"Americans Bought Approximately 21 Million Guns in 2020, Sales up 73%".
Incidentally, I've had fun playing amateur gunsmith the last few days. I have a Polish Tokarev that was experiencing failure-to-feed issues. It seemed to me that the problem was probably a worn-out magazine spring, so I took a spring from a magazine manufactured for a Russian TT-33, substituted that for the spring in the original Polish magazine, and now the pistol works flawlessly. Now, before you ask, "Um, Paco, why didn't you just stick the TT-33 magazine in the Polish pistol?", I'll point out that the TT-33 mag doesn't fit; it's a tad too wide to go into the mag well of the Polish Tokarev.
I also got some brass punches and adjusted the buckhorn sights on one of my lever-action rifles. The thing was shooting a little to the right, so I just gave a few taps to the leaf that serves as the base for the rear sight and, Voila!, it's now dead-on at fifty yards (Thank you Henry Firearms for your very helpful video on the subject!)
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Some basic tools are always a good idea for gun owners. One point that I learned the hard way ... ... the necessary torque for bolts and screws can be measured in INCH-pounds. Ignoring this will strip connections (including scope mounts) and require the assistance of a gun smith.
You might want to read up on that Polish pistol. Weak magazine springs are a common design flaw, and you have probably solved the problem, but you never know.
I've done a fair amount of research on Tokarev pistols, and there are a host of things that can generate feeding problems: poorly machined feeding ramps, worn-out recoil springs, damaged ejectors, bent magazine followers, and on and on. The magazine on mine always had a kind of sloppy feel, a little loose, and when I'd push down on the follower, there just didn't seem to be sufficient resistance. Everything else looked ok: recoil spring, ejector, and there was no excess lip on the feeding ramp, so my approach was trial and error, and replacing the magazine spring was the first thing that I tried - and it seems to have worked.
The spring, as I indicated, came from a magazine for a TT-33 Tokarev. I have two TT-33 magazines, and my possession of them is sort of serendipitous. A couple of years ago, I ordered extra magazines for a Zastava M70 pistol, and Classic Firearms sent me the TT-33 mags by mistake. I was going to return them, but customer service said it wasn't worth it, just keep 'em. I never figured I'd have a use for them (Russian Tokarevs are not too easy to come by these days), but they have come in handy anyway. I also found out that the magazines for my Yugoslavian Tokarev will fit the Polish pistol, too, although they're a little longer - they're 9-round mags vs. the Polish Tokarev's 8-rounders - and they protrude from the mag well about a half inch. Still, one such magazine makes a nice backup.
Couldn't afford Henry, so we got a little Marlin 60 and a Rock Island .22LR. VERY happy with those purchases. Also picked up a replacement for the .16ga Husband had when he was a kid. We go play at a local indoor range just about every week, and the little .22s are perfect for that.
Outstanding, it's always great to fix a gun with parts you already have in stock. There's something extra satisfying about "hey, I have x, I'll bet that'll fit in y"
Hey KC, I love my Marlin 60 it's a great little plinker. 22lr is starting to reappear so I may be able to shoot it again!! I'm down to about 300 22lr so I've been on hold for that and my Heritage Rough Rider.
ck: Quite an achievement for me. Mrs. Paco is actually the resident expert in practical engineering around here (my main job is usually to hold the ladder and hand her up the tools).
I need to find a good .22 to plink with. I bought a Ruger 45/22 years ago, and then got a recall notice (I still haven't sent the thing back; need to do that). In any event, from what I saw on the internet, the pistol is a pain to disassemble and an even bigger pain to reassemble, so a semi-auto rifle or a Heritage revolver might be nice.
kc, that 16ga sounds sweet. Is it a single shot or a pump? I remember when I was a kid, Old Paco bought me some kind of bolt-action 12 ga. Man, I loved that gun! I have no idea what happened to it.
Now for a wheel gun guy like yourself, you should check out the Heritage Rough Rider in 22lr for a plinker. I have the 6.5 inch barrel and it's just fun to shoot.
ck: I hear lots of good things about it, that's for sure. I need something to shoot up the 500 rounds or so of .22lr that I have!
Somehow, without meaning to, I have ended up with four rifles and six pistols in .22. Two rifles and one pistol are in magnum, the rest are LR. Fortunately I had a decent stock of ammo on hand pre-COVID, so I've been able to plink away while saving much of the "real" stuff against the inevitable zombie apocalypse (although the limited research I have done indicates that .22 is adequate against zombies provided you do head shots).
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