Barack Obama, Savior of the Gun Industry
November 24th, 2008Election of Nut Stimulates Gun Boom
I’ve been planning to get myself an M1 carbine, because I think it would be a fun and interesting home-defense weapon. But now I’m wondering if I should buy something foreign instead.
I don’t know much about executive orders, but people who do are voicing concern that Obama will use executive orders to remove many types of ammunition and guns from commerce. Instantly. In January. They are especially worried about cheap foreign ammunition and military-style weapons.
Obama hates guns, and he wants to take them away from us. He weasels about it, and he even lies about it. Nonetheless, it’s true. His history proves it. He’s a big-city sissy, he has probably never fired a gun in his life, and he thinks guns are evil, in and of themselves. One particularly scary thing about his weasel language is that he loves using the word “sportsmen.” This is liberal gun-grabber code for “I have no respect for the rights of people who buy guns for self-defense.” It’s his way of telling us he’ll go after self-defense weapons first. Your AK. Your AR15. Your 1911. Then he’ll let us cool down, and THEN he’ll come for our hunting weapons. Our shotguns and deer rifles.
The gun-haters among us don’t like sporting guns much. But they truly, TRULY hate self-defense guns. And there are a lot of Americans who will stand up for hunters, yet who will abandon people who own guns strictly for self-defense. This is what the Obama regime is counting on. Politically, it’s much easier to take away a Bushmaster than a squirrel gun. So Obama says he sympathizes with “sportsmen.” And Americans who aren’t bright or attentive assume he is referring to all gun owners. It’s a sleazy tactic. It’s obvious to smart people. But most Americans are not geniuses; they can’t see it.
I don’t know how brave he’ll be in January. Maybe he’s not crazy enough to fulfill expectations. But he probably is. The Clintons were. And George Bush’s dad dealt us a crippling blow, even though he was supposedly a Republican.
If Obama does what he really wants to do, AK-based guns are going to get very hard to find. They’re already harder to find than they used to be. We used to have lots of good, inexpensive rifles to choose from. Then the government choked off the supply. Now a nice AK with a milled receiver costs a thousand dollars. We’re not talking about a gorgeous, tightly assembled technological marvel. We’re talking about the world’s favorite peasant rifle. Something that should cost five hundred bucks, tops. Next year, the price may shoot up to two thousand, and after that, we would be limited to buying used.
So I’m wondering if I should get an AK and let the M1 wait. I don’t have any AKs. A folding job would be very handy around the house, under certain circumstances.
The AK market is incredibly confusing, for a person like me. I don’t know much about guns. I’m fairly sure I want a rifle with a milled receiver. People say they’re more accurate and more pleasant to shoot, and that they last longer. There aren’t many alternatives at a reasonable price. In fact, I only know of one. The Golani, which is a Galil assembled from parts. It’s supposed to be a great gun, but there are problems. First of all, there are a lot of complaints about the receivers deforming. These parts are American-made, and many people say they don’t compare to the originals. Second, people claim the parts used to make these guns are used, and that they come from places like Guatemala. That sounds bad. Finally, the cheap ones are assembled by Century Arms, and there are disturbing photos on the web showing mashed parts and bad ejectors built up with welded material. You can build one yourself, but you’re still stuck with the US receiver, unless you shell out for an IMI. And I believe you need a bunch of exotic tools, like a hydraulic press.
The Bulgarians still make a few nice guns. They make an AK with a folding stock. There is a pre-ban version, and there’s a post-ban version. The difference? No idea. The manufacturer’s site doesn’t make it clear. You’ll pay a minimum of a thousand dollars.
You can get a VEPR from Robinson Arms. This may be the best option. They’re supposed to be superb. If arms laws loosen up (conceivable), the foreign weapons will drop in value, but the VEPR probably won’t, since it’s a limited-run custom piece. But they only sell big long jobs you wouldn’t want to use against a burglar. Can they be modified to be more handy? Search me.
I’d like to have something that holds 30 rounds, can be shot accurately with the stock folded, and goes “bang” every time. It has to hit man-sized targets easily at distances under a hundred feet, without the sights. It can’t recoil so much it’s hard to keep on target. I think the M1 carbine may fill the bill, and I’m pretty sure the AK does, too. Arsenal makes something called an SAS-M7 that looks really good.
I wonder if the Obama policy stooges realize they are stimulating people to build “home arsenals.” Were it not for the artificial inflation and shortages caused by our stupid, heavy-handed gun laws, I would have little motivation to stock up on things. If I get an AK, I’ll want a thousand rounds of ammunition, minimum, from the word “go.” It’s cheap now; it may be expensive next year. I’d be a fool to wait. If the laws were reasonably, I wouldn’t be interested in the gun OR the ammunition right now.
If I do the shopping I need to do over the coming month, I’ll probably end up with 3,000 or more rounds of ammunition lying around, in various calibers. I don’t want that. I would much rather keep smaller quantities. But I have to face reality. Small amounts of ammunition are costly, and ammunition prices and availability can’t be trusted right now, so the smart move is to buy big.
I know the gun-haters don’t realize this is how “home arsenals” develop. They think they’re spawned by a kook mentality; by a desire to be ready to hold off the police for hours. That’s only true of a tiny percentage of gun owners. I can’t imagine a plausible self-defense scenario that would require me to have more than 50 rounds on hand. If gun laws made sense, gun owners would buy less stuff. Right now, gun vendors are paying off their mortgages and retiring, thanks to the great genius, Obama.
Advice from gun nuts appreciated.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:14 AM
Learn to reload. That’ll keep you in ammo just about forever. The gun biz is gonna go tits up on Jan 21, 2009. So get ’em while it’s good.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:34 AM
Aside from the difficulty obtaining one…
I think the 5.56mm Galil would probably come close to fulfilling your requirement for minimum recoil, firing without stock, thirty round magazine and overall dependablility and easy maintenance.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:41 AM
Don’t sell stamped receivers short. A properly hardened receiver will outlive you most likely. And it seems to me that it would be lighter, too.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:45 AM
[…] The Hog isn’t blogging on politics any more. Nope, not a bit. Wouldn’t even think about it. […]
November 24th, 2008 at 10:08 AM
Easy peasy. Buy an AR and an AK. And a lot of high capacity magazines. AND a lot of ammo.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Unless you really want to spend the extra bread, I wouldn’t worry about getting a milled receiver. Is AK, is shoot.
The prices are already skyrocketing. I bought a MAK 90 (Chinese version AK) for ~$260 three years ago. They are going for over $800 on the auction sites now. BTW, the MAK 90 uses thicker steel for its stamped receiver and has a good reputation. Mine came new with a great trigger (an anomaly for an AK). For a few hundred more, you can buy one with a milled receiver (if you can find one).
You are correct about Century. Anything they assemble is a crap shoot. The Bulgarians are supposedly great guns.
As far as folding stocks go, you can put an aftermarket folder on almost all stamped receiver guns. Dunno about the milled ones.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:41 AM
I’m not certain, but I don’t think any Executive Orders along these lines are going to have an easy go of things. The Supreme Court handed down a pretty definitive verdict in favor of self-defense in the DC case. And we’re talking Constitutional guarantees being abridged here. The very existence of Executive power of this magnitude is Constitutionally questionable, as I understand it. Without Congressional debate and consent, I’d think firearm restrictions would face a very tough go, indeed, making it out of the Oval Office. And Congressional opposition to this sort of thing broadly crosses the aisle; a lot of the newly-elected Democratic majority in both the House and the Senate ran on platforms supporting gun rights. A unilateral attempt at disarmament would likely be met by major turnabout in the 2010 elections – assuming the GOP is able to mount an effective opposition by then. I don’t think Obama is willing to even take a slim chance on loosing his Congressional majority over this issue.
A much more likely scenario than imposition of some sort of ban by fiat is manipulation of some unpleasant incident – another school shooting, a kid mistaken for an intruder being shot, or any other that makes the national headlines – into a groundswell of public opinion lasting just long enough to ram some really serious restrictions through a Congress anxious to grab the spotlight by “doing something.”
November 24th, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Flor Fina and I went to our first real gun show yesterday. I had to look at the M1 carbines because you have been mentioning them. Nice. You could do much worse than pick up one of these. Lots of character and history in most of the ones I saw. The price was minimum $800. I am not knowledgeable enough to determine if the less expensive ones were any good, but I can see why you are drawn to them.
After seaching a while, got to play with the Mossberg 500HS in 410 caliber. Flor Fina is a delicate flower so a 12 or 20 guage is too much weapon for her. This particular one was quite light and easy for her to cycle. The recoil is supposed to be low and since it can take 3 1/2″ shells should still be a decent home defense tool.
What I really want is the M2 HB they had set up, but I don’t think I could afford it even if I sold my house.
I appreciate the education I get every time you talk guns.
November 24th, 2008 at 2:45 PM
Love your blog. Just buy the AK post haste while you can get it, especially if you can get a Bulgarian. Don’t worry about the stock. Ace makes a number of side folders which retrofit to the various receivers. Side folders are preferable to the underfolders.
November 24th, 2008 at 3:09 PM
I’d like to “beam” Obama with me back in time to 1979 to a Pizza Hut in Atlanta when I had a idiot shoving a shotgun in my back and another idiot breaking the barrel off the frame of a crappy “saturday nite special” revolver on the back of my hard Redneck head when all I was trying to do was order a Pizza at 11 PM.
I think he’d have a different attitude, but then again since all four robbers were non-caucasion he’d have trouble parsing the nuances of the solution and have to err on the side of caution and tolerance…
November 24th, 2008 at 6:45 PM
“I’d like to have something that holds 30 rounds, can be shot accurately with the stock folded, and goes “bang” every time. It has to hit man-sized targets easily at distances under a hundred feet, without the sights. It can’t recoil so much it’s hard to keep on target. I think the M1 carbine may fill the bill, and I’m pretty sure the AK does, too. Arsenal makes something called an SAS-M7 that looks really good.”
You did not include the AR15 or any variant. You don’t like them?
I am not crazy about the design, but with 40 years of improvements they work well. Lots of hunting rifles use the .223, that might save the round from the ammo bans. It’s also cheaper to reload, if it comes to that.
Virgil, did you get the pie?
November 24th, 2008 at 7:08 PM
I think it will be harder for Obama to get rid of AR15s.
November 26th, 2008 at 8:01 PM
I’d rather have the M-1. Someone stole the one that had been my mom’s, back when I lived in Portland. She cut the stock down to fit her better and it was a great gun.
November 29th, 2008 at 3:07 PM
JUST LIKE MY MOTHER SAYS…MORE GUNS AND MORE JESUS!
December 12th, 2008 at 9:30 PM
When the election results came in I could feel my heart go up into my throat. Congradulations America, you just threw yourself under the bus again.Ironically, he has been good for business for the gun dealers. That is … until he starts to do all his anti-gun tirades.Trust me he will mess with law abiding gun owners as much as he can. It,s a shame that George W. Bush was such a lousy president on most issues. On the gun issue he was actually pretty good. Unfortunately , he also set up the police state apparatus (Patriot Act, Surveillance, Homeland Security) that the new boy wonder will use to harrass us.