December 1, 2016 update:
Imperial Russian silver/nickel shooting medal. Obverse has image of a Russian Maxim Model of 1910 on a wheeled carriage mount and dated “July 16, 1914”. The reverse has the inscription reading “Special Machine Gun Competition Prize.” It is further engraved “To Junior Officer of Machine Gun Unit.” Medal is 28mm in diameter.

November 1, 2016 update:
World War I Imperial Russian Army shoulder boards. Pair for the 7th Siberian automobile machine gun platoon armored car driver. Branch insignia “7Sb Shifrovka” indicating the 7th Siberian rifle regiment. Red stripe and single star indicate rank of Ensign of Reserves. Silver plated buttons with Russian imperial eagles. Russia maintained the largest force of armored cars of any of the allies. A typical armored car platoon consisted of two or three twin-turreted (Maxims) gun cars such as Austins or Fiats and one or two armored trucks mounting short-barreled 75mm guns. American-made Indian motorcycles provided communications and some had machine guns (Colt Automatic Gun) mounted to them to provide anti-aircraft cover. By November 1917, over 200 armored cars were in service.

The successful use of the silenced Sten Mk II S for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) also aroused the U.S. Ordnance Department‘s interest in a suppressor for SMGs. Founded in June 1942, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) could use such a weapon for it’s own special operations and to support resistance groups in Europe and the Pacific Theatre. The M3 seemed to be well suited for that purpose.

Standard.45 ACP rounds fired from short barreled submachine guns are inherently subsonic, it is one of the most powerful pistol calibers available for use in suppressed weapons. Suppressors reduce the audible report by slowing down and channelling the high speed gas generated by the burning and expanding gunpowder before it exits the muzzle. Suppressors cannot act on the supersonic shock wave continuously generated by a bullet exceeding the 1,084 ft/s (332 m/s) speed of sound at 32 °F (0 °C) ambient temperatures. This shock wave is continuously produced throughout the entire flight path over which the bullet is supersonic, which extends long after it exits the barrel. One major disadvantage of automatic and weapons, however, remains: the unavoidable noise of the moving internal parts when the spent case gets extracted and the next round gets automatically loaded. So a weapon with suppressor is not completely silent, but it lacks the typical hard “bang“ and for the enemy it is more difficult to locate the direction of the sound’s source.

The first trials with suppressed M3 submachine guns were already being held in 1942 at Fort Benning (Georgia). These devices were based on the designs of Hiram Percy Maxim, with curved vanes of thin sheet metal, but were not convincing. The design was heavy, the gun became extremely top-heavy and the suppressor heated up quickly during continuous fire. Two different models were tested, a long one with 20 inch barrel and a shorter one with 12 inch barrel. Because of the unsatisfactory results, the tests were discontinued.

In 1943, the Ordnance Department contacted the company Bell Laboratories on behalf of the OSS concerning the development of a suppressor for the M3. The production of the suppressor parts and the assembly should take place at the High Standard Manufacturing Company in Hamden (Connecticut). The production of special barrels and modified barrel nuts (collars) was assigned to Guide Lamp. The first order was for 1,000 devices. Whether and in what quantity follow-up orders have been placed is not known. One of the big advantages of this suppressor design was that the standard M3 barrel could be removed and the suppressed barrel could be quickly screwed on in its place.

The outer form of the special barrels of Guide Lamp did not differ from the standard serial barrels. However, a total of 48 holes were drilled into the barrel (in four rows of 12 holes) to allow gases to escape as the bullet was fired. Each hole had a diameter of .25 inches. The muzzle was threaded at a length of about .5 inches. The barrel nuts were taken from the serial production and have been modified at the front to serve as a support for the rear end of the suppressor.

The suppressor itself is comprised of two sleeves. The rear sleeve (barrel covering) of 7.5 inches length and 1.5 inches in diameter forms the expansion chamber and is filled with a stainless steel wire mesh cylinder, which is fitted over the barrel.

The threaded muzzle part of the barrel protrudes from the expansion chamber. The actual suppressor housing (barrel extension) is attached to the barrel covering by a connecting piece (barrel extension retainer) that is screwed onto the muzzle thread of the barrel, thus locking the covering in place against the modified barrel nut. The extension of 7 inches length and 1.13 inches in diameter contains 230 perforated discs of stainless steel wire mesh. The front end of the extension is closed by a screwed-in end plate.

When the projectile travels down the bore some of the propellant gases escape through the 48 holes in the barrel into the expansion chamber, where they are slowed down and cooled by the steel wire mesh. When passing through the connecting piece, the projectile leaves the barrel and moves through the perforated steel wire mesh discs in the barrel extension. Here the remaining gases are trapped for a short time and cooled down and then escape into the surrounding air.

The influence of the suppressor on the noise is described in a test report from Aberdeen Proving Ground as follows: “While the silenced barrel does not completely eliminate the sound, the reduction of the report makes it difficult to determine the exact location of the weapon when being fired at a distance of 50 yards or greater. The sound heard by the individual varied with his position with respect to the weapon. When the individual was in the line of fire or forward of the gun muzzle a louder sound was heard than when positioned at the rear of the gun. When positioned at the side or at the rear of the gun the noise caused by the operation of the mechanism was most noticeable.”

The use of the suppressor, however, deteriorated the impact of the projectile on the target. Tests showed that an M1 steel helmet will not be penetrated at a distance of 75 feet. Using a standard barrel without the device, it was no problem to perforate the helmet even at greater distances. Also it was found out that the projectiles sometimes strike the edge of the central opening in the front end plate of the barrel extension, thus damaging it. Pieces of the bullet jacket were lodging in the sleeve behind the plate. In some cases the end plate was shot out of the sleeve and the installed wire discs fell out. This problem was caused by the not absolutely rigid connection of the two sleeves. The connecting piece is screwed only onto the muzzle thread and so the alignment of the barrel extension with the bore of the barrel is difficult because the suppressor is too flexible. The connection does not withstand the leverage effect of the long protruding extension. A slight enlargement of the opening in the plate to a 0.550 inches diameter solved the problem.

The care and maintenance of the suppressor proves somewhat complicated. In particular, the perforated steel wire mesh discs are difficult to accommodate in the barrel extension. If they slip in the housing or get deformed, the way of the projectile is not free and it can hit and damage the discs (thus reducing the suppressing effect). As already mentioned, the barrel extension could easily deviate from the exact alignment with the barrel – especially during transport. For this reason, a special tool has been issued with each suppressor: An “aligning rod” should be installed inside the suppressor during transport or shipment as a stabilizer. It reaches from the cartridge chamber of the barrel to the front end plate of the barrel extension and should prevent bending of the two sleeves. By means of a detachable handle, this stabilizer could also be used as a cleaning rod. Every suppressor was also issued with a special “barrel cross-hole brush” for cleaning the 48 small laterally holes and a sheet metal “barrel thread protector” to be screwed on the thread of either the suppressor or barrel nut (depending on which part was in use). Two versions of the protector cap were made. The early one with a smooth back was often hard to remove, so the design was changed and the later ones got a square pressed-in recess for applying a tool.

According to the reports, the use of the suppressor improved the accuracy when firing automatically. This fact is probably due to the increase in barrel weight and dimensions and to the lower velocity, causing lower recoil energy. Another positive effect is the elimination of the muzzle flash. No flash was observed when firing the suppressed weapon at night.

The M3 and M3A1 without suppressor are indeed relatively accurate submachine guns. But they are no sniper weapons. Although the suppressor improved the accuracy it was almost impossible to get a precise, targeted hit with a single shot – which of course would have been optimal for a silenced weapon. The demand for development of a special suppressed submachine gun with high accuracy was often mentioned in the test reports but went unheard. Despite all efforts, the Bell suppressor was only about 80% as effective as the British counterpart of the Sten Mk II S. This fact has been determined in a shooting competition in Aberdeen. Nevertheless, the suppressor remained unchanged and was successfully used in Korea, Vietnam and other conflicts.

The highly decorated Vietnam veteran Jim Bolen for example used a suppressed M3 in his time with the Special Forces. He later wrote down his experiences in his recommendable book “No Guts, No Glory”. As a leader of a reconnaissance unit he survived more than 40 top-secret MACV-SOG missions (Military Assistance Command Vietnam – Studies & Observation Group), which among others took him to Laos and Cambodia. He remembers the suppressed M3 very well:

“Normally one member of the recon team carried the M3 with an integral silencer. It was a 45 caliber and was used as a RON (remain over night) gun in case at night an enemy, civilian or even animal would accidentally happen on us we could kill same without giving away our position or even the fact we were in the area and also for prisoner snatches to get in and out without being compromised. The weapon was reliable but with the amount of ammo needed for a mission it was very heavy. My gear weighed between 95 and 110 pounds depending on the mission. Weight was always a big problem on our missions, which was the reason we generally didn’t carry large weapons such as the M-60, large amounts of claymores or hand grenades, on standard missions. When using the M3 on a prisoner snatch mission the weapon is usually broken down and divided between all team members to distribute the weight then assembled when needed.

The M3 had one disadvantage in combat, yes. More than one occasion when carrying the silenced M3 I would be confronted by NVA. Normally I would have the advantage by opening up first on full auto using my CAR-15 with every round being a tracer. This would scare the hell out of the enemy. But when I am carrying a silenced weapon and I open up on them they don’t realize I am shooting at them and start returning fire ASAP. This is the truth and I will testify to it.

Incidentally the High Standard Manufacturing Company also made a suppressed version of its small-caliber pistol “H-D” (.22) for the OSS at the same time. The design of the suppressor came from Bell Laboratories and was very similar to that of the M3 with its two chambers and the stainless steel wire mesh parts. The gun was based on the suggestion of Deputy Directors for Research and Development Stanley P. Lovell. From October 1943 until March 1944 2,600 pieces with the designation “MS” (Military Silent) have been delivered.

While fighting in Vietnam a lot of foreign weapons fell in the hands of the Americans – including numerous Grease Guns that were made in China. Some of them were equipped with suppressors. However, since the OSS suppressors were not marked, it remains unclear whether these suppressor were originally made in the U.S. or in Chinese workshops. An interesting finding is that the wire mash cylinder in the expansion chamber was often replaced by an oil-soaked felt in many of these suppressors.

Me and my team practiced a lot on the firing range with what ever weapon we were required to carry on a specific mission. Do this we would take the silencer apart and clean the original screens with a wire brush and cleaning compound, once they become clogged it reduces the silencing capability. Never noticed any round being quieter than another. I know when we use the .223 round with a silencer we have to use the first 3 rounds sub-sonic because of the crack sound of the high velocity .223 round.”

Rubber Prop Guns

Action movies can be intensely physical for many actors. The need to excite the movie-going public sometimes calls for creative and over the top stunts that people will remember and enjoy. Whether it is jumping over a car or running from an explosion, the characters of the movie must be seen as accomplishing a nearly impossible feat. Many actors and actresses are not physically capable enough to do these things, so stunt doubles are sometimes called in to take their place. When there are violent death scenes, rubber, mechanical, and other props are used instead of the actors themselves (For good reason).

The same can be said of firearms. There are instances where a gun needs to be dropped or thrown or even destroyed in a movie or television show. Instead of using very expensive guns in these cases, “rubber” guns take their place. From a distance, most moviegoers can’t tell the differences between the real guns and their movie prop doubles. They are usually much lighter than the guns that they stand in for. While made of rubber or plastic, they frequently can have metal frames and sometimes there are a few metal parts on the outside.

Most rubber prop guns are designed after real guns, but there are rubber guns that are modeled after guns made for specific movies. Theatrical gun rental companies do this not only because guns get dropped, but sometimes directors and movie makers do destructive things to them. One particular story Syd Stembridge told me about was about a director who wanted a gun to fall apart in a certain manner during the filming, so, without telling the rental company, he had a real gun cut in two with a chop saw and temporarily stuck back together. When a psychic character pointed at it during the filming, the front half fell off on cue.

Movie prop guns are generally made of rubber with other products mixed in. Others are made of thick foam that is carved into a gun, with a metal frame inside. Others are made of plastic material, making them more like airsoft guns, but not capable of firing anything, whether it’s bullets or BBs.

“In the late 1990s, my parents took my sister and I to Stembridge Gun Rentals in Glendale near Los Angeles.We spent the summer working in the inventory of parts and guns, sorting out the different parts. When we had our breaks, I would spend mine with the rubber guns they had there.”

They were on top of a large vault, lined up on a large rack. They had everything, from AKs of all types, to AR-15s and Shotguns, to Mini-guns and even some DShK. I remember having so much fun up there, checking out the countless guns and trying to figure out which gun had been in which movie.

The gun in the photo is a rubber AKM that was used in the action/adventure movie “Sahara.” The prop itself looks like a real gun from a distance, but a closer look reveals it to be a fake. There is nothing metal on the outside and it is well painted, though some of it is coming off. The cocking handle has a crack on the top and a few places where small bits of it were chipped away. Despite that, it is in surprisingly good shape, compared to most used rubber guns from movie sets.
Based on a book by Clive Cussler, “Sahara” came out in 2005 and was a bomb at the box office, a shame really because it is a very good movie. It stars Mathew Mcconaughey and Penelope Cruz, who do very good jobs with their characters, as do most of the other actors. It has a lot of humor and plenty of action, making it a movie worth buying.

We bought this prop in a trade for one of our old Star Wars props, from the Prop Store (See sidebar). They register every prop that goes through and keep good records on these.

While semi-automatic shotguns have shown capability, few have demonstrated the “hell and back” reliability necessary to gain the confidence of users in life or death tactical situations related to law enforcement or personal defense. Leave it to Benelli to adapt their ultra-reliable inertia operating system to the tactical shotgun format; thus challenging assumptions as to what a tactical shotgun should be with the M2 Tactical. With the M2 Tactical, form follows functions with its svelte lines contradicting the often brutish appearance that generally distinguishes other tactical shotguns.

The M2 Tactical uses Benelli’s patented inertia operating method. Most auto-loading 12 gauge shotguns use some form of gas-operated feeding system. Benelli’s M2 semi-automatic uses the kinetic energy generated by the gun’s recoil to eject the spent shotshell and load a fresh one. The system has three basic moving parts: bolt body, inertia spring and rotating bolt head. The M2 operates by means of a spring that is freely interposed between the locking head and bolt. As the gun recoils during firing, the inert breech bolt moves about 4 mm forward, compressing the spring. When the spring is fully compressed, it overcomes breech bolt inertia and thrusts the bolt to the rear, under residual pressure. The gun extracts the shotshell case and reloads another shell from the magazine tube. The spring pressure is designed to delay the opening of the action until after the shot has left the barrel. This compensates for the different pressures produced by shotshells of varying power. The M2 Tactical’s inertial recoil operation is simple; there are fewer parts to add weight to the shotgun or to fail mechanically. The Benelli inertia operating method eliminates the drawbacks of both the barrel recoil systems in terms of barrel vibration and increased recoil impulse as well as gas operated systems which tend to have reliability degraded as use increases due to fouling in the receiver area.

The Benelli M2 Tactical features a matte black receiver, 18.5” barrel, and dull black forend and buttstock. Capacity is 5+1 with the M2 able to accommodate both 2 ¾” and 3” shotshells. While a pistol grip M2 variant is available, it was decided to go with a standard buttstock profile to enable the evaluation of the Benelli ComforTech recoil abating stock. Benelli reports that the ComforTech system reduces felt recoil by as much as 48% compared to a standard stock. This is accomplished via a combination of ComforTech cheek and buttstock recoil pads as well as 12 synthetic chevrons placed in the stock per computer analysis to better absorb and extend recoil pulse. While “soft shooting” and 12 gauge is oxymoronic, relatively speaking, the 7 pound M2 Tactical is one of the softest shooting 12 gauge shotguns on the market.

One of the Benelli M2’s greatest assets is the LPA “ghost ring” sights. The front sight features a M16 style post protected by steel wings. The rear sight is a ghost ring type and fully adjustable in terms of windage and elevation. It too is protected from abuse with protective wings on either side. The front sight sits about one 1/2 inch above the barrel to mate with the rear ghost ring. The Benelli LPA ghost ring sight allows a user to take full advantage of the wide range of 12 gauge ammunition available. Slugs can be placed on target out to 100 yards and buckshot or other shot sizes are well accommodated for accurate quick placement at close range with the Benelli ghost ring style sights.

In terms of combat or personal defense, shotguns fire two primary types of shells—slugs or buckshot. This ability to handle different styles of projectiles is at the root of shotgun effectiveness and popularity. The Benelli M2 Tactical was tested with Hornady Critical Defense and TAP buckshot as well as Federal Premium Flite Control 2 ¾” #00 buckshot. The Federal Premium and Hornady buckshot loads tested utilize special wads for tighter buckshot patterns—thus longer effective range. Generally, buckshot loads have a velocity between 1100-1600 fps giving muzzle energy over 2000ft/lbs to its multiple projectiles.

The Winchester PDX 1 12 gauge loading combining a 1 ounce slug and three-#00 pellets was also tested. The Winchester PDX 1 load harkens back to the “buck-n-ball” loads used by our forefathers against the British in the Revolutionary War and each other during the Civil War. Another interesting slug load from Winchester was also tested; the PDX 1 segmented slug. Winchester designed the segmented slug to break into approximately three 150 grain pieces upon impact with a penetration limited to 13 inches. This Winchester PDX 1 segmented slug load should be considered by law enforcement or civilians concerned about over penetration of traditional slug loads. Standard Federal Premium, Winchester, and Wolf 1 ounce slugs were also tested with the M2. These slug loads were designed for hunting, but work fine in any role including defense. Slugs leave the muzzle between 1200-1600fps depending on particular manufacturer producing over 2500ft/lbs of energy and offer a ballistic track of +3 inches at 50 yards to give a 100 yard zero.

The Benelli M2 arrived with an Improved Cylinder choke tube screwed into the end of the Crio treated barrel. Other choke tubes were included as well. However, Improved Cylinder seems to be preferred choice for tactical shotguns contemplating both slug and buckshot use. The M2 generated spreads of 3-8 inches at 10 yards with the tested buckshot loads. The buckshot spread increases to 8-22 inches at 25 yards with the Federal Premium and Hornady loadings being on the tighter side of the average. The Federal Premium and Hornady #00 buckshot loads are the epitome of the new age tactical buckshot taking advantage of advances in wad technology to keep patterns tighter and thus extending effective range of #00 buckshot.

Many would comment that past 30 yards one should resort to slugs. Testing with the Benelli M2 combined with Federal Premium FliteControl and Hornaday Critical Defense/TAP buckshot indicated otherwise. The combination was able to place the majority of its pellets on IPSC style silhouette targets out to 40 yards. Each pellet strikes with the force equivalent to 32ACP or 380ACP. Slugs performed in the 3 inch range at 50 yards in the M2 Tactical with the ghost ring sights proving their worth. Steel man sized targets were hit regularly at 100 yards with a certain amount of satisfaction derived witnessing the 1 ounce Federal, Winchester and Wolf slugs rocking the target back on its base.

The Benelli inertia operating action is simple, effective, and reliable. Nearly 400 rounds of various loads were fired in this T&E, including light birdshot. Low recoil buckshot or slug loads need to be proofed with any semi-automatic shotgun. The Benelli M2 Tactical worked with everything from low brass birdshot, low recoil buckshot and slugs.

Range time consisted of the patterning described above along with other exercises trying to get a better appreciation of how the Benelli M2 Tactical shotgun handles and performs. The relatively limited capacity of shotguns compared to high capacity magazine fed rifles is often listed as major detriment of choosing a shotgun over another weapon type. One of the most crucial things to learn when choosing a shotgun for defense is how to keep it from running empty of ammunition. The drills involved moving between barricades engaging shoot and no-shoot targets. Another drill used was based on engaging several shorter range targets out to 30 yards before having to engage a designated target placed 90 yards away. This necessitated a switch from buckshot to slug before engaging. The Benelli manual feeding cut off button makes this a simple thing to accomplish.

A great test for any shotgun, especially one to be used in a quick reacting CQB setting is shooting tossed clay targets. This also verifies reliability with ammunition with less recoil impulse than slugs or buckshot and helps get more rounds fired to verify operating soundness. Low brass Winchester #7.5 shot was used with no issue. The ghost ring sight was no problem at all with the rear sight “disappearing” naturally as the eye focused on flying clay target and front sight leading it. The low brass shells were a welcome relief in terms of recoil. Yes, the M2 Tactical is semi-automatic and equipped with the ComforTech stock, but it still is a 12 gauge and anyone telling you any different should be scrutinized. Recoil was not prohibitive and one gets used to it, but do not start using a shotgun after a day of firing an AR or AK as it is significantly more.

Time with the Benelli M2 Tactical will convince anyone that the Benelli M2 is worthy of consideration as an alternative to the long time standard pump action shotgun for LE or personal defense roles.

SITES OF INTEREST

Benelli USA
www.benelliusa.com

Echo Valley Training Center
www.echovalleytraining.com

Federal Cartridge Company
www.federalpremium.com

Winchester Ammunition
www.winchester.com

Hornady
www.hornady.com

Less Lethal Devices: Regulation Under Federal Law

The types of less lethal devices available to law enforcement agencies and consumers have dramatically increased in the last 20 years, raising questions concerning their regulation under the federal firearms and explosives laws. This article will address diversionary devices, conducted electrical weapons, 37mm and 40mm launchers and the projectiles they fire, smoke bombs and grenades, and rubber pellet grenades and address their regulation under federal law. This article will not address restrictions on less lethal devices imposed under state or local law.

I. Legal Background

1. Gun Control Act of 1968

The Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) regulates “firearms.” The term “firearm” is defined to include any weapon which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such weapon; any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; and any destructive device. The term “destructive device” is defined to include any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, or mine, and any weapon that will expel a projectile by the action of an explosive and which has a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter. The term specifically excludes any device that is not designed or redesigned for use as a weapon, and any device which is redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic, line throwing, safety, or similar device.

All firearms, including destructive devices, must generally be transferred interstate through federal firearms licensees (FFLs). FFLs must keep records of acquisitions and dispositions of firearms and must record transfers to non-licensees on ATF Form 4473.

2. National Firearms Act

The National Firearms Act (“NFA”) requires that “firearms” be registered by their manufacturer, importer, or maker, and that transfers of firearms be approved in advance by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”). The term “firearm” is defined to include destructive devices, and the term “destructive device” is defined in the same way as under the GCA.

3. Federal Explosives Laws

The federal explosives laws in Title 18 of the United States Code, Chapter 40, regulate commerce in “explosive materials.” The term “explosive materials” is defined as explosives, blasting agents, and detonators. “Explosives” is defined as any chemical compound mixture or device the primary or common purpose of which is to function by explosion. The definition requires ATF to publish an annual list of explosives that fit within the statutory definition. The most recent list was published on October 23, 2015, and is available on ATF’s website at https://www.atf.gov/file/102106/download.

The federal explosives laws make it unlawful for any person other than the holder of a federal explosives license or permit to transport or receive explosive materials. The law also prohibits the distribution of explosive materials by a holder of a license or permit to any person other than a licensee or permittee. All persons engaging in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in explosive materials must obtain a license issued by ATF, and all licensees and permittees are required to create and maintain records of their acquisition and distribution of explosive materials. All persons are required to store explosive materials in accordance with regulations issued by ATF.

Exemptions from the requirements of the federal explosives laws are provided, in pertinent part, for the transportation, shipment, receipt, or importation of explosive materials for delivery to any federal or state agency; for small arms ammunition and components thereof; and for the manufacture under the regulation of the U.S. military of explosive materials for their official use.

ATF regulations at 27 C.F.R. 555.11 define “ammunition” as follows:

Small arms ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or smokeless propellants designed for use in small arms, including percussion caps, and 3/32 inch and other external burning pyrotechnic hobby fuses. The term does not include black powder.

ATF’s longstanding position is that the small arms ammunition exemption applies only to .50 caliber or smaller rifle or handgun ammunition, as well as certain shotgun ammunition.

II. Less Lethal Devices and ATF Regulation

1. Diversionary Devices

Diversionary devices are non-lethal explosive devices used to disorient the enemy or target. They include flash bangs, stun grenades, noise flash diversionary devices, flash grenades, or sound bombs, devices that produce a very bright flash of light and loud bang without causing permanent injury. Flash bangs are standard equipment for the military, law enforcement agencies, and correctional personnel.

ATF regulates diversionary devices as destructive devices under the GCA and NFA. Accordingly, manufacturers of such devices must obtain a federal firearms license, pay special (occupational) tax under the NFA, and register the devices in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Diversionary devices may only be transferred pursuant to an approved NFA transfer application and must be transferred interstate through FFLs. FFLs may transfer diversionary devices to non-licensees through approved Form 4 transfer applications and by recording the transaction on ATF Form 4473. However, licensees may transfer diversionary devices to federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies directly without going through a FFL if the licensee obtains a purchase order from the government agency.

One common misunderstanding concerning diversionary devices and other less lethal devices concerns contractors of government agencies. Contractors who provide security at federal, state, and local correctional facilities are often required by contract to maintain a certain number and type of firearms, including diversionary devices. Private correctional facilities may also require security personnel to be equipped with diversionary devices. Significantly, contractors of government agencies are not exempt from the requirements of the GCA or NFA. Accordingly, transfers of all firearms, including destructive devices, to contractors must be made through an FFL in the contractor’s state of residence. This requirement can make it prohibitively expensive for contractors to obtain diversionary devices, as the contractor must pay a $200 transfer tax for each device. Moreover, ATF processing time for Form 4 tax-paid transfer applications is nine months at the time of this writing. These statutory and regulatory requirements lead many contractors to obtain an FFL and pay special (occupational) tax under the NFA. A qualified FFL may then acquire registered devices directly from a manufacturer in interstate commerce on a tax-free basis.

Diversionary devices contain explosive materials and are also subject to the requirements of the federal explosives laws. Accordingly, persons manufacturing such devices must hold a license as a manufacturer under the federal explosives laws. Persons who distribute diversionary devices must also hold a license as a dealer under the federal explosives laws. Diversionary devices must be stored in magazines meeting all the requirements of ATF storage regulations, and record keeping requirements also apply. Diversionary devices may only be transferred to persons holding a federal explosives license or permit, with certain exceptions noted below.

As stated above, the federal explosives laws provide an exemption for explosive materials acquired by or distributed to federal, state, or local government agencies. However, unlike the GCA, ATF interprets the government exemption in the federal explosives laws as applying to contractors of federal, state, and local government agencies. Manufacturers of diversionary devices may lawfully distribute them to persons who have contracts with federal, state, or local government agencies and need not ensure that the contractors have a federal explosives license or permit. Companies holding contracts with state or local government agencies are required to store diversionary devices in magazines meeting the requirements of ATF regulations. Contractors of federal agencies are exempt from storage requirements.

ATF has recognized the challenges presented for state and local police departments, including bomb squads, in transporting explosive materials, including diversionary devices, from an approved magazine to the site of a critical incident. ATF Rul. 2009-3 (available on ATF’s website at https://www.atf.gov/explosives/docs/2009-3-storage-explosives-law-enforcement-explosives-response-vehicles/download) held that state and local bomb technicians and explosives response teams may store explosive materials in official response vehicles parked inside a secured building if the vehicle and the building are locked and secured and not more than 50 pounds net explosives weight total is stored in the building. The ruling also allows storage of explosive materials in unattended official response vehicles parked at outdoor locations if the vehicles are locked, have an additional security feature (such as an alarm), and no more than 20 detonators and 2.5 pounds of explosive materials are in the vehicle. The ruling outlines additional criteria for storage of explosives in official response vehicles and should be reviewed carefully by state and local officials to ensure they are complying with federal law.

2. Conducted Electrical Weapons

Conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) use compressed gas to project two probes at a target. Both probes must make contact for the device to be effective on its intended subject. An electrical signal is transmitted through the muscle tissue where the probes make contact with the body or clothing. An automatic timing mechanism applies the electric charge, ideally resulting in a loss of the attacker’s neuromuscular control and ability to perform coordinated actions. Manufacturers of devices indicate they use a signal of up to 50,000 volts to completely override the target’s central nervous system’s ability to communicate voluntary movement. Actual voltage in the body is closer to 1200 volts.

Early versions of CEWs were classified as firearms by ATF. ATF Rul. 76-6 addressed a hand-held device designed to expel, by means of an explosive, two electrical contacts connected by wires to a high-voltage source (the Taser Model TF1). ATF determined the device expelled projectiles by the action of an explosive and thus was regulated as a firearm under the GCA. A subsequent ATF ruling, ATF Rul. 80-20, clarified that similar devices with a hand grip bent at an angle to the bore and having a rifled bore were not subject to the NFA.

Most modern CEWs generally do not expel a projectile by the action of an explosive and are not built on the frame or receiver of a firearm. Such CEWs are not regulated as firearms under federal law.

Review of CEWs available for commercial sale (some for civilian use) indicates that all or most use compressed gas to project the electrical probes and that CEWs are not regulated as firearms under federal law. Questions about classification of a particular CEW should be referred to ATF’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division.

3. Launchers in 37mm and 40mm + Projectiles

Flare launchers in 37mm and 40mm have a bore diameter of more than ½ inch and expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant. Thus, the devices could be regulated as destructive devices. However, ATF has a long standing position that such launchers designed for expelling chemical agents such as tear gas or pyrotechnic signals are not weapons and are not regulated as destructive devices. This position was made clear in ATF Rul. 95-3, which addressed 37/38mm gas/flare guns in combination with certain types of ammunition. In this ruling ATF states that devices designed for expelling tear gas and pyrotechnic signals are not destructive devices.

However, the ruling also clarified that when the launchers are possessed with “anti-personnel” ammunition, the combination of the two becomes an instrument of offensive or defensive combat that is capable of use as a weapon. Accordingly, the ruling held that any person possessing a 37/38mm gas/flare gun with which cartridges containing wood pellets, rubber pellets or balls, or beanbags will be used must register the making of a destructive device before acquiring such ammunition. Although not specifically addressed in the ruling, the holding would also cover foam baton projectiles that may be fired in a 37/38mm or 40mm launcher.

Since 1995 a number of other types of “anti-personnel” ammunition for use in 37/38mm and 40mm devices are available in the commercial market. A variety of manufacturers make projectiles filled with capsaicin and red pepper for use in launchers. These types of projectiles are intended as a chemical irritant. There are no published ATF rulings addressing whether the combination of a 37/38mm launcher and these projectiles are considered destructive devices. However, because the projectiles clearly have anti-personnel use, the launcher combined with the device may fit within the rationale of ATF Rul. 95-3.

ATF’s position on regulation of the launcher plus anti-personnel ammunition poses a challenge for manufacturers and distributors. If a manufacturer or distributor ships a launcher plus anti-personnel projectiles to the same purchaser, the manufacturer/distributor has likely made a destructive device in violation of the law. Likewise, a purchaser who acquires a launcher plus anti-personnel ammunition would be in possession of an unregistered destructive device.

Our discussion of ammunition for 37mm and 40mm launchers would not be complete without mention of the federal explosives laws. ATF has published articles in the agency’s Explosives Industry Newsletter (available on ATF’s website at https://www.atf.gov/explosives/download-federal-explosives-industry-newsletters), stating that cartridges containing rubber balls, wood baton, or bean bags often contain primers and smokeless propellant (see the August 2015 newsletter). Because this type of ammunition is not suitable for use in small arms, it is not exempt from the requirements of the federal explosives laws. Accordingly, manufacturers of such projectiles must obtain a license under the federal explosives laws, store explosive materials in approved magazines, keep records, and comply with all other requirements of the federal explosives laws. In addition, it is unlawful for manufacturers to distribute such anti-personnel ammunition to any person who does not hold a federal license or permit. Exemptions from the license/permit requirement are spelled out above in our discussion of diversionary devices.

4. Smoke Bombs and Smoke Grenades

ATF addressed smoke producing devices in an Explosives Industry Newsletter published in June 2013. In that article, ATF indicated that smoke bombs come in two forms, either as a smoke ball or a smoke candle. Smoke balls are cherry-sized spheres of clay or cardboard filled with a smoke-generating composition that produces a forceful jet of colored smoke for several seconds. A smoke candle, also called a smoke generator or smoke canister, is a cardboard tube, usually 1.5 inches in diameter and several inches long that resembles a large firecracker with a fuse. Smoke candles create a thick cloud of smoke for up to several minutes.

Smoke bombs are used for sewer inflow leak detection, obscurant for law enforcement applications, firefighter training, special effects, HVAC testing, truck and trailer leak detection, and smokescreens for paintball games. According to ATF, smoke bombs are typically initiated with an external fuse often used in the fireworks industry.

The 2013 newsletter article states that smoke bombs do not fit within the regulatory exemption for consumer fireworks because they do not meet the appropriate U.S. Department of Transportation UN classification or because of their intended use. The newsletter article states that a determination by ATF would be required to establish if a particular smoke producing device fits within the exemption.

The article also addresses smoke grenades, which are devices that release smoke when a pin is pulled. These devices are used by military personnel for signaling or as a screening device for troop movements. They are also used for law enforcement operations. ATF explains that smoke grenades emit much more smoke than smoke bombs and typically contain a fuze, which is used to initiate large explosive ammunition or grenades.

ATF explains that both fuses (chemical composition used for fireworks) and fuzes (mechanical initiation used for grenades and large ammunition) contain low explosives. Consequently, smoke bombs and smoke grenades are regulated under the federal explosives laws. However, ATF notes that certain signaling devices may be exempted from the regulations as Special Explosive Devices upon written request to ATF.

Based upon the ATF newsletter article, manufacturers and distributors of smoke bombs and smoke grenades must be licensed under the federal explosives laws. They must store explosive materials in magazines meeting the requirements of ATF’s storage regulations and keep records of acquisition and distribution of explosive materials. Manufacturers and distributors may lawfully distribute smoke bombs and smoke grenades only to persons who hold a federal explosives license or permit. See the discussion above, relating to diversionary devices, for applicable exemptions. Persons with questions about regulation of a particular product should contact ATF’s Explosives Industry Programs Branch to request a determination.

5. Rubber Pellet Grenades

Rubber pellet grenades are used by law enforcement agencies for crowd control and tactical use. The devices are thrown or launched into a crowd and discharge rubber pellets in a circular pattern. Some of the devices have only rubber pellets and others may include an irritant powder or a flash bang effect. If there is a flash bang effect the devices are destructive devices under federal law. All the rubber pellet grenades are made with flash powder and fuses, which are explosive materials.

ATF has not published any written guidance on rubber pellet grenades. However, informal consultations with ATF indicate the agency believes these devices are likely explosive grenades regulated as destructive devices. Because they are made with explosive materials, they are also regulated under the federal explosives laws. Manufacturers and distributors of rubber pellet grenades who wish to obtain classifications concerning the devices should contact ATF’s Explosives Industry Programs Branch.

III. Conclusion

Many less lethal devices are subject to regulation under the federal firearms and explosives laws. Manufacturers, importers, and distributors of such devices must ensure they understand the statutes that apply to their products to ensure they are appropriately licensed and that storage and distribution of the devices is lawful. Purchasers of less lethal devices, including law enforcement agencies, contractors for law enforcement agencies, and consumers, should also be familiar with federal regulations to ensure they are not receiving or possessing firearms or explosives in violation of law.

***The information contained in this article is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to be construed or used as legal advice or as legal opinion. You should not rely or act on any information contained in this article without first seeking the advice of an attorney. Receipt of this article does not establish an attorney-client relationship.

About the authors –

Johanna Reeves is the founding partner of the law firm Reeves & Dola, LLP in Washington, DC (www.reevesdola.com). For more than ten years she has dedicated her practice to advising and representing U.S. companies on compliance matters arising under the federal firearms laws and U.S. export controls.

Teresa Ficaretta is one of the country’s foremost experts on ATF regulations under the Gun Control Act, the National Firearms Act, the Arms Export Control Act and federal explosives laws. Before joining Reeves & Dola in 2013, Teresa served as legal counsel to ATF for 26 years, followed by two years as Deputy Assistant Director in Enforcement Programs and Services. They can be reached at 202-683-4200.

Have you ever wanted to give someone a firearm as a gift, but you weren’t sure of the legal aspects of the transfer? The issue of giving a firearm as a gift is not as confusing as a person may think. Gifting a firearm is perfectly legal under the Gun Control Act (GCA. However, you must ensure that you follow the proper regulations.

One of the most important aspects of gifting a firearm is to consider if the recipient of the gift may or may not be prohibited from possessing a firearm. If the recipient is your child or a close relative, it would appear that you would know whether the person had ever committed a crime that would prohibit him/her from possessing a firearm. However, when it comes to casual friends and distant relatives, you need to ask that question.

A large portion of firearms gifts are prized possessions or family heirlooms. Many of these firearms will fit in the Curio&Relic (C&R) category or are antique firearms. C&R firearms are categories of firearms over 50 years of age or for some reason have been identified as collectable by ATF. C&R firearms are still regulated under the GCA. Antique firearms are firearms that were made before January 1, 1989, or firearms with antique ignition systems such as flintlocks, matchlocks, percussion caps, etc. Antique firearms are not regulated under Federal statutes and can be possessed by anyone of any age. There are certain states that regulate antiques under state law so you must ensure that if gifting an antique firearm it is lawful in the stat you reside in.

Under federal guidelines, a background check is not required for personal transfers of firearms. They can simply be handed over to the recipient. The requirement for a background check on transfers is only when purchasing a firearm from a licensed firearms dealer. However, in certain states, under state law, all handgun transfers and to some extent all firearms transfers, require the use of a dealer to facilitate these transactions. In those states, even the gift of a firearm to a family member would require that the transfer be made through a licensed dealer.

There are many people who hesitate gifting a firearm because of the confusion of what is a straw purchase. A straw purchase is when a firearm is purchased for a person that is prohibited from owning a firearm, or when there is intent to circumvent the regulations pertaining to the transfer of firearms. Giving a legitimate gift of a firearm is not a straw purchase.

If a person intends to purchase a new firearm from a licensed dealer and gives this new firearm as a gift, this is provided for in the Gun Control Act. When the firearm is purchased under these circumstances, the purchaser will complete a Form 4473 and undergo a background check. The purchaser must ensure that he/she checks question (11.a.) of the Form 4473 that he/she is the actual buyer of the firearm. Of course, the purchaser could always select a firearm and buy a gift card to cover the cost for the person he/she wants to give the firearm to. This person could then purchase the firearm and complete the required paperwork himself/herself.

When purchasing a firearm or giving a firearm to someone, the age restrictions are somewhat different. Under federal guidelines, a person must be at least 21 years of age to purchase a handgun or a firearm that is classified as an “other” from a licensed dealer. When purchasing a shotgun or rifle from a licensed dealer, the federal age requirement is 18 years old. When giving a firearm or making a private sale, the age restriction is 18 years for either rifle or pistol. Additionally, a person less than 18 years of age can possess a firearm with written permission from a parent or guardian, and it must specify a purpose, such as farming, hunting, or target practice

Conclusion:

With hunting season upon us and Christmas around the corner, if you want to gift a firearm don’t hesitate to do so. Ensure you follow all regulations, and if you have any questions, you can contact the local ATF office or the author of this article.

Many believe a repeating firearm’s reliability is based upon its operating system. While this assumption is true, the root cause of most weapons’ malfunctions center upon a failure to properly feed live rounds, or properly eject spent brass. A clean properly lubricated operating system is important, but the vast majority of malfunctions can be ultimately attributed to some form of magazine failure. This is true for all repeating actions from manually operated bolt and lever actions, to self-loading semi-automatic and automatic actions. Jams, stovepipes and ejection failures top the malfunction list; but first, some design success stories.

Mikhail Kalashnikov developed the AK-47 in the 1940s for the Soviet Red Army. Since then, over 75 million AKs have been made. Its short stoke gas piston operating system is fed by a robust double stack 30 round all steel magazine. The AK-47 is not a precision made elegant weapon, but it’s cheap to manufacture and is perhaps the most reliable and proliferate assault rifle ever made.

In 1948 Major Uziel Gal developed his easy and cheap method to manufacture a highly reliable Uzi 9mm submachine gun that employs a simple blowback operating system fed by a sturdy 25- or 32- round double stack magazine. More than 10 million Uzi sub-guns have since been manufactured. Uziel Gal’s design philosophy, according to him, was to first design the magazine around a particular round of choice (he chose the 9mm Parabellum). Then design the gun around the magazine. This, he insisted, “provides for the utmost performance reliability.”

This same design philosophy was used on a grander scale in the 1960s in the USAF’s wildly successful close air support A-10 Warthog.

The operational requirement was for an aircraft that could successfully take out tanks and armored vehicles, and provide close air support for ground troop operations, e.g., stop the Soviet advance across the “Plains of Europe.” This requirement translated to a comparatively low cost aircraft with high target lethality and superior survivability against ground fire. The desig ners began by selecting the armor-killing gun; a single 30 mm GAU-8/A seven-barrel Gatling gun. Then they built a survivable aircraft around the gun, with a unique titanium bathtub-like armor shield surrounding the lower cockpit to protect the pilot from ground fire.

Double Stack

Their design choice of materials and functional simplicity provides for a highly reliable combat pistol that feeds flawlessly when shooting in any attitude (vertically up or down, or on either side ejection port up or down, with or without the additional weight of a sound suppressor).

More recently, this design philosophy was employed by FN when they designed their polymer lower and stainless steel upper FNP-45 (now the FNX-45). The pistol’s high capacity 45 ACP double stack stainless steel magazines
contain beautifully designed followers lifted by a coiled wire spring.

Magazines Are Fundamental to Operating System Reliability

There are several very important firearm design features that should be fully understood before making any firearms purchase. The single most important feature, and also most often overlooked, is the magazine. Magazines come in a variety of forms. The classic removable box-type design used for most modern assault rifles and pistols is most common. Additionally, there are tubular magazines mounted beneath the barrel (or inside the stock) like many lever action and pump action rifles and shotguns employ, and internal small capacity magazines commonly used on many bolt action hunting rifles. There are also rotary magazines and externally mounted high capacity drum and box magazines that contain linked ammunition belts used on most all machineguns. Linked ammunition magazines and their associated feed conduit will not be addressed in this discussion.

Regardless of design, magazines provide for ammunition storage and share a common operating design in all repeating actions by presenting the next round to the bolt’s forward stroke for chambering. Magazines may appear to possess little sophistication, and indeed some do not. After all, in most cases they’re little more than a spring, a follower, a floor plate and a plastic or fabricated sheet metal container; pretty basic engineering – right?

The truth is, most magazines are far more sophisticated. Here’s the operating process in simple terms. When the gun is fired and the spent round is ejected on the bolt’s back stroke, the magazine spring pushes the follower upward and the next round is presented at exactly the right height and angle of attack so the bolt’s forward stroke can skim the round off the top of the stack and carry (feed) it into the gun’s chamber. Seems simple enough – what can go wrong?

Most of us would like to think that factory magazines are built to a precision specification designed for each particular gun model, and that magazines are fully interchangeable within the same gun model. While that is fundamentally true, not all magazines are created equal. Different manufacturers’ quality control their products to different plus/minus tolerances. For example, the gun’s bolt and/or slide is fitted to the upper and/or receiver along with the trigger group. The barrel is fitted to the gun with particular attention to head space (gap between the bolt face and chamber) when the gun is loaded, in-battery and ready to fire. Attention to detail is given to material construction, tolerances and finish on these parts, because they must work together smoothly if the gun is to have any operating system reliability.

This translates to a variety of different parts with different tolerances, some plus, some minus, being combined to work within an overall design specification. It also means for example, if several plus tolerance parts are combined with other plus tolerance parts this can mean a tight fit. The reverse is true for the combination of minus parts resulting in a loose fit. As long as the overall factory tolerance specification is met, the combination should reliably function as designed. However, aftermarket parts are not factory parts and don’t undergo factory quality assurance, and that is most often a problem. This is especially true in aftermarket magazines.

Even with reasonable design and manufacturing quality assurance of critical gun parts, expensive guns still often experience out of the box feed, extraction and ejection malfunctions, leaving the shooter scratching his head and wondering why. Not generally understood, the reason is usually the magazine. Unfortunately, far less manufacturing attention is paid to magazine design, material construction, and fit.

Let’s look at the dynamics at work inside a magazine. The follower is pushed upward by the magazine spring, elevating the cartridge stack holding it in tension against the magazine’s feed lips. The spring must have enough consistent tension to overcome both the weight of the cartridge stack and the drag (friction) of the follower as it climbs the magazine walls. It must also do this in a proper time to present the cartridge for feeding when needed- if it’s dragging a little, the bolt might be coming forward and miss the feed. The greater the capacity of the magazine, the “more powerful” the spring must be to do its job. Then add some grit inside the magazine or rusty or corroded inside walls and you have a feed malfunction. The root cause is because the spring can no longer reliably elevate the follower and elevate/hold the cartridge stack in the ready position against the feed lips.

In order to understand what to look for we need to take a close look at the variables involved, beginning with a common box-type removable magazine. Many of us believe if a 20 round magazine is good, then a 30 round is better, so a 40 round magazine is better still. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In reality, the higher the magazine capacity, the greater chance of malfunction. Why? With more rounds comes more weight in the cartridge stack, more drag/friction for the magazine spring to overcome, more cartridge alignment problems, etc.

Box-type magazines are installed into the magazine well by pushing them (or jamming them) upward until the magazine catch engages a hole or slot cut into the magazine body for that purpose. This catch holds the magazine from being inserted too far and also holds it in place until the magazine release button is pushed. This releases the magazine, allowing it to either fall from the gun under its own weight or pulled from the gun with a free hand.

In most gun designs, the magazine catch is insufficiently robust. It is usually a pressed or sintered part (not precision machined and tempered) that uses a small spring to keep it extended (locked) into the magazine catch hole/slot. In most designs, little importance is placed on the robustness of the magazine catch’s axel, spring or material construction. Sand can easily foul the catch’s proper locking movement, the spring can fatigue or break, and the catch itself can wear down. This results in catch failure and a gun that will not reliably hold the weight of a loaded magazine. The higher the magazine capacity, the greater the weight that small catch must hold.

Ambidextrous magazine releases require special attention because they are often poorly designed and not robust enough to hold the weight of a loaded 30 or 40 round magazine in the magazine well. Consider the weight of a 30 or 40 round magazine hanging on that small catch. Now add some tactical scenario rough treatment like banging the installed magazine down on a hard surface. Forces are applied in sheer and that small catch is exposed to tremendous loads. Obviously, if you’re a fair weather shooter who doesn’t expose his gun to combat-like operating extremes, reliability may not mean much. But if your gun’s reliability means life and death, pay attention. You may want to upgrade your magazine catch and spring.

Improper Magazine Fit is a Feed Malfunction Root Cause

Your magazines’ installed height is critically important. When the magazine installs too low, the round is presented too low to the bolt face on the forward stroke and at the wrong angle. This situation many times causes stove pipe-type malfunctions on the forward stroke, or being missed by the bolt altogether (the bolt passes above the cartridge missing it on the forward stroke).

Again a loose fitting magazine can be the result of wear or it’s just out of spec. A magazine’s installed height is one of the most important factors in reliability. Magazines that don’t feed properly should be discarded whether they’re out of the box new or well used.

A second thing to look for is fully loaded magazines that fit too tightly in the magazine well. This is especially true in pistols. Tight fit results from either poor magazine material construction, sloppy tolerances in manufacturing, or from magazine swell. Magazine swell is often the result of magazine walls constructed from plastic or sheet metal that is too flimsy and flexible. The symptom to watch for is when the cartridges of a fully loaded magazine push the magazine walls outward, swelling it to a tight fit against the gun’s magazine well. This is a malfunction waiting to happen.

Also, the magazines themselves can be made flimsily to the point that the magazine catch doesn’t adequately engage the slot intended for it, or the slot becomes easily dented or worn as a result of poor magazine material construction. Many (not all) aluminum and plastic magazines are notorious for this type of failure. There are some exceptionally reliable polymer magazines on the market. For example, P-Mag makes an extremely reliable polymer magazine as does Glock with their unique polymer-sheathed metal body magazines.

Follower design, material construction and alignment with the magazine walls is another critical magazine reliability element. Think of the follower in terms of it being an elevator that lifts the cartridge column upward. Followers come in many forms, polymer, composite and metal. Some are molded, some are cast and some are fabricated from sheet metal. All serve the same function and that is to provide a stable base on which the cartridge stack rests. The magazine’s spring beneath the follower applies tensioned pressure to consistently push up the cartridge stack against the magazine lips, presenting the next cartridge to the bolt on its forward stroke. The spring tension pushing against the follower must not be too powerful or the cartridges won’t feed. It cannot be too weak or the rounds will fall out of the magazine when the action is open.

Regularly clean and lubricate the inside of your magazines. Where design permits, disassemble your magazines by removing the floor plate (Only if designed for removal – many floor plates are permanently attached). Pull the spring and follower out and clean all the parts as well as the inside of the magazine. If you find rust or corrosion that cannot be removed, throw the magazine away. Lightly lubricate the parts and ensure proper reassembly. In magazines that have welded floor plates that can’t be removed, soak the magazine in gun cleaning solvent. Blow it out with compressed air. Apply a dry lubricant to the internal walls, spring and follower. Dry lube works best because sand and dirt usually stick to a wet lubricant. After cleaning, compress the follower using your finger or dowel. Ensure it functions properly and doesn’t scrape or drag along its travel. Ensure the floor plate is engaged so your magazine won’t inadvertently come apart, spilling its rounds in the middle of a gunfight.

Last, carefully inspect the magazine’s feed lips for alignment. The feed lips can often become bent and misaligned from dropping the empty magazine on the ground during a tactical reload of your gun. Misaligned feed lips will result in feed malfunctions. Damaged feed lips can sometime be realigned by skillfully bending them back into tolerance. However, that is usually a trial and error (hit or miss) process not recommended for magazines intended for tactical use. Also inspect the magazine body for cracks that can affect structural integrity. Even small cracks can cause malfunctions or lead to them. Discard those magazines.

Most pump actions and lever actions use a tubular magazine that is mounted beneath the barrel or contained within the stock. Tubular magazines suffer some of the same internal malfunction issues inherent to box magazines, but have a distinctly different feed process than box magazines. The internal cleanliness of a tubular magazine is extremely important to its reliability. Internal dirt and rust both inside the magazine tube and inside the follower rod containing the follower spring, are usually the show stoppers. The tubular magazine housing along with the follower rod and spring should both be internally cleaned and lubricated with a dry lubricant. This will reduce cartridge drag when fully loaded and is especially important to reliable feed when shooting vertically – up or down.

A second critically important feature on guns with tubular magazines is the feed mechanism located beneath the bolt that lifts/elevates a round from the tubular magazine upward, presenting it at precisely the right angle of attack to the bolt’s forward stroke for chambering. That feed mechanism, in cheaper guns is many times poorly constructed (sometimes from polymer materials). Wear and dirt will cause the feed mechanism to become sloppy (out of tolerance) or prevent it from full travel resulting improper feed.

What about drum magazines? Guns that are factory-designed for drum magazines like the Thompson sub-machinegun, have robust magazine catches intended to hold the added weight of a loaded drum magazine. Using an aftermarket drum magazine in an AR-style gun or pistol without replacing the gun’s magazine catch with a significantly more robust version, is suicidal in a gunfight. The same goes for extra high capacity magazines that extend well beneath the magazine well. You’re asking for feed and ejection malfunctions for all the reasons previously discussed.

Finally, the magazine’s spring is a critical element of reliability for all magazines no matter what type. Early magazine designs employed leaf-style flat springs or single strand spring wire that when kept compressed in a full magazine for months on end would not reliably spring back (and reliably feed the contents of the entire magazine). This is known as “spring memory.” Early AR magazines (Vietnam vintage) and Model 1911 pistol magazines were like that. Magazines with flat springs or single strand spring wire required unloading about every two weeks with a couple of weeks “rest” before reloading so the spring wouldn’t “remember” its compression. Many shooters still abide by that today and religiously rotate their loaded and unloaded ready magazines to prevent magazine compression spring memory.

However, most quality magazine springs today are made from multi-strand twisted steel spring wire alloyed specifically for that purpose. They don’t have a memory and can remain loaded for years without spring memory becoming a reliability factor. It is nevertheless important to ensure the springs in your magazines are of the quality variety. Check them and be sure. Magazine springs and their unique metallurgy will be the topic of a future article.

So now you have it. Use only quality factory design spec magazines. Check each magazine for proper installed height. Ensure the magazine spring and follower align the rounds with the feed lips. Ensure the feed lips are undamaged and aligned. Inspect the magazine body for cracks. Keep the inside of the magazine clean and lubricated. Ensure the floor plate is firmly in place. Inspect the gun’s magazine release mechanism for wear and proper operation. Keep it clean and lubricated. Discard magazines that are ill fitting, damaged, or that continually cause gun malfunction. Read your magazines.

I once met an Israeli Aviator when I was a soldier. He asked me how far the nearest organized military threat was from my family. I answered truthfully maybe 5,000 miles. He observed that his children went to school 30 minutes by T72 tank from the nearest army bent upon the destruction of his people and his nation. Such stuff pervades their national consciousness. The Israelis are born fighting.

The birth of Israel as a contemporary nation in 1948 grew from the ashes of World War II and the aftermath of the Holocaust. 24 hours after the burgeoning state declared its independence and statehood its Arab neighbors invaded. Israel has been at war on and off ever since.

Early on, the young state of Israel was in dire need of weapons. Support for Israel by the international community has always been intermittent at best so developing a domestic source for small arms was a top priority for Israeli leaders in the years immediately following independence. This institutional desperation drove Major Uziel Gal to design the Uzi submachinegun, arguably the most robust and efficient subgun ever devised. The Uzi was heavy at around 9 pounds but it fed from 25 and 32-round box magazines, was built efficiently via industrial metal presses, and ran anywhere anytime no matter what. In so doing the Uzi kept the fledgling state of Israel alive during some of its most desperate hours and was subsequently exported to hotspots around the globe. Uzis were used by several European countries and were produced by FN under license. They were also liberally distributed across Africa. The Secret Service agents protecting President Reagan during his well-publicized assassination attempt carried Uzis.

The developing Israeli Army employed German and British surplus bolt action rifles like the Kar98k and Lee Enfield. Their first standardized infantry rifle was the FN FAL. While the FAL was a superb weapon for fighting in European forests it was found to be marginally reliable in the sandy places where Israeli soldiers served. As a result, drawing from the success of the Uzi submachinegun, Israeli military planners set out to develop a domestically produced Infantry rifle that could serve reliably in the wretched spaces around Israel.

Development

A genetic hybrid is an organism engineered to incorporate the most desirable traits within a species. Hybrid corn grows faster and resists pests better than its forebears. Hybrid cows are optimized for milk production or succulent steaks. Hybrid chickens are so perfected for human consumption as to be nearly unrecognizable compared to their feral precursors. Genetic hybridization makes good things better.

The design competition to select a new Infantry rifle for the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) stretched from the late 60’s into the early 70’s. Uziel Gal himself submitted a design. Captured Kalashnikovs along with U.S. M16A1’s and Stoner 63 rifles joined the fray. The Germans entered their HK33.

Israelis Yisrael Galil and Yaacov Lior designed a hybrid rifle that drew from several different sources. At the end of one of the most grueling small arms tests in history the eponymous Galil rifle reigned supreme. Incorporating the side-folding stock from the FAL, the long stroke gas piston system of the revered Kalashnikov, and the small lightweight chambering from the M16, the Galil strived to incorporate the best features of all the world’s successful small arms into a single robust rifle design. The resulting hybrid rifle can hold its own even among today’s more modern offerings.

The basic chassis of the Galil was actually built around a handful of milled Finnish Valmet receivers commercially obtained and then smuggled into Israel. Using these components as a starting point, the rifle’s Israeli designers rethought everything else about the guns. In the final analysis the Galil was arguably the most soldier-friendly military rifle in history.

Broad Brush

The Galil is heavy. The gun weighs more than 9 pounds empty and feels unusually substantial in the hands as a result. The folding stock is copied directly from that of the FN FAL and folds to the right. The stock locks at the hinge and deploys instantly with a quick slap. The familiar ranch gate safety from the AK series guns is retained but there is also a corresponding thumb switch on the left of the rifle. Interestingly, Physics dictates that this switch moves backwards from what one might expect. Pushing the switch forward puts the weapon on safe. Moving the switch backwards with the thumb to ready the rifle for firing is a bit of a chore. Selector positions for the ranch gate safety are the same as those of any of the 100 million or so Kalashnikov rifles currently in service. Up is safe, all the way down is semiauto, and the middle position is rock and roll.

The rear sight mounts on the rear of the sheet metal receiver cover. While this grants a longer sight radius and subsequently more comfortable shooting than might an AK, the cover is innately unsteady and most move about just enough to ensure that the Galil will not be a tack driver. Practical tactical accuracy is fine, however. The rear sights incorporate a pair of pivoting peeps as well as an ingenious flip-up glowing night sight. Windage and elevation adjustments are undertaken on the front sight and there is a flip-up night sight on the front as well.

The charging handle reciprocates with the bolt and angles upward for easy access by the left hand. Front handguards can be of either wood or synthetic material and the sheet metal tube over the gas piston is left exposed. There are several different sorts of flash suppressors and the example on my rifle has a spring-loaded wire to retain rifle grenades prior to firing.

The receiver is standard milled AK fare replete with lightening cuts on the front. Magazines are of the heavy steel AK sort and typically carry 35 rounds when fully loaded. Fifty round versions were produced, as were stubbier versions to hold rifle grenade launching rounds. The magazine release is easily accessed by the left thumb and incorporates a sheet steel guard to minimize the risk of inadvertent activation.

Little Things

The Galil is the archetypal soldier’s rifle. The Israelis know ground combat intimately and their small arms designs reflect this reality. The Galil can be configured to accept a folding bipod and this bipod sports a built in set of wire cutters for reducing wire obstacles.

Back in the days before ubiquitous canned soft drinks Israeli leaders noted a problem with soldier behavior in the field. Israeli soldiers were sometimes using the magazines from their FALs and M16s to pry the caps off of glass beverage bottles. The flimsy aluminum magazines used by these weapons readily deformed in the face of this practice and threatened the reliability of the weapons in question. Where American leaders would have responded with harshly-worded directives simply prohibiting the practice, the Israelis built a bottle opener into the handguard of the Galil rifle.

In the rifles equipped with bipods there is a slot running the length of the bottom of the handguard to allow the bipod to stow out of the way when not in use. There are hardened steel hooks incorporated into the near end of this slot specifically designed to open glass beverage bottles. Given the large percentage of reservists who make up Israeli combat formations, the practicality of this feature simply reflects Israeli pragmatism as regards military operations.

Variants include two different short-barreled carbine configurations, one of which is short with the other being tiny. There is also a .308 version intended for use with a telescopic sight in a designated marksman role. The basic Galil design has been widely exported as well as produced in a variety of countries under license.

Range Work

The Galil rifle is steady in operation and all but recoilless thanks to its prodigious heft. Accuracy is perhaps a bit better than most Kalashnikov variants while stopping short of that of a tuned AR. Magazines rock in and out like those of an AK and the Galil has that same long creepy Kalashnikov trigger.

The overall effect is comparable to running an AK74 in 5.45x39mm only a bit heavier. Those zippy little 5.56 mm rounds shoot flat at reasonable combat ranges and the heavy bolt combined with the milled steel receiver seem like they could take a great deal of punishment. The angled charging handle is indeed more easily accessed with the weak hand by right-handed shooters.

Rate of fire on fully automatic is 650-700 rounds per minute and the gun is eminently controllable during burst firing. The gas tube does get frightfully hot in short order after long strings of fire though the beefy handguard does a better job at insulating the operator’s support hand than might the conventional wooden AK sort. Slings mount via hooks on the left side of the rifle as they should. The gun may be run with the stock folded though thus configured the ranch gate safety is a bit tough to manage. The long 35-round box magazine makes firing from the prone a bit of a chore but this is a problem common to most modern high-capacity Infantry rifles.

Grand Scheme

The Galil was formally adopted by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) but this was during a time when the U.S. was offering M16A1 rifles at bargain basement prices. In the aftermath of the 1967 Six Days War and the comparably desperate 1973 Yom Kippur fight the Israelis badly needed modern rifles but American M16’s were both available and cheap. As a result Galil rifles served concurrently alongside these American weapons for years.

During a recent trip through Israel I exhaustively documented the small arms we encountered. TAR21 Tavor bullpups were fairly ubiquitous as were American M4 carbines in two broad configurations. One sort was the standard U.S. GI model with a 14.5-inch barrel stepped for a grenade launcher while the other sported a barrel of comparable length that was of a thin profile throughout its span. The TAR21 rifles all incorporated a conventional short trigger guard that wrapped solely around the trigger finger whereas commercial versions in the U.S. today sport the full length version akin to that of the Steyr AUG. This was early 2014 and I did not encounter anyone carrying a Galil in active service.

Israel requires mandatory military service for both genders and IDF soldiers are required to carry their rifles as well as a magazine or two of ammunition with them at all times while home on leave. Weapons carried in public typically sported optical sights, usually Trijicon ACOGs or domestically produced Israeli Meprolight rigs. They were all carried with orange plastic empty chamber indicators in place atop a loaded magazine that could be put into action at a moment’s notice. This practice ensures that most public spaces are populated with a couple of fit young well-armed soldiers at all times. For this reason terrorist attacks in contemporary Israel seldom last very long. I have never felt safer.

The Galil is a reflection of the Israeli national mindset. Rugged, dependable, and over-engineered yet versatile while remaining soldier-friendly, the Galil was arguably the most effective Infantry weapon in the world when it was introduced. Not unlike growing corn or breeding cows, when you take the best traits you can find and combine them into a single entity the results are undeniably effective. Combining the salient strengths of three major established weapon systems, the Israeli Galil was a soldier’s rifle in a nation forever at war.

SureFire M600IB Intellibeam ScoutLight

SureFire, LLC, manufacturer of the world’s finest—and most innovative—illumination tools and tactical products, has launched their new M600IB Intellibeam ScoutLight. The revolutionary M600IB utilizes SureFire’s proprietary IntelliBeam Technology—an intelligent sensor and microprocessor-based system that continuously evaluates the environment where the beam is aimed—to automatically adjust the light output to the optimal level, anywhere between 100 and 600 lumens. So you always get just the right amount of light for the task at hand, based on your surroundings! Inside, in close quarters, you get less light, to eliminate light splashing back into your eyes. Outside, or with longer distances, you get maximum output. Find out more about this WeaponLight at www.SureFire.com.

CENTURY ARMS AK OPTIC MOUNTING SYSTEM

Century Arms, North America’s premier AK manufacturer, is proud to announce the introduction of the new addition to their AK-47 accessory line, the AK Micro Dot Side Mount. This solid and easy-to-install mount contains features that set it apart considerably from other side mounts currently available on the market. This AK receiver rail and side mount represent a true evolution of optics mounting systems for the AK platform. The AK Micro Dot Side Mount is machined from 6061-T6 billet aluminum and is hardcoat anodized per MIL-A-8625F Type III, Class 2 specifications, giving it superior overall strength. The AK Micro Dot Side Mount is the first AK side scope rail mount that has true return-to-zero capability. The mount offers four times the clamping engagement over traditional side scope rail mounts, improves sight acquisition for follow-up shots and allows for complete field stripping of the rifle without removal of the mount. It is compatible with most standard T1/H1 style optics and provides a modular mounting system to adjust the optic from front to back. All of Century Arms’ American Made AK47’s in the C39v2 and RAS47 product lines now come equipped with a new receiver side rail that is compatible with the AK Micro Dot Side Mount. This combination allows the modern shooting enthusiast the ability to customize their rifle and make it a more capable, flexible platform. The AK Micro Dot Side Mount includes all necessary hardware and has a suggested retail price of $119.99. You can find them at: www.centuryarms.com.

HARTMAN MHI SIGHT HAS LANDED IN THE US

Hartman Ltd., an optics company co-founded by Lt. Col. (Ret) Mikey Hartman of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and founder of the IDF Marksmanship and Sharpshooting School, is proud to announce the arrival of the MH1 reflex sight to retailers across the U.S. The game-changing features of the patent-pending MH1 sight have been specifically designed to meet and exceed the demands of military, law enforcement and sportsmen around the world. The Hartman MH1 reflex sight is distributed exclusively in the U.S. by CAA. The MH1, is an advanced tactical red dot sight, featuring multiple ground-breaking technologies, including: the largest field-of-view on the market, an optional customizable user interface and a USB charging port that allows the user to charge the sight via any mobile device, computer or wall socket (a single CR123 backup battery provides additional extended battery life). In addition, the sight is motion activated and will stay in battery saving mode until its dual 30° motion sensors perceive the firearm is being moved in a shooting position. The MH1’s rear panel and activation buttons are uniquely angled allowing the user to mount additional optics or night vision gear behind it without impeding access to the controls even when using gloves. Optionally, as part of the interface feature users can customize a variety of controls: PTT on or off, sleep mode duration, motion sensors enable/disable, low battery indicators and adjusting brightness levels. In addition, an optional remote control PTT strap allows the user to activate the sight as well as control brightness while maintaining two handed control of the firearm, useful when moving from low light to bright light conditions or vice versa. You can find out more at www.hartman-il.com.

FDE AND TACTICAL MODELS JOIN THE HK VP PRODUCT LINE

Two new models of Heckler & Koch’s VP striker fired pistol have been added to the company line-up. New Flat Dark Earth (FDE) colored frame variants and threaded barrel “Tactical models” join the renowned VP family of 9 mm and .40 caliber pistols. The new VP FDE models are manufactured using special colorants added to the frame during the molding process and are available in both 9 mm (VP9) and .40 caliber (VP40). The color frame cannot fade or chip and is unaffected by chemicals, sun, and exposure to the elements. FDE models have all of the highly regarded VP features-with the addition of their colored frames. Flat Dark Earth is a tan/brown color scheme that has gained favor among many military and security units in recent years. The VP Tactical models (available in both 9 mm and .40 S&W) are also identical to standard HK VP pistols, except for the addition of premium grade threaded barrels only their weights and lengths differ due to the longer and slightly heavier threaded barrel. The threaded barrels are manufactured at HK’s Oberndorf factory in southwest Germany, using the legendary Heckler & Koch cold-hammer forging process. HK cold hammer forged barrels, made from proprietary cannon grade steel, are well known for their long service life. Similar HK barrels on P30 models have fired more than 90,000 rounds in endurance tests. Both the VP FDE color frame models and the VP Tactical models are made completely in HK’s Oberndorf factory in southwest Germany using all of the company’s advanced technologies for barrel manufacturing, as well as production of the machined steel slide, polymer frame, and all internal components. HK VP pistols are competitively priced and covered by Heckler & Koch’s lifetime warranty. Learn more at www.hk-usa.com.

CCI AMMUNITION ADDS HANDGUN SHOTSHELL LINE-UP TO HANDGUN LOADS

CCI Ammunition, the only American manufacturer of handgun shotshells, introduces all-new handgun shotshells featuring larger shot for deeper penetration and extended range. They are available in four popular handgun calibers. Shipments of this new product are being delivered to dealers. Centerfire handgun shotshells have long proven themselves as highly practical options for close-range pests. CCI has added to its one-of-a-kind offering with exciting new CCI Big 4 loads to extend the range and capabilities of these downsized shotshells, thanks to a payload of No. 4 lead shot. The resulting energy and patterns enable Big 4 loads to take down larger pests at longer distances, making them even more useful. The new ammunition is packed in reusable 10-round boxes and is available in 9mm, .38 Special/.357 Magnum, .44 Special/.44 Magnum and .45 Long Colt. More information is available at www.cci-ammunition.com.

NEW CREEDMORE PTR AMMUNITION

Creedmoor Ammunition, a division of Creedmoor Sports, is now loading Creedmoor Precision Tactical Rifle (PTR) ammunition, made specifically with law enforcement in mind. Hard-hitting and extremely accurate, the new .223 caliber PTR round is loaded with a 55 grain Sierra HPBT bullet. The Sierra HPBT leaves the muzzle at a sizzling 3,200 feet per second, and generates 1,250 foot pounds of threat-stopping energy. When zeroed in at 100 yards, the bullet drops a scant 3.4 inches at 200 yards. The new PTR ammunition is loaded into Creedmoor’s own high-quality brass, sold in boxes of 20 in a MTM case, and is made in the USA at Creedmoor Sport’s Anniston, Alabama facility. Quantity discounts are available. Every round Creedmoor Sports produces is hand inspected, after being loaded in new state-of-the-art AmmoLoad machines. The PTR rounds–like all Creedmoor Ammunition–are offered at the lowest prices possible because Creedmoor sells directly to consumers-no distributors or middle-men to drive up prices! For more information, please visit www.creedmoorsports.com.

POLYCASE RELEASES NEW SPORT UTILITY AMMO

PolyCase Ammunition releases their new line of Sport Utility Ammo. PolyCase Ammunition has taken the industry by storm with their innovative copper-polymer projectiles, performing beyond expectations. The New Sport Utility line is range-friendly with its copper-polymer blend. Unlike other jacketed and frangible ammo, the Inceptor RNP Sport Utility Ammo can be shot on hardened steel with safe range distances being measured in feet, not yards, resulting in a safer and more realistic training experience. The Sport Utility Ammo is the perfect practice round for both indoor and outdoor shooting. This sport/training product is perfectly matched to the recoil and performance of the Inceptor Preferred Defense and Ruger Self-Defense lines of ammunition, making it the ideal practice ammo choice for users of Ruger or Inceptor-branded defense ammunition. The Inceptor RNP Sport Utility Ammo delivers high velocity and low recoil providing a comfortable day of shooting at the range while holding the accuracy and performance expected from PolyCase products. The Inceptor RNP Sport Utility Ammo line is available in .380 Auto, 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 Auto and .38 Special. This flatter, faster and frangible ammo is now available in contemporary packaged and competitively priced 50-round count boxes, making it the obvious choice for today’s cost-conscious shooter. Contact them at www.polycaseammo.com.

In part I of the Interview In SAR Volume 20 Number 9 SAR gathers the background on Barrett Firearms and Chris Barrett’s participation in the growth of the company. We take up the story at that point…

SAR: What is Barrett’s recent interest in creating a medium machine gun?

Chris: A while back a solicitation come out in the Commerce Business Daily. It was part of the network that people used for Government Contract announcements. Nowadays it is called Fed Biz Ops. The solicitation was for a lightweight version of the M240 series. Primarily replacing the Bravo version. Eventually this turned into what the M240 Lima is today. What we thought was really the case was that the solicitation was written so one particular contractor could quickly win it, written between the lines, and a Commercial Off the Shelf product would be available.

Apparently they were looking into a lightweight M240 at the same time the solicitation came out as well. We were very disappointed at that after we had invested so much energy into our design. Regardless, we saw the solicitation and we put the Barrett brain to it. We looked at the M240 and saw all these different rivets and small parts and thought to ourselves, “With a modern CNC machine can’t we make all of this one piece? Can we turn sixty some pieces into one part?”. And the answer is “Yes, you can.” The riveted design has a lot of short comings. One, it is built like the Titanic, old school, steam power, this is how we built things in the industrial revolution. It has laminations between metal. This is where corrosion and rust like to start. Anytime two pieces of metal are touching together, what happens between them? Oxidation. Any fastener eventually comes loose, a simple principle of firearms design. Anything designed to come loose, does. And rivets are a kind of fastener. So we designed a hardened 4140 steel receiver, that alone was four pounds lighter than the standard 240. It is simple, and proven. So we feel that the solution that the Army received in the Lima was not particularly creative at all. It is not wise to say, “Let’s take a great design and just make every part out of titanium.” That’s not how you select material as an engineer, by just selecting material based on one attribute. Titanium isn’t the ideal application for what that machine gun is used for. I would call it a misunderstanding of design intent. We just have a simple and elegant solution to a problem. We’ve really been paying attention to the design recently as well. We started with the receiver, the heart of the gun, and now we are moving out from there, on to many different parts of the machine gun. We will have several patents on components of that machine gun by the time we are production ready. As an example, the original handguard design with the tri-Picatinny rails clamps onto the gas tube. It tends to heat up very quickly during a course of fire. So the handguard has to be a huge block to keep your hand way from it, with heat insulators to further keep the rails from getting hot. We decided to say, “We’re not touching it”. Ours doesn’t even touch the gas tube, it bolts to the front of the receiver and free floats as you will along the gas tube. We removed the bipods which also used to be mounted to the gas tube, and that is connected to the barrel. I know that a machine gun is not a sniper rifle, but I want my machine gun to hit where I’m aiming. And even on that gun, with that heavy of a barrel, as that gun gets warm and I’m putting pressure from my head on the butt stock, that deflects a barrel and could have detrimental effects downrange. So we moved the bipods to the handguard, which is already free floated, so you are not affecting the point of impact. Your handguard and your bipods are still getting some heat radiated off of them but it is nothing compared to the previous design. Then you have the ability to quickly remove the bipods. If you damage them or need to get them out of the way in a hurry, then you can easily remove them with ours, but with a conventional M240, you have to take some time to take them off, time you might not have. We also redesigned the butt stock, feed tray cover, even some of the internals. Then we did the 240 LWS, the Lightweight Short. It is four inches shorter, but with the same system. It is a machine gun, the size of the Mk.48 in overall length, almost the same weight, but it is a 240. And the 240 is an undeniably reliable machine gun. The Mk48 is not what the 240 is, when it comes to reliability. What we think we have done, is that we have created a machine gun that is the same package size of the Mk48, but has the unwavering reliability of a 240.

SAR: Has there been any further input on the 240 LW outside of the U.S. and have there been any sales?

Chris: Yes, we’ve actually sold some 240 LWs to two countries now, one of them in northern Europe. They are very discerning customers, and they love our design so far. We’ve worked with them a lot on the design and throughout the experimentation process. We’ve got some interest from more, but this kind of thing takes time.

SAR: The Model 82 has made Barrett unique in that since its inception, the company doesn’t have any direct competition when it comes to a .50 caliber, long range, anti-material rifle.

Chris: There is an enormous value to being first in a field, and not only being first but also having a quality product. You almost have to be negligent to be caught off guard in that case, to get caught by competitors. We’re persistent with our platform, we have a rifle that is 30 years into maturity, and they are only getting better. We’ve got a tremendous amount of field testing from militaries all over the world as well. Things you cannot duplicate in a laboratory or design shop have resulted in the M82A1, with the enhancements to the bolt carrier group, are really at the heart of why that rifle works so well. But then the rifle became the M107. So dad built the rifle and it had some limited military usage, and I believe it was Sweden’s military EOD teams that were the first to pick it up. A huge misconception we have is that this rifle was developed for military usage and in reality, it wasn’t, there wasn’t a requirement out there that it would fill. People thought it was a bad idea to begin with. Ronnie Barrett, a photographer, who played with subguns and belt feds, wanted to shoot a .50 caliber firearm, but didn’t want to own an M2. But the military started seeing a use for it, and it just took off from there. We modernized it even further with the M107A1, which made it a lot lighter, more precise, and it takes a suppressor. It was a block of enhancements, some from feedback, some from things we knew we had to change from experience of building the rifle. Well the U.S. Military has not adopted the M107A1 because like a lot of things in Government procurement, things can take a while to happen. So the U.S. has not adopted it, but several other countries have adopted it as their first anti material rifle. Norway, Denmark, to name a few. We also offer an A1 upgrade to militaries that have the M107, in which we cut the rear of the buttstock off and put a polymer piece in it, with adjustable length of pull, and an integrated monopod socket with a Picatinny rail. This also allows for the fitting of a spade grip to the rear of it from which you could fire the weapon from inside a vehicle more easily than the traditional grip. We changed many of the little features as well, when it comes to tolerances and fits. In the beginning the M82s were 3 or 4 MOA rifles, we have multiple M107A1s that are shooting 1 MOA today. However one of the biggest downfalls of the rifle is the ammunition. Throughout its history it has mostly been employed with machine gun ball ammunition and it needs precision rounds for long range work. We handload our own rounds here for that purpose.

SAR: What are some of the recent changes that have influenced the company?

Chris: When it comes to employees, as we have become more efficient, our employee to rifle ratio has not grown. Our peak employee count was during the M107 fulfillment because we had to surge our production. But what has happened in the last three to five years is that we’ve gotten better leadership which has led to better efficiency. Now we are back down to around 110 employees, but are making more than we ever have before. It’s processes, and technology. We are getting better via technology but are keeping that Barrett “DNA” of the people that make it happen. We still have craftsmen, but we are leveraging technology as much as we can. In essence, to get to the ragged edge of performance, it costs a lot. The difference between a rifle that can shoot 1 MOA and one that can shoot .5 MOA, well that last .5 MOA is going to cost you a higher percentage than getting to 1 MOA. But the people we’ve added, the executive leadership team has been instrumental in changing the way the company operates, through the efficiency, the quality, and the customer satisfaction level. Especially our Vice President of Operations, is one of our unsung heroes. He isn’t from the gun industry at all, he’s from the automotive industry. Our sales head, he’s from this industry, and you have to have that. The sales guy has to know who to call, how things work within it, etc… But at the operations level, I didn’t want that. The gun industry compared to other industries is largely immature. As an example many companies have still been building guns gunsmithing style, fitting them together. He has changed the way we work in that he brought in a hospital like mentality of keeping everything clean, having quality control checks. He is the reason why we build more products today than ever, with more quality, more efficiency, with less defects, and with fewer people. I like to think we follow the Thomas Edison model. Edison was a brilliant designer on his own accord, but he didn’t design everything he came out with. He was the creative director of a group of people that he pushed to get what he knew he wanted. That’ is why he created so many industries and that is more or less where I want to see Barrett go. It is fantastic to have a Ronnie Barrett that put together the M82, but we are trying to get a whole group of equally talented designers, who are pushing the envelope. That is where I see us going. He is still here with us though, out on the floors, still very involved in everything that is going on. But for the future, we are looking into getting the right gun design team to be able to free him up and keep our products going. We are trying to stay above the trenches and see out as far out as we can, predict trends and so on. Sometimes the world’s greatest products were not from necessity but from someone saying, “Hey, this is where we need to go”.

SAR- So where does that put the company in the future? Where will Barrett be in 3-5 years?

Chris: I want to really broaden the Barrett brand so that it is accessible to more people in more markets. For example we’re pushing into the smaller calibers, the AR market. Because we started with the super niche, the M82. We’ve also got the .416 Barrett, which everyone thinks of as a California legal round, but it is so much more than that in that it is an exceptional cartridge of its own accord when it comes to long range precision. It should change what people consider to be long range. Long range used to be a thousand yards, it used to be three hundred yards a long time ago. Well I’m going to say that long range is now over two thousand yards. We want to be optimizing platforms for that cartridge. We want to offer the Barrett name to customers who might not have a need for a .50 caliber rifle. That’s why you see us with the REC7, and the MRAD. We have also launched a sub-brand of high end shotguns. We like hunting, we like traditional sporting guns too, but that doesn’t fit under the traditional Barrett brand though. We’ve got our Barrett Sovereign line of over and under shotguns, that we just introduced at SHOT show. A lot of people love the Barrett brand but they aren’t going to buy an anti-material rifle. Take for instance the Safari Club International folks. As another example we’ve acquired the assets of Forbes rifle company, a hunting rifle manufacturer, which makes some really light hunting rifles. I would like to see us as the Beretta of the United States, in that their product line up is very extensive. We’re not going to quadruple the amount of M107A1s we make, it is just not going to happen. So as a company that started at the highest echelon of performance, you can only go so far with that. You have to make products that appeal to a broader market if you want to grow. Back to us, the more products we make, the better we get, and the better our flagship products are. You just learn things from making that many more products that you wouldn’t have found out by just making just a few. That technology trickles up and down.