LAST EDITED ON Jan-27-16 AT 01:22 PM (EST)
 
>This week, a little pistol with a pretty big backstory: the Colt 1903
>Pocket Hammerless.

This is one of my favorite handguns of all time, and I can't even explain why. By all accounts I shouldn't like it; the grip is too small for my gargantuan meathooks, as you've noted the (lack of) sights are problematic, I've never cared for Colt's trigger guard styling... but for some reason I've just always loved the way these little guys look.

>This gun has a fairly prominent role in one corner of UF; "gun
>Valkyrie" Gunnr Brynjelfr gives young Anne Cross an enchanted 1903 .32
>Pocket Hammerless from her personal collection in S4M3

And made me say "Oooh, nice!" out loud when I was first reading that piece. Because, well, see above re: favorite guns.

>and it turns up routinely in Anne's appearances
>thereafter. There's also mention of one in Warrior's Legacy,
>as having been the pistol Gryphon carried on "spy jobs" until it met
>with an unfortunate accident off-screen and was replaced by a Makarov.

Which is on my list of pretty guns, but I've never had the pleasure of encountering one in person so I dunno if it's got the right 'feel' to it or not. ('Right' being completely subjective, of course.)

Appearance-wise, the thing that I like about Makarovs is that they look like a pistol version of a German-engineered automobile: precise and clean, without the flamboyant stylings of, say, Ferrari, or the aggressive stance of an American muscle car.

Which is funny, I think, because the Makarovs are Russian and Russian cars are... not pleasing to look at? But some of their guns, they did right.

> (If I were writing that story today, the replacement would probably
>be a CZ 82.)

I'm curious as to your reasoning. Just personal preference, or...?

(The only thing coming to mind offhand is the CZ 82 is ambidextrous whereas the Makarov is not, so left-handed WL!Gryphon might find it more convenient.)

>Next week, we'll look at a much later piece of Mr. Browning's work and
>do a little comparing and contrasting.

And now I'm stuck being all curious about what you're going to pull out next. You are a tease, sir.

>--G.
>* If you're really curious, we can talk about why I
>don't any more, but I didn't want to go into it in the main post,
>since it's not really about this or any specific gun.

I must admit I *am* curious. I've got my own reasons for not carrying, most of which can be traced directly back to my family history of military and LEO types, but I admit I'm a weird duck in that regard since I know quite a few others who have similar family traditions and are... enthusiastic, I suppose, about carrying.

Anyway, if you feel like expounding on your reasons further, I'd be interested.

--sofaspud
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