No, I didn’t buy a bersa, though I looked at them and liked them fine. I think I can get someone to let me shoot theirs before I buy one so i know what they’re going to feel like, and if I can shoot it even reasonably well, that’s gonna be my carry gun. I’ll get two to begin with, and maybe even a Firestorm 22 model to get a lot of trigger time in. I like that they make practically the same firearm in 22.

If, again, I can shoot the damned thing, I think it’s a perfect fit-or as near perfect as I’m likely to get. It fits my hands. It fits my wallet. It’s not ugly. 380 is a solid caliber and the self-defense rounds available for it are no slouches.

I looked at the Walthers, and Roberta is correct, they seem to be sharp and look painful to shoot. They also look like they would snakebite me.

I also looked at the BDA, which is nice but for the thickness of it. If I wanted to carry something that thick I’d tote a 45. Very nice guns, though. I looked at a couple old timers, like a Mauser and a Ferbau. Nice, but spendy and both had a heel type mag release. The LCP is a cool little pistol but I couldn’t hold onto it. The new Sig 238 is cute but correspondingly too small, the 232 is not enough nicer than the Bersa to justify the difference in price. The only model they had at Cabelas was the “Gold” model which was just all over wrong.

On the third hand, in the case was a fairly clean looking little H&R top break 22 for $170. I like the top breaks, and this was a nice example.

They said they’d take $150 for it, so I brought it home. I’ve been wanting a 22 wheelgun for a long time, this is a nice one in that it fulfils all my desires at once: It has a long barrel (6″) it’s a top break (cool!) and it’s new enough that it will handle modern rimfire (though I won’t put any high powered stuff in it). The cylinder isn’t as perfectly timed as it might be, there’s minor sign of lead shaving, and I think I can fix it with a new trigger. In the meantime I’m sure it will shoot reasonably well.

And the guy behind the counter brings out a Daisy V/L.

In PERFECT condition. I mean, SHOWROOM NEW.

With four full boxes of ammo and an open box.

The buttstock has an engraved brass plaque on it which is “From the private collection of” on of the Daisy founders.

You hear of these things, but you rarely ever get to see one with your own eyes. Damn.