Firearm Collection Pictures!

Love the orange pants iBlue.

I nearly bought an AK-47 last year, but was turned off by the poor build quality on the guns I looked at. They are a lot of fun to shoot though, and pretty cheap to buy.

Right now I live with a couple of formerly anti-gun roommates and it has taken me a year to convince them to come and shoot. Once they came out they had a ton of fun, and now they don't tease me about being a crazy gun nut anymore.

iBlue said:

I am not 100% on the legalities here but they're strict. Handguns are entirely illegal unless you're a cop (and even they don't all have them) and the sorts that are legal (hunting rifles, yes) are a bit of an ordeal to get. You need to always keep them locked up/unloaded and pay some fee to keep them. Don't quote me on that though, I've never properly looked into it.

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I don't know much about UK gun laws either, but I believe that handguns are totally illegal and I think semi-auto rifles are either flat out illegal or subject to significant restrictions. I think break-action shotguns are fairly easy to buy and own though - but I'm not sure about pump shotguns or semi-autos.

How the hell is an AK-47 legal? and why so many guns?

iBlue said:

IThis always trips out my british husband... he thinks yanks and the gun culture is a bit strange. (it is, really)

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Nice pictures.

When someone asks me why I need "**** hits the fan" guns I always just respond by saying very casually, "zombies". They either think I'm quite funny or quite insane. I love watching the guys in "Shawn of the Dead" throwing records at the zombies.

iCheese said:

They aren't necessarily real AK-47s, just AK variants...and why not so many guns? If you don't have anything positive to contribute to this picture thread please stay out.

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Wasn't negative, just asked why so many, I come from a country where hand guns are illegal and legal gun ownership takes a lot of time.

when I asked why so many (not the lack of bold text) I was asking you a genuine question. Do you collect them as somebody would collect coins or are they all for protection?

scotthayes said:

How the hell is an AK-47 legal? and why so many guns?

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Dunno, I suppose if so many others are legal, why not that sort? They've all got nasty potential in the wrong hands.

They still cannot be fully-auto, ever. (the one I was firing was semi-auto, so you have to pull the trigger for each shot) AK's are cheap, tough, lightweight and they have almost no kick. I understand why terrorists like them.

Still, lets not make it political.

amik said:

Nice pictures.

When someone asks me why I need "**** hits the fan" guns I always just respond by saying very casually, "zombies". They either think I'm quite funny or quite insane. I love watching the guys in "Shawn of the Dead" throwing records at the zombies.

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thanks.

good answer! (brilliant film, and I'm sure they'd have loved the gun access of the US in THAT time)

iCheese said:

haha, are you sure you weren't much of an enthusiast? I don't think too many people who aren't that into guns would have both an AR-15 and an AK (especially with the red dot sight)

I am just kidding with ya

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LOL well no sense in screwing around, if you're gonna do it well... the sight helped the rather lousy accuracy of the AK

Most "AK-47s" in the US are actually Romanian-made civilian versions of the newer AKM officially called the WASR-10, WASR-5 or WASR-3 depending on caliber. They are pretty much identical to an AKM or AK-74 (not 47) except that they cannot fire full-auto (of course).

Big gun dork here.

The AK is actually best for what iBlue was doing, lighting up old TVs and toilets.

iBlue said:

Dunno, I suppose if so many others are legal, why not that sort? They've all got nasty potential in the wrong hands.

They still cannot be fully-auto, ever. (the one I was firing was semi-auto, so you have to pull the trigger for each shot) AK's are cheap, tough, lightweight and they have almost no kick. I understand why terrorists like them.

Still, lets not make it political.

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You've answered the main part, didn't know you had a option for getting rid of the automatic setting.

Not making it political, just wanted to know for what reason people collect them.

Lord Blackadder said:

I collect military rifles. Here's a few, top to bottom: Yugoslavian M24/47 Mauser in 7.92x57mm, Yugoslavian M59/66 SKS in 7.62x39mm, 1943 British Enfield No.4 Mk.1 in .303 caliber, Yugoslavian M48A Mauser in 7.92x57mm.

guns

...and here are two of my Russians: on top, 1944 M-38 carbine in 7.62x54R, and 1945 M-44 carbine in the same caliber.

more guns

I don't shoot very often, but I use all surplus ammunition when I go out. It can be an expensive hobby; I haven't been collecting for a couple years as I am now a poor graduate student.

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Those are super cool, LB. Me likey.

scotthayes said:

You've answered the main part, didn't know you had a option for getting rid of the automatic setting.

Not making it political, just wanted to know for what reason people collect them.

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Yeah that's a no-no. However it's not difficult to convert them to fully auto but it's illegal at that point. It's awful fully-auto, I don't 'get' the appeal outside of being a terrorist wanker; the damn things are way too hard to control... or maybe I am just a big girl!

Not sure why some people really get into collecting them but I suppose it's just an american past-time...

That and in case of zombies.

scotthayes said:

You've answered the main part, didn't know you had a option for getting rid of the automatic setting.

Not making it political, just wanted to know for what reason people collect them.

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I say zombies too. Or to keep the King of England out of my business.

Thats kind of like asking: "what do you need with 3 dozen Macintosh's?" I only have a rifle right now. It seems that my best guns or macs are the first to go. I think I made a good choice to keep most of the macs

scotthayes said:

You've answered the main part, didn't know you had a option for getting rid of the automatic setting.

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Believe it or not, you can buy machine guns legally in the US as a private citizen. But that's opening a whole new can of worms. I won't get into it other than to say that it is an extremely expensive hobby and it requires that you voluntarily submit yourself to a significant amount of oversight from the local FBI/Police department.

scotthayes said:

Not making it political, just wanted to know for what reason people collect them.

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I collect battle rifles because I'm interested in history, and pretty much all of my guns have a significant amount of history behind them. About half of my rifles probably saw active service during WWII, and they have historical significance beyond their intrinsic use as a firearm. Plus, shooting is fun. Target practice forces you to develop focus and concentration, and blasting junk TVs is simply cathartic.

leekohler said:

Those are super cool, LB. Me likey.

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Thanks man. The M-38 is probably my favorite of the bunch, good balance, lots of power and because of the short length it makes fireballs when you shoot it. Plus I know some Soviet soldier was bumming around with it on the Eastern front 64 years ago.

scotthayes said:

How the hell is an AK-47 legal? and why so many guns?

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Class 3 weapons (like a fully automatic AK or a silenced pistol) are legal in many states but require a very extensive federal background check, a hefty fee, and the signature of local law enforcement or sometimes judges. This includes fingerprinting and other ID verification. You must also surrender your 4th amendment rights (search and seizure) which allows the ATF to search your property once every 12 months without cause if they desire.

It is an onerous process for a reason. They do not want the average citizen owning Class 3 weapons and the hurdles prevent most from doing so. Class 3 weapons are also tremendously expensive which further limits their availability on the open market. Illegal sales are a different issue.

I didn't realize that, about the loophole for fully-auto, though I am unsurprised - There are all sorts of odd loopholes and clauses you can be 'grandfathered' into. Such as my AK and AR had a pre-ban pistol grips which I think you cannot have now on newer models. It made the AR sell for quite a lot more having that.

iBlue said:

I wish I was more of a photo takin' kind of gal back when I had guns. I had a 9mm Glock, an AK-47 and an AR-15, briefly. (all legal) This always trips out my british husband... he thinks yanks and the gun culture is a bit strange. (it is, really)

but nevertheless, I have these lousy old photos...

AR-15
iBlue + gun

AK-47
iBlue + another gun

Other stuff, some of which wasn't mine and I can't remember what was in there:
Guns in 4x4

my life in the UK is dramatically different so it's always funny to see these photos.

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iblue, i hope this isn't taken in the wrong text, but there's nothing hotter than seeing a lady with a firearm or fishing rod

good job and nice weapon.

As for my collection, I don't have photographs, but 4 shotguns, a .3030 (classic winchester model 94) and a savage .300 with the brass revolver....gorgeous deer killing rifle that one is.

firearms in the US intrigue me b/c there is of course far less red tape to go through, unlike here in Canada, but the other side of weapons being readily available to all the psychos freaks me out.

I'd love to have a pistol and an automatic to mess around with. That would be fun.

Cheers,
keebler

Time for another photo: This is my 1935 Swiss K-31 in 7.5x55mm. These have a reputation for very high accuracy but I haven't had time to shoot it yet.

Yes, the blanket is ugly. And so is the photo; I took most of my gun pictures before I got my new camera.



RE: machine gun purchases. Just as a basis for comparison: In the US a cheap semi-auto AK-47 can be had for under $300. A "real" AK-47 capable of full-auto will cost around $15,000 - NOT including the fees the government will charge to process the (lengthy) paperwork, or the time spent talking to the local law enforcement, background checks, fingerprinting/etc. It isn't something you can just go do in a day or even half a year.

Quite funny in a way because an AK-47 probably costs less than $50 to make...the extra $14,950 plus fees is all about liability.

I have to admit I'm surprised that the ability to buy a machine gun still exists, but few people are into it, most are wealthy collectors and with that level of red tape it's nearly impossible for the weapon to fall into the "wrong" hands.

iCheese said:

Anyways, less political crap, more gun pics and friendly discussion please!

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[Edited out my reply about the previous post.]

Anyway, sorry I haven't posted pics of my weapons but I'll list them. Remington 870, Springfield XD9 and XD45, Ruger 22/45, S&W 469, and I hope to add both an A4 and a 1911 to the mix in the near future.

Any AR owners here try out c-products mags? They look like a good deal and use magpul parts.

My 2 "letal friends"....

Beretta 98 Steel I (9x21IMI)


Tanfoglio Limited Custom HC (45ACP)



Ciao

MircoT said:

My 2 "letal friends"....

Beretta 98 Steel I (9x21IMI)

Tanfoglio Limited Custom HC (45ACP)

Ciao

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That Tangfoglio is gorgeous. What does she weigh and how does she shoot?

amik said:

That Tangfoglio is gorgeous. What does she weigh and how does she shoot?

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It's a "race" italian gun... 1200 grams...


25 shoots from 15 meters


Ciao

iCheese said:

Nice pistols MircoT. Of course being from Italy you would have Italian guns Berettas are pretty nice looking.

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Of course, but not only for looking...
It's a nice defence gun.



50 shoots from 15 meters...


Ciao