GUNS

How does that scoped rifle differ from the Mannlicher-Carcano, used by a former Marine in Dallas?

There used to be a lot of sporterized Mausers around. I saw one in a local gun shop the other day.... It was a rather rough job, chambered in 8mm Mauser.

Has anyone ever seen or even shot a fully auto Glock?

The rifle used by Oswald was a Carcano Model 91/38 in caliber 6.5 x 52 Carcano. The term Mannlicher usually refers to a rifle stock that goes all the way to the end of the barrel. The stock on Oswald's rifle didn't do and the term doesn't really belong on that rifle. Other differences are that the Carcano is Italian. The Mauser is German and one of the best ever bolt actions. They fire different calibers but the Mauser had already been rebarreled from 8mm Mauser to .243 Winchester.  The one that got away had much better materials and much better craftsmanship. It was a fine custom rifle. Rifles like Oswald's military surplus Carcano often sell for under $200. The rifle I liked was selling for over $800 twenty years ago. It will rise in value while the Carcano will continue to drop.

Is it actually that windy in Chicago? 

O yea.  the higher you are the more windy it is.   Walking through the buildings this past weekend wasn't so bad.  Actually warmer.  I bet due to the buildings everywhere  

A lot of military surplus is that way, especially anything common during wartime. There were probably more barrels burned out on the training ranges than ever saw combat. Those old Mauser and Springfield actions, though, are among the best. A good gunsmith can spruce up the action, replace the barrel and put on a piece of real pretty wood. I sold a pair of custom rifles by the same gunsmith to work up money for a mortgage. One was a 1903 Springfield with a tiger maple stock and nice checkering and engravings all around. The other was a .308 Mauser cut down to almost carbine length. It had wonderful balance. Its stock was koa wood. It's like tiger maple's prettier sister. I believe it's protected now.

All in all, I'd rather have those rifles than this house.

A friend of mine who I worked with before I retired bought a surplus SKS, which, as I recall is a carbine.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I remember reading that Buford's Union cavalry at Gettysburg were armed with Sharps(?) carbines.

Carbine is a term for a rifle shorter than the standard infantry rifles. I'm not sure when the term started but infantry muskets and rifles up to about the 1950s were long, sometimes up to five feet. That was too long for cavalry and some other units so they created shorter versions of the standard rifles. Almost all infantry weapons in any army today would be considered a carbine.

The Sharps rifle had a strong and solid action. That made it accurate to long ranges. Some accuracy was lost by shortening the barrel to carbine length. The Sharps was also breech loading while most firearms in the civil war were slower muzzle loading guns.

Here are two Model 1873 "Trapdoor" Springfields. This model was adopted by the US military in 1873, hence its name. I own an 1888 version of the longer infantry rifle. The shorter carbine was used by the Buffalo Soldiers in the old west and are what most cavalry should have in movies. (Don't even get a gun person started on Hollywood's idiocity.)

Well, Thanks EWA...and my post got deleted??  did you see that?

Comment on a legislative bill - I deemed that political.

It occurred to me that talking about various cartridges probably sounds like gibberish to people unfamiliar with firearms. I thought I'd try explain why some ammunition is named the way it is. I'm going to be writing mostly off the top of my head so if I provide any misinformation feel free to correct me. Oh, I'm also going to stick with rifle ammunition and maybe throw in a little shotgun info. I'm not that familiar with the history of handgun ammunition.

In the later half of the 19th century metallic cartridges of many kinds were being developed. The usual way of naming the cartridges was with two numbers and a name. The first number was the diameter of the bullet. The second number was the weight of the powder charge in grains. The name was usually the name of the developer of the cartridge. A grain is approximately 64.8 milligrams (I looked that up). The Springfield rifle I mentioned a few posts ago was chambered for the .45-70 Government cartridge. That meant the bullet was .45 inches in diameter, had 70 grains of black powder, and was developed by the US Government for military use. A few of the early smokeless powder cartridges were named in the same way, the most popular probably being the .30-30 Winchester. The names were pronounced with just the numbers so the .45-70 and .30-30 would be "forty five seventy" and "thirty thirty".

Shortly after that the US military adopted a different naming standard. The first number was still the bullet diameter but the second number was the two digit year the cartridge was adopted by the military. The first I'm aware of was the .30-03 (thirty aught three) Springfield. The bullet diameter was .30", it was adopted in 1903, and it was developed by the US military's Springfield Armory. (Springfield Armory is now the name of a civilian company). The .30-03 proved to be a less than ideal design so a new one was developed. That was the famous .30-06 (thirty aught six) Springfield, which was adopted in 1906. That naming standard pretty much stopped there because the .30-06 remained the standard US military cartridge for the next fifty years. By the time a new cartridge was adopted the NATO naming standard was being used. The .30-06 is so well known that it is often just called the "aught six". Also, the decimal point is never pronounced and is often omitted so the names are simply 30-30 or 30-06.

The next cartridge adopted by the US military was the 7.62x51 NATO. That cartridge is essentially the same as the .308 Winchester (more on that later). That standard gives the bullet diameter in millimeters and the length of the empty case in millimeters. The latest standard round, used in the M16 and all newer US infantry rifles, is the 5.56x45 NATO. Many times the second number is dropped so the rounds are just called 7.62 NATO and 5.56 NATO.

Cartridges for civilian use, often called sporting ammunition, usually use just the bullet diameter and the developer's name. Well known examples are the .308 Winchester mentioned above and the .223 Remington. The .308 and 7.62 NATO are interchangeable and can be fired in rifles chambered for either cartridge. The .223 is almost the same as the 5.56 NATO but they are not interchangeable. For various reasons having to do with the design and operating pressures of military rifles the 5.56 should not be used in rifles chambered for the .223 unless the rifle is specifically marked as being able to use that round. The standard .223 cartridge can be used in any 5.56 rifle.

Shotguns are a different world. They are classified in gauges. I have no idea where that name came from but here is what it means. I'll use the 16 Gauge shotgun as an example because it works out evenly. The number 16 comes from the number of spherical lead balls that can be made from a pound of lead. Therefore, the barrel of a 16 Gauge shotgun has a barrel diameter that will fit a lead ball weighing one ounce. The more popular 12 Gauge has a barrel that will fit a lead ball weighing 1.33 ounces. The one exception to this rule I can think of is the .410 Bore shotgun. It has an inside barrel diameter (the bore) of .410 inches.

Ok, I admit a lot of it still sounds like gibberish and a lot of it has little rhyme or reason, you just have to know. Sort of like English where you just have to know that the "ough" in tough, bough, through, and though are pronounced four different ways.

Sounds like you're an expert!

😂 mrmuddholliwood ehh?

To begin with there’s multi thousands that have died from accidental incidents.

….children in general