Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Minor Acts of Will


It's has been all I could do to keep from making snide — and probably racist — remarks about the new season of Survivor, which is broken down by racial lines. This from MSNBC:
In a sense, this hazardous high-wire act is Burnett's genius in full flower — he knows that his American audience fears its inability to productively process and discuss race more than it fears disgusting food, isolation among strangers, or stinging jellyfish. But on the other hand, if something like this is to be a successful and meaningful social experiment, it has to be handled exactly right. Whether Burnett and "Survivor" are up to the challenge remains to be seen.

It is interesting to note, however, that "Survivor" has not chosen to cast "the Arab-American Tribe."
Okay...not a single crack about burkahs and bikinis!

I've spent most of the afternoon cleaning the aquarium, which isn't nearly as interesting since Nemo died. I suppose I could get more fish, but so far, the Force just isn't with me. I did seine out all the duckwort, which always reminds me of the Mahdi's seige of British Khartoum in the 1880s, when "Chinese" Gordon and his men were reduced to kibbles and Brits. You too? What a coincidence! Anyhow, I remember reading somewhere that the embattled Brits survived on cakes of pressed duckwort seined from the Nile, which was apparently pretty nutritious — ask any goldfish — by tasted like crap...or maybe carp.
Maybe I need a nap. I have thankfully located the three best restaurants in Oshkosh, WI, so I will NOT have to go to Applebees while I'm there tomorrow! I'll be at the Ducks Unlimited Festival working The Outdoor Channel booth, so feel free to stop by and tell me how much you hate the new SG art! Or ask me whether the 1911 is going to be allowed in the now SOCOM-By-Itself Handgun Trials...I won't know, but I will have an opinion!

I've got a design service getting ready to overhaul the blog — don't worry; no weird art! Mostly I'm thinking of migrating from Blogger to WordPress for a little more versatility — although the fact that Bogger is owned by Google has helped my placings on the search engine giant...I spent yesterday working on Podcast #1 and decided, finally, that I desperately needed a preamp for the USB mic connection. Accordingly, I ordered one from Amazon and should have it early next week. As soon as I'm effectively pre-amplified, we'll post #1 and see how it goes. Part of the new design will be integration of YouTube videos into the blog, which should rock.

Also, I now have another dilemma...I was the victim of a THROWDOWN over on Sixgunner.com — gunwriter Denis Prisbrey challenged me to a custom gun build-off...we each start with the same gun and budget, then see what comes out the other end. As the challenged party, I got pick of the gun, so I tried a tricky move and chose a fixed-sight Ruger Single Six .22 and a moderate $1000 budget. Then I raced to the phone to call Hamilton Bowen and start wheedling and whining, only to find out that weasel Prisbrey had beaten me there.

What to do; what to do...

I was thinking about following Hunter S. Thompson's great aphorism, "When the going gets tough, the weird turn pro..." Maybe produce the weirdest Single Six on the planet. I haven't ever customized one of the little Rugers and know of darn few floating around. According to John Taffin in his master work, SINGLE ACTION SIXGUNS, Andy Horvath did a few L'il Guns for him. OTOH, Tactical Solutions are master of aluminum anodizing, and the Singe Six frame is aluminum...hmmmmm...I gotta think Hamilton's gonna go classic, maybe Colt-erizing the little gun. Larry Crow's weird enough to roll out head-thumper, but he's swamped.

What to do...what to do...

YES, I'm asking for advice again!!! Here's the starting point (and the above picture, of course). As vanilla as vanilla can be!

WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY SINGLE SIX?????????????

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stock Single-six and $1000 worth of ammo.

Anonymous said...

While I don't know of him working on single actions, the stuff he has done on double actions suggests Randy Lee.

Otherwise, talk to Bill Laughridge.

Guy

Anonymous said...

Weasel One To Colorado Blogger!
Weasel One To Colorado Blogger!
Come In Colorado Blogger!
Bowen is yours if wanted. I repeat: Bowen is yours if wanted.
Two backups on launch pad, standing by. Awaiting your decision.
Over?
Weasel One Out.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, amigo, I'm rooting for Denis . . . ;-D

Anonymous said...

Good news on the podcast, but...
In regards to YouTube, once you post video they can utilize your videos in any way they want. And so can any user/viewer of YouTube. You still own the copyright, but once you post them I could make and sell a DVD of all your vidoes. A quick read is the July 27th article by Robert Cringely on pbs.org (http://www.pbs.org/cringely/
pulpit/pulpit20060727.html).

Scott

Not Available said...

Turn it into a belly gun like the British Bulldog.

Anonymous said...

How about a shoulder stock and a LONG barrel for the Ruger? Or, for a modern version, a Man From U.N.C.L.E. list of attachments?

Anonymous said...

SNUB IT OUT MAN,BIRDSHEAD GRIP

iainmcphersn said...

Check with Pac-Lite. See if they would make up two custom barrels, on in .22 and one in .17, 4 custom cylinders; 22 LR, 22 Mag, 17 Mach 2 and 17 HMR. Shave as much weight off the rest of the gun as possible.

Anonymous said...

Okay, here's what you do with your Ruger Single Six.

Hey, it's a Ruger Single Six. There are gazillions of these things out there. Do something unique.

I'm thinkin' a bright shiny hard chrome job with green zebra stripes....maybe orange flames?

Mount some sort of Red Dot optic atop that sucker and go whole hog. I mean put on something that's bigger than the pistol is.

How about a 12 inch chomed barrel with orange flames attached to a chromed frame with metallic green zebra stripes? Or would the sensuous swirls of the old Vietnam "Tiger Stripe" camo pattern better express the overall joie de vivre of such an expression of customized exuberance?

Or, make it into your Rainbow People gun for the season next year in Colorado? Alternating vertical swaths of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet with great big red-white-and-blue peace symbols on some faux-ivory grips???

Go big with this one. It's a Ruger Single Six. Make it remarkable.

Anonymous said...

Go for the "kit Gun" look. Not the 2" but rather the 3.5" Stainless version.

Barrel length determined by "balance" of grip to barrel length. Birds head th grips and then see what length barrel "looks" correct.

Next, put adjustable sight on it both front and rear. Front with a choice of blades ala S&Ws changeable front sights. Rear use the Ruger or a very small Micro sight.

Also make provision for a lanyard loop and the grips should be walnut or other exotic wood as would be proper for a "Trail Gun"

Check out Keith's book "Sixguns" as to a possible SA hammer design. Perhaps off center.

Holster should be full flap with snap and strap and post.Leather holster with some basket weave ala Lawrence with provision for the rig to be worn on belt, chest or on back pack.

Holster should also have 12 (protected) loops for spare rounds.These probably under the flap. Also ala Luger holster, a place for a small screwdriver and cleaning rod. Fitttings to be brass.

Finish must be very weather resistant but subdued.

Outdoor scene acid etched on cylinder.
(damn! I'd like one of these myself!)

Walt

Anonymous said...

Mike; since you like the FNH 5.7 cartridge (I don't), you could have it rechambered for this diminutive centerfire and really create something totally worthless, but distinctive in the process.

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Anonymous said...

.10 calibre bottlenecked rimfire.

Heh.

Anonymous said...

This should be a back up gun for a pistolero when you are done, so slick it up so it can be fanned. =)
-keep barrel to 3.5-4 inches
-chrome the trigger guard and grip frame but they need to match the rest of the gun.
-I have always been partial to the green finish on a gun, such like the S&W hunters.
-add a scope mount provision and a small scope that would only be used for long range plinking, quick on and off.
-spruce it up with a top notch holster and belt to hold everything together.

Anonymous said...

Shazzaam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not to mention, YIKES!!!!!!

Michael Bane said...

Whoa! This stuff is HOT HOT HOT!

I'm liking a lot of this...

I'm considering Hamilton Bowen and Andy Horvath, who are fine fine gunsmiths...but I got to think that Bill Laughridge at Cylinder & Slide might be the go-to man, as he's crazy and has a funny mustache.

Frank J....worthless? This from a man still carrying the torch for the hapless .41 Magnum? Just you wait...whatever i come up with, Ruger'll add it as a cataloged item next year!

Maybe...

m "trapped in Oshkosh" b

Anonymous said...

I talked to Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision a couple of years ago about converting one of trhe .32 mags to a .38 Super 5 shooter.
The .38 super semi-rim is almost as big as a .45 colt rim.

Would make a neat little belly gun.

Anonymous said...

Michael: as you well know and much to the disgust of Dean Speir I actually shoot things on a fairly regular basis. (WE WON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT I'M SHOOTING, WILL WE?) Hence my 'worthless' remark about the 5.7 versus my carrying a torch for the .41 Magnum. If it works, don't fix it.

But I think a centerfire revolver in 5.7 has a certain 'cuteness' factor that would be hard to ignore especially if you put a birdshead grip on it, shortened the barrel and had a "Huckleberry" shoulder rig made for it. Then all you would need is Val Kilmer to model it.

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Anonymous said...

Michael,
Decided to save Bowen for next year, he's got some ideas that'll run a little over a grand.
Zo, he's yours if you want to go with him.
And- I'm afraid you've got Bill wrong. He's funny & he's got a crazy moustache, is what he is.

Anonymous said...

Michael - Go for UGLY. I'd add a rail if possible. I think hillbilly has some good ideas. Ad the holster a Walt suggests. Go to Tactical Solutions and try Randy Lee. Go for a crazy, stylized look that only you could do. - Paul

Anonymous said...

Don't just go for "ugly."

Go for downright weird.

Put a tactical rail complete with SureFire under the barrel somehow.

Put a laser sight on it.

Is there any way you could come up with a Ruger Single Six mini-side-saddle, ala "tactical" shotguns to hold six more rounds of .22 LR?

It could hang off the left side of the barrel, I think.

Maybe you could gin up some sort of all-round "rail system" that fits like a sleeve over the barrel.

That way you could, all with one handy unit, hang a light under the barrel, a laser on the right side, and a spare ammo side saddle on the left side, and put a red dot optic atop the barrel?

Buy a set of steel stamps and put some gen-u-wine Waffen marks in key places on the frame!

C'mon....it's a Ruger Single Six.

It has no historical value.

It's always been marketed as a plinking toy, or an entry-level single action for kids.

What would evil kiddie gun gremlins with too much time and unlimited money for such dastardly projects do with such a thing?

For some reason, I'm getting images of those wacky AR-15 buttstocks and rail systems designed to go on H&R single-shot rifles and shotguns that get advertised in The Shotgun News.

The horror...the horror........the delicious horror.

Anonymous said...

I really like the kit gun theme with a steel lined aluminum barrel and birds head grip. If you want to win then turn it into a Barbeque Gun.

Anonymous said...

A .22 rimfire Keith #5 would be awful darn nifty!

Anonymous said...

Short and flashy. Barrel just long enough so ejector rod still shoves them clear, butt corners and all else melted, bright chrome. If Doc Holliday had a 22, this would be it.

Doc Bretz said...

Time to contact Alan Harton in Houston TX. His welding skills are out of this world and he does some fun caliber conversions on the single six. Maybe a . 41 special 5 shooter?
Doc Bretz

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