Temporal Thursday - Some Musings

So, the last couple of days I have been a blur of day drinking, gun store hopping, and looking at old airplanes.

Sunday, Jackie and I went to the Lockheed plant and took a gander at some of the warbirds they had on display. Not all of which were made by Lockheed. Quite the eclectic bunch of airframes. My personal favorite was the Mohawk.

Screw you Robert Strange

The day before, Jackie and I went on an Atlanta Beer Tour. Which also included a stop at Atlanta's only distillery. I may have quoted "Copperhead Road" a few dozen times.

Barrels of happiness

And the week previously we had been down on the coast living it up with everyone's favorite co-blogger, Pudge. The ladies went shopping and Pudge and I ventured off to gun shop. Oh, and go to Twin Peaks.

There were .45 ACP Uzi carbines! With the original Action Arms case!

There were big bore Winchester lever guns! 

That's a Model 71 on the bottom. Chambered in the shoulder breaking .348 Winchester

The Winchester Model 71 is a gun I've wanted off and on for about ten years after learning that Earl Lee Swagger used one to dispense justice on a bunch of rednecks. A little under 48,00 of them were made from 1937 until the mid 1950s. They demand a premium today and are well built guns. Unfortunately, while fairly priced, the one picture was a tinge out of my budget. But it was cool to place with one for a little bit. I might just have to order one of the new production Miroku guns. Nah, scratch that. 

There were pre-'64 Model 70s!

The proprietor of the above table wasn't as friendly as the fellow with the 71. So I didn't get to play with it as much. Oh well. But I also think he may not have been quite sure what he had. 

I could not find anything regarding a .225 Varmint SP anywhere. Old issues of the Rifleman, the Google, nothing. The proprietor said that it dated to the '30s and was a contemporary of the .220 Swift. If any of you old prairie dog hunters have any insight I'm all ears. 

And speaking of odd cartridges; I found a box of obsolete Austrian rimmed ammo! 

I don't care who you are; that's neat!

And also, speaking of old ammo I actually bought some!

I can't go to a gun show and not buy something other than a hotdog

.375 Winchester is another cool old lever gun cartridge; being a shortened .38-55 case firing a similar bullet. Winchester/Olin introduced it in '78 for the "Big Bore '94s" as an attempt to get the most out of that loading but not risk getting sued when some knuckle head blew up Grandpa's '73 with a modern load. 

Winchester made the '94 XTR, Marlin had a 336 in it, and Ruger made the No. 3 single shot in it as well. And well, it was a bit of a flop. Discontinued in 1994, with only Contender barrels still being chambered in it. And only Buffalo Bore still making commercial ammunition for it. So, a definite obsolete but still cool cartridge. 

I figured the internet likes some old guns and old airplanes, so hope y'all enjoyed today's wandering musings