The planets aligned yesterday. On Monday, I got my first issue of The Shotgun News in the mail since I renewed my subscription late. It took the SGN folks about five to six weeks to get me up and running again. I only had four days to peruse the late SGN issue before the new one arrived yesterday and I almost immediately put the old issue down and dove right into the current issue on my first break last night at work.
Also in the mailbox yesterday was the new catalog from Bushmaster.
Some of you may remember my escapade with the Bushmaster brand of AR-15 clones from last year. I was going to build two Bushmaster XM-15 rifles and trade them in for a Springfield M1A, but ran into a problem.
I really liked the first Bushmaster I built. It shot well, functioned exceptionally and because I did all the work, it was built to my personal specifications. Since then I have also built the lower half of a second XM-15 with a shorty solid stock, but then got caught up in building my Boomershoot rifle and funds for the upper I wanted went towards that rifle and the Bushmaster Part Two project got put on hold.
That was somewhat a bad idea.
While I thoroughly enjoy my custom Remington 700, the prices for the upper I wanted have gone up. They have gone up so far, in fact, that the upper I want is now monetarily out of reach. I could probably build an entire rifle along the lines of my first XM-15 for what they want for just that upper.
And that is where the latest issue of the Shotgun News comes in.
You see, with the ignorant ‘Assault Weapons Ban’ expiring last year, variants of the AK-47 have become widely available again and the prices have gone down. The SGN is full of deals on these AK’s from at least a dozen different distributors. In contrast, AR-15 clone parts and accessories have gone up somewhat drastically.
And this all leads up to one point that I will get to here in just a moment.
Even with it being used, I can probably get two AK-47’s or four SKS’s for what my first Bushmaster XM-15 is worth. If you buy them 10 at a time, you can get new steel 30rnd AK mags for $10 a piece, AND you can get 1000rnds of JHP 7.62×39 ammo for under $100.
Add to all that information to the re-re-reconfirmation of what we know about the 5.56 not exactly being a manstopper from our fighting men and women in Iraq and you see me scratching my head, wondering why I bother having a rifle that isn’t effective and is overly expensive.
So I have come to the conclusion that I am selling everything I own that pertains to AR clones; rifles, parts, mags, ammo, etc, are going down the road, and buying as many commie caliber guns that I can lay my hands on.
While I really like the SKS, I will probably invest in a couple AK-47s at first. Then I’ll buy a couple more SKS’s for toss-around/behind the seat of the truck rifles.
Another conclusion I have come to is that there are a few of my guns I don’t shoot much anymore. I have a companion pair of firearms in 38 Special; a S&W K38 revolver and a Winchester 1894 Trapper. I haven’t shot the S&W in at least 4 months and the Winchester has been inoperable for close to year due to what I thought was a broken link, but the Winchester repair folks sent it back saying they couldn’t duplicate the problem. It is currently sitting in the safe of the smith who built my Boomershoot rifle while he plays with it.
Those two guns will also be leaving my collection. In fact, I was just thinking about it out loud to a friend and he offered to buy them right there.
In between selling the above listed firearms and buying commie guns, I will also be buying shotguns opportunistically.
I have recently come to the conclusion that I do not have enough shotguns. I’ve always been an ‘area of fire’ kind of guy and no weapon does that better under 50yds than a 12ga. I’ll just be keeping my eyes open for a good deal on a Remington 870 and also an 1100. I already have some custom 870’s (the number of which will stay undisclosed), but I want to build one more custom one and then customize one semi auto. If you have seen any of the Wilson Combat Scattergun Technologies Remington’s, you’ll be able to figure out what I have in mind for the 1100.
At the end of all this, I will be down from seven calibers I have to buy for to only four calibers; 45ACP, 7.62×39, 7.62×51 and 12 Gauge.
And then, after I finish redirecting my firearms collection, I will finally get around to buying that M1A.