LA County Gunstores: Wimpey's Pawn, Azusa

I drove out to Azusa the other day to look over the range where I'm taking a class soon (Burro Canyon Shooting Park), and on my up to the site I saw Wimpey's Pawn Shop.

A pawn shop, how interesting--oh, wait, they've got a sign in the window: Guns. screech

Wimpey's is a fairly typical pawn shop, with long counters of the expensive, pricey stuff (watches, rings, cameras, lenses, et cetera) under glass, band instruments on the wall and all the way in the back, guns.

Rifles and shotguns are racked neatly on the wall, handguns are in the display cases. Since I like older guns (new is new, anywhere you go) I zeroed in on the used revolvers. There were two that caught my eye: A Taurus 66 in .357, and a Colt Police Positive in .22.

The Taurus looked well-cared for, but the hammer spring felt really light when I cocked it. Huh.

The Colt was a small-frame (i.e., small grip) revolver with a 6" barrel, and it had not been well-cared for. The muzzle crown was dinged, and the barrel and frame were lightly speckled with rust. The frame screw on the right side was not just buggered, it was dead--half of the head was sheared away, leaving only a miniscule remnant of channel.

The grips seemed to be original (hard rubber?) and the action seemed in good condition (hammer cocked fine in single-action, no cylinder shake, extractor rod moved smoothly).

But for $340, I am not bringing this puppy home.

I'm not, I'm not, I'm not...

The other interesting gun on the back wall was an $80 rifle labeled "New England Westinghouse Company 1915 II". I asked about it, they didn't really know what it was. When I got home, I tried looking it up in my reference books, but no luck.

Googled "Westinghouse rifle" yesterday, found out it's most likely a Model 91 Mosin (7.62 x 54) made 1915-1917 for the Russian government (two contracts were awarded, one to Remington, the other to the above company, which was manufacturing weapons during WWI).

Huh--an American-made Mosin for $80.

Wimpey's Pawn Shop
650 N. Azusa Avenue
Azusa, CA 91702
626 334 9758

Saturday Poetry

Max Eastman, 1883 - 1969

At the Aquarium

Serene the silver fishes glide,
Stern-lipped, and pale, and wonder-eyed!
As through the aged deeps of ocean,
They glide with wan and wavy motion.
They have no pathway where they go,
They flow like water to and fro,
They watch with never-winking eyes,
They watch with staring, cold surprise,
The level people in the air,
The people peering, peering there:
Who wander also to and fro,
And know not why or where they go,
Yet have a wonder in their eyes,
Sometimes a pale and cold surprise.

Saturday Poetry

John Farnam: Farnam's Quips

From Farnam's Quips for February 11:

"Once again, I encouraged them to carry pistols (and blades) always, concealed if necessary, any time they find themselves in dangerous places, worrying less about "propriety" and more about personal victory. I reminded them that the routine carrying of pistols conveys to the carrier a firm sense of purpose and of nobility and that the daily handling of dangerous weapons reinforces correct habits."

Guns

Kim du Toit: GWB in Euroland

Kim describes the American style of diplomacy:

"Our diplomacy model, thanks to the GWB / Cheney / Halliburton / VRWC junta, is talk-talk-talk, failure, USMC/daisycutters."

Heh, heh, heh...

Capitalist Lion dot com: Gagging on the Socialist Pill

Capitalist Lion dot com

Mr. Lion writes about "...grabastic pieces of socialist goop...", specifically socialists trying to convince (guilt) everybody else to feel horrible about America being more successful than any other country in the world:

"Our country was created with the freedome for the lowest bump on the social stick to reach the top, prevented by absolutely nothing save his own ambition."

"Second, there is nothing special or exclusive about the American way of life."

RTWT.

Saturday Poetry

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

"When I Set Out for Lyonnesse"

When I set out for Lyonnesse,
A hundred miles away,
The rime was on the spray,
And starlight lit my lonesomeness
When I set out for Lyonnesse
A hundred miles away.

What would bechance at Lyonnesse
While I should sojourn there
No prophet durst declare,
Nor did the wisest wizard guess
What would bechance at Lyonnesse
While I should sojourn there.

When I came back from Lyonnesse
With magic in my eyes,
All marked with mute surmise
My radiance rare and fathomless,
When I came back from Lyonnesse
With magic in my eyes!

Saturday Poetry

Saturday Poetry

Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1872 - 1904

The Debt

This is the debt I pay
Just for one riotous day,
Years of regret and grief,
Sorrow without relief.

Pay it I will to the end --
Until the grave, my friend,
Gives me a true release --
Gives me the clasp of peace.

Slight was the thing I bought,
Small was the debt I thought,
Poor was the loan at best --
God! but the interest!

Saturday Poetry

Politics - Black History Month

I've never liked Black History Month--it's always seemed a patronising pat on the head to a minority culture that for the rest of the year is ignored unless it riots.

I don't really care all that much about black history or culture, either. I'm white, I've got my own culture, and my own sub-cultures within that culture (guns, heterosexuality, conservative politics).

That said, Saturday's poetry is by Paul Laurence Dunbar, a Negro poet of the 19th century.

From The Paul Laurence Dunbar Homepage:

Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first African-American to gain national eminence as a poet. Born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio, he was the son of ex-slaves and classmate to Orville Wright of aviation fame.

Although he lived to be only 33 years old, Dunbar was prolific, writing short stories, novels, librettos, plays, songs and essays as well as the poetry for which he became well known. He was popular with black and white readers of his day, and his works are celebrated today by scholars and school children alike.

An interesting biographical page is here.

Politics: Los Angeles mayoral race

A recent thread on ca-firearms (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ca-firearms/) asked about the RKBA positions of the various candidates. After a couple of responses, one poster commented that "Any DemonCrat in LaLa land is against firearms".

My response was "How about taking a candidate shooting? Or a senior aide? Are there any plans afoot by any NRA Members' Councils, or a CRPA committee?"

I've been a science fiction fan for many years and I am dismayed to see how little difference there is between the fannish world and the real world--one is just the other, writ smaller.

But it's an idea worth pursuing!

Saturday Poetry

William Blake, 1757 - 1827

The Tiger

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Saturday Poetry

Publicola: Additions To The Blogroll Archives

Hey, look at this! Publicola: Additions To The Blogroll Archives I got mentioned on Publicola's blog!

Geez, I gotta write something--company's coming...

Guns: New Toy, Part III

Ah, a range report. I took the new gun--the Yugoslavian SKS--out to Angeles Range today for its maiden outing, and survived.

Why survived? Because the flinkin' op-rod insisted on sticking out after every shot, turning my 10-round semi-automatic rifle into a singleshot!

On the plus side, no slam fires from a too-extended firing pin, so...I'll count my blessings.

I did find someone else at the range with an SKS and chatted with him about removing the gas tube (yeah, I'm doing it the right way, it just won't come off) and how my op-rod is sticking out.

So, shooting Wolf 123-grain FMJ at 25 yards, I killed that cardboard backer!

Hit the targets?

Uh...no. A few wild rounds hit the black on one target, all in the white on the other.

Same thing again at 50 yards. But I did ring the gong at 100 yards. Once.

Rifle marksmanship is a new skill for me to master, and the SKS isn't really the best rifle to practice that one. But it's what I've got, so it's back to the range for me on Monday (and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday!).

Guns: New Toy, Part II

Today I cleaned my SKS. When I picked it up from Turner's, it was lightly, but still liberally, coated in cosmoline. I unwrapped the plastic around it and gingerly inspected it.

Then I took it apart: magazine, trigger assembly, receiver and barrel, stock. And there it lay for a couple of weeks, until I could clean all that cosmoline off it.

I used most of one can of non-chlorinated brake cleaner to dissolve the cosmoline on the metal parts, and a quick soak and scrub in the tub with hot water and Simple Green to clean the stock. And a foaming bore cleaner followed by a bore snake on the barrel.

After carefully drying everything, oiling the appropriate parts, I began to put it all back together: receiver and barrel into the stock, magazine into stock and receiver, trigger assembly into stock (press that assembly catch out of the way!), bayonet, buttplate and new butt pad.

Then the bolt and bolt carrier (ah, the gentle rattle of the firing pin!), the (oof!) recoil spring and finally the receiver cover.

Hey, look at me--I've got a new gun!

Part III, the range report, tomorrow.

Guns: New Toy

Well, now I've gone and really done it this time. I bought a rifle, a Yugoslavian SKS M59/66 (alas, no grenade launcher for me).

Technically, all of the above is true. Practically...it's a pile of parts, waiting to be degreased and re-assembled. Oy. I think it'll be a couple of weeks before I'm able to get it finished up and try it out...but Christmas came a little early for me this year!

Beautiful Atrocities: Disposable Wisdom

Beautiful Atrocities: Disposable Wisdom

Yeah, baby!

Politics: Election Day, 2004

I've done my civic duty today and voted.

I voted for Bush/Cheney, and "No" on all California and Los Angeles ballot propositions.

I hope Bush wins, by a lot, so there's no chance that the election can be contested.

LA County Gunstores: Sharp Shooter, Torrance

Sharp Shooter, 1827 W 208th Street in Torrance (310 618 9971), is located in a small business park. Not a lot of character on the outside, the inside is much bigger than it looks.

It's more of an indoor range than it is a gun store, although there are new pistols for sale and sundry other shooting-related items (targets, cleaning supplies, drop-in gunsmithing bits and pieces for 1911s). What's most impressive is the window all the way across the back of the shooting range, so you can see all the shooters at the same time.

West Coast Tactical has its shooting classes here. I hope to get to one of their Handgun 1 classes next year.

LA County Gunstores: Santa Fe Gun Galeria, Palmdale

Someday, when I win the lottery, I'll be able to buy any gun I want to. Until then, I like to look. Now, new guns are new guns, anywhere you go. But for old guns and those that are out of production, you have to go where they are.

Santa Fe Gun Galeria is a small gun store in Palmdale, at Sierra Highway and Avenue P. That intersection is an L-shaped strip mall, with a liquor store on the short leg and Gun Galeria on the long leg.

The store is split lengthways by display cabinets down the middle, creating two long aisles on either side. The left side as you go in is the pawnshop side; lever-action rifles are kept on pegs on the wall.

All the way at the back is a display cabinet with used handguns--two S&W Model 41 .22 target pistols, some Browning Buckmarks, some Colt Woodsmans. More handguns are on display as you follow the aisle around to your right--double-action Colt revolvers in .45 LC, a S&W in .44 Schoenfield, small foreign pre-WWII automatics.

The guy behind the counter was working on a rifle when I went in, while a customer barraged him with questions about which handgun was safer or better or more powerful--finally he sent the guy away with a copy of the DoJ gun safety booklet to read.

Rifles and shotguns were out on the store floor to look at, something I haven't seen in a while. I glanced over some .22 rifles, a .303 Enfield.

In a display cabinet all the way down front was a little three-drawer chest. The bottom drawer was pulled out, showing a cased black powder pistol. The two drawers above that had hand-lettered signs on them: "Bicentennial SAA" and "Bicentennial Python". No prices listed--I didn't bother asking.

I did ask to look at the Model 41 ciraca '58-'62, with a 7-1/2" barrel. LA Guns has one for almost a thousand dollars--this one was only $600. I didn't buy it, 'cause I've already blown my budget for guns for this year. But I'll start saving my nickels and dimes and twenties and fifties!

A different version of this post was cross-posted to calguns.net.

LA County Gunstores

Los Angeles county is pretty big, and it's got quite a few gun stores. I've pulled a list together from on-line yellow pages and I'm going to try to visit all of them.

Not to be dismissive of any business, but a Turner's is a Turner's. I go to the one in Reseda and the one in Pasadena, and I'll get around to the others in LA county eventually, but unless I find something fantastic on consignment, I won't have much to say about them.

I've been to LA Guns, in West Hollywood. It's a nice little showroom of a store, upstairs on the third floor, behind two security doors (*bzz!*). I've bought some shooting supplies there, but no guns.

I've been to King's Gunworks, in Glendale, on Glenoaks Boulevard. The store has been in that location for quite some time, looks it, feels it. Again, bought some supplies there, but no guns.

Gun World and Stevenson Gun Country, both in Burbank, on Magnolia Boulevard. Bought a box of ammo one time at Stevenson's. Browsing at Gun World is a treat, because of the glass-fronted cabinets in the back room they keep their handguns in--it just looks nice--but their prices seem high to me.

I know that Greta's Guns in Simi Valley is over the county line into Ventura, but I'm not sure about Bullseye Sporting Arms. I went to Bullseye because of a brief passion for double rifles (think African big game), but I was disappointed in the "store". It was a totally anonymous store front (no name, no ads, no nothing) in a non-descript business park in Simi Valley.

Strictly speaking, there was no store inside, just a front desk manned by the owner, and a back room area that felt more like a basement game room, with lots of expensive ($5K and up!) shotguns laying around. Maybe someday, if I win the lottery...

I had some time today and went off to Antelope Valley to check on gun stores up there. Because it was Sunday, three of the five I checked on were closed, the fourth looked like it was out of business, and the fifth was a residential address. Hmmph.

But now I know where those three are and can go visit them this week.

Saturday Poetry

Andrew Marvell, 1621–1678

To His Coy Mistress

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime.

We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust:
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.