No at matter how close you think you are, it seems that a proper gun collection can never really be complete. The closer you get to having a one of each necessary example of whatever theme you’re going for, the more rare and odd example you discover. There’s just always another variant or factory or marking style, right?
Take, for example, self-cocking (“automatic”) revolvers. Most folks who are aware of them are aware of the two main ones – the historically noted Webley-Fosbery and the modern Italian Mateba. Get them both and you’re set, right?
Well, setting aside the fact that they are/were both made in multiple calibers (357 Mag and .44 Mag for the Mateba; .455 and .38 for the Fosbery) and multiple barrel lengths, there is another, rarer, example of the auto-revolver that is necessary to complete the collection: the Union self-cocker, made in Ohio for a very brief period. Well, my friend who has the first two found himself a Union (one of 80 made), so mission accomplished, right?
Self-Cocking Revolvers. Counter-clockwise from top, Mateba .357, Mateba .44, Webley-Fosbery .455, Union .32
Nope. Turns out there is another one, made by Zulaica y Cia in Spain around 1905.
Zulacia y Cia automatic revolver
And I’ve seen reverences to a Belgian design as well. It’s like following a fractal down to the very end…a path treasures for the adventurous and a path to madness for those poor souls afflicted with OCD. 🙂
BIDEN’S BLANKET ENDORSEMENT AS GUN CONFERENCE LOOMS
WRITTEN BY DAVE WORKMAN
President Joe Biden recently picked up a literal “blanket endorsement”
from several gun control lobbying groups for his 2024 re-election run.
(Official White House portrait, public domain)
In politics, as well as business, timing is everything, so let’s take a look at current events and test the theory.
Last month, in something of a first, it seems like every gun prohibitionist lobbying group on the map joined together to endorse Joe Biden for re-election in 2024. This is quite possibly the biggest non-surprise in recent political history, and it tells us something important.
Gun grabbers, as my pal Alan Gottlieb at the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) calls them, are dead serious about keeping their guy in the White House for another four years.
Adding to the mix, just about this time last month, CNN was reporting how the president would be making an announcement right after Labor Day about how gun control would be a centerpiece in his campaign over the next 14 months.
By now, if CNN was right, we should know what this was all about. It was supposed to include expanding the definition of what a firearms dealer is, and whether active gun traders and/or buyers and sellers should have a federal firearms license. There was more mentioned, and none of it was good news for gun owners.
Another talking point was supposed to be expanded background checks, or so-called “universal background checks,” which translates to more red tape and inconvenience for honest citizens and no problem at all for criminals who simply bypass background checks. There was some question about whether Biden could do this without legislation, which would likely be DOA on Capitol Hill, with an election year looming.
What really makes this interesting is — as I mentioned right up front — is the timing. The weekend of Sept. 22-24, the 38th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference will unfold in Phoenix, Arizona. Would anyone care to bet what and who will be the main subjects of discussion during that lively 72-hour gathering?
Alan Gottlieb created the Gun Rights Policy Conference
38 years ago. It has grown to be an important grassroots event.
What is the Gun Rights Conference?
For the past 38 years, gun rights advocates and grassroots activists from across the country have gathered at some hotel in some city for a weekend of panel discussions, reports, networking, socializing and learning about Second Amendment issues from the top names in the gun rights movement.
The Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC), which is co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation and CCRKBA, is something of a “Who’s Who” event. Over the years, it has attracted leaders from virtually every gun rights group on the map.
We’re talking NRA, GOA, National Shooting Sports Foundation, SAF and CCRKBA of course; Illinois State Rifle Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts, Washington Arms Collectors, Florida Carry, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association and so many other groups it’s impossible to name them all.
GRPC was and remains the brainchild of the aforementioned Alan Gottlieb. Unlike a National Rifle Association convention, this event was designed to always be an educational gathering. It is oriented toward grassroots activism, and over the past couple of years, features have been added.
Last year, there was a day-long legal symposium which drew several attorneys who are getting deeply involved in Second Amendment litigation. In conjunction with the conference there has been a gathering of bloggers and podcasters.
The first one of these gatherings was held in Bellevue, Washington, and I was there. It was, from a journalist’s perspective, one of those rare opportunities to listen and get an understanding of how the most energetic folks in the gun rights movement talked and thought. Things haven’t really changed much; the faces, of course, but not the philosophy. If you want to understand gun rights from the ground up, this little soiree is just what you need.
Among this year’s confirmed speakers will be American Handgunner and GUNS Magazine columnist Massad Ayoob, who happens to also serve as president of the SAF. He will be joined by radio legends Tom Gresham (SAF Board of Trustees) and Mark Walters (CCRKBA Board of Directors), SAF and CCRKBA leader Alan Gottlieb, SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, journalist John Fund and many others. A full program should be available online within days right here.
Massad Ayoob is no stranger to readers of American Handgunner
and GUNS magazine. What many don’t know is that he is the
president of the Second Amendment Foundation.
Only twice has the event been totally online — during the COVID-19 pandemic — and the virtual GRPC events were viewed online by tens of thousands of people.
Panel discussions frequently involve politicians, academics, attorneys, writers, historians, firearms trainers, and local activists.
There are two receptions, one Friday evening and the other Saturday evening. Saturday’s agenda runs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and includes an awards luncheon. Sunday’s agenda runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For those unable to attend, the sessions will be live-streamed, and you should be able to hook up by visiting the SAF website.
Who Backs Biden?
Returning to endorsements for the president, it’s a veritable Rogue’s Gallery of gun control extremists.
The lineup includes Everytown for Gun Safety, the Brady Campaign, Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, Team Enough, Community Justice Action Fund, and Giffords. Would you believe it, Spectrum News identifies this bunch as “gun safety groups.” (If you ever want to have a little fun, ask representatives from any of these groups how many certified “gun safety” instructors they have, where they offer “gun safety” courses and what kinds of guns they personally own.)
When CNN announced Biden’s campaign plans, the report said he would “make gun safety a central issue of his reelection campaign.” What’s he going to do, encourage people to take an NRA home firearms safety course?
The courts have lately been unkind to gun control, but not entirely hostile. After U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas ruled ATF overstepped its authority in writing a “new rule” on parts kits — the so-called “ghost guns” — the Supreme Court reversed and allowed the rule to stand, at least while the actual case makes its way through the lower courts.
Hunter Biden’s so-called “sweetheart deal” on drug charges and alleged gun law violations was derailed by a judge several weeks ago, so that could come up during the campaign. There was a strange silence from the gun control crowd when Hunter’s “deal” on the gun law violation was announced. Hey, if it weren’t for the double standard, the Left would have no standards at all.
But, these people vote, so we better vote, too.
Fatal Choice
An Indiana man made the fatal mistake of apparently driving into the front yard of a couple in the Salem area, then pulling a gun on the male homeowner, according to Fox News.
It was his bad luck the man’s wife was inside. She grabbed her own handgun and shot the suspect — identified as 45-year-old Michael Chastain — fatally. Chastain reportedly had previously dated the couple’s daughter, but she no longer lived at her parents’ home, so it’s not clear why he went there in the first place. It turned out to be the last place he visited, not counting the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Chastain reportedly had a criminal record.
Limping to Jail?
There’s a 23-year-old guy in Hammond, Louisiana, who may be limping into court shortly, thanks to a nastily-placed bullet which hit him just above the knee.
Of course, he earned the lead by allegedly forcing his way into the wrong residence at a mobile home park in Tangipahoa Parish (I can’t pronounce it, either) last month. According to WWL News, the suspect broke in through a window, threatening to kill the homeowner and her family. He also reportedly assaulted a guest in the process. He immediately learned this was the wrong way to win new friends because the female homeowner produced a pistol and plugged him.
Instead of running or even hobbling away, our miscreant reportedly stripped off all of his clothes and then ran to a nearby vehicle, broke a window and tried to barricade himself inside.
If you guessed drugs were somehow involved, you are a good guesser. According to the report, the suspect confessed to the sheriff’s office that he had consumed some “illegal narcotics” prior to the incident. Our model citizen now faces charges including home invasion, second-degree battery, “vehicle burglary,” and resisting arrest.
’ave you ’eard o’ the Widow at Windsor
With a hairy gold crown on ’er ’ead?
She ’as ships on the foam—she ’as millions at ’ome,
An’ she pays us poor beggars in red.
(Ow, poor beggars in red!)
There’s ’er nick on the cavalry ’orses,
There’s ’er mark on the medical stores—
An’ ’er troopers you’ll find with a fair wind be’ind
That takes us to various wars.
(Poor beggars!—barbarious wars!)
Then ’ere’s to the Widow at Windsor,
An’ ’ere’s to the stores an’ the guns,
The men an’ the ’orses what makes up the forces
O’ Missis Victorier’s sons.
(Poor beggars! Victorier’s sons!)
Walk wide o’ the Widow at Windsor,
For ’alf o’ Creation she owns:
We ’ave bought ’er the same with the sword an’ the flame,
An’ we’ve salted it down with our bones.
(Poor beggars!—it’s blue with our bones!)
Hands off o’ the sons o’ the Widow,
Hands off o’ the goods in ’er shop,
For the Kings must come down an’ the Emperors frown
When the Widow at Windsor says “Stop”!
(Poor beggars!—we’re sent to say “Stop”!)
Then ’ere’s to the Lodge o’ the Widow,
From the Pole to the Tropics it runs—
To the Lodge that we tile with the rank an’ the file,
An’ open in form with the guns.
(Poor beggars!—it’s always they guns!)
We ’ave ’eard o’ the Widow at Windsor,
It’s safest to let ’er alone:
For ’er sentries we stand by the sea an’ the land
Wherever the bugles are blown.
(Poor beggars!—an’ don’t we get blown!)
Take ’old o’ the Wings o’ the Mornin’,
An’ flop round the earth till you’re dead;
But you won’t get away from the tune that they play
To the bloomin’ old rag over’ead.
(Poor beggars!—it’s ’ot over’ead!)
Then ’ere’s to the sons o’ the Widow,
Wherever, ’owever they roam.
’Ere’s all they desire, an’ if they require
A speedy return to their ’ome.
(Poor beggars!—they’ll never see ’ome!)
What sort of gun would you want to be packing if you came face to face with this guy out in the middle of no place? I’m thinking a Mk19 40mm automatic grenade launcher mounted atop an armored MRAP vehicle.
May 10, 1953, was a Sunday. 63-year-old Bella Twin was a petite Native American widow woman who stood less than five feet tall. She and a friend named Dave Auger were walking down a cutline cleared through the forest for oil exploration in central Canada. They were hunting near a tiny village called Slave Lake in Alberta. Bella was a Cree Indian and an experienced trapper.
Much ink has been spilled over the proper firearm to use for personal defense in bear country. Brown bears in northern Canada and Alaska can grow to truly astronomical size. I have seen these things up close, and they are indeed pretty amazing.
Back when I lived in Alaska I was chatting with an elderly gentleman in my church who had been born and raised near Fairbanks. I had newly arrived in the state and was getting my arsenal squared away in anticipation of many a day to be spent exploring the backcountry. I innocently asked this man his thoughts on a handgun for bear protection.
A friend in Alaska once told me this S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum would be a fine bear gun…so long as I ground off the front sight before carrying it.
He thought for a moment and explained that the particulars really didn’t matter. He said autoloader versus wheel gun or even caliber selection were essentially immaterial. He told me that the only thing I needed to do was to take my new bear pistol to a gunsmith and have him grind the front sight down flat with the muzzle. When I asked him why on earth I’d want to do that he explained it was so that when the bear takes your pistol away from you and shoves it up your backside the experience is no more unpleasant than is necessary. Apparently, that guy never met Bella Twin.
The Encounter
Bella and her buddy were hunting small game. If I had to guess I’d suspect ptarmigan, rabbits, or squirrels. As a result, she had armed herself with her high-mileage Cooey Ace 1. The Cooey Ace 1 was an inexpensive single-shot .22 utility rifle. She had the old gun charged with a single .22 Long round.
The .22 Long is really kind of a gallery rifle round. Based on pure ballistic numbers one might be forgiven for thinking it had very little real-world utility.
The .22 Long is not really a thing anymore. For those who might not be rimfire aficionados, the .22 Long falls midway between the diminutive .22 Short and the ubiquitous .22 Long Rifle. Legend has it that on this fateful day, Bella was running .22 Longs simply because they were cheaper than the Long Rifle sort.
Bella and her friend looked up in time to see an absolute monster of a brown bear ambling along the cutline though in the opposite direction. At his current pace, the animal would be upon them in moments. There was no time to run. On this day the temperature was around 50 degrees F with a 12-24 mph wind blowing from the northeast. When confronted with such an enormous predator at such close range, Bella and her buddy wisely chose to disappear into the wood line and hide in hopes that the big animal might just pass them by.
Poor Chances
Given these circumstances, hiding simply represented good tactics. They were as good as unarmed, and nobody wants to get sideways with a big grizzly bear no matter the circumstances. Unfortunately, however, the bear had other plans.
It’s legit cold in these latitudes in the winter, and these big bears hibernate. When they emerge from their dens they are thin, ravenous, and grouchy. Their every thought after the onset of spring is to fill their stomachs and regain some of the fat lost through the long hard winter. This basic fact drove this particular bear to take an unnatural interest in Bella and Dave.
Bears have lousy eyesight, particularly the old ones, but their senses of smell and hearing compensate to a great degree. If he can smell you, he can find you. Once the big guy took an interest, there was no way that Bella and Dave were walking away from this.
The gusty wind likely masked whatever noise that Bella and Dave were making, and that same stiff breeze very probably muddled the olfactory milieu as well. That meant the beast was upon them so quickly they had few options. Once the inquisitive bruin closed to within a few yards, Bella had a decision to make.
What She Did
Bella had been a subsistence hunter for decades. Her background as a Cree Indian lent her a legacy of fieldcraft. She had ample experience shooting, skinning, and preserving meat in the Arctic. With this massive grizzly bear now mere feet away, Bella drew a bead on the back of the hulking animal’s skull and squeezed the trigger on her ancient .22 rifle.
Bella shot this thing seven times because she had seven rounds on her.
Legend goes that the big bear was standing on its hind legs when Bella first shot it. Post-mortem estimates have put the beast at nearly ten feet tall. Bella was roughly half that and was armed with the sort of rifle we grizzled gun geezers might eschew as being inadequately powerful for squirrels.
Regardless, the enormous bear dropped immediately when struck at close range by one of these tiny little 29-grain bullets. As soon as the bear hit the ground, Bella moved to its side and pumped another half dozen rounds into its head. One of the zippy little bullets actually exited the opposite side, while the rest were retained. Bella would have shot it some more, but that was all the ammo she had brought with her.
Bella’s bear was indeed a remarkable specimen. The skull measured out at 16 and 9/16 long by 9 and 7/8 inches wide for a total score of 26 and 7/16 inches. Bella’s bear set a Boone and Crockett record as the largest grizzly ever killed in North America at that time. And she took it with a beat-up old single-shot .22 rifle.
The bear’s skull and Bella’s rifle are both preserved in museums. Bella was smart enough to have sold the skull, the rifle, and the hide separately to maximize her return. The enormous bear’s skull, replete with bullet holes, went in the 1950s for $15. That’s about $160 today.
The Gun That Saved Her
The Cooey Ace 1 was as basic a .22 rifle as ever there was.
The Cooey Ace 1 rifle was in production from 1929 through 1934 by the Cooey Machine and Ammo Company Limited of Ontario, Canada. The Cooey Company was later sold to Olin/Winchester in 1961. Cooey made the same rifle for the T. Eaton Company marketed as the “Eatonia.” It has also been sold as the “Rabbit.”
The Cooey Ace 1 was as simple as a .22 rifle could get. Think of it as the 1930s-era version of the modern Cricket rifle. The Ace 1 was marketed as a boy’s first rifle and utility gun. There just wasn’t much to it.
The Ace 1 was a single-shot, bolt-action design. The sights were fixed, and rounds had to be loaded by hand one at a time. A built-in extractor ideally removed the empties when the bolt was cycled. The striker knob had to be manually cocked each time you worked the bolt. The trigger guard was pressed out of a strip of sheet steel and secured with screws
The Gun Wasn’t In Good Shape
Bella’s example was all the more remarkable. Her stock had cracked badly at some point along the way and had been repaired with a standard flat-head wood screw. The finish was gone, and the gun was liberally covered in rust. Given the broken buttstock, the action was actually secured in place with hockey tape. This was the most craptastic little single-shot .22 imaginable, yet this tiny woman killed a 1,000-pound grizzly with it.
Developed in 1871, the .22 Long round is the world’s second-oldest rimfire cartridge. Early loads pushed a 29-grain solid lead bullet over a 5-grain charge of black powder. This gave the .22 Long roughly 25% more power than the diminutive .22 Short. The .22 Long was originally designed for use in revolvers, though it was soon employed in rifles as well. The .22 Long does not typically produce enough recoil energy to cycle autoloading weapons. Out of a rifle-length barrel the .22 Long will typically just barely break 1,000 feet per second at the muzzle.
The Bear
I’m pleased to report that there are apparently plenty of these guys still wandering about in the wild. The North American population is doing just fine.
The brown bear ranges across much of North America and Eurasia. It is the second-largest terrestrial carnivore right behind the polar bear. North American examples are called grizzlies, while the subspecies unique to Kodiak Island in Alaska is known as the Kodiak bear.
While the brown bear was hunted to extinction across much of its range in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies, the animal is listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature today. Worldwide the total population is estimated to be around 200,000 animals. About a quarter of those live in Alaska.
Ummm, nope. This 10-foot, 1,400-pound specimen lives at the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otisville, NY, and is actually somebody’s pet. Holy snap, look at the thing. My momma didn’t raise me to be bear poop.
Actually Quite Dangerous
The brown bear eats anything it can catch. Berries, fish, or mammals both large and small make up most of its diet. Those who should know told me while we lived in Alaska that what typically determines whether you live or die in the opening moments of a brown bear attack is the relative dimensions of your skull and the bear’s jaws. If the animal can get its teeth around your head it will crush your skull like a grape. If not you might just get scalped. I’d sooner not empirically test that out myself.
There is actually great truth to be found in the tale of the tiny little woman and the big old bear. Shot placement overshadows everything else.
We fret about caliber, weapon, and bullet selection for personal defense as nauseam. However, Bella Twin’s performance with her world record bruin illustrates a truly timeless truism. When it comes to a life-or-death encounter with a predator whether they walk on two legs or four, caliber selection plays a part but shot placement is everything.
About the author:Will Dabbs A native of the Mississippi Delta, Will is a mechanical engineer who flew UH1H, OH58A/C, CH47D, and AH1S aircraft as an Army Aviator. He has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o’clock in the morning and summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times…always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains.
Major Dabbs eventually resigned his commission in favor of medical school where he delivered 60 babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. Will works in his own urgent care clinic, shares a business build-ing precision rifles and sound suppressors, and has written for the gun press since 1989.
He is married to his high school sweetheart, has three awesome adult children, and teaches Sunday School. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal, and the movie “Aliens.”
