When you buy a firearm, it generally comes with disassembly instructions.  If you’re gonna shoot it, ya gotta clean it…and when it gets dirty enough, ya gotta take it apart to get it cleaned right.

Actually, taking it apart is the easy part.  As so many of our experienced readers know, the challenge comes when you try to put the damn things back together.

Hint…leftover parts are NOT a good sign, and were NOT usually extraneous to the design…

As a kid, I was proud of my ability to disassemble, clean, and most importantly, reassemble the family firearms.  And I remember my frustration at age twelve when I ran into the first gun I couldn’t properly do that with, the Ruger .22 caliber semiautomatic pistol.  (I was later relieved to learn that grownups went nuts getting it apart and back together, too. There are actually tools to help you do this. Google “Brownell’s.”)

Today I am old and lazy, and probably go too far between cleaning guns – well, at least the play guns as opposed to the work guns. Some of my match guns don’t get cleaned until I realize that lower life forms are beginning to evolve in the mechanisms. I knew I was getting sloppy when a friend asked me, “Mas, what do you use to clean guns?”  I heard myself answer, “Armorers.”

In rural America, where guns are handed down through the generations and bought or swapped between friends, owners’ manuals tend not to last as long as the hardware. Today, most gun manufacturers will happily furnish you with the manuals. Trouble is, in “backwoods homes,” there dwell lots of guns whose manufacturers are no longer in existence..

Two good friends in law enforcement recently passed on a tremendously useful website for this stuff. It’s called “Steve’s Pages” and you can find it HERE.

It’s an absolute treasure trove of info for maintaining firearms, including the ones that are rare, and exotic, and obsolete.

Many thanks to the cops who turned me on to this – I’ve thanked them already, and they know who they are – and particular thanks to Stephen Ricciardelli who makes “Steve’s Pages” available as a resource to the rest of us.

Yesterday morning, I listened to the on-line stockholders’ report from Sturm, Ruger Inc., delivered by Mike Fifer, the current CEO.

I had the impression of an honest man giving honest answers to honest questions.

I knew and admired the late Bill Ruger, Sr., the company founder. He was always proud that his corporation had no debt. That’s still true today.  Too bad we never elected a man like that to run the whole damn country. Congrats to Fifer and his crew for keeping that paradigm intact.

Item: there are some 300 different SKUs (Stock-Keeping Units, or specifically different products) now being shipped out of the Ruger plants in Newport, NH and Prescott, AZ.

Item: the newly introduced products are the ones that are selling best. Welcome to typical American consumer values. “We want new! We want it now!” (That’s me talking, folks, not Fifer…but apparently Fifer is seeing the same thing.)  The small frame LCR revolver introduced last January, and the LCP .380 pistol introduced the year before, figure hugely in those massive sales, which seem to be up somewhere around two-thirds higher than the previous year.

Item: innovation is alive and well in American gunmaking. Said Fifer, “We took orders for three times what we thought the best case scenario would be, during the first 48 hours of the (2008) SHOT Show. (Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade, the primary industry show in the firearms world). We’ve been adding engineers left and right, made offers to two this week, and are still looking for more.” Concluded Fifer, “I don’t think we have enough new products.”  Fifer later added that while there are teams working on new platform products, established products are still getting “line extension” – modifications that better suit them for specific purposes for which a market has been identified. The bottom line is that new projects are getting the most attention.

This blogger’s take…

Fifer has done his homework.  He has under his command some of the most brilliant engineers currently working in the firearms industry, and some of the most savvy marketing folks who best understand the real motivations of the people who buy guns.

Personally, I was impressed as hell with their SR556 interpretation of the AR15 rifle. Fifer was candid enough to say in his talk to the stockholders, “There were some cost overruns on the SR556, but it will be a good long term product for us.” (Damn, in this blog several months ago, I TOLD ya the SR556 would be a good buy for the consumer. When the manufacturer admits it costs too much for him to make, that’s nature’s way of telling the consumer he just got a helluva deal.)

Fifer and his people get out and go into gun shops. They talk to consumers. (Interact with those who buy and sell what you make? THERE’S an idea whose time has come!)  They’ve noted that empty shelves are filling back up again, more with guns than with ammunition.

Bottom line? Ruger is a profitable company to invest in because it listens to its end-user marketplace.  That’s what makes companies successful in this country.  That’s what Bill Ruger, Sr. did to make his company successful.

I still remember standing beside Bill Senior’s grave on the day of his funeral…but right now, I have to think he would be proud of where his company has gone since he left us.

Ruger’s LCR, introduced this year, is selling extremely well.

Earlier blog posts on new Smith & Wesson products here in the last few weeks triggered a visceral storm of criticism in the Comments sections for S&W’s continued installation of an internal lock on most of their revolvers. The turn of the key locks the mechanism and renders the gun unshootable, even if it is fully loaded.

S&W has departed from the current policy twice. First, as mentioned here in comments, they quickly sold out a run of Airweight .38 revolvers made on older frames in stock, which did not have the controversial feature. Second, they’ve had good sales of their “lemon-squeezer” series, so called because these models come with a grip safety that the company feels, apparently, makes the internal lock redundant. These are still available, and can now be had in Airweight, the Model 42-1.

My experience and research has shown that spontaneous locking of the guns during firing (characterized as an ILF, or Internal Lock Failure) has occurred, but rarely. It normally involves very powerful guns with very violent recoil, and also very light guns (Scandium, Titanium) firing these extremely hot rounds. The buffeting from the heavy “kick” seems to be what’s jarring the parts out of alignment.  However, one of our readers reported in the comments section that he saw an all-steel S&W spontaneously lock after it was accidentally dropped. Again, a violent impact to small parts seems to have been the culprit.

I know several folks at Smith & Wesson, some highly placed, who don’t much like the locks either. However, prevailing corporate policy says the locks are going to stay for now.

Personally, all the S&W revolvers I carry or use for anything serious are older models without the locks. While I’ve bought several of the lock-equipped later models, all but one were for sport. The single exception is the Model 340 Military & Police, a roughly 14-ounce five-shot pocket revolver chambered for .357 Magnum. This gun has a unique sight concept: a huge XS Tritium Big Dot front, and a humongous U-notch rear.  Developed by S&W engineer Jason Dubois to the best of my knowledge, this arrangement allows the very rare combination of fast sight acquisition in poor light, AND extreme accuracy. This gun puts every shot in one hole at 7 yards if I do my part. I’ve shot hell out of it with hot .357 Magnum loads and never had a spontaneous lock, but I still carry it with milder 135 grain Speer Gold Dot 135 grain +P .38 Special just to be sure. (And because, in a gun this light, the Magnum rounds are just painful to shoot.)

I did not remove the internal lock, for the simple reason that I’ve seen a prosecutor raise hell about a deactivated safety device when trying to establish the element of recklessness that is a key ingredient in a manslaughter conviction. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the defendant was so reckless that he DEACTIVATED A SAFETY DEVICE ON A LETHAL WEAPON, and so arrogant that he thought he knew more about the gun than the factory that made it!”  That’s a mountain I’d rather not have to climb in court, nor debate in front of twelve jurors selected in part by opposing counsel for their lack of knowledge of firearms.

Smith & Wesson makes their Military & Police semiautomatic pistol line with options: the customer can have it with or without manual thumb safety, and with or without internal magazine disconnector safety. I wish S&W would offer the same options with their revolvers, but it’s a much more complicated and expensive thing to do in revolver as opposed to pistol manufacture.  In the meantime, we simply have the choice to buy a different brand. If you have chosen to remove the internal lock feature from your late-model S&W revolver, do yourself a favor and download copies of threads on gun forums in which this issue is discussed, and cases of lock failure are documented.  Keep them on file. If you become the test case, that material may help to defuse arguments that removing THIS particular safety device means you’re a reckless person.

When the sights allow a five-shot group that all hit the aiming paster at 7 yards like this, without even using the Crimson Trace Laser Grip’s projected red aiming dot, Mas can forgive the internal lock. Keyway is seen above cylinder latch on this Model 340 M&P .357.

I dunno whether “it’s something in the water” or something in the Kool-Aid, but yet another gun auction has ended with an insane amount of money changing hands.

Remember the 1982 movie “Blade Runner” with Harrison Ford?  It’s set ten years from now in the future, the year 2019, and Ford is an LAPD detective whose assignment is chasing down “replicants,” humanoids with super strength and fantastic agility who turn ugly and murder real people.

Prop-makers out-did themselves with the futuristic weapon they created for him. They took an inexpensive Charter Arms Bulldog, a five-shot .44 Special revolver designed for concealed carry, and enveloped it in the receiver of a Steyr-Mannlicher SL .222 Remington caliber sporting rifle with a flat “butter-knife” bolt handle. The double set triggers of the rifle replaced the normal trigger group of the Charter .44.  A brown plastic grip with finger grooves was fashioned by the propmasters, and capped off at the bottom with an aluminum butt-plate.  An LED module went under the barrel, which did nothing but flicker red and green and look, well, “futuristic.”

One commentator, Kevin McPherson, said it resembled a revolver with a smog control device. You can find his hilarious send-up of the whole thing, titled “Blade Runner 101,”  on line in the September/October 2008 edition of American Cop magazine. I thought it was a wonderful read.

Well, old friend Jim Shults passes along the word that this prop gun was just auctioned off for $258,750.  That price does not include buyer commission, so the estimated total due when the auctioneer’s hammer came down is in the range of $270,000.

Was it Richard Pryor or Robin Williams who said, “Cocaine is nature’s way of telling you that you have too much money”?  This item could fit that category, too.

Scroll down a bit lower on this blog, and you’ll find that the mansion of the great gun designer John Browning is up for sale in Ogden, Utah. It would make one heck of a bed-and-breakfast catering to gun fanciers.  Perhaps whomever buys that piece of genuine American history can get together with the understandably anonymous individual who paid $270K for the “Blade Runner” prop, and put that “gun” prominently on display.

Then they can advertise their new B&B as “the haunted mansion.”

‘Cause I’m betting that guests will be able to hear the ghost of John M. Browning retching.

Photo courtesy: Profiles In History Auction House

A few entries ago, you were promised that as soon as we got our hands on the latest new Ruger rifle, you’d hear back. Well, we muckled onto three or so of ‘em this past week, so here we go.

We toured the production cell at the Newport, New Hampshire plant. Ruger’s switchover to “lean manufacturing” has changed the look of the factory dramatically in the last few years. SR556s were literally flowing off the production line.

But, enough of that: how does it SHOOT?

The subtle feel of the mechanism as it cycles is different from your usual Stoner-type AR15, because the Ruger entry works of a piston design, specifically a proprietary two-piece piston. One of my fellow shooters said, “It feels like a whoosh, not a sproing.” That about describes it, even if it ain’t engineer terminology.

My buddy Russ Lary threw a 6.5-20X variable power Leupold Tactical scope onto his T&E SR556, and cranked it all the way up. Twenty power magnification ain’t much for sophisticated bench rest shooters, but for us meat n’ potatoes riflemen, think “Hubble telescope with crosshairs.” At about 100 yards, he found sub-one-inch groups easy, with Match grade 69 grain and 77 grain loads from Black Hills Ammunition shooting the tightest.

The piston system does indeed run cool. I could race a pair of 30-round magazines through it as fast as I could pull the trigger, and the carrier (bolt) was still room temperature to the touch. I’m told by folks I trust at Ruger that this thing has gone 20,000 rounds without a malfunction OR a cleaning in factory torture-testing. In the several hundred rounds of 5.56mm and .223 Remington that we’ve run through it, we didn’t have any malfs either.

It’s early yet, but I’m likin’ this rifle!

Russ Lary discovers that the SR556 is accurate…

…Gail Pepin discovers that the SR556 is reliable…

…and Mas discovers that the SR556 is fun.

On the SR556 production line.

At the National Rifle Association’s annual convention last week, Ruger announced their new SR556 rifle.  It’s an AR15 clone, chambered for the 5.56mm NATO/.223 Remington.  The “SR,” of course, stands for Sturm, Ruger.

The buzz on the Internet gun boards is one of disappointment. Ho, hum, another drop in the great sea of cloned AR15 semiautomatic rifles.  And, of outrage: “$1995 manufacturer’s suggested retail price?!? They’re out of their minds!!”

I have to respectfully disagree with both assessments.

The founder of the company, the late William B. Ruger, Sr., was a friend of mine.  He positioned his namesake company as a leading manufacturer of robust, high quality, high value firearms that were, for the most part, “sporting arms.”  Bill garnered the lasting enmity of hard core gun rights activists many years ago when he supported a ten-round magazine capacity cap, long before the Bill Clinton Assault Weapons Ban, which thankfully sunsetted in 2004.  I discussed it with him, and disagreed to his face. He told me he did it because he dealt face-to-face with the elected officials on Capitol Hill, and they told him that the anti-gunners were presenting themselves as the voice of reason and compromise, while the pro-gun people were seen in Congress as intractable and not giving an inch.

The introduction of this rifle by Sturm, Ruger strikes me as a positive turnaround in a number of ways that go beyond the hardware.  It follows the introduction of their tiny, pocket size LCP .380 concealed carry pistol and the reinstatement last year of sales to the general public of 20-round magazines for their popular Mini-14 .223 rifles. I see that as a tacit admission that, yes, defensive firearms and not just hunting or target guns are OK for ordinary people to own and use, dammit.

A few years ago another major player in the hunting/target rifle field, Remington, introduced their own AR15 clone, the R15, which they sell as a hunting rifle. (Remington is owned by Cerberus, which also encompasses two major AR15 manufacturers, Bushmaster and DPMS.) In a time when our new President has blatantly announced that he would like to ban such “assault rifles,” the Remington and now the Ruger introduction of AR15s signals a growing public acceptance of a paradigm shift that says even more convincingly, “It’s OK to have these rifles.”

“The Second Amendment isn’t about duck hunting or target shooting.”  I personally believe every law-abiding citizen has a right to have these guns. But it helps our argument when it is realized that the AR15 is the gun that for years has been winning the National rifle championships at Camp Perry, Ohio, and has been accepted as an ideal tool for eradicating large fields of disease-bearing prairie dogs, and for humanely destroying marauding coyotes.  And for that alone I say, “Good for Ruger!”

As to the price, careful analysis shows that it’s not really unreasonable.  First, this is a piston-action AR, which historically has cost significantly more than the original gas-operated Stoner design. Second, it comes with pricey, top-quality components such as MagPul magazines (high capacity, thank you very much, and three per rifle) and premier grade BUIS (back-up iron sights) from Troy Industries. Couple that with the fact that even in today’s sellers’ market, Rugers generally go out the gun shop door for less than MSRP. May not be the bargain of the century, but you’ll get good value received.

I hope to have my hands on one of these rifles next month. If that works out, I’ll let all y’all know how it performs.

The sky was darkening, and little droplets were beginning to fall when my significant other and I reluctantly left the county fair tonight.

We left smiling.

In a grim world where most indicators only point to more grimness – the economy, man’s inhumanity to man, the whole nine yards – you need to get your mind off the bad news somehow. That’s why the entertainment industry seems to flourish during economic depressions.

The county fair was a trip back in time. I got to congratulate our local head librarian on the blue ribbon she won for her prize plant. Paused to chat with a Backwoods Home reader who was steering folks toward the 4-H exhibits. Watched the young future farmers of America glowing with pride as they led their heifers into the center of the arena. Listened to the laughter of children on the Ferris Wheel and the other rides that would probably give me vertigo at my age. Vicariously shared the sinful, always self-apologetic indulgence in funnel cake, which seems to be fried dough buried under a snowstorm of powdered sugar. And cheered with the little kids at the Pig Races.

There was even something from my world there: a shooting gallery sponsored by the local 4-H Club. Shooters had a choice of archery or air riflery. We couldn’t resist the latter, which consisted of Crosman pellet rifles hooked up to a humongous CO2 tank, with small targets that appeared to be at the regulation air rifle distance of 33 feet, the International standard of ten meters, from the shooter. Even got to watch the significant other set the benchmark for the top score of the night.

Yeah, it was raining when we left, and soon the thunderstorm was in full cry…but it wasn’t enough to dampen our spirits from that short, welcome trip back to a tradition that has preserved heartland American values.

Things are tough all over. Municipal, county, and state budgets are facing critical shortfalls that could cause severe limitation of ability to deliver emergency services in a timely fashion. A brother officer recently sent me a whimsical photo that says it all: a police K9 car with a Chihuahua in the back seat.

In Hawthorne, Florida, the police department was disbanded because the community couldn’t afford it anymore. Hawthorne will presumably pay the county for sheriff’s deputies to take up the slack. The same has happened with other municipalities in the area.

The Washington Post reports that “Philadelphia officials are leaving 200 police positions unfilled and cutting back on overtime…And police in Atlanta are shouldering a 10 percent pay cut after all 1,770 employees and the police chief agreed to a furlough of four hours per week.” This gives a broader view of the problem.

Our nation is veering toward an economic depression. Poverty breeds crime. More crime demands more cops, but there are going to be fewer.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Sun-Sentinel offers this story on the current, acute ammunition shortage due to panic buying. True, a lot of that comes from public fear of pending legislation under the new Administration.

But could that simple formula of more poverty, more crime, and fewer law enforcement officers just have a little bit to do with ordinary American citizens feeling a need to be more prepared for crisis than usual?

A while back, I posted about “grail guns,” items collectors have a particular yen for. Mine was the full-size Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver in the iconic 3.5” barrel configuration. We got lots of good, nostalgic comments from readers about their particular “grails.”

Well, after a lot of false starts, I can quote Hagar the Horrible and happily say, “I got mine!” I just had one of those landmark birthdays with a “0” at the end, and my sweetie and some friends chipped in and got me one from an Internet gun auction source.

Marked with a little bit of honest wear that just gives it more character, this sculpture of finely finished blue steel and well-worn checkered walnut is a five-screw (read: “Old World detail and craftsmanship) revolver whose serial number indicates it was produced in late 1954 or early 1955. In the name of production economy, Smith & Wesson eliminated the upper sideplate screw about a year after this one left the factory, and decided it could do without the one in front of the trigger guard circa 1961-62. Smith & Wesson introduced this gun and its cartridge in 1935, calling both simply “.357 Magnum.” Along about 1957, S&W went with numeric model designations, dubbing this one the Model 27. Thus, earlier specimens such as this one are known to collectors as “pre-27s.”

This one is as tight and functional as the day it left the factory. This deluxe series was always famous for its smooth action, but this one is particularly slick and light of pull, in both double action and single action modes.

As I sit here fondling this long awaited masterpiece of the gunmaker’s art, my significant other sighs and mutters, “Men…they’re so easily satisfied.”

I don’t understand why she says it as if it was a bad thing…

Below, the “birthday gun,” a pre-Model 27 with 3 .5″ barrel. Gorgeous finish has wear that “shows character.”

“5th screw,” below rear sight on sideplate, and “4th screw,” at front of trigger guard, have long been gone from modern Smith & Wessons.

The barrel configuration of this particular model is unique and distinctive.

I was out on the range today with Master shooter Steve Sager, and pistol champ and photographer Gail Pepin, to get some pictures of Savage Model 110-series rifles for the upcoming Backwoods Home story commemorating that popular firearm’s 50^th Anniversary. So it shouldn’t be a total waste, Steve took the opportunity to verify the zero of his Model 10 heavy barrel .308.

All that was handy to use as a bench was an old, weathered picnic table that was ready for the fire pit. Accustomed to shooting from a proper concrete shooting bench, Steve centered himself on the table and proceeded to squeeze three shots into the target 100 yards away. The group measured 0.95” center to center. Minute of angle with the first group out of the gate: the sort of precision we’ve both come to expect from the 110 family of Savage bolt rifles.

As he stood up from the table, Steve commented on how wobbly it was. The table was also sagging enough in the center that he couldn’t get the rear sandbag rest under the stock, so he just put the fore-end on the front bag. For the circumstances, it was damn fine shooting.

My turn was next. Observing the inhospitable conditions Steve had found at the center of the table, I moved to the far end and set up directly over the wooden crossbeam legs. This proved much more solid.Because the end was higher than the center of the sagging table, I was able to align with the target in such a way that I could put the V-shaped rear rest under the toe (lower rear edge) of the stock, and still use the front sandbag so long as I put it atop a plastic cartridge box. With my support hand on the forward bag to help it keep its relationship to the fore-end, I fired my three.

They went into 3/8ths of an inch.

Now, this doesn’t mean I out-shot Steve. Quite the reverse, I think. With the rifle wobbling on the weak mid-section of the old table, Steve had needed much more finesse and timing and trigger control to put three shots under an inch. With the gun in a much more stable position when my turn came, shooting a group twice as tight was actually easier. I’ve shot a lot with Steve, and I’ve come to believe he’s actually the better marksman.

Mas, left, & Steve retrieve the 100-yd target.

Steve takes the usual center bench position, but bench is swaying and wobbling. His left hand tucks butt into right shoulder for best stability under the circumstances, and…

…he still ends up with a sub-one inch group. Ammo is his own handloads, with 147 grain full metal jacket boat-tail bullet. All photos by Gail Pepin.

Mas is on far right edge of bench; X-beam support directly below rifle is more stable. This location also puts him higher, at an angle where he can use additional sandbag under buttstock, while support hand is free to stabilize fore-end against forward sandbag…

…and the result is this 3/8″ group at 100 yards, same Savage Model 10 rifle with Leupold 3-9X scope and same ammo, with 2 bullets in same (larger) hole. Getting the most solid rest makes a world of difference!