a rifle on the wall that's had the firing pin removed
What kind of rifle?
It's what we refer to as an SBR--a Scary Black Rifle--a Russian SKS with a folding stock that a previous owner added long before the ban. I found it at an estate sale. Pretty sure it was someone's Vietnam souvenir at one point.
The SKS is one of those overlooked weapons from history. It's effectively a fixed-mag AK-47 with superior minute-of-angle (it has a longer barrel and more rigid construction, so it's much more accurate). It's a neat little junkyard dog of a rifle, and one of the most reliable firearms ever built. Unlike the modern AK-47, which is constructed from stamped sheet metal (and is still a ridiculously tough weapon), the Russian military-issue SKS's had receivers that were milled from a heavy block of steel and outfitted with a chromed barrel that was threaded into the receiver instead of pinned. The tolerances in the bolt carrier group are so loose they're almost laughable, but that's what makes it such a great little piece; you can drop an SKS in a puddle, pick it up and squeeze the trigger with mud still dripping out of it, and it will go bang and put rounds on target. My issue M4, as well as we get along, might as well be cast from blown glass by comparison.
Mostly, though, it looks great on the wall. I've shot it exactly twice.
