Ever since a military force fielded the first submachine guns, attempts at increasing their firepower have been made by both the engineers that designed them, and the soldiers to whom they were issued. In each case the increased ammunition load defeated the fundamental ideas behind the submachine gun’s concept of “Lightweight and handy”.

Several different methods were attempted by the designers to increase the ammunition load. The most common was the high capacity drum style magazine. The drums had to be loaded by inserting each cartridge by hand into the spiral track; taking care not to knock over the column of rounds already loaded. This task was next to impossible to perform in a low or no light situation. The next step was to wind the spring loaded operator to place tension on the loaded rounds. This would produce substantial noise that could prove fatal in a combat scenario.

The American .45 caliber Thompson Submachine Gun was originally designed to utilize a 50 or a 100 round drum style magazine. The loaded drums added 5 pounds and 8.5 pounds, respectively to the already hefty 10.75 pound Thompson. When equipped with a fully loaded 100 round drum the Thompson’s weight is similar to that of the U.S. 30’06 caliber 1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)! The Finnish Suomi submachine gun also used a 71 round drum magazine that was later copied by the Russians and used in their PPD and PPSh series of submachine guns. The loaded 71 round drum added 4 pounds to the Russian weapon compared to the 35 round box magazine’s 1.5 pounds.

The drums, while certainly providing additional firepower over a conventional box type of magazine, proved unsuited for combat use. The drums were difficult to quickly reload, easily damaged and heavy. They were also more expensive and time consuming to manufacture. The much simpler box magazine was better suited for military use. Virtually every nation that began World War Two issuing drum style magazines was issuing only the box type by the war’s end in 1945. A capacity of approximately 30 rounds seemed to be the optimum load for the box magazine.

Attempts to increase the capacity of the box magazine resulted in a few longer than normal, 50 round capacity versions like that of the British Lanchester submachine gun. The problems encountered were the additional spring pressure needed to operate the follower and the overall length proved somewhat cumbersome. The extended capacity magazines where also difficult to load. The Suomi submachine gun, in addition to a drum, had a unique 50 and 56 round duplex style magazine. These abnormally wide box style magazines held four rows of ammunition rather than the more conventional double or single stack magazines.

Attempts by soldiers in the field to increase firepower were accomplished by taping two, or even sometimes three magazines together. These would be joined together in such a manner, that the after one magazine was emptied it was simply flipped over and the fresh one that was taped to it was inserted into the weapon. The disadvantage, in addition to weight, was the bulky two magazine combination was difficult to carry in a pouch or by any other means.

The Germans attempted to increase the firepower of their very successful MP40 in 1942 by redesigning the magazine housing. The housing was enlarged so that two standard issue double stack, single feed 32 round MP40 magazines could be inserted into the weapon at the same time.

The magazines were mounted side by side. When the first magazine was emptied, the other one could quickly be moved into position by pressing on a lever located at the front of the housing. This would allow the spent magazine to be readily moved out of position, and the fresh magazine, at the same time would be moved into the firing position. Each magazine had a separate release button located at the rear of the magazine housing. According to the Wehrmacht standard operating procedures, the troops moved the full magazine into firing position, then would replace the empty one. This would enable them to have a loaded weapon at the ready while changing out the empty magazine. Both magazines were only emptied simultaneously in extreme situations.

This special high capacity, 64 round MP40 was originally requested to arm Sonderverbaende, or special operations troops. These troops often fought in close intense combat situations and ambushes where a high magazine capacity is highly desirable. In such situations an untimely magazine change could mean the soldiers life.

German troops fighting on the Russian front were also intrigued by a high capacity submachine gun, to match the 71 round firepower of the Russian PPSh41. Any requests made were most likely denied, due to the extremely limited number of dual magazine MP40s produced. The Russian PPSh41 was a favorite weapon of the German troops when captured. They liked its rugged reliability and especially the 71 round drum magazine. Ironically, captured PPSh’s were converted by German armorers to 9mm and adapted to use 32 round MP40 magazines by the use of a magazine adapter, and a new 9mm barrel.

The dual magazine MP40 is often mistakenly referred to as the MP40/II. It was officially listed for the first time in the official Wehrmacht equipment list dated June, 1943 as the gerätenummer (equipment number) 3004-MP40/I. It is not known where the commonly used, but incorrect, MP40/II nomenclature originated. Perhaps from another earlier model mistakenly called the MP40/I.

The early MP40’s were sometimes referred to as simply, the MP40. These earliest models featured a flat magazine housing and a hook style bolt cocking handle. Due to the large number of accidents, a new bolt handle was designed for the MP40 to enable the bolt to be locked into the forward position in the receiver. Most of the early MP40’s were retrofitted with the new safety bolt handle.

Subsequent MP40 models were manufactured with the new safety bolt handle and a ribbed magazine housing. The ribbed housing gave the shooter’s weak hand a better surface to grip, and the ribs also strengthened the housing. This model is commonly referred to, also incorrectly, as the MP40/I. The MP40/I designation of this model was never a German assigned nomenclature for this particular variation.

The dual magazine MP40 is an extremely rare item today. There have been very few known to have survived the war. The ones pictured are both from private collections. Only two other dual magazine MP40s are known to exist. One is in the U.S. Army Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. That weapon is a Steyr manufactured model, dated 1943 serial number 731h. The other is on display in the Imperial War Museum, Great Britain. That example is Erma manufactured, 1943 dated serial number 1144h.

The rarity of the weapon itself suggests that it was not a success. The 12.1 pound loaded weight, and the bulk of the additional magazine made it quite cumbersome for troops. The bulky, protruding sheet metal dual magazine housing could be easily damaged under rough use, and the sliding magazine mechanism could be jammed by dirt. Either scenario would put the weapon out of action. One advantage to the additional magazine weight was it helped keep the muzzle from rising during a long burst of full auto fire.

Only the Firms of Erma Werk (ayf code) and Steyr (bnz code) manufactured the dual magazine weapons in late 1942 and 1943. Other than the special magazine housing itself, the dual magazine MP40 is identical to the more common single magazine models. There are no special markings or designations on the dual magazine weapons. Field stripping and maintenance procedures are essentially the same for both models.

For more interesting information on the MP40 check out the new book “The German MP40” available from Moose Lake Publishing 207-683-2959

A special thank you to Mike Free and Lou Pacilla for allowing me to photograph their rare MP40’s featured in this article.

MK 23 SUPPRESSOR DEVELOPMENT: THE TRANSITION FROM THE COLT TO THE H&K PISTOL

Your faithful correspondent recently had the opportunity to view the genesis of the Offensive Handgun Suppressor by Knight’s Armament Company (KAC). While there is much talk about the newly adopted suppressor and its amazing performance, little is ever shown of exactly “What” makes it function so well. The new system adopted by USSOCOM was an engineering challenge of the first order, and KAC spent over $250,000 and 18 months in the development process. SAR contributor Doug Olson was Chief Engineer on the project, and I managed to talk him into telling the story himself. We hope you enjoy this SAR exclusive look not only into this amazing suppressor, but the intense process that goes into filling a U.S. government firearm procurement.

The development of the Suppressor for the Mk 23 USSOCOM Pistol was a huge challenge. The U.S. Government’s desires for the Suppressor’s performance far exceeded anything that had ever been accomplished commercially. The initial development contracts were released in 1991: one to Colt’s Firearms with Knight’s Armament developing the suppressor and one to H&K with their own suppressor design. The state of the art at that time was the Qual-A-Tec/AWC Technology produced Nexus 45 for the M1911 Colt. That 1991 suppressor only delivered approximately 18db reduction, wet. That was a long way from the 30db dry that the Government was seeking. KAC went through a 12-month development process that resulted in delivery of suppressors for the Colt OHG that in Government tests averaged 28.8db reduction with M1911 ball and 26.6db reduction with +P. The H&K suppressor averaged 22.2db reduction with M1911 ball and 15.2db with +P. That was only part of the story because the KAC suppressor yielded an incredible 36db reduction when water was added to the suppressor. It was obvious why the Government wanted to have the KAC suppressor attached to the superior H&K weapon. That was a very impressive advance in the state-of-the-art in a relatively short time frame.

The Government initially decided that surely KAC could easily convert the design from the Colt’s Pistol to the H&K Pistol with no additional development expenditure and thus decided it would not fund any additional development effort. That erroneous situation was finally corrected and late in 1994 KAC was issued a contract to change its suppressor design to fit the H&K weapon.

The task proved to be a more formidable challenge then even KAC had anticipated. The suppressor for the Colt pistol was attached directly to the frame of the weapon. That meant that the Suppressor for the Colt pistol did not need a booster to force the weapon to function with the additional weight of the suppressor. The job was now to adapt the suppressor to a gun that required a booster, while keeping the performance of the original suppressor.

One area of the suppressor that many still do not understand is how the recoil regulator (booster) works. This is sometimes referred to as a “Nielsen device”. Based on many years of experience with the system, the following will try to explain its function. If one were to mount a conventional suppressor to the barrel of a pistol that uses a short recoil mechanism (like the M1911 or H&K OHG) one would immediately find that the weapon would not cycle semi-automatically. That is because the suppressor mass was added to that of the barrel and slide putting the total mass beyond the design limits of the gun. One could of course reduce the mass of the barrel and slide and change the recoil spring to achieve proper functioning with the suppressed pistol. The problem would be shifted to cycling of the converted pistol without the suppressor. The low slide and barrel mass would result in increased velocities of the parts and the gun would have a greatly reduced service life and increase the risk to the shooter of the slide coming off the back of the gun after firing. Neither of these situations is acceptable.

What then is the solution? It is to allow the mass of the suppressor to move independently of the barrel and slide until after the slide is unlocked from the barrel. A piston is added to the back of the suppressor that attaches to the barrel. The suppressor is thus allowed to move forward along the axis of the piston against a spring load. The propellant gasses that enter the suppressor work to apply a force to the piston head tending to drive it along with the barrel and slide to the rear while driving the rest of the suppressor forward. This “equal and opposite reaction” against the barrel makes the weapon function more or less normally.

What must happen is that the suppressor must reach the end of its stroke AFTER the barrel becomes unlocked from the slide. It is easy to imagine the shock that the barrel sees when the suppressor reaches the end of its stroke. As they say “timing is everything”. Much work was done to make sure the suppressor matches the weapon to provide for equal weapon life with and without the suppressor. Hundreds of thousands of rounds were fired throughout the development and test cycles of the weapon and suppressor.

That also means that a recoil regulator for one type of weapon may not work on another type. That was exactly the situation KAC ran into with trying to adapt the OHG Suppressor onto the smaller H&K USP and Glock pistols. The relative slide and barrel mass of these weapons was, from a dynamics standpoint, very different from that of the OHG. The Tactical pistol’s slide only lived 300 rounds when the OHG suppressor was first tested on the gun. To prevent that from happening, H&K changed the barrel threads from right hand to left hand to prevent the OHG suppressor from inadvertently being fired on the Tactical gun. H&K ran an exhaustive test and developed a special modification to the piston, regulator spring and buffer that provided proper functioning with the Tactical. KAC has built its commercial Tactical suppressors with those modifications and even with springs provided by H&K. It is of note that very few rounds fired from the wrong regulator setup can ruin a gun. It is also interesting to note that the lighter slide and barrels reduces the efficiency of the suppressor and results in a sound pressure level reduction of 3db less.

One of the problems the first generation H&K suppressor displayed was that it loosened from the barrel. When this happened bullet strikes were noted inside of the suppressor and accuracy was lost. The culprit was traced to the barrel to suppressor interface. The interface for the suppressor onto the barrel had to be changed to provide for additional stability. The first generation H&K OHG had threads at the end of the barrel with a single diameter behind the threads to support and align the suppressor. KAC had the interface changed to have two bearing surfaces, one behind the threads and one in front of the threads that provided support at both ends of the interface. Because the pistol itself was so long, H&K could not allow any more length of engagement between the suppressor and the barrel. That meant that the allowable tolerance with which the two diameters on the barrel and the two bores within the piston had to be reduced to keep the allowable misalignment at the end of the suppressor to acceptable limits. Both bores within the piston ended up with +/- .0005 tolerances. It also means that the threads no longer provided any alignment, they simply held the two parts together. An “O” ring was added within the piston that engages the front diameter on the barrel. It acts as a friction device to help keep the suppressor tight onto the barrel. The dual diameter support helps keep the alignment of the suppressor to the barrel even when the suppressor is not tight on the barrel.

When KAC first started to adapt its Suppressor for the Colt OHG to the H&K gun, one of the challenges was to make a piston for the recoil regulator to have geometry similar to the muzzle support for the Colt gun. Contrary to the initial looks, the muzzle device for the Colt gun was designed to be an effective component of the suppressor and not to be any thing special from a muzzle brake design. That muzzle device was responsible for bringing down the sound pressure level of the suppressor by a full 3 db over a straight interface.

The initial suppressor prototypes were fitted to first generation H&K guns and in order to keep the muzzle brake interface as close as possible KAC tried to move the recoil regulator springs to the outside of the can. At first it was thought that four small springs would work, then six, then ten. The small diameter and short springs just too severely limited the stroke of the piston and were finally abandoned. Moving the spring to the inside of the can exposed it to all of the contamination and heat from the propellant gas but there was no option since KAC had to keep within the size limits imposed. The piston, spring and buffer designs all went through a number of iterations before a final design was found that provided acceptable sound pressure level reduction and had proper service life.

Small changes such as increasing the length of the piston where it engages the bore of the suppressor were found to be necessary to allow easy removal and reinstallation of the piston. Since the overall length of the suppressor could not increase and the stroke of the piston could not decrease, the longer piston bearing resulted in a reduction in the total length of the baffle stack. The shorter baffle stack of course reduced the net efficiency of the can. In all the baffle stack had to be shortened by approximately 1/2 inch from that of the Colt pistol to keep the system overall length within the specification. Certainly a quieter suppressor could have been delivered if the length of the can could have been increased. On the commercial side of the suppressor business limits like this are seldom imposed. Designing a suppressor to meet a Government Specification can present a great challenge.

Another problem that KAC accidentally found was that the H&K Pistol would not tolerate any interference between the suppressor and the recoil spring guide rod. The problem is that static measurements do not show the true situation because the recoil spring assembly has a secondary buffer spring. Under dynamic loading, the guide rod can protrude further from the weapon in full recoil than was obvious when taking static measurements. What happened was the suppressor on its return to battery would just tap the end of the guide rod. That tap resulted in a broken slide. Hard to believe? We thought so too, but it happened. The dynamics of this system must be understood to achieve long weapon life.

The end result, the MK23 Suppressor, has set a new standard in suppressor technology. It has been tested with more rounds than probably any other suppressor ever built. At the 1997 Suppressor trials at Knob Creek it produced an unheard of 42db reduction with a little water in the tube (wet). That is quieter than many of the 22 caliber suppressors that were tested. The problem is we know it could have been even quieter had KAC been allowed a little more volume. But the user (USSOCOM) has an excellent piece of hardware that will see service for many years to come.

Knights Manufacturing Company

Dept. SAR
7750, 9th Street S.W.
Vero Beach, FL 32968
(561)778-3700 – Phone
(561)569-2955 – Fax

Most SAR readers will be familiar with Mike Dillon’s name- for many years he has been very high profile in the shooting world. Anecdotes abound, but SAR had the chance to sit down with Mike a little while ago, and the ensuing conversation stretches from the shop, to the office, to the hangar, to the Huey, out over the Arizona desert, following rivers and valleys, then back to a nice Italian restaurant in Scottsdale. Over the course of the conversation we covered many subjects, but in this first part of the interview we will stick to some history of Dillon Precision, Miniguns, Philosophy, Helicopters, Airplanes, Ballistics, Physics, and the learning process that started Dillon on the road to where he is today. In Part II, in SAR Volume 2 Number 3, Mike gets into the dynamics of reloading, specifically for machine guns, and we have his private recipes for Thompsons, 1911’s, M-16 / AR-15’s, Brownings, and a few more… Herewith we begin at the beginning…

SAR: What was your first gun Mike? What’s the first firearm you had?

Mike: The first one? I had a .22 Mossberg semi-automatic rifle. The first machinegun is easier to remember, it was a Tommy Gun; a Model 1921 Thompson. Still have it. I got it back around 1978. A good friend of mine died in an airplane crash. He had introduced me to machine gunning- the crash killed him and another friend of mine and we spent a considerable amount of time settling and locking up his machine shop and settling his estate for his widow. She wanted me to have something from the estate, and she gave me the Tommy Gun and a Star reloader. I guess this was the moment that launched me into the right path in life.

SAR: Was the Star reloader your first reloading machine?

Mike: My first reloading machine was a Lyman Tong tool, that I used to load .45 Long Colt for my Single Action 45 Colt. That was the first centerfire gun I ever owned. No, in retrospect it was probably the second, I think my first centerfire gun was a Winchester 30/30. I really liked that Single Action Colt, but I never learned how to shoot it! My buddy Jimmy Cavenor went out and bought a Smith and Wesson K38 with a four inch barrel. At that time he couldn’t afford a Single Action Colt, (even in those days a Single Action cost more than a K38 did), and I was really mortified that I had this beautiful Single Action Colt that I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with, and he could take this K38 out of the box and nail targets immediately. I could really fan that Single Action at an alarming rate of fire, though.

SAR: What was the target effect?

Mike: All the rounds hitting about 3 or 4 feet in front of my toes- but hitting the target really wasn’t the point- it was fun!

SAR: You’re well known around machinegun circles as being focused on machineguns, belt feds in particular. How did you start into the belt fed guns?

Mike: When I started making loading tools, well, more like messing around with loading tools, I modified that Star tool to .223. We put out a little kit that we called a SUPER STAR KIT. The SUPER STAR name came from Peter Kokalis, who was ridiculing me when he said it of course, but fairly quickly other people were asking me to make other modifications; make a machine to load 30/06 or whatever, and at that point I figured I needed a machine gun to test the results on. I bought a Hudac water-cooled Browning.

SAR: So you were specifically reloading for machineguns- what calibers?

Mike: Basically 30.06, .308, .223 and .45. People would call me up and ask me about their 257 Roberts or something of the sort and they have this problem or that problem, and “Mike, I know you’re an expert so I’d like you to help me with it…” I’d say wait a minute, you have to understand I do consider myself an expert in loading .223, .308, 30.06, .45 but that’s about it . Outside of that I didn’t know a damn thing about reloading.

SAR: When you were first reloading were you using other commercial tools to load for machineguns?

Mike: I never did. I mean I used that modified STAR to load 223 and 45, but I never reloaded any other calibers on anybody’s machine except for the ones that I made.

SAR: Were you driven strictly by a desire for more ammunition to shoot?

Mike: Truthfully, probably not. That is an element of it. I was driven by a desire, no, compulsion is probably a better word than desire, just to build things. I mean I LOVE to build things. I’ve been that way since my earliest memory of sitting on the apartment floor in Brooklyn, New York, pre-school age, building things with an erector set. I adore building things.

SAR: So this passion for building things translated itself into problem solving, and eventually Dillon Precision.

Mike: When I first started the company, I was a full-time pilot for TWA. I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to. First off, I’ve never been a morning person, I don’t start real early. But I worked until I dropped. When I would start working I’d have no trouble with inspiration or adrenaline but the body can’t always keep up with that. I would work often until the sun was coming up, and I would go home after daylight having worked all night long. I had to set a rule for myself in that I would not work in the machine shop once I started stumbling. When I start missing steps I realized I was too tired to be working around machinery. I would keep working around the loading machine and one night I was in about that state, it was probably around 3 o’clock in the morning and I was loading 223 on the RO1000 and I was amazing myself with how fast I could go. I’d go a little faster, a little faster, a little faster until I finally I didn’t get my hand out of the way and my index finger on my left hand was speared by a cartridge case. I actually drove the cartridge case right up inside my finger. It was painful and very irritating, so I took a wrench and took the die out of the tool head. I put the die in the lathe and put a big 45 degree chamfer on the bottom of it so that if I did that again, it would sort of push my finger off. We used this chamfer in many of the dies. The next morning it looked like a major catastrophe had happened in the shop- you could track my blood from the reloader to the lathe and back again. I got so consumed in fixing things that I wasn’t paying attention to the pain.

SAR: Were the Browning guns of particular interest? I notice that you have a lot of variants, and used several different types in Machine Gun Magic.

Mike: Miniguns were the stars of that of course, but the Brownings are a very reliable gun. Probably the most interesting thing to me about the 1919 Browning, was the fact that when I first started reloading you could by H335 powder for about 25 cents per pound. Maybe it was $1.50, but it was still almost free the stuff was so cheap. I bought huge quantities of H335 and used that to load everything. It’s a great 223 powder and it’s an acceptable 308 powder, but it is NOT a 30.06 powder, which I discovered the hard way. I blew up my Browning about 3 or 4 times with it. Burst the case and bowed the top cover and you know how it is with a Browning; the cure is a 3 pound hammer. You drive the top cover back down where it was and you keep on shooting. It’s a good gun. I tried everything I could think of, I mean it said right there in that old reloading manual that the damn powder works for 30.06! I’d load this stuff and I’d get erratic ignition to the powder. I’d get muzzle blast that was enough to knock you off your feet, huge flames out the front for one round and the next round would burn clean. Then you’d get hang fires and the result of the hang fire was it would blow the back out of the case and bulge the top cover. We had some of that ammo tested- I took about ten rounds from right next to the shredded piece of the belt, and the parts of the destroyed cases, and sent them away. Results came back that pressures were erratic, but not all that high. It was one of those educational experiences in ballistics. There are certain combinations of powder and volume of case that you can’t combine. I mean the damn thing just blows up.

SAR: Too much volume?

Mike: To much volume for that powder. So I quit using H335. A748 will produce similar results in a 30.06. You’ll get short cycles because the powder is burning outside the barrel and yet people say it’s a quick burning powder, I can’t tell you what the formula is, but I can tell you that there are certain powders that in large capacity cases DON’T work properly.

SAR: When you say “explodes” it has a certain implication. Do you consider the mechanics of that, the physics of that, to be that the burning propellant gases are expanding and there is too much space for them to expand?

Mike: I think that and there was one other instance which made me decide that there were certain mysteries about powder burning inside the cartridge case that no one understands. Bob Ferris was there one day when I had a hang fire in the Browning. It went ZIP – BOOOOOOOM and ruptured the back of the case, broke the tee slot on the bolt that bolts the top cover, and I said “OK I am not touching this Bob, you come over and tell me what happened”. So he came over and put his hand underneath the ejection port and the case came right out. It looked like a prune. The case was completed collapsed. The hang fire had been just enough to push the bullet out of the case and into the rifling. The pressure in the case wasn’t sufficient to seal the case against the chamber wall. So now when the powder exploded, it was all down the barrel, and it went back alongside the case and crushed the case in the chamber, and blew the back off the case. Once again, the convenient thing with the Browning- you throw another bolt in it, take your three pound hammer and straighten the top cover and keep right on shooting. You haven’t even slowed down for the day. Brownings sure are a wonderful gun.

SAR: As far as belt feds go, it that your personal favorite?

Mike: Well, if it’s going to be mounted on something, probably yes. It’s hard to pass up the Minimi though, a gun that’s a lot of fun, because you can comfortably carry it around.

SAR: So in .223, did you load more for the Minimi or the M16?

Mike: I bought a huge load of linked .223 for the Minimi, so most of my experience would be with the M16 / AR-15 series.

SAR: In loading for the M16 series, have you done any accuracy testing personally or worked with people who were working for accuracy?

Mike: Yes, there were a couple of surprising incidents that led to our present reloading philosophies. We can cover specific recipes later. We went out shooting one morning, and Kokalis had an M16 carbine he had just gotten that little 3 power Colt scope on. I had an M16 and another guy had a Mini 14 and we went up to the range and set up. Pete was shooting his reloads using Hogsden H322. That has a DuPont number. It’s an extruded powder, an IMR powder where the grains are cut so short that it meters just like ball powder. It is the best powder for a small capacity high-pressure cartridge that there is. The silhouette shooters have taken to it. I mean it’s a beautiful powder, it’s great. He shot off a sand bag rest on the bench at 100 yards, getting sub-minute groups with an M16- a machinegun- right out of the box. He then took my H335 reloads and shot those, and they opened up to about 11/2 inches. It wouldn’t have surprised me if my loads didn’t shoot as tight as his just for psychological reasons. What did surprise me is that the group moved about 2 1/2 “ up and about an 1 1/2” to the left. The group was in an entirely different place on the paper, not just higher or lower.

SAR: Same rifle?

Mike: Same rifle. He then shot GI loads in it, which were bloody hot, 3150 feet per second or so. The group opened up to almost 3” and moved to an entirely different spot on the paper. I am thinking, what in the HELL is going on here. As far as throwing a 55 grain projectile, it can’t change where it’s going to go that much just because of a few feet difference in velocity. Why is it moving around the damn page?

SAR: Did you ever get an answer for that?

Mike: Yes. I saw it on television. There was a series on the Discovery Channel or something like it, we called it the education channel at that time. The show was on high-speed photography and one of their examples was photographing a cannon shell being fired out of the barrel of a tank. As this cannon projectile exited the barrel, it was tracked by a high-speed camera. It was painted alternatively black and white so you could clearly see it turning. The camera tracked it from the barrel at right angles all the way down range to the target. This projectile, which had to be 20” long, exits the barrel and as soon as the base of projectile clears the barrel it pitched up, must have been 15 degrees, and then as it tracked it, it pitched down about 14 degrees, up about 13 and down about 12. It kept wobbling its way down range, and you would have thought “Damn, that’s not going to hit anything”. The camera tracked it down range right through the bulls-eye. Right through the center of the target. Now, I understand something about ballistics, that the round comes out of the barrel twirling at 3000 feet per second, which means 3000 rotations per second, in a one in twelve twist. So you take 3000 x 60 to get the RPM and were talking about 180,000 RPM. That why it’s stable- it’s a Gyro. Seeing it made it clear.
OK, but what happens when you put pressure on a spinning object? You get gyroscopic perception, gravity is pushing the bullet down, the instant it clears the barrel, gravity acts on the bullet and upsets the Gyro. The Gyro then, as it’s spinning, returns its path to stability. At what rate it returns it to stability dictates where the bullet is going to go. So in short, any time you change the minutest characteristic of the velocity, pressure, weight, balance, anything at all, the bullet is going to go some place else, because it’s only through this miracle of mathematics that it ever goes straight to begin with and it does not come out of the gun stable.

SAR: Any variable at all can change point of impact, even if the group is tight…

Mike: And there is no way to predict where it will go. That round leaves the barrel in an unstable manner. We learned a lot more than just seeing the theory in action as I just mentioned. Combined with this business of the gun blowing up, and we still couldn’t figure out why these cartridges were blowing up, then I was told that there were experiments where they had transparent chambers where they could high-speed photograph the charge inside the cartridge that was being fired. It never looks the same twice. They said the primer will throw the fire into the propellant, and it will light at the back and burn forward one time, next time it will flash underneath the whole thing, light from the front and burn backwards. The photography showed that every time it is different.

SAR: And that would effect the turbulence of the propellant gasses. So we’re really lucky that we can hit any target.

Mike: That’s right. It’s really about consistency in the firearm and sighting, as well as the ammunition.

SAR: How consistent in the ammunition? I mean, you have the combined input from all the bench rest shooters, the military competitors, plus your own experiences- how close does the powder have to be?

Mike: I’ve always been a pragmatist. If I had to pick a philosopher it would be William James, what works is right, screw the theory. Just go try it and see what happens. We have done a lot of work with the 223. We had results that are so clearly supportive of our position, that I am almost embarrassed to try to pass them on. Let me tell you about our testing. We ran a test with .223 were we had a bench rest shooter who worked for us for years, who was always concerned about the “Ultimate accuracy”. We had him run an experiment one time where he loaded four different batches of .223 ammunition. The first batch using new brass which he neck trimmed, neck turned, trimmed and uniformed all the primer pockets- did everything a bench rest shooter does. He trickled charged the powder into the cases, used all the fancy bench rest in-line dies to load the stuff with. That was at one end of the spectrum and in the decreasing steps the fourth batch of ammunition was mixed brass that had been fired, some had been fired once, some had been fired three times, we made no effort to determine what they were. We ran this mongrel batch through our electric size trimmer, that sizes and trims simultaneously, and stuck the brass into a 550 and reloaded progressively for the whole batch.
He then shot the batches of ammunition with other people loading his rifle for him, so he couldn’t see which round he was shooting. We sent a fairly substantial sample of the four batches of ammunition to a major scope manufacturer who shot it in their tunnel. The results were consistent between the stuff that Darryl shot here and the stuff the other company shot.

SAR: So you had four control groups , and you had two testing facilities duplicating the test. When he was firing he didn’t know what he was firing, but he did each control group on paper for record.

Mike: Right

SAR: He had no idea which one he was shooting….

Mike: And that was the same way with the people in the tunnel, they didn’t know what each group was, only that they were in groups. Clearly the best accuracy came from the stuff that was slam-banged together. Size, trim, stuck on the progresser and loaded.

SAR: The mongrel group was the most accurate? I used to trickle every grain in my hunting ammo- it took hours. What theory do we apply to this in reverse? Have you come up with one?

Mike: No, I mean that there are a lot of things that people are concerned about that have no effect. There have been numerous tests were you could maul the front of the bullet and it has virtually no effect, but you touch the back of the bullet and it just goes to HELL. There are things that appear to be important, but aren’t. Powder charges being to the absolute last grain, or piece of a grain of powder has very little effect on accuracy. A half grain variation on a powder charge, like a 50 grain charge or even a 1/2 grain variation in a 25 grain charge. I am sorry, you can’t find it on a target, it isn’t there.
Darryl’s explanation was that probably one of the most important things is that the brass has been fired before. That he was actually handicapping the bench rest loads by using new brass.

SAR: Did you put this information out to the shooters?

Mike: On numerous occasions he took presses to the range during the bench rest rifle competitions, and demonstrated for people that progressive ammunition shot just as good or better as their tweaked ammunition. A friend of mine named Don Carper, who was associated with our company for awhile, had a distributorship over in California where he distributed our product back in the early days. He has retired from the shop he had, now he’s just a shooter and he goes out with this 5 gallon pail of 223 and shoots prairie dogs. Don told me that at first everyone said “Oh, we can’t have that much accurate ammunition because it takes too long to load. He’s converted virtually everybody to the fact that he hits just as many prairie dogs as anybody else does. Ammunition off of a progressive press.

SAR: You realize that for the next three months Mike, that everyone that has a re-loader is going be doing this test.

Mike: (With a big smile) Great!

SAR: I know I am going to be testing this.

Mike: The powder charges need to be accurate, they need to be pretty close. The first press we made was the AR1000, everything was automatic then. Powder measure was extremely accurate, I had the Army Marksmanship Unit come in and they wanted to know how accurate our powder measure was. I told them there is no sense in me BS’ing you , I am not a accuracy shooter. Here is the press, here is a whole variety of powders, here’s a scale- knock yourself out. You determine how accurate it is. So they worked with it for about 3 hours and they came out and said we’re getting 3/10th of a grain variation on 55 grain charge of extruded stick powder. I was impressed. Then he asked me if we couldn’t do any better than that.
That floored me! I said what in the HELL are you talking about? You’re going to tell me you can find 3/10th of a grain out at a 500 yard target? He laughed and said “No, of course not, but if the Son of a Bitch shooting the ammo knows there’s any variation in powder, then every “flyer” he has on the target is going to be my fault”. They bought two units, and used them.

SAR: Other than the reloading products, Dillon Precision is known for the Miniguns. When did you put your first one put together?

Mike: 6 or 7 years ago

SAR: There are a number of changes that you have made to the design- evident at the NDIA shows among others.

Mike: The only real “changes” that we are responsible for are in the feeder de-linker. We have incorporated what you call “SLAP round guides” in all of our feeder de-linkers. It’s an integral part of the feeder de-linker rather than a bolt-on accessory that goes inside it. It gives us a lot of advantages- any length cartridge will feed in it- it positions the cartridge to feed into the gun off of the shoulder of the case rather an off the point of the bullet. This means we can use short blanks. The military designed the system so they could use SABO penetrator rounds, sometimes referred to as “SLAP” rounds. The system they came up with was a bolt-on snail guide. It had to be positioned inside the feeder de-linker, which was a real pain in the neck to do. We’ve incorporated it as part of the casting of the endplate. Actually, we have changed much of the design of the internal part of the feeder de-linker, while retaining a few of them as standard. A few of them can be modified rather than replaced. Probably the most interesting change we made is evident from the outside. We are replacing the entire mid-section of the housing with a unit that has a hatch in it. The Minigun that has this modification can be loaded much like a Browning A4. Rather than having to twist the barrels and disassemble the unit if you get a jam, now you just open the hatch and clear the jam.

SAR: There was a clutch system on the back of the Miniguns that I saw downstairs.

Mike: GE designed a clutch for the gun a number of years ago that really changes the way the gun operates. I remember reading in Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger where he was talking about the guys going in a helicopter to do a jungle extraction, and as they were firing the Miniguns, and after the barrels were spinning you would press firing switch and fire the gun. I don’t where he got that weird piece of information, because that’s not the way the clutch operates. When you pull the trigger it engages the clutch, which is clutching the feeder de-linker. When the gun is turning and firing the feeder de-linker is clutched to the gun, and therefore it’s turning and feeding ammunition into the gun. When you let go of the trigger it de-clutches the feeder de-linker but continues to put power to the drive motor for another one to two revolutions of the Minigun, so that everything in the gun fires out. The barrels are always empty. In the past the feeder de-linker performed the same service but it did it by throwing 6 – 12 rounds of loaded overboard at the end of the burst. You don’t like to do that because you are throwing away a lot of ammunition- especially if you’re shooting a series of short bursts. The other problem is that without the clutch you might throw only 6-7 rounds overboard, which meant if you had a little drag you might still have a loaded barrel in the gun. With the clutch system, when you let off the trigger, there will be no rounds in the gun and the feeder de-linker is fully loaded and ready to feed into the gun. No cook off, no vibration of the gun turning it another degree and firing it. So the gun is always clear.

SAR: Is this clutch something that can go on any Minigun?

Mike: It’s a straight add-on. You just pull the drive gear off the back of the rotor and slide the clutch in. As long as the rear of the gun is accessible, you can do it without even taking the gun apart. I tried to buy clutches from General Electric, and they wanted an enormous amount of money for them and so I finally got a set of drawings and we made our own castings and now we’re making the clutches ourselves.

SAR: You could fire a two round burst from a Minigun?

Mike: You can sit there and fire a two-round burst out of the gun now. Before if you fired a two round burst you’d throw 8,9, or 10 rounds overboard in the unloading after you let off the trigger. I wanted my guns to be equipped exactly the way the military guns are equipped, because we are developing some products for them.

SAR: Was the military clutch installed to save ammunition or for safety?

Mike: I think their prime motivation for the clutch had to do with the SLAP round. Once you put the SLAP round guide in the gun you no longer have the option of throwing loaded rounds overboard, it shuts off that gate where you threw the loaded rounds out. Actually they have found you can cut the slap round guide off a little short and still throw loaded rounds overboard, but in the initial approach to it they figured that putting the SLAP round guide in required the installation of the clutch

SAR: At SAR we’re hearing of a resurgence of the Minigun being used in special operations units in various countries around the world. Is that something you are seeing as well?

Mike: There does seem to be that, I do believe the gun has been used more than anybody realized because it was by the special operation groups that don’t want or get a lot of publicity. The Minigun has been used all along as a “STAY THE HELL OFF MY HELICOPER” gun. It is an excellent defensive weapon and it gives you a lot of fire power- which translates into time. Miniguns allow you to send a lot of lead at your enemy, and to keep it up for a very long period of time. It’s not unusual in these installations to have magazines that hold 5,000 rounds, and to have multiple magazines. Many of these rescue helicopters carry 20,000 rounds of ammunition for the guns.

SAR: Is there a recommended burst rate that should or should not be exceeded?

Mike: Well, it’s a common misunderstanding that the gun fires 6,000 rounds per minute. It doesn’t. There were a few rare installations that with a linkless feed system would fire 6,000 rounds per minute, but the most common rates of fire are 2,000 rounds or 4,000 rounds. Some of the services are beginning to think that the multiple fire rates are not desirable, that a single fire rate of about 3,000 rounds per minute probably makes more sense. Now that the clutches are there, the low rate of fire doesn’t make much sense because you can fire a short burst out of the gun.

SAR: Is there an amount of ammunition that you shouldn’t exceed in firing a Minigun?

Mike: The GE engineers tell me that if you fire 3,000 rounds in a single burst of 3,000 rounds that you maybe flirting with structural problems in the barrel assembly, over heating and what not. With 6 barrels that’s only 500 rounds per barrel. As of yet I haven’t had a big enough magazine to fire mine with 3,000 rounds, but we soon will and will find out what it does.

SAR: Dillon Precision is now manufacturing the Minigun as a complete system.

Mike: Correct. We are manufacturing for military contracts only, for liability reasons. One of my customers contacted me after the last Knob Creek shoot, sending a fairly hostile letter. He said that I wasn’t supporting the Second Amendment because I wasn’t willing to sell these guns to the general public, and that two different people had told me that they needed parts and that I wouldn’t service them. I was a little irate because the two people that needed parts I had given the parts to, and the issue was that they were complaining that I said a bolt head was a $300.00 item. I am sorry, it IS a $300.00 item and if someone is willing to make them for less than that, please call me I’ll buy them from them.

SAR: There is a different between buying surplus equipment that was bought at scrap prices and manufacturing new, quality equipment in modern facility. That definitely would show a difference in price. We don’t need in-fighting on this.

Mike: Indeed. The company that called me, I won’t tell you who it was, had allegedly damaged somebody’s Minigun with bad ammunition and they wanted to fix it. They were asking to get these parts, and I said I am really not comfortable selling this stuff domestically because of the liability problem. I suggested that they call Neil Smith. That is his business, and I am sure he wouldn’t mind selling the parts. He’s very knowledgeable on Miniguns. I said if he can’t supply you, come back to me, be aware that this is probably a $300.00 part. Then I get the story back from Knob Creek that I am trying to hold this guy up for $300.00! I called this guy back and said I was a little incensed by this. I gave him the parts – free – stuck them in an envelope and sent them to him with no bill. What more do you think I could have done to have been a “Good guy”?

SAR: Flown out there and put them in

Mike: (Laughs) Right…..

SAR: The Minigun is a little bit more complex than most firearms are.

Mike: I consider it the most dangerous gun I have ever laid my hands on. Not because it can throw a lot of bullets fast, but because it has 6 barrels and not until you become fully acquainted with the gun, and fully acquainted by making mistakes with it, do you gain the respect for the gun that you should have. We go to enormous lengths for safety when we shoot the gun. Our guns are spiked until we are on the range, facing down range, away from everybody and there is no chance that the gun is pointing at anybody, and that everybody is clear. We literally spike our guns, passing 5/16 steel rods down between the barrels so they can’t turn, and while they are spiked the safing sector and firing cover are removed, and we don’t put them on. We go step by step by step by step, so the gun becomes less safe, less safe, less safe and the very last thing we do is reach round and pull the spikes out of the gun, so the barrels can turn.

SAR: Is your preferred method of shooting the Miniguns as duals in the Quad mount?

Mike: First, the Minigun has to be mounted to something heavy. It’s got up to 600 lbs of thrust when it is firing and I prefer to have it mounted to something that weights 2500 lbs. The quad-mount is a delightful way to shoot the gun, because you have total control over it and you can sit there in comfort and electrically power the guns around where you want them to go.

SAR: This was in that world famous video that you made “Fire Storm In the Desert”.

Mike: That setup was the star of the show. We don’t really want to reveal all of our secrets in the magic of making the movie.

SAR: We at SAR don’t mind the occasional “Patented Shameless Plug” Mike. Do you still have that available?

Mike: Of course! We’ve also had a sequel in planning ever since we made the first one. The mistake I made was that I should have gone out 6 months later and just made another one. I’ve been trying to make it so big and so grandiose, that we’ve been 6 or 7 years now in preparation and we’ve still haven’t gotten started on it yet. We have all sorts of props ready, but the main filming hasn’t been started.

SAR: I take it that means you don’t have a release date yet in mind

Mike: That would be a fair evaluation.

SAR: You’ve been doing some other theatrical work with the Miniguns recently.

Mike: We had a real interesting one that came in from England. Stembridge Gun Rentals from Hollywood had been working over in Ireland on a show and these guys were talking about a fellow named Jeremy Clarkson who writes a column and has a TV show on the BBC. It’s about cars and he is a humorous evaluator of different cars, and they had done a video last year that they had sold very successfully where he evaluated several cars and then destroyed the ones that he didn’t like. They wanted to make a better one this year. Jeremy called us up and asked us if we could shoot a sports car for them. We said of course! (Mike now has a huge grin) One thing led to another, then led to another, then led to another as the project escalated and we ended up using the Hughes 500 with dual Miniguns on it, with all sorts of special ammunition loaded for them. We used a Corvette which we radio controlled, then we put a radio controlled crash dummy in the Corvette that could shake his head and look in different directions. Jeremy came over and we put the corvette on a dry lakebed that was 5 miles in diameter and then shot the hell out of it with the helicopter mounted Miniguns.

SAR: And that was on British television?

Mike: Yes, and it’s become a British video that’s been distributed over there and called “Apocalypse Clarkson”. The working title was “Jeremy Clarkson Out of Control” but after they got back and viewed the helicopter footage and what not, they decided to call it “Apocalypse Clarkson”. It’s a good video. It probably will never be distributed over here, but it’s a fun video.

SAR continues the interview with Mike Dillon in next month’s issue- wherein we get to divulge Mike’s private recipes for machine gun ammunition- don’t miss it!

While machine guns were used in real conflicts since the Matabele War in 1893, followed by the Boer War (1899 – 1902) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904 – 1905), the First World War changed views on full automatic infantry weapons forever. Mobile warfare required portable automatic weapons, and to a great extent machine gun development mutated from tripod or wheeled carriage mounted water cooled machine guns, to lighter guns, which were air-cooled and magazine-fed. These new guns were called light machine guns or automatic rifles depending who was talking about them. The Danish Madsen light machine gun originally designed by Jens Torring Schouboe, was one of first LMG designs available at that time. It was followed by Lewis, Chauchat and a few others, which were all fired in anger during the Great War.

During the First World War, a serviceable machine gun was almost worth its weight in gold. If the machine gun was a highly prized war “booty” for major armies like the Germans, French and British, one can anticipate how smaller nations like Finland greatly regarded captured machine guns. After the WWI, a newborn Finnish Army had a limited number of machine guns and an even more limited number of man portable light machine guns. In the latter category the most common types were the German MG 08/15 and its less successful aircooled variation, the MG 08/18, both in original caliber 7.92 x 57 mm. The MG 08/15’s and MG 08/18’s were acquired from German expeditionary forces and purchased from France in 1919. Other LMG types including the Lewis, French Chauchat and the Danish Madsen were captured in small numbers from Soviet-Russian forces or Soviet-backed Finnish Red Guards. Some Lewis light machine guns, mainly in caliber 7.62 x 54 R, were imported after the war. To meet increasing needs for maneuverable warfare and to standardize a miscellaneous selection of automatic weapons, the Ordnance Department of Finnish armed forces selected the Danish Madsen LMG in 1920. Until 1928, the Finnish Army and National Guard purchased more than 700 Madsen light machine guns of various models from Denmark, mainly in caliber 7.62 x 54 R. Although in the early 1920’s Finns even aspired to license manufacturing of the Madsen, it was later considered too complicated and liable to malfunctions in the Finnish northern climate. However, it is also quite obvious that buying armament from abroad was quite hard for the economy of a young nation.

At this point, the L/S-26 light machine gun arrives on stage. In the early 1920’s young ordnance NCO Aimo Johannes Lahti (1896 – 1970) designed a submachine gun which later became the renowned Suomi M1931 SMG. At that point in time, the submachine gun wasn’t yet considered a serious military weapon. Therefore, his supervisors urged Lahti to develop a new light machine gun as the army was looking for a successor for the Madsens and MG 08’s. Lahti started to develop a light machine gun, first at his own expense, and after October, 1924, with an official assignment from Ministry of Defense.

In October of 1924, the Finnish Ministry of Defense established the Light Machine Gun Committee (Pikakiväärikomitea), to select a new LMG for the Finnish armed forces. While the LMG Committee was officially selecting a new weapon, it was quite obvious that they would all rather that the new LMG would be of Finnish design and manufacture as opposed to an imported one. Certain specifications, including that it should operate properly with the Finnish 7.62 x 53 R (*) service round, gave some advantage to a native design.

* The 7.62 x 53 R is a Finnish designation for the Russian/Soviet rimmed 7.62 x 54 R round. Despite a different name, the Finnish round is interchangeable with the 7.62 x 54 R.

Although Lahti had independently developed a submachine gun, to the bureaucrats he was only a self-educated inventor without any formal competence in small arms designing. Therefore lieutenant (later general-major) A.E. Saloranta was appointed as Lahti’s instructor and supervisor. Lieutenant Saloranta, who later became an important character in Finnish military small arms circles, had studied ordnance technology at the Royal Danish Military Academy. Perhaps due to this, it was quickly apparent that Lahti and Saloranta couldn’t work together, so Lahti continued his design work alone. While not close friends, Saloranta later helped Aimo Lahti to get sufficient compensation for his design, as Lahti had designed the L/S-26 mainly at his own expense, and the government at first refused his compensation. While the L/S-26 is a brainchild of Aimo J. Lahti, from the viewpoint that Saloranta worked on it, and helped Lahti with his government contract, it is justified that Saloranta has his name in that designation as well.

General-Major Saloranta’s career was a contradictory one. He was associated with the ill-fated “Lining Affair” (refurbishing worn-out Mosin-Nagant M1891 barrels by lining them using a so called Salerno-method) and the inoperative administration of the State Rifle Factory, which caused lengthy delay of issuing the first L/S-26’s to Finnish armed forces. Later he designed a military pistol which was, however, rejected in favor of Lahti’s L-35, and the Salobellum .22 rimfire conversion kit for the Parabellum pistol.

The first LMG prototype chambered for the 7.92 x 57 mm round was finished in the summer of 1925. In comparative trials arranged during the late part of 1925, the L/S-26 was fired against the Madsen, Swiss Ferrer MG 25, Colt-made BAR 1918, Anglo-French design Vickers-Berthier, French Hotchkiss and Italian Breda. After trials the L/S-26 light machine gun was found the most suitable type, and it was officially adopted on August 13, 1926, as “Pikakivääri m/26”, better known as the Lahti-Saloranta 26 or simply, the L/S-26.

As stated above, it took almost four years before the first L/S-26 light machine gun manufactured by VKT was issued to the Finnish Army in 1930. Established in Jyäskylä„ to manufacture the L/S-26 light machine guns, Valtion Kivääritehdas (State Rifle Factory) or VKT had serious administrative and technical problems with starting production of the L/S-26.

When production finally started in 1930, about 500 guns per year were manufactured. The last batch of the L/S-26 light machine guns was delivered to the Army in 1942. Altogether around 4700 L/S-26 light machine guns in caliber 7.62 x 53 R were fabricated for the Finnish Army. The main reason for ceasing production during WWII was that twice as many (around 10,000) Soviet DP light machine guns were captured from the Red Army. Nicknamed the “Emma” (*) by Finns, the gas-operated DP was highly respected by many first-line units, particularly due to its exceptional reliability in extreme conditions. The DP and its armoured vehicle variation known as the DT, became the standard weapons of the Finnish Army during WWII, and the Finnish arms industry started manufacturing magazines and spare parts for captured Degtyarev light machine guns.

* The Emma waltz was performed by various artists since 1929, and was one of Finland’s top hits in the 1930’s and during WWII, but why is the DP called “Emma”? The connection between a gramophone turntable and DP’s 47 rd flat drum magazine was obvious…

When Finland became involved in WWII in November 1939, the L/S-26 was the principal light machine gun of the Finnish armed forces. Virtually all existing stockpiles of the MG 08/15s, MG 08/18s and Madsens were sold abroad in the early 1930’s. The number of existing L/S-26’s was insufficient for a war-time army, but the situation became far better as Degtyarev LMGs captured from Soviet forces in large numbers during the Winter War (1939 – 1940), and the Continuation War (1941 – 1944) provided needed relief.

No commercial success

In early 1930’s Aimo J. Lahti developed an improved variation of the L/S-26 which accepted a 75 round drum magazine. Known as the L/S-26/31 it was originally intended as an observer’s machine gun for aircraft, but was soon adapted for ground use. The first models were designed to accept a 75 rd drum only, but very quickly they introduced a model which accepted both box and drum magazines. After minor modifications it was renamed as the L/S-26/32. The L/S-26/31 or the L/S-26/32 was officially adopted by the Finnish Army, while the few guns remaining at the VKT factory were put into service during the Winter War.

VKT invested a lot of money for marketing Lahti designs, but the improved models of the L/S-26 successors gained no significant commercial success. In the early 1930’s, VKT offered Lahti-designed machine guns and machine cannons to several European and South American countries, but without success. All that was changed in 1937, when the National Chinese government ordered 40,000 LS-26/32 LMG’s in caliber 7.92 mm Mauser. The first batch of 1200 guns was delivered to China in 1937. Soon after that the Japanese government asked the Finnish to cease arms sales to China. Although this single sale would have compensated all the establishment cost of the VKT factory at Jyväskylä, politics played a more important role. In addition to the 7.62 x 53 R and 7.92 x 57 mm caliber models, the prototypes were also made for the 6.5 x 51 mm Arisaka, 7 x 57 mm, 7.65 x 53 mm Argentine Mauser, .303 British and 8 x 56 R Solothurn (Hungarian) cartridges.

Recoil operated

The L/S-26 light machine gun fires from an open bolt and operates by the short recoil principle. The short recoil principle means that at the early stages of the recoiling stroke, the barrel and bolt engaged on the barrel will withdraw together for a short distance. Motion of the barrel discontinues, and the bolt continues alone on its backwards path. When the bolt comes back with a fresh round, it will chamber the cartridge and engage again on the barrel assembly. If the recoil operated gun fires from an open bolt, the striker will usually hit the primer before the barrel assembly is fully in the battery position. This principle is often referred to as “advanced ignition” or “floating fire”.

The L/S-26 works just that way. The upper receiver and barrel shroud permanently mated on the upper receiver, comprises the cradle for the barrel assembly. The upper receiver has bedways for the barrel assembly, and a guideway to control locking block movement. The muzzle of the barrel rests against the front of the barrel shroud, which serves as the bearing surface for the barrel. The L/S-26 barrel assembly includes a long, tubular barrel extension, which houses the bolt. The barrel extension has a tilting locking block that is connected on the receiver guideway via a pivot arm. The locking block will rise and fall according to the barrel extension movement. The barrel extension also includes an accelerator lever, which pushes the bolt backwards while the locking piece disengages from the bolt. The accelerator used with the L/S-26 also appears on other Lahti designed recoil operated small arms including the L-35 pistol. The barrel assembly weighs 5.11 lbs (2.32 kg), and the cyclic rate is moderate, 450 – 550 rpm depending on the ammunition used. The highest rates of fire in 7.62 x 54 R caliber weapons can usually be obtained with the Soviet silver tipped “LPS” light ball, which is usually judged the hottest service ammunition available for this caliber.

The upper receiver has a hinged top cover, which houses the cocking handle assembly. The cocking handle engages the bolt from above. It has no return spring, so it requires manually returning it to the front position.

Many gas-operated machine guns firing from an open bolt have fixed firing pins, which will hit the primer as the bolt goes to battery. Recoil operated L/S-26 employs a different and more complex system. The L/S-26 has a horizontally moving striker, which cocks as the bolt goes rearwards, and releases when the bolt goes to battery. The striker assembly is located inside the recoil spring capsule in the buttstock. The striker/recoil spring assembly is an Achilles’ heel of the system, and it is highly liable to jams while dirty or greased during the cold weather. Keeping the capsule absolutely dry and clean was a lesson learned the hard way during the early stages of the Winter War. The pre-War period Finnish Army regulations distinctly forbade disassembly of the lower receiver for all except armourers. The Winter War lessons were learned here, too, and regulations were checked. I have an army ordnance department manual printed in 1942, which gives instructions for disassembly of the striker/recoil spring assembly. However, those soldiers who received their advanced training with the National Guard (Suojeluskunta) knew well what was required to keep L/S-26 firing in the deep freeze of the Winter War.

The L/S-26 selective fire trigger mechanism provides both single shots and full auto fire. The sliding fire selector is located between the magazine catch and trigger guard. The selector has no markings, but it fires full auto on forward, and when pulled backwards it fires single shots. The safety is mounted just in front of the trigger guard. As the L/S-26 fires from an open bolt and employs a vertically moving striker, no hammer is required. The trigger mechanism has a tripping sear similar to most submachine guns. The L/S-26 trigger mechanism was nothing special, but in the pre-WWII era the construction of the trigger mechanism was classified as top secret. Revealing the construction details to foreigners, especially to those of the Soviet Union, would have been judged as treason.

The trigger mechanism, recoil spring and striker assembly are mounted on a separate lower receiver, which covers the receiver at the back and bottom. The lower receiver also mounts the buttstock assembly.

The L/S-26 has a heavy fluted and tapered barrel with a length of 19.7 inches (500 mm). The barrel is mounted on the barrel extension by means of a thread. The barrel assembly includes the barrel, barrel extension and bolt can be removed in the field, but as each assembly requires a specific bolt with correct, individually fitted headspace, it is not a true quick change barrel. Most L/S-26’s were originally issued with an additional barrel assembly carrying the same serial number. The spare barrel assembly, which is called the “Varamekanismi” in Finnish (the spare mechanism) was stored and carried in a scabbard made from leather or later from birchwood. As most L/S-26’s saw hard usage during WWII, spare barrel assemblies are currently scarce. Owning a gun and a spare barrel assembly with the same numbers is more than good luck.

The barrel shroud has an internal thread, which mounts the flash hider and alternatively, the blank firing attachment. A separate blank firing barrel assembly, the “Paukkupatruunamekanismi” (blank firing mechanism) was used with the BFA. A spanner wrench was used for fastening/dismounting the flash hider and blank firing attachment. The spanner wrench is a part of a combination tool including wrench, hammer and screwdriver. Blank firing barrel assemblies were usually converted from worn-out or rejected parts.

The magazine is mounted by the common method underneath the receiver. The 7.62 x 53 R caliber L/S-26 has a curved, staggered row 20 round box magazine. The L/S-26 box magazine has tapering lips so that it will feed from a single position at the middle of the magazine. Five to ten magazines were issued for each gun, varying by the date of delivery. Carrying the L/S-26 magazines in the field was accomplished with an issued olive drab canvas bag with a shoulder strap.

Two magazine filling tools were issued for the L/S-26 20 round box magazine. The most common type was a simple depressor crudely made from sheet steel. The other type was a sophisticated magazine filling machine manufactured by VKT. The magazine filling machine was better suited for arsenal use than for front-line use under fire.

The L/S-26/32 came into Finnish service during the Winter War. The LS-26/32 has a removable magazine well, which allows the use of both 20 round box and 75 round drum magazines. In the Winter War, most 75 round magazines were issued for the Finnish Air Force, who needed them even more desperately than the ground forces did. As the drum magazines were not available for the L/S-26/32, most guns had the removable magazine wells welded or pinned in place to accept 20 round box magazines only.

Sights are slightly offset to the left because of the wide receiver. The rear sight mounted on the receiver cover has a sliding tangent arm graduated from 300 meters to 1500 meters with 100 meter steps. The foresight is mounted on the tall post attached over the barrel shroud. Detachable anti-aircraft sights were also developed for the L/S-26.

Scoped L/S-26’s are not pictured in any books or included in public collections, but a few guns were converted, apparently on field level, to accept a prismatic sight taken from the 32/33 (Finnish Maxim) machine guns. These guns, as well as scoped Maxims, were used as counter-sniper weapons to eliminate Soviet snipers.

The L/S-26 has a folding bipod mounted near the muzzle. Similar to most other designs of its era, the L/S-26 bipod is machined from solid steel with fixed height legs, but with provisions for rotating and canting the gun while it is standing on the bipod. The bipod was not liked by many of those L/S-26 or DP gunners of the Finnish Army who were on long range patrols or otherwise involved in mobile warfare. The bipod was not considered necessary when the L/S-26 was fired at short distances in the forests, the gun was fired from an underarm carry position using the sling as a support, or it was alternatively supported over the gunner’s rucksack or a natural rest.

No tripod was developed for the L/S-26. Instead of that, the Army developed an anti-aircraft mount, which was constructed over the Army issue rucksack’s tubular metal frame. The AA-mount/rucksack was intended to be worn on gunner’s assistant while the gunner stood behind him and fired upwards. The L/S-26’s AA-mounts were never made in quantity.

The L/S-26 furniture, including the buttstock and pistol grip panels, are made from birchwood. The buttstock has a steel buttplate, and some examples were fitted with a hinged shoulder strap.

The manufacturing methods of the L/S-26 were both expensive and complex, similar to many other small arms of the same era. Most parts for the L/S-26 were laboriously milled from solid steel billets or forgings, with very close tolerances. In practice the tolerances are too close to expect that the gun would operate properly in adverse conditions. This became very clear during the cold days of the Winter War, when temperatures dropped below -40 degrees Fahrenheit. In these conditions it requires very careful maintenance and absolutely no oil. Properly prepared, the L/S-26 will cycle reliably in freezing weather. However, it got a bad reputation among Finnish troops due to problems with reliability, which were after all caused by improper maintenance.

The L-34 – an unsuccessful rival

From this author’s current viewpoint the recoil principle looks like too complicated an operating method for a mil-spec shoulder fired weapon, but in the early 1920’s it was an obvious choice. Many authorities were attracted by the reliability of the Maxim machine guns. Conversely, gas operated guns were usually judged as being more unreliable designs- like WWI-vintage French Hotchkiss machine guns.

In the late 1920’s some high-ranking army officials started speculating about adopting a new gas operated machine gun. Some early attempts were made to adopt the 1918 BAR, which was adopted a few years earlier by the Swedish Army as the Kulspruta m/21. However, the ordnance department suggested the creation of a domestic design. In 1934 Aimo Lahti was assigned to develop a new gas operated LMG. Lahti had already sketched a gas-operated weapon, so it took only one month to finish the new LMG, which was later known as the L-34 “Sampo”. The L-34 was an outstanding light machine gun, in different circumstances it would have been a serious rival for the Bren/Czech ZB-series. It has a gas piston mounted beneath the barrel, a quick change barrel and a top mounted magazine. In addition to that, the L-34 was more than 2.2 lbs (1 kg) lighter than the L/S-26. The L-34 would have been simpler and cheaper to manufacture than the L/S-26.

The Ordnance department seriously considered replacing the L/S-26 with the new L-34, so seriously that in 1935 production of the L/S-26 was almost ceased. However, all of the Army officials rejected the gas operated L-34, and the L/S-26 was placed back into production.

Later Lahti’s designs were mostly gas operated: L-34 heavy machine gun chambered for the French 13.2 x 99 mm cartridge, the 20 x 138 mm caliber L-39 anti-tank rifle and the 7.62 x 53 R caliber L-41 general purpose machine gun.

Production numbers of the LS-26 and its derivatives were limited. Altogether around 4700 LS-26 light machine guns were delivered to the Finnish Army in 7.62 x 53 R caliber. As described above a limited number (around 50) of 7.62 x 53 R caliber L/S-26/32 were used during WWII. Most LS-26/32’s were built in 7.92 x 57 mm for China.

The L/S-26 served the Finnish Army throughout WWII, and also during the post-war period until it was replaced in the early 1960’s with the 7.62 x 39 mm M43 caliber belt-fed KVKK 62 (KVKK = kevyt konekivääri – light machine gun). However, the L/S-26’s remained in FDF inventory until 1986. Some guns were destroyed, while others were sold to collectors.

May 18, 1998, dawned dry and bright at the Albany, Oregon, Rifle and Pistol Club range. As the sun rose and quickly burned off patchy fog, numerous small, puffy white clouds appeared. The sun had considerable warmth to it. After a long succession of overcast, showery days, the 18th appeared to be an ideal day for shooting.

Unfortunately, the 18th was the day after Albany’s spring machine gun shoot.

The 16th and 17th, like numerous days before them, were marked by periods of intermittent rain and threatening-looking weather. Not a good time to do anything outdoors. Numerous shooters were apparently unaware of the previous completion of the club’s main range firing line cover and noise suppression structure, of which more later, for attendance was smaller then anticipated. Those who did brave the recurring showers found the usual warm welcome and a multiplicity of targets down range. Scores of water-filled jugs awaited the shooters, as did long strings of gaily-colored, bobbing balloons that were periodically replaced. In addition, there were numerous hanging drum lids at 100 yards for those unsure of their zeroes. (Surely no decent machine gunner would find them to be challenging targets. Surely.)

A survey of the firing line showed that relatively modern machine guns predominated. Of the gun assortment on the main range, the majority were of the World War II era or later. There were numerous M-16s and their clones as well as pieces chambered for the 5.56mm cartridge. Several M-60s could be seen. A wide variety of subguns appeared, especially in 9mm, although many of the subgun shooters remained on the north range where the hotly-contested subgun match raged both days. But the World War I period was also well represented. Long bursts from assorted Brownings turned many heads. There were several Ma Deuces and A4s, plus a couple of A6s and BARs. Most of us are accustomed to Brownings, so the foreign guns were even more interesting. Providing a counterpoise to the familiar Brownings were several Vickers, and one local enthusiast shot an experienced looking Maxim MG 08-15 that was fascinating to see; it had, as they say, a lot of character. Equally appealing was a beautifully turned-out MG 08 that was brought by a gentleman from Nevada. Obviously a man of discerning taste, he also brought Vickers and Browning beltfeds. Several entrepreneurs provided a wide variety of guns for the unarmed venturesome to rent.

Interruptions in the shooting came more often at this event than at the December one because of concurrent firing of an assault rifle competition down on the left end of the range. The falling plates taken down by the assault riflemen required frequent resetting, and shooters made good use of these breaks by hunting down brass and links, loading belts, and going for food. Consequently, it seemed somewhat less formal than other shoots. Periodically, someone would exuberantly dump a magazine or a belt into a mud hole with the express purpose of seeing how high he could get the water to fly.

At this event non-shooters could enjoy watching from close proximity to the firing line and still remain dry, for this was the first machine gun shoot since the spacious new firing line cover was completed. This impressive edifice, measuring 185 feet long by 27 feet deep by approximately 12 feet high at the front and back underneath, is not merely an accommodation to ward off the incessant rain that falls in the Willamette Valley; it has another, equally worth-while purpose. One would think that a range located along a freeway in the middle of a farming valley would be immune from noise complaints. One would be wrong. Therefore, in the interests of being a good neighbor and also in the interests of being able to continue shooting .50 Browning ammo ARPC has installed a handsome combination firing line cover and sound abatement structure.
It is of steel, completely enclosed at the rear, with three access doors, and it reflects sound down range toward the Saddle Butte backstop. Beyond the north end of the firing line the cover continues an additional 35 feet and is partitioned to form a work room and a garage for the club’s fire truck.

It may be of interest to readers everywhere to learn how a private club that does not take in fees from the public during fall sighting in days and is not near a major population center can accomplish such an undertaking. The answer is that the club is a fairly large, very well run organization which fills the needs of the Valley’s population rather than trying to dictate what or how people will shoot.

There are a wide variety of shooting activities to satisfy almost every taste. Rifle shooters can choose among high power at 200 yards, smallbore indoor position, black powder, and benchrest for both smallbore and high power calibers. Handgun programs include metallic silhouette for both smallbore and centerfire, IPSC, and indoor bullseye. Trap is available, as well. Inter-disciplinary programs are old west (rifle, handgun, and shotgun), full-auto (regular monthly shoots are submachine gun plus either handgun or shotgun), and defensive shooting (shotgun and handgun). There are monthly competitions, which are open to all comers, in a number of these shooting disciplines. Competitors are kept abreast of at least some of the activities because, in addition to the club’s regular monthly newsletter and event schedule, individuals in several of the interest groups desk-top publish small, specialized news-letters.

Another reason for the club’s strength is that, unlike many clubs whose focus is inward, ARPC is an outward-looking organization, quick to see needs and opportunities in the surrounding area. A junior program, hunter safety, and two gun shows a year (the last was about 400 tables) are additional club activities. The club allows numerous police and military groups to use some of the club’s facilities on a scheduled basis during the week, thereby providing other sources of support with real political muscle. There is, after all, nothing like providing a public service to justify your existence. Recruitment of NRA members, especially at the gun shows it sponsors, is yet another successful activity of great value both to the club and to the NRA. The result of all this effort is a sizable, diverse club some of whose members live forty miles away. But all can find what they want here.

All revenues from full-auto shooting, less expenses, go straight into the Albany treasury. Consequently, machine gun shooting is the activity that brings in more money than any other. Shooters forgo awards at the monthly matches and instead bask in the psychic glory of having beaten their cohorts. Recognition comes in the monthly Albany Full-Auto, a special interest newsletter published by Bill Berg, Box 3722, Eugene, OR 97403 (541-689-1893). Usually exceeding twenty pages a month, this very useful periodical contains shoot results, course descriptions, occasional guest articles or critiques, political news and commentary, match photos, legislative information, cartoons, internet gleanings, and interesting web sites. A model of what a special interest newsletter can be, it is available to any interested party by subscription.

Albany’s May machine gun shoots appear to be the largest organized automatic weapon shoots held west of the Mississippi, and it is doubtful if there are any unorganized efforts that are larger. Not only Oregonians but also Washingtonians and Californians, who must store their class 3 holdings out of state, come here to enjoy the fellowship of shared interests. Other states are also represented. Anyone with a legally owned machine gun of .50 Browning or smaller is welcome to come and fire it at one of our shoots.

Although there are monthly subgun competitions, the next big non-competitive machine gun shoot is scheduled for December 12, 1998. People are probably loading ammo for it right now!

To get more information on any shooting program or to confirm a match date, contact ARPC at Box 727, Albany, OR 97321. Voice mail is 541-924-5914. E-mail is arpc@proaxis.com while the club web site is http://www.proaxis.com/arpc. The club’s property is located along Interstate 5, but unfortunately there are no exits at that point. If approaching from the north, leave I-5 at exit 228, go left (east) 1/2 mile on Oregon 34, and turn right (south) onto Seven Mile Lane. After approximately six miles, turn right (west) onto Boston Mill Road and follow it to the club’s entrance, near the freeway overpass. If approaching from the south, leave I-5 at exit 216 and turn left (west). Follow this road (Oregon 228) 2 1/2 miles to Halsey. At the four-way stop intersection turn right (north) onto U.S. 99 and follow it to Shedd. At Boston Mill Road turn right (east) and go approximately 4 miles, crossing the freeway, and turn right (south) or go straight ahead onto club property. We’ll be looking for you!

SAKO, Finland -since the early 1960’s a high quality sporting arms manufacturer has been deeply involved in developing and producing the basic weapon for the Finnish soldier, the 762 RK 62 assault rifle. A joint effort of the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) and Sako over several years brought a new product improved model to daylight very recently, and this rifle was officially adopted as the 762 RK 95 TP.

After the initial order by FDF (worth some 16 Million USD) for the new M95 and spare parts, no follow up orders have been planned, nor does there seem to be any funding for future orders. Sako delivered the last assault rifles to the FDF during 1997 and after that the production line will be closed. This in turn means that the production knowledge will eventually disappear and after only a few years it would be difficult to start producing again. Is Finnish assault rifle production “finished” for good?

Sako; arms factory production from a military viewpoint

The commercialization of the Civil Guard Supreme Staff Gunworks in Helsinki city, the capital of Finland, on 1 April 1921 was the starting point for the 76 year old company that we know today as SAKO. Suojeluskuntain Ase- ja Konepaja Osakeyhti” (Civil Guard Gun- and Machiningworks Ltd) was formed on 1 June 1927 from the previous Civil Guard Supreme Staff Gunworks. After that re-organization the plant was moved from Helsinki to Riihimãki city. The Civilguard was a militarily led volunteer organization apart from, but co-working with the FDF. The organization was abolished in 1945 after the last Finnish wars.

During the 1930’s there were several large projects in both construction and maintenance of small arms. The main departments included machining, cartridge, barrel, and woodwork shops. One of the more important products by SAKO at the time was the 7.62 M28-30 bolt action rifle, a greatly improved Mosin-Nagant clone produced until 1941. Production exceeded 70,000 units. It is worth noting that this is the very same model that was used in the 1937 World Shooting Championships in Helsinki.

During the early fifties much of the effort went into servicing material after the war as well as to regaining the civilian markets. The FDF started planning the next generation of infantry weapon and asked both SAKO and Valmet (formerly VKT), a state owned company, to produce prototypes. After some experimentation, the Valmet M58 assault rifle in caliber 7.62x39mm was accepted as a test-bed for future trials. FDF requested offers from both Valmet and SAKO for a prototype batch consisting of 200 rifles. Valmet won the contract and delivered 200 units of 762 RK 60 assault rifles for field trials in late 1960. Based on the information gathered from those trials, specifications for the M62 were written down and prototype rifles produced. Special cold-hammered barrels were ordered from SAKO for the new test models.

In 1962 the FDF accepted the 762 RK 62 as the new standard infantry rifle and both Valmet and SAKO were contracted to produce it. The SAKO series started from serial number 200,001, and the very first production rifle by Valmet, serial number 100,001, was placed in the Military Museum collection. Some small changes in the basic model were made over the years but the model designation remained.

From 1987 on Valmet and SAKO fused into a single company (SAKO-VALMET) with Nokia and Valmet as 50/50 stockholders. Later, after several organizational shifts in state ownership, the SAKO name remained for the gun and cartridge producing, privately owned company located in the cities of Riihimãki and Jyvãskylã. The FDF has ordered assault rifles from SAKO on a regular basis until now.

Now it seems that from 1998 onward, there is no more funding available!

Sako is the biggest hunting- and sporting rifle producer in Europe and the biggest USA exporter in the trade. This, however will never compensate for the loss of military small arms production.

What happened to the government orders?

The funding for the FDF is directed from the annual state budget through the Ministry of Defense. The Finnish defense budget is approximately 1.8 Billion USD, which is some 4.6% of the total state budget. The FDF uses this funding so that around 0.6 Billion USD is used to procure new material.

In 1996 some 16 Million USD were placed in a contract with SAKO for the new M95 assault rifle. No follow-up orders from the FDF led to a lay off of some of the workers on the assault rifle line, with more to go in early 1997. From a top of over 450 workers working with the assault rifle, the force is now down to a hundred , and production is facing a grim future.

The “ghost in the curtains” often referred to here is the Finnish Defense Force Hornet (F/A18) aircraft procurement from the USA, which depleted most of the funds reserved for other weapons purchases. During the same period the FDF purchased large amounts of cheap Chinese assault rifles and former DDR used Russian assault rifles to be placed in stock for the use of all others in units that are not the best equipped troops of the war time FDF. These cheaper weapons were for use instead of the older SMG and rifles these forces had. The total war-time force of the FDF is some 500,000 soldiers.

The best equipped brigades are already stocked with domestic assault rifles, so it seems there is no need for any further purchases. At least this is a political view of these matters in many circles. This erroneous impression is probably about to lead to a situation where the assault rifle production know-how slowly evaporates from Finnish industry.

The staff of Sako are hopeful however. If the Parliament would awaken to the problem and direct funds for continued production and procurement of domestically produced weapons, there might be a solution. A previous (13 March 1997) State Cabinet Defense Political Report regarding development of the Finnish national defense during FY 1998-2007 did not directly secure any hopes for continued funding of the assault rifle. The debate is ongoing.

Some light has been shed very recently (in early 1998) on a possible budget for small scale, up-keep production of the Finnish assault rifle. It has yet to materialize.

Patria Industries Ltd. is a recently formed company including five of the major Finnish defense materiel related factories; Vihtavuori, Lapua, Sisu Defense, Vammas and Finnavitec. The key issue, apart from export, is state ownership to secure FDF needs so SAKO seems to be outside of this procurement. Would there be any sense in purchasing the assault rifle construction line from SAKO and putting it into the new defense industry company to save the Finnish assault rifle?

The latest assault rifle- 762 RK 95 TP

The FDF assault rifle 762 RK 62 with its milled receiver will serve well for many decades to come. It is a reliable and well-made weapon.

This previous model is robust, accurate and well liked by the soldiers using it. The caliber (7.62 x 39 mm) is well suited for use in Finnish conditions. Small cosmetic adjustments have been made over the years to the basic assault rifle model but a real FDF demand for a new improved model materialized in 1988 based on research during ’86-87. The first SAKO prototypes of 1988 and 1990 included drastic changes to the rather loud selector lever of the Kalashnikov-type weapons. The selector lever was placed to the left side of the receiver to be operated with the thumb, and the right side had only a spring assisted cover plate, instead of the old version, to facilitate charging handle movement and to prevent debris from entering the receiver.

For some logistic reason the FDF could not accept this special improvement to the design so an M92/62 hybrid was constructed for troop field testing purposes. This model was operated similarly to the M62 and had more interchangeable parts than the previous prototypes. Sadly, it also had the standard selector.

After some small final adjustments the production model was ordered, and was designated the 762 RK 95 TP by the FDF.

The most important new features of the M95 are;

Folding stock.

A very positively locking design folding to the right of the receiver. Stock profile resembles the Galil but the locking is different. The upper tube of the stock has an area for maintenance accessories.

Receiver profile and cover assembly.

The milled receiver profile is such that it supports the magazine better than the M62 receiver did. The receiver cover is connected to the receiver in the standard Kalashnikov way but is also secured with a cross bolt through the upper rear of the
frame.

Charging handle angle.

The handle is placed at an upward angle (around 45 degrees) to facilitate left hand loading. This angle is not as much as that of the Galil.

Gas system valve.

The two position (open-closed) valve, is placed under the front sight on the right side. The actuation lever is well sized and the closed position is when the lever is pointing up (position marked with a “K” and arrow). The lever is then in view of the operator. The valve can be of use in different rifle grenade applications or when the need for the non-retracting bolt carrier is called for- when firing a suppressed rifle.

Muzzle brake.

This totally new model offers reduced recoil impulse of the rifle, well quenched muzzle flame and is dimensioned for the newest types of rifle grenades. It requires a newly designed blank firing attachment. The FDF uses wood-bulleted blank ammunition for training purposes.

An accessory suppressor which quick attaches to the muzzle brake is produced by another Finnish company.

Sighting systems.

The rear sight has an L-shaped foldable peep sight with 150m and 300m settings. In the middle position the use of the dusk sight is possible. The dusk sight is an open sight with a tritium gas self-illuminating dot.

The elevation and horizontal adjustments are made to the front sight using an accessory tool. The front sight also has a fold up dusk sight that has a self illuminating dot. The front sight has protecting ears which clearly curve forming a circular opening, open at the top.

To facilitate use of optical or optronic sighting devices there is an accessory mounting rail that attaches with two screws to the left side of the receiver.

As a complete weapon the M95 is definitively an improved version of the older M62 with several other smaller improvements than those described above. The quality of workmanship is easily seen on any detail.

Perhaps the positive acceptance by the troops using these new rifles and pressure from those not yet issued it, will eventually lead to further funding, and further procurement of the 762 RK 95 TP by the FDF.

The first M95 production rifle, serial number 960,001, was presented by SAKO to the Military Museum in Helsinki. Perhaps they will have the good sense to request the absolutely last production rifle also.

Remaining products with military potential

What remains in production is the SAKO TRG series of sniping rifles. Two standard calibers and action sizes are produced; TRG-21 in 7.62 x 51 mm and TRG-41 in caliber 8.6 x 70 mm.

The rifle is of modern configuration in the 5 kg range, boasting rugged subassemblies and a plastic stock. The action is bedded in an aluminum bedding rail, which in turn functions as the fixing points for the two piece (front and rear) stock. The handguard part of the two piece stock has mounting rails for accessories. The buttstock part is fully adjustable for height, length and cant of butt plate. The trigger assembly is modular, removable and fully adjustable to shooter preferences.

The bolt has three locking lugs offering an opening angle of 60 degrees. The feed is from a detachable box magazine, 10 cartridges in 7.62 mm and five in 8.6 mm.

This rifle has received positive attention abroad and domestically, but the FDF has not bought it in quantities other than for sporting use.

There certainly would be a boost of sales potential if SAKO would place a bit more military attention on this TRG product. Just some fundamental things like applying hard chrome to the interior of the barrel and other necessary parts.

Perhaps resources are not available, or then again perhaps the SAKO leadership has become too “sportsman oriented” and is about to lose the military market by mistake. They would not be the first manufacturer to do this.

Be that as it may, this eventual assault rifle production loss will certainly be Finland’s loss.

Maybe I expect too much from my .22’s – all I ask for is 1/2 MOA accuracy and quiet suppressed operation for discrete target shooting. The quest for this performance started several years ago when I purchased one of JR Customs “Navy” suppressors for my Ruger Mk II pistol and an old Glenfield .22 rifle. My decision to go with the Navy was based on its versatility and performance ratings. I wanted a suppressor that could be moved from both pistol and rifle for quiet target shooting in the woods behind my property. At the time of purchase, the Navy was highly rated for quiet operation. An excellent and very thorough Al Paulson article (MGN – June 1992) sold me on its design aspects and sound reduction capabilities. I called Jim Ryan, and he guided me through the paperwork and legal details since it was my first Class III purchase. This conversation put me at ease since all this was new to me at the time. Although many of us who read this magazine have gone through the NFA paperwork process many times, there are probably just as many who are “sitting on the fence.” Some people do have reservations for taking the plunge into the NFA world, but those who do are usually happy they did.

After acquiring the Navy, it was initially put into service with the Mk II pistol, and usually shot “wet” by spraying some oil into the can before use. This greatly enhanced the degree of suppression over shooting in the “dry” mode. One would think that this would help while in service with the rifle, but the Navy seemed to perform equally well with the rifle in either the wet or dry modes. To me, the main hindrance of this system was that optimum suppression required a recharge of oil for every magazine fired through the pistol. This required that I carry a can of oil on my person while out on shooting expeditions. Although this might not be a big deal to some, it was beginning to be a hassle to me.

Navy to Vortex-2 Conversion:

Several years went by, and it was decided to upgrade the old Glenfield rifle to a Ruger 10/22 with a match bull barrel for the enhanced accuracy I desired. A call went out to Jim Ryan to discuss threading the 10/22 rifle barrel to accept the Navy can. I mentioned to Jim that in the past I had a few problems with bullets tumbling after moving the can from rifle to pistol on occasions, and he offered to let me Form 5 the can back to him for checkout. He also offered to upgrade the Navy to his latest design. When Jim Ryan and Dr. Philip Dater joined forces, their design ideas apparently meshed, and ultimately resulted in the Navy being reconfigured into a smaller and lighter package. Gemtech’s upgraded Navy suppressor is now called the Vortex-2.

The Vortex-2 reduced the Navy’s overall length from seven to five inches, and also utilizes new internal baffle configurations. Tube diameter remained 1 inch, but overall weight decreased to a light 6.7 ounces. The original Navy weighed a hefty 12.3 ounces. According to Jim, the new design offers a sound reduction in excess of 35 dB while shot dry on a pistol when using the right ammunition. Per Al Paulson’s previous MGN article on the original Navy can, the net sound reduction with a Walther pistol was 23 dB (dry) and 39 dB (wet) using Hansen Standard Velocity ammunition. In yet another previously published article, Al retested the Vortex-2, and produced a net sound reduction of 33 dB. I consulted with Al concerning the differences between his and Jim’s data of 33 versus 35 dB. He explained that the difference is due to several variables: (a) they both used different pistols as the base weapon, and different barrel lengths and chamber dimensions can affect a suppressed weapon’s sound signature by several decibels; (b) they used different ammunition which would account for a decibel or two difference; and (c) they tested under different atmospheric conditions, which can easily affect the sound signature by a decibel. Considering all these variables, Al concluded that his and Ryan’s data agreed pretty well. Whatever the sound reduction, it is a very quiet unit when utilizing quality subsonic ammunition.

Apparently, the meshing of their designs and ideas has resulted in optimizing suppressor performance in the smallest possible package. Not only is the new unit 2 inches shorter, it provides excellent sound suppression without the need for carrying around a can of oil for quiet shooting. The Vortex-2 end caps are constructed of 300 series stainless steel. Five 6061-T6 aluminum baffles replaced the original seven 300 series stainless baffles in the Navy can. Aluminum has thermal conductivity characteristics that provide some advantages over stainless steel. Heat will transfer through aluminum faster than steel, hence helping to cool the heat spike from the muzzle blast. The new unit is designed to meet the requirements for a compact, highly corrosion resistant muzzle suppressor. The Vortex-2 is engineered so that there is no necessity for disassembly for maintenance. This unit interfaces well with virtually any .22 Rimfire weapon, both rifles and pistols. The suppressor can be quickly removed, returning the firearm to its original appearance and use in non-suppressed shooting requirements.

Rifle Modifications:

Before sending the Navy can and 10/22 barrel to Gemtech for modification, a few test sessions were in order to ensure the rifle was performing adequately. The deluxe Ruger wood stock was routed to accept the new barrel. I simply used a short section of broom handle with sandpaper wrapped around it to open up the barrel channel. A Tasco 3-9×40 TR scope was mounted to the receiver with Millet rings. I thoroughly tested the rifle to ensure that the new Wilson Match bull barrel performed as advertised. Using match grade ammunition, the rifle produced groups hovering around 1/2 inch at 50 yards. CCI Standard and RWS Subsonic Hollow Point loads easily produced sub-1 inch groups at the same distance.

After satisfying my requirement for minimum group sizes at 50 yards, I filed the ATF Form 5 to get the Navy can modified. While waiting for all of the paperwork to clear, I also took the opportunity to fine-tune the 10/22 itself. First, the trigger pack was sent to Mark White (Sound Technology) to have him work over the trigger. Mark reworked the trigger to be incredibly smooth with a release of about 2 pounds. A smooth, light trigger is probably one of the best things one can do to enhance accuracy potential of any firearm. Mark has considerable experience with 10/22 triggers, and I highly recommend his work. I also installed an extended magazine release button, and a bolt hold-open device from Brownell’s in Iowa (515-623-5401) as finishing touches.

Shooting Impressions:

After the ATF Form 5 was approved, the Navy was sent to Gemtech along with the 10/22’s bull barrel for threading. When the new unit finally made it back, I was off to the range to test out the new system. I had Jim cut the barrel back to 16.25 inches, to provide a total “barrel” length of about 21 inches with the muzzle can attached. I compared the new Vortex-2 with a friends integrally suppressed .22 rifle. It was very difficult to “hear” which gun was quietest while in the field. The efficiency of both suppressors was remarkably similar under typical field conditions. Eighteen different brands of ammunition were fired though both rifles. With high velocity ammunition, the integral rifle obviously had the edge over the Vortex-2 since muzzle velocities were being bled down to subsonic speeds. Most integral suppressors are optimized to drop high velocity ammunition to subsonic levels in order the avoid the ballistic crack. A barrel fitted with a muzzle can will produce higher velocities than are produced by the ported barrel of the integral suppressor. With subsonic ammunition, there was the perception that both units were equally quiet. Without sound measuring instruments, this is very tough to differentiate when they are that close.

As we have learned over time, subsonic ammunition will provide the quietest sound signature for target shooting and pest elimination needs. One must experiment with different brands of ammunition depending upon the firearm and the intended purpose. Outside air temperature is also a factor, as the speed of sound is more easily surpassed as temperature drops. A projectile that surpasses the speed of sound will literally wake the dead as compared to its subsonic cousin. At 32oF, the speed of sound is 1086 fps. At 82oF, the speed of sound increases to 1142 fps. My measurements of more than 500 subsonic test rounds produced an overall average velocity of 1047 fps out of the 10/22 rifle. This is an ideal velocity as it produces both an accurate, hard hitting projectile that is subsonic down to, and below the freezing mark. It will not be subsonic if fired in temperatures which approach 20oF, or colder.

Some suppressors work best with loads which produce combustion gases of a particular velocity. I have found 2 or three loads/brands which produce the best performance combination of velocity, accuracy, and quietness for my needs. Al Paulson’s previous test of this unit showed that the Vortex-2 produced better sound reductions when mounted on a pistol as opposed to a rifle. Having used the Navy for two years, and then converting, the perceived sound reduction appeared to be about the same with the rifle. When used on the pistol, it is definitely quieter. From a shooter’s subjective standpoint, the Vortex-2 shot dry is almost as quiet as the Navy shot wet, and the Vortex-2 shot dry is vastly quieter than the old Navy shot dry.

Some of the subsonic brands of ammunition that performed the best were CCI Standard, CCI Green Tag, RWS Subsonic, Lapua Scoremax, Fiocchi 300, Federal Ultra Match, and Eley Tenex. For normal plinking and target shooting, I found that CCI Standard and RWS Subsonic are tough to beat. They both provide excellent accuracy and are economical to shoot. For hunting (where allowed by law), the Lapua Scoremax is my pick due to its heavier 48 grain bullet. Federal Ultra Match should be selected for those who are serious about accuracy requirements, as they are expensive. Despite cutting the barrel back to 16.25 inches, no degradation in accuracy was encountered with the addition of the suppressor. At 50 yards, the rifle easily produces groups at, or under 1-inch with the lower priced ammunition. The high-priced ammo produces groups around 1/2 to 3/4 inches at the same distance as fired from the bench.

Although I don’t normally recommend swapping muzzle cans around on different firearms, my personal limit is two guns for one suppressor. This will ensure thread life is prolonged, as there is less of a chance that the threads will be damaged. The amount of torque applied while attaching the suppressor should remain the same each time. Also, the orientation of internal components of the suppressor should be the same every time the can is reinstalled. Although the new suppressor performed flawlessly while on the pistol, I keep the Vortex-2 dedicated to the rifle. The option for use on the pistol still remains, as I may use it in due time.

Maintenance Recommendations:

After each shooting excursion, I always spray a small amount of oil into the suppressor from the breech end of the gun, and fire a shot or two to disburse the oil throughout the can. This helps keep the unit from accumulating excessive powder residues, and will also help reduce or eliminate any corrosion concerns. I hate to clean my guns, and usually never do unless they don’t work, or if accuracy drops off dramatically. A few shots of oil at the end of a shooting session are my personal preference, but to each his own. As recommended by Mark White, a suppressed weapon should be stored with the muzzle pointing down and with the action open to allow venting so internal moisture can evaporate. I wholeheartedly second Mark’s recommendations.

External finish on the Vortex-2 as delivered was smooth and polished. I cleaned the exterior and applied two coats of spray-grit paint. This paint is an epoxy-based spray, with grit particles suspended within the solution. It is available from Brownells. This finish system has held up for two years now with no required touch-ups. It makes for a unique exterior coating, and gives just a little extra grip surface for checking that the can is secured to the barrel. I’ve even used it on a rifle scope that was scratched up beyond all recognition. The grit particles have no sharp edges so they can’t cut or abrade your hands.

Summary:

Many people get into the NFA world by purchasing a suppressed .22 firearm. A suppressed .22 pistol or rifle can provide a lot of shooting fun. The low noise and low cost of ammunition are the main benefits. The .22 can be safely and quietly fired on my 5 acres without disturbing the neighbors. I’ve set up a shooting bench behind the back yard and have backstops at 25, 50, 75, and 100 yards. If it is an unusually quiet day around my neighborhood (no wind or road noises), I just fire up the Massey-Fergeson diesel tractor and let it idle while I shoot. The tractor provides excellent background noise which completely masks any noise coming from the gun or the bullets striking the backstop. With the right ammunition, the bullet hitting the target is usually louder than the report of the rifle. Neighbors just 60 yards away never near a thing. The quiet 10/22 has been one of my favorites during shooting excursions over the last two years. It allows me to make things happen quietly at a distance.

Gemtech’s Vortex-2 is a compact and quiet performer, and is easily moved from either a rifle or pistol for those who prefer this option. When used on the Mk II pistol, its overall length comes out to around the same as a factory 10-inch bull barrel. Holsters are readily available to accommodate this barrel length. The 10/22 rifle with the match barrel is now both accurate and quiet. Although the Vortex-2 can be made to shoot even quieter on the pistol by adding a small amount of oil and shooting in the wet mode, I found the unit is quiet enough to pass on this extra task. As before the modification, this was not necessary with the rifle since it makes no perceived improvement on sound signatures.

It’s nice to find companies and individuals that stand behind their products and strive for design excellence. The Gemtech folks get my thumbs-up. If you are looking for versatility in a 22-muzzle can, and a company that backs their products 100%, the Vortex-2 might be just what you’re looking for. It provides excellent sound reducing performance in a very small package. Add an accurate rifle to the equation and the end result is one happy camper.

Sources:

Gemtech
Gemini Technologies, Inc.
P.O. Box 3538
Boise, ID 83703-0538
Phone: 208-939-7222

Sound Technology
Mark White
P.O. Box 391
Pelham, AL 35124
Phone: 205-664-5860

Brownell’s
200 South Front Street
Montezuma, IA 50171-1000
Phone: 515-623-5401

Tasco
2889 Commerce Parkway
Miramar, FL 33025
Phone: 305-591-3670

Dear SAR,

The article on the Ghillie Suits was very well done. I do all the exporting for Custom Concealment. I wrote the Commodity Jurisdiction Request that resulted in these suits being declared a Munitions List item. Foreign interest in these suits has been high; one of our first sales was to GSG-9! Right now we are working on sales to the Swedish and Greek armed forces (among others) and we have a sale pending export approval to the Hong Kong Police.

When I read Nick Steadman’s column in which he states that the U.S. Government is contemplating the revocation of all European export licenses I had to comment. The export of firearms and munitions is my area of expertise. The only export licenses for firearms destined to the European Community are those for handguns destined to the UK. This is due to the fact that the UK has outlawed the possession of handguns. All other licenses for the UK (for rifles, shotguns, etc) have not been revoked. In fact, handguns may still be exported to the UK if the end-user possesses a valid “Section 5 License”.

I have not experienced any difficulty in the approval of any export license to the EEC, nor have I had to complete the DSP-83 (End-User Certificate) for any but a very few shipments. This form is required for ANY order of twenty or more complete firearms (or more than 100,000 of ammunition) regardless of the end use (military or civilian) and it can be required for any shipment regardless of commodity, quantity, or end user.

Despite his doom and gloom writings, the export of firearms to the EEC is alive and well.

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for writing in on this. Nick is not really given to “Doom and gloom” so much as he has the British point of view. The Clinton programs towards firearms import and export are getting Draconian, and the reports get wilder. Many of us are licensed importers or exporters and have had problem with our paperwork recently- much of it through VRA’s (Voluntary restraint agreements) or executive orders. The British “Section 5” or “Class 5” license is about equivalent to our Class 3 Dealer with Import licensing thrown in. My understanding is that there are only about 20 of them left in Britain. Thank you for clarifying the point about the current “Hold” being only on handguns- but it is much ballyhooed by the Clinton crowd that this action is making the world safer, especially in the combat zones. What the export of all handguns has to do with the flow of Arms is beyond my understanding. We are quite happy to hear that the other exports are not being interfered with. –Ed

Dear SAR,

I am currently in the process of restoring a Hotchkiss (25mm) Antitank Gun. I purchased the majority of the cannon about six months ago and with the help of my father have been trying to get it cleaned-up. I am not necessarily interested in it being “live”, but a perfect “demilled” gun to tow behind my World War II jeep.

I am however having much difficult in locating parts and necessary equipment for it. I have the majority of the carriage, with the top and lower armor, sight and mount, cradle, trunion and trail. I do not have the most important parts, being; the breech assembly, T&E, barrel and recoil mechanism (I could also use two new wheels/hubs!)…really anything you have!!!

I understand you are one of the resident experts in the larger Class II items and hope you can be of assistance. I have placed several ads in the trade magazines and have written one or two other Class III’s hoping to get lucky. I have also been trying to do as much research on this piece as possible but also coming up with nothing of value.

Sir, I am very excited about this project and look forward to any ideas you might have. I am completely receptive to suggestions and understand your time is valuable. Thanks.

George

George,

The two names that come immediately to mind are both SAR advertisers. Kent Lomont and Bob Landies of Ohio Ordnance. The Hotchkiss 25mm, sometimes called the Puteaux, is a wonderful scaled down cannon. The parts are hard to find, but a restoration of one of these is very satisfying. I suggest you contact these two people, and see what they have. The Hotchkiss (Model of 1934, or Model of 1937) is on the Curio & Relics list, but still is a Destructive Device requiring registration under Title II. Good luck with the project. –Ed

Shooting Industry to Launch $15 Million Public Relations Effort

A major public relations and advertising campaign to create measurable growth within the gun industry as well as to counter the disinformation efforts of anti-gun groups, was proposed during the recent Shooting Sports Summit attended by 160 industry representatives.

In this, the third such Summit to be held in as many years in which firearms manufacturers and representatives from related firms meet to discuss and formulate strategies to grow and maintain their businesses during the year, the highlight of the meeting was the idea for a voluntary 1/2 of 1% Shooting for the Future tax on companies’ gross sales. To get the ball rolling, several major manufacturers agreed to begin paying such a “tax” effective January 1999. It is estimated that the program could generate $15 million in funding annually.

Bob Scott, vice president of marketing and sales, Smith & Wesson, one of the firms which has agreed to pay the tax, commented, “For the first time, we have the potential to have sufficient funds to offset a significant portion of the anti-gun campaigns that we are faced with on a regular basis. This could ultimately spell the difference between our ultimate success or failure.”

“The idea that all companies involved in the manufacture of shooting and related equipment might contribute a portion of their annual sales to an overall promotion and development fund is an extension of the ‘Dollar-a-Gun’ concept that has been discussed over the past several years,” said Bob Delfay, president and CEO of the trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) of Newtown, Connecticut, the organizer of the meeting.

“The Dollar-a-Gun concept, while simple, has two basic flaws. At $1 per firearm, some companies would contribute a much higher percentage of their sales than would others and firearms manufacturers would be the only ones asked to contribute. These shortcomings are solved by a uniform and broad-based 1/2 of 1% approach,” Delfay said.

Vito Genco, attending as a representative of an Italian firearms trade group, said, “A similar self-imposed tax on firearms and ammunition was put in place in Italy several years ago and is working very well with 90% of manufacturers signing on in the first three years.”

Don Gobel, president of Browning and U.S. Repeating Arms, noted, “Recent surveys show that the majority of the non-shooting general public still support the private ownership of firearms. However, the well-financed anti-gun groups are and will continue to negatively influence these same people. The recent tragic school shootings are clear evidence of how they use their allegiance with the media to do so.

“We can no longer sit on the sidelines and react defensively whenever there is a crisis. We must become pro-active by launching our own public relations media campaign to tell our story to the general public. Since such a communications campaign will cost a lot of money, I support a 1/2 of 1% surcharge on all shooting products to fund such a program. I know of no other way,” Gobel said.

Another program discussed was the “Step Outside” effort which encourages new participants in the world of shooting and is coordinated by the NSSF. “A recent study conducted by the research organization, Roper-Starch Worldwide, found that there are 67 million men and 47 million women who would accept an invitation to go target shooting, if asked,” commented Delfay.

“These numbers are staggering,” Delfay continued, “the key is to reach out to these people by extending the initial invitation and-if you are able-mentor the individual until he/she is proficient enough to go on his/her own.” Delfay was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the largest ad hoc caucus in Congress.

In a presentation entitled, “Guess Who’s Coming To The Gun Club-Or Not,” Joseph Wheeler, an economic consultant, stressed that $470 billion in African-American buying power can be a substantial opportunity for the firearms industry.

“What this means to the shooting sports,” said Wheeler, is “a substantial opportunity” to attract new entrants. “With only 2% of the African-American population participating now, there is the opportunity to increase that percentage to at least the national average, 7%,” he explained.

“Having established that a market does exist, the question then turns to, how do we ‘invite them to dinner,’ or in this case, to the shooting range.” Wheeler cited an article by Eugene Morris titled “The Difference in Black and White,” published in American Demographics magazine. “The author points out that respect and acceptance are always issues,” Wheeler said. “African-Americans will spend money where they are respected and aren’t made to feel like outsiders.”

Wheeler went on to call for new gun advertisements directed specifically to blacks. “I suggest we design ad and marketing campaigns that suggest African-Americans are the primary market. We need to see black personalities shooting and hunting. The message must be directed at a black audience with images that say, ‘come on in.’”

News Tidbits

In other news, the U.S. Department of State recently revoked 250 licenses to export some 14,000 handguns to Great Britain. The stated intention of the action is to stem the illicit flow of firearms worldwide. U.S. officials indicated American firearms shipped to Britain over the last several years could have been re-exported and used to fuel conflicts in other parts of the world, especially since civilian handgun ownership has been outlawed. While end user certificates are required from the receiving countries stating where the firearms are intended to be sold, the U.S. has no way of enforcing the certificates, should terms be violated by the other country.

Non-lethal weapons systems are gaining a greater share of Department of Defense spending, the trade publication Defense News recently reported. In 1997, the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate was established at Quantico, Virginia to coordinate non-lethal weapons programs across all four service branches and the Special Operations Command. Between 1996 and 2003, over $130 million will be spent on non-lethal weapons programs.

The technologies under development range from acoustic devices that cause internal organs to resonate resulting in discomfort, permanent damage or death, to electronic magnetic waves that can cause interference with brain functions, cerebral hemorrhaging and visceral disruption.

Robin Coupland, a surgeon in the Health Operations Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross, wrote in a 1997 paper on non-lethal weapons for the British Medical Journal that survivors of future wars may return home with psychoses, epilepsy and blindness.

China has developed the ZM-87 portable laser disturber. Its manufacturer, China North Industries, Corp. describes the device in its sales literature as having one of its major applications to “injure or dizzy the eyes of an enemy combatant.” U.S. troops are reported as having deployed the Sabre 203 laser in Somalia, which the Helsinki-based group, Human Rights Watch called a device that could be used to blind people.

Russia has developed radio frequency weapons and other non-lethal technologies and Germany, Israel, France and Great Britain are developing antipersonnel laser programs or other directed energy weapons.

Home Gun Inspections

The Arlington County Virginia police Department has instituted a policy of “Home Site Inspections” in the application approval process for Class Three firearms, the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) reports. Arlington’s new police chief, Edward Flynn, instituted the policy.

There is no statutory authority under federal or state law for the police to conduct such inspections, writes the VCDL in an Internet membership alert. “Such inspections of homes is a violation of our Fourth Amendment rights. We should not have to subject ourselves to government searches just because we want to own a military style firearm, the very type of gun that the Second Amendment was written to protect.” The group has instituted a letter writing campaign to local officials in protest of the directive.

New Sniper Scope

Leupold & Stevens, Inc. of Beaverton, Oregon has introduced a new tactical scope geared towards military and law enforcement applications featuring a bullet drop compensator. The new Vari-X III 3.5-10x40mm Long Range M3 scope features a side focus adjustment using a parallax adjustment dial positioned on the left side of the scope turret housing. Conventional parallax adjustments, which are located on the objective bell of the scope, require reaching to the front of the scope to make parallax corrections, often resulting in the shooter losing sight of the target.

Meanwhile, Redfield, Inc., the 90-year old manufacturer of optics, has virtually shut down its operations following the emergence of financial and environmental problems. The company’s problems began with the discovery of environmental pollution in homes in the vicinity of Redfield’s Denver, Colorado plant. The use of cleaning chemicals by the optics manufacturer in the recent past is suspected of having infiltrated groundwater in the area.

When news of the pollution problem became known, Norwest Bank seized the company’s assets. Lester A. Jones, Redfield’s president has resigned. At press time, it was uncertain whether the company would continue operations.

Sierra Bullets of Sedalia, Missouri has unveiled its new 77-grain MatchKing bullet, designed for AR-15/M16A2 rifles used in the Service rifle category of High Power rifle competition. The new bullet was developed in response to requests for a magazine length projectile of high ballistic coefficient. Manufactured with an elongated boattail, but an ogive compatible with the magazine feed requirements, this new MatchKing has a ballistic coefficient of .372. Due to the bullet’s length, a 1X7” or 1X8” rifling twist is required.

GEMTECH T.E.R.I.S.

Gemtech is proud to introduce their new TERIS (Tactical Eye Relief Interface System). The TERIS is a flip-out sight-blocking device that attaches to your scope. The TERIS offers several features that benefits most all shooters. It allows shooting with both eyes open, helps eliminate eyestrain and facial muscle contractions, adds more light to shooters vision and stops crossover from having both eyes open too long. Ballistic data cards can also be attached to the device so that the shooter can keep target acquisition while checking ballistic tables. The TERIS clamps to the scope with a non-marring clamp and folds out of the way while remaining on the scope. Data cards are also available from Gemtech. The TERIS is available for most Leupold and similar size scopes. For more information or to place an order, contact Gemtech, Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 3538, Boise, ID 83703. Phone: 1-208-939-7222. Contact them on the web at www.gem-tech.com.

NEW VARMINT PAKS FROM NOSLER

Nosler, Inc., manufacturer of high quality rifle and handgun bullets, has announced the availability of large quantity packages for some of its most popular Ballistic Tipr Varmint offerings. The new Nosler 250 quantity Varmint Paks are available for the .22 caliber 40 grain and .22 caliber 55 grain Ballistic Tipr Varmint bullets and are aimed at the varminter who counts his trigger pulls in the hundreds and thousands. These quantity packs represent a substantial savings as well. The bullets feature ultra-thin, tapered jackets and pure lead cores for violent expansion across the entire spectrum of velocities and ranges. The Nosler Varmint Paks look like larger versions of the 100 count black and gold boxes currently available for all Ballistic Tipr Varmint bullets. For a 1998 Nosler Bullets for Sportsmen catalog featuring their entire line of bullets, contact them at Nosler, inc., Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 671, Bend, Oregon. Phone: 1-800-285-3701. On the web at
www.nosler.com.

PEARCE GRIP ENHANCERS FOR GLOCKS

Pearce Grip, Inc., has just introduced their new grip accessories for the Glock series of handguns. The Grip Enhancers with Mag-Track replaces the factory magazine floor plate and provides extra gripping surface without increasing the over-all length of the grip. This is accomplished by lengthening the floor plate and filling the semi-circular recess in the lower forward portion of the grip. These “Grip Enhancers” also provide for easier manual magazine extraction and minimize the possibility of debris entering the magazine well. They also incorporate an identification magazine feature called Mag-Track consisting of a series of five circular recesses that allow the user to mark each magazine for tracking purposes. These Grip Enhancers are available for Models 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24. Pearce Grip also makes a complete line of grips for other handguns. For more information contact Pearce Grip, Inc., Dept. SAR , P.O. Box 187, Bothell, WA 98041. Phone: 1-800-390-9420. Fax: 1-425-488-7102. On the web at www.pearcegrip.com.

T’SOB AR-15/M-16 SCOPE MOUNT FROM SSK INDUSTRIES

A new AR-15/M-16 sighting system is now available from SSK Industries. The new mount called the T’SOB is mounted to the top of the AR receiver and places the optical red dot sight in line with the guns’ iron sights. To achieve this the carrying handle must be cut and part of it removed. The guns’ iron sights can still be used by looking through the red dot scope. The shooter is instantly ready for action either way. Mounts are available for typical red dot sights, C-More sight, HOLO and the Aimpoint Mil Comp Q.D.. SSK Industries will chop your carrying handle and install the T’SOB for $125.00 plus $10.00 for shipping and insurance. SSK also offers the 30mm Ultra-Dot sight to go along with their new mount. For more information contact SSK Industries, Dept. SAR, 590 Woodvue Lane, Wintersville, OH 43953. Phone: 1-740-264-0176. Fax: 1-740-264-2257.

SIGARMS sig pro SP2340

SIGARMS has added a new line of polymer pistols to the world-renowned SIG/SAUER semi-automatic family of handguns. Breaking new ground in polymer technology has allowed the famous SIG/SAUER reputation for quality and engineering to continue on in this lightweight, low maintenance pistol. These newly designed polymers form the frame of this advanced pistol design, which also incorporates an integral accessory rail to meet shooters’ specific needs. One main feature of the new sig pro is the integral fire control unit that incorporates the hammer, sear and trigger in one modular piece. Now, conversion from SA/DA to DAO is simply a matter of exchanging the integral fire control unit. The new sig pro offers shooters a one-piece stainless steel slide that has maximum corrosion resistance while making the pistol truly handsome in its blackened stainless finish. Two sets of grips are included with the new pistols; the first is a composite grip that provides a firm, non-slip hold, while the second offers shooters a little more comfort and fit, thanks to a softer rubberized compound. The gun comes equipped with standard low profile, high contrast, combat-type sights, a blade front and notched rear. SIGLITEr night sights are available as an option for those who want the best for low light conditions. Available calibers for 1998 are limited to .357 SIG and .40 S&W. For more information contact; SIG Arms, Inc., Dept. SAR, Corporate Park, Exeter, NH 03833.=20 Phone: 1-603-772-2302. Fax: 1-603-772-1481.