The Down Range Forum

Member Section => Handguns => Topic started by: les snyder on June 24, 2018, 09:52:31 PM

Title: grail gun
Post by: les snyder on June 24, 2018, 09:52:31 PM
OK... things are a little slow, so I'm proud to report that I have purchased the last of my two grail guns (those that I could not afford as a kid)... nothing spectacular... a Browning .22 auto rifle (take down) and finally a Ruger Bearcat... I couldn't find an original brass trigger group version, and settled on a New Bearcat.... shoots better than I expected... don't expect either will get much action... but I smile when I handle them  :)
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: alfsauve on June 25, 2018, 03:20:38 PM
<Of course, as usual, this thread is totally worthless without pictures.>




Congratulations!




Unfortunately my "grail guns" are well beyond my means and always will be. 




Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: PegLeg45 on June 25, 2018, 03:32:02 PM
Congratulations!

Unfortunately my "grail guns" are well beyond my means and always will be.

Yep......on both statements.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: Big Frank on June 25, 2018, 05:35:00 PM
My dad had one of those Browning take-down .22 rifles, then he bought a 10/22 like my uncle and I had (and I still do). We were on snowmobiles hunting coyotes with our .22 rifles. A detachable magazine is easy to pop in when you catch up to them. They'd be gone by the time you got a tubular mag in the butt loaded. My older brother also bought a Browning .22 rifle since he couldn't get anything close to a good group from his "inherently accurate" Glenfield Model 60. I don't think I've ever seen a Bearcat IRL but had a neighbor with a Single-Six convertible.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: les snyder on June 25, 2018, 09:37:20 PM
when I moved to Florida in 1955, the town still had a garbage dump.... I was given a former gallery gun Win M90 .22short for my 12th birthday, and Dad would take me to the dump to shoot rats if I got a good report card... had straight A's through my Junior year    :)
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: PegLeg45 on June 26, 2018, 12:02:43 PM
when I moved to Florida in 1955, the town still had a garbage dump.... I was given a former gallery gun Win M90 .22short for my 12th birthday, and Dad would take me to the dump to shoot rats if I got a good report card... had straight A's through my Junior year    :)

Les, one universal truth (at least here in the south) is: there ain't nothin' like a good rat killin' to a young boy with a .22 rifle.  ;D

We had a corn crib and feed house for our hog and cow feed when I was a boy. You could go down there at night and hit the side of the wall and they'd pour out of a hole in the floor like they were being poured out of a bucket. I'd go down there close to dusk and snipe 'em as they were coming out of the field and woods headed for their supper.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: Big Frank on June 26, 2018, 05:12:27 PM
I can't honestly say I've ever seen a rat that wasn't someone's pet, or snake food. We do have some possums and skunks around here. They both eat other critters I'd rather not have around so I mostly leave them alone. Decades ago I killed a possum because it was on top of a fence hissing and our dog was going nuts barking at it. I didn't have a gun on me but I had my trusty Uncle Henry Bear Paw. It's about the same size as a Buck 110 but 1/2 ounce heavier and a little beefier. It was a silent night after I took care of the possum.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: PegLeg45 on June 27, 2018, 07:55:53 AM
I can't honestly say I've ever seen a rat that wasn't someone's pet, or snake food. We do have some possums and skunks around here. They both eat other critters I'd rather not have around so I mostly leave them alone. Decades ago I killed a possum because it was on top of a fence hissing and our dog was going nuts barking at it. I didn't have a gun on me but I had my trusty Uncle Henry Bear Paw. It's about the same size as a Buck 110 but 1/2 ounce heavier and a little beefier. It was a silent night after I took care of the possum.

Heck, we have rats down here that are nearly as big as a possum.

I guess I could buy one of my 'grail' guns to shoot rats with..... but then a fully engraved Heirloom Precision 1911 might be overkill and a little too much gun for a rat...even a big rat.  ;D ;D
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: Big Frank on June 27, 2018, 03:10:50 PM
A friend of my brother's said the rats in Chicago were as big as cats. Or maybe he said bigger than cats. .45 ACP may be an appropriate caliber, but the neighbors and police wouldn't be happy about you blasting rats with it.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: Big Frank on June 27, 2018, 03:20:18 PM
I was thinking earlier about a gun and accessory I'd like to have but can't afford.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vycUFoQChqY
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: les snyder on June 28, 2018, 10:02:18 AM
a friend living in rural Hillsborough County had a pet door so his cats could enter and leave his back porch... a pesky raccoon decided to move in on the cat food, would leave through the door, and then stand with paws on the screen, taunting my friend... he did not choose wisely in believing the screen would stop a .40SW
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: Big Frank on June 28, 2018, 05:27:00 PM
a friend living in rural Hillsborough County had a pet door so his cats could enter and leave his back porch... a pesky raccoon decided to move in on the cat food, would leave through the door, and then stand with paws on the screen, taunting my friend... he did not choose wisely in believing the screen would stop a .40SW

Coons are pretty smart, but that one wasn't smart enough.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: Rastus on June 29, 2018, 07:31:06 AM
a friend living in rural Hillsborough County had a pet door so his cats could enter and leave his back porch... a pesky raccoon decided to move in on the cat food, would leave through the door, and then stand with paws on the screen, taunting my friend... he did not choose wisely in believing the screen would stop a .40SW

Nice.  And congratulations on the grail guns.  Did you ever peruse Gunbroker for a brass Bearcat???  I see a few there.  And...what else is on that grail list of yours? 
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: tombogan03884 on May 04, 2020, 03:46:10 PM
I used to have a S&W 469 that I had to sell, been wanting to find another 1 for 20+ years.
Last fall I started messing around on Auction sites My Dad and I now have a matched pair .   ;D
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: Big Frank on May 04, 2020, 11:08:11 PM
I used to have a S&W 469 that I had to sell, been wanting to find another 1 for 20+ years.
Last fall I started messing around on Auction sites My Dad and I now have a matched pair .   ;D

8) Very cool.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: ninefingers on May 06, 2020, 07:30:17 PM
I’ve always wanted an S&W Model 28 Highway Patrolman in 4 inch trim.

Pushing 64 now, so not likely to happen.

Then again, you’re never too old to dream.
Title: Re: grail gun
Post by: tombogan03884 on May 06, 2020, 08:45:48 PM
Rock Island Auctions has several in their May 14th online Auction .
I'll post a link below, but some advice.
Go through the catalog and select several lot #'s
Then submit "conditional Bids" by phone.
Specify that if you win 1 lot it cancels your other bids .


                        https://www.rockislandauction.com/gun-auctions/


Even if you don't bid , it makes cool reading.   ;D