LGC Convention

[dime_novel_hero]

This past weekend was the Liberal Gun Club’s annual convention, this year on the east cost at a club almost just over the hill from me. Even so, it almost wasn’t a thing because our current fascist-wannabe administration declared pretty much every organization left of Ronald Reagan to be “nihilist violent terrorists”, putting the LGC literally in the cross-hairs of MAGAt fuckwits ready to turn out to do the government’s stochastic bidding. Near as I can tell, nearly half the people who were going to attend decided not to because of that very real threat.

I decided the risk, while real, was very low and, on top of that, we were all well armed, and the gravy seals and cosplaytriots have shown themselves time and again to be inept cowards, retreating into their rented vans to flee at the slightest sign of actual resistance. Guys that can be chased off by people wielding words and cell phones are not going turn out to challenge a gun club.

For myself, I brought six guns for range day. My 45 lever gun was popular. My M1887 lever shotgun was more popular. In Cowboy Action Shooting, I had only ever used #7 bird shot target loads to knockdown steel plate at maybe 7 yards, but here I was able to cycle full power 1oz and 1.25oz rifled slugs. Ooof! That’s spicy! What I didn’t have a chance to do with it is to see how far I could reach out accurately with it. 50 yards? 100 yards? My guess is that, for a full sized target, 75 yards is going to be my 50/50 range. Maybe less. But I shot up all my slug rounds so I’ll have to buy more to test that hypothesis.

I did not attend any of the classes that were available (they cost more money) but the Old Guns class took place right next to the open range I was at, allowing me to look over shoulders at the assortment. The presenter had everything blackpowder from a handgonne up to cartridge guns (with, I think, the exception of a wheel lock). No one wanted to shoot the 75 cal matchlock, maybe they were intimidated by the caliber, so I stepped up to give it a go. Unlike many other guns that have a trigger sear and a spring where, once you put enough pressure on the trigger it fires (click, bang), this has a lever which, as you pull the lever moves the lit cord closer to the priming pan. I made the mistake of treating it like a trigger and I think doing that mashed the cord such that it didn’t ignite the powder. I had to try a couple of times more gently. The recoil wasn’t so bad. Yes, the big projectile means more recoil but blackpowder burns slower and with less pressure so the recoil impulse is more of a shove than a punch. Probably no worse than my Martini-Henry.

My near-term gun plans involve selling a few guns and using those funds to buy a budget AR platform and drop it into an SARB-15 bullpup kit. To that end, I took my M1 Garand to a shop to see what I could get for it.

The answer was nothing.

The guy at the shop said that the barrel was pretty much shot out so he wouldn’t buy it or trade it in. The gun was manufactured in 1940, was refurbished an 1953, and subsequently had its barrel shot out before I bought it in the 90s because, in that 30 years I certainly never shot it enough to wear out the barrel. Even so, he said the gun was in otherwise very good condition. I asked, if he was going to sell it, informing the buyer that they would need to replace the barrel, what he thought it was worth. He said $1,000.

I took it with me and found someone who was interested in it, knowing that it would need re-barreled. The challenge will be getting it to her because she lives in Massachusetts and would not have been able to purchase it and take it home with her on the plane.

Once that is all sorted out, she’s still going to get a good deal as I am throwing in a bunch of clips, some manuals, cleaning rod, assembly mat, and a bayonet.

I got a chance to shoot a number of ARs in various configurations but no one had anything bullpup. More important than the shooting part, though, was the ability to try a number of different optics. I had a red-dot sight of my own and inherited another from my father and I experienced an issue with flaring on both of them. Though undiagnosed by my optometrist and not recognizable by me under most conditions, I must have a slight astigmatism that manifests itself by showing me a small starburst rather than a nice small dot in a laser sight. I ended up taking the red-dot off my dad’s Ruger MkII and replace them with a more traditional three-dot fiber optic.

I got a chance to look through several versions of a holographic sight. That was a clean glowing reticle that showed no sign of the flaring I experienced with the laser.

Then I looked through a Vortex Spitfire. This one uses a reticle engraved into a prism. It was also a very crisp image with the added advantage of, if the light is turned off, the engraved reticle is still visible like the traditional crosshair reticles. I liked that a lot and put one on my Amazon wishlist. I probably won’t get that exact model because I will ultimately want to have some magnification to occasionally reach out to longer distances and will need some magnification. Maybe something adjustable 3x to 5x. Magnification ramps up the cost.

Saw some neat flip-up “iron” sights that sat at a 45 degree angle so, for the close shots, you would just rotate the gun a bit instead of having the scope blocking your view.

Someone told me that bullpups are a “money pit” but, honestly, all these “add-ons” would end up on the gun whether it was bullpup or not.

Back in 1985, I got my rifle/pistol/shotgun/self defense training certification from the NRA. (Fuck them). I didn’t put it to much user after a while and so let it lapse. The LGC offers a certification and I am thinking I should pick that up again.

As with my experience with Brutality Matches, I find that these are my people. They are diverse. Intelligent. Thoughtful. Welcoming. Empathic. Encouraging. Sharing. All the things good humans are.