The Smallest Minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. – Ayn Rand
Anybody out there own or shoot the 6.5mm Gibbs? It’s the 6.5-06 carried to its maximum case capacity. I’ve been doing research into the various 6.5 wildcats and this one in particular has piqued my interest.
That’s a .270 on the left, 6.5 Gibbs on the right.
Ballistically, it’s supposed to push 140 grain bullets to 3100-3200 fps out of 24″ barrel, and the B.C. of the very good 140gr projectiles runs from about .580 to .612.
And it fits in a standard “long” action.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE?rel=0]
Just a reminder to my Arizona readers that there’ll be a shoot in Casa Grande next Saturday, 1/24 at the Elsy Pearson Public Shooting Range in Casa Grande beginning at 0700 and running until we get tired and go home.
Same as last year, the range opens at 7:00AM. There are no rangemasters. There are no chairs – bring something to sit on. The firing line is covered and there are concrete shooting benches, however.
The city has porta-potties out there on a permanent basis, so we don’t have to rent our own (but bring your own TP just in case.)
The rules are pretty simple:
No explosives, no .50BMG rifles, no tracers, no incendiaries, clean up after yourself, don’t be a dick.
The rifle range is 300 yards deep with the first berm at 200. The mountains that form the ultimate backstop are another 300 yards out and farther. The ground there is reinforced concrete disguised as sun-baked clay. Forget about any target stand that needs to stick into the ground, it ain’t happenin’ short of bringing a sledgehammer. Steel and targets that don’t need taping are best, but if you bring something frangible be prepared to clean it up after it’s blown to pieces. And the benches are funky-shaped. Regular camping chairs are marginal, stools and folding chairs are better. I bring a folding chair, a target stand made of 2″ PVC pipe, and my 1″ thick AR500 plate steel swingers. I also have some .22 rimfire rated rolling targets made of steel, and some polymer self-sealing targets. I think I still have a case of bowling pins, and some clay pigeons.
It appears turnout will be light – I’ve gotten five confirmed replies so far, and a couple of maybes.
I recommend you bring: water or other non-alcoholic beverages (no alcohol on the range), sunscreen, ear and eye protection. Ladies, don’t wear anything low-cut or open-necked. Yes, I’m sure it looks lovely, but you don’t want to catch hot brass down in there. OPTIONAL: Something to shoot with, and something to shoot AT. If you’re a reader or a non-gun blogger interested in coming to a off-the-cuff funshoot, please come on down! I imagine most of us will be bringing multiple firearms and lots of ammo, but if you don’t, well, I’m willing to let people shoot my stuff (with my ammo), and I’m willing to let them shoot at my targets.
If you’re coming, please let us know in comments.
UPDATE: Looks like seven or eight of us so far.
The 480 Achilles. Quote from the link:
The 480 Achilles is the product of 5 slightly warped minds, Lewis Ballard, Aaron Bittner, John Killebrew, Doug Mann and me, Jim Taylor. The project was a collaborative effort upon which we pooled our brains. The puddle which resulted from this pooling may have been shallow but at least it was slippery.
Today in the mail I received two gifts from LuckyGunner.com, plus a nice Christmas card with a handwritten note from Anthony Welch. One gift was this coffee mug:
The other was a gift card.
Wow. The last thing I did with/for Lucky Gunner was review some of the Fiocchi primers they sell back in 2010, and I attended the machine gun shoot they sponsored in 2011. They’ve sponsored the last several Gun Blogger Rendezvous, but I haven’t been deeply involved in that until this year.
Whoever they’ve got doing their internet marketing is not slacking.
Thank you, y’all. And merry Christmas to you and yours.
The 20mm Vulcan Bottle Opener:
Just $19.95. Prime eligible.
Via reader (and heroic comment-recoverer) John Hardin comes another example of how accurate the media is when reporting on StuffTheyKnowNothingAbout™ – in this case, guns:
Well, THAT one is “primarily plastic” because it’s an Airsoft TOY. My M&P9 has a completely steel slide and barrel, as does every other M&P model I’m aware of.
This is from a CNN story, The U.S. Army is seeking a new gun. Some excerpts:
The Beretta M9, used by the U.S. Army since 1985, is manufactured by a 500-year-old Italian company, which has a factory in Maryland. The Beretta was the “lethal weapon” in the 1987 box office hit action movie “Lethal Weapon.”
No, Sparky. Detective Martin Riggs was the “Lethal Weapon” in the action movie “Lethal Weapon.” He carried a Beretta, among other firearms. (Mel Gibson also flinched uncontrollably when he fired it, ruining some of the suspension of disbelief, though he played crazy like it was an Oscar-worthy role.)
Here’s an interesting admission, however:
Polymer pistols have become increasingly popular as lightweight and ergonomic, particularly among women, a fast-growing demographic among gun users.
A growing demographic even though, we’re told, that there is declining gun ownership! So once again we’re “informed” by the supposed Gatekeepers of Information, again exercising their role as the clergy in the Church of State.
Yawn.
Thanks, John. I’m not blogging much, but it’s still nice to get pointers to interesting stuff.
UPDATE: Fellow Tucson blogger David Hardy points out more errors.
…which remains the single most popular post ever here at TSM, but it’s still pretty impressive – especially for a handgun:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA9nTNelQ6o?rel=0]
The Na’vi have been wiped out, and mining of Unobtanium has resumed.
My 8-lb. keg of Unobtanium Unique finally came in. Along with a 4-lb. keg of Power Pistol.
Remember, I found a 8-pounder back in June. The retailer wanted $299 for it, plus HazMat. I passed.
Powder Valley still shows the 8-lb. keg for $109.25, but they don’t have any. My local retailer wanted $199.00 plus tax. I paid it. And $99 for the Power Pistol.
Remember those halcyon days of, oh, two years ago when pistol powder was about $18/lb in quantity? Yeah. So do I.
The shop got in two of those 8-pounders. Another customer saw mine and bought the other one on the spot.
Looks like I’ll be loading this weekend!
From the minds at AR15.com, a poster showing all of the eeeeeeevil components that make up the AR15 rifle:
But I must admit that “Merciless rage piston” ranked right up there.
If you want to waste a few hours days, go to the originating thread at ARFCOM.