“All life is finite. Only the grace and virtue with which it is lived matters, not the length.” Of course when the liberal, woke, troops of the left storm the White Wolf Mine to take me out because of this blog, I might re-think that lofty sentiment.
Illegal Immigration
The democrat party wants to keep America under their thumb and a cornerstone of that philosophy is to encourage illegal immigration in the hopes that the generally ignorant masses would respond to the free cheese offered by keeping their new masters in power.
The democrat mayor of Del Rio, Texas said Wednesday that he believes that the U.S. southern border is “wide open” for illegal immigrants, despite insistence from the Biden administration claiming the opposite.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Bruno Lozano reacted to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ Tuesday comment, reiterating that the “border is closed.”
“I would very much disagree with that statement,” Lozano said. “The way that it’s been handling or being managed—it seems to be wide open for unlawful entry into the United States.”
Lozano said that he had reached out to the administration for help regarding the influx of migrants, but was told repeatedly that the border is “under control.”
Pointing to statistics indicating that there was a 393% increase in border crossings in the 2021 fiscal year, Lozano said he could not understand the administration’s assertion.
The Del Rio mayor also said he found it “peculiar” that there was a different set of standards for US citizens compared to illegal immigrants regarding COVID testing.
Lozano claimed that Dr. Alex Eastman, CWMD’s Senior Medical Officer for Operations, contacted him on behalf of DHS and said that the department could no longer “legally” administer COVID-19 tests to migrants entering the country.
Eastman noted that he had plans to “collaborate” with the city of Del Rio, allowing them to conduct COVID testing on migrants on DHS’ behalf.
During a recent NBC interview, Biden claimed that his administration had “now gotten control” of the high number of migrants surging at the southern border.
Despite his claim, at the time more than 22,000 child migrants remained in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Q and A
Q – Why do you think that I’m always in a hurry?
A– Because you’re Russian.
Q – No, it’s because the clock is ticking and mortality is inevitable.
A – Russian – your family came from Russia.
Q – We were White Russians and supported the Czar and they threw us out. But that was a long time ago. You’re missing my point. What’s more Russian than unending existential dread?
A – This is why I like Eastern European Sci-Fi. The west is too hopeful. Space aliens who land in England or the US are too helpful. The Russian aliens are always eating brains and using human legs as lampstands, not just probing the other end.
European Take Out Preferences
You can’t get super fresh Oysters in Arizona
It forces me to travel.
This is not a food blog, but it could be.
Russia-Russia-Russia
BTR-70 in Afghanistan up-gunned with several S-5 unguided rocket pods. The Russians wanted to keep the heads of the Muj down and thought that the rocket pods would be a good idea.
Not a bad idea, when you think about it. It’s unlikely that you’d hit anything unless it was an Inchallah shot – but you could cover your retreat, particularly with smoke (marking) rockets and Willie Pete, mixed with an HE warhead here and there to let them know that you mean business.
Lever Action Rifles
Full disclosure, I have an original Winchester Model 1873 carbine, chambered in .44-40 that I will not part with. But for today’s discussion, let’s chat about the Winchester 1894 in .30-30.
The 1894 Winchester suffers a critical case of “the first at something” that hasn’t exactly gone away with this rifle’s long lifespan on the market. They are still in production. Today, it costs more than almost every other lever gun bone stock. For the same price as a new Winchester 1894, you can buy at least three Marlins or even the ‘interesting’ Mossberg 472.
All you get from buying the 1894 is a top eject rifle in weirdly expensive ammo sold to people who want to hunt “authentically” for no other reason than some kind of personal vendetta against themselves.
The year is 1893. You are John Moses Browning. In the span of just seven years since you were hired by Winchester, you’ve managed to help them regained their lost ground in the market. Companies like Marlin and Bullard were beating WRA to the cut on larger caliber lever actions, and Winchester could only buy out and shut down rivals like Whitney and Spencer so much. Hiring on this weird Mormon, he gave them the Winchester 1886 and later 1892, allowing them to regain their footing. Outside of the hiccup of the Winchester 1887, everything was peachy keen. And then France makes smokeless powder, and while most of the world is rushing to match that, JMB just looks at the Winchester 1892, and then this batch of smokeless powder. And gets the idea. Combine one with two, get three. Thus the .30-30 Winchester and the Winchester 1894 were born.
The issue with these is three-fold.
1) .30-30 isn’t that good of a cartridge. It’s what I call, a ‘pumpkin slinger’ because the bullet and the case don’t form a very balanced cartridge and past 100 meters, the bullet begins to tumble. If you’ve ever had one fired at you, and I have – California hunter thought I was a deer despite me wearing orange everything- you’ll know what I mean. You can hear it tumble downrange, warbling. The ammo is expensive for what it is. 110 grains at 2,700~ FPS on average. It’s a slightly faster and slimmer 7.62×39 with an ammo cost that’s almost always a buck-a-round. (back when you could buy them) So it’s not cost-effective.
2) The Winchester 1894 has a terrible action. Unlike Marlin’s or other lever guns that use a cylindrical rotating bolt, Winchester’s have the dual drop-down locking blocks just like the 1873 model. This, combined with hammer spring weights make it a pain to unlock. It’s not bad, but there is a wall you have to shove through every time you cycle it. So you’ll grab the lever, push down, not get any movement, push a little more and suddenly the action cracks open, spits out the empty and you’re good.
3) Olin cut back Winchester’s budget for quality in 1964, giving birth to the ‘Pre-64/Post-64′ difference that boomers use to justify why a Model 70 has a “Starting Bid” of 1,399. Every part will shake, the lever rattles and you’re still paying a pretty penny for the privilege. Even in comparison to the earlier 1892, it still has issues.
But if your grandpa had one and you want to walk in his shoes, then it may work for you (buy a pre-1964 rifle).
Those Tricky Israelis
(Daily Mail) The IDF announced shortly after midnight that ground forces were ‘attacking in Gaza’, but a spokesman later retracted that statement, saying no Israeli troops had crossed the border.
The announcement was a well-planned ploy to get Hamas to send its fighters into its underground tunnel system beneath Gaza City, before bombarding the area, in the hope of eliminating large numbers of the organization’s operatives in one fell swoop, reports in Israel claim.
Tunnels were (as in used to be) among Hamas’s most effective tools during the 2014 war with Israel, with militants using them to move weapons, enter the Jewish state, ambush IDF soldiers, and at times even return to Gaza through the underground passages. The groups use the network to hide rockets and other munitions, facilitate communication within their organizations, conceal militants, and launch attacks.
The tunnels, which are believed to have cost between $30 million (£21.3 million) and $90 million (£63.9 million) to build, are extremely difficult to detect from the air. Some of the three dozen tunnels built since the end of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict are estimated to have cost $3 million ($2.13 million).
The tunnels are reinforced with concrete to protect them from airstrikes and from caving in. But if the entrances and exits are bombed… ooops.
During the 2014 fighting, the IDF reported it had ‘neutralized’ 32 tunnels along the Israel-Gaza border during the conflict, including 14 which crossed into Israel.
The devastating 2014 conflict killed 2,251 Palestinians, more than 10,000 were wounded and 100,000 were left homeless.
On the Israeli side, 74 people were killed, all but six of them soldiers.
Though Israel said it leveled 32 tunnels during the conflict, many have been rebuilt by Hamas who continue to use the underground network.
Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza say tunnels are needed for defense.
In 2015, the Islamist group started using heavy machinery, including bulldozers and tractors, as well as engineering tools to accelerate the construction of the tunnels.
The reconstruction was largely funded by Iran. The Islamic Republic also provided rockets and missiles to replenish Hamas’s arsenal.
That levergun post might generate some comments.
I thought that it might. That’s why it’s there. ;^)
Lever actions are fun. I have a Marlin stainless levergun in 45-70 I am quite fond of. Accurate out to about a 150 yds and it throws a 325 grain bullet with “authority”. Quite a nice brush gun. It was quite rattly from the store but with a couple of aftermarket add-ons is now quiet and does not have a razor sharp loading gate anymore.
I have the same rifle. The recoil is significant but not Earthmoving. If you work the action it feeds better and it is more fun to shoot. Great ranch rifle for the pick-up.
My father bought a Model 94 .30-.30 in 1953. That rifle put a lot of meat on our table over the years.
One deficiency with that rifle is leaving a round in the chamber and not putting the hammer to ‘safe’. Drop it on the butt and it fires. Man I knew had one propped in the footwell of a pickup (pickups of a certain vintage had footwells, or a step if you prefer) and opened the door. The rifle slipped out, dropped butt first, and fired. Just missed the man and put a hole in the pickup roof.
That’s a people deficiency not a rifle deficiency.
T.Don, that might be arguing semantics. Consider an engine made without a belt guard. (belt covers are safety designs which didn’t come until later. Even then, regular maintenance nearly demanded easily removed belt covers and that somewhat defeated the purpose of the belt cover.) If a person gets their arm caught in the belt, is it a people deficiency or design deficiency?
Of course, knowing of the potential hazards therefore modifying behavior is prudent and responsible. In that nothing has been made completely ‘idiot proof’, there are the warnings such as, Don’t let children gain access, or, Do not use contrary to original intent. That is even for the most ‘safe’ designs.
The Remington Model 870 (pump action) riot gun has a feeding problem that I didn’t know about until things went sideways. If you rack a round into the chamber with the but on the floorboard of the car the round ejects. So you think that you’ve chambered a round and you fire on an empty, with the round rolling around on the floor of the car somewhere. A lot of people keep the chamber empty on a dash mount – and that’s cool so long as you know that it cant be perpendicular and feed properly.
I had an 870 until the boating accident claimed it. I’d heard about the feeding issue they can have, but mine never gave me any problems. One day in a class, we were learning how to chamber a round “one-handed” by putting the butt on the ground and cycling the action. Mine worked fine, but somebody else had a malfunction of some sort that made his go off, pointed up, and showered the range area with buckshot off the ceiling. No injuries, but it sure stopped the class.
My late, great Marlin 336 in 30-30 had been a really good gun, as well as my late, great, Marlin 1894 in 357.
The 30-30 is at least as a good a gun as I am a shooter, and with the Hornady LeverEvolution ammo, it’s “8-Ring” at 150 yards. Amazing ammo, and if you have a 30-30, I highly recommend it.
With respect to our gracious host, isn’t that a failure of the ‘well regulated’ tenet of gun use? Not finding out about a default until an extreme condition must be a real Oh crap! moment.
The 870 has another feeding issue, one that is exacerbated (but not caused) by worn parts.
It is possible, especially during stress drills, to not completely feed a fresh shell into the magazine after clearing the shell lifter. This has the effect of causing the magazine spring to shoot the new shell in between the lifter and the bolt, jamming the gun up tight. It’s worse if it’s a top-off round, as the mag spring is already under tension from full capacity minus one, and can really stick a shell in there. A worn magazine shell retention tooth makes the malfunction even more likely.
The problem CAN be avoided with a combination of proper maintenance and training, but once it happens, is a bear to fix, no mattee which one of 3 failure processes is used to clear the jam. Unlock the bolt (through firing or holding the slide unlock button) and slam the gun butt first on the ground while holding the slide – not a good idea if you have a live round in the chamber. Find a slim but sturdy tool such as a Leatherman flatblade screwdriver, reach around the lifter, and shove the shell back up. Or disassemble the magazine, and possibly the whole gun, depending on how stuck the shell is.
I have done methods 1 and 2, both at the range during practice fires (fired the loaded round downrange before buttstroking the ground).
870s are also not left-handed friendly with regards to the safety button.
I prefer Mossberg.
LL- Thanks for this heads-up.
My old Wingmaster is retired now. If I ever go duck hunting again it will be too soon…
Current SG is a ’50s vintage Stevens 620A converted into a Trench Gun replica. An enjoyable project that came out nicely if I do say so.
When I was a little one, my uncles (on the other side) would tell me I was always in a hurry ’cause I was a rushin’. I’d say, “Nah, only half. ‘N that’s ‘krainian.”
I have a mid 70’s era 94 in 30/30. First time i fired it I thought the stock was cracked.
Gee… want a nice woods’ carbine in .30 caliber? Get an M1 Carbine. Though that ammo was and is stupid expensive. But some nice hunting rounds have been made for it. My dad knew a guy who got, ahem, his ‘legal’ limit of deer, gator, antelope, sheep, etc with his war-surplus carbine. A good gun with a crappy mag, but much better mags are now available, supposedly. I don’t actually know, as I missed my chance at an inexpensive carbine and Garand and M1917 and and and…. Dammit.
As to the Palestinians? F them.
One of the fishing boats I worked on had an old model 94 as a bear gun. chambered in .32 Winchester. Now apparently the .32 started out as a black powder round, and the barrel twist rate was a lot slower- so when the bore got a bit worn, the accuracy using smokelesss rounds suffered tremendously. So we were wandering around in the woods way up north, and decided to do a little plinking. It was really astounding- we could not hit a 6″ circle (the width of a spruce tree, as we had no targets) at 30′. A slingshot would have been better.
Forgive me while I respectfully pick some nits–
1) “Unlike Marlin’s or other lever guns that use a cylindrical rotating bolt,..”
The cylindrical bolts in my Marlins do not rotate.
2) “…Winchester’s have the dual drop-down locking blocks just like the 1873 model.”
The Winchester 1873 has a toggle link action, no locking blocks.
As to tumbling bullets, also an issue, although IMHO, not directly related to the 30-30 cartridge or the 1894. The only way to clean the bore on Winchester lever guns in from the front. Folks who go to town with a cleaning rod tend to “bell” the inside of the muzzle over time, and yeah, bullets start tumbling. Another plus for Marlin–very easy to pull the bolt and clean from the back.
One of my Marlins (336 action) is in 38-55, or as I call it, 45-70 lite . 38-55 is the parent cartridge of the 30-30. Both are black powder cartridge designations. I don’t know if any black powder 30-30 rounds were ever commercially produced. Here is the story of my 38-55–
“Here is another one that still shoots, although it needed a little help at first.
Back in the late 90’s when I still had my FFL, I was at the Butte County Sheriff’s office renewing my county license. I am at the clerk’s window, and as I am finishing up, I hear a conversation in the lobby behind me. Seems this older lady has a rifle that belonged to her deceased husband. It has been sitting in her garage for some 30+ years and somewhat the worse for wear. She just wants to get rid of it short of tossing it into the trash. A deputy explained to her that the department would be happy to take it off her hands, but that she might want to try a gun shop first. That was my cue to step up and say “Hi. I am a gun shop. whaddaya got?”.
What she had started life pretty much identical to the OP’s photo, except the serial number prefix on mine is AD which is 1968. Aaand…the buttstock was missing. She said that at some point, someone had tried to disable the rifle. That was why the lever would not fully close, and was twisted side was about 12 degrees. The loading gate and barrel bands had been chrome plated. There were some scattered spots of surface rust on the receiver and barrel. Oh well. Free is free and the parts gotta be worth something.
On the way home, the light goes off. The next day I call Marlin customer service. “Hi. I need my rifle fixed.”. As I’m reading off my fixit list, the guy stops me and says “Sir, we don’t do any custom work.”. I reply that I understand and further, I only want them to remove and replace factory parts. Alrighty then.
Fixit list–
Replace trigger/lever assembly and buttstock with straight grip.
Replace chrome loading gate.
Re-blue receiver.
Remove everything in front of the receiver and replace with octagon 38-55 cowboy.
A few weeks a some $375 odd bucks later, what I got back is in the photos.
Hopefully my descendants keep the paper work with the rifle. Otherwise it will drive some new Marlin collector nuts because the serial number is in the wrong place.”
For anyone interested, here is a link to the original post with photos of the rifle. You may have to log in to see the photos–
https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showpost.php?p=22210934&postcount=16
Thank you for the clarification, and the advice, RHT447
I did some more homework and stand corrected. 30-30 does not denote a black powder cartridge. From Wiki–
“When the cartridge was chambered in the Marlin Model 1893 rifle, rival gunmaker Marlin used the designation .30-30 or .30-30 Smokeless. The added -30 stands for the standard load of 30 grains (1.9 g) of early smokeless powder and is based on late-19th century American naming conventions for black powder-filled cartridges.”
Still learning. Love this stuff.
I have a soft spot for lever rifles and own several both vintage and newer. I do own two Winchester 94s. One is 1960s vintage Ted Williams model. It’s okay and it does shoot well enough. Then there’s my 1906 vintage carbine complete with saddle ring and, unusual for a carbine, a crescent butt plate as well as a Williams tang sight. It’s chambered in .25-35(a necked down .30-30) and shoots pretty well. There is a gentleman who comes to the range now and then who enjoys shooting vintage rifles and he occasionally allows me to try them. I’ve fired his 1881 Marlin .45-70, a 1876 Winchester .45-60, as well as a Whitney-Kennedy carbine in .44-40. While I’ve never fired an original 1873 Winchester, I have fired reproductions and really enjoy how smooth the actions are on them.
I have two ’94s: a .30-30 Ranger and a .357 Trapper. The Ranger came w/ blonde wood and a 4X Bushnell on see thru mounts, cost $225 as I recall. Iron sights are zeroed at 50 yds, scope at 100. Duplex reticle will get me past that if I’m careful. I run 150 or 170 gr bullets, 150s have a slight edge in accuracy.
I was looking for a Miroku M 92, or an 1894 Marlin. Never found one in .357, so I got the Trapper when they became available in the mid-’90s. It’s a sweet little carbine in spite of the hideous crossbolt safety (now removed), a fine companion for a .357 revolver.
I’m also very partial to my RockOla M1 Carbine and my Mini 30. Ditched the SKS in favor of an AR in 7.62X39.
My favorite? Whichever is in my hands at any given time.
I had a love/hate with my Winchester 30-30. And it was exactly as Larry described concerning the action and the ‘wall’. Still, I remain on the hunt for more older lever action rifles of any caliber larger than .38
I love lever-action rifles. I just do.
Some have deficiencies – many of the early jamming problems were solved with the move to smokeless powder.
I have a vintage Marlin 336 in 35 that was given to me for taking a big old hemlock tree down over my neighbors house. I was doing it for free but he insisted at least I take his rifle for the job done.He took many a Adirondack whitetail buck with it and I’d never let it go. My favorite lever gun is my Winchester 94 in 22 mag. I’ve had it for around 40 years now and can’t say how many squirrels it’s taken. Very quick to point and the action is butter slick. Great little carbine.
Ah, levers… need one. But you know what, I’m holding off until I can get ammo. Let’s hope that’s not forever.
Maybe “Greek Fire” would work well in the tunnels. Just a thought.
When he was in his 80’s my Great Uncle gave me a Winchester 1894 saddle ring carbine he had bought new in the 1920’s. He was a buddy of the local sheriff (Marion County, Missouri) and carried a Deputy Sheriff badge. He told me about taking the rifle on a posse to hunt John Dillinger. They didn’t find him, Uncle Don said, but that was a good thing because later they found out Dillinger had been holed up in a hayloft with a machine gun.
Love the gun talk.
And nothing wrong with a food blog. I love all the food posts you do.
Except oysters. That’s hubby’s thing. 😉
I have three Marlins, .44 mag and .375 mag in 1894 and a guide gun in .444 marlin. I put two caribou down with one shot at about fifty yards with the .44 mag. A couple moose at various times with the .444. The .444 is good to 200 yards on targets. I like all three but don’t put too many rounds thru the .444 as it kicks pretty good in the light guide gum.
I have an ancient C&R Marlin ’93 in .25-20. It’s fun to shoot, but I would only hunt with it in extremis. About the only issues it has are it gets hot very fast, and the firing pin is pretty badly peened after all these years – sometimes makes opening the action need a little more force.
I also tend to string shots vertically with the semi-buckhorn rear sight, but that’s operator error.
Also have a Savage 99 in .300 Savage, nice little rifle.
-Kle.
Clicked too soon.
All that take-out sushi in Europe is weird to me. I’ve had take-out sushi, but only because the stupid virus rules didn’t let me eat in. I always find the immediacy of freshness is vital to good sushi.
I presume the “kebab” in Russia is of the Gyro variety?
-Kle.
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