This is a Smith & Wesson Model 649 ‘.38 Bodyguard Stainless’ which gives shooters a snag-free and mechanically solid concealed carry. The pistol is chambered in .38 Special which has been used for self defense for a very long time now with proven results.
It was also infamous for this picture:
Category: All About Guns
Here are really what the basic parts that a Good Gunsmith Needs to build a good custom rifle!
Now on to why I prefer Sporterized Bolt Actions Part 2!
The models that I like are Springfield 1903 Bolt Actions and the Various Mauser 98 especially the Argentine Models. 
No not that Argentine Model! Jeez FOCUS Grumpy!!
No not that Argentine Model! Jeez FOCUS Grumpy!!This one!
or this.
Which could be turned into something like this!
All right now let us move on from that embarrassing incident!
It seems to me, That I remember somehow. That from say when President Theodore Roosevelt went on safari with a custom 1903 Springfield Rifle in 1908.
Up until let us say the mid 1970’s.
There was a golden age of taking Military Rifles and converting them to a civilian type looking rifle.
Now granted some of these veterans of the wars were just butchered. When some idiot would take a hack saw and chop off parts of the stock and maybe hack off part of the barrel also. Then off to “a hunting will we go”.
Granted for most folks back then. Times were a hell of a lot tougher than we can imagine now a days. 
No they were not that tough Grumpy!
No they were not that tough Grumpy!But some of the rifles from that time period. That I have seen over the years. Would make a hard man cry. But that is just the way it is.
But on the other hand. You still see some absolute works of art out there. For example I have seen a couple of Griffin & Howe 1903’s. That I would buy in a second. Right after I win the lottery that is.
Then you have the middle ground. Where I do most of my looking. As you can find some really outstanding rifles at some really reasonable prices. Like for example. I have a few Springfield 1903 Rifles that are just wonderful.
I also have a few Custom Mauser 98’s in various calibers. I am not a fan of the 8 mm Mauser Round by the way. Since it is just too big a caliber for me and my arthritis.
I also have a few Custom Mauser 98’s in various calibers. I am not a fan of the 8 mm Mauser Round by the way. Since it is just too big a caliber for me and my arthritis.
Answer is! -Don’t shoot a 505 Gibbs in a 9 pound rifle! That and there is a real shortage of Grizzly Bears out here in Southern California for some reason. Plus I can not afford the higher grade of 8 mm ammo to get any kind of decent patterns.
But I do have a Custom Mauser 98 in 257 Roberts. That I bought on line a few years ago. So when it finally got here. All I had to do was to take it to the range and zero it in. That’s it ! No trips to the Gunsmith for a tune up. Nada! It just shoots & shoots well Thank You very much My Lord!
So here is why that I will almost always choose a custom rifle over a factory made on. I think that this covers all the reasons on why.
Since it started out as a Military Rifle over in the Fatherland during WWI. It had to undergo a a pretty strict inspection for it to be accepted by the Imperial German Army. An outfit that is not noted for sloppiness.
Do you want to talk back to this guy? I think that I will pass myself!
Then somehow I suspect that it got brought back by either a Doughboy or a GI after one of the World Wars. I am told that the our Army had no real problem back then with the Guys bringing back Trophy Guns. As they were called back then.
So once it got here to the Land of the Big PX.
I am willing to bet that a pretty good Gunsmith got his hands on it.
Who then pulled the action from the rifle and either ditched or traded away the barrel and the old wood stock.
He then did a pretty good job of squaring he lugs on the bolt itself. He then put on a high quality barrel and chambered it for the then popular 257 Roberts.
The rifle was then it was given a Timney trigger at some point. Followed up by being married up with a high end Commercial stock like say a Bishop. To finish up the project. A Nice BSA Scope was mounted on it.
To say that it is a great rifle now would not really be fair to it. But the key difference is this.
As this rile has been basically been totally remodeled from ts original state. By one man I am willing to bet. Whose reputation is wrapped around in it. So it had better be pretty good or he is going to be out of business soon.
It has also been very lucky as it is obvious to me. That it has been well taken care of before I got it.
So I call it a widows gun. Since I think that the owner died and his widow or his family did not want it or needed the cash. Therefore the great price that I paid for it, I think that altogether I paid around $400 dollars about 10 years ago.
Now could I get such a great deal on a NIB factory Rifle? Maybe. But I kind of doubt it. So I think that I will stay with these old timers for a while longer.
Because for me, it just makes way too much sense to not to.
Categories
ASTRA 2000 CUB .22 SHORT
Some of the key reasons on why I will usually buy a Sporterized rifle instead of a factory made rifle. Are easy to understand if one is willing to think things thru a bit. Sorry if I sound patronizing on that last part.
Now do not get me wrong as all of the Major Companies that make Bolt Actions are generally pretty good guns. But there are some things about them that make me very hesitant about shelling out the big bucks for them. 
Ike’s Winchester model 12
So if you have been kind enough to bear with me so far. Here goes my thinking on this subject.
Now today most factory rifles are a series of compromises, cutting corners and other things done to to increase the profit level of the company that makes it.
Now there is nothing wrong with that as the Share Holders rightfully expect that. Otherwise they will take their money elsewhere. Then the Company goes out of business and a lot of folks are out of work.
Some other problems that face the industry is that of labor. Now do not get me wrong. I think that the Working Man is the backbone of this nation. That & w/o them this country would be in a world of hurt.
But being human.They also have some problems. For example, no one in their right mind wants what is called a Friday or Monday Car. Or worst of all a post Super Bowl Car.
Fortunately the Quality Control Guys get most of them before they leave the site. That is also why most states have Lemon Laws on their books. But not for guns!
Also up until recently all the Major Gun Companies were having to use Union Labor. Which in turn drives up the cost.
Now having been a former reluctant member of the Teachers Union*. I think that I can say that Unions are at best a mixed bag for everyone. But that is just the way it is and I do not think that its ever going to change.
But let us move on.
So let us say that I did buy a news rifle out of the box. It seemed to me that I always had to go the local gunsmith and have it “tuned up”.
As it almost always seemed that the issued trigger was not up to snuff. That and the barrel had to be free floated. Otherwise my basic pattern would like like a case of measles on the target.
I will not go on about replacing the recoil pad. (Especially if it was a Ruger #1 Rifle) Or having a scope mounted on it. (Granted Ruger does make it easy with their scope rings system to be fair about it)
More Tomorrow!
* The Only Thing that my Union ever did for me. was to take a $150 a month out of my paycheck. That & when ever I got into trouble at work. The only person who helped me out was myself. So now you might understand my position about organized labor.
Japan’s gun control laws so strict the Yakuza turn to toy pistols
Japan has some of the world’s strictest gun control laws with punishments that even scare gangsters
They also make their money via extortion, racketeering, loan sharking, and a host of other illegal activities.
For collecting protection money, guns would seem to be ideal, but these days, fake guns serve the purpose of striking fear into victims and rivals, without the heavy penalties. However, the results are sometimes comical rather than deadly.
According to Nagoya Television and other sources, on November 29 at the Nagoya District Course, a crime boss from the Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi was sentenced to three years in prison (four years suspended) for threatening a rival gang member with a toy gun.
Last December, in Nagoya City, Yoichi Yoshida, 49, chairman of the Kobe-Yamaguchi-gumi Issei-kai crime group, confronted a 46-year-old rival boss in the Yamaguchi-gumi.
He pressed a fake gun against him and repeatedly pulled the trigger, making gunshot sounds several times. In Japanese, the sounds of a gun are represented as “BAN” “DON” “GAN” rather than “BANG BANG”.
Reports at the time of the crime vary as to what the fake gun sounded like, but police confirmed that the model gun did not actually discharge any real or fake bullets, of any kind.
In video games, comics, and “the good old days,”yakuza fired guns without hesitation. Now they shun them. The penalties are too high.
The Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan’s largest organized crime group, with over a hundred years in business split apart on August 27th 2015. The Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi, the new group, has been skirmishing with the Yamaguchi-gumi ever since. There has been relatively little bloodshed. The toy gun threat was part of that conflict.
Ryo Fujiwara, long-time writer on yakuza affairs and author of the book, The Three Yamaguchi-Gumi, says that the punishment for using a gun in a gang war or in a crime is now so heavy that most yakuza avoid their use at all – unless it is for an assassination.
“In a hit, whoever fires the gun, or is made to take responsibility for firing the gun, has to pretty much be willing to go to jail for the rest of their life. That’s a big decision. The repercussions are big, too. No one wants to claim responsibility for such acts – the gang office might actually get shut-down.”
The gang typically also has to support the family of the hit-man while he is in prison, which is also a financial burden for the organization.
Japan’s Firearms and Swords Control Laws make it a crime to illegally possess a gun, with a punishment of jail time of up to 10 years.
Illegal possession more than one gun, the penalty goes up to 15 years in prison. If you own a gun and matching ammunition, that’s another charge and a heavier penalty. The most severe penalty is for the act of discharging a gun in a train, on a bus, or most public spaces, which can result in a life sentence.
After the mayor of Nagasaki City was shot to death by a Yamaguchi-gumi member in 2007, the laws have been continually revised to make them even stricter.
A police officer in Osaka’s Organized Crime Control Division, speaking on background noted, “In the de facto world of law enforcement, when a yakuza fires a gun, we’re almost always going to charge them with attempted murder—which is a very heavy crime and serious time in ‘the pig-house’ (jail). Guns kill people, so if you use one, intent to kill is right there. Toy guns? Not so much.”
He added, “Unless you’re an old gangster and wanting to stay in jail until you die because you got nowhere else to go, you don’t use a gun. The crime isn’t worth the time in jail.”
Last June, two members of the Matsuba-kai crime group, had a wrist watch worth 850,000 yen ($7,626) sent to their office in the Arakawa district of Tokyo, cash on delivery.
When the watch arrived, one of the gang members pulled out a model gun and told the delivery workers, “Leave the watch and get out of here!”
The deliverymen, however, didn’t flinch. They grabbed back the box with the watch, took the model gun away from the yakuza, ran out of the office and called the police. The gang members were later arrested on charges of attempted extortion.
According to the National Police Agency of Japan, in a nation of over 122 million people, there were 12 shootings in the first half of 2017, with two people killed and three injured. Eight of the shootings were believed to be connected to organized crime.
A low-ranking member of the Kobe-Yamaguchi-gumi put it this way: “All of the smart guys got rid of their guns a long-time ago. The penalties are way too high. You get life in prison if you just fire a gun. That’s not fun.”
Jake Adelstein is the author of the memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan and chief editor of on-line journal Japan Subculture Research.
They look like a bunch of fun guys Huh?
“In 1914, the Argentine military adopted the Colt M1911 as their standard military sidearm and contracted with Colt to supply these guns. Argentina took shipment of 2,151 of these weapons between 1914 and 1919.
In 1923, Argentina adopted an armaments bill that would eliminate Argentine dependency on foreign arms. Under this bill, the Argentine Congress authorized appropriations for a military modernization program and prepared the infrastructure for a domestic arms industry.
In accordance with the new law, an aircraft factory was established in 1927, a munitions factory in 1933, a small steel mill in 1934, and a small arms factory in 1936, all of which were managed by Argentine army officers.
In 1927, the Argentine Commission for Foreign Acquisitions negotiated a contract with Colt for the manufacture of M1911A1 .45 caliber self-loading pistols specially marked and serial numbered in a separate series, and secured a licensing agreement giving the Argentine government the right to manufacture these pistols using drawings, material specifications, instructions, etc. supplied by Colt.
The 10,000 pistols were delivered by Colt from 1927 to 1933, and have become known as the Hartford Colts. Production of the Sistema Colts began in 1927, and 14,000 were produced by 1942. In 1945, a new factory (FMAP) was brought on-line and produced another 88,494 pistols through 1966”.
The Sistema Colts continued to be used in Argentina until the 1990’s, when they were replaced by Browning High Powers. The Sistema Colts were not Colt clones, but except for finish and markings, they were identical to 1911A1 pistols produced by Colt, and the parts were interchangeable.
Top quality steel was used in the construction, and they are known to be as tough and reliable as those made by Colt. This pistol was made at the FMAP factory in 1945 and is marked with the Argentine crest, indicating it was issued to the army.
This pistol appears to have been arsenal refinished before it was exported and has about 70% of its finish remaining. The serial numbers on the frame, barrel and slide are matching, but the magazine has a different number.
The high quality of the Sistema Colts and the relatively few produced make them very collectable, especially ones like this with matching numbers.
This another example of some Gunsmith who really had their act together.
This is a classic example of what I consider a real Sporterized Rifles as opposed to the sad Bubba Rifles out there. Just look at the wood & the fit between it and steel!
Grumpy
As soon as I win the Lottery. I am going to start seriously go out and find me one of these fine pistols!
This rifle is a classic example of when Winchester made a really 1st rate rifle! Unlike some junk out there now with the Cowboy on it out there.
