The 9mm Makarov Cartridge This article brought back some very fond memories of my Curio and Relic Days when the Big Brown UPS truck of joy would deliver fully functional long rifles and handguns right to my door! But alas those days are long gone so all I have are memories and archived blog post…
Category: Curio and Relics
Curio and Relic Corner: The Zastava M48 Mauser
Zastava M48 Mauser: Milsurp Gem It’s articles like these that make me want to get my C&R FFL03 License renewed so I can have that Big Brown truck of Joy deliver mil-surp weapons direct to my doorstep but I know I will never again see the glory days of ample supplies of Yugo Mausers,…
Know Your Weapons: The Cap and Ball Revolvers Prior to the Peacemaker
Prior to the Peacemaker The Revolvers that ‘Really’ Won the West Before the Colt Peacemaker? Before the Colt Peacemaker there was a whole boatload of other Colt single action revolvers. And in truth they had a lot more influence in the Old West than did the Peacemaker because the wildest and woolliest times had passed by…
Know Your Weapons: The Astra 600 – Old School Cool
The Astra 600 – Old School Cool In my 20 or so years collecting I only came across an Astra 600 once, and I passed on it because the guy was way too proud of it and would not budge on the price, primarily because of the German markings. I regret that now. This…
Know Your Guns: History of the East German Makarov
HISTORY OF THE EAST GERMAN MAKAROV When I was hot and heavy into Curio and Relic collecting fifteen or so years back I had several different flavors of Makarov, including a true East German PM (with original DDR markings) a Polish P-64, A Hungarian FEG PA-63 and a very rare Bulgarian PPK clone. As…
Know Your Weapons: The .30-40 U.S. Krag-Jorgenson in Combat
THE .30-40 U.S. KRAG-JORGENSEN IN COMBAT I had a couple of Krag’s I traded for over the years but I never really cared for them. They were too long and the action was not near as smooth as a Mauser. Caliber wise they are like shooting a .30-06.
SKS Collecting And Identification: A Buyer’s Guide
SKS Collecting And Identification: A Buyer’s Guide I had a C&R License (FFL 03) for around twenty years off and on back in the “golden era” when you could find plenty of German and Yugo Mausers, Lee- Enfields, Mosin-Nagants, Swiss K-31’s and Norinco and Russian SKS’s all for very reasonable prices. It was a…
Know Your Weapons: Mannlicher M1895 Rifle
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY’S M-95 Rifle “The M95 proved itself one of the finest battle rifles of the First World War. It weighed around a pound less than its equally lengthy peers and was slim and almost delicate by comparison. The soldiers who carried it appreciated its light weight but the Allied soldiers facing the M95 in…
Know Your Weapons: The SKS Carbine is Still Viable After a Quarter Century
The SKS Carbine is Still Viable After a Quarter Century For the doubters out there my kids when they were 12 years old could hit 5 gallon buckets with open sights at three hundred yards with every flavor of SKS: Norinco, Russian and Yugo. That’s minute of man accurate packaged in a tough, dependable…
Know Your WW2 Weapons: Japanese Arisaka Type 99 Rifle
Really enjoyed this informative run through on this gun. It’s funny, I had always heard negative things about the Arisaka but never owned one. Lesson learned: Never discount a weapon because of urban myth or cultural bias! You could be missing out!