Rayguns by Lockwasher. Made from junk. Pretty cool.  And they're annotated.

Via Weirdomatic.

The Archive of Phosphorescent Etchings is a collection of art and photography in vintage sci-fi style, and features ray guns.


And don't miss the pro-self defense ads for the Infallible Aether Oscillators.

Via Dark Roasted Blend.

Found some nice pix of the Mateba auto revolver.  I did not know that there was a .454 Casull version.  Alucard would approve, I'm sure.

UPDATE:  For the benefit of readers who aren't particularly familiar with guns, or with this gun anyway.  There must be at least one of you.

Most revolvers are not "automatic" in any way.  With a single-action revolver, the cylinder is rotated to a fresh chamber when the hammer is pulled back, then the trigger is pulled to fire it.  With a double-action revolver, pulling the trigger first rotates the cylinder and then fires it.  The Mateba auto-revolver uses the recoil of firing to rotate the cylinder to a fresh chamber.  The first shot must be double-action, but the recoil action also cocks the hammer so following shots are single-action.

Another thing that sets it apart from traditional revolvers is that it fires from the bottom chamber of the cylinder rather than the top (check the pictures to see what I'm talking about).  This must give it a very different kind of recoil from traditional revolvers.

And needless to say, I would really like to get my hands on one.

The great Oleg Volk has created yet another wallpaper that I must add to my collection.  This time with a Colt Detective Special.

Nice, but I think an old Kaywoodie pipe would have looked even better than the cigar.

After all, even Philip Marlowe puffed a pipe on occasion.

Still continuing my new year's wallpaper resolution (get it?  wallpaper?  resolution? hee hee)...

8mm Mauser on a stripper clip

and

A 40 S&W close-up that may actually scare a GFW.

Both from Oleg Volk.

Front Sight, Press has some mini-pr0n.  That is, a cool picture of a NAA mini-revolver.

For my post in this vein, you can check out my old post, Be sure of your grip, Grasshopper.

Cool!  I get to post something on the first day of the year.

Traction Control has something for us.


Original is 2048x1536, just resize it for your screen.

Over at Ninth Stage.  Very good quality picture, too.  Wallpaper worthy.

Just in case anyone thinks my vacation blogging has gone too far off topic.  Click it for the bigger version.

UPDATE:  This photo was taken several months ago when I was thinking about writing up a long post about Makarov ammo.  It was because it seems that every time I go to the range I  hear complaints from other Mak owners that the only thing they don't like about it is how hard it is to get ammo.

Ammo is easy to get.  It can be ordered from several places online and it's very affordable.  Some people claim that they refuse to shoot Silver Bear or whatever other color Bear, they even refuse to shoot Wolf ammo.  Well, Makarovs were made to shoot that stuff.  "But it has corrosive primers!!!!!!!!"  Pfft.  After a shooting session, clean it.

I am fairly fortunate in that our area monthly gun show always has ammo vendors with Makarov ammo.  As pictured above, I usually splurge and get the slightly more expensive Sellier & Bellot ammo (I also get S&B ammo for my CZ-52, by the way), but I have shot all that cheaper stuff and never had a problem with it.

The Hornady XTP ammo on the left is the only Makarov ammo I know of that is a specifically designed personal defense cartridge.  It's much more expensive.  A couple of months ago it was selling at the gun show for $13 per box of 25.  On the rare occasions that I carry my Mak, the Hornady XTP is what it is loaded with.

The loading tool in the picture is available from makarov.com.  The grips are Pearce.  The thumbrest grips that come on Makarovs are useless for a left-hander.

Oleg Volk has a very nice hi-res graphic of a "Broomhandle" Mauser.