Saddle Up
‘Saddle Up’ by Rick Landers
A Book For Military Collectors, Antique Gun Collectors or for Firearm Collectors.
Australian Load Carrying Equipment of British, American & Local Origin.
This reference by Rick Landers explores the full period of Australian issue, from the First Fleet in 1788 through the various colonial governments and the Commonwealth, through two world wars and Vietnam to the year 2000 and beyond.
From bandoliers and belts to packs and pouches, for the purpose of carrying items ranging from ammunition and compasses to pistols and bayonets, this invaluable study will appeal to a broad cross section of collectors and military enthusiasts.
Buff, brown & black leather, canvas and woven webbing equipment combined to serve the soldier in the field, in a wide variety of forms. The references to contractors, trials, production and markings in the descriptive text are accompanied by about 250 illustrations which includes a section in full colour.
Any collector of uniforms, accoutrements, individual equipment or weapons will welcome this systematic presentation of such a wealth of material. The more than two hundred years of Australian kit embraces essential British patterns with a veritable sprinkling of U.S. and Canadian production as well, culminating with a fully integrated set of indigenous load carrying equipment today.
$50.
plus Australia Wide Postage $10.00
ISBN 0 646 35322 5
Owen Guns Bulletin Jan 2009 No 8
Welcome to the Eighth Edition of the Owen Guns Bulletin.
STOP PRESS
Scroll down for another Free Firearm Manual
We are currently publishing our new website at www.owenguns.com
Where we are in the process of listing 1000s of rifles,shotguns, handguns, accessories, and gun parts that we have for sale. Visit the website now. We also have shooting articles and important firearm information for the gun enthusiast.
Take away free gun photos and free firearm images for your gun gallery collection. New firearm related material being added every day.
Have A Very Happy and Prosperous New Year from all of the team at Owen Guns.
Any Inquiries on any products phone 07 54824099 or 07 54825070
Monthly Specials
Quality Photographs of the famous Ron Hayes collection of hand guns, the most complete Australian collection. A deluxe compilation of handguns from all around the world, the subjects are conveniently cataloged into National and Manufacturer classifications. The twenty six groups utilise each letter of the alphabet, introduced with a brief description of each particular category. 592 large format pages.
Special Price for this Month Only $99.00
FN Custom Mauser
Commercial Walnut Stock, Famous FN Mauser Action. Bedded and Free floated, Custom worked trigger guard and magazine floorplate. Commercial Adjustable Trigger and Safety Catch. Commercial Striker. 3-9×40 Simmons scope, Simmons Steel Mounts. Comes with 25/308 cases. All finished and deep blued by a Local Custom Gunsmith.
Only
$800.
Email owenguns@spiderweb.com.au for more & bigger photos, its worth it.
Bushnell Sportsman 3-9×40 Variable Riflescope at a once only price of
$90.00
Ian Skennerton has spent more than four decades of world-wide research and study, evolving through two prior editions and many other related titles. The Lee Enfield has proven itself as the finest battle rifle of all time. No other firearm has served for so long at home and abroad with such a proud record. This study encompasses all aspects of the Century of Lee-Enfield development & production… Britain, America, India, Australasia, South Africa & the Far East. Rifles, carbines, bayonets, parts, tools, accessories & ammunition are arranged into specific groups & chapters. There are five new chapters • Preview, Model Identification • Lee-Enfield Hybrid • Serial number Production Ranges • Component Parts Evolution • An Ammunition Summary. The Pattern Room collection has been the primary source for samples and records. With the larger format, this presentation sets a new standard for collectors, students & shooters of the venerable Lee-Enfield… indeed, for all arms books. While the ‘Lee-Enfield Story’ has long been accepted as the definitive tome on the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifle series, this new volume increases the record from 504 to 608 pages and features improved photographic detail, larger illustrations and an improved layout.
Special Price for this month only $79.00
plus postage
Idea for Dad and Son, An Adult Air Rifle. Practice Target Shooting in the Garage.
Includes a 3-9×40 Variable Air Rifle Scope and Air Rifle Mounts. $385.00
(Have to be shock resistant for High powered Air Rifles) . These products will all be 20 % dearer as Distributor prices went up 1st December due to dollar.
Four left in stock
The single shot, .177 cal. spring air Genesis pellet rifle features ultra hi-tech ergonomics in its soft, synthetic pistol style grip and sculpted cheek piece. 28 pounds of cocking force gets up to 1000 fps. Other features include:
• Two stage adjustable trigger
• Ventilated rubber recoil pad
• Precision rifled steel barrel
• Crossblock® trigger blocking mechanism
• Ambidextrous safety
• Made in the USA.
——————————————————-
Anschutz 1450 10 shot 22 Long Rifle
This second hand .22 rifle is a high quality item still in top condition, (open sights are missing) has been used for .22 Silhouette competition with a good scope. Last owner was a winner and up graded. The Ten Shot magazine would be worth $120. This rifle is a bargain at
$250.
This book originally printed by the War Office, was intended for use by officers under instruction at the British School of Musketry at Hythe. It is a complete examination of everything needed to be known about smallarms, ammunition and ballistics. It looks at rifles, swords, lances and bayonets, as well as revolvers, grenades and machine guns. There is a section dealing with small arms ammunition (including pre-.303inch ammunition) which is very comprehensive. The book also looks at the ballistics of this ammunition. The book is amply illustrated with photographs, line drawings and tables, and forms a complete record of the weapons and ammunition that were in service between the two World Wars. It was the Text Book Bible referred to by all the 20th Century Gun writers such as Hatcher, Ackley, and Askins. 430 A4 pages.
Special for this Month Only $59.
plus postage
RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.
RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.
Throws consistently accurate charges reload after reload. Powder pours uniformly from measuring cylinder into case, thereby eliminating the hazards of “overloads” caused by clogging when charges are dumped”. Changes easily from charge to charge without emptying powder hopper. Numbered measuring screw is used for reference to find a given charge at a later date. The measuring cylinder has precision ground surfaces and slides into the honed main casting for a precision fit. Standard 7/8″- 14 thread. Includes stand plate, drilled for easy mounting on a bench or under a reloading die lock ring. Two drop tubes for .22 caliber and upwards are supplied. The Uniflow Powder Measure is fully capable of accurately measuring all three major powder types – ball, cylindrical, and flake. It will even cut the cylindrical powders so that a precise charge can be obtained. NOTE: The Uniflow Powder Measure should be used in conjunction with an accurate powder scale for setting the original charge and for checking charges occasionally during the run.
Special Price RCBS Uniflow Powder Meausure, $120.plus post
EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099
For More RED HOT PRICES
EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099
————————————————
GUN LAWS
The Hoplophobe
by Dr. Bill Rogers
WRogers@KeepAndBearArms.com
Jeff Cooper coined the term “Hoplophobe” to describe a person who lives in fear of an inanimate object. The Hoplophobe does not recognize that there is a living, breathing human being in possession of the inanimate object. (See: Bad Gun – Liberals attack the gun issue.) Therefore the Hoplophobe chooses to have a relationship with an inanimate object rather than with the sentient being in control of the object. Such a person is, by definition, irrational. Such a person is, by association, insane.
In our merciful culture, the insane are granted special dispensations. They are not considered responsible for their own well-being. Public money is often used to house, clothe and feed them. They are not allowed to serve on a jury. They are not allowed to vote. (And when they do manage to sneak into the voting booth, the rational among us are not surprised that they often “dimple” rather than “punch” a ballot, despite written instructions to the contrary.) They are not allowed to serve in the military, and they certainly should not be allowed to make public policy that will put their neighbors at risk of being injured or killed.
We in the RKBA community have spent countless hours and dollars attempting to educate the Hoplophobes. This is hopeless. It cannot be done. These poor folks have a condition known to the medical specialty of neurology as “anosognosia.” That is: they don’t know, and they don’t know that they don’t know. A sure sign of such a deplorable condition is that when education is attempted, the Hoplophobe responds with anger.
So, I recommend that we finally give up on educating these unfortunates. Let us instead shift our efforts to controlling them and disenfranchising them. They must be treated like the mentally retarded who are allowed to make only limited decisions in the world of “grownups.”
Hoplophobes don’t like to be angry, because it frightens them to be angry. So, our attack on them should be one of frontal assault.
Let us boldly call them what they are: socially retarded children who, when left alone to participate in the making of public policy, are getting people killed. It is time for us to start taking them on directly. We have simply been “too nice” to these social retards. The worst that will happen when these people are confronted directly is that they will cry and run away, trembling and calling us names as they run.
Politically correct witnesses to our frontal assault will doubtlessly call us ugly names and tell us we are being “cruel.” And that, my friends, is the exact moment when we win the debate, because that is when we turn and point to a homicidal shooter, like the one recently captured in Massachusetts, and we say:
“No, DAMN YOU, HE is the cruel one! HE is the one who shot the sheep, some of them in the back as they frantically scrambled for their lives because they had nothing with which to fight back! HE is the one that no one shot down while he was fumbling to change magazines or reload his shotgun!”
Yes. It is time we came out of our own little closets and began telling our fellow citizens:
“Any man (or woman) among you who is physically able and yet who does not learn to shoot and carry a defensive weapon at ALL times, is a deadbeat who deserves…DESERVES…whatever comes your way.”
——————————————————————————–
Dr. Rogers is a psychiatrist practicing in Tyler, TX. He is a member of the KABA Board of Directors and he is the Director of Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws
……………
Gun History
William Ellis Metford
Rifle Engineer
William Ellis Metford
Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Volume 140, 1900
William Ellis Metford was the elder son of William Metford MD of Flook House, Taunton, by his marriage with Miss M E Anderdon, and was born on October 4th, 1824. He was educated at Sherborne and afterwards became a pupil of Mr W M Peniston, then Resident Engineer under Mr Brunel on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, and from 1846 to 1850 was employed under Mr Brunel on the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway. He subsequently worked for Mr T E Blackwell in connection with schemes for developing the traffic of Bristol and afterwards for a short time acted as engineer under Mr Peniston who was contractor for the Wycombe Railway.
During this period of his life he made many friends in the profession and in 1855 became acquainted with Mr William Froude who at once recognised his ability and skill and became his most intimate friend.
Mr Metford devised a form of theodolite with a traversing stage and a curved arm upholding the transit axis, which is described in the Proceedings of the Institution for February 1856. He also invented an improved level in which the upright stem of the level telescope terminated in a sphere resting on the lower plate of the level and gripped by a ring grip tightened by four screws pulling downwards and having spherical nuts. The instrument could then be adjusted accurately even if the plates were as much as 25 degrees out of the horizontal. Mr Froude suggested a further improvement – that the sphere should not rest on the bottom plate, but should have an internal hollow sphere resting upon a small sphere concentric with the outer sphere.
Early in 1857 Mr Metford, who had married a daughter of Dr Wallis of Bristol, obtained a very important appointment on the East Indian Railway under the present Sir Alexander Rendel. This he obtained largely through the recommendation of Mr Blackwell and Mr Brunel. He arrived at Monghyr, on the Ganges, in May of that year, the mutiny having just broken out. Here there was every probability of an outbreak; the town of 50,000 native inhabitants contained no troops but a handful of Sepoys belonging to a mutinied regiment. The Europeans, some seventy or eighty in all, were taking no active steps to organise defence. If they fled, as was possible by boat, the town would be given over to anarchy and violence. Mr Metford decided to remain and, with his railway staff, took in hand as well as he could the organisation of patrols and other repressive measures. His task was difficult, for he had no official position as leader. The old fort was ruinous and too large to be defended by so few; a house was accordingly fortifiedand provisioned in case of need. Patrols and guards were organised and it became known that ‘Metford Sahib’ was making explosive shells and other murderous inventions. Besides taking his turn on guard duty, he superintended every measure of defence and could scarcely rest night of day.
In the Indian Mutiny some building were fought over more than once. 2000 Sepoys were killed defending this building, due to wild dogs only the large bones were left.
It was the most trying part of the Indian hot weather and not until the beginning of August could English soldiers be spared to garrison the town. Had it not been for Mr Metford’s determination another massacre might have been added to the story of the Mutiny. The heroism of the man who prevented it has remained unrecognised and almost unknown.
The strain of this terrible time left him seriously ill – suffering from inflammation of the membrane lining of the brain – and after some months of rest and an attempt to resume his work at Monghyr he returned home after a little more than a year’s absence from England, and was obliged definitely to abandon the profession. Much of the work which he afterwards accomplished was done under the strain of continual depression and headache.
He soon resumed his old hobby – experiment in rifle work. As early as 1852 Mr Metford had carried out experiments at the long distance of 1,200 yards. About the end of that year he suggested a hollow-based bullet for the Enfield Rifle which was brought to the notice of the Committee on Small Arms in 1853 by Mr Pritchett, and adopted by them. Both at this time and afterwards, he made many experiments on alloys of lead, tin and antimony and on the changes in hardness which take place in them with time.
In 1854 he investigated the disturbance of the barrel by the shock of the explosion, which affects the line of flight of the bullet, a difficulty which has led to much misunderstanding. About this time he designed a form of telescopic sight which he afterwards used a great deal and which was a decided improvement on existing patterns.
He gave much attention to the problem of making an explosive rifle bullet and in 1857 sent in his invention to the Select Committee who found it the best of those offered to them. It was not adopted however until 1863, when it had successfully competed against Colonel Boxer’s and General Jacob’s shells. It was very cheap and easy to manufacture, the explosive being a mixture of sulphur and chlorate of potash, and the hollow a simple one at the nose of the bullet. The Convention of St Petersburg in 1868 put an end to the use of explosive rifle bullets; but the superior accuracy of the hollow-fronted bullet led to its retention for the Service rifle.
The Volunteer movement of 1859-60 had led to a great revival of interest in rifle work, and at the Wimbledon Meeting of 1862 Mr Metford made the acquaintance of Sir Henry Halford, hence-forward his friend and assistant in his experiments. Together they competed, with rifles specially designed by Mr Metford, for the prizes given by the National Rifle Association in 1864-5 for shooting at 2,000 yards. In both these years Mr Metford’s rifles were successful. He now made many experiments to determine the velocity of the bullet at different points in its passage along the barrel and was able to lay down a curve for such a spiral as would give the bullet equal increments of rotation in equal times – the only scientific basis for an increasing spiral. This invention, though it proved to be less important than was at first supposed, formed the subject of a patent. A new form of ballistic pendulum, with double suspension, suggested partly by Mr Froude, was of great help to Mr Metford in his experiments.
Mr Metford’s chief distinction in rifle progress however is that he was a pioneer of the substitution of very shallow grooving and a hardened cylindrical bullet expanding into it, for deep grooving and bullets made of soft lead. No one before him had realised that the expansion of a bullet under the blow of the powder was ample and instantaneous and that deep grooving served to accumulate fouling, while soft lead created unnecessary friction. The Whitworth system of polygonal grooving gave far more grip on the bullet than was needed to give it proper spin. Mr Metford found that a bullet could be spun with rifling only 0.0005 inch deep, and that a depth of 0.004 inch was ample for all practical purposes. In 1865 his first match-rifle appeared, having five shallow grooves and shooting a hardened bullet of special design. It immediately achieved prominence in the hands of Sir Henry Halford, and in a very few years Mr Metford’s rifles, and those made on the same principles, had left all others far behind.
The Martini action, in combination with the Henry barrel, was adopted in February 1869, by the Small Arms Committee who had before them the work of all the prominent rifle-makers of the day, but not Mr Metford’s, and in 1870 he embarked seriously on the production of a breech-loading rifle. He saw that the solid-drawn brass cartridge-case was, for strength and simplicity, far ahead of the compound rolled case adopted for the Service; and that, considering the needs of hot climates and other practical conditions, lubrication of bullet or cartridge was inadmissible. Every detail of the barrel and cartridge received close attention and especially the form of the chamber and of the ‘entry’ conducting the bullet from the cartridge into the rifling. The adoption of a grooving of segmental form was also found to give great advantages in preventing the accumulation of fouling. It was not long before Mr Metford’s first experimental breech-loaders made their appearance and at Wimbledon in 1871 two rifles and a limited supply of home-made ammunition were used. With one of these Sir Henry Halford won the principal prize for military breech-loading rifles – a single prize of £50 – given by HRH the Duke of Cambridge and shot for at 1,000 yards
In 1872 a match at Wimbledon between teams armed with breech-loaders and muzzle loaders proved that while the latter was certainly still superior, the Henry match breech loader was quite out-classed by the Metford military rifle with match sights attached. By 1877 the rifle and ammunition had passed out of the experimental stage and were made by makers of repute, to whom great credit is due for the good workmanship which was an indispensable condition of the success of the rifle. From that time the record of the military rifle is an unbroken series of triumphs; and in the whole 23 years up to 1894, when military rifles of larger bore than 0.315 were no longer recognised by the National Rifle Association, the Metford rifle only four times failed to win the Duke of Cambridge’s prize, while it took a preponderating share of the other prizes. The Martini-Henry, adopted so recently by the Committee on Small Arms as the best breech-loader, soon found its level and after 1882 absolutely disappears from the long-range prize lists for the military breech-loader class. The superiority of the Metford rifle was notably shown in the matches with the military rifle between the Volunteers of Great Britain and the National Guard of the United States in 1882 and 1883 when the American rifles proved to be decidedly inferior to the British, notably at the long ranges, and almost the whole of the British teams used the Metford rifle.
The rapid advance in military small arms abroad, especially as regards quickness of loading, caused the appointment of a Committee to deal with the question of an improved British rifle in February 1883. Mr Metford designed, at the request of the Committee, the detail of the barrel of 0.42 bore for the rifle provisionally issued for trial at the beginning of 1887. But just at this time the question of further reduction of calibre was raised, as a result of Continental experiments, and the outcome was the adoption of the present 0.303 barrel and cartridge for the Service. Mr Metford’s unique knowledge enabled him at very short notice to lay down the proper proportions for the grooving, the pitch of the spiral, the shape and dimensions of the ‘entry’, and the ‘clearances’ to be given for the cartridge, all so satisfactory that though he himself verified them at much trouble and cost and the Committee also tried them exhaustively, it was found that no modifications could improve them, either as regards accuracy, convenience in use, or ease of manufacture. The 0.303 was first used for black powder, for which his segmental grooving was almost essential, and it was only the rapid destruction of the bore by the smokeless powder afterwards adopted which made it advisable to return to a very obvious form of grooving which had been used by Mr Metford twenty five years earlier. The adoption of the name of Lee-Enfield for the 0.303 magazine rifle with the altered grooving obscures the fact that the shape of the groove was only one of many details connected with the barrel, chamber & cartridge, which are due to Mr Metford’s skill. The form of the bullet, for instance, is one which he found to meet with less resistance from the air than any previously invented.
The Lee-Metford Rifle
Rifle work was by no means the only subject in which Mr Metford took an active interest. He was something of an astronomer; was an authority on the making of fireworks; and knew much about kite-flying. He studied thoroughly the questions involved in the cutting of precious stones, and at the Exhibition of 1862 showed some jewels beautifully cut by a mechanism of his own invention. He was an interested reader of books on many subjects.
A return, in 1892, of his old illness in an acute form put an end to Mr Metford’s active work and after some years of failing health he died on October 14th 1899. Those who knew him will always remember specially his kindness, his deep and genuine nature, his wide sympathies, his extreme accuracy of mind as well as of hand, and his untiring thoroughness of his work.
Mr Metford was elected an Associate of the Institution on 4th March 1856
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FREE FOR ELECTRONIC DOWNLOAD
INFANTRY SMALL ARMS OF CHINA
152 Full Colour pages, photographs, specifications and details of all types of Infantry Firearms and Ammunition.
This is your Christmas present don’t miss out.
Email : OwenGuns@spiderweb.com.au and it will be sent to you in .pdf format free of charge.
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Owen Guns Bulletin Dec 08 No 7
Welcome to the Seventh Edition of the Owen Guns Bulletin.
STOP PRESS
We are currently publishing another new firearm photographic site at
www.Gun-Photos.com
Click on the above link and have a look at over 700 firearm photos loaded on the site already. Soon there will be 7000 gun photos and more every day.
Scroll down for another Free Firearm Manual
We are currently publishing our new website at www.owenguns.com
Where we are in the process of listing 1000s of rifles,shotguns, handguns, accessories, and gun parts that we have for sale. Visit the website now. We also have shooting articles and important firearm information for the gun enthusiast.
Take away free gun photos and free firearm images for your gun gallery collection. New firearm related material being added every day.
Any Inquiries on any products phone 07 54824099 or 07 54825070
Monthly Specials
4 x 32 Silver Antler Rifle Scope $40.
plus Postage
Just as its Christmas and many of us did not get Mr Rudds Christmas present we decided to give away another case of these excellent, very clear, wide field of view, 4 power scopes at the old price of $40. Treat yourself and put a new scope on your old .22 . You will save on ammo, one shot instead of two is a 50% discount on ammo. (I put that one in for all those of Scots decent.) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the staff at Owen Guns.
Ideal Christmas Present for Dad, An Adult Air Rifle. Practice Target Shooting in the Garage.
Includes a 3-9×40 Variable Air Rifle Scope and Air Rifle Mounts. $385.00
(Have to be shock resistant for High powered Air Rifles) . These products will all be 20 % dearer as Distributor prices went up 1st December due to dollar.
The single shot, .177 cal. spring air Genesis pellet rifle features ultra hi-tech ergonomics in its soft, synthetic pistol style grip and sculpted cheek piece. 28 pounds of cocking force gets up to 1000 fps. Other features include:
• Two stage adjustable trigger
• Ventilated rubber recoil pad
• Precision rifled steel barrel
• Crossblock® trigger blocking mechanism
• Ambidextrous safety
• Made in the USA.Leupold 3-9×40 Variable Rifle Scope
$349.
plus registered Post.
Only until Stocks last due to the stronger US Dollar. Last year we had to pay $600 for one of these. Leupold, the Leading Scope in accuracy and reliability. The new ones we are importing now are 20% more than last months unless the US dollar crashes again prices will be up next month again, so buy now or pay more.
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These Rimfire rifles produced by Ceska Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod are among the most sought-after firearms in the world.
The CZ 452 featuring beechwood stock without checkering, hammer forged barrel with tangent iron sights and simple adjustable trigger.
The Famous BRNO 22.
$579.
The CZ 452 actions are manufactured from steel billets not tubing or plastic, the barrels are hammer forged for accuracy and long life. The trigger is adjustable for weight, and the safety is located above the rear of the bolt and provides a positive firing pin block. Single shot adapters, 5 round magazines and 10 round magazines are available for this line of rimfire rifles.
RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.
RCBS Great Prices, Get the Best Reloading Tools for the Lowest Price.
Big-scale features and capacity with an affordable price. Two-poise design lets you weigh up to 505 grains with 0.1 grain accuracy. The 5-0-2 also sports our magnetic dampening system for fast readings, maintenance-free movement and a rugged die-cast metal base. Tip-proof aluminum pan for loading convenience. Ounce-to-grain conversion table on the base for handy shotshell reference.
$99.00
Special Price RCBS 502 RELOADING SCALES $99.00 plus post
EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099
For More RED HOT PRICES
EMAIL Or PHONE 0754824099
GUN Law FACTS
United Kingdom They Banned Guns,Then
Had 35% Rise in Gun Crime Within One
Year.
Can Guns be used for your Defence? Only if your are a Politician.
By David Bamber,
(12/01/2003)
Police officers should be routinely armed if gun crime continues to increase at its current rate, officers’ leaders believe.
Rank and file police officers have always taken pride in the fact that London is the only major capital in the world where most officers do not carry guns.
Jan Berry, the chairman of the Police Federation, which represents 120,000 officers, has now broken with 160 years of that tradition and called for arms to be issued if gun crime continues to increase.
Does any one really think the British Bobbies are unarmed?
On Thursday, the Home Office revealed that gun crime increased by 35 per cent last year compared to the previous year. There were 9,974 offences in the 12 months to April 2002, compared to 7,362 the year before. The figures came just a week after the brutal murders of two teenage girls in Birmingham. Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were shot in the early hours of January 2 as a gang war erupted.
Mrs Berry, a serving inspector in the Kent Constabulary, said that if officers felt guns were required for their own protection and protection of the public, the police service would have to review its firearms policy. She added: “If we do not control the gun culture and guns continue to be glamorised, we cannot expect police officers to go out there unless they are properly protected.”
“If gun crime continues its rapid rise we will have to think seriously about the best options to protect us all. We do not want to meet force with force, but we do need to be protected.”
Are the Guns to protect the Public or Police?
Norman Brennan, a serving police constable and chairman of the Protect the Protectors pressure group, also believes the time is coming when police officers will have to be routinely armed.
He said: “For any crime to be out of control is terrible and we are going to have to seriously consider arming officers. We cannot have a situation where police are being shot at and are unable to defend themselves.”
Pc Bob Crees, a former armed response unit officer and secretary of the West Midlands Police Federation, said: “If the police were being targeted by guns then I think the time would come to consider it.
“At the moment we should increase the number of specialist armed officers but I think arming everyone would just lead to more criminals carrying guns.”
Senior officers have always resisted routinely arming the police because they believe that this in turn would encourage more criminals to carry arms. During the year to April 2002, seven police officers were shot in England and Wales.
Specialist armed officers patrol in Manchester, Nottingham and London almost every day but most police are still unarmed in those cities. The Government still believes officers should not be routinely armed.
Addendum.
Why are Police More Valuable Than Ordinary People?
We have to protect our Police and Politicians, but what about the rest?
No one gives a damn, that the general public have been disarmed and are prohibited from defending themselves. The public are just the lambs for the slaughter and the government gives guns and bullet proof vests to the Police. It debates the right of the police to defend themselves but ignores the fundamental rights of those who should have the first call on self protection the General Public. 9,974 offences against the defenceless general public seven against policemen and its “Protect the Police”, “They have to be able to defend themselves” well the right has to be extended to all. Then watch those crime rates decrease. Ron Owen
………………………………
Gun History
Mr John Rigby
Mr John Rigby
Gun Manufacturer and Target Shooter.
The name of “Rigby” synonymous with firearms was founded in Dublin, Ireland, in 1735, since then John Rigby & Co. has forged an enduring history of manufacturing excellence and design innovation that is unequalled in the annals of rifle and shotgun manufacturing. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the company built duelling pistols and defensive weapons, such as the blunderbuss, which established its reputation for utter reliability in life-and-death situations. Later, and continuing to this day, the company’s mainstay has been the manufacture of the world’s finest firearms for dangerous game and other large animal hunting.
The company traded as W. & J. Rigby during the period 1820 – 1865 during the flintlock and percussion eras. A London shop was eventually opened in 1865, and the Dublin premises finally closed in 1897.
Rigby Target Rifle
Around 1880, John Rigby became Superintendent of the government Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, and was in charge of development of the British service issue .303 British calibre rifle. He was a distinguished rifleman who had competed at international level with the Irish team, and this brought the Rigby’s name to the fore in rifle making.
The principles of this Target Shooting was made possible by Mr Joseph Whitworth in the 1850′s, all famous Gunmakers competed and developed a special class of ‘small-bore’ target rifle. The majority of these rifles were around .451 calibre, and the term ‘small-bore’ was used to distinguish them from the ‘large-bore’ service rifle of .577 calibre.
Trials were held at Hythe in May 1860 to select a suitable rifle. Mr. Whitworth and a deputation of Birmingham gun makers contested the trials, with the Whitworth rifle being the clear winner. With one exception, the Whitworth rifle continued to be issued to Queen’s Prize finalists until 1871, when for the first time the match was shot throughout with breech-loaders. The exception in 1865 was the Rigby target rifle.
This very notable exception was in 1865, when the Rigby rifle was issued to Queen’s Prize finalists.
A report of its selection, which follows, was published in The Times of Monday, 29 May 1865.
MR. RIGBY’S RIFLES – In the competition last year which went on between Mr. Whitworth’s and Mr. Rigby’s rifles the Council of the National Rifle Association reserved to themselves the right of instituting further trials of both weapons, which as far as the contest went, had shot in an almost equal figure if merit. To these further trials, however, which were ordered by the Association Mr. Whitworth declined to accede, and Mr. Rigby’s rifles were accordingly chosen by the Association as the weapons with which the second stage of the Queen’s prize should be shot, instead, as here to fore, with the rifle of Mr. Whitworth. To test the weapons thus supplied by Mr. Rigby, of Dublin, a special trial has just been made by the Council of the Association at the 1,000 yards range of the Royal Factory at Enfield. A number of rifles were supplied which were examined by Lieutenant-Colonel Dixon. The bores were gauged for diameter, the lock and other parts tested, the rifle weighed, and a lead pattern of its interior, and the pitch of its rifling ascertained. All proving perfectly correct, 15 were selected for trial at the targets. In the firing no mechanical loading rod was used, nor, it is stated in the official report to the National Rifle Association, was such assistance necessary, as there was no fouling or any difficulty experienced in sending the bullet home from first to last; and the report further adds that the Council “may safely congratulate themselves upon the excellent arm which has been selected by them for the year for the 60 best shots at Wimbledon.” In all, 15 rifles were tried and 83 shots, at 1000 yards; all, of course, from a mechanical rest of Mr. Rigby’s own make. The mean total deviation of all the shots fired was as low as 1.57. In some cases it was as low as 1.11, and the greatest deviation was only 2.15. Mr. Rigby had made the acceptance of his rifle by the Council depend upon its making an average figure of merit at least equal to the figure of merit made by Mr. Whitworth’s rifles at 1,000 yards in the trials of 1862, 1863 and 1864. In 1862 Mr. Whitworth’s mean deviation was 2.35, in 1863 it was 1.77, and last year it was as low as 1.83, the mean of the three trials therefore being 1.98. As Mr. Rigby’s mean for this year is the lowest ratio of deviation that has ever been attained by any rifle at 1,000 yards, and well within the figure of merit allowed by Mr. Whitworth, it follows that up to the present Mr. Rigby has gained the best of the contest, and produced a rifle which has as yet shot more truly than any other known in this country, at least.
Rigby rifle shows the long range aperture sight.
Many of the world’s most-famous hunters and adventurers have relied on Rigby rifles. The renowned tiger hunter Jim Corbett carried a .275 Rigby; Kermit Roosevelt, (son of Teddy), shot a .450 Nitro Express Rigby double rifle during their 1909 African safari; legendary elephant hunter Walter Dalrymple Maitland Bell used a .275 Rigby; and the famed African safari guide Harry Selby had a .416 Rigby as his favourite lion rifle.
Rigby landmarks include the 1897 introduction of the .450 calibre Nitro Express Double Rifle; the 1899 production of the Rigby .275 calibre (7×57 Mauser) Mauser system and the Rigby .350 calibre Express Rifle; and the 1900 introduction of the .350 Mauser System.
In addition to earning a reputation for unsurpassed quality of workmanship, the Rigby company also established a track record of innovation that allowed it to survive through changing times. The introduction of the .450 Nitro Express in 1898 rewrote the book on big-bore rifle design, and Rigby was among the first of the English gunmakers to recognize the potential of adapting the Mauser ’98 bolt-action magazine design for hunting purposes.
In 1907 the Rigby .470 became Rigby’s main big game double rifle, and in 1912 the .416 Rigby calibre magazine rifle was introduced. Between 1900 and 1960, the Rigby Mauser System was predominantly made in calibres .275, .350 and .416 Rigby, with some .303 calibre rifles in the early days. After that period a wider range of calibres were manufactured. Rigby also made boxlock and sidelock shotguns throughout this entire period.
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Owen Guns Bulletin Nov 08 No 5
Welcome to the Fifth Edition of the Owen Guns Bulletin.
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| Magazine Capacity | 4 rounds |
| Stock | Gray synthetic with positive checkering, dual pillar bedding |
| Sights | No sights. Drilled and tapped for scope mounts |
| Rifling Rate of Twist | 1 in 9″ (223 REM) 1 in 9.25″ (243 WIN) 1 in 9.5″ (7MM-08 REM) 1 in 10″ (308 WIN) 1 in 12″ (22-250 REM) |
| Features | Standard trigger, blued barreled action, free-floating and button-rifled barrel, top loading internal box magazine, and swivel studs. |
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| Stevens® Centerfire | |
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| Magazine Capacity | 4 rounds (25-06 REM, 270 WIN, 30-06 SPFLD) 3 rounds for (7MM REM MAG, 300 WIN MAG) |
| Stock | Gray synthetic with positive checkering, dual pillar bedding |
| Sights | No sights. Drilled and tapped for scope mounts |
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GUN Law FACTS
LETHAL GUN LAWS, or LAWS on (TOY) REPLICA
GUNS?
By Michael Yardley
(Written 12/01/2003)
LONDON FOUR ARMED ROBBERIES EVERY DAY
Last Friday, the Home Office hosted a summit meeting the purpose of which was to “do something” about the increasingly serious problem of guns on our streets. Gun crime was up by more than a third last year. That is not a short-term blip. Over the past 50 years, the long-term trend has been relentlessly upwards. In the whole of 1954, there were four robberies in London in which guns were used. Today, four armed robberies take place in London every day.
So the Government does indeed need to “do something” to stem the criminal use of guns. Unfortunately, the “Gun Summit” demonstrates that what ministers propose to do is what they usually do in these circumstances: issue eye-catching initiatives which make headlines in the media, but do nothing whatever to address the real problem. Its outcome was merely a series of noises aimed at reassuring the Government that its policy on guns is “on the right track” and will eventually reduce gun crime.
It isn’t and it won’t. The Government seems convinced that gun crime will be reduced by the passing of yet another law prohibiting guns and attaching harsher penalties to those who use them. You might think that by now ministers would have realised the limitations of this approach. After all, in the wake of the Dunblane massacre, the Conservatives passed a law banning the use of full-bore sporting handguns. They were enthusiastically supported by Labour: Tony Blair invited Anne Pearson, the founder of the “Snowdrop Campaign” to prohibit all guns, to speak at the 1997 Labour Party Conference. Her plea for a ban on all handguns was implemented by Labour once the party was in power.
BAN GUNS and DOUBLE THE ARMED CRIME.
What has ensued since that legislation? Crimes involving handguns have more than doubled. More people, not fewer, have been shot and killed with handguns. The only effect of the law has been to punish, not the gun-toting criminals who murder and maim people on the streets, but the innocent sportsmen and women who enjoy target shooting. The gangsters have not been affected in the slightest. They have not found it any more difficult to obtain their deadly weapons. The black market in firearms is flourishing.
Guns were banned in Lebanon in 1959, ultimately all communities are responsible for their own safety. As Governments are only concerned with power and their own safety.
That black market is fuelled by the tens of thousands of guns that have become available since the break-up of the old Soviet Union and the instability in the Balkans. The collapse of effective border controls has enabled organised criminal gangs to sell guns in Britain on a very large scale. And eastern Europe is not the only source: guns come with drugs from the Caribbean and even China. Customs officials seem to be about as effective at intercepting illegal guns as immigration officials are at intercepting illegal immigrants. They catch at most one per cent of the incoming traffic.
There are no grounds for thinking that the Government’s latest eye-catching initiative – a mandatory five-year sentence for anyone caught carrying a gun or imitation firearm – will have much effect. There already is tough legislation on the statute books. The 1994 Firearms Amendment Act, for instance, attaches a 10-year prison sentence for anyone who uses a “firearm or imitation firearm” to threaten someone else. It is true that a 10-year sentence is not “mandatory” – but then five years won’t actually be mandatory under the new legislation either. Judges will retain their discretion to impose a much lighter sentence.
Furthermore, the Government’s insistence that it will crack down on the use of replica guns may well have the opposite effect to the one intended. At present, the majority of firearms used by criminals are either outright imitations, or imitations modified so as to fire ammunition. Even when modified, imitation guns are much less dangerous than real ones: they are inaccurate, very slow, and highly unreliable, frequently blowing up in the hands of the user. If action by the Government restricts the supply of imitation guns, then criminals will simply use real ones more often. The ample supply of weapons being smuggled into Britain makes that outcome only too likely.
‘CORE PROBLEM’ IS THAT GOVERNMENTS CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE REAL PROBLEM ‘CRIME’, AND IN A BLIND EFFORT TO LOOK LIKE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY’RE DOING THEY ATTACK PRIVATE GUN OWNERSHIP.
The Government, however, seems unable to see it. The core problem is an arms race among criminals and gangsters, who are now settling their disputes with increasingly powerful weaponry. Drug dealers need to monopolise supply in the area they control in order to maximise the price they can charge. That means eliminating the competition by terrorising them. These people are not frightened of the police, nor of the penalties imposed for carrying guns. They are frightened of their rivals – who they know have guns. Jamaican, Kurdish, Turkish and Albanian gangs all shoot each other, and they have all ensured their supply of up-to-date automatic weapons.
Obama's Anti Gun administration leave the White House for a day at the Beach.
Guns on our streets will not diminish until we diminish the power of criminal gangs. The Government’s first priority should be an aggressive strategy to attack gangs and gang culture, drugs and drug-dealers – a policy which would require rather more political courage than simply proposing yet another ban.
Charlene Ellis and Latisha Shakespear, the two girls killed in Birmingham at New Year, were caught in the crossfire when one gang tried to eliminate its rivals. The killers used an automatic weapon, perhaps an Uzi or MAC10 machine pistol. These guns fire bullets at an alarmingly fast rate. I have spent most of my life using guns: I have shot with automatic weapons many times, and represented my country at service pistol shooting. But when I was invited to test a MAC10 automatic pistol, I found the gun rotating in my hands uncontrollably when the trigger malfunctioned. Some of my bullets ended up buried in the ceiling of the shooting-range, nowhere near the target I had originally tried to aim at. The idea that such weapons could be used routinely by irresponsible, untrained and utterly amoral criminals is truly terrifying. But in the absence of courageous action against gangsters, that is the situation which the Government’s “solution” is likely to perpetuate.
Michael Yardley, a former Army officer, is the author of a history of armed police operations.
Gun History
Guns and SteelPart Two
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Rifle Trials At Hythe In 1857The peculiar features or the Whitworth rifle may be summed up as follows:-
The Government were desirous of testing the merits of my new arm, and of comparing it with the Enfield rifle, and a series of trials were made by the direction of Lord Panmure. The subjoined account of these trials, is extracted from the “Times,” of April 23rd, 1857:- For the last few days a very interesting and important series of experiments has been in progress at the Government School of Musketry, Hythe, in order to test the comparative merits of the Whitworth and Enfield rifles. The trial, which was of a most searching and impartial character, was conducted by Colonel Hay, the able head of the school, and has terminated in establishing beyond all doubt the great and decided superiority of Mr. Whitworth’s invention. The Enfield rifle, which was considered so much better than any other, has been completely beaten. In accuracy of fire, in penetration, and in range its rival excels it to a degree which hardly leaves room for comparison. The following table gives the best results that have been obtained from 10 shots of each arm respectively in the course of the experiments, which were brought to a close yesterday, in the presence of Lord Panmure, and of a number of military and scientific spectators:-
* The figure of merit is the average divergence of the number of shots fired. It would appear from these figures that at 500 yards, in 10 shots, the Manchester rifle has a superior accuracy of 1.87 of a foot; at 800 yards 3.11; at 1,100 yards 5.63; and that at 1,400 yards and upward, the Enfield weapon ceases to afford any data for comparison. In penetration the results have been equally decisive; the Whitworth projectile with the regulation charge of powder going through 33 half-inch planks of elm, and being brought up by a solid bulk beyond, while the Enfield ball could not get past the 13th plank. All these were made by firing from a beautifully constructed machine rest, which placed both weapons on a footing of perfect equality, as to the other condition under which they were tested. By referring to the table of experiments it will be seen that the target made by the former weapon at 1,100 yards so nearly as good as that made by the latter at 500 yards. These are great results to have achieved, and amply justify the forethought of the late Lord Hardinge in securing the services of so eminent a mechanic as Mr. Whitworth for the improvement of the rifle. Until he took the subject in hand the proper principles for guidance in the construction of the weapon had not been accurately determined.  A Military Whitworth Rifle General Hay informed me that the best figure of merit obtained by any rifle at a range of 500 yards, before the year 1857, was 24 inches, and here the new Whitworth rifle had a figure of merit of 12 inches at 800 yards, and of 4.62 feet at 1,400 yards. The figures of its competitor, the Enfield rifle, at the same ranges were 4.11 feet and “no hits,” that is to say, the Enfield bullet could not touch a target, 14 feet square, at 1,400 yards range. The accuracy of the Whitworth rifle may be estimated from the following facts, a figure of merit of 10.5 inches has been obtained at a range of 1,000 yards, 20 shots being fired. At a range of 500 yards it is a common thing to obtain a mean deviation of 3 to 5 inches, from my mechanical rest in the gallery, with 20 shots. Trials Of The Whitworth And Enfield Rifles,
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| Rifle | Range | Figure of Merit |
| Whitworth
Enfield |
500 yds
500 yds |
10.194
18.240 |
| Whitworth
Enfield |
800 yds
800 yds |
18.264
45.750 |
| Whitworth
Enfield |
1,400 yds
1,400 yds |
74.844
110.451 |
| Whitworth
Enfield |
1,700 yds
1,700 yds |
129.762
Beyond range |
| Whitworth
Enfield |
2,000 yds
2,000 yds |
129.565
Beyond range |
In the experiment on penetration, a Whitworth bullet made of a hard alloy passed through 34 half-inch elm boards, while a tubular bullet passed through 34 of the same boards, cutting out clean cores in its passage. The range was 307 yards.
I have not any record of the penetration of the Enfield bullet, except that given in the Hythe trials, where it passed through 12 half-inch elm planks, and was stopped by the 13th plank.
A Rifle Fired By The Queen
Queen Victoria opening the Range by firing the first shot using a Whitworth Rifle.
The first prize meeting of the National Rifle Association was held at Wimbledon on the 2nd July, 1860. Her Majesty, the Queen, graciously signified her intention of inaugurating it in person, and also of firing the first rifle shot.
Accordingly a Whitworth rifle was mounted on the mechanical rest, which is dependent on the use of my true planes for its geometrical exactness. The drawing shows the rest supported on a tripod stand, and weighted to ensure steadiness; the rifle is placed on a light steel slide, having true plane surfaces sliding on other true planes, which construction ensures that the recoil of the piece shall take place in one definite unchangeable line. Nothing can disturb the accuracy of the aim at the instant of firing.
Sir Joseph Whitworth's Mechanical Bench Rest of the 1860s.
A spring balance fixed on a smaller tripod, also weighted, receives the recoil by means of a projecting arm, and measures, its amount.
The target having been fixed at a distance of 400 yards, a silken cord attached to the trigger was handed to Her Majesty by me, and the rifle was discharged by a slight pull on the cord.
The adjustment was so accurate that the bullet struck the target within 1.25 inches from the centre, or point of intersection of the two cross lines, as shown by the diagram copied from a photograph:-
(Read Part 3 of Guns & Steel in the next edition of the Owen Guns Bulletin Edition 6.
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