[Nightcrawler]

In the spirit of Indiana Jones and The Mummy... :D

The year is 1928. You, the bored offspring of a wealthy industrialist (who, hopefully won't lose everything in the coming depression) have decided that something more exciting than dancing The Charleston and checking the stock reports might be up your alley.

So as you prepare for your adventure in India, Darkest Africa (what part is that, exactly?), the Australian Outback, Antarctica, or South America, in search of riches of your own, you brush up on your one-liners, don your trademark hat/scarf/leather jacket/whatever, and attempt to recruit an ethnic-stereotype sidekick.

More importantly, though, what guns do you bring? Arm yourself well; you're sure to be trailed by sinister agents of the Black Hand! (My, that sounds ominous, doesn't it? :D )

It isn't even 1930 yet, folks. The M1911A1 JUST came out. If you're into beavertails and high holds, the old-school Colt Gov't Model (especially in pre-A1 format) might not be up your alley (especially if you're a victim of slide bite).

The only "Magnum" handgun cartridge widely available is loaded up .45 Colt, and many of the revolvers of the day can't take too much hot-loading with smokeless powder.

And you AR-15 guys had better get used to not having as many rounds on hand. The closest thing to a "high capacity" service rifle available is the No. 1 Mk.III Enfield, with its 10 round magazine.

(And if you prefer a 16" AR because the 20" is too heavy, I don't think a 10 pound Thompson is going to be for you, hee hee.)

So what DO you pack?


EDIT: This isn't a hunting trip, you're after gold and riches; you might very well have to take some game for food or other reasons, though. Be prepared for it. The primary thing you're going to be shooting at is badguys and upset natives... :D

[7.62FullMetalJacket]

45/70 and a 45 colt hogleg

[Nightcrawler]

Winchester, Marlin, or one of the single shots?

[Preacherman]

You haven't given us enough information. If it's in darkest Africa, you'll have a caravan of porters with you, doing all the heavy carrying. They can be loaded up with a veritable arsenal if you wish! Are you travelling alone, or with one companion? Then you have to go lighter...

Also, a lot will depend on the area you're going into. If darkest Africa, there are elephants, rhino, hippo, buffalo, lion, etc. - all of which will take rather more than a thirty-caliber round to stop a charge! In country like that, I'd want a .375 H&H or a 9.3mm. Mannlicher as a minimum caliber, and preferably something heavier. Unfortunately, that means MUCH more weight for gun and ammo. On the other hand, in South America, you aren't facing local fauna as big: so a .30-'06 should do fine. Tibet? Something yak- and Yeti-size, please...

Another thing. Spare parts can't be sent out by UPS. You'll have to take something very reliable, requiring minimal maintenance: and what maintenance it needs will have to be performed by yours truly. That means something simple and robust.

To try to cover all the bases, figuring on myself and a sidekick carrying everything, and assuming Africa and dangerous game, my choices would be:

1 heavy bolt-action rifle, caliber .375 H&H Magnum, with 100 rounds of ammo - mixed soft-points and solids;

1 pump-action shotgun with extended magazine (Winchester, probably, given the time period), with 20 rounds of buckshot, 10 rounds of slug, and 50 assorted rounds of birdshot;

2 S&W .44 Special Triple-Lock revolvers, with some nice heavy .44 Special loads, for hunting and for defence, with at least 100 rounds of ammo for each;

1 .22 LR revolver, as accurate as possible, for a "camp gun" and hunting small game, with at least 500 rounds of ammo.

If I were going to South America, instead of Africa, I'd substitute the .375 with a sporterized Enfield 1917 rifle in .30-'06, with 100 rounds of ammo - perhaps 150, if I could manage the weight. Other firearms would remain the same.

For carrying these guns, one person would have the rifle, one the shotgun, and each would have a .44 Special revolver. The .22 could be packed away or carried, as needed.

[Beetle Bailey]

I have to have a Thompson since my ethnic-stereotype sidekick would (stereotypically) only get me into trouble. A 1911 would be a logical companion, but I'd bring along a broomhandle Mauser for that "imperial" feel. I'd have to have a No. 1 Mk III since no colonial adventure would be complete without it. I would use the 2x4-like weapon as a blundgeoning (sp?) device against those sinster Black Hand characters and then imagine their surprise when they find out the log I'm beating them with also fires bullets! Maybe my sidekick will hold the Thompson while I use the Enfield and vice versa.

IIMN, there actually was a terrorist group called the "Black Hand", as lame as it sounds. You could say they started WWI.

[Nightcrawler]

I was just reading up on them today, as a matter of fact. Serbian Secret Society, ultra-nationalists. Were blamed for Arch-Duke Fernidand's assassination, and the gov't was implicated. Thus Austria-Hungary used this flimsy pretext to declare war on Serbia. Serbia's ally, Russia, stood firm, so Austria-Hungary Declared war on them too, as did their ally, Germany. Russia was allied with France, so France and Austria-Hungary Delcared war on each other. Germany, allied with Austria-Hungary, attacked France, going through neutral Belgium on the way. Britian was bound by treaty to protect Belgium, and was thus dragged into the war on the side of France and Russia.

And thus this diplomatic failure led to slaughter on a scale the world had never seen. :(

But I digress...:uhoh:

[Mike Irwin]

A Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage

A .416 Rigby for the bigger stuff

A bolt-action .22 Long Rifle for small critters

A Smith & Wesson Triple Lock in .44 Special

A Winchester Model 1897 in 12 gauge

Ammo appropriate for the local.

[Nightcrawler]

What kind of .44 Special and .45 Colt loads could you get out of the double action revolvers of the day? Anything that could beat regular .45ACP in terms of energy, but not be overpressure for the design?

[Beetle Bailey]

Oh, I have to get food, too? Then why do I have an ethnic stereotype sidekick? Doesn't he take care of all the mundane stuff? I guess I just eat what the natives eat. Since I'm a PC adventurer, I don't fight the natives, I only fight the sinister Black Hand. If I stumble onto a lion or a yeti, I just beat them to death with the No.1 MkIII like a real adventurer.

[Tamara]

It isn't even 1930 yet, folks. The M1911A1 JUST came out. If you're into beavertails and high holds, the old-school Colt Gov't Model (especially in pre-A1 format) might not be up your alley (especially if you're a victim of slide bite).

I'd take an M1911. Just 'cause I shoot an M1911 better with it set up for high thumbs doesn't mean I can't shoot it plenty darn good enough box stock.

The only "Magnum" handgun cartridge widely available is loaded up .45 Colt, and many of the revolvers of the day can't take too much hot-loading with smokeless powder.

Fine, I'll take a Triple Lock. Ouch. Make me suffer.
No. Please don't. Stop.

And you AR-15 guys had better get used to not having as many rounds on hand. The closest thing to a "high capacity" service rifle available is the No. 1 Mk.III Enfield, with its 10 round magazine.

Okay, I can't take my HK/AK/AR. How 'bout I take my Krag or my 98k or my 1917 Eddystone, then?


Next scenario?

[Nightcrawler]

Well, Tamara, some people simply CAN'T shoot stock M1911s, being victims of slide bite. No gun type is worth getting your hand turned to hamburger.

I imagined you'd get along quite well, though, with your taste in what are now C&R rifles.

(Imagine buying a Krag for $1.00 after the Army swtiched to the M1903 and the Krags were surplussed; Cruffler's Dream!)

[Tamara]

Well, Tamara, some people simply CAN'T shoot stock M1911s, being victims of slide bite.

You gotta have some huge honkin' hands to get "slide bite" in a 1911 with a normal grip, although merely "large" hands might get you tagged by the hammer fairly frequently if you let your grip choke up...

[Brian Dale]

Let's see...
I've got my Thompson and my 1917 Smith (no chopped barrel like Dr. Jones used, thank you very much), and an 1895 Winchester in .30-'06 (it's 1928 - I must have grown up enthralled by TR's exploits).

My "ethnic-stereotype sidekick" is six feet tall, and carries a broomhandle Mauser and the Krag-Jorgensen (in 6.5 x 55mm) that her father gave her. Early in the tale, she outshoots all of the ne'er-do-wells who ridicule her "Norwegian Rat Rifle." When it's time for me to pull out the Tommy gun, she reaches for her Win '97.

Gotta have a couple of 1903 Colts around for formal wear, too. ;)

[Nightcrawler]

"Norwegian Rat Rifle."

BWAHAHAHAHAAA!!! That's great! :D

[Aikibiker]

Forget the whole "colonialist adventurer" thing. If I was in that time period knowing what I know now I am going hunting. For failed Austrian artists with funny mustaches. Any decent rifle would do. Maybe even .22 for less noise. Or get close with a pistol, empty it pocket it and disappear into the crowd.

If I have to go to South America or some other God forsaken primitive land I am taking A BAR and one of those new fangled 1911a1's I have heard so much about. My cute ethnic stereotype sidekick can carry whatever she feels comfortable with.

[4570Rick]

I have a stupid amount of money, and I'm going to deeeepest daaarrrkkest Afrika. I'm taking 4 porters and 4 guides. The porters all carry .45 Colt wheel guns, guides too. The guides have .375 H&H Double Rifles. I'll carry my Rigby Custom Mauser in .416 Rigby.






Does anybody know where I can get an Elephant mounted. :p

[BowStreetRunner]

the arsenal:
Colt 1911 (with trench magazines-the orignal high caps!)
also a Colt revolver in .45 ACP from WW1 surplus

one of those cool hammer fired pump shotguns from WW1 too
with a bandolier full of 12 gauge shells

and lets see, for long range work, since we are staying with an American theme an springfield '03

[HankB]

Well, I'd be going into deepest, darkest Africa, probably chasing the renegades who were selling really, really, BIG cookpots to the cannnibals. I'd certainly have porters . . . my sidearm would be a 1911, and my hunting battery would have a pair of matched Holland and Holland rifles in something like .475 No. 2 (better check to see when it was introduced), a .416 Rigby bolt action rifle, and a Springfield .30/06. A pump shotgun, of course, would come along. And you AR-15 guys had better get used to not having as many rounds on hand. Uh . . . well, if I had to deal with unruly natives, I'll just have to settle for the 20 rounds in my 1918 BAR.

[Sunray]

A shotgun, a Broomhandle Mauser in the most powerful cartridge then known the 7.63 Mauser(NOT the .45 Colt) and a .375 H&H double rifle. Anything American was virtually unknown in Africa in 1930. No ammo, no parts, no thanks. Alternate to the .375 would be a .303 Lee-Enfield. A Luger instead of the Mauser. I'd stick with the shotgun though.

[Joe Demko]

I guess I'd just have to have a Lewis gun.
If I'm that filthy rich, then I guess I'd need a couple of nicely engraved Webley-Fosberry automatic revolvers, too.
And a similarly decorated "lemon squeezer" for a BUG.
When not in a situation requiring the Lewis gun, a Marlin .45-70 lever action should be helpful and much lighter.
My comedy sidekick should have a sawed-off 12 gauge double barrel. When he uses it, there could be dreadfully amusing sight gags based on recoil and his inability to hit anything.
I want a Luger. Maybe two.
There needs to be a Gatling gun in there someplace, too.
And a leggy, large-breasted redhead who falls for me.
She should have a nickle-plated bulldog pistol of some kind.
One of those early Bergmann SMG's might be handy. The aforementioned redhead could fire it. Visually stimulating effects from the recoil would be a bonus.

[T.Stahl]

I'd feel fine with just an Enfield No1MkIII and a 9mm P08. :)

[Sean Smith]

Hmmm.

I'd special-order a Colt Government Model with match barrel, honed trigger action and improved sights. Yes, you could special-order custom Colts from Colt back then. :D

My subgun would be a Thompson and my rifle would probably be a SMLE.

[Oracle]

Are the .455 Webley top-break revolvers around yet? If so, I'll take one of those, mainly because they are so dang cool.

[Andrew Wyatt]

rifle1: number 1 mk3 .303 with aperature rear sight.

rifle 2: double rifle in one of the express cartriges

pistol: GM.

other handgun: webley mk6

other handgun: I frame smith

shotgun 1: winchester 97

shotgun 2 : short 12 gauge (12 inch or so) double with stock.

[Harold Mayo]

...ethnic-stereotype sidekick...

...Skunkabilly...?:D

[Soap]

I would like to have three guns:

-Custom Rigby with rugged apeture sights chambered in .303 British
-Thompson subgun of some flavor
-1911

[hops]

BAR for the rifle and a Mauser Broomhandle with extention, in case it needs to double for a carabine.

[Navy joe]

I'm toting a pair of 1911s and a Thompson. Naboob the ethnic sidekick gets to hump the BAR in condition III since ethnic stereotype sidekicks are stereotypically firearms unsafe. They are also stereotypically resourceful so him and his brothers had better hop to on mounting the M2 machine gun onto the pet elephant.

How rich am I? Can I bring along a surplus Fokker for fire support/large herd hunting?

[mgjohn]

2 1911 autos

Colt 1903 in 32acp

2 S&W 1917's in 45 acp

Thompson 1921 w/50 round drums

03 Springfield w/scope

Colt BAR

Winchester Model 12 takedown