I recall reading somewhere (I think in Mr. Gatling’s Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It) that Lincoln was a big gun guy. If any inventor showed up at the White House with a new or improved weapon design, they were pretty much guaranteed an audience with Abe.
How much of that was desperation to win the war, and how much of it was a fascination with guns and the mechanics of machines, I have no idea.
Short shameful confession: it has been a while since I field stripped a 1911 pattern pistol.
I wanted to break down and lube one of my Commander length guns (using the lubrication suggestions from Bill Wilson’s Gun Guy, and also his lube). I had forgotten what a complete and utter (word that rhymes with “witch”) it is to get the slide stop pin through both the frame and the barrel link. Every time, the link got pushed backwards and into a position where I couldn’t get the stop into place.
I finally got it, but it took me probably 45 minutes. Maybe I need more practice. Good thing I have three more 1911s that need the same treatment. And plenty of Wilson lube left…
After the jump, a few gun books for the discerning eyes of my readers.
The 1931 Smith and Wesson catalog. This is the 75th anniversary catalog for S&W, and even came with the original envelope it was mailed in.
I’m not sure this even counts as a “book”. Maybe a “pamphlet”. But it is an interesting historical artifact. I don’t want to go too far down the road of collecting S&W ephemera…oh, wait, I already have. I’m not sure that I want to collect a complete matching set of every S&W catalog, but ones for significant anniversaries (25th, 50th, 75th, 100th, etc.) would be nice to have.
This was acquired for $80 (plus shipping) off eBay, thanks to a tip from my book buddy in the Association. And if you want to see part of what the inside looks like, I scanned a couple of pages with the iPhone…and sent them over to FotB (and official firearms trainer to WCD) Karl Rehn for his blog.
The Sensational Seventeens and The Terrific Twenties by Todd A. Kindler.
There’s a site out there called the Woodchuck Den. I don’t remember how or where I ran across it, but these folks are big on small caliber rifle cartridges. These two manuals contain articles (including cartridge dimensions and load data) for some of the more unusual .17 and .20 caliber chamberings: 17 Squirrel, 17 Tactical, 17 Ackley Hornet, Twenty Terminator, Twenty Ackley Bee, etc.
If you’re interested in weird small calibers, this should be your Big Gulp cup of tea. As you know, Bob, I fit into that classification, so…
I paid $100 for both manuals directly from the Woodchuck Den. They were also kind enough to throw in a back issue of Small Caliber News:
Which is a little dated (Summer 2002) but not without interest. There’s an interesting article on people experimenting with .10 (yes, .10) caliber projectiles, another on the .218 Bee, and one on “How To Ruin A Perfectly Good Barrel”.
They’re also nice people, and even sent along a personal hand-written thank you note.
If you’re interested, you can email woodchuckdeninfo [at] gmail [dot] com and they’ll send you information on how to order your own copies.
I expect to have some unexpected free time tomorrow, so I may try to do either a gun crankery post or a second gun book post, featuring a new-to-me Samworth. And possibly some other delights I haven’t cataloged yet.
