Wowee, the last two days have been busy…starting with a stop at the CSC plant, rolling up to Running Springs for lunch with my good buddy Twin Peaks Steve, and continuing on into Big Bear to pick up a new toy!
While I was at the CSC plant yesterday, I spotted a brand new metallic blue P-51 (that’s our 250cc model) parked in front of our showroom. It’s a real beauty, it just came off the line, and it’s available now.
This particular P-51 is tastefully customized, including lots of chrome, custom mirrors, polished fork lowers, and chromed billet wheels. Take a look, boys and girls…
Somebody is going to be a very proud owner when that bike shows up in their driveway. It’s awesome.
Two weeks ago, as you blog followers know, I took a ride up to Big Bear to grab some photos for a story I’m doing for my favorite motorcycle magazine (and that, of course, would be Motorcycle Classics). While I was up there, I spotted a Big 5 sporting goods store, and I just had to stop to see what they had.
Big 5 is one of the larger importers of surplus Mosin-Nagant rifles, and as a shooter and a collector of these fine old rifles, I stop in every Big 5 I see.
Well, the Big Bear Big 5 store had a Mosin-Nagant that was absolutely gorgeous with all matching serial numbers, and at the low prices these go for, I pulled the trigger (pardon the pun). It was made in 1930 and it is in exceptional condition. I don’t have photos of it yet, but I will later and I’ll put one or two here on the blog.
Now, you know we live in the People’s Republik of Kalifornia, where we have nutty politicians and even nuttier gun laws. The bottom line is that after buying the rifle two weeks ago, I had to wait for our left-leaning state’s mandatory 10-day “cooling off” period (you know, just in case I was buying a 100-year-old antique Russian rifle to commit a crime). Today was the day I rolled back up to Big Bear to pick up my new toy.
I knew I’d be in Twin Peaks Steve’s neighborhood on my run up to Big Bear, so I emailed Steve and we met for a late breakfast at what has become my favorite breakfast spot in the San Bernardino Mountains, the Old Country Coffee Shop…
We had a great breakfast and we enjoyed a great conversation, including a good talk about last weekend’s company ride up on Glendora Ridge Road. That sure was a fun ride, and Steve, thanks for breakfast today!
On the way out, I grabbed this photo of Twin Peaks Steve up in the mountains…
You probably remember me writing about Steve’s custom Bobber…it’s a magnificent motorcycle (one of the nicest customs we’ve ever done)…
There’s something about the colors on Steve’s Bobber that just really work. It is a very classy bike, and I love that photo.
So, back to the other two topics in this blog’s title…
Let me cover some of the interesting Big Bear stuff first. The Big Bear region is, in a word, awesome. To me, it’s like being up in the Swiss Alps (and yes, I’ve been there). Crisp mountain air, magnificent scenery, awesome roads….you get the idea. And there actually used to be big bears in these parts…grizzly bears, before they were hunted to extinction. Today, the area is inhabited by black bears, which aren’t nearly as big as the grizzlies, but they are still pretty cool. They’ve made lots of movies and TV shows up here (remember Bonanza?), big name boxers and mixed martial arts dudes train up here because of the altitude, and California’s first gold rush actually happened right here. Like I said, this is a cool area, and I love it.
Okay, the last topic of the day…the Russian rifles. These Mosin-Nagants are cool, they are inexpensive, and even though they made more than 17 million of them (starting in 1891), the supply is drying up and the prices are climbing. I bought one a few months ago based on what one of my Cal Poly students told me and I’ve had a lot of fun with it. The trick is to find one with all matching serial numbers.
The first one I bought was in pretty rough condition, but I refinished it and it looks pretty cool now…
These rifles have military-style ladder sights (for lobbing rounds into the next county, I guess)…
About a half dozen companies and Russian arsenals manufactured Mosin-Nagant rifles. Two of the largest were the Russian Tula arsenal, which is what this rifle is (the star with the arrow rolled into the barrel shows it’s from the Tula arsenal). This rifle, as you can see from the imprint, was made in 1940. Right around that time, the quality on these rifles deteriorated sharply as the Soviets were grinding them about during World War II. But this one is an early 1940 model, and the metal work is superb. Note the serial number on this one, too…it’s No. 2339.
Here’s a macro shot of the bolt, which shares the same serial number…
Even the butt plate has the same serial number…
And one more…these rifles come with a bayonet. It’s probably long enough to shish-ke-bob two or three of the guys the Russians fought in World War II…and check out the last photo…the bayonet also has a matching serial number!
I haven’t taken the latest rifle (my newest toy…the one I went to Big Bear to pick up today) out of the box since I came down off the mountain today, but I’ll probably play with it during the weekend and clean the cosmoline off of it. I’m eager to see how it shoots, because the one I have above is amazing…it regularly shoots 1 1/2 inch groups at 50 yards with iron sights. And I guess my enthusiasm is infectious….since I started playing with (and talking about) the rifle above, my friends have bought five Mosin-Nagants for themselves. I probably ought to hit up Big 5 for a commission.
Cool stuff, indeed, and a fun two days for me (but then again, they’re all fun days these days).
So that’s it for now, folks. Ride safe, shoot straight, and keep your powder dry, my friends!
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