Not long ago I mentioned the possibility of scrounging a slide action Remington rifle in 35 Remington caliber for some cast boolit recreation. I went into the shop on Thursday to ponder the matter further, and lo and behold another Remington slider was stacked next to the 35, this one in 32 Remington. Its condition was about NRA 98%, and it had a Leupold 4x atop it.

Drool.

I could probably collect both rifle for around 500 bones.....two natural-born cast bullet rifles and a real nice scope for the 9.3 x 62/CZ-550.

Naturally, right after leaving the shop I became involved in further work on the serial bank robbery case(s) that have kept dull times to a minimum since I came back from vacation in early July. This particular detail indicated the wisdom of bringing along a rifle, so I went to the armory to grab one of the surplused M-16A1's that we got from the government a couple years ago. I had to sort through the 4 rifles remaining after the patrol deputies went into the field.

Uncut, unadulterated JUNK. Magazines in sorry repair, one had a flopping rear sight cranked to the far right, and another likely had a broken buffer spring. I "deadlined" three of the four rifles and took along the example with the fewest defects. No need for the rifle arose, thankfully--but such conditions do NOT inspire confidence.

Two things were apparent--I need to examine the rifles in inventory monthly, because the sergeant charged with that duty isn't doing it. Also, the time has come to get an AR-15 of my own.

This is problematic in California, but no longer impossible as of Jan. 1, 2003. After about the same amount of paperwork needed for a Class III weapon, CA cops can buy "assault rifles" again. I have resisted this ambivalent temptation up to now, but seeing the need to have one from time to time and existing condition of my agency's issue rifles, well......

700-plus dollars for a piece of plastic and pot metal tubing that sounds like a resonating garage door spring when fired, cannot fire cast bullets, and can't be hunted with in California. One of our little assault weapon statute elements prohibits firing of "assault weapons" on public lands. THAT will stop crime, all right.....I would be just as happy with a Mini-14 or a scoped bolt gun in 223, but neither is authorized.

Rant concluded.

Deputy Al,
$500 for those 2 is a bargin now days up this way. All you would be missing is one in 30 Rem. A friend of mine has one of each and they are very good shooters. They don't sit around in gunshops up this way.
Personally I would rather have a AK-47 semi-auto than on of the Mattel toys in 223. Orygun

Deputy Al, Get at least one of those Remingtons. Are they 14s or 141s? I might opt for the .35 as most practical, but the funkiness of the .32 has its own appeal. Last year Huntington's had plenty of brass for my 141/.30, but I don't know about availability of the .32. Of course .30 into .32 is not too difficult compared to some of the challenging stuff you already work with. Cycling one of those old pumps where the FLUTED magazine tube slides INTO the receiver, and closing the action which sounds like lock up time at the First National Bank, is to experience the ultimate in early twentieth century mechanical elegance. Just my $.02, but it IS in 1939 dollars! curmudgeon

Al, how long did you say it was til your retirement and a happy exit from that mess?

I have Model 14's in both 32 and 35 Rem. The 35 has a like-new bore and is very good over-all, but the second year of production 32 I like even better; it's smoother. Both shoot under an inch at fifty yards with the little flip-up peep sight on the back of the receiver. Those lil sights alone are goin for $75-100 these days, so if either of the ones yer looking at has one, that's a major plus. Course they don't have feather light triggers(3-4lb norm, certainly not liability lawyer triggers either). The contemporary Model 8 does, and their advertising of the era stressed the hair trigger, can you imagine that! My 30 Rem in that rifle from 1914 is my only self-shucking centerfire, so I'll leave the discussion of modern Moscow or Mattell variants to others. ---kid---

Yeah, I guess the real snag here is the chance at these fine cast boolit projectors when a need for the Mattel toy rears its head. The best answer is to get NASTY about the condition of the agency firearms and have something done about it, but we adopted semi-auto pistols in 1987 and to this date have yet to have one issued--ALL are personal purchases by our deputies. Admin pogues don't get shot at very much, so their commitment to firearm maintenence and repair is lukewarm at best--as confirmed by the condition of the agency rifles.

I would much rather spend money on a 44 Special revolver or 32-20 WCF carbine than on a duty firearm for damn sure. In a perfect world the department should provide these items, but the world is not a perfect place. I don't spend money on guns that are not reload-friendly or cast bullet capable, so the need for this AR-15 is more than a little irritating. Plainly said, California is a pain in the ass place for gun recreationists, and this situation adds to the irritation markedly.

Curmudgeon--I hear ya on the quality of these rifles. They ARE like bank vaults when they lock up. The 32 Remington is kind of a "whatzis" caliber, but like you said--that never got in the way of my hobby before.

20 months and 10 days to go, based on present retirement system data. Thre are a few re-structuring elements pending that might cause me to hang on for a few months longer to increase payout, but that is up in the air at present. I could just sit at the desk for the remaining time, but that is so not my style--gotta get involved when the "interesting" stuff happens, and that means that a rifle is good to have along at some of those times. ONE THAT WORKS.

Bitch session over--thanks for hearing me out, folks.

Well Al, it's not just your department.

One day I sallied forth to the range outside Yellowknife and found the local detachment of the RCMFuzz shooting their annual qualification. The NCO in charge was S/Sgt Herb Fink (no kidding!), who happened to be a friendly acquaitance of mine, although not really a close friend.

They'd just finished the revolver shoot, and he said "You want some brass?" Heh...3000 rounds of .38s! I guess!!

Then he said, "You wanna shoot the rifle match with us??" Sho''nuff! They gave me a .308 Model 70, open iron sights, and forty rounds. We were allowed two sighters, any position, 100 yards....but NO sight adjustments! I found that holding dead-center put my two sighters an inch apart on the left-hand EDGE of the target frame at 100....a good TWO FEET off. Well, I figgered the other edge of the target would do for a windasge mark, and I beat all the thirty cops rather badly with their own rifle, strong-hand, weak-hand, standing, sitting and prone. Plus, I got several thousand rounds of once-fired commercial .308 brass.

Ever since that day, I've wondered just what earthly good a rifle would be that didn't shoot within two feet of the aiming point at 100 yards....?

In fairness, I also knew the local RCMF ident man (on-scene forensics), who was also designated as sniper. He was GOOD, he practiced, he handloaded, and he was a good friend and pistol-team member with us. (His last name was Stair, so our team was....two Bannisters and a Stair!!!!)

One of S/Sgt Fink's corporals (I'm not making these up)...was named Minion! You know..."minions of the law....?)

Anyway, it seems there's more than one police armory where the guns don't get the attention they should.

Regards from BruceB

Doesn't someone in your neck of the woods have a
"loaner" that you could borrow for the remainder of your tour? Or, is there paperwork involved in that, too? Don't suppose you ever travel to Wis.
'cause we could maybe work something out....

Poygan et al--

No loaners--just like NFA weapons, pretty much. In fact, it gets more ridiculous.....let's just say that Buckshot and I go to the range with my AR-15......as long as I remain in his presence, he can fire the rifle legally. But if I give him a hi-cap mag to fire it with, he and I both have committed felonies. Not that such a thing would happen, but the law's text says that it COULD.

California is such a delightful place. The welfare wonderland and carjacker theme park of the first order.

The good news--I just got the last fired casings on my loading bench reloaded. This included brass expended at NCBS 2003, and the last czliber filled was 32-20 WCF for revolvers. "Beagled" Lee 113 FNGC with 5.5 grain of SR-4756 and WSP primers should do the right thing.

Time to empty some of these critters out, methinks.