I finally got around to writing this post It’s been ugly at work to say the least and I’ve just now found some time to go through and edit the pictures and get them ready for publication

Here’s the whole trip in a nutshell:

• Saturday: Drive to Prescott from Las Vegas, buy 2 rifles at J&G Sales upon arriving, find my way to Mom and Dad’s place, unload and unpack, go for a drive with my brother, eat dinner, clean new guns, pass out dead asleep
• Sunday: Shooting range closed until 1300 hours so head into town with Mom for breakfast at The Dinner Bell just off the town square, shop with Mom at the arts and crafts fair around the town courthouse, go home to collect guns and Dad, shoot almost everything we brought (forgot .22 ammo back at the house ), back to the house, eat dinner, watch some TV with family, try to surf internet, but keep falling asleep on keyboard, finally go to bed and pass out
• Monday: Enjoy a fantastic breakfast with Mom, Dad, and Brother, pack, stop by J&G Sales to pick up a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 and a bayonet for the Steyr M-95, drive back to Las Vegas

Hit the jump for pictures and a few more details

I really enjoyed spending time with family I rarely see. It’s about a four hour trip from Vegas to Prescott if you go over Hoover Dam, but that all depends on traffic. I had my AK-47, Steyr M-95, Marlin Model 60, and Hi-Point C9 in the car along with ammo for each of them, so I thought it best to avoid Hoover Dam and its security if for no other reason than a possible hassle and delay. My trip went south to Laughlin and across the river there, over to Kingman, and then to Ash Fork before going south to Prescott. Going through Kingman added somewhere between 60 to 90 minutes to the trip, but who knows – it might have saved me time if traffic at Hoover Dam was heavy and if I had been selected for a security interview.

I brought gifts for everyone and made sure to buy something nice for Mom and Cindy while at the craft fair. I still need to buy a certain something at the Hard Rock for my brother and get it shipped down to him, but that won’t be long from now.

Going for a nice long drive and visiting with my brother while visiting dealerships was a great time. It’s been quite a while since we’ve gone and had some fun like that I’m glad he liked the HHR as much as he did, even if he doesn’t want to get one himself.

Sunday morning with Mom out in town was pretty darn nice, too! Going to breakfast and strolling around the city where she grew up was a great way to spend the morning and having her be able to not only drive my new car, but also having it not be painful for her back was awesome!

I have to say that purchasing a few guns (including the 91/30 on the way home) was rather fun and getting to shoot them all with Dad was even better, even if Dad wasn’t all that thrilled with old military rifles Mom came with us and was going to shoot the .22, but due to my brain lock earlier, we didn’t have ammo. She did fire a few shots from the C9 and was a really good sport about the noise from the rifles

Here’s what we brought to the range:

• My just purchased Swiss Army Schmidt-Reuben Karabiner Model 1931 (K-31 carbine)
• My also just purchased Russian Army Mosin-Nagant Carbine Model 1944 (M-44) produced at the Izhevsk arsenal in 1946
• My Steyr M-95 Stutzen (Rifle Model 1895, shortened)
• My semi auto Yugoslavian M70AB1 Semi-Auto Sporter (AK-47 variant with full wood stock and hand guards)
• Dad’s semi auto Yugoslavian M70AB2 Semi-Auto Sporter (AK-47 variant with folding metal stock and polymer hand guards)
• My Marlin Model 60 .22 semi-auto rifle which used to belong to Grandpa before he passed away
• My High-Point C9 9mm semi-auto pistol
• Dad’s former service weapon from the California Highway Patrol – the Smith & Wesson 4006 semi-auto pistol

One interesting thing about the K-31 is that it is a straight-pull bolt action rifle which means that you don’t have to turn the bolt before pulling it back – that part is done by a cam action in the bolt mechanism. For some of the best info on the net about the K-31, check out swissrifles.com. The M-44 and 91/30 are very interesting rifles in their own right and volumes of information can be found on 7.62x54r.net – the website refers to the caliber of ammunition used by these rifles. For great info on both of these rifles as well as many other military surplus (milsurp) weapons, check out surplusrifle.com.

Due to the possiblity of a thunderstorm moving in at any time (they were all around us), we decided to only get out one gun at a time. Having never fired the K-31 before, this was the first gun for us to shoot and I let Dad have the honor of going first. Everything worked perfectly and I took my shots with it before we moved on to the M-44 (with bayonet extended, of course) which I let him fire first as well. The M-44 worked perfectly as expected and so we went on down the line of weapons.

I have to say I was impressed by both the M-44 and the K-31 – both powerful (you could sure feel the recoil ) and accurate. And at $200 for the K-31 and $100 for the M-44, you can’t really go wrong!

After the rifles came the pistols. Dad’s .40 S&W did not disappoint and was as good as we’d expected. Then came the time for us to shoot my Hi-Point C9

First, a little background on Hi-Point for those who aren’t familiar with either the brand or its multiple reputations. Hi-Point has been around for quite some time under apparently different names and still has a couple of different companies working on different pistols. All of this is now under Beemiller Inc. and all are now Hi-Point. Pistols come in .380 ACP, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP while carbines are chambered in 9mm Parabellum or .40 S&W with a .45 ACP expected in the near future. All of these firearms are simple, blow-back operated semi-automatic actions which means that they can be produced very inexpensively and the guns themselves are very affordable. People say they’re just “pot metal” and plastic. Well, the slide is zinc polymer, but it does have steel inserts for strength where needed. The frame is polymer and the grips are plastic, but is there anything more that’s really necessary? I don’t think so.

I paid $120 for my C9 and after over 800 rounds, I’ve only had two feed problems. It’s eaten Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P hollow points, 100gr +P Pow’R Ball, 147gr Remington JHP, and 115gr FMJ from Blazer, Winchester, and Remington. It just WORKS

So we went on up from the rifle section of the range to the pistol range and had some more fun up there. Dad’s Smith and Wesson was just as smooth as I remember it being with thee S&B ammo I picked up at J&G Sales. Both of us have had fun with that gun!

Then came the C9 I’d been telling Dad about for so long. I’d been telling Dad I’d get him a Hi-Point .40 S&W carbine to go with his .40 S&W pistol for a while, but after firing 18 rounds from the C9 (one 8 round mag and one 10 round mag), he turned to me with a grin on his face and said “Forget the carbine, get me one of these!”

We continued on with both guns until we were out of .40 S&W and we were running out of time (but not ammo!) for the 9mm as we needed to get home for dinner. But before we left, I let the rangemaster, Jim, try out the C9 as well. Dad’s a retired California Highway Patrol officer and it turned out that Jim is a retired Los Angeles Sheriff’s Officer. Between conversations (you know how retired LEOs get along) Jim put another 18 or so rounds through the Hi-Point and was also very impressed. He couldn’t believe the price I paid for it!

One other thing about the C9 and Hi-Point overall that’s also outstanding is their warranty:

The Hi-Point of Service:
Damage, age, and plain old wear and tear—these things happen. When they do, Hi-Point customers enjoy a lifetime, no questions asked warranty. And lifetime means just that— free repairs for the life of the gun, whether you are the first owner, or the third. That service is fast, friendly and expertly performed. Your Hi-Point will be back in action, good as new, in no time.

Please take a look at our selection of affordable, reliable handguns and carbines. Whether you’re a target shooter, varmint hunter or anything in-between, there’s a Hi-Point semi-automatic that’s perfect for you.

To see what other Hi-Point owners have said, visit the testimonials page.

OK, I’ll get off my soap box now

Here’s the pictures I promised Mouse over the pics for a descriptions and click on them to open the full size pic in a new window