Saturday, July 04, 2009

Great American Guns:

What would be the most patriotic thing to shoot today?

Wait, let me rephrase that, before someone says "a politician" or "the king of England"...

What firearm would it be most in the spirit of the holiday to take to the range today? An M1 Garand? A Colt Peacemaker? A Charleville Musket? A GE Minigun?

I'm curious as to what y'all vote for, and why.

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anything that goes bang should fit the bill.

Happy 4th, Tam.

og said...

I like the Nagant, because it's very presence on our shores illustrates our victory over Communism.

And the 20 foot flame appeals to me as well.

Frank W. James said...

Any LEGAL gun. Why? BECAUSE WE CAN!!!!!!!

Unlike say Great Britain, most of Europe and all of the Middle East or most Third World Countries if you're just an average, no political-pull, Joe.

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Anonymous said...

The M1 Garand...America's best

karrde said...

Well, if I had a vintage front-stuffer, I would try to knock a pumpkin off of a fencepost at 100 yds, just to remind myself that the best American Revolutionary War soldiers had to do the same thing to join the elite rifleman corps.

Other than that, it's pretty much anything available.

Larry said...

Almost anything would do, just go and participate!

I plan on running my new 1911A1 some more to break it in.

Anonymous said...

I'll take "Anything that goes 'bang' for $1,000" Tam.

Gmac

PS... Happy Birthday America!

Anonymous said...

I'm not certain a Canadian designed, government made rifle is the right firearm, but since this is America, you can shoot what you want (even if it is not "right").

:-)

Shootin' Buddy

Drang said...

ALL OF THEM!

WV: snaring

Maybe you're supposed to go trapping today, instead...

theirritablearchitect said...

19ByGod11.

John Moses will smile upon you, if you do. :)

Crucis said...

I would say an EBR in any of its forms. That rifle is now the most common rifle owned by Americans and is our present day equivalent of the Revolutionary "Brown Bess" musket.

If you don't have one, get one. If you have one, get another and 1,000 rounds of ammo with it.

Canthros said...

Tam, I believe the correct answer to your question is: Yes, all of them.

Anonymous said...

The one you least like to shoot. Shoot a couple rounds and shout "God Bless America" this one's for you!

Jeffro said...

The one that goes "bang."

Keith said...

I'm going with my M1 Garand, because it's patriotic. My model '86 .45-70 because it's big and loud, and my Lew Horton 625-7 because .45 Colt out of that short a barrel should make a fireball.

Gewehr98 said...

Loaded up a few BP .45-70 blanks for the Sharps last night, to make large booming noises tonight at my dad's farm. Of course, the wax wad and smoke thus delivered may cause concern to the environmentalists within earshot...

Word Verification: nitypock

No. "Boom", not "nitypock"

Johnnyreb™ said...

This mornings target :)


http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q256/jcresanto/Gun/Range.jpg

winslow said...

I like "All of them", but I'll settle for an 1858 Remington.

Gregg said...

I think that cleaning guns is more patriotic than shooting them today. After all isn't this the day we flipped England the Bird?

Oh yeah, and the day we told them to come over and make us behave.

Diogenes said...

I agree with Og

Unknown said...

http://joemerchant24.blogspot.com/2009/07/oooooh-thats-good-question.html

Alan J. said...

I vote for the 1911 style Colt .45 pistol. It's seen service in more Wars, "Police Actions", conflicts and Operations than any other weapon I can think of, except maybe the Marine K-Bar knife. Quick list:
1. World War I aka "The Great War"
2. World War II
3. Korean War
4. Viet Nam War
5. SS Mayaguez rescue operation
6. Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada)
7. Operation Enduring Freedom
8. Operation Iraqi Freedom
You could argue that the M-16 and its variants have seen more action, but they don't yet have the history of the 1911 Colt.

Happy Independence Day,
and God Bless America

walt said...

The best gun john moses browning ever designed. The 1911 Colt. This work horse has seen more action than a lobbiest at a DC Dem party!
The best is thet WE the Peaple have the right to own and shot our favorite guns. Everyone should remember who and why we have this right and why we should never ever give it up!!

Happy 4th and God bless America!!~

Anonymous said...

...Red Ryder...six more months to my favorite Christmas movie...

Matt G said...

Crucis pretty much beat me to it: Any firearm that is a current-production battle rifle. Or, more ambitiously, all of the firearms that you have that were main battle rifles of the United States military. For extra points, shoot off the pistols in your inventory that were official sidearms in the U.S. Armed Forces.

But, really, your carry pistol and your door rifle or trunk gun (you do have a trunk gun, don't you?) are part of what make you the militia.

Take pictures. For some reason you never do, these days. You've got the special mojo camera.

Mikee said...

Hame-built potato cannon. Sounds like the ultimate in raspberries towards authority.

Mikee said...

Home-built. Home-built. Home-built.

Too much home-made ice cream!

Although if there is a custom potato cannon builder named Hame out there, consider the above comment a free plug.

FatWhiteMan said...

Your go-to gun, what ever it is.

If the crap hit the fan today, whatever that crap was, and your community needed you to stand at the wall, shoulder-to-shoulder, armed, with your neighbors, the gun you would grab then is the one you should shoot today.

Adam said...

If you just happen to have a GE minigun lying around, then you obviously already know the answer.

On the off chance you don't have a mini-vulcan, I'd suggest the 1911. It may seem a bit commonplace now, but by God it screams AMERICA like apple pie, Coca Cola and baseball.

MrWolf said...

As an Englishman living in Australia, I'm very proud of Brits with the courage to move to a new land. I'm extra proud of the brave English colonists in the New World with the courage to fight for their freedom against the hired German mercenaries sent to cow them by a mad king. (And haven't you done well since? America is STILL the last best hope for humanity.)

I respectfully suggest that you shoot THAT gun. You know the one. The one that comes into your mind when your pulse quickens. When the alarm goes off in your head, and you think 'they can't do that! That's not right! Someone must stop them-but there's only me-thank God I've got......' THAT one. The one a free person reaches for, when stepping forward into harm's way.

Shoot it because you have it.

Happy Birthday, America.

DaddyBear said...

I'd say the M1 Garand, since that's what I took to the range this morning!
http://daddybearden.blogspot.com/2009/07/maiden-trip-to-range.html

Revolver Rob said...

I sold three today at work, all of them American made, Ruger and two S&Ws. I figure today is the day to break out the American ones...of course that'd be pretty much anything for me...

Stretch said...

Anything in .45 caliber.
.45-70 in an 1873 Trapdoor.
.45LC in a SAA (dang, 1873 was a good year for guns and cartridges)or an 1894.
.45acp 1911 or Thompson. Or an M-3 if you can.

And the M1 Garand 'cause it saved the world.

Vaarok said...

Took the Garand out 'cause I'm too cheap to shoot .30-06 M2 ball any day other than holidays.

Anonymous said...

An AR-15 variant.

Just to remind the folks who think otherwise that we ARE the militia.

Ken O said...

Tam, I am late to the party, but I hope it was something that would make the gun grabbers soil themselves!

Anonymous said...

My perennial suggestion: 16"/50 Mk. 7 naval rifle.

Jim

Anonymous said...

The ones I fired were:
M1 Garand
1911
1903 Springfield
1917 Enfield
Enfield .303
Ruger22-45
Ruger Blackhawks in .357 .41 Mag .45 Colt
I never celebrate my birthday,(the fourth of July), but I always celebrate Independence Day at the range.
Dennis

Richard said...

A kid.

Anonymous said...

1911 - "The Yankee Fist"

staghounds said...

I'm with our Englis-Australian-American (he just isn't here yet) friend, very eloquent.

And Stretch, the M1 was third in the saving the world race, rifle category, behind the Moisin, the Lee-Enfield, and the joint Lebel-Berthier entry.

David said...

I took every autoloader I own to the range yesterday morning and cycled every loaded mag I own.

You have to do that at regularly. At least that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Then I spent the afternoon wandering back and forth between tending the smoker and BBQ and the cleaning station I set up on the patio.

Crotalus said...

A flintlock Kentucky rifle, of course!

Anonymous said...

I would use the M-1 for anything that was outside the house. And the 1911 is a Prime choice for inside. Just use the proper loads and bullets. And what else would you need? Will I have others? Use others? Sure. But that wasn't the question.

Earl said...

I took my low wall twenty-two target rifle, y'all really went to a range on the 4th, didn't you?

Anonymous said...

Shot my Dad's M1 - with my Dad and two sons (three generations of uniformed service) one brother and friends, also my 1911, M1A and others. We also had two young ladies (one was younger sons's girlfriend) burn their first gunpowder that day. Dad at almost 82 had one of the tightest groups of the day with his Garand

Army of Dad said...

All of them. Failing that, any of the guns I have that once belonged to one of my grandfathers...especially if I let my kids shoot great-granddad's old .22-nothing more American than that.

Anonymous said...

I'd say the most patriotic gun in a person's collection is the one he or she would pick up first if told he or she couldn't have any.

For some that may be an M1 and others an AR-15. For me, that's a DPMS .308.