V4N7 (Apr 2001) – Small Arms Review

SHOT Show 2001

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 19:15:35 +0000

By Dan Shea

We wanted to give you a quick overview of some new products we saw at the SHOT show this year. Some are getting more intense tests and articles done on them. Others we didn’t get a chance to photograph but will be bringing you reports on as soon as we can.

SHOT Show 2001 was held on January 11-14 at the Ernest Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Straight talk? Attendance was way down- due in large part to the location of the show- New Orleans doesn’t have the draw that Las Vegas does. Show personnel were heard to say they were 30% under expectations. However, in our interviews with other booth personnel, most seemed to be doing quite well. SAR drew a lot of interest, and that was one of the reasons we were there, and we made a lot of contacts to get new info to the readers over the next year- which was the other reason. Many manufacturers didn’t know how to get the word out to us, and now they have the contact points for SAR.

SHOT is traditionally the place where about 60% of the firearms business in the US is done. This is the place where dealers and distributors go to meet with manufacturers, importers and reps, and to plan out the year’s “Programs” and orders. A large part of our yearly business is done at the booths there, and the new products compete with old standbys. This is a place to put your best foot forward. The parties at night are legendary, but most of the business seems to be done in the booths and at private meetings.

Our take on New Orleans as a host city for SHOT? The hotels were too expensive, and the ones we saw downtown had major problems- we moved out of the Canal Street Day’s Inn after one night- to the Airport Hilton and drove into town rather than go through the hassles downtown. So did almost everyone we spoke with. Flying into New Orleans is very expensive compared to Vegas or Orlando, and the meals are much more expensive as well. SAR will be supportive of SHOT of course, and we will go there again if need be, but we all would much rather be in Vegas or Orlando- lower costs all the way around, bigger crowds, and more to do after hours for those of us who don’t want to “Party” in very dangerous places like New Orleans appeared to be. Vegas has clean streets on the South Strip, and Orlando has Disney, etc.

The issue of the outgoing Mayor of New Orleans and his lawsuit against the firearms manufacturers was overshadowed by the wonderful welcome that the Governor of Louisiana had for us- he wanted to make it clear that Louisiana is a gun friendly state. Still, we would be pleased to not give our money to cities and states that are actively harassing our industries.

There have been a lot of innovations in military style products in recent years, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation had not been particularly friendly towards this aspect of the firearms community, however with their new Law Enforcement section, there is much more interest from our community. We applaud their decision to have an LE section, and hope they continue in the future (2002 in Las Vegas does in fact have an LE section, and SAR is scheduled in that section again). We recommend prospective exhibitors bear this in mind when they are talking with the NSSF about trying to come in, and to tone the displays accordingly.

Next year, back to Las Vegas on February 2-5, 2002. In 2003, it is being held in Orlando, Florida. SAR will see you there!

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

Kel-Tec’s “High-Tech” P-32

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 18:54:01 +0000

By Charles Cutshaw

Ever since its introduction in 1999, Kel-Tec’s diminutive P-32 has been one of the “hottest” pistols for personal defense and concealed carry. We obtained one of the little pistols in trade a year ago and have been carrying and shooting it at the range ever since. We hasten to point out that a pistol like the P-32 is no substitute for a .45 ACP, a .40 S&W, or even a 9mm, but it is better than not having a firearm at all if one is ever needed. The P-32 comes into its own when carrying a larger pistol is impossible or for use as a backup pistol. Its small size and light weight makes the P-32 ideal for either of these purposes.

The P-32 is the lightest and arguably most advanced small pistol on the market today. Its concealability comes as much from its light weight and thin profile as from its small size, which is actually no less than other pistols of this type. With an empty weight of slightly over 61/2 ounces, the Kel-Tec is so light that one is scarcely aware of its presence. Our P-32 weighs only 9 ounces with a full magazine – several ounces less than the empty weight of any of its competitors. A glance at Table 1 will reveal the features that distinguish the Kel-Tec P-32 from all its competition – its weight, magazine capacity, its locked breech and its polymer construction. The Kel-Tec is by far the lightest small .32 ACP pistol on the firearms market today, thanks to the frame’s polymer construction and its modified Browning short recoil operation, which allows the slide to be lighter than those of blowback operated pistols. The Kel-Tec also has a seven round magazine capacity, only one round more than its competition, but one round sometimes can make the difference between life and death, and with a .32, you need every round you can get! We make our case for the little Kel-Tec’s advanced design kudos from the fact that the pistol is recoil operated and reduces weight to a bare minimum via its innovative engineering, which mimics that of other high quality pistols such as Glock. All the P-32’s competitors, while generally well – made, are traditional blowback operated semiautos, distinguished only by their small size. The Kel-Tec’s frame is polymer with slide rails molded in. The slide and barrel are of steel. Although the pistol is presently available only in basic black, the polymer frame will soon be offered in a variety of colors, presumably to attract those who wish to have their gun match their socks or shirt.

The trigger of the P-32 is of the double action only (DAO) type and has a smooth consistent pull of 6 pounds with a crisp “break.” The grip of the P-32 is too short for my rather large hands and half of my right ring finger and all of my pinky dangle in the breeze, so to speak. This is not a complaint, simply an observation of what one can expect with a gun this tiny. The P-32’s sights are…well… unusual, consisting of a raised triangular “bump” at the slide’s front with a small white dot. The rear “sight” consists of a larger white dot inletted into a slot at the rear of the slide. There thus are no conventional sights and about all that the P-32’s “dot sights” do when you place the little dot atop the big dot is ensure that your bullet is going to be somewhere on the target. This unusual design serves two purposes. First, the Kel-Tec has nothing to snag as you draw it. (Let’s face it – you are probably going to have this little gun in your pocket, in a fanny pack, in your purse, or concealed in a camera tote on your belt. All of these carry methods offer opportunities for snagging if there are any sharp angles as with “normal” sights.) Second, the P-32 isn’t intended for long range target shooting. To paraphrase Jeff Cooper, “Most gunfights take place at conversational distances.” That means very short ranges which normally involve little or no truly aimed fire. For the intended use of this pistol, the “dot sights” actually work pretty well. The P-32 has an internal slide stop that holds the slide open after the last round has been fired. There is no external slide release; to reload with a fresh magazine, the slide is pulled to the rear and released. The extractor serves as a loaded chamber indicator, although it is not marked as such. There is no external safety and none is required with Kel-Tec’s DAO design. The hammer does not reset until cocked by the slide as it comes to the rear.

KEL-TEC P-32 FIELD STRIP
Clear pistol and remove magazine. Press slide slightly to the rear and withdraw barrel recoil pin. Withdraw slide to front and separate from frame (A). Press recoil springs and guide rod assembly slightly forward and separate from barrel and slide. Remove recoil spring guide. NOTE: Recoil spring guide is small and easily mislaid (B). Separate barrel from slide by pulling it down and to the rear. (C). Complete field strip (D). Reassembly is reverse of field strip.

During the time we have owned our P-32, we have never conducted formal accuracy testing. Every time we take the gun to the range for practice, we shoot at distances of no more than 10 yards, which is about the limit of effective range for a pistol like this one. At 10 yards, my P-32 will put every single shot into the kill zone of a human silhouette target. Recoil is brisk, but easily manageable, thanks to the P-32’s locked breech short recoil operation. The pistol is insensitive to the type of ammunition fed to it, unlike some of its competitors. We practice with full metal jacket ammo as a cost cutting measure, but carry the P-32 stuffed with Speer Gold Dots. The Gold Dots function reliably, are accurate and probably represent about the best one can expect in terminal ballistics from a .32 ACP.

A comment is in order regarding .32 ACP cartridges. As most readers are aware, the .32 ACP is a semi-rimmed cartridge and thus can cause malfunctions if the cartridges are not loaded properly to ensure that the rim of each cartridge in the magazine is forward of that of the cartridge below it. If one loads a cartridge with its rim behind the cartridge below it in the magazine, the slide usually will not strip it out and chamber it and the resulting stoppage is time consuming to clear. Other than a couple than user-induced stoppages of this type, we have never experienced a malfunction with our P-32. After experiencing this type of stoppage once, however, one tends to be very careful when loading the P-32’s magazine!

Our only real complaint regarding the Kel-Tec P-32 is the magazine release that we believe stands too high from the surface of the grip. During our first months with the pistol, we consistently inadvertently dropped the magazine while firing on the range because our thumb brushed against the release during recoil. The release also usually somehow became depressed while we were carrying the pistol, lowering the magazine just far enough so that the pistol would not feed. We rectified this situation by taking a pair of toenail trimmers to the small polymer release button, shortening it slightly and then smoothing the trimmed surface with a fine file. Since this minor adjustment, we have never accidentally depressed the release button while firing, nor has it been depressed during concealed carry.

In sum, we like our little Kel-Tec P-32 and can recommend it to anyone who has a need for a small, highly concealable handgun. The Kel-Tec P-32 is reliable, of good quality and affordable. We understand that it has become a favorite of undercover law enforcement personnel whose lives very likely may depend on their concealed or backup pistol. This is a tacit testimonial to the Kel-Tec’s efficacy that no amount of advertising can purchase.

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

The World’s Most Politically Incorrect Air Rifle!

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 14:36:45 +0000

By Charlie Cutshaw

We’re all politically incorrect to one extent or another, aren’t we? If you aren’t, why are you reading this? Well, political incorrectness has just taken a giant step forward with a new air rifle imported by Kalashnikov USA. Take a look at the photos accompanying this article. Looks like an AK-74M, doesn’t it? Well, if you’ll look closely, you’ll notice that there are subtle external differences between this rifle and a real AK-74M. This rifle is called a “Junkers,” perhaps an unfortunate name, but it has a historical foundation that transcends the subject matter of this article. If you’re interested in the origins of the term, I suggest that you check out your German history. At any rate, the term “junker” has an unfortunate connotation in the USA that has nothing to do with the overall quality of the rifle. Well…it isn’t really a rifle, appearances to the contrary. The Junkers is actually a pistol cleverly disguised as a rifle. Confused? Stay with me and we’ll sort things out.

Once upon a time, Izhmash, the company that makes the ubiquitous Kalashnikov rifles was seeking an appropriate gift for visiting dignitaries and the little cast pewter rifles that most manufacturers hand out as favors just didn’t seem appropriate. So what some genius at Izhmash essentially did was integrate the Izhevsky Zavod MP651K air pistol into the receiver of an AK-74M to make a legal to own shooting souvenir. The pistol already was capable of being converted into a conventional air rifle, so the transition was a relatively natural one. The execution of this project, however, is mind boggling! What Izhmash has done is replicate the external appearance of an AK-74M in almost all of its essential features, except the folding stock. The rifle even disassembles like a standard AK for the most part, as you, dear reader, will see by examining the field strip/loading procedures accompanying this article. The external differences between this rifle and the real McCoy will not be apparent to any but the trained eye, and when your hand is on the pistol grip, even the most highly trained observer will have difficulty in distinguishing the AK air rifle from the real thing.

This air pistol is actually concealed inside the rifle and may be fired as seen here.

Needless to say, authenticity has its down side. One does not wish to appear in public with this rifle in hand, unless one wishes to attract a great deal of unwanted attention from the local gendarmerie. In fact, the police have shot people for a lot less, so caveat emptor if you buy one of these Kalashnikov souvenirs. The owner’s manual that accompanies the rifle even has a warning statement, as follows: “IMPORTANT. EXPOSED CARRYING AND IMITATIONS OF USING THIS RIFLE AS A COMBAT WEAPON MAY DELUDE OFFICIALS OF THE LAW-ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES OR CIVILIANS AND GIVE THEM REASON TO USE A FIREARM OR OTHER MEANS OF SELF DEFENCE AGAINST YOU.” (The caps are theirs, not ours.) At any rate, Izhmash came up with an ideal souvenir that violates no laws, yet actually shoots after a fashion (see below) and has the authentic Kalashnikov imprimatur.

Left side of the receiver. Note the factory markings and serial number similar to the real thing.

How authentic is the Junkers? It is so authentic that a Russian friend tells us that the Junkers is used for training older schoolchildren in the basics of the AK. Look at the close up photos of the receiver. The Junkers has the full Izhmash factory markings, except that the right side of the receiver it is marked “Junker – Kalashnikov USA -Port St. Lucie, FL, USA.” The rifle even has a nonfunctioning magazine that can be inserted and removed exactly as with the original. The likewise nonfunctioning selector moves to its appropriate positions on the receiver. In fact, the receiver cover, “recoil spring,” “bolt carrier,” and “gas tube” are disassembled exactly as with the real rifle. In fact, these components must be removed to load the magazine with BBs. The Junker even weighs seven pounds — about the same as an actual AK-74. Once the receiver cover, recoil spring and bolt carrier are removed, however, things are quite different. Nestled inside the receiver is a pistol, which can be removed and fired independently of the rifle. The muzzle of the pistol interfaces with a BB “Guide Tube” beneath the “barrel” in the same location as the actual rifle’s cleaning rod. What appears to be the barrel seems to be an actual 5.45mm barrel that has no chamber and has had three large holes drilled horizontally near the breech end to ensure that the air rifle is not somehow transformed into a real rifle. The “barrel” is actually rifled and one can only hope that the barrels used to fabricate “Junkers” air rifles are rejects. The muzzle brake is removable as with the actual rifle. The guide tube, however, has no rifling at all. It is merely a steel tube with a boss at the muzzle end for attaching it to the sight base. Fit and finish of components is typical Kalashnikov, rough but serviceable.

The Junkers/MP651K pistol/revolver is supplied with two eight shot cylinders, one for use with BBs and one for 4.5mm lead pellets. The BB cylinder, installed at the factory, has a small ledge in each chamber to prevent BBs from double feeding and causing a stoppage. The cylinder for 4.5mm pellets is bored straight through. If one removes the pistol, uses it for pellets and then forgets and replaces it into the rifle with the pellet cylinder in place, BBs from the tubular magazine will “double feed,” causing a stoppage that requires the pistol to be again removed from the rifle to clear. The Junkers is also provided with a comprehensive accessory kit that includes a cleaning rod, tools, a rear sight for the pistol and spare “O” rings and gaskets for the gas system. A small tubular container that fits inside the buttstock receptacle houses a screwdriver and punch. These are inserted into slots in the tube’s side for use.

The rifle obviously is not intended for use as such on a regular basis. Loading requires removal of the receiver cover, recoil spring and bolt carrier. This allows access to the pistol’s 23 shot tubular magazine that feeds BBs to an eight shot revolving cylinder. We found with our rifle that loading more than 18 BBs made the trigger mechanism very stiff to operate because of BB pressure against the pistol’s cylinder. Once the rifle is loaded, it may be fired without replacing the receiver components, but what fun is that? In practice, we always loaded the rifle with 18 rounds and kept a round count or waited until the slight difference in shot noise indicated that there was no BB exiting the guide tube. Accuracy? Not very good. Our Junkers consistently shot very low and to the left and our Daisy Red Ryder BB gun gets better shot groups. Our Junkers seemed unable to “print” any shot groups worthy of the name, shooting to a different point of impact with each shot. Adjusting the sight for elevation made little difference in the point of impact of the BBs. In fact, the rifle is pretty much useless as such; attributable to the interface of the MP651K pistol’s muzzle to the guide tube and the fact that the guide tube has a slight downward cant at the muzzle end. These could be corrected by some judicious machining, but unless one were to change the entire guide tube, it would make little difference. The most serious blow to Junkers accuracy is the guide tube’s inside diameter of approximately 0.275 inch, which ensures that the 0.17-inch BB will ricochet its way down the tube and exit the muzzle at a slightly different angle with each shot. It is abundantly clear that this rifle was not intended for competitive air rifle shooting. We were able to consistently hit a gallon milk jug at 25 feet with the rifle, but that is about as good as accuracy gets. In contrast, when backyard shooting with our Daisy, we can successfully engage bottle caps at the same range.

As mentioned, though, the Junkers can also be used as a pistol, so we were curious as to the pistol’s accuracy once it was separated from the rifle component of the system. Removing the pistol is a rather involved process, as follows:

Engage the safety!
Remove the receiver cover.
Withdraw the recoil spring.
Remove the bolt carrier and unload the magazine (The cylinder cannot be unloaded except by firing the pistol.)
Remove the “gas tube.” (The takedown lever was very stiff and required pliers to rotate)
Lift the forearm retaining lever, slide the clamp forward, and remove the forearm.
Undo the retaining screw beneath the sight block and remove the guide tube.
Remove the plastic pistol grip.
Remove the buttstock screw and buttstock.
Remove the “selector” by pivoting it vertically and then working it out to the right.
Tilt the pistol back by pulling down on the grip frame so the muzzle is upward. Work the pistol out of the receiver from the top.
Reassembly is the reverse of the foregoing, except that the magazine catch spring has to be pressed back out of the way with a small screwdriver or similar tool so the trigger guard will fit back in the housing. Also, the catch spring is guaranteed to scar the finish of the trigger guard! (There is nothing about this in the instructions.) Moreover, you have to hold your mouth just right to get the pistol positioned properly so the guide tube will interface.

Once the pistol has been removed from the rifle’s receiver, it can be fired accurately using BBs after installing the rear sight provided in the accessory kit. The sight simply slides into place and is fixed with a small lock screw. The MP651K has a rifled steel barrel nearly six inches in length. To change from BBs to pellets, the pellet cylinder must be inserted, a task which can be accomplished in a one or two seconds by simply pressing the release latch and lifting out the BB cylinder. The pellet cylinder is loaded from the rear and will not feed pellets from the pistol’s tubular BB magazine. Thus, the pellet cylinder must be removed for reloading after every eight shots. This is, as stated, not difficult. When used with 4.5mm lead pellets, the MP651K pistol is extremely accurate. We were able to achieve one inch groups from the offhand position with it at 15 feet in our informal evaluation. But of course, how often one will use the Junkers as a pistol is highly questionable, given that getting at the pistol requires nearly total disassembly of the rifle and about 10 minutes’ time. Moreover, the components do not separate or reassemble easily. Disassembly and reassembly resulted in several unavoidable scrapes and scratches on the surface of both the pistol and rifle in the receiver area. The owner of a Junkers will not use his air gun in the pistol role very often.

Based on the foregoing, one would logically conclude that we didn’t like the Junkers. WRONG! With this rifle, logic goes out the window! The Junkers is a real Kalashnikov, straight from Izhmash and we love it! We’d love it even if it didn’t shoot, because it is just SO damn politically incorrect! If Diane Feinslime, Teddy (the lecher blimp) Kennedy, Algore, HILLARY!, Traitor Bill, or Chuckie Schumer were to see this air rifle, they would all enter into apoplectic fits! (The CHILDREN, y’know!) In fact, we consider it to be only a matter of time before the Junkers is banned simply because of its appearance. The Junkers transcends being evaluated as an air rifle, or as anything other than what it is — a true Kalashnikov memento that happens to be a Kalashnikov memento that actually shoots, is legal to own (for now), and can be sent right to your door via UPS or FedEx. Moreover, the engineering that went into adapting the AK receiver so that an MP651K pistol would fit inside and work is fascinating in itself. In the final analysis, everyone who is enamored with the basic AK design should want a Junkers air rifle. Sure, you can have “the real thing, but the “real AKs” available in this country are not made by Izhmash. I’m personally not a great fan of AKs, and don’t own and have no desire to own any of “the real ones,” as I had enough of them in Vietnam. But the Junkers is different. I love it! Order yours from:

Kalashnikov USA
Department SAR
1019 Holbrook Ct, B-3
Port St Lucie, FL 34952
Tel: (561) 337-3398
Fax: (561) 337-0258
~~www.weapons-russian.com~~

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

SITREP: April 2001

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:40:00 +0000

By Dan Shea

After several Clinton years of a massive amount of problems with importing machine guns for dealer sales samples – continually lost Form 6s, State Department stonewalling, etc, the boom has come down now at Imports Branch ATF. All of the large importers are reporting the same problem that the smaller importers have been experiencing- reduction of samples to one per dealer, letters from different departments requesting a demo being required for multiple sales samples. Business has virtually gone into limbo. How can HK, or FN, or SIG function if they can’t get enough sales samples to do demos? How can the dealers function if they can’t get at least two into their inventory? You need a main gun and a backup for a small demo, let alone a hands on demo with 20 or 30 officers live firing for a test. What if your main gun goes down? There is nothing that will blow a sale faster than a product problem where the demonstrator has to fiddle around with a cranky firearm. You need two to do a smooth demonstration. Dealers also need a variety of comparative firearms in order to make sales to departments. Departments also use our services for familiarity, training and forensic evaluation.

We can’t sell from pretty color brochures like a shoe salesman can, we have to get “hands on” with the end users.

Now, apparently due to the recent arrest of a high profile Class 3 dealer who was a felon, who as a corollary had a massive amount of post 86 dealer samples, NFA Branch is instituting similar policies on transfers. Additionally, they are adding a policy where they won’t transfer post 86 machine guns from a law enforcement agency to a dealer’s inventory if the dealer would have more than one of a model that is involved. This means a department trying to trade in their 20 MP5s for new UMP40s would not be able to do so, unless the dealer transferred them out one or two at a time when he found buyers who didn’t have samples, or found another department or group of departments that want the firearms. Show me a department that wants to go along with that circus sideshow.

I am having a lot of trouble understanding the policy here, and how it suits the needs of the law enforcement agencies and Special Occupational Taxpayers involved. What possible reason is there that a Class 3 Special Occupational Taxpayer, can’t inventory 20 MP5s out of a police trade in. These firearms are heavily restricted and have to stay in the SOT/ LE community, so what possible difference does it make where they are stored at.

The only casualties here are the ability of those of us in the business to do business, and the Law Enforcement community to get the service they need. Put the Class 3s out of the LE business, and LE in the United States suffers.

My anthem as a Class 2 manufacturer and Class 3 dealer has always been that we are licensed businesses that pay a Special Occupational Tax to deal in Title II firearms. Why in the hell can’t we do our jobs? Because we might end up with collections of interesting firearms? Of course we will, we have to have them as working reference collections, and we wouldn’t be in the business if we didn’t like guns. If the guns are post 86 dealer samples, then according to the ATF we can only possess them as long as we are Special Occupational Taxpayers. OK, so on ending SOT status we get rid of them.

My point? I firmly believe that the ATF should allow us to do the business that we pay a tax to do, and that includes inventorying guns for resale, and taking trades from law enforcement agencies without having to get demo letters from other departments. If they want to apply some yardstick to see if a dealer is “Engaged in the business” or simply “Engaged in collecting”, let’s see what the yardstick is. In the meantime, we need to address the problems here. There is an old saying that exceptions make bad rules- and I think it is high time for ATF to start looking at the dealers in a good light, and dealing with problems individually instead of hamstringing the whole SOT / LE community because of a few exceptions.

-Dan

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

Industry News: April 2001

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:39:00 +0000

By Robert Hausman

Handgun manufacturers have stopped shipping their products into the state of Maryland as the result of new state regulations. The implementation, on October 1, of a law requiring a sample fired shell casing be included with each new handgun sold in the state is causing the firearm shortage, just as the hunting seasons got under way.

A successful effort was launched by the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association (MLFDA), during the weeks before the law went into effect, to try to convince handgun manufacturers and distributors to continue shipping into the state.

“Most of our efforts have failed,” says Sandy Abrams, MLFDA vice president. “It seems the companies have a morbid fear of government threats of lawsuits.” Manufacturers have instructed their distributors not to ship into Maryland until the makers are able to become compliant with the shell casing requirements of the law. Retailers must send the shell casing to state police and are required to notify the police if a shell casing was not included with each new handgun they receive.

The other part of the new law is the so-called “safety lock” mandate. As of October 1, retailers must provide handgun safety devices that attach to the customer’s newly purchased handgun. Handgun safety devices, such as supplied by Sturm, Ruger, do not count as “safety devices” under the law according to the MLFDA. Retailers must supply a separate lock (if not provided by the firearm manufacturer) with every handgun sold.

In an interesting twist, the Taurus on-board internal key locking system does not count as a “safety device” until such built-in locks become required by other provisions of state law going into effect on January 1, 2003. Until then, retailers must provide an additional external lock with Taurus products. Gun locks are also required to be supplied with all used handguns.

Maryland law even prohibits consumers from supplying their own gunlocks to a store when purchasing firearms. The reasoning being that the lock the consumer brought into the store might have come from another handgun already owned, and this first handgun would then be stored without a lock in place.

The MLFDA is warning its members that the Maryland state police may conduct “sting” operations to entrap retailers in which officers, posing as consumers, will bring their own locks into stores while purchasing handguns and attempt to induce retailers into selling guns without locks.

Digital photography may be the solution for fired casing requirements, says Smith & Wesson’s director of handguns, Herb Behlin, in commenting on the new laws enacted in Maryland and New York state requiring handgun manufacturers to include a fired casing in product packaging. “We are talking to those involved in drafting these new state regulations regarding manufacturing and packaging requirements, as we can’t live with 50 different sets of rules,” Behlin says.

“From a technical point-of-view, digital photography of a fired casing from each gun at the point of manufacture will be the future. A defense attorney can have a field day on chain of evidence rules with the regulations currently written requiring so many different entities to handle an actual physical casing,” Behlin said.

To aid the industry, the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute (SAAMI) may help develop manufacturing standards in recognition of new state design and manufacturing requirements. The new standards would be developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) procedure involving review by government and industry.

Meetings have already been held between SAAMI and government officials in California, Massachusetts, New York and Maryland (which have all recently enacted a variety of performance and design standards that handguns have to meet to be sold in each state) in an attempt to develop a uniformity of state requirements that gun manufacturers can live with.

News Shorts

An oversupply of pistol caliber ball ammunition is resulting in some of the lowest prices seen in years. Slow sales, which began in the second quarter of 2000, have caused a buildup of inventory that many distributors are now trying to sell off. Retailers, who had stocked up on ball loads earlier in the year, are unable to compete with high volume mass merchants and those independents that are just now stocking their shelves. The slowdown in firearms sales beginning in the early fall and the non-materializing pre-election sales boom are contributing factors to the low ammo prices.

U.S. Justice Dept. figures indicate assaults, injuries and murders involving the use of a firearm are declining. From 1993 through 1997, non-fatal injuries from crime-related shootings declined 39% from 64,100 to 39,400. Homicides involving a gun fell 27%, from 18,300 to 13,300. The decrease is attributed to a decline in the numbers of 18 to 24 year olds, greater prosecution and longer prison sentences for violent criminals, more arrests for illegal guns in big cities, and a decrease in crack cocaine wars.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports it has added two new computer network servers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) operations center, and that software applications and hardware configurations have been upgraded in all NICS computers.

The FBI says it has also added an in-house pilot call center providing a response to dealers calling in to the system within two minutes, 89- to 90% of the time, as compared to off-site centers that respond quickly only 71- to 73% of the time. The changes, according to the FBI, will improve the NICS’ performance.

However, according to a survey of its membership conducted by the Texas Gun Dealers Association, NICS delays have been increasing. From January through December 1999, NICS delays averaged 28% – and the percentage has been increasing ever since.

In January 2000, NICS delays increased by 3% (over 1999 levels). In February, delays were up 21%, in March up 22%, April up 2%, May up 4%, June up 11%, July up 4%, August up 16%, and in September 2000, NICS delays increased 5% over the prior year’s figures.

The association’s president, Bill Carter, notes that from January through September 2000, NICS delays have increased 10% for a nine-month average of 39%. The statistics include the peak retail days of Saturday and Sunday that average 48% delays.

The question of whether a Michigan State law nullifies the lawsuits filed against the trade by the City of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, is on hold pending a decision by Circuit Judge Jeanne Stempien.

The state legislature passed the law last spring that grants the authority to file such suits only to the state attorney general. Following recent arguments from both sides in the cases as to the applicability of the law, the judge withheld immediate ruling but could issue a decision without hearing further argument at any time.

Similar questions are pending before the courts in Georgia and Louisiana, where state laws have been enacted that would void the lawsuits filed by the cities of Atlanta and New Orleans. Earlier this year, Stempien rejected claims of negligence against gun manufacturers and dealers, but refused to dismiss the city’s and county’s allegations that the industry creates a public nuisance as its products are sometimes used in crimes.

The Law Enforcement Alliance of America and the Southern States Police Benevolent Association have joined the gun industry’s lawsuit against Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo and the coalition of big city mayors alleging restraint of trade and an illegal conspiracy to regulate interstate commerce without Congressional authority.

Both the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute were dropped in early October by a Lake Count Superior Court judge from the Gary, Indiana lawsuit against the gun industry. The suit continues against manufacturers.

Worldwide arms sales to developing nations have slipped to their lowest level-$13.2 billion-since 1991, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service. Saudia Arabia ranked first among arms customers in 1998, with $2.7 billion in purchases. The United Arab Emirates was second at $2.5 billion, and Malaysia was third at $2.1 billion.

Alliant Techsystems of Hopkins, MN, is producing the first environmentally-friendly artillery propellant for the U.S. Army for use in the Crusader howitzer vehicle currently under development with a $6 million contract. An Alliant and Picatinny Arsenal team developed and co-patented the powder, which could have implications for use in small arms. The new propellant is being produced at the Radford Army Ammunition plant in Radford, VA.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has stopped distributing cable gunlocks through its Project HomeSafe after learning, from some of its police department partners, that some of the locks could be opened without a key when subjected to sufficient force.

“The purpose of these locks is to prevent unauthorized use of a firearm by an individual, particularly a child, who is unwilling or unable to use force to damage the device,” said the NSSF in a statement. A re-evaluation and testing of the locks is being made before a decision is reached on whether the lock distribution will resume.

There is no truth to the rumor that Smith & Wesson intends to sell its handguns dealer direct, says the gunmaker’s Herb Behlin. “There are no moves here to develop a dealer direct sales plan. But, if all of our distributors told us to take a hike, that would be different.” At present, S&W’s distributors remain in place.

Peter Garrett, a Newport, Kentucky-based gunsmith, has filed suit under the Kentucky firearm pre-emption law against two cities which have denied him the ability to open additional store locations.

The two Campbell County cities, Bellevue and Dayton, have asked the suits be thrown out of court saying they have the right, under zoning laws, to determine the location of firearms-related businesses.

Due to redevelopment and the expected opening of a public housing project near his present store, which has been in operation for over 100 years, Garrett believes he may be eventually forced out and prepared to open stores in the two other cities. But when he sought business permits, both cities turned him down pointing to zoning codes prohibiting firearms businesses in the areas Garrett wanted to be.

Jeffrey Mando, who is defending both cities, said, “All actions (by the cities) are reasonable, legitimate and valid exercises of governmental authority for the regulation of land use or development that advance legitimate government interests.” Bruce McClure, Garrett’s attorney, expressed confidence his client will prevail against the cities, saying regulation of gun shops’ locations are specifically exempted by the state pre-emption law, unless the court finds the pre-emption law unconstitutional. Garrett is seeking the NRA’s help in the suit.

Firearms Training Systems, Inc. (FATS) has sold 13 indirect fire and small arms simulators for the support of deployed peace-keeping forces, to the U.S. Army Europe, 7th Army Training Center. Contract totaling $1,980,000 were awarded to FATS to provide training systems, weapon simulators, extended maintenance and training support for the equipment. Contract options for additional maintenance and training support bring the total potential contract value to approximately $2,500,000. FATS is a leading worldwide producer of interactive simulation systems designed to provide training in the handling and use of small and supporting arms.

Federal Cartridge Co. (website: www.federalcartridge.com) has expanded its American Eagle pistol and rifle ammo line to include reduced-lead loads in three popular calibers. This new ammunition is an economical reduced-lead load for indoor shooting, training and practice where a totally lead-free product is not required.

The Total Metal Jacket (TMJ) ensures the lead core is completely enclosed and that no lead is exposed to the bore or the target, eliminating the pollution hazard from airborne lead. The Toxic Metal Free (TMF) primer uses a special priming mix that does not contain toxic metals. This primer meets government standards for toxicity while providing reliable ignition. The over-all ballistic performance of this ammunition matches conventional loads in such areas as bullet weight, velocity and recoil impulse, according to the manufacturer.

American Eagle reduced-lead pistol loads are available as follows: 9mm Luger with 124 grain bullet producing 1,120 fps muzzle velocity; 9mm Luger with 147 gr. bullet doing 960 fps at the muzzle; .40 S&W with 180 gr. projectile at 990 fps muzzle velocity and .45 Auto with 230 grain bullet doing 850 fps muzzle velocity.

To meet the need for a heavier bullet in .223 Rem. for training and target shooting, Federal has added a new 62 gr. FMJ load. This new bullet compliments the 55 gr. FMJ -BT and 50 gr. JHP already in the line. Muzzle velocity of the 62 gr. FMJ is 3,020 fps.

The Firearms Trade, a gun industry newsletter, is the latest firm to join the industry’s Hunting & Shooting Sports Heritage Fund, an industry-wide preservation effort.

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

New Review: April 2001

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:38:00 +0000

By Chris Choat

M2 CORPORATION INTRODUCES THE M16X

According to the M2 Corporation their new M16X is the shortest defensive M16 commercially produced in the world today. The M16X has a sight radius of only 9.25 inches, yet is precise enough to deliver accurate aimed fire within a recommended effective range of 50 yards. With the distinctive M2 design front sight system, targets are easy to acquire, identify and engage. The M16X has more firepower and is more compact than any other submachine gun. It fires standard 5.56 NATO, either M193 or equivalent, at over 1610 fps. Similar to their M16SP, the M16X shares the same technology that allows the M2 family of compact 5.56mm weapons to function reliably-magazine after magazine. When it comes to pure punching power in small packages, there is no substitute. The M16X has it all; concealment, power and accuracy. The M16X has a rate of fire of 650 to 700 rounds per minute. Standard equipment with the M16X includes muzzle caps, cleaning kit, 1 magazine, operators manual, deployment case and a Vortex flash hider. Optional accessories include laser aimers, laser designators, passive aimers, passive night vision aimers, a tactical harness, additional magazines and a bird cage flash hider or Recoil Brake. For more information on the new M16X contact M2 Corporation, Dept. SAR, , P.O. Box 96207, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193-6207. Phone: 1-702-263-4450. Fax: 1-702-263-7875. On the web at www.m2corp.com.

M16X

NEW ATV PRODUCTS FROM CDS, INC.

CDS, Inc., has just introduced two new products to add to their long list of outstanding All Terrain Vehicle accessories. The first is their Magnum Cajun Dri-Stor. The Dri-Stor is a huge lockable molded plastic cabinet. It measures 38” long X 16” wide and is 9 3/4” deep. It can be installed on your ATV rack either permanently with the hardware provided or temporarily with the Quick Clip. The Dri-Stor is so durable that it will not chip, crack or peel and is unaffected by temperature changes. The Magnum Dri-Stor provides safe and dry storage for your clothes, camera equipment, electronics, etc. The next new item is their ATV Utility/Gun Rack. At last there is an efficient, non-cumbersome, simply way to carry long objects on your ATV. The Utility/Gun Rack will hold hoes, shovels, string trimmers and similar long items as well as firearms. It is positioned on the ATV just inside the wheelbase so that it will not hand up on passing trees or shrubs. The Utility/Gun Rack is completely adjustable and does not interfere with the operation of the ATV. For more information on these innovative new ATV products contact CDS, Inc., Dept. SAR, , 708 Trenton Street, West Monroe, LA 71291. Phone: 1-800-791-1333. Fax: 1-318-325-0386. On the web at www.cdsatvaccessories.com.

ATV Utility/Gun Rack from CDS, Inc.

STREAMLIGHT INTRODUCES ULTRASTINGER™ FLASHLIGHT

Streamlight, Inc., a manufacturer of high-intensity flashlights for law enforcement professionals, introduces the UltraStinger™, a light performance rechargeable flashlight. The UltraStinger was designed to more completely meet the needs of the law enforcement market. The UltraStinger™ provides up to 75,000 candlepower, making it the brightest Streamlight flashlight available. At 11 3/4 inches and slightly more than one pound, the UltraStinger combines momentary on/off and a constant on switching to give officers the flexibility to search crime scenes or temporarily inhibit the visibility of suspects. Operational for over on hour of continuous use, the UltraStinger can be recharged up to 1000 times. Built to an unparalleled level of durability, the UltraStinger features a virtually indestructible machined aluminum casing and a polycarbonate lens with scratch-resistant coating. It is also individually serial numbered for positive identification. The UltraStinger, complete with AC/DC recharging capabilities and two charger holders sells for $169.95. It includes a limited lifetime warranty on the battery and charger. An UltraHead Upgrade Kit is available for current Streamlight SuperStinger flashlight owners. The upgrade kit includes an UltraStinger bulb and a reflector/lens assembly that easily retrofits on to existing SuperStinger models. It lists for $34.95. For more information on this and other high intensity light products contact Streamlight, Inc., Dept. SAR, , 1030 West Germantown Pike, Norristown PA 19403-3996. Phone: 1-800-523-7488. Fax: 1-800-220-7007. They can be located on the world wide web at www.streamlight.com.

Ultrastinger Flashlight

SPEEDWELL INTRODUCES SLUGMASTER® UNLOADING STATION

Speedwell Division, Rockwood Corporation, the leading provider of targets and range equipment for the law enforcement market, introduces the SlugMaster(r) Unloading Station, a safe and easy way to unload firearms anywhere, from the range and the cell block, to the booking station and the gun storage room. SlugMaster’s slip-on collar prevents ejected cartridges from hitting the floor and ricocheting. By design, semi-automatic rounds and 12 gauge 00 buckshot and slugs alike are guided to the inner plate and down to the cartridge containment chamber. Emptying and cleaning the cartridge catch simply requires unscrewing the top of the unit with an allen wrench. Made of precision-welder, high-quality carbon steel, the SlugMaster weights 180 pounds and measures 15 inches in diameter. It stands 40 inches tall. The new unloading station carries a full 20 year warranty. For more information on the SlugMaster, contact Speedwell Division, Rockwood Corporation, Dept. SAR, , 136 Lincoln Boulevard, Middlesex, New Jersey 08846. Phone: 1-800-243-8274. They are on the web at www.speedwell-targets.com.

Slugmaster Unloading Station

SCOPECOAT® SCOPE COVERS

Just in time for hunting season, Scopecoat® has you covered on more ways than ever. From three sizes in 1994, to twenty-two now. Scopecoat succeeds in meeting your needs by expanding their product line. Scopecoat® protective covers fit a wide range of optics from hunting to military and law enforcement, spotting scopes, Bench Rest, recreational and competition shooters. Scopecoat® also protects electronic and night vision systems such as HOLOSight, SOLOSight II, C-More, ELCAN all Trijicon’s ACOG, hunting, military and Reflex Optics. Scopecoat® is based on one premise; the ability to protect your scope completely; not just the lens; protecting from dust, dirt, bumps, dings, scratches and moisture while in your safe, truck, in the field or at the range. Scopecoats® are made from the highest quality Neoprene laminated with nylon. Scopecoat® takes moisture (condensation and sweating) away from your scope. This helps to protect your optics from rust and corrosion. Nylon offers protection from the elements. For more information contact Scopecoat®, Dept. SAR, , 3001 E. Cholla Street, Phoenix, AZ 85028. Phone: 1-602-957-0497. Fax: 1-602-224-9351. They can be found on the web at www.scopecoat.com.

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

Small Arms Data by Wire (SADW): April 2001

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:37:00 +0000

By Nick Steadman

SADW is a monthly electronic publication from Nick Steadman Features. Nick, intrepid world traveling reporter for much of the arms industry, files this 40,000 to 50,000 word report once a month to his loyal subscribers. Those lucky ones pay a mere $50 (US) £32.50 (UK) per year for the privilege of getting the hot tips and insights from one of the industry’s insiders. Nick’s unique perspective is globally based, as is his wit. Each issue is full of insight and information for those with an interest in Small Arms, as well as his observations on world travel.

PUNGENT THOUGHTS ON THE M40A3: writing in the US Marine Corps Gazette, former USMC Lt Col Norm Chandler and his ex-US army Master Sgt brother Roy recently argued strongly against the Marine Corps adopting its proposed M40A3 rifle design for sniping. In particular they criticised the planned M40A3 stock (designed by the Corps), a bulky item which it would appear has been poached directly from the match shooting world, plus the non-tapered M40A3 trigger guard and its thumb-operated floorplate release for the magazine.

They considered all the existing M40A1 stock actually lacks is an adjustable cheekpiece, and said that McMillan could easily modify this item to meet their recommendation. We must confess the modern trend to fit over-specified target-style stocks on military sniping rifles is a practice we also abhor. Look for example at the British L96A1 with all those unnecessary square edges, the accessory rail & suchlike. The proposed scope mount also attracted the Chandlers’ attention, because of the relatively low temperature used for brazing it to the scope rings or rail, likely to prove inadequate to the task. And they furthermore considered that larger, more robust bolts should be used for fastening the scope mount to the rifle itself.

As to the 10x Unertl scope, the Chandlers described this as ‘stunningly obsolete’, too powerful for general use, too heavy, lacking waterproofing and with inadequate eye relief. Instead they recommended a 2-3.5×10 variable-power scope, which would give a much larger close-range field of view at lower magnifications while retaining the higher magnification for use at extended ranges.

Also criticised was the Corps’ choice of a selected M14 as its sniper support weapon, issued to the No 2 man in the Scout/Sniper team, because of its weight, 20-shot magazine, high maintenance requirement and the difficulty of satisfactorily accurising this elderly weapon. The Chandlers considered a softer-recoiling, higher-capacity weapon (eg the M16, as was issued before, though with flat top (‘M16A3’) receiver and the full-auto switch restored) would be more suitable, fitted with a 3-4x ACOG scope from Trijicon, but they also allowed the possibility of an M4 carbine, even (only in America!) a 100-round C-Mag.

DU DEFINED: when reports go on at great length about depleted uranium (DU) issues, are we always sure exactly what is meant? Helpfully, the term was recently defined by a nuclear boffin writing in Military Technology magazine. He explained that natural uranium is treated in nuclear enrichment plants to extract the tiny amount (just 0.72%) of the isotope Uranium 235, which is used in the nuclear industry, after which the remainder of the material, constituting almost pure Uranium 238, is discarded. This is depleted uranium. The extracted U-235, not surprisingly, is called enriched uranium, and is much in demand, both from the nuclear good guys and the not-so-good.

BUMBLE BEE – MORE BANG THAN SHMEL: in our Dec 2000 issue we noted the following:-

‘MAFIA’s BALKAN WEAPON BUSINESS: ‘One of the most alarming developments is the range of weapons being shipped through the Balkans to a client list that includes ETA and the Real IRA. The detonators for the Omagh bomb originated in Croatia and the RP-7 rocket fired at MI6 headquarters in London was made in Yugoslavia and almost certainly bought from the Kosovo Mafia. Recently the Italian Carabinieri in Kosovo traced supplies of a Russian weapon known as “Bumblebee”, which fires a form of napalm round from a bazooka tube.’ (Daily Telegraph, London, 15 Dec 00, on Sicilian Mafia-organised activities in the Balkans)

We have since been provided with more information on the device known as Bumblebee, which is actually its old NATO codename. The Russian designation for this weapon, which is redolent of the American M72 LAWS, is the RPO-A Shmel Flame Thrower / Thermobaric System, an expendable recoilless weapon.

It is a fuel-air blastwave device designed to produce severe overpressure, which can reach 7kg per square centimetre in small confined spaces, and will ‘flow’ through trench & shelter systems; it also devours all oxygen in the detonation zone and produces non-survivable temperatures in excess of 800 degrees Celsius. In the open air, at a range of five metres from detonation, overpressure is in the region 0.4 to 0.8 kg per square centimetre.

The RPO-A has a calibre of 93mm, is 92cm long and weighs 12 kg. Minimum and maximum ranges are 25 and 1,000 metres respectively, but the weapon is sighted to 600 metres. Its thermobaric payload is just 1.2kg.

Someone who actually fired one of these devices in Africa reported that the effects were akin to a mini nuclear explosion. Similar fuel-air rounds are already available for the RPG-7 and (JDW noted) have also been developed for the Russian 220mm TOS-1 rocket system (in that case ranging to 3,500 metres), as well as Russia’s Kornet & Metis-M anti-armour missiles.

Definitely not something to be on the receiving end of if you ever plan to play the violin again.

40MM SPONGE GRENADE – NEW OPTIONS: the original 40mm Sponge Grenade – a rather misleadingly-named inert projectile with deformable sponge rubber head for the M203, M79 and similar 40mm launchers, was developed by Picatinny Arsenal as part of the US DoD’s non-lethal weapons programme, and at least one early batch of these 40mm cartridges was manufactured by Knight’s Armament Co in Florida.

More recently we note that Combined Tactical Systems Inc in Jamestown (Pennsylvania) is offering a much wider range of Sponge Cartridge options, not just the basic inert version (Prod No 4557) but also new variants additionally loaded with CN (Prod No 4520), CS (Prod No 4530) or OC pepper (Prod No 4540). All the irritant payloads are in powder form. The Sponge Grenade utilises the standard high-low pressure system of the 40mm low-velocity grenade cartridge and is meant for use in rifled barrels which will impart the necessary stability. Compression of the spongy head during impact serves to squeeze out the irritant contents.

One concern we had about the original Sponge Grenade was the possibility that the head might compress right back to the hard plastic shoulder beneath; we do not now if the design has since been modified, but potential users would be well-advised to explore this aspect.Combined Tactical Systems warn on their website that the Sponge Cartridge should not be used at short range, but no recommended engagement envelope is specified. This is another aspect potential users should investigate before making a purchase decision.

The same company offers a wide range of other less-than-lethal anti-riot munitions, as well as pyrotechnics and launchers. http://www.less-lethal.com/

NOTTINGHAM DISPOSING OF ITS SMALL ARMS MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT: another milestone in the dissolution of British small arms manufacturing appears imminent, as H&K (UK) (Royal Ordnance Nottingham) is reportedly preparing to transfer the majority of its barrel-hammering presses to H&K headquarters in Oberndorf. It has three of these GFM presses, we’re told, which probably cost about £1m apiece when new, and two are apparently going to Germany, where we’re sure they can make good use of them. Other Nottingham manufacturing equipment is also said to be up for disposal; possibly it may all go to auction.

What a pity that the UK MOD & BAe Systems, which could so easily have directed that all or most of the latest SA80 upgrade work be done in Britain, have seen fit instead to allow Nottingham’s small arms line to simply wither & die. First the RSAF at Enfield closed, and work was transferred to Nottingham, where SA80 was completed – then, only a few years later, it’s goodbye Nottingham. Ah, you might well say, but along the way Royal Ordnance bought Heckler & Koch, so that must surely be progress?

Well, it would be, if Royal Ordnance was not trying to sell H&K too. Were there some competition in this field, it would not be so bad, but Parker-Hale is reportedly now on the rocks too, leaving Accuracy International – itself not a major operation – as the last active military gunmaker in Britain.

BSA & Webley (now apparently the recipient of the Parker-Hale cleaning kit business) long ago quit the cartridge weapons market, though we did hear a while back that BSA CF2 rifles could possibly still be obtained to special order. But maybe we should not be terribly surprised – apparently only a measly one in five of the British workforce is now engaged in manufacturing of any sort. And as far as BAe itself is concerned, we get the impression that if it doesn’t have wings on, it’s not terribly interested.

Britain is steadily becoming a nation of service industries, though the pitfalls of this are clear – in times of economic downturn, it’s services that are the first to suffer cutbacks. An economy increasingly based on ‘dot.com’ speculation and funny money is not exactly rock-solid.

UK MOD BUYS MORE HI-POWERS: The UK MOD has recently ordered from FN Herstal Qty 2000 9mm L9A1 pistols (Browning Hi-Powers), plus 4,000 magazines and 2,000 cleaning rods. No price was released. We assume this is a normal maintenance buy. The rumour’s been going around that the MOD might be planning to ditch its Hi-Powers altogether in favour (like the UK special forces) of SIG pistols, but this buy certainly suggests otherwise.

FN LESS-LETHAL PAINTBALL GUN: JDW reported in Jan 2001 that FN Herstal had developed a less-than-lethal paintball gun, powered by compressed air, firing 12-gauge projectiles weighing eight grams apiece. The ammunition range is said to provide impact, marker, illuminating and ‘malodorant’ (nasty niff) capability, with a range of 100 metres. A special fin-stabilised rubber baton round is also available. The US army is reportedly testing the system as the XM303, which can be provided as a 2.3kg discrete launcher with integral buttstock or a 2.2kg underbarrel M203-style attachment for the M16-series rifle.

Magazine capacity is 15 shots and the MV 300 fps. Judging from the illustration, the weapon is made largely from plastics. Apparently the US requirement for devices of this type is 70% hit probability on a man-sized target at 100 metres, which the XM303 reportedly exceeds. FNMI reports interest not only from the military but also law enforcement organisations.In our experience, 100 metres is at the outer edge of range capability for most baton guns (and rarely needed, since it’s beyond normal stone-throwing range). It’s quite possible with (say) the 37mm ARWEN, but definitely not in a strong crosswind. Smaller projectiles such as those fired by the XM303 may well fare better by dint of providing less wind resistance.

MERCENARY REGULATION DEFERRED: a Financial Times report at end-Nov 2000 said that UK Foreign Office plans to introduce new legislation regulating private military services companies were likely to be deferred until after the Spring 2001 general election in favour of promoting new arms export controls.Under the FO measures, already substantially drafted, mercenary providers could either be subjected to self-regulation, registration or have to secure UK government approval for each mission they wanted to embark upon (the current US and South African procedure), ruling out help to anyone other than recognised foreign governments.

It’s all part of the FO’s much-derided ‘ethical foreign policy’ initiative that still refuses to lie down. Of course, it also entirely misses the point. Mercenary forces are often most needed when a minority movement somewhere wants to overthrow an oppressive, unjust or plain illegitimate regime which just happens, at the time, to be the only ‘official’ government thereabouts. Confining mercenary support only to recognised governments, regardless of how morally bankrupt (if not positively genocidal) they might be (and many are), would be robbing liberation movements around the world of vital assistance they need in order to try to create the kind of democratic societies which the US and the UK (to name but two) claim to support as a political ideal.

Fixing elections, knocking off awkward customers and rearranging governments was a policy the CIA enthusiastically pursued throughout Latin America for many years. It also bolstered the Afghans against Russia (sowing the seeds of Osama bin Laden’s buddies, the fundamentalist Taliban movement) and still quietly involves itself in this kind of thing in the Middle East, supporting insurgents in Iran and Iraq, for example.

With all this hypocrisy surrounding the subject, small wonder then that so much mercenary activity is forced underground or headquartered in obscure countries. It’s mighty ironic too, since private military companies are ideally placed to perform a wide range of overseas tasks that Western governments nowadays find distasteful or politically sticky, handy casualty-avoidance being just one factor. The Sierra Leone mission, for instance, is one where regular British forces simply don’t belong.

The Blair administration could stop playing power politics with the British forces and bring the guys home tomorrow if Sierra Leone solely used mercenaries (which the UK could covertly fund), enabling the government there to stop pussyfooting around, winnow down as many of the RUF wild men as ammunition stocks permit and bring the problem to a speedy conclusion.

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

MP34 Maschinen Pistole in 45ACP!

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:36:00 +0000

By Vince Oliva

Every so often we find a vintage weapon in an unusual, odd ball caliber. Not saying that the 45 ACP is an odd caliber, we all know the 45 ACP is the original old war/horse. In this scenario, we have a classic, German designed, MP34 chambered for a 45 ACP cartridge instead of the standard European 9mm round. First let me pass on a little history of the MP34(ö)

Cultured Austria did very little in the field of weapons development prior to WWII. They did develop one submachine gun which attained fairly wide usage before and during WWII. The MP34(ö) is commonly known as the Steyr Solothurn. This weapon is a product of German design worked out at Waffenfabrik Solothurn A.G. of Solothurn, Switzerland. Solothurn A.G. was a Swiss industrial company owned by Rheinmettal A.G. of Germany. Herr Louise Stange of the Rheinmettal Company of Dusseldorf originally designed the MP34 in 1924. Under the terms of the Versaillies Treaty, Rheinmettal was forbidden to develop or manufacture military arms. To circumvent this restriction, Rhienmettal A.G. acquired a Swiss company called Solothurn AG in 1929 and used this company to produce the prototypes and accomplished development engineering. But the Solothurn AG was not equipped to produce in quantity, so Rheinmettal now took a controlling interest in the Waffenfabrik Steyr and arranged for the weapon to be put in production as the “Steyr-Solothurn” sub-machine gun. It was widely sold throughout the world in a variety of calibers.

The Austrian MP34 was “kindly adopted” by the Germans when they took over Austria in 1938 and was called by the Germans MP34(ö) – Maschinen Pistole 34 Õsterreich-, (Õsterreich meaning Austrian). The weapon was widely used by German police and rear area units. The weapon in various modifications and caliber’s was offered commercially and obviously the 45ACP for export only. Chile, El Salvador, Bolivia, and Uruguay were some of the known importers. The Japanese had a few extremely limited quantities in 7.63 Mauser. The commercial designation for the weapon is SI-100. It is probable that all the MP34s(ö) used by Austria were made by Steyr, as from 1930 on, the gun was known as the Steyr Solothurn.

A) MP34 in 45 ACP. Close-up view of receiver – notice the slot cut into the top cover for bolt safety lock. To open top cover one has to push the rear latch forward and lift. B) MP34 in 9mm. Close-up view of receiver – the bolt safeties can be engaged in two ways. First – the bolt can be locked forward into the barrel by sliding the forward safety slide bar to the front push pin. Second – the bolt can be locked back by pulling the bolt back to the (ready to fire) open bolt position then slide the forward safety bar forward.

The MP34 as used by the Austrian Army and was chambered for the 9mm Mauser cartridge. It was also issued to the Austrian police in 9mm Steyr, both calibers were found in German service or police units. When Austria was incorporated into the Third Reich the weapon was taken into German Army service as the MP34(ö) (ö for Õsterreich) and extensively used. Then re-chambered for the more common 9mm Parabellum round.

Note: do not confuse the Bergmann MP34 with the MP34(ö). The MP34 is the only subgun designed by Bergmann. Manufactured by Carl Walter Waffenfabrik, Zella-Mehlis, Junker & Ruh AG, Karlsruhe.

The Bergmann MP34 has a double trigger of peculiar form; pulling the front trigger gave single shots, but further pressure caused it to bear on the secondary trigger to give automatic fire. Whereas the MP34(ö) has the selector on the left side of the stock and also the Bergmann MP34 has a built in compensator at the muzzle and a safety slot cut into the top receiver cover for the bolt to be safely locked back.

Unusual Features of MP34(ö)

The weapon is typical of the period in which it was made of heavy forging. The only unusual feature is the Magazine loader in which is machined into the magazine housing. The magazine is inserted into the underside of the magazine housing and is then loaded with ten round chargers-stripper clips through the opening in the top of the magazine housing.
Note: On the 45 ACP version the magazine housing is of a solid piece of stock and the Magazines are loaded in the conventional method.

MP34 Magazine wells. Top shows a one solid piece for the 45 ACP. Bottom is the typical magazine well opening for loading chargers to strip the bullets into the magazine.

Characteristics of Austrian MP34(ö) Submachine gun

Caliber: 9mm Mauser (Army Model)
System of Operation: Blowback
Weight loaded: 9.87 lbs.
Barrel length: 7.80 in.
Feed mechanism: 32 round detachable, staggered box magazine.
Sights: Front: Barney corn
Rear: Tangent with “V” notch graduated from 50-500 meters in 50-meter increments.
Muzzle velocity: 1300 fps (for 9mm Mauser)
Cyclic rate:500 rounds per minute.
Bayonet: – utilized the Austrian M95

MP34 Top Covers. Top cover in 45 ACP. Bottom cover in 9mm. To open top cover the rear push pin has to be depressed and the rear latch cover pushed forward and lifted at the same time. This sounds like a complicated procedure, but by simply doing it is much simpler than explaining it. Note the 45 sight is in measurements of 30 -110 meters in 10 meter increments. The 9mm is 50-500 meter in 50 meter increments

Solothurn S1-100 Civilian version

The Solothurn S1-100 in Austrian guise as the MP34(ö) or Steyn-Solothurn

Caliber:9mm
Length:33.5 in
Weight:8lb 8oz
Barrel:7.75in long, 6 grooves, right hand twist
Feed System: 32 round detachable box magazine
System of operation: Blowback, selective fire
Cyclic rate: 500rpm
Manufactures: Waffenfabrik Solothurn AG, Solothurn, Switzerland, Waffenfabrik Steyr, Steyr, Austria

The S1-100 is generally considered to be the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of sub-machine guns, made of the finest available materials and finished to the highest possible standard. Its mechanism is quite simple, the usual bolt having its return spring housed in the wooded buttstock, and the firing pin being separate. It fires from an open bolt in the usual blowback mode. One of the most unusual features is the incorporation of a magazine loading device in the magazine housing. The first specimens of this weapon were generally made in 7.63mm Mauser caliber or 9mm Steyr, and ammunition of these types was always supplied in pre-packed 10-round chargers for use in the pistols. So that these chargers could be used for loading the sub-machine gun magazines, the magazine housing has a slot in top and bottom; the empty magazine could be withdrawn from its housing and slipped into the bottom slot. Chargers of cartridges were then inserted into guides in the top slot and the rounds stripped down into the magazine.

MP34 in 45 ACP

I had acquired this weapon from Ron Darnell of Darnell’s Gun Works & Range of Bloomington, IL. Ron had set up a table at the Spring 2000 Knob Creek shoot and this is where I spotted this beauty. Ron was cleaning house one day “actually he was building a new one” and decided to clean up this treasure that he acquired many years before from an estate sale. From what information that Ron passed on to me is that a bunch of these MP34s were imported into the U.S. by ARMEX in the early 1980s from South and Central America.

The weapon was in fair condition and missing the very rare 45ACP Magazine. Mike Grady; is the Gunsmith for Darnells Gun Works, Mike and Ron got to looking closely at the gun and realized that other than the bolt, barrel (9mm), top cover and magazine housing everything was essentially the same as the standard Steyr 9mm. The 45 ACP barrel threads and physical dimensions were the same for the standard 9mm barrel, His biggest obstacle was to make a Magazine adapter to fit in the Magazine housing for the standard 9mm mags. No problem for Mike, as the master that he is, Mike machined out an adapter in the precise internal dimensions of the magazine well. Mike also hand polished a re-blue to the steel better than the Old World Masters. Now to find the MP34 45ACP magazine, well a few phone calls to many of the industries best and good old Bob Landies came up with one.

MP34 Bolts. Top Bolt in 45 ACP. Bottom Bolt in 9mm.

Another factor that I can not verify is the total number of models made in 45 ACP. Ron Darnell seems to remember reading some where that about 500 hundred were made but again not verified.

Shooting this firearm is pure pleasure; it lifts and fits naturally to my shoulder and the sight alignment seems natural. But again shooting the same gun in different calibers is night and day. The 9mm is smooth and very, very controllable. Whereas the 45ACP is also smooth and controllable but you know you are shooting a 45 and the shooter has to master the extra energy of the 45.

One discrepancy that I found between previous published information and my measurements are the overall lengths of the barrels. My measurements on the 45 ACP barrel and my 9mm parts kit barrel are identical at 8.12 inches. Other published listings were of 7.8 and 7.75 inches.

Magazines in 45 ACP are as rare as hens teeth. I have only one original 20 round Magazine. My research did not afford me any information on this subject. I do not know if they made 10,15 or 30 round 45ACP mags for this gun. I have a modified 30 round Thompson mag that has been cut and reshaped that works quite well and I have been looking at the possibility of modifying Grease gun mags. You fellow shooters know nothing works best other than the originals.

Now we have a firearm that shoots both calibers that takes less than 2 minutes to change.

From 45 ACP to 9mm in steps: Naturally reverse order to change.

1. Open top cover and remove (one screw).
2. Pull back and lift out 45 ACP Bolt
3. Unscrew 45 ACP barrel
4. Screw in 9mm barrel – no specific torque, just snug with adjustable wrench.
5. Install 9mm Bolt
6. Install 9mm top cover
7. Install 9mm magazine well adapter

Specifications of this Featured MP34 in 45 ACP

Weight: 9.75 lbs.
Weight: – Fully loaded with 22 round Mag. 230gr. Bullets – 11 lbs.
Barrel length – 8.125 inches
Bolt weight – without guide rod – 2.25 lbs.
Bolt length – without guide rod – 7.13 inches
Bolt length – with guide rod – 13.88 inches
Feed mechanism: 20 round detachable, staggered box magazine.
Sights: Front: Barney corn.
Rear: Tangent with “V” notch graduated from 30-110 meters in 10-meter increments.
Cyclic Rate: Unknown at this time. I didn’t have the proper electronic measuring devices at the time of this writing but on firing the 45ACP model it was very audible to myself and by other firearm enthusiasts that the cycling rate was much faster. This was due to the nature of physics – basically looking at the physical dimensions of the 45 Bolt – it is larger and longer than the 9mm bolt, thus a shorter stroke or travel distance.

Top Bayonet – M1934 SIMSON/SUHL Bottom Bayonet – M95 STEYR

*The Receiver Top Bolt cover incorporates the safety bolt slot cut into the side. Whereas the 9mm has the push button safety on the top receiver cover for the bolt. *The bolt does not have the safety slot cut like the 9mm

Specification of this Featured 9mm parts kit incorporated into the MP34 45ACP Receiver.

Weight: 9.125 lbs.
Weight: – Fully loaded with 32 round Mag. 115 gr. Bullets – 10.5 lbs.
Barrel length – 8.125 inches
Bolt weight – 1.75 lbs.
Bolt length – without guide rod – 5.75 inches
Bolt length – with guide rod – 12.5 inches
Feed mechanism: 32 round detachable, staggered box magazine.

Incorporates push button top receiver cover safety. Does not incorporate safety bolt slot cut, but incorporates push button lock down
Sights: Front: Barney corn
Rear: Tangent with “V” notch graduated from 50-500 meters in 50-meter increments.

MP34 Magazines. TOP – 20 round 45 ACP. Bottom – 9mm Steyr with mag adapter.

Another feature is the ability for bayonet attachment. The Austrians did not want to re-invent the wheel so they incorporated the Steyr 1895 rifle bayonet, also known as the M95 bayonet to fit on the MP34. I found that the M1934 (modified M1904 bayonet) Solothurn SMG bayonet made by Simson & Co. of Suhl for Portugal fits perfect. The M1934 bayonet is one inch longer than the M95 Steyr bayonet. Neither of these Bayonets will fit the 45ACP model because the muzzle diameter of the 45ACP barrel is .04 inches wider than the 9mm barrel. I filed and sanded the inside barrel port of the M95 bayonet and it fits perfect on the 45 barrel. I do not believe a specific bayonet was made for the 45ACP model and the modification I performed were probably the same.

Note: Some technical data specifications are from the book: Small Arms of the world by Smith and Smith (Stackpole books) 1969

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

Into the Khyber

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:35:00 +0000

A Pathan elder holds his Krinkov with the tortuous switchbacks of the Khyber Pass in the background.

By Rob Krott

One particularly deep pothole lifted me several inches off the seat as the Toyota Landcruiser bounced up the road. My head snapped up, waking me from a doze only to see the barrel of a Kalashnikov assault rifle wavering about six inches below my chin. The Afridi tribesman, a pimply faced youth, sitting next to me and clutching the rifle seemed unconcerned. I looked at the selector lever and noticed the weapon was loaded and on “automatic.” In the crowded car every bump had the potential to send bullets flying. I smiled at the youth (who nodded happily at me) and then I gently moved the barrel away from my face and reached down to place the weapon on “safe.” My friend, Muhammad Sultan, an Afghan refugee and de-mining expert, sitting on the other side of our gunman noticed my actions. Sultan said, “Not to worry, Rob! The soldiers must account for every bullet that is fired.” Our driver bobbed his head and intoned, “Inshallah!” Ah, yes, “Inshallah.” Welcome to the Khyber Pass.

A sign just past the Karkhanai smuggler’s bazaar. Krott slipped past the sentries to inspect guns for sale in nearby shops, only to be hustled off by the police.

The Khyber Pass is the territory of the Afridi, the Pathan tribe that has controlled the Khyber for centuries. It is a region lost in time with adobe-mud fortresses dominating the landscape, women in colorful burqqas, and mustachioed rifle-toting brigands wearing turbans. I couldn’t wait to see it.

It has been called the oldest continuously lawless place on earth. The nearly autonomous tribal enclave here was first “administered” by the British who found it impossible to subdue the warlike Pathans, said to be the world’s largest autonomous tribal group, and established the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in 1901. Pakistani national and provincial laws hold little sway here: tribal lands are actually ruled by the Pathans through their council of tribal elders, the jirga. Pukhtunwali – an unwritten code of revenge and blood feuds against enemies, refuge for friends and kinsmen, and hospitality for strangers (badal, nanwatai, and malmastia) — is the law. The Pathans run guns, smuggle consumer goods, and increasingly, opium. Large tracts of opium are cultivated here and hashish and, more recently, heroin are major commodities. The Shinwari tribe operated heroin labs in hidden caves in the mountains near the Khyber Pass until government pressure made them move west into Afghanistan. During the war against the Soviets the mujahideen smuggled opium to swap for guns and in doing so invigorated the opium production in Pakistan.

Rob Krott with a Peshawar gun shop owner. The AK is a locally made knockoff.

Hard lands make for hard men and barren mountains and bleak winters have made the Pathans a hardy breed. Fiercely independent, the Pathans consider guns necessary accouterments and maintain large private arsenals to defend their family compounds during frequent clan disputes and from attack by dacoits – bandits. With shootouts; armed robberies; bombings; kidnapping; fights over livestock, slights to their womenfolk, personal insults, and generations-long blood feuds; and just good old fashioned violence, the tribal lands resemble the American wild west. Everyone carries a firearm. Consequently, people are polite. Justice is swift and bloody.

A Khyber Rifles Sentry with a Paki G-3. Note the traditional tribal dress and sandals with combat kit.

Pathans, also called Pukhtuns, have over the past two decades attempted to create an independent country, Pukhtunistan, encompassing the tribal lands, which straddle the border and the approximately 12 million Pathans (60% of the tribal population) living in Afghanistan. With fair skin, high foreheads, straight noses, and light hazel eyes, the Pathans look European. There’s the theory that this is because Alexander’s legions swam in the local gene pool c. 336 B.C. while others believe that some of the Aryans stopped here enroute from Europe when they invaded the Indus c. 1600-1500 B.C. Pathan tradition holds that they are descended from King Afghana, grandson of King Saul of Israel. Whatever the source of their genes, they certainly don’t look at all like Punjabis or Sindhis. What they do look like is “tough.”

The day I arrived in Pakistan I checked into the Pearl Continental Hotel. A sign in the lobby said, “Weapons cannot be brought inside the hotel premises. Personal Guards or Gunmen are required to deposit their weapons with the Hotel Security.” Next stop was the Pakistani Khyber Political Agent’s office for my Khyber Pass travel permit. I was directed to a cramped office, piled high with dusty ledgers, which appeared unchanged since the 19th century British colonial administration. Even the electric fan was pre-World War II. Three clerks sat around desks piled high with papers while shelves and bureau tops along the dirty, whitewashed walls held precariously balanced ceiling high stacks of old cloth-bound ledgers and loose-leaf files shedding papers. The ever-present battered teapot and glasses crowded a small table. I was half expecting some one to blow a great cloud of dust off one of the ledgers and say “Mr. Robert! Yes, you still owe mess dues from 1919 … or was that your grandfather?”

A four-vise, one-bed weapons factory!

The major route connecting Peshawar with Kabul is traversed via a tough, twisting drive up the Khyber Pass past Landi Kotal to the border post at Torkham. This area is considered dangerous and I had to pay a nominal fee for my travel permit and for my Khyber Rifles escort. After receiving my pass I waited around a few minutes for my Afridi gunman, a member of the Khyber levies, dressed in a black beret and a gray kurta and shalwar kameez (a knee-length cotton shirt over pajama trousers). A short, pimply-faced kid clutching a Kalashnikov, he made a pitiful looking bodyguard.

Handmade Tokarev receiver and an original (?) for a pattern.

The drive through noisy, bustling and completely third-world Peshawar to the Khyber Agency is itself an interesting journey. Dominating the skyline lurid billboards of burly matinee idols angrily spewing hot lead from automatic weapons advertise ultra-violent Pakistani and Indian movies. Similar Rambo-esque paintings adorn buses and the three-wheeled Vespa taxis which always seem to be on the verge of imminent collision. We passed the gun shops of Peshawar: small one room shops holding a few dozen weapons and adorned with names such as Frontier Arms, Haji Farhad & Bros. Arms and Ammunition Dealers, or Bashir Ahmad Co. The weapons for sale are sometimes comically counterfeited, including a copy of a Russian submachine gun stamped Special Rolex. Next we drove past Karkhanai, the new smugglers’ bazaar where there are no longer drugs or guns for sale (that was all stopped a few years ago) and drove through the police checkpoint noted for its “Attention Entry Of Foreigners Is Prohibited Beyond This Point” sign. I was no longer under official Pakistani government control. This was Afridi tribal territory, the Pathan tribe that has controlled trade and travel through the Khyber for centuries. Here, just beyond the checkpoint you can buy guns and hashish. I stopped at some gun shops only to be rushed off by the police.

The closest you will see to a firearm assembly line in Pakistan.

The world beyond the checkpoint is like something out of The Road Warrior. The adobe mud fortresses — guard towers and walls stand 20 feet high with embrasures at the corners so sharpshooters can engage interlopers — dot the landscape. There are no windows, just gun ports and loopholes, and the only entrance is a 20-to-30-foot-high steel gate. Everyone is armed. The whole area is built for tribal warfare. As we drove by I caught forbidden glimpses inside the compounds of beautiful gardens and landscaped courtyards.

A Hand painted movie poster in downtown Peshawar.

The army checked my travel permit at Jamrud Fort. Built by Sikhs in 1923 it is only eleven miles and two centuries from Peshawar. The formal entrance of the pass is the stone arch built in 1964 by military decree as a kind of tourist attraction. My ride was a red Ford minivan (a bargain at less than $20 a day). While stopped at the Khyber Pass archway people began scurrying for cover as bullets flew just up the road. A little inter-clan flare up or blood feud was in full swing. The police ran over to tell us to stay where we were. My Khyber Rifles escort began to look worried. The red minivan, which looked so sharp before now, made a very good target. After about half an hour we were waved on up the pass. The east end of the pass road winds through a wide, flat plain marked by low hills on both sides. Throughout the valley were rows of WWII “dragons teeth” concrete tank obstacles. The road then climbs up through the Suleiman Hills rising up on both sides of the pass to Shagai Fort.

Some of the descendants of Captain Khan Bahader Abdul Qadir Khan (in portrait) in the villiage of Regi pose with Krott and some of their home defense weapons.

Coming down the mountain were several bicycle riders with one or two other bicycles in trail. They were smuggling them over the mountains from China via Kabul. A tough way to make a living. As camel caravans moved across the mountaintops, Afridi women in their brightly colored burqqas walked languorously along the pass road. Carting bundles of freshly cut grass for their livestock they form small knots of blue, orange, red, and gold against the Khyber’s blue-green mountains standing silent beneath a bright blue sky dotted with powder puff clouds. In the foreground of this picturesque scene was the crumbling adobe of the mud walled forts. Hugging the cliff walls and occasionally crossing the roadway is the Kabar railway. Built by the British in the 1920s it is forty-two kilometers long with 34 tunnels and 92 bridges. Some of the trestles looked shaky and in places the track hung precariously off the mountainside. There were spots where there was nothing underneath the tracks but mountain air.

Some of the descendants of Captain Khan Bahader Abdul Qadir Khan (in portrait) in the villiage of Regi pose with Krott and some of their home defense weapons.

The narrow point of the Khyber Pass is at Ali Masjid. Above the Ali Masjid mosque sits the Ali Masjid fort which overlooks the entire Khyber Pass. Here the road is one way as it’s only thirty meters or so wide. Before it was widened two camels could not walk abreast. To fully appreciate the Khyber Pass you must imagine trying to escape through the pass on foot while being shot at by Pathan snipers. Testifying to the near impossibility of such a feat, is a British cemetery full of graves from the Second Afghan War of 1879. The Khyber Pass walls bear the insignia of many British regiments, such as the Royal Sussex, the Gordon Highlanders, and the South Wales Borderers, to name but a few. Mute testimony to the far-flung reaches of a vanished empire, they reminded me of the arrogance of Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan in Kipling’s The Man Who Would be King. Ten kilometers further is the Buddhist stupa from Kushen times. Another seven kilometers along the road at 1,200 meters in elevation and sitting at the end of the railway and just eight kilometers from Afghanistan is Landi Kotal.

Whatever it is, we want one! It resembles an original firearm seen at the Pattern Room in Nottingham, England and photographed in Small Arms Review Vol. 3 No. 9.

Formerly “contraband city” full of hash and guns for sale and the plush homes of rich smugglers hidden behind compound walls, the smuggler’s trade has now moved to the Karkhanai Bazaar near Peshawar. But I’ve been warned: kidnapping for ransom is a frequent event and the locals certainly aren’t too timid to avoid mugging a westerner. Landi Kotal is a notorious den of thieves, smugglers, bandits, and kidnappers. In other words, a nice place to have lunch.

With the smells of sizzling meats on charcoal braziers enticing us we stopped to lounge on charpoy (bedsteads of woven straw and nylon cord) on a balcony above the main street of Landi Kotal. I stuffed myself with chabli kebab (hamburger), tikka – spiced grilled meats, nan, the circular flat roti of the country, slapped from dough in the palms and cooked in the tandoor, all washed down with glasses of chal sabaz (green tea). When it comes to my stomach I’m fluent in Pashto.

I wondered through a bazaar and a group of four or five young women passed me. With their colorful flowing burqqas and their clanking jewelry, their expressive almond-shaped eyes — the amber, hazel, and light gray of Alexander’s legions edged with kohl — flashed promises at me. It was all so amazingly enticing and seductive. I was strangely titillated by their unspoken lust communicated by a single glance.

After Landi Kotal the road forks: left to the Afghan border and right to Khyber Rifles headquarters. Bearing left it didn’t take long before we crested the last hill at Michni checkpoint to see the border post at Torkham. Beyond that lies Afghanistan. Unless you have a special pass and an Afghan visa this is the last stop — fifty-eight kilometers from Peshawar.

It was turn-around time and the trip back was as breathtaking and adventurous as the trip to Michni. I spent a few days in Peshawar and Nooristan and then made my second trip into the Khyber and journeyed on to Afghanistan. We passed through Landi Kotal and the Michni checkpoint again before descending the last few kilometers to the border post of Torkham. The whole scene was a Kodak moment but photography is prohibited. The Khyber Rifles soldiers clad in the traditional pajama-like shalwar kameez and commando sweaters stood at the ready with their assault rifles. They passed us through to Afghanistan with a nod to be greeted by Kalashnikov toting Taliban. After we crossed the border a brief shootout commenced between the Khyber Rifles and the Taliban as someone ran the border and the Khyber Rifles opened up. A vehicle which came through only a few minutes behind us took a bullet in its left side rear door.

After a week in Afghanistan it was time to go back to Peshawar. Just as well. I was sick and no amount of Lomotil or Cipro seemed to help. As we approach the border post the scene was right out of the middle ages and the Black Death. Everyone was filthy and dressed in rags and blankets. The dirt road was ankle deep in fecal muck. People aged long before their time by hard labor, squalor, filth, disease plod through the mud while small boys, dirt-faced, snot-nosed carbuncled urchins trotted along with loads of scrap metal on their backs like under-fed pack animals. Scrawny horses pulled wagons, their wooden wheels clacking and slurping in the mud. I solemnly intoned “Bring out your dead!” a line from Monty Python and The Holy Grail — what I was seeing is so reminiscent of that movie scene that the other American with me chuckled. Crossing the border I turned my watch back a half an hour. Afghanistan is half an hour ahead of Pakistani time and five centuries behind the rest of the world. Indeed the Afghans claim it is year 1376 as calculated from the moon phases.

I stopped at Afghan Emigration — a mud hut with a rickety table and two bored Taliban with moldy blankets over their shoulders. I got my passport stamped and was through the border. Next was Pakistani Immigration and then customs. There’s no problem with my visa even though it quite plainly states “single entry.” On the way out the frantic, chaotic coming and going of people was unbelievable. Walking out of customs I was almost run down by five or six boys with loads perched on their backs dodging like half-backs as they tried to avoid a Pakistani Khyber Rifle trooper flailing away with his swagger stick. He wasn’t trying to stop them or arrest them, just giving them a beating. “Oh my what fun, yes, very good!”

The drive back to Peshawar was uneventful except for that slight problem with the ever-present Kalashnikov barrel under my chin. Amongst the Afridi a common family occupation is smuggling and at the various Khyber Rifles check points I looked up on the hillside to see smugglers walking the parallel mountain trails in plain view. On the way back just before the last police post we saw the smugglers, all gathered to begin their run over the mountains at 3:30pm (the police go off at 4pm) humping stereos, dishware sets, and car parts over the mountains and into the market. Dodging the battered trucks and buses belching noxious plumes of blue gray smoke and loaded down on their springs with human cargo and careening up and down the narrow macadam highway we soon arrived back in Peshawar. I checked in to Green’s Hotel. It’s at the bottom of the list for western-style accommodations — the decrepit rooms had moldy walls and peeling paint while the restaurant’s table cloth were stained with the detritus of a decade of meals. It was probably a very nice hotel at one time but today it’s just another remnant of the fading splendor of the Raj era. But after the Khyber Pass it certainly looked like the 20th Century.

Rob Krott made four separate trips into the Khyber Pass and crossed the Pakistani border three times on a single entry visa. Rob, a professional war correspondent since 1992, currently travels for the TV show The World’s Most Dangerous Places which can be seen on the Travel Channel.

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)

The Johnson Automatics, Part II: The Johnson Light Machine Gun

SAR Staff — Sun, 01 Apr 2001 00:34:00 +0000

By Frank Iannamico

In addition to his recoil operated semi-automatic M1941 rifle, Melvin Johnson designed and produced a machine gun, the M1941 Light Machine Gun, (H). The (H) designates a horizontal feed magazine. Similar suffixes used on other Johnson designed weapons were: (V) for a vertical fed magazine and ( R ) for a rotary fed design. The magazine fed light machine gun utilized Johnson’s unique recoil operated design, which uses residual chamber pressure and barrel recoil to operate the action. The advantage to the design is the elimination of a conventional gas system to function the weapon. When the weapon is fired the barrel recoils rearward for approximately .5 of an inch. The receiver supports the barrel on two bearing surfaces. A rotary bolt moves rearward locked to the barrel until it is unlocked by being rotated counter clockwise 20 degrees by a caming action between the receiver and bolt. The barrel’s rearward movement is stopped by a shoulder in the receiver, while the bolt continues rearward far enough to pick up a fresh round from the magazine before being pushed forward into the chamber by the recoil spring assembly. The rotating bolt head is locked to the barrel by eight lugs. The recoil spring and buffer are located in the stock. The cyclic rate of the weapon is 550-600 rounds per minute.

Melvin Johnson takes aim with the 1941 LMG.

As with his rifle, Melvin Johnson’s LMG was only used by the United States military in limited numbers. While the M1941 semi-automatic rifle had the M1 Garand as its main adversary, the LMG competed against the legendary BAR. Unfortunately, development of both Johnson’s weapons were untimely, becoming available only after the Garand and BAR had already been placed in mass production for WWII. The Marine Corps adopted Johnson’s weapons only when the BAR and Garand were not being produced in sufficient numbers to fulfill the wartime demand. The Johnson LMG, like the M1941 semi-automatic rifles, were manufactured for Johnson Automatics by a subcontractor, Cranston Arms of Rhode Island.

In reality the Johnson design had many modern and innovative features. The 1941 Model was much lighter than the BAR at 14.2 pounds with the bipod. Another very important feature, especially for a weapon of its type, was a removable barrel that could be easily replaced in the field. The weapon was select-fire, and fired from a closed bolt in the semi-automatic mode, and fired from an open bolt when in full-auto. The modes of operation: safe-fire and automatic were controlled by a single “change lever”. The overall length of the weapon was 42 inches, while the standard barrel was 22 inches in length. The barrel featured a 4-groove 1 in 10” twist, and according to the operator’s manual, could be replaced “in 5 to 6 seconds.” Mr. Johnson preferred that his weapon be referred to as an “automatic rifle” or “light machine rifle” rather than a “light machine gun.” He often compared his weapon to the 8mm German paratrooper automatic weapon, the FG-42 that could, and often was, fired from the shoulder like a rifle. Johnson wanted to convey that his weapons were not simply “light machine guns” but rather versatile “automatic rifles” that could easily be fired from the shoulder when necessary.

The rear sight on the LMG is a flip up aperture style, calibrated in yards, the sight featured two apertures, the upper one for up to 1,000 yard range and the other (placed 49 MOA lower) designed for barrage fire up to 1500 yards. The adjustable rear sights were supplied to Johnson Automatics by either the Lyman or Marbles Company. The blade style front sight is unusually high, (similar to that of the M16 rifle) because of the “straight line” configuration of the stock. The twenty round capacity, single feed box-style magazine is also unique, as there are no feed lips. The feed lips are machined into the receiver. Also located inside of the receiver is a rotary magazine mechanism similar to that of the Johnson semi-automatic rifle. The box magazine is inserted into the left side of the receiver. The magazine release lever also serves as a cartridge-retaining device to keep the loaded rounds from flying out of the magazine in the absence of conventional feed lips. When the magazine is inserted into the weapon, the magazine support guide hook cams upward on a ramp and releases the cartridges in the magazine. The magazine spring then locks onto a shoulder on the ramp and locks the magazine into place. The cartridges are then fed into the integral magazine inside of the receiver. An additional five rounds could be loaded into the receiver making the total capacity of the weapon 25 rounds. The magazine could be easily recharged while in the weapon via the M1903 rifle stripper clips. The magazine was overly long because of its single stack/single feed design. The magazine body was also easily damaged.

The manual for the M1944 Light Machine gun on top, with the French manual on bottom. (Photo courtesy Jim Pullen)

A detachable folding bipod was also featured on the Model 1941 LMG. The bipod is placed well back from the muzzle, allowing the weapon to be traversed over a wide area very quickly. The M1907 sling was often issued with the weapon, as well as a web style sling. A tan color bag type magazine pouch was designed for issue with the Johnson, for carrying the long, curved Johnson magazines. The pouches are extremely rare today.

M1941 Johnson LMG

It has often been reported that 10,000 of the Johnson M1941 Light Machine Guns were manufactured, but the actual number of weapons produced was much less. These were adopted and used during World War Two by U.S. Marine paratroopers and the Marine Raiders in the Pacific Theater, as well as the U.S./Canadian Army First Special Service Force in Italy and North Africa. The Netherlands also ordered a substantial number, but few were delivered before the Dutch East Indies fell into Japanese hands. A few of the light machine guns were believed to be procured and used by the French. Generally the weapon’s performance was acceptable, although there were a few reports that it was too fragile for extreme combat conditions. The long leaf spring extractor was especially prone to failure under extended combat use.

The improved M1944 Model.

An improved model was introduced in 1944. This version was known as the Model 1944 Johnson Light Machine Gun. Problems and experience from the first design generated the improvements that were incorporated in the 1944 Model. The receiver was redesigned for more positive feed to prevent jamming. A redesigned tubular buttstock was manufactured from Micarta, and the pistol grips were made of plastic, no wood furniture was used on the M1944. A cleaning kit was stored in the lower portion of the stock. The bipod of the earlier model was replaced by an adjustable nine position, folding 1.7 pound integral monopod. When the weapon was fired from the shoulder the folded monopod served as a forearm for the support hand. The weapon weighed a total of 14.7 pounds. The M1944 operator’s manual states that the cyclic rate is variable from 350 to 750 rounds per minute by changing the buffer springs in the stock. The only tool required for field stripping the weapon is a standard 30’06 cartridge. A special 20-inch barrel was offered as an option for cavalry or paratrooper use. The Johnson Light Machine Guns shared many of the same parts used in the M1941 semi-automatic rifle.

Field Stripping Procedures: Remove the magazine, retract the bolt and visually inspect the weapon’s chamber to insure it is unloaded. Depress magazine retaining latch plunger, and push barrel rearward to release. Pull barrel from receiver (A). Remove bolt handle by pulling out on spindle and at the same time slide the bolt handle forward (B). Depress receiver plunger to release and remove trigger group. Remove bolt assembly from weapon (C). No further disassembly is needed for cleaning this weapon in the field.

Both the Johnson rifle and the light machine gun saw limited service during WWII with the Office of Strategic Services. The OSS found that the Johnson weapons when disassembled were easily concealed and offered a lot of large caliber firepower. Fidel Castro’s troops also used Johnson’s weapons in his revolution against Cuba’s Batista government in 1958-59. Ironically anti-Communist Cuban Guerrillas also used Johnson weapons against Castro in the ill-fated struggle to reclaim their homeland.

Development of the Johnson Light Machine Gun concept continued after WWII, resulting in a Model of 1945 LMG. There was little post war interest and the light machine gun development program was terminated in 1947. In the 1950s the Israelis manufactured a close copy of the Johnson design called the Dror. The Israeli version was chambered in 8mm Mauser and .303 British. Like the Johnson before it the Dror was only manufactured in limited quantities.

U.S. Marines firing Reisings, Johnsons and BARs.

Melvin Johnson continued in the firearms business after the war ended. His company specialized in converting military rifles into sporters for hunting. He also offered his M1941 rifles in both sporter and military configurations. Melvin Johnson died in 1965 at the age of 55.

This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V4N7 (April 2001)