Greetings and Salutations!
So yesterday was a work/pleasure day with Gretchen. She wanted ‘date-day’ and I obliged…
With stipulations.
As the past few date-days/nights have all been ‘her’ wants/needs/desires and this time? It was my turn. So that meant range therapy.
It was also a biddness decision as I need to sell one or more of these Lee Enfields and/or auction them off. Now I know ALL of them are safe to shoot, however, I needed to ‘print’ a target at 50 yards and 100 yards respectively for two of them to make sure that they could actually hit what they were aiming for.
The results were less than stellar.
First, the good: The 1939 SMLE, my first restoration does actually group within a 5 inch circle on both targets. Both at 50 AND 100 yards. The 100 yard hits were truly a bit more spread, but I’ll take it. The problem is that the bore is at best ‘fair’ as ALL of the rounds were keyholing like a mother, which means when I start casting and ‘rolling my own’ I’m going to have to look at paper-patching to increase it’s accuracy.
It’s not a deal-breaker however.
On the other hand, the 1942 Canuckistan Longbranch?
Sheesh. This things ability to accurately hit a target is as ugly as Glen Filthie’s drawers after a drunken night of Taco Bell and Pabst Blue Ribbon. I.E. flat out stinky/shitty. As in ZERO hits out of 20 rounds thrown at the 100 yard target. I was actually a wee bit surprised it was that bad, as the dirt and sand was kicking up in clouds ALL around the target. This led me to believe I was hitting ‘something’.
When I actually policed it (the target) up?
Not so mucho.
Now, to be fair, it gets one moar chance, as I did not get to try it at the 50 yard target. Gretchen was cranky, hot and tired (menopausal like you read about there) and I didn’t necessarily want her getting pissy and pissed off on the range with live rounds. SO I cut MY test(s) off early.
We had started by having her fire her .357 Taurus revolver that I had bought her waaay back when we were living in Tennessee and working for that Lawyer-Bitch. She’d never actually field tested it, so this was the day that she got to finally crank some rounds through it. I started her off w/some basic .38 Specials, and worked her up for 12 rounds of the expensive .357 158 grain Hydra-Shok ‘combat rounds’ if you will.
She did really well with that, and then I got to test my Christmas Present from last friggin’ year… not 2024 mind you, but 2023 if you can believe it. The weapons in question:
Gretchen’s Taurus 605 .357 and my Girsan Regard Turk M-92 Clone. And NO I don’t want to hear ANYONE talk shit about the Girsan. I’ve had ZERO issues with it, and have had it going on 4 years. I just have NOT been able to try it out since Sapper got me the Holosun that I added to it:
It performed wonderfully.
Once I dialed in the Holosun, I was really impressed. The mount for it needed quite a bit of work as it was designed for the Beretta, but a couple of hours of ‘shaving/filing/measuring’ it got mounted, and as you can see, after about 60 rounds of 115 grain FMJ, the sight is still on there, and kept it’s reference/aiming point. There’s a lot of negative ‘stuff’ out there about mounting a Holosun with this particular mount, but I made it work rather well… nevermind about the Girsan brand…
And speaking of which, The Turks take a lot of shit regarding their weapons quality.
That’s fine.
I go by Personal Experience.
For one, there’s “That Guy”, Guntoober James Reeves who spends an inordinate amount of time shitting on Palmetto State “Poors” and Turkish weaponry. All I can say is it must be nice to be part of the Great Gun Grifters Club and get paid to shit on lower-priced but acceptable firearms for clout/money/fame. Much like that degenerate Garand Thumb who does the same exact thing. Shitting on good and functional weapons and try to shame people into buying their sponsors overpriced bullshit.
I mean c’mon.
The whole “poors” thing infuriates the ever loving fuck out of me. Part of the reason is that cockfags like Garand-Douche who actually served in the DotMil used weapons made by the lowest fucking bidder.
THAT is what “MilSpec” is…
The cheapest deliverable line item/NSN unit at cost that the DotMil can get for the lowest price, quality be damned. Add on that I highly doubt that, despite the most sincere masturbatory fantasies of the various Prepperbois out there, the odds of ANY of us #/normies getting into a full on running gun battle to the point we have to worry about ’round count’, overheating and throat erosion plus barrel wear is Infinitesimal Smol.
And as a side note: If you find yourself in such a situation like that, something, somewhere, has gone absolutely and catastrophically wrong in your life and with your life choices.
Plan accordingly.
90% of the time, provided it’s not complete crap, the average Turkish weapon, be it a handgun or shotgun is just fine.
If not even BETTER than the average.
My 12 gauge semiauto Boomstick is a re-worked Black Aces Tactical that I’ve tweaked out to having an 8 round mag and added the bayonet lug to, and put OVER 1000 rounds of slug/double aught and even a lot of bird shot (when I didn’t have the shekels to blow on combat rounds for practice) through it w/out any mechanical failure or parts failure. It’s my go-to for CQB Killing if needed, as 12 gauge doesn’t over-penetrate.
It irks the shit out of me honestly.
Reeves has consistently said NO Turk semiauto shotty can make it past 1000 rounds and survive. MY experiences prove otherwise, which is why I consider him an overpaid Guntoob Grifter.
Anyways.
Gretchen’s rifle?
A Basic AF M-4 Clone w/a 16in Barrel.
It does however have the “Hair Diva” touches:
Yep.
Pink Furniture ALL over.
The biggest problem outside of her trying to get a good sight picture was her fucking manicure. $75 worth of nails getting waaay in the way of her being proficient the way -I- want her to be.
The sight picture thing I’m going to have to work on here at the house as she suffers from the same thing a lot of new Privates in the Army do at BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship) school. She doesn’t understand that SHE has to conform to the rifle and not vice-versa. Her posture purely sucks, and as you can see, her nose is no where near enough to that charging handle.
<Le SIGH>
Looks like I have a few days of retraining to perform with her to get her a wee bit better. Meh… It is what it is. I mean her first AR was something I made on a bet. Mind you THIS ‘new one’ has been a safe queen for the better part of three years, as getting Gretchen to the range is like doing a root canal without pain meds. The pink rifle is supposed to be her ‘duty rifle’ if we ever find ourselves in such a position that everyone needs to be armed with a long rifle 24-7.
However…
Her first rifle was actually a pistol.
I was futzing around in my pieces-parts bins and fiddly bits when I realized I had literally enough ‘stuff’ to build another AR of some form or another. I remember the conversation, as Gretchen had just moved in, and she was questioning the ‘why’ of my need to build another AR?
I put it on her and said I’d do her a custom rifle or pistol.
She immediately came back and threw the gauntlet down, and told me she wanted a “Hello Kitty” AR… pistol or rifle… it didn’t matter to her.
So….
Challenge Accepted:
Yep.
I might have gone Full Retard-Gunsmith on that ‘un.
She of course positively loves it
She also gets ALL the chicks at the range all excited and jealous when they see it. They ALL want to know where she got it, and to be honesty I do enjoy in basking in the accolades for having done such a thing.
Even Liberty Doll on YouTube got a kick out of it when Gretchen sent her pictures of it. LD did a video on something that Gretchen just had to send pics of the Hello Kitty pistola, and she got a reply-email from Liberty Doll all digging it and asking where she got it?
Myself?
I sent some pics into Brandon Herrera for his “Cursed Guns” series on Youtube, and got back a cool email from him (theoretically) complimenting me on it and the build… he said it wasn’t a “Cursed Gun” per se in that the “…only curse this thing would have is getting you a lot of pussy on the range with it!”
So yeah, that was the weekend roundup.
Let me know your thoughts on the various fun times and weaponry. I’m always liking the comments.
More Later
Big Country
I always enjoy your posts. That is all. Except – please keep it up 🙂
Yeah, ditto. You’ve been posting a lot more lately. Much welcomed! Gotta do some more ‘zon farming or something to help pay the bills!
If guns disintegrated like Daffy Duck’s blaster pistol at 1,000 rounds most people could own it a lifetime and never notice.
I’ve never had a problem with a Taurus firearm I’ve ever owned. There are some bargains to be found out there if you are willing to shop around.
I used to own a SKS assault rifle, Yugoslav 55/66. Well, I wanted a ammunition carrier for the range.
I found a child’s purse at Goodwill. Bright pink, be-glittered, purple faux feather strapped, Hello Kitty. It was identical in dimensions and pattern to the Chinese ammo carrier. I greatly enjoy using that one at the range.
Got a near-new Girsan Hi-Power clone last year at a great price. Very accurate and well made. My freind has one of their 1911 clones and it also shoots well. No complaints at all about Turkish guns.
I’ll watch that “yootuber” for $hits and grins but I agree. I have a Winchester SXP made in Turkey and have seen some trick shooters do amazing things with that 12 ga. Love the thing, has one of the smoothest actions of any pump guns I own. Practically racks itself after every shot! More reliable feeding that my KSG too (ya gotta wrestle that thing to get it to load shells reliably.) Love the Hello Kitty job! Bet when she’s old enough for the range your GrandDaughter will love the heck out of it too.
We dig the Canik pistols so much. Tried Glocks and while I’m a Ruger fan, she’s a Canik fangirl all the way. SHE shoots better with it, which is the point of it all. I’d be down with a Turk M9 clone, seems fine to me and I bet no one would know the diff if they never looked hard at it.
I have no complaints about the Turkish handgun I had – the SAR B6. It was probably the best quality modern firearm I have ever had. Only reason I don’t have it now is that I needed funds for something else.
https://sarusa.com/product/b6-9/
A plastic CZ 75, I’ll bet it’s an awesome unit! My 1st choice for EDC is my 34-5 year old G19. Second choice would be Browning HP (or clone), CZ 75 (or clone of some type, even plastic) and last but not least, is a Commanderish 1911 in 45.
I’m not too picky, but I am old.
Back when I had a job, a cow orker told me he’d gotten a gun of some sort, and The Mrs. was on board with it. I replied, good, glad to hear it. Now, who’s going to back *you* up?
This 1000x. Even if things go completely sideways WROL, I’m not going to be heavy infantry. I’m going to be a jaeger guerilla. I decide when and where I fight. If .gov manages to force me into a fight that I can’t just withdraw from when I don’t like the way it is going, then I’ve made a fatal error, equipment irrelevant.
A guerilla has to think like an apex predator. If you don’t know that you are going to win, you don’t even start stalking that prey. You just let that elephant walk by.
People who.take advantage of our people who are just trying to get by in this world that wants to wreck them are just as low of scum and kikes who are trying to kill us off…
I’m a super fan of Turkish, Tisas. My only, current 1911 is their Stingray, commander size, bobtail, ALL forged 45. Right out of the box, the sights were centered, 1.5-3 inch groups, right on at 25 yards. After I got got it, I found out the ONLY MIM part, is the recoil spring cap. Everything else is machined steel. Trigger is a super, 3ish lbs. It has most of the modern bells and whistles, including an undercut rear trigger guard/grip area. It’s NICE.
I talked my neighbor into getting a Tisas 1911a1, I test fired it for him, it was not centered, but wasn’t far off and it kept nice 2-3.5 inch groups (it might shoot better, I have off and on days with my pistol shooting). No malfunctions.
The only malfunction with my gun, is 1, 8 round mag that nosedives with the 1st round. The other 2 dozen mags work as advertised.
My kid got one of the Tisas/SDS milspec 1911A1s. I really, really did not want to like a Turkish pistol, but I gotta give credit where credit is due – it’s a damn fine pistola for the $300 they paid for it. It’ll be a great base gun should they ever decide to build it out into something more, or just keep it the way it is.
That Tisas 1911A1 Clone is the one I’m using to play with the Hydrodipping just as an FYI. It’s a great weapon. I just hated the faux-parkerized finish, hence my playing around w/it.
THis is so disappointing.
A 1911 is only supposed to be forged Dee-troyt steel and quenched in Freedom Eagle blood under Old Glory at Mount Rushmore.
Bunch of Murika hatin’ commies round here.
Berglander, (were you sarcking us?) I agree, BUT, time moves on, the USA INC business leaders, sold us out. Turkey and the Philippines are putting out 1st rate, bet your life, affordable, handguns of all types.
Read my rant (above) about my Turk 1911 above.
To get the same features from an American gun, will cost over a grand and have MIM parts.
You may want to think about building a few of the Hello Kittys and selling them. I know ladies who would love those as a present and if they don’t that’s ok. We guys can just repurpose and recoat them and presto another gun for us with no bitching from the wife since it was HER present not ours:)
The Evil Genius will be here all week, don’t forget to tip your waitress.
My kid uses a Stoeger M3000 Sporting shotgun for trap. It has consumed thousands of rounds with hardly any problems. It isn’t really fond of 7/8 oz trap loads. It shoots and ejects, but not enough to lock open. Anything an ounce and up, it cycles without fail. Inertia system is way cleaner than gas and makes maintenance a breeze.
It is refereed to as the Turkish Benelli. Matter of fact Benelli bought them and is a subsidiary of Beretta. So, they have to make a decent shotgun.
Leigh
Whitehall, NY
I can’t watch Garand Thumb, he is just so incredibly smarmy it makes me ill. He might know his stuff but it doesn’t matter if you can’t stomach listening to him.
I agree.
And he was a Tactical Air Control Party guy. I don’t have a lot of experience in dealing with Zoomies (chair-force doodz) but I did have a boss in Iraq who was a retired PJ (Pararescue Jumper) who said he knew GT, and that he was an Uberdouche and waaaay overhyped his ‘cred’ sort of like Tim Kennedy
Another Canik fan here. Bought my TP9SF three years ago. Chose this one because it does NOT have the de-cocker. IMHO, it is what Glock should have evolved to 20 years ago. It is my first ever plastic fantastic tactical Tupperware pistol. I like it. Over some decades I have accumulated a motley collection of individual loose rounds that I have picked up at ranges indoors and out. I rummaged through the pile and came up with a dozen or so 9mm rounds, no two the same. Brass case, aluminum case, ball, hollow point, etc. I loaded them all into one magazine and fired them. Canik’s response was, “More, please”.
Bought my Benelli Super 90 M1 back around 1995. Said purchase being inspired by reading Massad Ayoob’s write up of the 1986 FBI Miami shootout, specifically the account of agent Mireles running his pump shotgun with one hand while seated. We live in a cul-de-sac. In the interest of overwhelming fire power up close, but less so at distance, my load for the M1 is Fasteel with #2 steel shot.
The Turk shotgun that I bought for my youngest daughter has chromed internals and is the smoothest cycling pump shotgun I have ever seen.
Better than my much beloved Mossberg and my daddy’s Ithaca featherweight sweet 16.
You guys just pushed one of my buttons when it comes to “gun people” in this country.
I HATE that they think that there are only certain brands, guns and calibers that you should own and everything else is “crap”. A bunch of Youtubers and authors push this crap and I always wonder if they get kickbacks or free gear from the manufacturers they push ?
At several ranges I have gotten comments that my Beretta 9mm which is one of my favorite guns to shoot is “crap” and that I should have a 45 which is MUCH better.
I also get the same crap when I shoot my WWII M1 carbine which I love, I hear “carbines SUCK and you should get a REAL rifle. If the SHTF, that carbine would get your dumb ass killed”.
Gee, excuse me for loving the guns that I do and no matter what happens I don’t plan to go head to head with an infantry squad. It’s dumb, let people enjoy the guns they like and appreciate different types of guns. Thankfully I’ve had more people appreciate my Beretta and M1 carbine than say shit about it.
“I sold my Staccato and bought an Atlas because Staccato is for the poors.”
Literally my big boss. That said, the guy and his son compete and are both good enough to justify $6k pistols.
I must be out of touch. Never heard of either YouTuber. Sounds like I haven’t missed much.
It’s all a holdover from a world that’s changing.
When I was a kid, only the coolest of the cool kids could afford MOA rifles. They’d spend anywhere from $5k up (in 1980 dollars) to get guns to shoot like that. Last year I bought a shithouse Ruger 223 carbine for $800.00 that’ll damn near go sub-MOA right out of the box. It is no longer a market truth that precision and economy are mutually exclusive. Optics, on the other hand…? I will pay through the nose for good glass and you probably should too.
But let us dispense with this inferiority complex going on round here: nobody is mocking and deriding you for your equipment or gats. Not everyone has the budget for high end guns. It’s okay. If all you have is a Spanish El Cheapo in 9mm… load it up and get in the game! The best gun for you is the one you have. It may not necessarily be the one you want – or think you want. Finding out which is which is half the fun.
These “ off brands” will kill the enemy just fine. Pushing 70 now, I was fortunate many many many of my origional rifles were purchased right out of ShotGun news back in the 70s/80s. These brands everybody’s sharing in this post didn’t exist maybe they did but I don’t recall seeing them.
I was buying M14s for 125.00 FNFALs the same, AKs 75.00 m4s/AR15s 140.00 ex mil guns. Sacramento Armory was within 20 miles of my home town which was handy. In fact what is left of SA is now located here in Klamath Falls Or. they tell me they also have a warehouse somewhere in Nevada.
Was wandering their place few months back scored another BM59, which is the Italians version of the M14. It’s mostly complete but I do need to finish it. They have some very cool kit on the shelves. Bolt rifles by the lot.
Few yrs ago I purchased a Turkish Shotgun that was three gun ready all the aftermarket shit on it. Someone above mentioned the name, I’m having a brain fart don’t recall anyway holds 12 rounds but it’s long.
The home sweeper is the 15 round KSG kel tec, this is truly an innovative SG. Tel tec impresses decent weapons at fair prices.
Was sad to see your 1911 blob hoping you were able to redo it. I carried a 1911 for 27 years, got a bunch of em. Just too heavy to carry anymore. It’s Glock 19s or Sig 365 macros anymore. If I’m feeling old schools Browning HiPower.
Guys I’d you haven’t seen or held one of the Sig 365 series when you have time have a look, Sig really been doing good work, these micro sigs are off the charts awesome natural point of aim mine have 20 round worked mag. The comped barrels are interesting, I initially thought the porting on the slide was a gimmick until I shot a hundred rounds thru it. This pistol is a game changer.
Dirk
Dirk,
I bet you and I have stomped over some of the same ground. As a young lad I grew up on a ranch just above Fiddletown. I graduated high school from Tulelake high. Last time I was around K. Falls was in 2019. Stayed at the Running Y to attend a celebration of life for my late aunt.
In MadMax WROL Apocs-a-lypse world, there will be high-dollar firearms laying around to pick up, or buy or trade for cheap at the local trader.
Anyone who’s been in a war zone can attest to being able to find pretty much whatever they needed on the local market. If they’re lucky, the bloodstains were cleaned off first.
Nobody’s going to care if you showed up with a “poverty” rifle if you can hit what you are shooting at, and can move and communicate. If someone tells you that you aren’t “serious” because you don’t have the latest and greatest gadgets…well, I guess it’ll shake out in the laundry. Keep training.
Hello Kitty rifle fucking awesome 😀
What’s the best gun? It’s the gun you have on you.
Gear queers annoy me. Also you are dead right about Milspec. Case in point would be backpacks. The medium Alice pack with the frame is very heavy. Even at the time there were far better choices out there on the civilian market. Just sayin’.
“If you find yourself in such a situation like that, something, somewhere, has gone absolutely and catastrophically wrong in your life and with your life choices.”
LOL. Sorry, but that is just solid f*cking gold
When it comes to Turkish rifles, the only one I’ve ever seen was at the Arizona or New Mexico tourist trap labeled “The Thing?” (The Thing is actually a 4,000 year old mummy of a high-born Indian princess and her infant. What a waste of advertising.) The attraction is that it is a small museum of arcana.
The Turkish “rifle” was a late medieval musket.
It’s stock was carved as a largish round ball so that when it’s one shot was fired it could be used as a club.
My friend with me was a Nam vet; he marveled at how that gun was once somebody’s tool; they carried it, slept with it, and left a couple dents in the stock with it.
Maximum cool. That tool was the memory of the man who bore it. His statue, you might say.
Off topic… sleep well: “China could sink entire US carrier fleet in 20 minutes, Pentagon chief warns.”
If that happens most of China glows in the dark 10 minutes later. 10 minutes after that it’s Atomic Boogaloo World Wide and welcome to the 1200’s. Do you have a Prepper Plan for that?
Spin
P.S. Three years out and cannibalism is a thing and Tabasco Sauce is going for big money.
You see this?
https://www.justiceforkarmeloanthony.org/product-page/justice-hoodie
“Mo Money” is just not enough.
And then there is this: White House Science Chief Says US Can “Manipulate Time and Space” — Trump Hints at Secret Weapons “No One Knows About” https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/white-house-science-chief-says-us-can-bend/
Great read, really enjoyed the detailed insights on the rifles. Just curious, do you think paper-patching will be a practical solution for improving accuracy on older bores like the 1939 SMLE, or is it more of a temporary fix?
I envy you all.
I would like to own a gun, but unfortunately you didnt give my country Germany a 2nd Amendment back in 1945.
Now the only way to get a gun is if you are a 1000% “loyal” german citizen, who went to a gun club, was vetted, psychologically investigated and spouts the gobbledidook that the state wants to hear.
Or, you are a high ranking Green / communist, like Claudia “Fatima” Roth, who hates Germany and freedom with a passion. She carries a loaded revolver in her handbag, but always denies it. There was once a picture of her handbag and someone commented of the shape of the thing inside.
Now, when the Eastern Block (USSR etc) collapsed, you could drive to a russian base and hopefully get something, but the german police was searching for something. The same if you would today go to the Hells Angels or be a member of a martial arts club with at least 80% muslims (ask me how I know this), where you could get everything.
By the way, may I ask something about your wife? I have seen women with worse nails (longer) and I ask myself how do these women manage their daily lifes, including a visit to a certain room. The only thing that comes in this regard to my mind is a scene from “Demolition Man” and the three shells scene.