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Jan. 15th, 2005 08:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
So it has been decided that, when next we have $100 not earmarked for something more important, and a convenient gun show, we shall be purchasing a British Enfield rifle, of pre-WWII vintage. A "Kipling gun," as I think of it, "Enfield" having no connotations of its own to me. I had told Justin previously that I would like a "long gun" of some kind to call my own, one that would create a satisfying bang and yet not kick overmuch - I value my shoulder as it is, thank you kindly. We saw a representative Enfield at the Audie Murphy American Cotton Museum this afternoon, and having had its cultural significance explained to me, and being assured that it fit my desired "long gun" description, we have agreed that the next time we make any firearm purchase at all, it shall be an aged example of that particular weapon.
The prospect of a Baker replica of my very own had crossed my mind, but I don't believe I'd like the job of cleaning it; it's enough work disassembling my flintlock at the end of every shooting session to clean it out, and I don't believe its barrel could be longer than eight or ten inches, and it can be completely removed and dropped in the sink. I'm not sure it's that easy with the long rifles, and besides that I don't believe I want to have to muzzle-load something that large. I'd have to brace it on my toes and fight with a ramrod that stuck up above my head while I slid it down. The final issue that led me to approve the Enfield scheme is the availability of shooting ranges at which Enfields are acceptible, as opposed to places which allow one to shoot traditional black powder, non-smokeless.
It's months away, of course, unless we find one next month when Justin receives his prodigious lump of wealth from the News-Journal. But I still look forward to taking up shooting again.
The prospect of a Baker replica of my very own had crossed my mind, but I don't believe I'd like the job of cleaning it; it's enough work disassembling my flintlock at the end of every shooting session to clean it out, and I don't believe its barrel could be longer than eight or ten inches, and it can be completely removed and dropped in the sink. I'm not sure it's that easy with the long rifles, and besides that I don't believe I want to have to muzzle-load something that large. I'd have to brace it on my toes and fight with a ramrod that stuck up above my head while I slid it down. The final issue that led me to approve the Enfield scheme is the availability of shooting ranges at which Enfields are acceptible, as opposed to places which allow one to shoot traditional black powder, non-smokeless.
It's months away, of course, unless we find one next month when Justin receives his prodigious lump of wealth from the News-Journal. But I still look forward to taking up shooting again.