Category Archives: Firearms

These are our BOOM STICKS!!!!

Colt Cobra Range Report

by GunGuy

I picked a Colt Cobra revolver a little while ago and had a chance to take it to the range to put it through its paces.

I tried three different types of 38 special ammo. Since this revolver is over 40 years old and there is no way of knowing what kind of abuse it has seen over the years I wanted to only shoot the lowest velocity ammo that is commercially produced. I tried the following.

Hornady Custom 38 special XTP Hollow Point 158 grain – 800 fps
Magtech 38 special FMJ 158 grain – 755 fps
Inverted wadcutter handloads 158 grain – 650 fps

I was shooting slow aimed fire with two hands in single action at 7yds. It was 62 degrees outside and slightly cloudy. The best results came from the 158 grain Hornady 38 special hollow points. I was very surprised with the tightness of the group. The recoil was minimal across all three types of ammo with the lightest and most pleasurable being the custom handloads.

Pics below.

colt cobra left

Hornady Custom Ammunition 38 Special 158 Grain XTP Jacketed Hollow Point at 7 YDS

Magtech38 SPL 158 Grain Full Metal Jacket at 7 YDS

Custom handloads with inverted wadcutters at 7YDS

Smith and Wesson Model 13-1 – Great Find

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by Woodsbum

Because I got so lucky and ended up getting a very fair price for a wonderful firearm, I decided to do a quick write up on it. I felt that this was important because it seems that everyone is so engrossed in automatics and tactical firearms that many phenomenal pistols get overlooked and ignored.

Here is my newest bush pistol, the Smith and Wesson Model 13-1.

Smith and Wesson Mod 13-1

I am almost a little embarrassed to admit, but I almost passed on this pistol. These pistols are the old military and police models that remind me of the 1980’s TV shows like TJ Hooker. It doesn’t fit my hand very well, and I am not fond of that little bump at the top of the handle. Overall, it just isn’t that pleasing to my eye. Then I handled it and started to think more logically about this little gem.

First off, this pistol has fixed iron sights. There are no adjustments to ding up and where you point it is where the bullet seems to go. Secondly, the entire cylinder swings out for the allowance of speed loaders to be used. Speed loaders are about $10 – $15 per loader, which is more than cheap enough. There is even an extractor that almost dumps the spend cases from the cylinder. Third, this is a .357 so I can also shoot .38 for cheaper plinking. Fourth, it is a revolver that mechanically allows all 6 cylinders to be loaded without the firing pin resting on a cartridge. You have to pull the trigger all the way for the hammer to go completely forward to strike a primer. I can now carry all 6 cylinders loaded without worrying too much. Lastly, the action is incredible for both single and double action. I swear it is the smoothest action I have ever used in a factory pistol except for the Python and Anaconda. It is incredible and the double action is smooth enough to not seriously through your aim off. It’s great.

Here it is from the other side.

Smith and Wesson Mod 13-1

My entire thought on this pistol was to get it all rigged up for use as a bush pistol. As such, I ordered an old military M-3 style holster and borrowed a set of oversized K frame grips until I get the ones I want. Here is what the holster looks like.

M-3 .38 Holster

Here are the old, borrowed grips I threw on there for now.

Butler Creek Grips

Now back to my thoughts…… I already have a single action .44 mag that I built a cross draw holster for. It is an absolute nail driver, but it is a .44 mag. Both the pistol and the ammunition is heavy if you carry much of it. By getting something a bit smaller in caliber and a considerably lighter pistol, I will have a much easier to carry package. Even if I only carry a few .357 and mostly use .38 I will be much farther ahead with consideration of weight.

The other thing I wanted to do was cut down the length and size of my bush pistol. My .44 has a heavy frame and a 6 inch barrel. Even though that is not too bad for someone my size (6’4″ and the size of a small black bear) it does get unwieldy after a full day of trampling through the brush. By even cutting down a few pounds and 2 1/2 inches of pistol length it will make a difference after a hard day of hiking.

I did think about just using one of my semi-automatic pistols like my Glock or Beretta. The problem with that was the whole idea of having something that I could get completely nasty and dirty without creating doubt as to whether it would fire. I also wanted a pistol that could double for hunting if need be. By getting a .357 and 4″ barrel, I could quite easily take a deer if I needed to.

After really considering the possible scenarios and using some logic that skirted around my dislike of the frame/shape of the pistol, I did get it and have been quite happy ever since. This really taught me a valuable lesson that I would like to pass along to my readers. Just because you might not like the “old school” look of something, don’t discount its usefulness. This 1970’s pistol looks exactly as such, but it really is a diamond in a pile of cut glass. It’s smooth, dependable, and tough enough to take anything that I might dish out. Most importantly, however, is the fact that I found an old pistol that was unloved and have now given it a good home…… Poor little lost pistol!!!

Now get out there and find your own bush pistol.

Vortex Viper PST 2.5 – 10x32mm FFP Riflescope Review

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Last year I was on the look out for a new scope for my DMR rifle. I purchased the Vortex PST 2.5x 32 mm scope after talking to some friends about their experiences. After using the scope for over as a year I find that the Vortex Viper PST 2.5 – 10x32mm is an excellent scope for the money. The optic is very clear and bright and the finish is a nice matte black. The turrets have the right amount of resistance to them and have a nice positive feel so you know that you have moved the turret. The turrets are easy to read and setting the zero stop with the included brass shims is a breeze.

In my extensive testing the scopes adjustments seem to be accurate. I have used the scope out to 650 yards and consistently hit targets I was aiming at. I have used the shim stop system and it works well. The illumination works great at dawn, dusk, and night. The illumination is not bright enough to been seen during the day but that’s not really an issue since you can see the reticle without any issues. I really like the reticle on this scope as it is very clear and easy to use. Using the mil system to calculate range is easy at most magnification settings except the lower ones.

This is my first, first focal plane scope and so far I am liking it. The eye relief is very generous in the horizontal plane at all magnification settings. The ring that changes the scope’s magnification is pretty stiff and will not be moved on accident. I am able to change magnification with out problems as it feels smooth when the ring is turned though I will be adding a Vortex SV-1 Throw Lever to aid in rapidly transitioning through the magnification settings.

Cons:

I only have one major con and that is that the reticle is pretty small at 2.5x magnification and can be hard to see on darker backgrounds. That is a con of a first focal plane scope though. That being said I don’t think I would want the reticle made thicker to make it easier to see at 2.5x magnification because it’s just the right size at 10x magnification.

Overall I would highly recommend this scope. Especially for a DMR or SPR type rifle. It’s about as close to perfect for that setup as you can get. I have mine mounted on my PWS AR and it’s working great so far.

DMR/SPR Parts List:

PWS Viper Vortex PST

Washington Initiative 591 – Protect Our Guns Rights Act

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by Woodsbum

Since I did a post last week about Washington State’s I-594 and what the initiative really was about, I figured I would do one this week about the counter-initiative that was proposed and is being voted on. This is the I-591. This proposed legislation is only 5 sections long or a total of 3 pages to include the signature sheet. Although I posted a link I will include the whole initiative so it will be easier for you to catch up.

Sec. 1.

A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:

It is unlawful for any government agency to confiscate guns or other firearms from citizens without due process.
Sec. 2.

A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:

It is unlawful for any government agency to require background checks on the recipient of a firearm unless a uniform national standard is required.
Sec. 3.

The provisions of this act are to be liberally construed to effectuate the intent, policies,

and purposes of this act.
Sec. 4.

If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
Sec. 5.

This act is known and may be cited as the “Protect Our Gun Rights Act.”

This is it… The whole initiative. Nothing more and quite simple….. In reading it it only does the following things:

Keeps government agencies from just coming in and taking a person’s guns without having a lawful, legal proceedings to do so.
Makes it unlawful for any government agency to require background checks that the whole country doesn’t adopt as a standard.

There really isn’t much else there. The real question comes down to this:

What does the potential law really do?

In essence, this disallows any political group to push through any personal anti-gun agendas that are outside of what the country considers its standard. If the entire country institutes a 45 day wait on any firearm sale, then WA will adopt those standards. If the entire country writes new laws requiring only a single background check to be conducted and that person has to maintain the validity of that background check or lose gun rights, then that becomes WA standard. Basically, WA will adopt whatever the federal government mandates and nothing more.

The other thing this does is in reference to gun confiscation. WA residents must be allowed due process BEFORE firearms are confiscated. This means that being accused of a domestic disturbance will no longer be enough to have the Sheriff add your weapons to his personal collection. The police can’t just stop by and take your old 12 gauge just because your neighbor got in trouble for something. It would also mean that government officials could not go door to door and take your firearms like was done during Katrina. Ironically, it just reiterates that our rights should not be infringed upon…… Sound familiar?

No matter what side of coin your political views fall on, this initiative does little more than push gun control measures back onto the federal government and ensures that all current gun owners are allowed to use the court system before they have items of substantial value just taken from them. That is it. Makes me wonder why groups like the American Civil Liberties Union have not pushed for this sort of a law in other states. It protects citizens’ rights established in the US Constitution….. Hmmmmm…..

Choosing the Right Trigger – Geissele Automatics and ALG Defense

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This extensive video will help clarify which trigger is right for the way you prefer to shoot.