GUNS!!!

I guess one more post. A while back I said I would post about the oldest firearm I own so here it is. Sorry if the post is a little long. I hope some find it interesting.
My oldest rifle is a Springfield Model 1888, commonly called the "Trapdoor Springfield" for the way it's breech hinges up like a trap door. The Model 1888 is the last model in the series that started with Model 1865 and the last single-shot rifle to see military service. This model (not my rifle) saw some action in the Spanish-American war but was not a major player in the altercation. Springfield Armory was the military's manufacturing facility until 1968 located in Springfield, Massachusetts and should not be confused with the modern commercial Springfield Armory firearm company. Wikipedia has much more information than I care to post here so I'll highlight some things I haven't seen there. Eye candy will help so here goes.
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Overall view - The rifle is abut 52" long. Medium sized cat for scale. To help save weight a combination cleaning-rod/bayonet was developed The bottom picture shows the rod removed for cleaning use. I don't believe it was very popular with the troops for use as a bayonet.

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I believe Wikipedia says the hammer has three positions. I consider it to have four. Wikipedia ignores the fired position, shown in the top left. The top right shows the "Safe" position. In this position the trigger is locked and the breech can't be opened. The bottom left shows the hammer at half-cock and the "Trapdoor" open. The trigger is still locked in this position. The bottom right shows the hammer at full cock and ready to fire, if it was loaded. I didn't want to fire full power factory loads in this old rifle. A friend hand-loaded some lower power loads and we spent an enjoyable hour or so target shooting.

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The rear sight is called a vernier sight and can be adjusted for a wide range of distances. When folded down it's supposed to be zeroed for 100 yards. The top knob in the left picture is only for flipping the sight up and down. (edit: No it isn't. It also adjusts windage.) The lower knob is for locking the sliding vernier in place. When flipped up, the triangular aperture is used for distances out to 1,400 yards, as can be seem by the scale on the right. The scale on the left is used for 1,500 to 2,000 yards but using the notch at the top of the vernier. Windage is adjusted by loosening the screw at the rear of the sight and pivoting the vernier left or right.

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The top picture shows part of the locking mechanism for the bayonet. The swivel ring on the left is for the carrying strap. The split swivel on the right is called a stacking swivel. Three rifles can link their swivel rings so they can stand up in a tripod. The bottom picture shows the cavities in the buttstock used for storing simple tools and cleaning oil.

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Excuse the fuzzy picture. This proof stamp on the left side of the stock wrist shows that my rifle was built in 1891 and approved by Springfield Armory's Master Mechanic Samuel W. Porter. The bottom picture is from September 1886 and undoubtedly shows at least some of the men who worked on this rifle. The man in the black suit is Samuel W. Porter, who personally stamped this rifle. Picture flagrantly borrowed from the National Park service at https://www.nps.gov/spar/learn/historyculture/sa-woodworking.htm

I wanted to visit this 2nd Amendment stuff one more time. Not to argue one way or the other but to show the very complex issues the courts have to contend with in coming to their decisions. It's been many years since I washed my hands of these arguments so I just found what appears to be a reasonable discussion on Youtube. I only watched the first half of the video, enough to convince me it demonstrated the earnestness and sincerity with which the courts approach the problem. Maybe more important than the subject being discussed is the way it is being discussed. Rationally. The video also gives a very good background for anyone who wants to understand why Federal firearm laws are the way they are.

Laws can't be enacted or abolished just because we like or don't like them. There must be in-depth discussion about the meaning and purpose of the laws without resorting to bickering and name calling. I remember watching this interview with Justices Breyer and Scalia years ago. I don't remember their exact statements now but I remember being very impressed with how much these often-differing Justices respected each other and how seriously they took their jobs of finding what they considered the right solutions. In my opinion, Supreme Court Justices should be well above partisan politics. Their decisions should be based on what they believe to be the correct interpretation of any law's history and purpose. I think both these Justices demonstrated that they believed the same way. I greatly respect that whether I agree with them or not. Polarized partisan politics are tearing the nation apart. The major political parties want to foster the "us versus them" mentality because it steers people away from thinking for themselves and helps solidify their voter base. Major media gleefully cheerleads the antagonism because controversy sells copy. One of my fondest wishes is to see the public become so disgusted with politics as usual that they elect a third party, or even no party, person to the presidency. If partisan politics ever enters the Supreme Court I think our democracy is doomed. We will not endure as a nation if we see governing as a "my way or the highway" proposition. It should be "We The People" working together to find the compromises our democracy demands. Aw crap, see what too little sleep and too much coffee does to me? Well, hopefully that's the biggest political rant you'll ever get out of me. I'll go away now.

Huh.  someone else made a gun thread.  well, hope it longer than mine.  

Anyway, in my city "a switch" has been making themselves known a lot more.  Pretty scary to think and I don't see a need for them unless one does have a good head on their shoulders and uses it in a safe environment meaning a range.  even then, a switch makes it so hard to control, I don't see why the need for it unless one goes straight gangsta in which many cases that has happened.  Let me tell ya, it's a surreal feeling to hear even a convo about it.

This is nuts

Yea, I spose they have.  It's just been a new thing popping up over here.   Those bump stocks, that's pretty wild too.

Hard to control I bet eh?  

NO.  It's 'Murca'    lol