Thursday, November 25, 2010

Last weekend...

...I went to the gun show in Lafayette, IN. It's a cozy little show; maybe half to a third the size of one back in K-town and a tenth the size of the monstrous Indy 1500s to which I've grown accustomed, but the variety is good and the guns-to-beanie-babies ratio is stellar.

There were a few interesting items on offer. A guy had a beautiful Mannlicher-stocked Ruger No.1 "International" in 7x57mm; I was tempted, but it was a bit rich for my blood. Another table had a brace of reasonably-priced Winchester 1907s, and if the guy who usually sets up with rare & collectible ammunition and magazines had been there, I might have grabbed one. But alas, there wasn't a single round of .351 Winchester Self-Loading to be had at the show, so I demurred.

I wound up doing the practical thing and picked up a Smith & Wesson M&P-15/22 and more rimfire ammo. Since the nearest places for me to shoot my centerfire AR are the better part of an hour's drive, this will allow me to get short-range carbine practice in at Iggle Crick. I mounted my Bushnell FACOG on it, and I'll fit it with an VLTOR stock and Magpul MBUIS so that it will handle as much like the real gun as possible.

24 comments:

Drang said...

"FACOG"="Fake ACOG"?
I was looking at those, but decided to splurge on myself and got an EOThing.

Tam said...

""FACOG"="Fake ACOG"?"

Yup. :)

og said...

I always liked the 05/07/10's. I see them all over the place, some at decent prices and many even with original magazines. It's the Winchester equivalent of the AMC Pacer: unusual looks, anemic power, just enough going for it that you want one, but not enough that you'll readily admit it to your friends.

Sport Pilot said...

Tam, Very prudent of you picking up the S&W M&P 15-22, I recently purchased one myself for much the same reasons as you’ve indicated, mine is the MOE model. It is a surprisingly accurate rifle that fully mimics the handling characteristics of its centerfire brothers. Of all the .22 rimfire rifles I own this is the first to seriously tempt me to go through the paperwork and expense of purchasing a silencer. Still undecided on that angle but maybe…

Firehand said...

Got a question, Tam: on that FACOG, how high does it sit above the rail? I stuck a scope on my 15-22 to try out and had to use REAL HIGH rings to not have to crush my cheekbone on the stock.

Mike M said...

Tam:

You'll enjoy it as my Wife and I enjoy ours. Replacement magazines are cheap, it's accurate and reliable and feels and functions very much like the real thing. I use the fake ACOG, by the way, on my ARs. It's a solid sight that doesn't cost as much as the weapon itself.

Have fun!

Anonymous said...

Being practical?

Hanging out that Shootin' Buddy is having a bad influence no doubt.

Mike S said...

There's a bit of a technique to loading the 15-22 magazines - if you look inside, there's a slight ridge to the rear, and you need to make sure every round's rim winds up back there. If you just pull the buttons down and drop rounds in, they won't all get back there, and then you get all kinds of misfeeds.

Lots of fun to shoot though!

theirritablearchitect said...

Nothing wrong with the Bushie FauxCOG, as I've always called them. They might not be quite as robust, but they're priced right, and otherwise a good bit of kit. You can buy three or four for the price of the real thing, and put them on similar rifles (I'm sure your intent is along the same lines), for consistency in your arms and training.

Tam said...

Firehand,

"Got a question, Tam: on that FACOG, how high does it sit above the rail?"

It's a center co-witness with the factory irons.

Firehand said...

Very nice! I'll have to take a serious look at one.

After the problems with the first 15-22, the replacement has been without fault, and a fun rifle to shoot; a sight like that... hmmm, more funner?

Old NFO said...

Interesting idea Tam, I'll go look into one. Thanks!

John A said...

If you think wierd can be interesting, just found a very interesting pistol pictured -

http://neveryetmelted.com/2010/11/24/rube-goldbergs-48-shot-revolver/

Someone had WAY too much time available...

ajdshootist said...

The 7x57 is a wonderfull cartridge cant quite make up my mind which i like most the 7x57 or 6.5x55 decisions decisions!

Fred said...

44mag.com's got the best prices on 15-22 mags I've seen. I've got 7 now, so I'm good for a while.

Did you get one with the flash hider and make me jealous?

Home on the Range said...

I hit the one last year. It was a good little show.

Maybe next year I'll have a normal schedule.

Happy Thanksgiving Tam! There are extra croissants made and in the freezer.

Tango Juliet said...

I'm looking forward to the feedback on the S&W.

Anonymous said...

now that's something I need to do next week, send my damn .22 M&P back again.

Tam said...

tomcatshangar,

What's it doing? (Or not doing?)

Anonymous said...

Tam, FYI pay attention to the ammo recommendation in the owner's manual. I've run about 2.5k of CCI Mini-Mags, no issues. The Remington bulk .22LR is junk. Very similar to putting kerosene in your car.

Montie said...

Tam,

Yes, you won't find .351 WSL ammo on the shelf at your local sporting goods emporium, but as the owner of a 1907, I have managed to accumulate quite a bit of brass, and a good bullet mold that throw a 180 gr. cast bullet. I only shoot my reloads even though I have also managed to accumulate about 1 1/2 boxes of Peters 180 gr SP and 1 box of Western 180 gr SP. I hesitate to shoot any of it since factory ammo is damn near collectible.

I say all that to demonstrate that ammo for them is out there if you look hard enough.Now, if any of your readers could point me to a 20round extended magazine, I would be really happy (the factory mags were 10 round, the 20 rounders were made originally for law enforcement use).

black hat said...

I've been searching every possible corner of the interwebs for insight on the various AR type rimmers and have just about decided to sell off my unfired V22 upper and take the plunge with one of the S&W offerings. The only thing that's holding me back is the ability to catch one before someone totes it to the counter for the 4473 drill. I've figured out the auto-sear deal, and will be making a carrier trip next week so a stuttering rental here is forthcoming.

Firehand said...

I don't buy Mini-Mags; they're often hard to find and cost too damn much. My 15-22 runs very well on Federal bulk-pack hollowpoints and several others, but half the time won't even chamber the Remington Golden Bullet.

On the other hand, friend has a High Standard Sport King that won't run right with anything EXCEPT Remington GB.

AndyJ said...

I went to a small gun show in Sullivan, Indiana this weekend and one person had 3 1/2 boxes of .351 ammo for sale for $100. The boxes looked like they came from an antique shop. If you still want them, let me know, I know the guy and I don't think that they sold.