So back in B.C. times (Before Children) The wife had a business trip to California and I tagged along. While in San Francisco I did what I did in those days.......picked a direction and walked. At some point I thought I might be in shock from dehydration for I was standing in front of a Gun Store. A gun store in SF Kali-stan!
When I went in and said howdy the folks relived I was not from around there and struck up a conversation with me. I spent the better part of and hour with them. A Johnson Rifle had attracted attention. I had recently fired one back home in Florida and had the hots for one. Something really neat about a recoil operated .30-06 with a spool magazine that can be topped off with stripper clips from the '03.
As I was handing it back I noted one of those .45 C-96-ish pistols in the case. Now as it happens I was a big fan of Mike Grell's "Jon Sable Freelance" comic. Not just for Grell's writing and art, but for his choice of a Studabaker Hawk for his hero's car and guess what for Jon Sable's handgun. Yep, one of the Chinese made .45 ACP C96's. After a bit of handling and "OOOO-ing" and "AH-ing" I handed it back and commented that it was very nice but too expensive for me. The owner then asked if I might be interested in one that was cheaper but not in as good of shape. I laughed and said, "Sure! How many you got?"
Turns out he had a couple of cases of them. Green painted wooden cases with individual wood cells to hold the pistols apart from each other.
The Spousal unit and I had a long talk that night. Unfortunately I saw reason in the need to have a place to live and a reliable food source, but seeing those things was a lot of fun.
Another gun that got away and a big WISHIDA...........
-kBob
