Hi all.

On Monday night, I'm going to be giving my 6th "gun talk" in the past two years , this time to the Enfield Historical Society in Enfield CT.  The event will be held at the Enfield Congregational Church hall right on Route 5 in Enfield.  

Here's what the cable scawl is showing:



It's open to the public and free.  I'll have about 26 of my rifles in my collection which includes virtually all of the semi-autos (except for an SVT38).  The idea is to share my collection with the public and at the end of the evening, I allow everyone to come up and handle the rifles and accessories.  It will be the one an only time that many people get a chance to do that.  I also get a lot of vets who want to hold the rifle they carried in the past wars.  

In addition, there will be someone else there you might want to meet, too. "Different"  (Lee Emerson) will be there with his wife an is bringing a "special" display piece.  It's going to be a great time.  

My talk centers around the development of firearms from the 1300s right up to the 1930s and then get into the significance of the semi-automatic mbrs.   The interesting thing is that the entire semi-auto era only lasted about 25 years when select fire rifle showed up.  Semis were discontinued.  I certainly know that a lot of what I have to say will be old hat to all of you but it would be a great time to shake hands and meet face to face.  

Hope you might be interested in joining me.  My email is available if anyone need a map but it's really easy to get here.  We're 90 miles from boston, 80 minutes from Keene, and about 60 miles from New Haven.  All in all a quick drive.  Starts at 7pm and I expect we'll be done by 9.  

Hope to see one or two of you there!

Rome

We'll be there!

...And a good time was had by all.  The talk went very well and we had about 75 people in attendance with about 30% of them women and a few father-son attendees as well.  Unfortunately, Different decided to "drink the water" while on a business trip and is experiencing that horrible bug that seems to be circulating around New England right now.  Two days on his back for sure.  Hope you're feeling better soon!

I had 28 rifle on display and my talk ran about 65 minutes.  I had a lot of great questions but it was a very friendly and receptive audience.  I was pleased that many of the ladies in attendance remarked that they all enjoyed the way the "tale of the semi-auto" was presented and normally would not find this an interesting subject.  My worst critics (wife and two daughters) also remarked that they had no idea how it was going to go but were surprised.  This was their first time of the six talks I'd presented.

So, now everything gets put away again for a while.  You might imagine how much work there is in preparing for something like this.  Just moving so many firearms safely and securely is a chore not to mention supporting items and racks, etc.  But, I feel that it's worth it as the public becomes a little more comfortable talking about firearms.  I also take the opportunity to educate them about what a true "assault rifle" is and that the term "assault weapon" is meaningless dribble.  

Finally, I did get a chance to meet a fellow AR15.com poster who coincidentally lives not far from my home in town.   We've already planned a trip to my local range in Somers, CT for some EBR shooting.  

Rome

That was a very interesting presentation, You put alot of hard work into educating our fellow citizens (MYSELF INCLUDED) about the history of semi rifles. What a collection!  I'm looking forward to putting rounds downrange. BTW what was the name and number of the smith in town who could attach a muzzle brake for me?

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Twogunner, call Fred Myers.  7490765.  Tell him I referred you.  He's only about a mile from you, too.

It was great to meet you too!  I'm pleased that we are so close together.  We'll make a point of attending the next meeting of the Somer's club and you can grab an application.  We'll chat as time grows closer. Fred will be able to tell you when the next meeting is.  Call or email me and we'll go together.  

Thanks for the nice complients. It's a lot......really a lot of work hauling 28 rifles back and forth but it's worth it.  The "civilians" are always drop-jawed when they see all that hardware and actually get to handle them.

Stay in touch. When this weather breaks for something a bit warmer, I'll go to the range with you and show you around.

Rome

Is Fred able to do that muzzle brake as well?

Yep.
R