What’s On Your Wish List?

I am not talking about Amazon here.

Something a little lighter for a change.

It is without much debate that we are in what I have called The Golden Age of Gun Buying. Ammo is a different issue but firearms themselves? They are in stock and on sale for the most part. Common and uncommon, expensive or cheap, if you want it and have the disposable income you can probably get it.

As a consequence of having a Federal Firearms License and the crazy panic buying from 2020 to 2022, I was able to obtain quite a few firearms, consolidating calibers by selling guns in weird calibers for more than I originally paid for them and concentrating down to mostly 9mm/5.56mm. That doesn’t stop a fella from window shopping, in my case the window being a computer monitor, although I try to not spend too much time lest I convince myself everything is a great deal at wholesale prices.

Anyway this is what I have in the back of my head for future acquisitions, some realistic and others….not so much.

Things I Have Convinced Myself I “Need”

Need is a funny word as I have everything I strictly need but a fella can always think about how to enhance his selection.

A bufferless 5.56 AR pistol with a folding stock

This one is a little dependent on the upcoming ATF guidance in light of recent court rulings on the NFA and the Trump order to not contest those rulings. My hope is that very soon we will get guidance that essentially negates the need for the silly “stabilizing brace” and allows us to legally put normal stocks on ARs with barrels shorter that 16”. There are several options already, the CMMG Dissent, Sig Sauer MCX, Brownells BR-180 and the Palmetto State Armory Jakl just to name a few off the top of my head. As a rule, in the current situation something easier to conceal is better than something less easy to conceal. If it all goes tits up then concealment will be perhaps less important but then again maybe not. They tend to be quite a bit more expensive than a standard AR so that’s a not inconsequential issue.

The same but in 9mm and taking Glock mags

I don’t own a single actual Glock but Glock-compatible mags are widely available and cheap. Again CMMG offers what I am looking at in their Dissent line. The thing I like about them is that without the buffer tube it makes the pistol a lot easier to fold up and conceal in a backpack or other bag that doesn’t scream “Gun inside”. This is the Dissent SBR, a radial delayed blowback operated 9mm and as mentioned this model is Glock mag compatible. While not as robust as a rifle in 5.56mm, it does provide a significant upgrade over a standard handgun and again if you are travelling somewhere unfriendly to the 2nd Amendment, it can be carried without being obvious.

The retail price is again pretty steep, my cost is quite a bit less but still salty, so that is mainly why I don’t have one yet.

I sure don’t need more pistols (see: You Don’t Need Another Handgun) but at some point I would love to add a Beretta PX4 G-SD, the venerable and underrated PX4 Storm upgrade by Langdon Tactical.

Comes with 2- 17 round and 1-20 round magazine which is good because they are proprietary mags and are very expensive. The PX4 features a somewhat unique rotating barrel that eats up recoil, in theory making follow-up shots easier, and while I know striker-fire guns are all the rage I still like a pistol with a hammer.

Would Love To Have/Don’t Need

This category is for cool to own but I have no need for, at least not at the present time. Cost is an issue as is practicality.

Large caliber lever-action rifle

It is amusing that the lever-action rifle market is still so hot. The mechanics of these rifles were developed early in the 19th century and they were a frequent staple of Western movies for a very long time. Where I live especially lever-action rifles, particularly 30-30 caliber rifles, were a staple of deer hunting as the Upper Midwest hunter is unlikely to shoot at extreme ranges but is likely to be shooting through brush.

Just based on the hunters I know I would have to think that the vast majority of deer today around here (Indiana/Michigan/Ohio) are being shot with bolt action rifles in the expected calibers like .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor, with rifles easily capable of hitting a target at well over 500 yards even though very few deer hunters are shooting them at those ranges.

The funny thing is that lever-action rifles, despite being offered in only a few calibers and being relatively less accurate than bolt-action rifles, are still super expensive. You can get a perfectly functional and adequate bolt-action rifle in .308 from Ruger or Savage for far less than most lever-action rifles in 30-30.

I don’t do a bunch of deer hunting and already have several rifles I could use but I would still love a lever-action rifle just because they are cool, but I would want it in a larger caliber like .45-70 or .444 since I wouldn’t actually be using it for much other than looking nice in my safe.

A .44 Magnum revolver

I have been a wheel-gun guy for a long time, ever since I was a kid and went with my dad to purchase a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver from a local gun shop. He used to warn me endlessly about the propensity of semi-automatic firearms jamming, whether pistols or shotguns. Growing up in the era of Dirty Harry I have always wanted a .44 Magnum revolver but couldn’t justify the cost. I wouldn’t want some ridiculous hand cannon with an 8 inch barrel but I will admit to having a Colt Kodiak with a ported 4.25” barrel in my favorites list at some of my distributors….

An AK chambered in 5.56

My general rule is this: If you want an AK, get an AK chambered in an AK caliber like 7.62×39 or 5.45. If you want a rifle in 5.56, buy an AR that was designed for that caliber.

Still I do still love AK pattern rifles. There is something about the simplicity of their design compared to the relatively convoluted design of ARs with their millions of springs and screws. Plus they just look cool. The obvious downside is compatibility. I can mix and match almost every part from my ARs, taking them apart and swapping uppers and lowers or just pieces and parts, plus they all take the same mags. An AK pattern 5.56 rifle has none of those things but it would still be fun.

Flat Out Silly Stuff

These are things I have no need for whatsoever and won’t ever have the money for, think of these as “If I won the Power Ball and had hundreds of millions to spare” guns.

A big/dangerous game caliber double rifle.

WTF would I do with one of these? Not shoot it very much of course. I know a guy who lives nearby that bought a rifle in .416 Rigby and when I talked to him later he said he shot it a few times and put it away because they beat the crap out of your shoulder.

It isn’t like you can buy one of these at most local gun stores. If money were no obstacle I would jump on a flight to London, take a cab probably driven by some pajeet to 36 St James’s St. and order myself a Holland & Holland ‘Royal’ Double rifle in something ridiculous like .500 Nitro Express or .375 H&H. There is actually a H&H store in Dallas and they have on offer a number of used rifles including this one in .500/465 H&H that you can take home for the low, low price of $250,000…

A truly premium double-barreled shotgun.

Something in an over & under, I own a few side-by-sides and I don’t really care for shooting them compared to an over & under although I do appreciate the classic look. I also have some over & under shotguns but they are mostly practical shotguns. I am talking here about something like a Beretta S05

Or I could also just order a Holland & Holland shotgun while ordering my double-rifle. Something tailor made to fit me with the etching I want and a stock from hand selected wood.

A shotgun or rifle that costs more than my current home isn’t really in the cards aside from winning the lottery and as I don’t play the lottery that seems unlikely.

So, what is on your wish list? Practical, extravagant, ridiculous?