Gun Cabinet

ron · 2008-06-08T22:05:47+00:00

I am building a gun cabinet and I have a couple questions.The method, I want to use, to display my hand guns, is to have rods or dowels that I could slide the barrel of the hand gun onto, suspending the gun by the barrel.What material should I use for the dowels? Can wood hold enough moisture to rust the inside of the barrel, or would some type of plastic be a better choice.Now, I know we are all wood workers and not gun smiths, however, does any one know if suspending a gun in this manner will do any damage to the gun?

T

Tim Douglass 18 years ago

Thanks for the input on that, Tom. The rifle is oldish (1976) but has probably not had more than a couple hundred shots through it. I put 50 or so through it a couple weeks ago trying to get it sorted out and they pretty much doubled the wear showing on the feed ramp and magazine follower.

My best results with it were two shots touching and a third about 4" high. I think the first shot was always the high one. I tightened the action screws and it changed to more of all three shots in a vertical line. Unfortunately the wind came up at that point and all results became pretty unreliable.

The barrel channel in the stock is odd. It is really set up for a pressure-pad at the fore-end, but the channel doesn't match the barrel contour well, so it is more like a V, with the barrel only touching at the sides. My first thought was to free-float it, but it is a fairly thin contour barrel, so maybe I'll do the pressure pad and see what happens. This rifle is an indulgence because I have an identical one in 30/06. I want the 22/250 to shoot well, but it is more about having a matched set than a tack driver.

Tim Douglass

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"I'm not exactly burned out, but I'm a little bit scorched and there's some smoke damage."

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ron 18 years ago

Tom I like the way you think. One question though. Does the "hold center mass" rule apply to the first shot only,or does it mean the whole magazine? I have to tell you, if I catch some poor idiot in my home, the first shot will be center mass, but I will proceed to get fancy.

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Swingman 18 years ago

"ron" wrote

Shotgun, buckshot ... no need to get fancy.

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Tom B 18 years ago

Ron:

I prefer to keep shooting at the big pieces until I'm sure no more rounds are required. I try not to empty the magazine. If I have to do so, it's not just a bad guy, it's an f'ing war. I do concur with Swingman's response (which follows) as well, but still hold COM even with buckshot.

BTW, forget 00 buck, #2 buck penetrates adequately at "in the house" range, has plenty of knock-down power and leaves more but smaller holes in furniture - you know, the kind that look like pecky wood. With my 10 Gauge I stuff about 40 #2's vs 12 00 in a 3 1/2" shell.

The big advantage of the scatter gun is that the sound of a slide racking is unique, recognized by most evil-doers, and normally causes involuntary soiling of the drawers before the high speed exit. Makes 'em easier to track, don't you know.

Regards.

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ron 18 years ago

You are a good man Tom. Have you ever considered public office. I would be great to have someone like you in Austin.

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Swingman 18 years ago

"Tom B" wrote

Carried an M-79 with 40mm/#4 buckshot, by choice and in deadly earnest, at one point in my life. Dense vegetation will make you appreciate the meaning of "close quarters".

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Tom B 18 years ago

Ah ya, the good old days. I preferred the M-79 flechette rounds, but #4 buck does the trick at "CQ".

Too few of us left.

Regards.

Tom

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Tom B 18 years ago

Politics - AAAARGH!

You can't say what you believe, it might upset someone - AAARGH!

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Lee Michaels 18 years ago

"Swingman" wrote

An uncle of mine did the same. Everybody looked out for him. He supplied some unique firepower that was appreciated by everybody else. Besides the VC like to target the grenade launcher guys.

Weren't you an officer?

Wasn't it unusual for an officer to carry a weapon like this?

Any reason you chose this weapon over a shotgun?

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Lew Hodgett 18 years ago

Should I choose to once again have a weapon for close quarters use, it would be a simple choice:

A sawed off, double barreled, 10 ga, shot gun with 00 buck shot in the

1st barrel and a cross cut, rifled slug in the other (Behaves just like a hollow point).

Shoot 1st, if necessary,ask questions after it has been determined there are no survivors.

Legality of the weapon is for the lawyers to sort out.

Lew

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Swingman 18 years ago

"Lee Michaels" wrote

Yes ... 2nd looey at the time.

At the time officers were generally issued both an M16 and a 45 pistol. On advice from the guy (another Aggie, BTW) I replaced, I immediately "traded" him my M16 for his M79 on my first assignment - FO (and the only American) with an ARVN Ranger battalion ... otherwise known as that tall guy, relatively speaking, in a sea of short people, AKA "The Target". :)

I quickly learned to appreciate his experienced based advice in the most basic way ... as he also predicted. :) Besides, there were very few chances in the Central Highlands for a 'deer hunting range' shot ... even by Louisiana swamp standards.

When I took over an artillery battery later, I just carried the 45 most of the time, but always went back to the M79 on patrols, or on firebases in the boonies when we went mobile.

Shorter, _much_ lighter and easier to carry (slung under right arm and naturally pointing wherever you were), which means a ton in a hot humid climate that defies description. Despite their appearance, a bandolier of buckshot rounds was also relatively light and comfortable to carry.

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