponry! It's well made and quite heavy. A good looking piece too, to my eye, and it's in my favorite caliber.
Keep in mind that this thing is no toy. It's a .44 caliber revolver that is perfectly capable of killing a human being, not that I have any plans to do so. Perish the thought.
I bring that up because there are several anomalies in our firearms laws regarding black powder firearms. There is no background check required. I am a California resident and was able to buy it across the counter in Nevada, which I could not have done with a "normal" firearm. Hell, they didn't even ask my name. If I had paid cash, there would have been no record of the transaction. Which I was going to do, except they offered me an additional $25 off my purchase if I got a Cabela's Visa card, which, thrifty sort that I am, I did. Then they wanted to know my name! Heh. I filled out a very short form. The clerk handed me a complete finalized credit card about a minute later and I headed for the cashier and that was it.
Note: I had a choice of 5" or 7" barrels. I opted for the 5" barrel on the logical assumption that the extra 2" would slow down my draw when the Blue Helmets/black helicopters/revenooers/guys with the big butterfly nets/whomever come for me.
I also bought some Pyrodex, percussion caps, and a "starter kit" so I can shoot the damn thing, which I probably won't be able to do until spring because the road to our local firing range is closed due to snow. I don't dare even load it because I haven't the faintest idea of how to unload it except by pulling the trigger which is a bozo-no-no in town. I'm looking forward to it though. Should be big fun!
The following video shows one reason perhaps why there are so few restrictions on buying these - they take more time to reload than you would have at a mass shooting spree before the cops come. Not exactly a weapon of mass destruction. The one in the video is purported to be a Colt but it looks exactly like mine.
Thanks to Lylea876.
Afterthought:
The only other firearm I ever bought over the counter (at our local Longs Drug of all places) without a background check was a perfectly functional M1 Garand. One of the finest mankillers ever devised, it's considered an antique and thus no check is required. Since I carried one of those in the Marine Corps for a while, I guess I'm an antique too. Sigh.
6 comments:
It's aweful purdy but it looks kinda heavy too.
I guess that would help with the kick though, that's a pretty big slug you're throwing.
Congrats Gord!
Thanks, Nucks. I've wanted one of those in .44 since like forever!
Someone who is experienced in loading this thing can load all six chambers in roughly 90 seconds.
As vs. a 9mm semiautomatic Glock pistol, where reloading with 17 rounds takes approximately three seconds including racking the first round into the chamber.
Six shots is more than enough for personal defense, the reality is that inside a home you'll rarely get more than one shot at a criminal before he's on top of you. Thus why the shortest-barrel shotgun that's legal is the best home defense weapon you can have, put 12 gauge buckshot into an attacker and he's not coming towards you anymore, he's going *backwards*. People who whine they need a Glock 17 for personal defense are just plain lying. Same deal with rifles like an AR-15 or the Bushmaster used at Sandy Hook, they're *terrible* self-defense weapons due to its small round, which has virtually no stopping power and as I mentioned you'll rarely get a second shot in a home defense situation. As for the overthrow a dictatorial government scenario, I know of no combat veteran who has anything other than giggles at the notion of these legend-in-their-own-mind "militias" ever managing to do anything more than get themselves killed in the event they tried to take on anything other than unarmed civilians. The U.S. Army knows how to do counter-insurgency. The fact that they lost in Iraq and Afghanistan is due to logistics and intelligence, if they'd had good intelligence they would have wiped out the jihadis to the last man, woman, and child. Well, every single one of us is so monitored here in the USA that intelligence is an issue our government would never face if it decided to become dictatorial, and logistics ain't a problem when your guns, ammo, and food are being produced in the same nation they're being used in. Good luck with that one, armchair warriors...
- Badtux the Well-armed Penguin
(With a 12 gauge shotgun, yo -- those pussy "assault rifles" are for punk pukes with no clue).
Well said, my Penguin friend!
The 5.56 (.223) round does its damage by tumbling once it hits you. Some of those kids took 10 or more rounds. I shudder at the thought of what those rounds did to them.
As Bill Jordan, an old Border Patrolman and a veteran of many firefights, said in his book "No Second Place Winner" when asked what weapon he would have if he knew he was going to be in a gunfight, "A sawed-off 12 gauge shotgun". I would add a modern riot gun, but I heartily concur.
Yeah, but why was that clown shooting that poor tree? What s wrong with him? If he can buy guns, he can buy a safe target instead of shooting at living things.
Hmmm. I'm sort of pleased to find support for my opinion that a shotgun is the thing for home defense. Speaking strictly for myself, the last thing I want to do is "aim" if my home has been broken into. What I want is to point in the general direction and take out the intruder and any walls that are standing around as spectators. I expect my hands would be shaking but I could probably manage a second round - you know, in case a wall somewhere was still intact. Of course, the vital point is to know that there is an intruder and you have to know it BEFORE the knife is across your throat. (Yes, I've had an intruder and no, I didn't know it until he had hold of me. I was lucky but most people are not.)
Jay in N.C.
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