Another day, another gun

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Yesterday I picked up a new rifle. It’s a stainless steel Ruger 10/22 Deluxe with a 22" barrel and a walnut stock.

I used to have the standard model years and years ago. I liked it, but I needed money and sold it. Of course, this was “back in the day” when you could actually sell a .22 plinker without going through a dealer and forking over twenty bucks to the Department of Justice.

Well, I saw this one at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago and decided to buy it. The price was reasonable ($216) and I had been wanting another 10/22. Not that I’ve been shooting in years; but I’ll go again someday and I wanted it for my collection.

Now, I’ve bought guns before; but this was a little weird. Before, I’d fill out the paperwork, pay my money, wait ten days, go back to the shop, show my receipt, and get handed a gun. At Wal-Mart I was made to fill out two of the yellow BATF forms. Pain in the butt, since you’re not allowed to abbreviate. They wouldn’t let me pay the entire price of the rifle. I had to put it on lay-away with one dollar remaining in case something happened to it during the ten-day waiting period. When I did pick it up, it took five people to get it to me.

First there was the lay-away woman. She called someone in to assist. Then she had to call Luis from Sporting Goods to bring the paperwork. When Luis didn’t show up, she went to Sporting Goods to look for him. When she didn’t come back, I went to Sporting Goods to look for her. When we were at Sporting Goods, another employee arrived who had a key to get into the cabinet where the paperwork is kept. Once that was taken care of, it was back to Lay-Away with Luis. Luis got out another book for the transaction, while an assistant manager went to get the rifle. The AM carried the rifle out of the store and gave it to me outside.

The last time I bought a 10/22 was at K-mart in the early-1980s. I went to the counter, filled out the BATF form, paid my money, and walked away with my rifle. Times sure have changed.

The only other hitch was that when I got home in the evening and took the rifle out of its box, I noticed that it had a plastic trigger lock on it. This is the kind that has a bolt through it whose head os round and has one hole in it. I don’t have a tool to unscrew it, and I wasn’t going to go all the way back to Wal-Mart (about 50 miles from my place) to get it off. So I just broke it. I don’t have kids and I don’t keep firearms loaded, so I don’t need a cheap-ass trigger lock. If I do want to use a lock, I’ll use the Ruger cable that came with the rifle.

Now I need to find a nice stanless steel scope for it. Any suggestions?

2

Gah. I understand your frustration with the paperwork thing. I almost bought a new skeet gun recently, but I decided that the one I have still works fine, and I don’t have to jump through a bunch of bureaucratic hoops to keep it. The Powers that Be have been trying to discourage me from buying new toys for years now, and they have succeded in stopping me from spending two grand on something I don’t really need.

Don’t get me started on the NYS pistol permit application process.

As for your scope needs, Leupold (sp?) makes some relatively inexpensive short-range fixed-mag target scopes. Is your rifle drilled and tapped from the factory, and if so, did you get mounts with it? (The last time I checked the catalog, Ruger shipped their factory “target” models with scope mounts)? If you need mounts and drilling and tapping you’re looking at an “installed” price close to what you paid for the rifle itself.

I had a stock Ruger 10/22 with a nice-looking brushed-stainless finish Redfield target scope that was perfectly adequate for indoor target shooting.

The scope only cost me about US$ 80 with mounts (the rifle came drilled and tapped from the factory), but I’m not entirely sure that Redfield is still in business.

3

Yes, the 10/22 is drilled and tapped and comes with a rail. Let me see if I can draw the cross section.



_______
\_____/

Something like that. It didn’t come with rings, though.

4

My 10/22 came with that rail too, but I was advised to leave it off and buy rings made for the gun that screw directly to the holes where the rail would go. It makes sense that that would be a more stable setup. Walmart has these rings, or I’m sure you can find a source to mail order them. I got the tall rings, which place the scope at a more natural height for me, and still allow use of the iron sights too.

Buying guns at a place like Walmart can be an adventure, but I think its a good idea. If people don’t keep buying them, they’ll quit selling them. Then the only place many people will ever see a gun is on a policeman’s hip.

5

The stock scope base is pretty good as long as you get decent rings. Don’t buy junk Tasco rings for a nice rifle. If you’re willing to spend a few bucks Leupold makes some of the best .22 tipoff rings I’ve seen. I actually have a regular Weaver dovetail base on my AMT 10/22 and Leupold QRW rings which I’m very pleased with. Well, not any more I don’t Those rings and the Weaver V24 scope went on my Savage .223 varminter.

It nevere bothered me to put a blue scope on a SS rifle but I’m very happy with a little Bushnell sportview 4-12x32mm with adustable objective and Jr. target turrets. You’d be suprised how much the AO can improve accuracy even at short range by eliminating parallax error.

6

I’ll second Kalashnikov on the rail. IIRC, it’s designed to accept Weaver-style mounts and you don’t really need it. You can get relatively inexpensive mounts that will fit your taps directly.

I’m having connection problems, and all of my reference material is at home, so I’m not going to be much more help.

Fortunately for you, there are a lot of folks here who know more than I do (as you already know), and you don’t need my help anyway.

But, I like this thread, so I’ll probably be back tomorrow regardless.

7

I’ll look for the mounts that screw directly into the top of the receiver. Are those the “Weaver style” I keep hearing about?

About the scope. I’m thinking that any 4x scope with a 1-inch tube would be good. I say 4x because I have an old Sears Roebuck & Co. (made by Marlin) single-shot with a skinny 4x scope on it. That magnification seems to be pretty popular for .22s. I’ve been leening toward Leupold, as that’s a scope I’ve heard good things about. I’ll have to browse over to Cabella’s to see what they have.

8

I didn’t mean to. Really, I didn’t. I just walked down to the gun shop to buy some rings for the Ruger. I didn’t even know they had a stainless steel Walther PPK/S. I didn’t even look at the handguns. It’s not my fault I overheard a guy ask to “look at the Walther.”

But there it was. Shiny! Pretty! So out came the credit card. I’ll be collecting another six bucks on my REI dividend. I need to go down tomorrow and start the paperwork. (I couldn’t do it today since I didn’t have my permission card.)

[Sean Connery]
My hair is blond. Dyed blond.
[/Sean Connery]

9

Cali will allow you to buy another gun that quickly? I would have thought it would be at least a decade…

And I also want that .22. Good purchase.

10

I thought of that as I was walking home, so I called the shop as soon as I got it. They said that the one-gun-in-30-days law is for handguns.

The only problem with the .22 is the scope. The ones I want cost more than the rifle! Considering that I actually do very little shooting (none at all for almost a year), that I’m not into competitive shooting and I don’t hunt, I don’t need a Leupold (which is the one I want). I’ll resist the urge for a super-scope and see what I can find for under $100.

11

I used to have the exact same rifle. I bought it to have it sent off and have a Volquartsen custom job on it, but it never happened. Ended up selling it a few months later.

Still want one of those Volquartsen custom jobs, though.

12

You can still get a gun in L.A.? WOW. I live about 9 hours north. and would be caught dead getting a gun from wal-fart. But as long as you keep buying them its ok.

I have a 10-22 as well, I started off with a 10-22T the heavy barrel target model. Then I went crazy, I put on a simmons 3-9 power cheapie, which was soon replaced by a simmons 2.8-10 aetec, soon replaced by a simons 3.8-12 aetec with adjustable objective( Current and Final scope). I have a Weaver 206 base with weaver rings(even a 22 can cause scope shift) I had the trigger tuned by my favorite gunshop, It got rid of almost all of the creep and lightened it to 2.5 pounds, I put in an extended mag release, and an automatic bolt release(both should be the first thing you do, only about 25 bucks installed for the 2.
Then I realised that the factory laminate stock wasnt cutting it, so I got a Bell&Carlson fully adjustable composite stock, it has an adjustable butt for length of pull and a adjustable cheekpiece.
an accessory rail for a bipod, and a miller custom bipod adapter, and a harris bipod. So my initial investment of $325, and about $1200 in parts and labor, My 22 will shoot a 3 shot group of .133 inches at 25 yards.

Yes, I like my guns a little toooo much.

13

Redding, eh? That’s the half-way point when I drive up to Washington. Usually I get stop at a motel for the night and finish the drive in the morning. The time before last I just kept driving though, eventually stopping in Eugene. Last time I drove straight through to Hoquiam. I’ll be driving up again in December, this time with a moving van. I understand they have governors on the engines, so I’m guessing I won’t be able to average 85mph as I did on the last trip. I’ll have to call my friend in Hoquiam to find out the name of the motel she likes.

But back to the subject at hand. Fifteen hundred bucks for a .22? I hope you’re winning some matches with it!

14

Nice job. I have not been gun shopping in a very long time, but I will be doing it in a few months to buy a 9mm for Fierra.

I wish I had a better 9mm. My P-85 is worthless for accuracy.

15

heh. I wasn’t actually shopping. It was just there. :wink:

My Beretta 92-F is accurate enough. I rarely practice shooting, and I’m not a crack shot with a handgun; but I can make a group of a couple of inches in a target at the range.

16

No, Weaver style has a dovetail base that’s been adopted by just about every other scope ring materk. Kinda looks like this:

/
\ /

The rail on an AR-15 with a detachable carry handle is a weaver base as is the entire top rib on the new S&W .22 pistols and Browning Buckmark target model. It’s a pretty robust system and when things are mounted straight has a very good return to zero.

Ironically I think Weaver makes some of the poorest Weaver rings. Most use a clamp that causes the scope tube to rotate as you tighten ring to scope. I have Leupold QRW rings on my varminter and I’m quite happy with them. The scope ring clamping is extremely secure and it uses Torx screws all the way around. You can get them for about $45 from midwayusa.com I stole the scope and rings off my 10/22 so when I find a replacement I may use the Leupold PRW rings which don’t have the quick release feature and cost a little less.

17

Johnny L.A. - I have never been involved in a gun transaction in California, so I was a little surprised by your statement in the OP, “Of course, this was “back in the day” when you could actually sell a .22 plinker without going through a dealer and forking over twenty bucks to the Department of Justice.” Do you mean you have to use a dealer to sell your firearms? You can’t sell a gun to a private individual? And you pay a $20 transfer tax to the federal gov’t? Or is that some state entity? I’m a little confused here, 'cause that’s not the kind of transaction I am familiar with.

18

radar ralf: Since 1991 (I think) private firearms sales in California may only be conducted through a firearms dealer. So if you want to sell your gun (doesn’t matter if it’s a rifle, handgun or shotgun) to your next-door neighbour, you both need to go down to the local gun dealer and fill out the paperwork. This includes the yellow BATF form (whose number I don’t recall) and DROS paperwork. The DROS fee is currently $20. Of course, you’ll have to pay the dealer a commission for facilitating the sale. The DROS paperwork is so that the state can run a background investigation on you. This has to be done each time you purchase a firearm, although I don’t know if you have to pay it for each gun when you buy more than one. The dealer must hold the firearm for ten days before he can release it to the buyer.

As for buying more than one gun… I recently found out that Californians are only allowed to buy one handgun per 30-day period, as measured from the date of filing of the DROS papers. In addition, you need a “permission slip” in order to buy a handgun. This involves “training” (such as watching a video) administered by the dealer and taking a written test to prove that you have a concept of firearms safety. Naturally, the dealer charges a fee for this; but he may reduce it or waive it if you’re buying a handgun from him. I don’t remember if you must pay a fee to the state to buy the right to purchase a handgun. After you have your card, you are allowed to buy a handgun a month with it.

So to sum it up: You need to buy permission to purchase a gun. You need to pay a fee to the state each time you exercise that right. You may only exercise that right once per month (which might make it difficult if you’re a collector who wants to acquire a set of matching-serial number handguns). You must hire an intermediary to handle a private sale.

19

Hey Johnny, you need to come out and visit me in Virginia.

We shall go forth, purchase handguns, and then menace targets in peace. :smiley:

20

Heheheh, I can’t blame you for that. I made an impulse buy when I got my Walther P-99, and they weren’t cheap when they first came out! I also have an American made s/s PPK. Both are damn nice firearms.

If your’s is new and is American made, you will probably need to leave the slide open for about a day to loosen up the spring a bit. You may also have to have it throated a bit to get it to feed flawlessly with FMJ ball-ammo. When I got my PPK new, I just sent it back to InterArms and they did a really nice & detailed job on it for free. As long as it has the ammo it likes, it is 100% reliable. For such a small gun, you can be amazingly accurate at a pretty good distance with a PPK.

If you’ve got the regular black plastic grips, you absolutely MUST get some nice dark-wood grips. I recently got some really nice ones for a good price and the gun looks absolutely STUNNING not to mention that it widens the grip a bit. (Is there somewhere to post pics on this board, or do they have to be hosted somewhere?)

If you don’t get wooden grips for it, the small universal black rubber Pachmyr (sp?) slip-on grip makes a huge improvement on the overly flat grip on a PPK or PPK/s.

BTW, I’m pretty sure they recently ceased production on all PPKs, so if you got a good price then it was probably a wise purchase.