(Shotgun) Wedding Photos Featuring Firearms, One Fatality

Apparently folks get a kick out of including firearms in their wedding photos, however, in the case of one wedding, that decision turned out to be a bad omen. As incredible as it might be, it cost one photographer his life. Click here to read the whole store, and here's a photo from the wedding...

And here are more wedding photos with firearms!

Awesome AR's - A New Regular Blog Feature

From time to time I'll run across an awesome photo of an AR15 on the internet and well, since I do have this handy dandy blog at my disposal, I may as well share them with you! One thing all these Awesome AR photos will have in common is that they will, of course, feature an AR15 or two, but aside from that, there are no holds barred.

Here's my selection for the first installment of Awesome AR's!

Photos - Last Day at the Range (for a while)

If you're wondering why there's no video footage from my day at the range today, it's because I wanted to simply enjoy a little solitude and keep my entire focus on the targets down range, for today would be my last day at the range for at least a year, probably two, as a deployment to Korea looms just 38 days from now.

I took out my Chinese Type 53, a tried and true 1943 Mosin Nagant 91/30 and the first bolt action rifle I ever purchased, the 24/47 which I picked up for 50 bucks from a guy I had a college class with. The reason I chose these firearms was simple, I've got plenty of 7.62x54r and 8mm ammo. But not just that, I wanted to enjoy each and every round fired and that's much easier to do when you're working a bolt action as opposed to blasting round after round from a semi-automatic.

Rain was in the forecast but the skies cleared just long enough to enjoy precipitation-free shooting from 10am to around noon.

I never really paid that much attention to the difference but I have to say, there was a clear difference in the smoothness of the bolt actions between the Mosin Nagant (Type 53 included) and the 24/47 Mauser with the Mosin Nagant coming out way ahead. The action was so smooth, it required little effort to work it, while the 24/47 action required a little bit of elbow grease to cycle. Another surprise was the trigger pull of the Type 53, it was surprising light, and a pleasant surprise it was, not to mention how impressive the accuracy was as well (see the photo).

I almost always invite a few friends with me when I go to the range, but not today, today was just for me, to relax and enjoy and that I did. I also got to shoot an MP5 sub-machine gun for the first time today. A guy named Rich, on the lane next to me had a unique looking MP5 on his bench (along with a M1 Carbine) as per my usual MO, I introduced myself and offered Rich my MyGunDiary.com business card. He was friendly and asked if I wanted to try out his MP5, I was beside myself, hell yes! He let me fire off a full magazine and it was awesome. Easy to control and very low recoil.

Another guy on the range today had a super cool, custom AR15 that he built himself, which featured an eye-catching Yankee Hill fluted barrel. Check out the pics below.

All in all, my last day of shooting was quite enjoyable. Goodbye for now shooting range, I hope ammo prices drop during my time away.

Yugo Mauser 24/47

7.62x54r

Chinese Type 53 and 1943 Mosin Nagant 91/30

Yugo Mauser 24/47

Felix with the MP5 (note the M1 carbine with barrel shroud on the bench).

MP5

Chinese Type 53

Grouping @ 25 yards with Chinese Type 53

MP5 (M1 carbine above).

Custom AR15 with fluted barrel.

Video - Preparing Firearms for Long Term Storage

Sadly, I'll be deploying to Korea soon (in 45 days or so) and that means the time has come to put my firearms in secure storage for the next 1-2 years. I set about prepping my long guns for long term storage today, guided by the advice of a local gun smith who suggested I pack my firearms in gun grease, wrapped (mummified) in muslin cotton sheets. This suggestion saved me a lot of money! I had been looking at these Z-Corr Firearms Storage Bags from MidwayUSA.com but at 14 bucks a piece it would cost me way too much money to bag all my long guns this way. As it turned out, the gun grease cost me just 8 dollars and the cotton fabric, enough yardage for 24 long guns, only cost me around 36 dollars.

Buy Gun Grease at Amazon.com

I cleaned each rifle, coated all the metal parts in the gun grease then wrapped 'em up. I said good bye to my rifles. Tomorrow I'll pack the hand guns in a similar fashion.

Think I have enough long guns? I don't think so.

Basking in a pool of rifles.

Strike a pose.

U.S.S. Arrogance

This one has been around the Internet for a while, just ran across it again today and had to share...

Second Amendment Mimes

Perhaps the best Second Amendment mime I've seen to date.

Thanks Kathryn!

Look What UPS Brought for me Today - Mosin Nagant M44

I had previously posted about the great deal ClassicFirearms.com had on M44's a couple weeks ago, don't say I didn't give you a heads up. I hope y'all got an order in! They also had Hex receiver 91/30s and sold out of those quick!

Anyway, I received my M44 today and boy does it looks nice. It's a 1944 Izhevsk and it's in great shape. Barrel looks clean and sharp, the stock only has a few light dings and scratches.

It arrived packed nicely and included a took kit and oil can, but did not include the usual accompaniments such as an ammo pouch and sling. Shipping was relatively fast considering the high volume right now.

Looks like I'm shipping out in a few weeks, I'm hoping to get one last trip out to the range before I pack everything away. I'll be doing a video on how to pack your firearms for long term storage. Stay tuned.

From top to bottom: 1944 Izhevsk, 1946 Izhevsk (East German), 1956 Chinese Type 53