Call me Ahab

posted by Caleb on Jun 2

I went to the Indy 1500 this weekend in the hopes of scoring a ‘34 Beretta in .380 ACP, and had an outside hope of grabbing a 1951 Beretta, mostly because I’m love with the idea of a single-stack, single action 9mm Beretta.

I had thought the show was going to be a bust until right before I left, when I spotted a ‘51 in a guy’s case, which I snatched up right away.  At the time, I figured it was “just another M951″, and went home quite happy.  It wasn’t until I got home and was looking at it side-by-side with my Jetfire that I realized this wasn’t just any old ‘51 Beretta.

When looking at it next to the Jetfire, all of a sudden my brain clicked into gear; I realized that my new 1951 had a heel-type magazine release, instead of the push-button type that was standard on most ‘51 Berettas.  I then noticed that the barrel seemed a little longer than it should have been, which was mental trigger number 2.

The only members of the 1951 family that had a heel type mag release were the 1951E-series, the “E” indicating that they were issued to the Egyptian army.  My pistol’s serial number is correct for it to be part of the E-series as well, and it even has the slightly shorter frame which makes the barrel appear to be longer than on the standard ‘51 models.

I am a little sad though - the 1951E models also had a lanyard ring where the mag release would have been on the rest of the 51’s, as you can see in the pictures, the grip panels cover up where the lanyard ring should be on this model of Beretta.  I popped the grips off, and sure enough could see two little faint marks of where the lanyard ring had been cut off the gun at some point in its life.

My specimen was made in 1955, and from what I can tell has not been fired very much.  The magazine is aftermarket, and the grips are not original to the gun, however the mechanicals are in magnificent condition.  I have to wonder what kind of journey it took to get into the United States, especially considering that it’s not wearing any import stamps.  I also wonder about the history of the gun - who cut the lanyard ring off?  Did some Egyptian officer decide he wanted different grips on the gun?  Did the original grips get damaged, and the lanyard ring have to be cut off to install replacement grips from a non-E model ‘51?  Questions like this are why I love C&R collecting.

As a collector’s piece, it doesn’t have the kind of value that it would have if it still had the original grips, magazine, and lanyard ring, but it makes an interesting addition to my collection.  It should also make a pretty decent shooter as well; like most single action Berettas, the trigger is wonderful with a crisp letoff and very little creep.  Hopefully I’ll get a chance to take it out blasting this weekend.

posted by Caleb on May 23

From John Snow at The GunShots:

Beretta says its sub-compact versions of the PX4 Storm pistols are going to start shipping on June 1. The pistols come in either 9mm (13+1) or 40 S&W (10+1) and list for $600 and $575 respectively.

Did someone say “sub-compact 9mm Beretta”? Maybe I can get John to send me their test pistol for uh…further testing and carrying.

Sidebar note: I’ve added a new category for posts, labeled “Beretta”, since I plan on doing some Beretta specific content here in the future.

posted by Caleb on May 21

My last gun porn post from the NRA Annual Meetings centers around my wife’s search for a carry gun.  She’s starting the process of getting her Indiana carry permit, and wants a gun that is not only effective, but “cute”.  I fully support her in this endeavor, because honestly I don’t care what a gun looks like as long as it does the job of going bang when the trigger is pulled.

The gun below is one I’m trying to get my hands on so I can really wring it out - it’s the Charter Arms .327 Federal Magnum with a 3 inch barrel.  I’m intrigued by this cartridge - in theory it could be the coolest thing to happen to concealed carry wheelguns in a long time.

The rest of the pictures are contained beneath the cut, again I don’t want to jam up the entire front page with a giant gun porn post.

Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Caleb on May 19

This is why you people actually read my blag after events like this - the gun porn. Here it is in all it’s fantastic glory. This part one of a multi-part series: part 1 is general stuff, part 2 focuses on tactical rifles, and part three is itty-bitty-pretty carry guns, featuring Mrs. Ahab.

One of the coolest guns is the Mare’s Leg .44-40 lever gun.

This a custom gun from J.B. Custom, the production version usually doesn’t have the large “Rio Bravo” style cocking lever. Since this gun is chambered for .44-40 or .45 Colt, it’s legally classified as a pistol, which means no need for any of that pesky SBR paperwork to fill out with ATF. How cool would it be to use one of these at my next pin shoot?

I’m putting the rest of the photos beneath the cut, because otherwise this would be a HUEG post and eat up most of the front page. Click it. you know you want to.

Read the rest of this entry »

posted by Caleb on May 13

I mentioned yesterday that I had picked up a Beretta 950 Jetfire from Gander Mountain, it’s a little pocket sized .25 ACP. Beretta has been making pocket pistols in .25 ACP since the early 1900s, in fact, I have one of their early 1919 models - sort of the great grandfather to the Beretta 950.

The Beretta 950 is a single action, semi-automatic magazine fed pistol; like most pocket guns it’s blowback operated. Because it’s chambered for .25 ACP, it lacks an extractor, although the Beretta style open slide usually allows for positive ejection of spent cases. While pre-1968 models lack an external safety, mine does the safety which allows me to carry the little pistol cocked-and-locked.

Of course, you want pictures. Click for a fullsize picture.

With the pocket holster, it just drops right into a jeans or trouser pocket, and can basically go anywhere that there aren’t metal detectors or pat searches. Sure, the .25 ACP isn’t a manly super-blaster of a cartridge, but when I can’t carry the 9mm or the .45, it certainly beats going around unarmed. Sort of by way of compensation for the tiny, tiny bullets, the 950 does have an eight round magazine, plus one round in the tip-up barrel/chamber - giving you nine rounds of .25 ACP.

The biggest appeal of this gun to me, aside from the fact that it says “Beretta” on the gun, is that it really is a spectacular deep concealment piece in terms of ease of carry. I’ve never made any bones about the fact that I’m a small of stature, and being able to be carrying a 9 round pistol plus an 8 round reload without even a hint of a “print” is a nice feeling.

posted by Caleb on May 12

You know, I’ve always wanted to say that - cackling super-villain style and shouting “Curse you Super-Guy!” always seemed like a lot of fun.

Of course, I’m not actually mad at Gander Mountain per se, it’s more that because of Gander Mountain I took an unplanned dig in to my firearms finances.  I had gone to the range to shoot this month’s e-postal match, and figured that a stop at Gander Mountain would be completely harmless.  Little did I know how wrong I was.

I was browsing the used gun case, when my eyes fell upon a used Beretta 950 Jetfire, the single-action .25 ACP pocket pistol that Beretta has made since the early 1950’s (1953, I think was the first year).  For the low, low sum of $169.99 plus tax, I could take this little pocket pistol home plus 4 magazines and a pocket holster.  With my known enjoyment of Beretta pocket guns (I own a 1919 .25 ACP and a 1935 .32 ACP), I figured “what the hell” and plunked down the plastic-fantastic.  A quick NICS check and some paperwork later, I was the proud papa of a brand-new-to-me Beretta.

The moral of the story is of course to never, ever go to Gander Mountain.  Or something like that.  You know, at the rate that I’m accumulating Berettas, you’d think I was collecting them or something.

posted by Caleb on May 7

A Bersa Thunder .380 ACP.

I used to have the two-tone version of that exact same gun, and it’s one of those guns that I wish I had never gotten rid of.  It really was a perfect carry pistol for a suit-wearing city-dweller like me, and I have to confess a certain “James Bond” feeling whenever I went to shoot it.

posted by Caleb on May 5

From AFcom, a user who experienced his S&W revolver lock malfunction, which essentially pwned his gun into a not-so-great club.

This is the malfunction that S&W said wasn’t happening, and that more than a few gun writers dismissed as “the internet”.

I am not knocking S&W revolvers here…but I should also note that I don’t own any “post lock” S&W, and the only revolvers I do own that have locks are Taurus’; the locking system on those is fundamentally different from the S&W system and can’t interfere with the function of the gun on accident.

posted by Caleb on Apr 29

So, I am going to buy a gun for pin shooting, but because I’m kind of anal retentive, I want it to be a gun that can pull double duty doing other things.

I’m leaning towards getting a .40 S&W, even though I promised myself I’d never get a .40, it seems like a pretty good choice. If a 158 grain .357 round at 1200 fps will clear pins off a table, shouldn’t a 165 grain .40 at 1100 fps or a 180 grain round at 1000 fps clean the tables right up?

The best part about this is that it gives me a semi-legitimate reason to buy another Beretta auto-chucker, and since I can get a 96D police trade-in for dirt cheap, I might actually be able to justify the purchase to Mrs. Ahab.  An additional side benefit is that .40 S&W ammo is almost as cheap as 9mm ammo.

I know some of my readers (I’m looking at you, Mr. Completely) are dedicated pin shooters, so are there any thoughts on using the .40 S&W for pins?

posted by Caleb on Apr 28

According to Breda, that is.

but I just don’t get the H&K hype, or the price that goes along with it. I’m thinking it’s the firearms equivalent of buying a Prada handbag. I’m just not impressed by name brands.

Que legions of raving fanboys in 3…2…1…there they go.  But seriously, I don’t get the HK hype either; and I actually own “real guns”.  I guess I’ve always figured that it doesn’t matter what the name on the slide of pistol said as long as when you pointed it downrange it went “bang” when you pressed the trigger, every time.

Anything beyond functional reliability is just an issue of ergonomics for the end user - that individual shooter deciding what feels good to them when they’re running their gun.