It was a beautiful day today...

I left some flowers...

The sun was shining, humidity was low, the temperature was moderate 57-78° and the sky was blue.  I did some chores including mowing the lawn (before we get the stinking hot temps forecast for the end of the week) and I stopped by to see Mom, Dad and Benjamin...

It was a beautiful view from the cemetery...

Notes from the gun shop...

Things at the shop must have gotten pretty routine.  We did six transfers but there's nothing really notable except for the Winchester Model 54 .30-06 in the rack.  We had 3 of the Browning 1911-22s come in and all were sold that day (I got one as noted here).  That was about as exciting as it has gotten.

Notes from the gun shop...

Although it was a pretty slow day overall it was interesting for a couple of reasons.  First, today seemed to be the day that the talkers and gawkers came through including our most recent good customer who comes in as much as 4 times a day, several days a week.  He's a bit of a conspiracy theorist and not exactly a people person.

GSG-5

The other interesting thing occurred first thing.  A customer brought back a GSG copy of the MP5 in .22 LR.  He hadn't had the gun apart but said that after firing one shot where the bullet didn't make it down range he quit using the gun.  Good thing.  Now, we don't know how this happened but there is a hole in the side of the barrel, as if the barrel drill wandered off.  It seems to me that I looked down the bore of this rifle before it was sold (and it was a used gun) and I don't remember anything odd.  So, I wonder what is going on.  Was this barrel made up to run some sort of scam? 

So here follow the photos I was able to take between customers.  Some aren't so good.  I'll caption them and let you have a look see...

The ratty chamber mouth...

 

 

 

 

The hole in the side of the barrel...

From the chamber end you can see the hole wander off...

A rod follows the hole right out the side, no place else to go...

Close up of rod exiting side of barrel...

Browning 1911-22

75 shots, 7 yards, Browning 1911-22

Fathers Day and I got a Browning 1911-22.  These are very cool little guns which, by the time you read this you might actually own, are ideal for training children on the 1911 system pistols.  Being 85% of the size of the standard 1911A1 pistol, they are much, much smaller and being fabricated mostly of aluminum they are much, much lighter.  As noted previously, Browning seems to have produced a quality gun.

The results of my first 75 shots with the little gun are shown here.  Shot off-hand at 7 yards (give or take a bit), this was done just to break the gun in and make any possible faults known.  The first magazine more resembled a shotgun pattern than a group but as time went on it was clearly settling in and parts were more consistently mating to produce distinct groups.  Two makes of ammunition were used.  The first was a box of steel cased Russian Junior ammunition I think I bought in the late 1980s.  The second was a box of Winchester High Velocity RNs from about 1988 of which I have several thousand rounds and also use for rimfire silhouette shooting.  The first can be compared to the cheapest bulk .22 rimfire and the latter is pretty good stuff.  Most of the time I used a 6-o'clock hold on the center ring but for the last magazine I tried a 6-o'clock hold on the "X".  The sights are very small and copy the issue 1911A1 sights are so are very hard to see (especially as I'm developing cataracts right now).  I think the gun has potential.

Russian Junior .22 LR

Supposedly the same as the Surok ammo (?) just branded differently for export, the Junior .22 LR in the green (I'm told it is "seafoam" green) box with the rooster on it is steel cased. It has a plain (i.e. unplated) lead round nosed bullet which has some sort of waxy lubricant.  I have seen some of the lubricant melt in moderate temperatures, but not all of it.  That ammo was prone to duds.  If the lube hasn't melted it always goes off.  I have had failures to extract with this ammo.  It was NOT good in my nickel S&W M34 and my most recent failure to extract was in the 1911-22.  I had to rod out the case.  Accuracy can be very good in the ammo that has been carefully stored.  However, just as my experiences with it vary, so do the experiences of others.  Some curse and some praise this low-priced ammunition. 

Today's silhouette match...

Well, I went. They had changed the times so I was more than 1½ hours early for the match (.22 LR at 100 yards) preceeding the silhouette match. Wasn't able to leave until 5:27 when I expected to leave at 3:30... All that and I only shot one round, to make it get finished faster, and that was a 23. We had the club's first 40, shot with the scoped pistol by Mike Crews (I hope I got that name right). His son was there to see him do it.

Shooting practice...

There's a silhouette match this weekend.  I hoped to practice some this week.  Renovation needs pretty much scotched that.

The Stonewall Brigade

I was struggling through a particular genealogical line and discovered that one CPL William Harvey Fry was wounded at McDowell on 8 May 1862 and died on 13 May 1862.  He was a member of F Co 52nd Virginia Infantry Regiment.  That begat a search and the discovery of this information.  The 1st Brigade, the Stonewall Brigade, served throughout the war and surrendered at Appomattox much weakened.  How much was it weakened?

2nd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
Assembled at Charles Town in April,1861. The unit was accepted into Confederate service in July. Its companies were from the counties of Clarke, Frederick, Floyd, Jefferson, and Berkeley. It became part of the Stonewall Brigade and served under Generals T.J. Jackson, R.B. Garnett, Winder, Paxton, J.A. Walker, and W. Terry.
On April 9, 1865, it surrendered with 9 officers and 62 men. Its field officers were Colonels James W. Allen, Lawson Botts, and John Q.A. Nadenbousch; Lieutenant Colonels Raleigh T. Colston, Francis Lackland, and William W. Randolph; and Majors Francis B. Jones, Edwin L. Moore, and Charles H. Stewart.

4th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
Assembled at Winchester, Virginia, in July, 1861. Its companies were from the counties of Wythe, Montgomery, Pulaski, Smyth, Grayson, and Rockbridge. It became part of the Stonewall Brigade and served under Generals T.J. Jackson, T.B. Garnett, Winder, Paxton, J.A. Walker, and W. Terry.
The regiment surrendered with 7 officers and 38 men of which only 17 were armed. Its field officers were Colonels James T. Preston, Charles A. Ronald, and William Terry; Lieutenant Colonels Robert D. Gardner and Lewis T. Moore; and Majors Matthew D. Bennett, Joseph F. Kent, and Albert G. Pendleton.

5th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
Organized in May, 1861, under Colonel K. Harper. Eight companies were from Augusta County and two from Frederick County. The unit became part of the Stonewall Brigade and served undder Generals T.J. Jackson, R.B. Garnett, Winder, Paxton, J.A. Walker, and W. Terry.
It surrendered 8 officers and 48 men. The field officers were Colonels William S.H. Baylor, John H.S. Funk, William H. Harman, and Kenton Harper; Lieutenant Colonel Hazel J. Williams; and Majors Absalom Koiner and James W. Newton.

27th Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
27th Infantry Regiment was organized in May, 1861, and accepted into Confederate service in July. The men were from the counties of Alleghany, Rockbridge, Monroe, Greenbrier, and Ohio. It contained only eight companies and became part of the famous Stonewall Brigade.
At Gettysburg about thirty percent were disabled. Only 1 officer and 20 men surrendered.
The field officers were Colonels John Echols, James K. Edmondson, William A. Gordon, and A.J. Grisby; Lieutenant Colonels Charles L. Haynes and Daniel M. Shriver; and Majors Philip F. Frazer and Elisha F. Paxton.

33rd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
33rd Infantry Regiment was organized during the early summer of 1861 with men from the counties of Hampshire, Shenandoah, Frederick, Hardy, Page, and Rockingham. It became part of the Stonewall Brigade and served under T.J. Jackson, R.B. Garnett, Winder, Paxton, J.A. Walker, and W. Terry.
Twenty-three percent of the 236 at Gettysburg were killed, wounded, or missing. Only 1 officer and 18 men surrendered.
The field officers were Colonels Arthur C. Cummings, Frederick W.M. Holliday, Edwin G. Lee, John F. Neff, and Abraham Spengler; Lieutenant Colonels George Huston and John R. Jones; and Majors Jacob B. Golladay and Philip T. Grace 

That's a total of 26 Officers and 186 enlisted remaining on the day of surrender.

What of the unit which started my search today?

52nd Regiment, Virginia Infantry (Confederate)
52nd Infantry Regiment was organized at Staunton, Virginia, in August, 1861. Many of its members were from Augusta County.
On April 9, 1865, it surrendered with 7 officers and 53 men of which 14 were armed. The field officers were Colonels John B. Baldwin, John D. Lilley, John D.H. Ross, and Thomas H. Watkins.

Notes from the gun shop...

Another day that trended slow. Boss man attributes that to schools being closed and many folks on vacation, etc. We had quite a few people come in the shop and we did 5 transfers. There is a nice Highway Patrolman, a Security Six, and a pre-64 Winchester 94. Also a Winchester Model 54 .30-06 with Lyman receiver sight has yet to find a home.

Got to closely examine a Browning 1911-22 and I was pretty pleased with the quality of the gun. They do need to include a spare magazine as those are unavailable even from Browning and even at the suggested retail of $41.99! Boss man order 3 of these a year ago and they came in last Thursday. ALL the guns have been sold.

I think the finish is fully up to that of any of Browning's current production. It is even and there don't seem to be any problems in the fabrication of the parts. Surely, some would prefer that Browning had a different aesthetic standard that made them highly polished, blued steel. This is not to be. Some would prefer that they be full-size. For that I have the Tactical Solutions conversion. I would prefer that those parts on this gun which are plastic were not, at least being aluminum. I haven't shot one yet, perhaps we'll see how well they hold up to use.

150 years ago today...

I have long lived in those states which bordered the two halves of the country during the Civil War. The Shenandoah Valley is just the latest in such places I've lived. The Civil War and the Shenandoah Valley are inseparable and it is deeply entwined in the lives of your ancestors from the north and the south. I was just made aware of a blog which makes available the letters of some of those who experienced that war. 150 Years Ago Today is a production of the Special Collections of the University of Virginia Library. Letters written by all sorts of people, soldier and civilian, man and woman, northerner and southerner, free and slave, survivors and the dying, all have their turn to inform us of their view of their times.

Notes from the gun shop...

Today was semi-busy. Did 6 transfers but not a lot else. There were long periods of inactivity.

We do have a couple of things in the shop. One is a Winchester Model 54 in .30-06. An old time sporter with Lyman receiver sight it is a peach. Then, we still have the Ruger Security Six. I can't believe nobody has bought that in 5 weeks. On top of that we have 600 Hornady .263" 129 and 140 gr. RN bullets. Yep, 129 gr. RN. Makes me wish I had a 6.5mm TCU.

Family responsibilities...

There was a rimfire silhouette match today. I was hoping to tell how I improved my shooting and have some photos. It was a beautiful day for shooting. But, this afternoon was also our Madeline's first ballet recital and so that is what we did. She was very pretty. She did very well. She tried to give direction to Prince Charming (I told her grandmothers that she must be genetically predisposed to giving orders but that didn't go over well) and she had another performance this evening. I hope that went as well. There will be other rifle matches.