Well, Winchester-branded lever guns may be headed the way of the dodo the end of this month, but my little cherubs and seraphim tell me that the Winchester '94 — or rather the non-Winchester '94 — will, like the Terminator, be b...a...a...a...c...c...c...k! As soon as the last dust settles, start watching the skies, America, for an octagonal-barreled, color-casehardened absolutely beautiful faux-Winchester. And when you see it, for heaven's sake BUY one of the damn things, or else we'll all be here again in a few years!
So, the Joint Military Pistol contract is apparently substantially less joint, with the Army — the reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally big dog in this fight — and the Navy abandoning ship, leaving SOCOM to press on. Apparently, the best and brightest minds of our military establishment couldn't come to an agreement over whether the new pistol should or should not have a thumb safety. Is it any wonder we're having trouble bringing democracy to Iraq when we can't negotiate a freakin' thumb safety? So what appears to be happening...and as you know I don't really know anything...is that SOCOM is going to soldier on with the specs for a non-thumb-safety version for warriors who can keep their fingers off the trigger, roughly 49,000 units, while the Army and Navy lick their wounds and decide whether they want to go forward on the other 600,000 pieces with a thumb safety for trigger-challenged ordinary standard soldiers.
A few months back, one of my little cherubs...or maybe it was a seraphim...told me that it was unlikely the larger military contract would go forward, because it would be nigh unto impossible to explain to the military challenged dweebs in Congress why they should spend substantially more bucks schlepping big fat heavy .45 ACP, as opposed to those itsy bitsy 9mm, cartridges to various and sundry deserts around the world, since it would cost more money which would be better spent on domestic spying technology, Rolls Royces and a six-pack of yachts.
Our pal Walt Rauch is in Germany for IWA, the European equivalent of the SHOT Show, so watch the SHOOTING GALLERY site for updates from the world capital of beer and over-engineered military hardware. Also, read Patrick Sweeney's piece on some of those pesky combat myths. I believe I've been able to quantify why so many 1911s get sold, and I'll be posting a long piece on the SG website this weekend outlining my revolutionary, ground-breaking, paradigm-busting, totally unsupported conclusion. You don't want to miss that...do you???
Haven't these folks realized that the M16/M4 series has a THUMB safety too? And does a manual safety really matter when you make your troops walk around with empty weapons most of the time, and "clearing barrels" in theater are ubiquitous? Wouldn't it be simpler and smarter to just train warriors to live with loaded weapons safely? Ahh, never mind.
ReplyDeleteAs to this faux Winchester.....who cares?
ReplyDeleteWhat will be the fate of the Model 70? That's the one I care about. I've been overjoyed to see the "classic" models with controlled round feed -- but unable to buy any while putting myself through law school. Do I need to buy now? Or will they be available (in one incarnation or another) down the road?
ReplyDeleteSo far, nobody's stepped up on the Model 70, unless you coount FNH tactical rifles, which are, in essense, pre-64 Winchesters and shoot like houses afire.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Winchester...I care, because I like 94s. Not world-shaking, but at least it's not another friggin' AR clone!
RE: Training warriors...I agree!!!
mb
Don't get me wrong: I care about ALL the Winchesters. I just REALLY wish I could drop some cash on a few M 70 Super Grades. I had a few, but then had to sell them several years ago to pay for law school. With student loans to pay back, it might be impossible for me to replace them anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteNow I wish I had sold a kidney instead.