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ART ON THE RANGE
Time magazine’s Elizabeth Keenan—once spooked by firearms, now a member of Sydney’s Royal Australian Naval Reserve Rifle Club—explains her conversion:
Guns aren’t moral agents, they’re machines—elegant, superbly efficient, made to fit the human hand. I now think it entirely possible that the American gunsmith John Moses Browning “sitteth,” as his admirers say, “at the right hand of God.” Shooting for sport isn’t, as I once thought, the desperate outlet of sad Hemingway types, but a fiendishly difficult art.
Read whole thing.
UPDATE. Kadnine: “It’s a truly remarkable piece of writing. Keenan explains her conversion to shooting enthusiast with grace, wit, and sensitivity.”
I recommend big game hunting.
They’re easier to hit.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 16 at 02:37 AM • permalink#5 There’s a big bore I’d like you to shoot, then—goes by the name of Lowenstein…
Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 05 16 at 04:05 AM • permalinkSeriously, a great piece; short, sweet and—most importantly—totally in line with my own views.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 05 16 at 04:12 AM • permalinkI have a bit of a black powder fetish myself, but try finding a purveyor of quality musketoons at a thrifty price!
Posted by Daniel San on 2006 05 16 at 05:24 AM • permalinkWhen I was a kid , my Dad owned a number of firearms. I didn’t grow up “with” guns - they were never a part of my family’s day-to-day life. Dad was a car enthusiast - today he would be called a petrol-head. He had a love of the precision of the way that things were put together by people with that particular innate sense of engineering, for want of a better word.
He explained to me how to feed bullets into a Winchester .44 lever action rifle ( think several 60’s TV shows ) and how to safely remove them. This rifle was a work of art - it has long since been surrendered under the amnesty - and was simply a beautiful piece of engineering. Among many other guns, also now gone, were exquisite handguns, pistols, derringers, revolvers. There remains a token ( inoperable ) Tranter used by by the NSW Police in the mid-1800s, a percussion ram-rod revolver. It’s a most elegant and discussed paperweight.
None of these weapons under my father’s stewardship ever hurt a living creature.
The gun stuff is not simply about the weapons and it’s not simply about the people. It should be about balance - and I now, regrettably, feel that our society has lost that quality and can no longer appreciate the ownership/responsibilty balance required, whether it be a wonderfully sculpted piece of weaponry, or a 4 wheel drive.
#6, Mental Floss, thanks for the giggle. Is boor meat as good as…, never mind. There are just too many of them.
My dad taught me to hunt for the very practical reason of putting meat on the table. The fall hunting season usually filled the freezer for the winter. We were never allowed to shoot anything we didn’t intend to eat.
I learned a lot about the importance of paying attention, respecting reality, and using my head for something other than a hat rack by learning to shoot and hunt.
An excellent article. And the simple truth: Guns are not evil.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2006 05 16 at 09:25 AM • permalinkdanielsan —
http://www.navyarms.com
http://www.dixiegunworks.com
http://www.atlantacutlery.comPosted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 16 at 09:26 AM • permalinkI see Elizabeth had her photo taken with the Lee Enfield .303 ... I remember carrying around one as a school cadet, many years ago, for 5 years with pride. I also loved the L1A1 SLR (FN), with its crafted bolt that fitted into the carrier, another work of art. I could shoot extremely tight groups with the SLR on the range. There’s something about firearms made of steel and wood.
I’m still trying to find the remaining verses of a song that started ... “Bullets and bayonets and marching feet, the smell of gunpowder and smoke” ... can anyone tell me the next two verses, I’ve forgotten them.
Thanks
Much of the joy of shooting in the US depends on where you live. I’m in the Peoples Republic of New Jersey and have been shooting regularly for 52 years. I find that when I’m not working…I’m shooting.
The problem around here is that the ranges have slowly closed one by one. The closest reasonably priced range is 265 yards out at Fort Dix Civilian Range 14. Not much of a challenge for my new 24” Varmint AR variant. It’s too crowded for hunting, there is no public land for plinking any more, and the moonbat attitudes about guns are beyond hope of repair.
Now that the kids are gone we’re moving to free America…and hopefully lots more places to shoot.
Obligatory link:
Royal Australian Naval Reserve Rifle Club:
http://www.ranrrc.org/Posted by ausdiplomad on 2006 05 16 at 10:43 AM • permalinkAustralians will never forget the carnage perpetrated in April 1996 by the psychopathic moron Martin Bryant using military rifles purchased without any check by Tasmanian authorities.
He killed 35 people in a day in a quiet tourist location.
He will rot in jail until the day he dies, and the law abiding gun owners of Australia will curse his name long after the mongrel is dead from either old age or a shiv in the back from from his fellow inmates.
Not only because of his horrendous crimes, but also the day that we, the citizens of Australia, were no longer trusted to own our firearms.
The actions of one deranged idiot and the howling of the inner city elite dumped a basic freedom in the rubbish bin.Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 05 16 at 10:43 AM • permalink#16 lmassie:
I assume you hunt, what do you get in the Colorado mountains? I have no problem with hunting. Done it myself when younger.BTW, I have argued against some others commenters here about open access to weapons. That’s not hypocrytical IMHO. It’s an emotive argument that will probably have a few comments posted next.
Cheers ...
Stevo — In Colorado you can hunt deer, elk, antelope, bighorn and the occasional talk radio host.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 16 at 11:16 AM • permalinkStevo,
You are right about the ‘emotive arguments’.
I know from you your previous posts that you are ex military.
How do feel about appealing to a pimple faced junior walloper at your local copshop and filling in reams of paperwork to justify that you can be trusted to own a low power shotgun or a bolt action .22, despite your years of weapon handling in the miltary?
Thank you O Lord and Master for bestowing the favour upon me your unworthy subject?
Get your photo taken, attach your photo firearm license to your drivers license (the de facto ID card) and take your photo licenses to your gun shop to buy ammo, but only in the calibre on your license?
Buy a “state sanctioned” gun safe to keep your low power .22 cal boltie or your DB shotgun in, and God help you if the wallopers decide to visit your place (unannounced, of course, you are on the list) and the evil firearm is not locked in the safe.
Charged.Use your hard won and legally owned firearm to protect yourself from harm, and you will be charged with an offence far worse than the burglar or mugger you discouraged.
There is a basic freedom here that has been taken away and sadly, many people do not even realise that the freedom to own and use a firearm was once not only accepted, but encouraged.
Thanks JWH and Martin Bryant (and the howling anti gun loons in South Melbourne, Balmain, and West End).
Mission accomplished.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 05 16 at 11:34 AM • permalinkI’ve shot kangaroos, rabbits (a big pest here), feral pigs and goats. Kangaroos can be pests too despite the cuddly picture we know them as. But they’re not problems on my in-laws farm at the moment. There’s no concern that they’ll be made extinct. Kangaroo meat is delicious and low cholesterol. Very nice done medium–rare.
But I still have a conviction, that city people like me, don’t need firearms. I put an argument before here (with some debate), and I’ll still argue it.#22 Pedro the Ignorant:
I don’t feel the need to carry a weapon in Sydney. Nor anywhere else in Australia. But there are places in my City I wouldn’t go to these days, but did so when younger and stupid. I don’t have as much confidence in the local wallopers or police that I’d like, one reason is because I don’t know any of them these days. But I still have some trust in the police to do there job.
Pedro, come to Australia and you won’t need to carry a weapon around. “Where the bloody hell are you!”
Police by design are reactive. Just how are they supposed to defend you? After the fact of course. Just lay there and take it and trust to the judicial system? Bullshit.
The first test of Colorado’s “make my day” law was an urban lawyer who waited with a loaded 12 gauge for some drunk lowlife to finally break down his front door. What would you have done? The lawyer pulled both barrels. Stated the obvious to the cops that he “feared for his life” which is the just cause for that law. Cops cleaned up the mess and left.
Have I ever needed a gun in the city? Nope. Do I keep one? Nope, I keep a dozen. Anybody who trusts the govenment to keep him safe is an idiot.Don’t forget Texans.
Better make that first shot count, bub. ‘Cause Texans return fire. ;-)
I’ve taken very nice mule deer and elk in Colorado. The former with a .300, the latter with black powder. There is no finer time or place than Colorado in early October, with the quakies all golden and the elk bugling.
Colorado’s govenor once reported that they had trouble returning the body of a very large Texan who had died in the state. Seems nobody had a cofin big enough, so they gave him an enema and mailed him back in a shoebox.
Seriously, there’s no finer place, as Mr. Dean says, than the Colorado mountains in September-October.Read the Australian papers and look at the litany of bashed, raped and robbed citizens in their homes.
Look at the rise of “men of middle eastern appearance” waving illegal handguns in front of police with impunity.
Listen to the bleats about “more police on the streets” and watch the rising tide of violence everywhere in public areas, while police spend more time filling out forms and manning revenue raiser speed cameras.
Listen to the same bleaters condemning anyone with the determination to never be a victim and take responsibility for their own and their family’s safety as “gun toting rednecks”.
Look at British society swirling round the sewer pipe, with every day bringing another “WTF!” story.
Australia following blindly.
Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 05 16 at 01:06 PM • permalinkMy favorite writer is Fred Reed a crusty old fart living with a young senorita in Mexico-lucky dog. His take on multiculturism is spot on.fFred Reed
I see Elizabeth had her photo taken with the Lee Enfield .303
Sigh. One of the biggest regrets in my life is that back in 1986, I passed on buying a never-issued Lithgow SMLE for $250.
Someone kick me in the nuts.
I ended up buying an arsenal-reconditioned (Fazerkaly) #4, but it’s not the same. Love that bulldog muzzle on the Smellie.
It is good to read sense once in a while. I am not a pistol target shooter yet; I hunt feral dogs, pigs, cats and the other pest species. However I think that article deserves an appropriate response - going out and getting a pistol license. For it is just as she says; a fiendishly difficult sport.
Dave S., do you shoot SSAA service rifle with your No.4?
To add to my post above, I have had my long-arm license for years, and I can vouch for the fact that shooting in service rifle comps is very difficult, particularly as a Lee-Enfield No. 1 Mk III warms up. The many wood to metal contact points mean that the point of aim can shift with the rising temperature of the barrel.
If you want to talk about American genius in firearms, I think Bill Ruger needs to be mentioned as well; whether it is the Ruger #1 or one of the little pistols, I really like their products.
Agreed. While most of his designs (with the exception of the two you mention) lack a certain grace, they’re undeniably rugged and come in at a good price. I plan to get my hands on one of those sweet New Vaqueros someday.
#13
Thanks richard, I’m drooling already!.Posted by Daniel San on 2006 05 16 at 07:13 PM • permalinkI now think it entirely possible that the American gunsmith John Moses Browning “sitteth,” as his admirers say, “at the right hand of God.”
He does if the Almighty knows what’s good for him, if you know what I mean…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 16 at 09:10 PM • permalinkHere’s a question for all you Lee Enfield afficianados. The Lee Enfield 303 was the standard issue rifle of the British, Indian and Dominion armies (Canada, Australia etc) in two world wars and after. The Kalashnikov AK 47 (and variants) was and still is the standard weapon of the Soviet and Warsaw Pact armies since since 1947.
Numbers wise of which type were there more produced?
Posted by Harry Flashman on 2006 05 16 at 10:18 PM • permalink“But I still have a conviction, that city people like me, don’t need firearms.”
Need has nothing to do with it. It’s love.
I live in a city in the USA—-because that’s where the work is—-and I have close to 200 firearms locked up in the gun room.
It would be nearly impossible for me to claim that I “need” another rifle and yet, I find that I have two more coming here from Oregon.
(That would be an ‘08 Brazilian Contract Mauser and a Norwegian Rolling Block from 1869.)
I communicate regularly with Australian and British shooters via the several Lee Enfield Fora that are available on the net and I do admire the persistance of the Empire branch of the breed under very unfavorable conditions.
I, too, would continue to pursue that which I love under similar restrictions—-but cannot guarantee that I would take it with such good grace!
Nice to read Elizabeth’s Return To Sanity.
——-krinkoPS. Among American firearms designers, we must not discount Hiram Maxim.
You know, I live in an American city and as I have never been attacked here I feel perfectly safe not owning a firearm. So since I feel safe I don’t think anyone else in the city should need to feel the need to own a gun. Because it’s all about my feelings—oh, and my trust of the police, it’s their job to take care of me. Also because I feel things everyone should act upon my feelings not their own wants or needs.
I’m sure you didn’t mean it to come out that way, Stevo, but basically that’s what you’re saying. You know, I really don’t “feel” the “need” to own a gun, but I don’t make the mistake of thinking that my feelings should guide the actions of others or influence public policy.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2006 05 16 at 10:49 PM • permalinkKrino — Guns of the Old West had a great article on refurbishing those old Rolling Blocks. They started with an Argentine in .43 Spanish.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 16 at 11:18 PM • permalinkRazor — A bit much for quail (and way too much for Dukakis)...
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 16 at 11:22 PM • permalink“Guns aren’t moral agents, they’re machines”
She’s not just a gun nut like the rest of us now. but has internalized the NRA motto. Three cheers for her.
Posted by Michael Lonie on 2006 05 16 at 11:44 PM • permalinkIt’s a great pity that any Tim Blair item (or from any other source from that matter) concerning guns or gun ownership, particularly in Australia and particularly in respect to the absurd “uniform firearm laws” adopted by the Australian states following the Port Arthur massacre tends to bring out the big
boorbore partisans. Their motives might be genuine, but their messages contributes little to the vexed question of Australia’s uniform firearm laws and, more often than not, are counter-productive and contribute very useful ammunition to the fanatics behind Gun Control Australia and those in the Australian MSM who see Prime Minister Howard’s obsession with anti-firearm legislation as one of their greatest mind-control victories.
‘There I wuz’ stories and anecdotes about, ‘ma trusty thutty-thutty’, ‘Daddy’s good ole foahty-foah- forty’ and the virtues of the ‘303’ British versus the 30.06 might be cathartic for the writer but they merely re-enforce the useful red-neck image which the anti-firearm lobby (particularly) in Australia, finds so useful. Moreover, this sort of response does terrible damage to the strategies of those committed club administrators and firearm enthusiasts who have been working quietly and effectively, since the days the days of ‘No-Guns’ Unsworth, to ameliorate the worst of the various state anti-firearm legislations. The article which provoked this thread was sensible, reasoned and hard to re-but – many of the responses were not.Boss Hogg — Boy, the foahty-foh’-forty is history in a holster! Don’t be dissin’ mah heritage.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 05 17 at 10:01 AM • permalinkRelax-nobody looks at these but us rednecks.
1/ Not true.
2/ Not a healthy outlook if it were true.Posted by Stoop Davy Dave on 2006 05 17 at 04:08 PM • permalink
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