Just moved a box containing the wifes Xmas present and was transported back to when it was requested.

One Saturday night, about last October, we were having a beer and watching TV when she broached the subject of Christmas.  It knocked me for six.

I have decided what I want for christmas..

Uhuh.  Err what would that be huh?

I want a gun.

I sat upright.. A what???

A gun. 

I sat silently for awhile processing this new information. Ideas were formulated, slid across my head slowly from left to right, rejected, reformulated, reviewed and rejected again.  Nothing sensible was coming to mind. 
We are talking about the wifes christmas present here. 
Better be very careful if married bliss and a warm atmosphere is to be maintained for the remainder of the evening.  Eventually a classic fall back technique for a gibbering mind was loaded into my mouth, namely turn a statement into a question.

A gun?

Yes.

What kind of gun?

A Colt 45.

A Colt 45????

Yes. 

You mean a Government model 1911??

Whats that?

Its a bit like my Sig P226 with the slide that comes back and recocks the hammer.

No I want one with the spinny thing that you put bullets in.

A revolver??

I think so.

What kind if revolver, a .38 special snubby?

Whats that?

The ones like in 1970s US detective shows.

Oh no, I want a cowboy gun.

So I figured it was a Colt Single Action Army she was wanting.  Note.  In the UK, if you are caught with a powder burning handgun in your possession, you are going to prison for a very, very long time, so the guns I speak of are CO2 operated.

Anyway, I bought the umarex colt saa and decided the cardboard box it came in was crap and made her a presentation case from an antique cutlery canteen.
She is delighted and I gained a few brownie points to be spent against the latest of that cursed DT175s misdemeanors.

Case.  Made from an empty antique cutlery canteen, bought on ebay for a few pounds and a few bits n pieces added.


And the object that temporarily robbed me of the ability to string a coherent sentence together for a minute or two.


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I had no idea you could get such classic looking air pistols. I have an RWS LP8 magnum in 177 cal and have put more rounds thru that air pistol than I will ever put thru my Ruger single action revolvers.

Same for my RWS rifle. I have over 12,000 rounds thru that rifle. Great fun those air guns. 

Yep. You can get air pistols that are very high quality replicas of the real thing.

My Sig P226 is made by Sig and like most, is identical right down to weight and balance.
It is a blowback pistol, so the slide does indeed blowback and resets the hammer.
You can fire 8 pellets as fast as you can pull the trigger.
The mag is double ended and can be seen sticking out the bottom of the grip.  Fire 8 shots, drop the mag, turn it around and fire the other 8.  The CO2 lives behind the backstrap in the handle.

Very nice.
Mine has a Walther red dot sight that makes it extremely accurate for plinking tin cans. 

Umm, do yamaha make guns--just wondering as make just about everything else.

Nope. I doubt Yamaha ever made guns. They do make musical instruments though, which leads me nicely back to the Colt SAA.
Thumbing that hammer back elicits a sound that puts any yamaha piano to shame.

Pure delight. Such a simple action that that exactly replicates and evokes memories of dozens of western movies from my childhood.

Cue Ennio Morricone's finest works.

to those in the UK, sorry you have to go with toys
I carry the real deal, it also blows air, just a lot hotter!

My wife started her handgun journey with one of those Sig pellet guns. Lots of fun. The 4-H kids all were training for competition shooting with hand guns and rifles. They invited her to shoot with them, and she got to be darn accurate. The kids moved up tp shotguns and .22 cal pistols and rifles. Wife moved To .380 and 9mm hand guns and .22 rifle.

In the UK, even these " toys" have quite restrictive regulations around them. As a kid, I used to saunter up and down the neighbourhood with my air rifle in hand.
No one batted an eyelid.
The local cops would just tell me not to be breaking any windows and the neighbours would tell me to be careful.  In general, the neighbours viewed me (and my friends - pretty much all of us had air rifles) as the local pest control officers, on call if a rat had taken up residence in their garden.

Nowdays the nanny state has gone mad with very restrictive laws about ownership.

"Replica firearms ( airsoft weapons)" have to be painted in two tone bright colours so the public can tell at a glance that the weapon is not real. You can have the true coloured weapons only if you are a registered member of a recognised skirmishing club.
I would not be allowed to buy an airsoft weapon in the correct colour as the real thing, because I am not a club member; yet I can buy pellet and BB guns in the correct colour.
Reason.
The pellet and BB firing weapons are classed in the eyes of the law as real firearms not requiring a licence and have some very restrictive regulations with them ( which is why mine are not two tone, they are not classed as a replica).

You can only buy from a licenced firearms dealer ( in my youth, every sporting goods shop sold them).
You have to buy it in person. No mail order.
You have to be 18 to buy or use unsupervised.
You have to take photo ID, have your particulars recorded and sent to the area police firearms licencing officer.
You can only use it on your own land or land where you have permission to shoot.
It must be transported between areas in a case or box and ammunition must be transported seperately.
There are distance rules for not allowing use in close proximity to public highways or footpaths.

A lot more

Failure to comply can land you in very hot water.

Crazy eh? The TK house has two pistols and two rifles and not one of them exceeds 12 ft lbs. Yet they are subject to some draconian laws that could lead to jail time.

There are rumours that soon they will require a firearms licence to own.  They already require a firearms licence in Scotland I believe.

I am envious of those in the US.
Powder burning handguns are completely banned to the public in the UK. Just having one stashed away in the loft will land you in jail if they can prove you knew about it.  They were all confiscated without compensation and destroyed a few years ago.

Even Brocock cartridge system type air pistols and rifles are banned.

I like guns, not because of the shooting necessarily, but because as pieces of precision engineering, they are nice to "have".

Due to very restrictive firearms laws, we have to make do with air weapons.
Umarex are the best known manufacturer of CO2 powered weapons and make faithful replicas under licence from all the major manufacturers.

Have a look at their portfolio if you are interested.

www.umarex.com/products/airguns/co2.html