Let's face it, troops....the reason we buy a particular gun is because we WANT it at that
moment. So we buy it, hopefully enjoy it, and maybe it even does what we wanted it to do
in the first place.

Then along comes some cute fresh new skirt just a- swishing down the sidewalk, and we are
transfixed by the appeal of this hot little number and the previous gun(s) look awfully
dowdy and old-hat all of a sudden.

Those from Shooters will recall that a friend of mine from work "came into" a Ruger 77 in
7.62x39 a short time back, and I was opining about how it would maybe make a primo
cast-boolit rifle if I could just talk him out of it. He has now added a VX-II Leupold 3-9x to the
rifle, but HE has been smitten by MY S&W 25-2 " moon-clip" .45 ACP revolver. The revolver is
the next thing to new condition, as is his 77. I like this revolver a whole bunch, and have
exerted a fair bit of energy and time developing cast loads for it with about moderate success,
I'd say.

See the dilemma?? Do I trade a gun that I like for a gun that I may like more (or less?) He's
not interested in an outright sale. DANG, but that Ruger is a sweet little thang! Assuming we
can make a deal, I think I'm a goner, folks.....

Regards from BruceB (aka Bren Mk1)

Keep the ones you like, you'll regret it later if you don't. Maybe you could look around to see if you could find a similar gun???

Bruce,
Yes I remember Buckshots rifle well,nice trim lil' rifle that shot quite well. There are quite a few suppliers for converting Mausers to 7.62x39 and If I didn't own a Mini-MarkX in that cal already I would be sorely tempted to find a decrepit old pawn shop gun for a conversion. I got my Mini from the friend that sold me all of his ammo at the same time,over 600 rounds of handloaded cased ammo in plastic cases using commercial brass. About a month later he called me up and asked to purchase some of his ammo back from me. Why ? I asked.....well it turned out he had come upon a SAR1 AK-47 NIB and wanted to shoot it. I flat out refused to sell him any ammo and suggested to him the best solution would be for him to sell me the AK,which he agreed too. So I now had a nicely configured bolt action,an Ak and a plentiful supply of ammo. I supplemented his ammo with a case of Wolf ammo for the AK and use the coomercial cased ammo in the Mini-Mauser.
I have tried the Wolf ammo in the bolt rifle and concluded that the military (hard) primers fail to fire nine out of ten times on the first strike. In the AK they fire positively everytime. I have not come upon the need for cast boolits yet but then the syndrome of new skirts has struck numerous times since and I still have plenty of ammo still loaded for them both.
I have a S&W 625 also,And that big N-frame sure makes shooting 45's fun and fast. I have one of the De-Mooners from Dillon and well over 3 dozen moon clips for it. They make a range session fun when you can shoot and shoot for ever not having to fuss with cases to police the range for like my autoloaders. There is a Colt 1917 DA 45 here also that gets used but only the half-moons work in the Colt. The cylinder rear star is oversized for the full moons....I have plenty of those 1/2 clips here though.
Consider this Bruce,,,,,Which gun will be available in the future for a replacement ?
I doubt you will find many Smith's out there..... 45nut

Bren Mk1
Many moons ago I had a Persian Mauser 8mm with an 18 inch barrel, the wood was perfect, the blueing was a foot deep and barrel was pristine.
I got the hots for a cute babe, the mother of my two daughters, being young, in school, poor I traded it for an engagement ring. The woman is gone, the engagement ring with her and I have no idea where that beautiful rifle went. I learned from that occasion two lessons. #1 Women are just passing thru. #2 A good rifle is a rarity and will stick around if I treat it right.
The bottom line is, from that point in time every firearm I've purchased from that day on is still with me.
A second wife and a bucket full of girl friends have come and gone, but all of my firearms are still with me. Once had a girl friend suggest that I take her to the beach for a long weekend. I pondered that and replied "It will cost me close to $1,000.00 bucks for the room, meals, transportation, amusements etc to take you to the beach. I can buy a nice rifle for the same amount of money!" Which do you think I did?
That Winchester 1886 is in my gun safe and who knows where that female is?
Jim

[ 08-24-2003, 21:22: Message edited by: arkypete ]

Bruce

I believe CZ is making bolt guns in 7.62X39....

CZ is good quality at a reasonable price...... keep the Smith and add the CZ!

ArkyPete, you are a true genius.

I'd say it's a whole lot easier to find or have a 7.62x39 made than it would be to later replace your smith.

regards,
Graycg

Brucie,

trade that wheelgun and don't look back.

The Ruger 762x39's are few and far between and if they haven't already, will soon disappear from the catalog. The Magnumitus clan can't be deterred enough to drop a few coins on something that doesn't burn half a can of pwder each shot......and therefore, this chambering won't stay in production. The model 25 are fairly common and still being made so far as I know.

I have a stainless Ruger Ultralite 77 in 762x39 with a 3x9 Leupold mounted and it is one of my favorite rifles. It does shoot jacketed better than cast and the first three out of that pencil barrel will all touch at 100 yds. cast loads go around 1.5"......been so long since I played with it using cast.....seems like 1680 was the best propellent.

Bruce--

Good to see you made the jump OK. I gotta line up with the KEEP THE SMITH/BUY A CZ contingent. As fond as you are of the N-frames, I am mystified that you would consider the trade.

Deputy Al

A woman is just a woman, but a good rifle is a gun.

.....with due respect to Kipling.

I suspect that Kipling would not only understand, he would agree.
Boh Da Thone was a warrior bold
His sword and his Snider were bossed with gold
Speaking of which, anyone notice that International Military Antiques is offering Sniders and Martini-Henry rifles for sale? Recently released from the Royal Arsenal in Nepal. Interesting stuff.
Ah, credit to Mr Kipling for the two lines above.

www.ima-usa.com

Ernie

Chargar
I like that!
Generally speaking women come with the same basic appointments, to a greater or lesser degree. There's no real shortage of women. There's not even a shortage of good women, so it's not as if this one before me is the one and only or the last one.
A good rifle? That may very well be the last one or the one and only one made.
Opt for the rifle.
Jim

Only buy guns, never sell (or trade).

Wills,
I second your thoughts,having to make room for more guns isn't as tough as replacing one you let go. 45nut

Thanks for all the input!

I knew there'd be a wide variety of opinion. My history of gun ownership is one of "Buy it, try it, MAYBE sell it, and move on to that greener grass on the other side". There have been times when I had over 150 guns in the house, but I've become much more moderate in recent times. My gradual conversion to cast bullets, which is now virtually complete, has really expanded the research done with any given gun or caliber, lemme tell y'all!

The S&W 25-2 has a barrel tailored to .45 ACP hardball, i.e.: jacketed bullets. The rifling is very shallow even compared to my 25-5 in .45 Colt. Although I've managed to get the gun shooting rather well with cast loads, I find the .45 Colt version is a somewhat more tractable platform for the cast bullet, although it gave me serious difficulty for a while due to its over-sized chamber throats. This means that the 25-2 is not seeing much use, and my friend REALLY has the hots for it.

Throwing that RUGER-made 7.62x39 into the equation is what got me started on this, because I do like the Ruger rifles, and the .30 " Rooski Shortski" is indeed a rare chambering in the 77. I had a Brno 'mini-Mauser' Model 465 in .22 Hornet many years back, and it was a sweet rifle (barring some headspace problems). However, this time around I think I prefer the Ruger.

This may all come to naught of course, depending on the dealings, but if nothing happens that 25-2 will still have a comfy spot at my place.

Regards from BruceB (aka Bren Mk1)

........BruceB, didja see my post "7.62x39 Rooski Shortski Mauser" down the page aways in responce to this thread?

.......Buckshot

Arky, you just need to find the "right" Woman. My wife is great. Not only have I ended up in the ER after an enthusiatic hello after being out to sea for awhile, but she also buys me guns. I have a gorgeous Husky 350 rem mag from one christmas. I told her I was going to a gun Auction and she handed me $1400 in cash and said have a good time. Awhile back she saw me eyeing a Blegian Browing BAR grade II in 30-06. I told her I really didn't need it, but later that week, she suprized me with it. I also have a nice Knight MK-85 54 cal with thumbhole stock as well as others. I wouldn't trade an exceptional gun for a mediocre woman, but an exceptional woman wouldn't ask you to.

BruceB, Of course you must make the trade. The prospect of a new (to you) gun is an itch that must be scratched. Having mostly been a po' boy all my life I have often had to sell in order to buy. Regrets over past guns traded off pale into insignificance in comparison to anticipating the wonder rifle that is just around the next bend. Regards, curmudgeon