Welcome
to the
Utah Gun Collectors Association
May 2002 Picnic and
Historic Arms Shooting Session
Celebrating our 42nd year of service 1960-2002
 Click here for date and location of our next picnic and historic arms shooting session

Here are some samples of the fun enjoyed by UGCA members and their guests.
While it is an interesting academic exercise to debate the relative merits (or flaws) of famous old or new firearms, the best information comes from actually firing them.  UGCA members bring a wide variety of guns to these sessions and everyone usually gets a chance to share in the experiences.
(This is also a chance for people with no shooting experience to learn how to safely handle a gun under close supervision.)

If you collect guns, we invite you to join UGCA.
Membership benefits include for free admission to all UGCA shows, reduced table rates, and a great newsletter.
 Click here for membership information and application

Copyright 2001 by Utah Gun Collectors Association.  All rights reserved.  Box 711161, Salt Lake City, UT  84171

Let's go to the UGCA Picnic and Historic Arms Shooting Session, May, 2003
Before we shoot, we need to have lots of targets.  George, our offical Range Officer did a lot of the preliminary work, and club members all pitched in to post and change targets throughout the afternoon.  The younger participants thought this was great fun!  Besides children and grandchildren of club members we also had an Israeli guest, who is quite familiar with firearms, their use and necessity for self defense..

Some of the Cartridges Used today.....

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Here are a sample of some of the types of cartridges used by club members and their guests. Left to right:

.17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire- a brand new cartridge that is becoming very popular
7.63mm Mauser- used in the famoud "Broomhandle" Mauser such as carried by Winston Churchill at the battle of Omdurman in 1898
.30 caliber carbine- (fired case) very popular and several usuallly appear at any of our shoots
.38 S&W Special- a very popular revolver cartridge since the 1930s.
.45 Automatic Colt Pistol, also known as .45 ACP or simply .45 automatic- This is a highly accurate target load with a "wadcutter" bullet
.45 Automatic Colt Pistol- another example, this a standrad military load made in 1943 using a steel case (same year they made steel pennies)
.45-120 2.6" Sharps- a popular cartridge used by the Buffalo hunters, that packs a wallop (on both ends!)
.50-70 Springfield- Widely used after the Civil War in the early campaigns of the Indian Wars.
7.62mm Tokerov (actuallt he same as the 7.63 Mauser, but the Russians insisted they invented it).
8mm Gasser revolver- Amazingly someone found some of this to shoot in their scarce Austrian Rat-Gasser revolver!
8mm Lebel revolver- Anotehr seldom seen cartridges for the archaic French Model 1892 revolver
.30-06 U.S. military rifle cartridge for the M1903 SPringfield and M1 Garand, and also used by millions of hunters.
.30-06 fired case thowing a split that allowed hot gas to escape. This is a dangerous situation, resulting form using poor quality ammunition, in this case old reloads where the cases were badly corroeded (and weakened) inside, leading to this failure. Always wear eye and hearing protection when shooting.

Some of the historic guns

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Steve is a Police Officer who collects and enjoys antique guns. Here he is shooting a Colt Single Action Army revolver, introduced in 1873, the classic "cowboy gun" with this one being an antique. Interestingly, they are making virtually the same gun today, 130 years later, a testimony to the success of ths design. The white smoke comes fromt he "black powder" used in the .32-20 ammunition. (Trivia note- .32 is the diameter fo the bullet, and 20 is the weight of the black powder charge used!) In the foreground is Steve's Model 1911A1 ".45 automatic", another gun that is a classic, still in production after 92 years. It was invented by John M. Browning in Ogden, Utah.
 


George is checking out his new Buffalo Rifle. This is a Sharps Model 1874 sporting rifle with a heavy barrel, chambered for the .45-120 cartridge (with a 2.6" long case). This fine quality rifle was recently made by one of the two companies up in Montana that specialize in making copies of the Sharps rifles, another design that remains popular after over 125 years.

 

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Three shooters with M1 carbines

Everyone who fires these neat little guns loves them. They are just plain fun to shoot, and could also be used as a good home defense weapon.

 

This member is shooting one of the many variations of the Kalashnikov or AK designs. These are somewhat crudely made, but seem to function very reliably, and with surplus ammunition being cheap, they are fun to shoot.


Some assorted guns brought by mameber for shooting enjoyment.  These include a Colt "Walker" .44 caliber cap and ball revolver. These were the first revolver used by the U.S. military, and weighed over four pounds!. This like new example is a reproduction that just about anyone can afford. (As a comparison, an original Walker, presented by Sam Colt to Col. Walker, sold for over 2.5 MILLION dollars!). Above is one of several M1 carbines, then a Remington .44 caliber cap and ball revolvers, the type widely used int he Civil War.


Using a two hand grip for accuracy, this member is firing a Ruger semi-automatic .22 caliber target pistol. These were introduced in 1949, and have been extremely popular ever since.

Historic full automatic weapons

(Note all machine guns shown here are properly registered with BATF and owners have passed the FBI background checks and have permission from local law enforcement authorities to own these.  Since 1934 there has only been a single incident where a legally owned machine gun was used in a crime- (and the individual who did that was a police officer who decided to break numerous laws.)

A club member firing the famous Thompson submachine gun. Everyone has seen these in the movies, and hunderds of thousands were used by U.S. and allied forces in World War 2. While one of the most recognizable of all submachine guns, and highly regarded when first introduced in 1921, their sex appeal greatly outweighs their actual effectiveness. They are heavy, clumsy, and difficult to control. Nevertheless, they are great fun to shoot anyway!. Take dat, you rat!

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One of the wives trying out a H&R "Reising" Model 55 submachine gun. Another WW2 gun, used by some marine Corps units, but not very popular with them.


Following the shooting session, we enjoyed a great picnic meal catered by Meiers Prime Catering.  Remember, if you join UGCA you can participate in our next session!
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