The first, 500 Guns, was something of an oasis in the current frenzied hurricane. It's not really an AR15 kind of place, although they usually have some Glock/HK/XD/SIG-type pistols in stock, but if you're looking for a cased double rifle in a caliber that begins in "5", this is the only place in town where you'll be able to comparison shop them.
There was nothing in the shop I couldn't live without, but the Enfield No.2 Mk.IV .22 trainer was mighty tempting. I have often thought it would be fun to go to a smallbore-only indoor range and watch the RSO's expression as I blithely un-cased a SMLE.
From there we proceeded to Premier Arms, which was packed like they were giving dollar bills away. They hadn't jacked prices on anything, but had signs up stating that they had a 1 box per caliber per customer policy in place.
All the ARs and AKs were gone, as well as the AUGs and FS2000 and several other EBRs that were usually in stock. The self-loading shelf was denuded save for a stainless Ruger Mini-something-or-other and what looked like a collector-vintage Colt SP1. Didn't see any AR or AK mags, either, but I didn't look real hard; I got mine.
I did see a deadly high-capacity assault weapon that tickled my fancy, however. And we can't just let these things run loose, right? We're supposed to get them off the street, no?
 |
| Thirteen rounds of .32 caliber fury. If you can find a less practical pistol, buy it. |
It is safely off the streets now. (And for only two-and-a-half used GI 30rd magazines at current Cheaper Than Dirt pricing!)
Good score on that pistol Tam!
ReplyDeleteSometimes practicality isn't everything!
Plus 13 rounds should make up for the .32 part!
I've fired one of those Enfields; the looks on people's faces when that little 'crack' comes out instead of CRACK, is wonderful.
ReplyDeleteDoes it have a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window?
ReplyDeleteooh! very pretty, Tam. :)
ReplyDeletei bought the 84 version of this very recently. it was a police gun originally and appeared to have been stored in the armory by flinging it into a drawer with it's buddies. the finish was...rough. i got her home and cleaned her up and touched up the finish with aluminum blacking compound, new set of grips. the Italians make a very sexy gun.
Being a .32 makes that Beretta an even more killy Saturday Night Assault Weapon
ReplyDeleteBuon per te signorina tam!
ReplyDeleteGerry
Iirc that cartridge is. 984 oal. Talk about an angry inch!
ReplyDeleteAh, memories of the early 1980's when those little Berettas - - and the similar Brownings - - were for sale in every gun store. I remember trying them out at the time, and those little pistols fit my hand perfectly, much better than a 1911, in fact, which is what I owned at the time.
ReplyDeleteVery cute. You'll be wanting reloading dies for that, and reloading tweezers.
ReplyDeletePicked up a CZ83 in 32 acp not long ago. Ideally it was for my mom, but she can't pull the slide back. May have to sell it, since my personal flavor of 32 is a Manhurin and Walther PP.
ReplyDeleteI did shoot it...and I did like it...but neither dad or mom can pull the slide back on it. Oh well. Dad can pull a revolver trigger at least, will have to get mom to try one out at some point it seems like.
Tam, one question, do the spare magazines for that Beretta run as much as one for a CZ does? Paid almost 60 just to have a second one for the 83 because, well, one is none after all.
The best local gun store hereabouts is H & H Shooting Sports Complex, at http://www.hhshootingsports.com/
ReplyDeleteThe local news reported last night that Miles Hall, the owner, has reported the store sold 2,000 AR-platform rifles in two days. This shop has its act together, and it doesn't surprise me that it could handle that volume. That the volume itself doesn't surprise me goes without saying, but I wrote it anyway.
Ooooohhhhh.... I want the .22 Lee!
ReplyDeleteSadly (or not so) I'm only budgeted for a mint 1917 Enfield on Friday that looks like it spent 90 years on somebody's wall, with maybe an annual oiling and polishing of the stock.
Maybe they want to trade for something?
I was finally in a gun shop yesterday, a small one catering more to collectors, and the proprietor said that Colorado background checks were taking as long as eleven days, instead of the usual 15-20 minutes.
ReplyDeleteSweet find, I'm glad your keeping that deadly weapon off the streets, your a true patriot ...........;-)
ReplyDeleteThat's a real score! And pretty one too! Doesn't look like its ever been used.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia calls it the Cheetah. Teh sexy!
ReplyDeleteThe price rises during the current madness are worse than in '94!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't really wished I had more money in the panic until I saw this: http://www.armslist.com/posts/765783/huntsville-alabama-handguns-for-sale-trade--smith---wesson-model-17--k-22-masterpiece---22lr--
ReplyDeleteSame guy is listing several fine revolvers at good prices.
That little Beretta is awful cute. Let me know if we ever need to do a trade.
ReplyDeleteJohn
CURIOUS AS TO THE SMLE IN .22 HOW MUCH WERE THEY ASKING ?
ReplyDeleteNAVIGATOR,
ReplyDeleteCan't remember exactly. Somewhere between six and seven bills, I think?
My littermate carries one of those in .380, fits her hand perfectly.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the asking price on that Enfield? It would fill a hole in my collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Jim
What Jim said. Any idea what they're asking for it?
ReplyDeleteEven the spooky efficient Rodney Wells over in East Hartford hasn't had one of those passing through his grasp in maybe 18 months to two years.
Got it. Six to seven, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI walked all over the French Quarter for a couple of days feeling very well armed with a Colt 1903 Pocket Model in .380. That Beretta could lay down the proverbial wall of lead! Would YOU want to be shot six or seven times, real quick, with it? I think it's plenty of pistol for self protection.
ReplyDeleteYou have the good taste.
Oh...nice! So pretty.
ReplyDeleteTam,
ReplyDeleteguy has a BCG for $375?
http://www.armslist.com/posts/767393/columbus-ohio-rifles-for-sale--ar-stripped-lowers-350-00-new-nickel-boron-bcg
Will,
ReplyDeleteAt that price, I can wait. :)
Went to the gun show today with three old "jam-line" mags for a 10/22. Just to see how crazy it is getting. A guy traded me 4 bricks of 22 ammo for them...even tho I told him they were worthless POS 25 rnd mags...
ReplyDeleteHe said that didn't matter as later they would bring high dollar once they were banned ha ha
WC Fields was indeed correct...
Tam...Good luck with your 81...I found an almost pristine 84B no bow but two original mags.. Itt now lives in my safe nxt to the HK P230 Sl
ReplyDeleteUse RBCD rounds - its not *so* impractical....
ReplyDeleteI have often thought it would be fun to go to a smallbore-only indoor range and watch the RSO's expression as I blithely un-cased a SMLE.
ReplyDeleteAaaaaand now I have a truly irrational desire for a Barrett M82 chambered in .22LR. :D
"Thirteen rounds of .32 caliber fury. If you can find a less practical pistol, buy it."
ReplyDeleteI already own a Taurus PT-25. So there.
"Thirteen rounds of .32 caliber fury..."
ReplyDeleteSo...what is it, pray tell, that is "less practical" about that?
An Autopistole any less than J.M.Browning's Sacred .45 ACP is, admittedly, only really useful at just-beyond-arm's-reach-or-less ranges* - but, if 13 of those .32 Cal. Spits Of Fury won't put it down for keeps, either a) one is possessed of incredibly poor aiming ability, and must bear the cruel-but-justified consequences, or b) one must simply batter King Kong's facial areas with one's freshly-emptied Beretta Pocket Hammer until one's companion can managed to load, aim and fire the backup W.W. II German 88 MM antitank cannon...
In short: If you can't get it done - at short-though-practical range - in 13 rounds, you're not likely going to get it done at all.
*Having carried - and used - for "social purposes" a .380 Astra for some years, many moons ago, I'm in a position to know - which is in large part why I now carry a 1911-type in .45 ACP. Not so concealable, but much more effective at safer distances. I'd carry a Desert Eagle .50 AE if I thought I could, but a fella's got to know his limitations...
Some random thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI imagine the Eye-ties would tell you it shoots 7.65 Browning rather than .32 ACP. :)
That's a very stylish piece but doesn't look like one to carry concealed. More a sidearm for the Polizia.
However, don't poo-poo the .32 so quickly. I would love to carry my Mossberg 500, but it's not very concealable, you know?
Particularly in the summer months. I'm shorts and tee shirt then and I have to forgo my winter carry setup - a Charter Bulldog .44 Spcl in a OWB holster.
I go with a pocket gun instead, a Kel-Tec P32. Yeah, a mouse gun, but I can consistently put Win Silver Tips into a 3 inch circle at 7 yards with that pistol.
Like they say, a .22, a .25 or a .32 in the hand beats the hell out of a .45 locked up in the safe at home.
Also, the .22, .25 & .32 naysayers never want to volunteer to stand in front of one those mouse calibers and take one. Why not?
Oh, caliber certainly matters, but the deciding factor is shot placement.
I should learn more about these gun things. ;)
ReplyDeleteWoo-hoo. You made Instapundit. Congrats.
ReplyDeleteNice iron!
ReplyDeleteNice irony!
Sure it's only a 32, Tam. But I notice nobody is lining up to be test shot with it!
ReplyDelete"I don't want to hurt anybody. Give me a couple of .32's." Bob Hope
ReplyDeleteReading this is painful ... here in NY, there is no such thing as going to a gun store and just picking up a beauty like this. Here you have to pay for it, then apply to have it put on your license, then wait for a form giving you permission to pick it up at the store, and then finally take it home. And with a 13-round magazine, permission would not be granted. Ouch...
ReplyDelete"Reading this is painful ... here in NY, there is no such thing as going to a gun store and just picking up a beauty like this. Here you have to pay for it, then apply to have it put on your license, then wait for a form giving you permission to pick it up at the store, and then finally take it home. And with a 13-round magazine, permission would not be granted. Ouch..."
ReplyDeleteIf you're stupid enough to still live in that hellhole of blue state idiocy, you deserve what you get. Or, to be more precise, what you CAN'T get...
Just to be in the thread on your Instalaunched post, I will admit that having two Colt Model 1903 Hammerless pistols gives me the highly impractical ability to carry 16 rounds of puissant .32ACP.
ReplyDeleteMore or less practical than the svelte Italiano in the picture?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Pardon this curious guest's ignorance.. what makes this gun so practical?
ReplyDelete"Pardon this curious guest's ignorance.. what makes this gun so practical?"
ReplyDeleteIt's not very practical at all.
It's roughly the size of a modern Glock 19, which holds 15 rounds of 9mm, and yet it holds fewer rounds of a less-powerful, harder-to-find, more-expensive chambering.
Basically, it's a fairly large pistol, of the size found on a carbinieri's belt, but chambered for .32 cartridges, which are more normally found in little wallet-sized pocket pistols, and not an unusually large number of them, to boot.
In the summer months I carry one of my old PPKs as my usual carry guns print like a freakin' sandwich board. I never feel unarmed with a .32. Whilst swimming, I have a Bauer stainless .25, and I feel pretty unarmed with that, but not as unarmed as I feel without it.
ReplyDeleteI am so going to steal your "took it off the street" line.
It's adorrrable!
ReplyDeleteBut I'll take my CZ97B any day. And for pocket purposes, my Kahr K9.
You'll love the Cheetah. They are fine pistols if they fit your hand. When I first picked up my Model 86 I knew I had found my gun. I have since collected more of the family and find them all delightful, especially the Model 89 in 22lr. But the 86 is perfect for me. It's an ideal geezer gun because of the tip-up barrel, since the slide never has to be racked, which the arthritic fingers appreciate. It's the largest caliber I've ever seen in a tip-up design (380 ACP). And it is very easy for this old fat guy to carry. It continues to make me look better at the range than I really am. I hope your Cheetah becomes as good a friend to you as mine has to me.
ReplyDeleteThought of you today, Tam as I was in WM and they had 5-6 boxes of .32 Auto and no other handgun ammo. I could hear Q's voice in my head talking about "that damned Berettar."
ReplyDelete