The horror!
I relish my gun magazines. When I get one of the good ones like Rifle or Precision Shooting I go through it backwards, page by page, back to front, before I start to read it. That way I get a feel for the content I am going to be enjoying but by going "against the grain" like that I'm less inclined to "dig in" and start reading. This gives me the most prolonged enjoyment of each new issue.
So, I received the latest issues of Rifle and Precision Shooting two days ago. The first evening I gave them both the back to front perusal and what do I find on the last pages of Rifle? Terry Wieland DESTROYING apparently perfectly acceptable milsurp rifles! My blood ran cold!
Terry: I understand that the M96 "Swede" and M17 "Enfield" you destroyed probably look like mere floor sweepings to someone such as you who apparently has ample opportunity to enjoy the finest of the classic British rifles, but to some of us those milsurps are everything. They are the only way for many of us to affordably explore strange, divergent rifle designs and arcane cartridges.
I understand that the rifles you chose were probably not prime examples. But did they not deserve to live? For instance, I notice the M17 still had the rear sight ears intact. Couldn't you have found one of the many buggered up "sporters" to destroy, one with the ears ground off? And why sacrifice the stock of the M96 when the point of your evil "experiment" was to test action integrity with overloads, not destroy stocks? Was that an intact M96 stock?
Thank goodness the other writers in that special Mauser issue did not have the same perverted approach to their articles. Thank goodness John Haviland did not see fit to destroy Orbendorf Sporters, Brian Pearce did not destroy a Custom Mauser and Mike Venturino did not demonstrate the differences in the predecessor Mauser designs by documenting their failure modes!
Have you lost your copy of P.O. Ackley's work? Surely a refreshing survey of his rifle destruction experiments could have satisfied your deviant yearnings?
Please, please try to come to grips with this demon before you graduate to experimenting with how big-bore British doubles let go when overcharged with modern powders.
Do you own other milsurp rifles? Perhaps it would be best for all concerned if they went to live elsewher for a while?
Please, Terry, my floors sag under the weight of milsurp rifles which I treasure. Sure they are rough little ragamuffins but they are my treasures. Don't torture me with visions of their brothers and cousins whom I could not rescue falling victim to your milsurp holocaust!
