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Another WHAT WOULD YOU PICK


Alpo

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The book is Farnham's Freehold. Robert Heinlein post-apocalyptic world story written in 1964 at the height of the Cold War. For those that have not read it, they are in the bomb shelter when one lands on top of it and knocks them into the future, where things are different. Boy howdy things are different.

 

Hugh Farnham carries a .45. That's the only way it was described, but near the end of the book someone removes the magazine. So it was a 45 automatic.

 

If this was you and your bomb shelter - you are not expecting to be knocked several hundred years into the future - what pistol would you put in your bomb shelter?

 

Remember. It is 1964. No Glock, no 10, no 40, no 357 SIG. No Comblock anything. Probably the only available 9s were Browning, Luger and P38.

 

 

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Probably the aforementioned .45acp, presumably a 1911, or something along the lines of a Smith & Wesson Model 10. Then as now, I would look for commonly found guns and ammunition.

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In 1964?  Preparing for such a time jump?  I would want the 9mm Browning Hi-Power and an extra magazine. 
 

Oh, and in 1964, if you said, “a .45,” it was generally understood it to be.a M1911 .45acp.
 

Cat Brules

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38 minutes ago, Cat Brules said:

In 1964?  Preparing for such a time jump?  I would want the 9mm Browning Hi-Power and an extra magazine. 
 

Oh, and in 1964, if you said, “a .45,” it was generally understood it to be.a M1911 .45acp.
 

Cat Brules

 

He said " you are not expecting to be knocked several hundred years into the future." (emphasis added) I agree with your assessment if I were planning on such a jump, but what if you weren't?

I agree with you in the ".45" meaning a 1911, too.

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34 minutes ago, DocWard said:

 

He said " you are not expecting to be knocked several hundred years into the future." (emphasis added) I agree with your assessment if I were planning on such a jump, but what if you weren't?

I agree with you in the ".45" meaning a 1911, too.


RE:, " you are not expecting to be knocked .......

 

Yeah, ooops!

 

Cat Brules

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Just how far in the future? you might only need rocks and a pointed stick

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1911 in .45 , SAA in .45 Colt , a "J" frame S&W in .22 rimfire, 12ga. Hammered Double   and a Marlin 93 in .38-55 ...

 

This being the short list ....

 

Jabez Cowboy

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I would want a Thompson machine gun (aka the Chicago Typewriter) and 4 or 5   50 round magazines and lots of ammo.

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41 minutes ago, Arizona Gunfighter said:

I would want a Thompson machine gun (aka the Chicago Typewriter) and 4 or 5   50 round magazines and lots of ammo.

You would do better with 30 round sticks. Drums look cool, but they are slow to load - both slow to put ammunition in, and slow to put into the gun - and can be finicky.

 

4 hours ago, Alpo said:

what pistol would you put in your bomb shelter?

Also I am fairly certain it would not qualify as a pistol.

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If I were in 1964 I am sure that my mindset would be that a S&W model 10 would be the gun I would put in my Fallout Shelter.

So, S&W model 10 and a few boxes of ammo.

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2 hours ago, Alpo said:
2 hours ago, Arizona Gunfighter said:

I would want a Thompson machine gun (aka the Chicago Typewriter) and 4 or 5   50 round magazines and lots of ammo.

You would do better with 30 round sticks. Drums look cool, but they are slow to load - both slow to put ammunition in, and slow to put into the gun - and can be finicky.

 

6 hours ago, Alpo said:

what pistol would you put in your bomb shelter?

Also I am fairly certain it would not qualify as a pistol.

 

You're right on both counts Alpo, the sticks would be better than the drums so I'll change my answer to sticks, about 10 of them. And it is not a pistol, but it's MY bomb shelter and I still would have a Thompson machine gun. :P

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Smith Highway Patrolman .357 mag. What's that? A model 28?

 

Several boxes ammo.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Arizona Gunfighter said:

 

You're right on both counts Alpo, the sticks would be better than the drums so I'll change my answer to sticks, about 10 of them. And it is not a pistol, but it's MY bomb shelter and I still would have a Thompson machine gun. :P

He had other guns. He had hunting rifles. "Our armament includes two lovely ladies’ guns, .22 magnum rimfires with telescopic sights." And he had at least one Tommy Gun.

 

But the question was about pistols.

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That was my original thought. I really liked that one. Actually a 1950, which is the same gun but it has a 4-inch barrel instead of a 5 and 1/2.

 

With a 1950 and full moon clips you can reload as fast as somebody with a 1911. And when you dump them IT is so much easier to see those six shells all clipped together been THAN trying to find individual brass thrown around by that 1911.

 

But - full moon clips did not exist yet. Half-Moon clips were not intended to be reused. By their design they are flimsy. And AR brass puts you right back with any other DA revolver - slower to load than the automatic, and looking for brass one case at the time.

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1 hour ago, Alpo said:

Did not exist in 1964.

 

Are you sure??

 

Drums were available  in the 1920's and so was the plain forearm..

 

800px-Thompson-and-his-gun.jpgGeneral John T. Thompson holding an M1921

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9 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Just how far in the future? you might only need rocks and a pointed stick

Just got to the point in the book where they figured it out.

 

Two thousand one hundred and three years.

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9 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Just how far in the future? you might only need rocks and a pointed stick

To paraphrase..."In the land of the man armed with rocks and a pointed stick, the man with a 45 is King".  

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49 minutes ago, LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L said:

To paraphrase..."In the land of the man armed with rocks and a pointed stick, the man with a 45 is King".  

There's a story I read once.... Gun writer Chuck Taylor is transported back in time to the age of the vikings, with his 1911 and competition gear. 

In the story, it turned out that HE was the inspiration for Thor. Good story.

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I liked that story. Except for the "everybody carries a mallet to crack their nuts with, and nobody touches anyone else's mallet". That just seems like a big stretch.

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19 hours ago, Alpo said:

You would do better with 30 round sticks. Drums look cool, but they are slow to load - both slow to put ammunition in, and slow to put into the gun - and can be finicky.

 

Also I am fairly certain it would not qualify as a pistol.

"Can be"?  The ones I had in 'Nam were useless.  I had a couple of twenty round mags (handy for riding in Huey and other vehicles) and a gas mask bag full of 30 rounders.  I sold the two drums to a Korean who just had to have them.

 

I later traded the 26A1 for an M1 Thompson.  It only accepted stick mags.

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14 hours ago, Alpo said:

That was my original thought. I really liked that one. Actually a 1950, which is the same gun but it has a 4-inch barrel instead of a 5 and 1/2.

 

With a 1950 and full moon clips you can reload as fast as somebody with a 1911. And when you dump them IT is so much easier to see those six shells all clipped together been THAN trying to find individual brass thrown around by that 1911.

 

But - full moon clips did not exist yet. Half-Moon clips were not intended to be reused. By their design they are flimsy. And AR brass puts you right back with any other DA revolver - slower to load than the automatic, and looking for brass one case at the time.

 

Why would you be looking around for individual brass?  I don't think you'll be doing much reloading in a bomb shelter situation.

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