A Time for Reflection and Holiday Good Wishes

If my timing is right, you will be reading this on Christmas morning and I’ll be celebrating my birthday (with hopes of several more still over the horizon), wishing you all a wonderful Christmas morning.

Sometime today — weather permitting, of course — there may be a little drive up the road to the snowline, where there might be a fat cottontail or snowshoe hare within range. I’ve got a .22-caliber Ruger MK IV pistol that’s been begging for a road trip and a little action. Earlier this year, I promised to bring some fresh rabbit to a friend who apparently discovered how tasty they can be when prepared correctly while spending some time in England several years ago.

The year has been pretty rough on all of us, with the Coronavirus, an election that didn’t turn out as many had hoped, a summer full of urban unrest, rising crime and homicide rates, job losses, business closures and other speed bumps in life. I sat out the SHOT Show in January, taking it easy for a few weeks after a scan caught a tiny spot of cancer that was removed by a doctor who told me afterwards, “You’re gonna be paying taxes for a long time.” Let’s hope he was right. Like you, I still managed to put a few rounds downrange despite the shutdown.

My uncle passed away in September while I was up on some ridge hunting blue grouse. He had a Smith & Wesson Model 53 revolver with the two cylinders, one chambered for standard .22 Long Rifle and the other chambered for the warp speed-capable .22 Remington Jet. The latter is a hell-roaring cartridge capable of awesome downrange ballistics and terminal performance. His had an 8-3/8” barrel and one night in elk camp he went to shooting at mice in the cook tent; one of those situations that falls within the definition of “you had to be there.” But he had a good run of 90-plus years. His birthday would have been Dec. 20, and by now I’ve raised a glass or two in his memory.

On the other hand, gun sales appear to be through the roof. The most recent estimate by the National Shooting Sports Foundation is 7.5 million new gun owners; that is, people who bought guns for the first time in their lives. The rest of us can welcome these folks into the fold, helping them learn safety and accuracy in the process.

All that said, my best wishes to the readers for a joyful day, a great week leading up to New Year’s Day, and most of all, thanks for reading. All of us at American Handgunner and GUNS Magazine appreciate you.

Teddy’s Sixgun Brings Big Bucks

An Illinois auction house recently reported the sale of a very special Colt Single Action revolver once belonging to the late President Theodore Roosevelt for a stunning $1.46 million.

We chatted with Matt Parise, head of the graphics design department at the Rock Island Auction Company, who didn’t get to touch this famous firearm, but he did have a look at it. It was a factory-engraved sixgun with ivory grips.

As explained in a brief history of Teddy’s handgun, it was shipped Oct. 23, four days before his 54th birthday and a week before the election of 1912. Ten days after the shipping date, Roosevelt was the victim of an attempted assassination in Milwaukee, Wis.

Now, you want to understand “tough?” After getting plugged in the chest by a miscreant named John Schrank — who was unceremoniously beaten to a pulp by the crowd — Teddy, running as a candidate for the “Bull Moose” party, went to the stage instead of the hospital and delivered a 90-minute speech. Now, that is tough.

A report from Rock Island Auction Company quoted company President Kevin Hogan, who observed, “People love holding history in their hands and have always wanted to possess what is beautiful.”

Roosevelt’s sixgun was chambered for the .38 Colt cartridge and was, according to a history provided by the company, manufactured Oct. 12, 1912. It has a 4-3/4” barrel, and if it could talk, it might have some entertaining stories about the nation’s 26th president. Following the assassination of President William McKinley, whom Roosevelt succeeded, history has revealed Teddy never went anywhere unarmed.

One revelation in the history provided by Rock Island Auction clearly enhanced Roosevelt’s legendary legacy. The former president never recovered from the July 14, 1918 death of his youngest son, Quentin, in combat in the Second Battle of the Marne. Teddy passed away in his sleep on Jan. 1, 1919, after which then Vice President Thomas Marshall observed, “Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake, there would have been a fight.”

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/81/1210/theodore-roosevelt-factory-engraved-colt-single-action-revolver

EAA Unveils Girsan MC9 Pistols

Our pals at EAA recently announced a sidearm featuring the patent-pending “Fast Acquisition Red Dot Optic,” or “FAR-DOT,” designated the MC9 in two configurations: Standard and Match.

Chambered for 9mm, the Girsan MC9 Optics pistol has a 17-round magazine in both configurations, but beyond that, there are differences. The Standard model has a 4.2” barrel and an overall length of 7.5”. The Match model sports a 4.63” barrel and has an OAL of 8.25”. EAA says the FAR-DOT optic mounts without an optics adapter plate.

The MC9 basic design features three interchangeable backstraps and a molded rail in front of the trigger guard. MSRP for the Standard model is $568 while the Match gun goes for $661.

https://eaacorp.com/product/girsan-mc9