SAR: When you say the cocking handle is wrong, what do you mean?

Visser: In the end we made it underneath, so that the left or right handed person could use it easily. Anyway, Gene got interested in other things, and I hired Hans Sturtz, a German who worked for Gene Stoner. He was fantastic at making things….he worked for us in Holland, and we changed the Stoner rifle in various ways, small things, but important, like a good folding stock – one that locks. We made a good bipod too, a sturdy bipod, one that locks on the gun. I kept all of the documentation about what we did. We made a barrel with flutes, a thicker barrel, and we arranged for the sling swivels on the right place.

SAR: This is the Stoner 63 we are discussing? Let me go get some examples from the vault. (Dan gets some Stoner 63 and 63As to put on the table for Henk to point out things.)

Visser: Actually the 63A but improved. We did several things for the 63A. This was now the 63A1 when we were done with it. As I said, we improved the bipod and made it mount on the rifle, which was my idea. In the beginning, Gene Stoner didn’t have a flash hider with the right dimensions for the international rifle grenade launching requirements. The original CETME was even missing that by design. They just had a barrel sticking out making a hell of a flash, and noise. I designed the flashhider for the CETME (G3). We changed the Stoner 63A to be able to fire Rifle Launched Grenades (RLG), a very important feature even today in many armies. We changed location of the charging handle, the bipod, the stock, and many other minor changes.

SAR (Dolf): Henk, I thought that originally you were involved with the AR-10, with the 7.62 Stoner rifle?

Visser: No, Dolf, I have heard this before but I had nothing to do with that. The AR-10 was our competitor, the government plant Artillerie Inrichtingen (AI) at Hembrug, in Holland. They got so upset that we had the Stoner 63A license – first we had the CETME rifle then the Stoner – that when the Director of AI read in TIME Magazine about this lightweight rifle from ArmaLite, he and his secretary got on a plane and flew to Costa Mesa to make a deal on the AR-10. He was not liked by the Dutch generals because of the way he treated them. In reality, the AR-10 was a fantastic rifle for 7.62 NATO. Director Jungeling invited all the top generals to his plant and they were getting coffee and cake, and while they were eating he reached next to his chair and holds up an AR-10 and announces, “Gentlemen, this is your new rifle! This will be the future!” Those generals decided at that moment in their minds that nobody was going to adopt the AR-10. They didn’t want to be told by a civilian what would be the new Army rifle. He killed it with that. It’s a very sad story because it was a good rifle. They wanted to do their own testing and make their own decision and like most generals, they do not like anyone telling them what they will have for weapons.

SAR: You had the rights to the Stoner 63 outside of the United States?

Visser: Outside of United States and Canada. We had a very optimistic view of our opportunities because we and Cadillac Gage thought that the US Marines would adopt the system. We took the Stoner Rifle to Ecuador, Chile, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and, Israel. I went everywhere. We spent millions, and I told the top people in my company, “This is it. This is what the soldiers want.” I never told the customers that – I simply showed them the quality and let them test the rifle. Standardization, a cheap machine gun…the main parts are all the same. Maybe I overdid it a little bit at times. We had the Inspector General of all of the forces in Holland and his Royal Highness Prince Bernard; he had seen it and liked it, and he tried to push it in NATO. Again, I think maybe there was too much support in this way, these guys all wanted to do it themselves and make their own decisions. I was instrumental in the standardization of the rifle grenades as well. Because of me, all of the rifles have the flash hider with the 22mm diameter. I was close with MECAR in Belgium, and we developed a whole series of rifle grenades, including a new small hollow charge which would puncture a 5cm hole in a steel plate at 160 meters.

SAR: So this was a shaped charge system. What was the launching platform – bullet trap, bullet through or launching blank?

Visser: It was a special blank cartridge at the beginning. We had, even for the Stoner, a short magazine that was colored green that could be loaded with this gas cartridge, so that there would be no mistake of putting a live cartridge in the gun.

SAR: Did you get any sales of the Stoner 63A1 in the countries you just mentioned?

Visser: The biggest thing was that the United States Marines were going to adopt it. I was at Quantico almost weekly, and they wanted these, so after the first lots of prototypes they ordered 3,000 or so from Cadillac Gage and shipped the Stoners to Vietnam. They wanted a live combat environment to test them. The Stoner was very successful and the Marines liked it. Then the U.S. Army stepped in and said, “No. We will all have the same weapons. You take the M16.” The Marines got mad, and talked about bent barrels and this and that, and the cocking handle they did not like and the rifles needed a heavier barrel, etc. We were offering this gun that we demonstrated as the future U.S. Marine weapon. We really pushed that, you know? Because who was this tiny little company in Holland, and Cadillac Gage was not known either: they made a few armored cars. Nothing to show manufacturing ability with small arms, but the Marines with Stoners, that was another story and it was our sales pitch to our customers.

Gene Stoner was very bitter about many of the issues that occurred then. In the Stoner 63 rifle he had tried to fix what he saw as the problems in the M16, which was also his design originally.

The big blow was when the decision came that the U.S. Marines were not going to take the Stoner system. This made it difficult for us, because the people we were trying to sell it to thought something must be defective with the guns since the U.S. was not adopting it. I had sold 12 to Singapore after a demonstration and sold some to Thailand, Japan and South Korea. We were a nice company, we didn’t bribe anybody. The same in the Philippines. I still remember the offer for the Philippines. We had trained them so that they could work on the guns themselves. It was a $35 million deal. Then Colt got in and they got the order instead for $58 million. Their agent had better “contacts” – almost $20 million extra above what our program was. I was with the top man there, the commissioner, and if I had said that we could raise it to $55 million or whatever, we would have had that deal. But that would have never occurred to me. The same thing happened on the deal in South Korea.

The Stoner is an excellent weapon, and the only complaint I ever had was that if the soldiers have the rifle, and then they give the company armorer some cigarettes or something, they’ll quickly have a belt-fed and a heavier barrel, and before you know it everyone in the whole group has a machine gun. (Visser laughs.)

SAR: That’s a complaint? If they trained a platoon with all belt fed Stoners, it would have been pretty formidable.

Visser: Yes, but these armies aren’t trained that way. Riflemen should be riflemen, and the machine gun is restricted to certain personnel with specific machine gun jobs. It would have been very simple to make things so that you couldn’t make a machine gun out of a rifle, but that would get rid of one of the beautiful things about the Stoner – the adaptability. The only complaint I ever received was that it was too easy to make a machine gun out of it.

SAR: Henk, you were involved in many of the post World War II arms deals. What about the surplus deals?

Visser: I got some surplus 20mm ammo from our Air Force and I sold it to Israel. I worked with Tom Nelson’s company and went on some trips with him, but we were not very successful in obtaining surplus guns.

SAR: Was there any surplus in your time in Vietnam?

Visser: Only the RPGs and other items we discussed earlier. Of course there were much more US military leftovers from Vietnam that were surplused out, but not through our company. I should tell you that I was given the rank of Colonel in the US Army so that I had an ID card. If you got captured by the North Vietnamese, the US Army figured that an officer would be treated better. I still have the ID today. (Henk shows us a Vietnam era US Military ID card with his picture and the rank of Colonel.) We wanted to know how the testing went with the 3,000 guns for Vietnam, but secondly we had to be involved in the MECAR rifle grenades. The Marines were very interested in these rifle grenades, the shaped charges that punched 5cm holes. There was one demonstration where the armored plate was at 160 meters, and as I was a good shot, I could stand there and whop it, and they could see the hole was there. I came upon the idea of mini hand grenades then. In Vietnam, I saw the soldiers go out with only two hand grenades, and if the grenades got wet then they had to be destroyed. With the help of MECAR, we made very small hand grenades and the inside was ribbed in little squares. We used RDX instead of the normal high-explosive. I designed a special short ring that you couldn’t pull, you had to twist it, and then you could get it out. This prevented a lot of accidents. I had a special detonator made by Dynamit Nobel and we sealed the grenades in plastic so you’d have a bandolier with ten mini hand grenades. This weighed as much as two standard hand grenades giving the soldiers a lot of waterproof hand grenades for their missions. I also had them make an aluminum tail with an old-type beer bottle closer; you could stick the hand grenade on there and close that. There was a thin wire, so when you fired it from the rifle, the wire would break and the lever would jump off and at 200 meters you had an explosion.

Then MECAR said, “Nice, but let’s make a rifle grenade that’s just the same in arming, but the standard size.” We also had parachute flares. Then there was a request from the Americans and they said, “Listen, we have had cases where we bombed our own people in the deep jungle cover. We want a flare that goes through the canopy and explodes at 100 meters with a big flash and a brown cloud.” They wanted a test quantity of 200 or so, and three weeks later they were on a plane from Germany to Vietnam for testing. It was really successful; there was a big flash and a bang after it exited the jungle canopy. We were working to design a bullet trap in the grenade tail so you could fire with live rounds. Around that time the owners of MECAR decided to sell the whole shebang to an American company. I had a contract with them that said I received a commission on everything that was sold, regarding the rifle grenades and such. They tried to talk me out of it, and I said, “Gentlemen. You’ve just told me that I am going to make millions from these mini-grenades, but give me one hundred thousand dollars and it’s yours.” I wanted out of the company and the new owners. A lot of yak-yak and I got my hundred thousand dollars.

SAR: But not the millions in the future…

Visser: No, I would get none of that. The Marines bought a lot of those rifle grenades, and they tested them and decided to adopt them. Again the same thing happened. The U.S. Army was working on the 40mm launchers and they didn’t want the Marines to have something else. The Marines adopted the 40mm, not our multi-purpose hand and rifle grenades.

SAR: That sounds like the end of the Stoner 63 and MECAR projects. Where did you go from there?

Visser: We were into developing a “breakup” training round. It was an idea that I had in Germany after seeing how they had to have tremendous ranges when they were shooting at air targets. We had a plastic bullet with compressed iron powder parts in it that gave the same recoil – everything the same as a ball round, but it caught the rifling and because of the plastic jacket, after 50 meters or so, it would burst and there was just a cloud of powder. What they also wanted to test was putting a round that wouldn’t function in the magazines; something which would cause a stoppage. It was for the soldiers learning to fix the stoppage. We sold millions to the Germans. Really, many millions in numerous calibers as it turned out. This ammo functioned perfectly in the German 20mm gun and the twin 20mm AA guns.

They had thousands of these twin-barreled 20mm guns used for AA defense and the troops had to train with them. For training purposes, a plane came flying past with the target sack. They had to aim and they fired like mad and it was really something exciting to see: a whole row of twenty twin 20mm guns. From there we went to the 40mm Bofors round 40 l 60 and 70, also with the break up projectile.

One problem occurred when the Dutch Navy wanted the 40mm Bofors too. They went out and shot it at sea, but there was so much wind out there that the powder would blow back and immediately started rusting the ship. “Oh my God, our beautiful ship! You are ruining our beautiful ships” they cried. (Laughter.) For land based use, though, we sold a lot of these.

Around that time the Swiss company Oerlikon asked me to come and work for them. Singapore asked me to get them 120 20mm cannons for the armored cars they bought from Cadillac Gage. I just walked in to Oerlikon and said, “They want an order from you for 120 cannons.” Oerlikon couldn’t believe it. They had never done much business in the Far East, only Japan. I got the offer and flew out to Singapore. They looked at the prices and thought it was ok, and they went up to the boss, who had a Dutch name, and he signed the contract. I was amazed. I came back and walked into Oerlikon and said, “Here’s your contract.” They almost fell over. After the war they hadn’t had any big contracts like that, 120 20mm guns. The big boss said to me, “What do you want as a commission?” I hadn’t even thought about it. I thought, “Maybe one percent? Do I have the guts to ask for two percent?” Then the boss says, “Is six percent enough?” I got a million Swiss francs commission, and that was the first time I’d ever done anything like that. I started working for them and became the boss for the whole Far East. I sold the South Koreans all of their 35mm AA guns, and also sold to Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. That made me a rich man, you know, because besides the big salary they paid me a two percent commission as well. When you get a $900 million order, that’s really something. (Laughter). I was with Oerlikon for about fifteen years, from 1975 until around 1990.

SAR: Not bad for a little Dutch kid who started his cannon ammunition career making 20mm detonators while a slave laborer in a German prison.

Visser: Yes, a very, very, long way from that.

SAR: What are you working on today?

Visser: I spend most of my time working on restoration of historical firearms, major projects to save many of these works of art. There was a big restoration project in Russia. I came to Russian in 1988 with Dr. Arne Hoff, the director of the Tojhuseet museum in Copenhagen. Even before the war, it was known there were many historical Dutch guns in the Kremlin Armory. We went there, and we were received well but they didn’t even want to give us their last names. It was forbidden to give your last name to a foreigner. I liked them, and they liked me, and we got off on good footing. Each time I came there, I brought them suitcases full of Dutch specialties of coffee, “cup-a-soup” packets, an electric water heater, and 200w light bulbs. They had 40w light bulbs in the depot and you couldn’t see anything. I brought them nice mugs to drink from, and we had a very good relationship.

I knew all the guns they had, and they had about 350 beautiful guns, of which 120 needed serious care. Pieces were broken off, pieces to be repaired, and I asked, “Why don’t you restore them? You have a lot of wonderful pieces here.” They said, “We have no money to do this, Russian things must come first.” I said I would do it and would pay for it. It took two years of negotiation, and I became friends with the Minister of Culture, who must have studied at an American university because he spoke fluent English. They eventually let 120 guns go to Holland where I could have them restored. We had the best restorer in the world for antique arms, Herman Prummel, he can do anything. I thought it would be half-year project, but it took two and a half years to finish. In the meantime, a good friend of mine, Helena Yablonskaya, wrote up all the Dutch guns in Russia; about 120 at the Kremlin Armory, some at the Historical Museum, some at St. Petersburg’s Hermitage, 350 in all. In the series of my books, there is one book about all of those.

SAR: It sounds like you are very dedicated now to restoring these historical Dutch firearms.

Visser: Yes, very much so. I am full of crazy stories on this. When I was younger, before the war, our high school made day trips to different places. One of the trips was to Emden in North Germany and there was an armory in the Rathouse with lots of suits of armor and guns and pistols. The first battle with the Spaniards in our Eighty Years War was in 1568 in ‘t Heiligerlee, a village near Groningen. There was a wooden case closed with mesh steel wire, and inside it were musket balls from the first battle to get rid of the Spaniards. We had a Nazi guard with us in a black uniform, and when he wasn’t looking I took my pocketknife and lifted up the steel wire and stole one musket ball. I still have it today. (Laughter.)

Emden was flattened during the war and I always wanted to go back. I went to the Meppen Army testing grounds nearby, but I never got to go back to Emden. Finally, about a year and a half ago I go with Herman Prummel who told me that a lot of pistols were rotting away in the depot. I went over there….and it was horrible. There were the most beautiful Dutch wheellock pistols full of wormholes, half the stock gone, and the metal cleaned with emery paper. My big mistake was not to take the whole pile for an offer of 50,000 euros because they’re never going to show this stuff, but I said, “Why don’t you restore them?” They said they had no money, so I said I’d do it. They said, “Why don’t you take them? We’ll talk to the director, and come back in two weeks.” So I came back in two weeks and instead of having 10 ready, they had 50. We took all 50, and it took more than a year for Herman Prummel to restore them. They are in fantastic condition now. Fortunately, they had saved all the metal parts that had fallen off. If the buttstock had been eaten, they still had the metal ring. Those Dutch wheellock pistols were very light and elegant. These are at my house right now, waiting for the museum to open. We are now working on a catalogue with pictures of them.

I guess that my passion today is the works of art that are in these old firearms. I have spent a lot of time making them whole again.

SAR: Henk, I want to thank you for sharing these stories with SAR’s readers.

Visser: Yes, I have enjoyed this, and I hope to come to the SHOT show and see old friends.

We discussed many more stories of the old days and the arms trade, as well as current restoration projects that Henk Visser is involved in, but those must wait for another day. – Dan

The masters of the miniature machine guns have just unveiled their latest creation. In just over a year, from concept to production, Lakeside Machine of Pound, Wisconsin has announced the addition of the LM-7 to their rimfire lineup. The LM-7 is a belt-fed upper receiver chambered in .22 long rifle for an M16 or AR-15 type rifle.

During the ten year period of the Clinton Assault Weapons ban (1994-2004), common firearms that were deemed “assault weapons” were prohibited from manufacture for sale to individuals. Also prohibited were magazines and feeding devices with a capacity greater than ten rounds. This resulted in a cessation of many innovative projects and caused a sharp increase in price for existing supplies of weapons and magazines. There were many new weapon concepts and pioneering ideas during this time, but with a market limited to the military and law enforcement, economically, there was little point in proceeding. With the expiration of the Clinton Assault Weapons ban in 2004, firearm design and ingenuity has reemerged after being stifled for ten years and new designs and products are hitting the market at an amazing pace.

Lakeside Machine has been in the business of manufacturing high capacity rimfire guns since their purchase of Tippmann Arms from F.J. Vollmer and Company in September, 2001. They initially specialized in the manufacture and sales of the one-half scale miniature Tippmann machine guns (Small Arms Review – Vol. 7 No. 6, March 2004). As the 2004 sunset of the ban got closer, their focus switched to a line of newly designed, shoulder-fired variants. Although the firearms could be manufactured in compliance with the ban, the limited availability of belts for feeding them was very poor. With the ban terminated, more belt material was able to be manufactured and a new generation of belt-fed rimfire rifles was born.

The first shoulder fired, belt fed rifle system designed by Lakeside Machine was the BF1 Vindicator (Small Arms Review – Vol. 8 No. 4, January 2005). Introduced in 2004, these rifles were manufactured in .22 Long Rifle with a few chambered in the relatively new .17 Mach II. These rifles used the same cloth belts originally designed for the Tippmann miniature machine guns and can also use the newly designed disintegrating links; another one of Lakeside Machines’ recent innovations. The disintegrating links are made of a Nylon material and function with .22LR, .22 Magnum, .17 HMR and .22 Mach II. These links have been upgraded by impregnating them with enough metal content to allow them to be picked up with a magnet.

In October of 2004, Eric Graetz, CEO of Lakeside Machine was approached by a customer and asked if he thought he could design an AR-15/M16 upper receiver that would accept his belts and links. Graetz accepted the challenge. After some months of research and development, the machine shop was retooled to manufacture the latest creation: the LM-7 .22LR (and .17 Mach II) belt-fed upper receiver. The prototype was unveiled in December of 2004 at the SAR Show in Phoenix, Arizona.

The LM-7 (the 7th model firearm developed by Lakeside Machine) is a complete upper receiver assembly that will fit on any standard AR-15 or M16 lower receiver and function with the trigger internals as intended. While offered in a semiautomatic configuration, an upgrade is available so the upper will function in full automatic when used on a registered full automatic lower receiver. To the delight of the NFA community, it will also work in conjunction with a drop-in auto sear.

Mounting the LM-7

Before replacing the stock upper receiver with an LM-7, the factory buffer and spring must be removed from the lower receiver and replaced with the new buffer assembly supplied with the LM-7. The factory hammer spring should also be replaced with a much lighter hammer spring that is also supplied with the LM-7. That is the extent of the modifications to the lower receiver when used on a semiautomatic rifle. When used on a full automatic rifle there are a few timing adjustments that may be necessary and will be discussed later in this article.

Installing the LM-7 upper receiver is as simple as pulling the two takedown pins, removing the factory upper and replacing it with the LM-7 upper receiver. Once pinned on the lower receiver, the factory magazine-well now functions as a brass ejection port. In order to catch the ejected casings, Lakeside Machine supplies a brass catcher that locks into the magazine-well in the same manner as a factory magazine. As it fills to capacity it can simply be “ejected” like a standard magazine, the contents dumped out, and quickly reinserted. The bottom of the brass catcher also has a swing-down floor plate to allow empty brass to flow through when the shooter does not want to retain the ejected casings. The brass catcher doubles as an attachment platform for the optional belt box and link catcher. Shooting long belts without the assistance of an A-Gunner can easily be accomplished with the use of the belt feed box. It holds a little more than 200 belted or linked rounds. Since the links are ejected directly across from the feed tray, another identical box mounted on the opposite side of the feed box catches all the used links.

The LM-7 functions in a similar fashion to a Browning Model 1919 machine gun. It utilizes a shuttle feed mechanism that feeds the belt, extracts each round from the rear of the belt, chambers the round and extracts the empty case after firing. This mechanism does not utilize a locked action. The rifle is loaded by lifting the top cover and inserting the belt with the first round placed below the extractor. The top cover is closed and the gun is charged by pulling the bolt handle back and released one time. As a new round is pulled from the belt and loaded in the chamber the fired case is pushed out of the T-slot in the bolt and dropped into the brass box or directly on the ground.

The LM-7 utilizes an exclusive quick-change barrel (QCB) that can be replaced in seconds. Changing or installing a barrel is as simple as depressing the barrel release button, pulling the barrel strait out, replacing the barrel and releasing the button. It is a direct action that requires no twisting, turning, adjusting or head spacing. Barrels are currently available in two lengths and three styles. Barrel lengths are 16.25 inches and 7.5 inches. The 16.25-inch barrels are contoured just like a standard M4 barrel and can utilize any of the M4 mounting options. Where the barrels are secured in the receiver by the QCB mechanism, they are completely free-floating and will work fine with any free-floating style handguard. If you wish to use standard M4 handguards you can utilize an adapter that secures them at the front and also doubles as a front sight block. Where it is unnecessary for the front of the barrel to be supported by any handguard mounting hardware, it lends itself well to the use of shorter barrels with sound suppressors. The 7.5-inch barrel we were shooting with was often fitted with an AWC MKII suppressor that protruded less than 4 inches past the standard carbine handguards. If this system were going to be set up in this configuration for regular use, the handguard would certainly be replaced with a free-floating type or any of the rail systems allowing the use of various accessories.

On the rear of the top cover is a 4.25-inch M1913 Picatinny rail to accept short optics or a removable rear sight. The front block installed with a 16-inch barrel includes a 1.75-inch rail that can host standard removable front sights and accessories. The LM-7 we tested was equipped with an EO Tech Model 552 Holographic Sight. While the version using AA batteries was a little long on this mount, it was certainly still usable. While using the sight with multiple quick-change barrels, we noticed very little point of impact change. Each LM-7 system is shipped with the LM-7 Buffer System, a 16.25-inch barrel, front sight block, brass catcher, two feed boxes, two 100-round belts and 200 links.

Rimfire Ammo Reliability

When the LM-7 was designed, it was built to function with the inexpensive CCI Blazer ammunition. This is fantastic news for shooters who are conscientious about their ammo budget. We tested the LM-7 with several types of .22LR ammunition and have included a chart indicating performance, muzzle velocity and rate of fire when utilized in full automatic. The ammunition we tested included CCI Blazer, CCI Mini-Mag, CCI Stinger, Remington Thunderbolt, Federal Lightning, Federal Bulk Pack, Federal Champion, and Winchester Wildcat. It ran fine with most but the Federal Champion was the least reliable. The absolute best was the CCI Stinger due to the increased power over standard .22LR ammo but the additional cost (almost $4.00 for a box of 50) may be enough to discourage many people. The Winchester Wildcat, Federal Lightning and CCI Blazer all worked great. The Federal Bulk Pack and Remington Thunderbolt also worked quite reliably. For some reason it was a little finicky with the CCI Mini-Mags. The author has found after years of shooting select-fire rimfire rifles and pistols, that when determining which .22LR ammo will work the best, it is usually a good idea to just try several brands in your own firearm. Some seem to run great with one particular brand while other firearms like something completely different. Factors that may be important in the LM-7 that would not necessarily be an issue in other .22LR guns include the thickness of the rim. After extraction from the belt, the round is channeled down a T-slot to the chamber, and captured in the T-Slot again as it is channeled down to the point of ejection. If a particular brand or batch of ammo has a thicker than usual rim, it could interfere with, or stop, the operation of the gun altogether.

The greatest obstacle in reliable functioning is the lack of energy in the little .22LR cartridge. It takes a lot of energy to run these machines in full automatic and when you start adding factors like pulling belts and links, the challenge gets even greater. Light parts and springs, necessary because of the low amount of energy created by the rimfire round, only add to bolt bounce problems and pose additional hurdles in the development of select-fire, Rimfire guns. Unlike many other select-fire .22 LR firearms, bolt bounce is not a problem in the LM-7 due to the function of the extractor pulling the new round from the belt at the same time the chambered round is fired. This action dampens the rearward travel of the bolt and eliminates the bolt bounce issue.

Timing and Function in Full Automatic

With the weak .22LR ammo in mind, we can get into some of the timing issues when shooting the LM-7 in full automatic. Subtle inconsistencies that are not critical dimensions with higher-powered rounds can often be the determining factor in creating problems when shooting rimfire rifles. In the case of the LM-7, some of the loose tolerances of standard 5.56mm guns combined with the fact there are several manufacturers of rifles, receivers and parts to fill them, create an enormous number of potential combinations.

When shooting the LM-7, the trigger function is identical to that of the original 5.56mm rifle. While shooting in semiautomatic mode, when the bolt carrier recoils from shooting the chambered round, the hammer is cocked and held captive by the disconnector. When the shooter lets off the trigger the hammer releases from the disconnector and engages the front of the trigger. When the shooter squeezes the trigger the hammer is released and the process starts all over again. When shooting in full automatic mode, the hammer bypasses the disconnector and does not contact it at all. A spur on the back of the hammer is caught and held captive by the auto sear and it is only released when the bolt carrier trips that sear when the gun has chambered the new round and it is in battery. The timing aspect comes into play with the relationship between the bolt carrier sear trip and the sear releasing the hammer.

The part of the LM-7 that has to be altered for full automatic fire is the bolt carrier. Just like the standard AR-15 and M16, all that is necessary for the upper receiver to accommodate a legally owned full automatic lower receiver, is the addition of a sear trip on the carrier. Lakeside Machine will be happy to provide owners of registered receivers or drop in auto sears with the piece needed to engage the auto sear. That is where the timing comes into play. The sear trip on the carrier needs to contact the auto sear at the precise time the new round is fully chambered. Due to the large number of parts and receivers on the market, one gun may need a specific thickness on the sear trip to engage the sear at the correct time while another gun needs one much thicker. This timing can be accomplished by simply removing an Allen-head screw, removing the sear trip, adding a piece of shim material (an old feeler gauge set works great for shimming) and replacing the trip and screw. When the hammer drops at the same time the bolt completely closes it is ready to go.

Early in the testing we realized the tolerance difference in some hammers also created a problem where the guns would not cock the hammer far enough to catch it under the auto sear. This would cause the hammer to follow the carrier back into battery without firing it. Some of the hammer spurs were much thicker and/or longer than others. The cause of the problem was the lower power of the .22LR ammo was sending the much lighter bolt carrier back much slower than a standard 5.56mm carrier and not getting the hammer to fall back far enough. The reason this is not usually a problem with the 5.56mm round is because the mass of the carrier and the speed it is recoiling at is much greater than that of the LM-7. Lowering the internals of the entire LM-7 system so the hammer would drop much lower and not rely on speed, but simply movement, solved this issue.

Loading Belts

If there is any downfall to shooting belt fed firearms it is the simple fact that we have to load belts before we can shoot them. Lakeside Machine has helped us out a little in this area with the introduction of their new belt-loading device. A box of ammo, or small handful if you have bulk ammo, is dumped into the sorting hopper. A few shakes of the wrist and several are all lined up protruding from a small slot in the bottom of the device. A transfer bar is pushed up through the slot, catching the already lined up ammo, and slid out the front of the hopper. The transfer bar is then inserted into a loading block and the result is 10 rounds, all perfectly spaced and ready to be belted. When the belt is pushed over the rounds in the loading block they are all perfectly spaced and seated to the correct depth when the belt is removed. Several loading blocks can even be connected in unison to speed up the process. The author uses 3 blocks mounted together and has found that to be fast and comfortable. Since new belts are very tight the first time they are loaded, there is a spike that acts as a belt spreader included with the loading tool that can be mounted with the loading blocks. A simple pass through each pocket prior to loading each first round and it is no longer a struggle. No more blistered fingers from loading new belts and more time shooting instead of loading. As previously mentioned, you can also use disintegrating links instead of the cloth belts. These are much easier to load but don’t tend to hold the linked ammo quite as secure as the cloth belts do. Some people have found that given a slight pinch while loading them creates a little tighter hold. Both belts and links provide excellent results at the range. The 8-piece belt loading system is available for $40 and should be mandatory equipment for anyone who owns one of the Tippmann miniatures, a Vindicator Carbine or an LM-7.

BATFE Technology Branch Ruling

Unlike many other manufacturing projects, there was still something necessary even when the majority of the in-house troubleshooting had been completed. The Technology Branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives makes legal determinations on new firearms and related accessories based on samples submitted. They examine these new designs and based on the item submitted they will issue a determination in writing. There have been other designs submitted for determination changing the caliber and/or feed mechanism of specific firearms, where the devices were ruled firearms of themselves. There have been other designs where Technology Branch has determined the new device was too easily convertible to full automatic fire and ruled as machine guns, themselves. For obvious legal reasons a sample LM-7 was submitted to ATF and on December 6, 2005 it was determined that the LM-7 does NOT meet the definition of a firearm or a machine gun, and is simply an upper receiver, like countless other replacement upper receivers on the market.

Range Performance

Most of the range time was during sub-freezing temperatures at our production office in Maine. The LM-7 ran perfect in semiautomatic mode right from the box. In order to achieve reliable performance in full automatic, it had to be timed. This can be accomplished in less than an hour with the right materials and depending on the firearm you have, it may not involve any adjustments at all. As explained above, during preliminary testing we discovered several variables in most lower receiver fire control groups that had to be tweaked, and at this point Lakeside Machine has already addressed them in their new production models. Once we had everything adjusted and timed it ran excellent. We successfully ran several long belts just for function testing (ok, and a little fun) and fired several strings collecting data on muzzle velocity and rate of fire with several types of ammo in different configurations. The data from those tests are provided in the accompanying charts.

Conclusion

Lakeside Machine has hit a home run with this design. As an accessory for a military style firearm that has been the USA primary service weapon for over 40 years, there are a lot of host guns out there as potential customers. It is a reasonably priced way for a shooter to “upgrade” to a belt-fed firearm and it is a great way to shoot on a budget with the cheap price of most .22LR ammunition. It is fun to shoot and works excellent right out of the box in semiautomatic mode and, with a minimal amount of timing and fine-tuning, in full automatic. The conversion to LM-7 from a factory upper receiver is simple and can be completed in less than a minute. The vast number of accessories available for the LM-7, both from Lakeside Machine and current ones already on the market create an infinite number of configurations to suit any shooter. Where the LM-7 works in conjunction with previously owned, registered M16s and drop-in auto sears, it is about as close to having a “new” machine gun as we can get since May 19, 1986. There will always be room in this writer’s reference collection for an LM-7.

Sources

LM-7 Upper Receiver
Lakeside Machine
N5391 County Road. S.
Pound, WI 54161
Phone: (920) 897-4682
Fax: (920) 897-4688
www.lakesideguns.com

PACT Timers
PACT Inc.
Dept. SAR
P.O. Box 535025
Grand Prairie, TX 75053
(800) 722-8462
www.PACT.com

LM-7 Specifications Chart

Caliber: .22 Long Rifle
Overall Length: 24.5 inches w/16.25 inch barrel
Barrel Length: 16.25 inches & 7.5 inches
Weight: 5.05 pounds w/16.25-inch barrel
Barrel Rifling: 6-groove, right hand, 1 in 12 inches
Firing Mode: Semiautomatic and select fire
Method of Operation: Closed bolt, blowback action
Finish: Manganese phosphate
Rear Sights: M1913 Picatinny rail
Price: $1,750 suggested retail
.22 Long Rifle Muzzle Velocity Barrel Length
Ammunition
7.5-inches
w/flash hider
7.5-inches
w/sound suppressor
16.25-inches
w/flash
hider
16.25-inches
w/sound suppressor

Remington Thunderbolt
997fps
1,032fps
1,095fps
1,088fps

CCI Mini Mag
975fps
1,027fps
1,069fps
1,055fps

CCI Stinger
1,334fps
1,345fps
1,450fps
1,474fps

Federal Bulk Pack
1,064fps
1,054fps
1,139fps
1,148fps

Federal Champion
1,111fps 1,141fps 1,179fps 1,206fps

Measurements recorded 8 feet in front of the muzzle with a PACT MKIV Timer & Chronograph

.22LR Rate of Fire
Barrel Length
Ammunition
16.12-inches
w/flash hider
16.25-inches
w/sound suppressor

Remington Thunderbolt
970rpm
1,025rpm
CCI Mini Mag
1,046rpm
1,036rpm

CCI Stinger
1,076rpm
1,085rpm

Federal Bulk Pack
975rpm
N/A

Federal Champion
857rpm
857rpm

Measurements recorded with a PACT MKIV Timer & Chronograph.

“The gun is a heat engine, used to convert the heat of exploding powder into mechanical energy, and as such is amenable to the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics. It takes propellant powder, rich in stored-up energy, and causes it to explode and produce gases at high temperature and pressure. These hot, highly compressed gases, confined in the powder chamber, expand, pushing the projectile in one direction and the gun in the other, the energy present in the gases being convert by this process into kinetic energy of the moving parts and into friction .- “The Thermodynamics of firearms” by Clark Shove Robinson, 1943

Notwithstanding the probable argument surrounding the use of the word “exploding” in regard to rapidly deflagrating powder, it would be hard to come up with a more concise paragraph clearly outlining the process of interior ballistics. I particularly like the concept of a firearm as a “heat engine,” which it is, but that phrase doesn’t come into most conversations down at the range or when preparing for a mission.

I recently had the honor of working to train another group of US Army armorers as they were preparing to deploy to Iraq. I consider it an honor every time. My goal is that they come away from training with a more thorough understanding of how the weapons work, an understanding that far exceeds the basic line item by line item, check them off as you read them, type of training that is seen in many technical classrooms. It has to go beyond, “You have reached this proficiency level because you read this item in the order it is in the manual.” There is more to it than that.

The SAR mantra that readers have heard from us so many times, that training for the combat zone requires live firing ammunition by all members of every unit whether they be infantry, SF, or support, and doing so frequently, extends over into the armorers’ groups as well. They need hands on with all of the variations of the weapons they will see, and they need to see them in all conditions from shiny brand new to worn out, beaten on, and malfunctioning. Mission accomplished.

I only hope that the SAR method of writing about firearms can contribute to helping everyone involved with military small arms gain a much better understanding of the fundamentals of how things work. Whether active duty military, law enforcement, industry professional, advanced collector or just plain firearms enthusiast, I hope we have helped you in your understanding of firearms, and helped you enjoy your interest more. On with Raffica…

Q-I was reading the Feb. 2006 issue and something caught my eye that puzzles me. In an article on the “Anthony Smith” upper receiver for the M11/9 SMG, it states that the ATF determined that a semi-auto variant of a full-auto gun with a fixed firing pin that fires from an open bolt is a machine gun. Since when? On what do they base this finding? 20 years ago those semi-auto guns were all over the place. What about current owners of those guns? What’s the deal?

A- Since when? Since about twenty years ago when those open bolt pistols were all over the place. The Technology Branch of ATF is responsible for determining the status of various firearms and parts. One of these categories is for a firearm that is readily convertible to a machine gun. Most of these open bolt, fixed firing pin semiautomatic pistols were very easy to convert to full automatic with simple tools and a couple of minutes of time. This was undeniably the case, so the government simply made a determination of their status and restricted further manufacture of them. Some were converted by individuals and registered as machine guns on Form 1s before 19 May, 1986, so you will occasionally see a registered MAC-10 or a KG-9 that is not an original, factory made machine gun.

The relevant information is contained in two rulings from 1982: ATF Ruling 82-2 that rules the open bolt KG-9 semiautomatic pistol is a machine gun, and ATF Ruling 82-8 that rules the various open bolt MACs, the SM10, the SM11A1, and the SAC (carbine) are all machine guns. Both of these rulings hold that these firearms, if manufactured before a date specified in the ruling (19 January 1982 for the KG-9, 21 June 1982 for the MACs) are not subject to the NFA restrictions. These guns are not considered to be machine guns. For the most part, the manufacturing dates were simple guidelines for the original manufacturers. There really isn’t a special way to tell the exact date of manufacture on these without access to the factory records, and both companies ceased any manufacture of the open bolt guns immediately on the ruling.

It would be prudent for owners, and especially prospective buyers, to function test these guns to ensure they are not capable of full auto fire, and to examine them for internal filing or modifications. To function check for full auto, simply point in safe direction, remove the magazine, retract the bolt to the rear and examine the chamber to see that it is clear. (If it isn’t, it would have fired any cartridge in the chamber unless there was a cartridge malfunction or a bad firing pin.) The bolt should be held to the rear by the sear, ready to fire in the open bolt mode. Holding the charging handle firmly, pull the trigger to allow the bolt to go forward into battery. Do not let off the trigger, keep holding it to the rear firing position. Retract the bolt to the rear while continuing to hold the trigger down. If the bolt is not caught and held by the sear, and the bolt will go forward, you have an altered gun that the ATF will consider a contraband machine gun. If the bolt stays to the rear, you should hear a click as you allow the trigger forward, as the disconnector resets. Repeating the cycle should show this is an unaltered semi-automatic open bolt pistol if the bolt continues to stay to the rear even if the trigger is still depressed.

If the weapon turns out to be contraband, you are required to turn it over to ATF or a law enforcement agency. If the offending altered parts were removed from the gun and destroyed, the unaltered pistol receiver and bolt would simply be for a semiautomatic. No one would be the wiser and that is the common “street” answer regarding this situation. However, that can get you in trouble as well. It is the stance of the agencies involved that an altered weapon like this must be turned in, and having the untaxed, unregistered machine gun in your possession even for the brief period before destroying the offending parts is a felony.

Q-When I was at Knob Creek in the fall of last year, there was a table that had four very rare BARs on it. One of them had a curved magazine and they called it the “303 BAR.” Was this magazine made from a converted Bren gun magazine?

A- I saw that collection as well – very nice. The two that really caught my eye were the top ejecting BAR and the .303 BAR. I don’t know if anyone bought the four guns at the show, but it sure would fill out someone’s collection of BARs. Bob Landies had a beautiful R75 for sale there at his tables, so it was possible for someone with the right bank account balance to really hit a home run on BARs at the show.

To your question; the .303 BAR magazine would more properly be referred to as the magazine for the Browning Light Machine Gun. That was the British name for the BAR in their trials. However, for the sake of uniform discussion, I will stick with the .303 BAR. The Browning Light Machine Gun trials pre-date the Bren gun by about ten years, so the idea of a .303 BAR magazine having been adapted from a Bren magazine is not really a possibility and the manufacturing processes were very different on the two. The most commonly seen variation of a .303 BAR magazine is the twenty-rounder that was on the gun you saw.

The first guns came from the US and were either Colts or Marlin-Rockwells. There were a lot of minor modifications done to the guns to accept the British cartridge. The most outwardly obvious is the radically curved magazine to accept the heavily tapered rimmed .303 cartridge. The magazine example in the ID photo is a British made one from BSA. There were magazines made in the US in small quantity, and eventually there were snail drums as well as thirty and forty-round magazines on the drawing boards. By 1930, the project was dead, and the bastard child of the ZB26, the incredibly reliable Bren gun, was the staple of the British military. In the ID photos, I did not have a file copy of the left hand view, but it is essentially a mirror image of the right hand view.

Q-I am a new Type 07 manufacturer who pays the Class 2 SOT and I have been working on making a DP machine gun from a parts set. I keep hearing about belt fed DPs, but have never seen one for sale. Is this an interchangeable add on, or does more work have to be done?

A- It is an add on part. But before we touch on that, I would really like to address your first statement to clarify an issue that will undoubtedly come up in the minds of many readers. The Type 07 FFL is a manufacturer’s license to make Title I firearms. These are your basic handguns, rifles, shotguns, etc. In order to manufacture a Title II firearm, that is firearms restricted under the National Firearms Act (NFA), a Special Occupational Tax is paid every year. This tax allows the taxpayer to manufacture and register silencers, short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, and firearms like pen guns that fall into the category of Any Other Weapon, for his own business purposes and for resale. The Class 2 SOT also allows the manufacturer to make new machine guns for sale to law enforcement and government agencies. It also allows the manufacture of machine guns for research and development. These items become “post 86 dealer samples” and they can never be sold to individuals and they can not be kept by the dealer on ending SOT status. Making a DP machine gun by a Class 2 manufacturer may sound unusual, but if it is in the process of that Class 2’s research and development, for understanding function as part of design, this is not generally questioned by the ATF. If it is simply to enhance a private collection, then there may be violations.

What am I saying? The Class 2 license isn’t a quickie way around the 1986 ban on further manufacture of machine guns for private ownership. If you are an aspiring designer trying to break into the field, and are doing legitimate and proper study of historical machine gun designs and the mechanical function, there historically hasn’t been an issue with ATF. If, on the other hand, you are making toys and putting videos of yourself firing your new “postie” antique on the Internet collector boards, then you aren’t comporting yourself in a business-like manner and you may have some future “issues.” Yes, please read between the lines here. More plainly put, if you are seriously in the business, the post samples you manufacture that are part of your legitimate work are fine. If you are only licensed for playing around, you might end up with personal legal problems and you may eventually be causing more restrictions and problems for the Class 3 community.

The Soviet era Degtyarev designed machine gun is fed from the top via a large flat pan magazine that lies horizontally on the receiver. Empty cases are ejected downwards. Several attempts to make this weapon a belt fed were tried during World War II – none were adopted. In the post war period, there were a number of trials for new machine guns, one of which resulted in the RPD in 7.62x39mm. Several Soviet designers worked on the standard 7.62x54R caliber idea for a light weight belt fed, and the base weapon of a DPM was chosen. This was not too complicated an idea, to make a drop on unit that was activated by transferring the energy of the DP charging handle to a lever that captured the handle in forward and rearward motion. The 1938 designed DShK is another machine gun that comes to mind that utilizes a lever that traps a knob attached to the bolt as a means of transferring that energy. While it may appear the idea is not too complicated, there are in fact a number of daunting challenges to this design. The DP machine gun bolt is a push forward system. It is very simple in that on its forward travel, it strips a round from the magazine and chambers, then fires the round. The cycle repeats on extraction and ejection. Russian belts, however, require that the round be pulled to the rear, out of the belt, due to the rimmed case. The 7.62x54R cartridge does not lend itself to links such as the M13 (M60 or M240) link that allows the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge to strip forward.

When the rimmed cartridge is pulled to the rear, it must then be presented to the DP bolt for forward travel. Since the DP pan covers a large, flat area of the receiver, there was enough room to feed the belts into a forward part of the device, activate all of the mechanism with a lever, and capture and move the cartridge to a rearward position for presentation to the bolt’s forward motion. Note the toggle underneath the rear of the top cover in the photo. This is a spring-pressured lever that guides the cartridge downward into the path of the bolt, and holds it in place as well. This lever is also evident on the PK series of machine guns and, in my mind, is one of the primary reasons the PK is so reliable. No matter what the orientation of the PK, the cartridges are positively presented to the bolt. Designs that rely on gravity for that presentation have more reliability problems.

The Rotniy Pulemet Obrazsta 1946 or RP46 was manufactured in small quantities and adopted in service. Since there is no other modification needed to the DPM, the upgrade to belt feed could be readily accomplished in the field on existing guns with the unit pictured here. One issue that had a large impact was that the DP series guns do not have a quick change barrel and with belt fed firing, the barrels could overheat quickly.

These RP-46 belt fed units are exceedingly rare in the United States. I have only seen a few for sale and they are snatched up quickly. Like any add on part, there may be a bit of adjustment needed to make it functional, especially on a re-welded receiver. Proper alignment of every part is imperative to get the mechanism to work. The RP-46 uses the Russian standard 1910 Maxim style non-disintegrating metallic links, still used in the PKM today.

Q-What are Dater Holes?

A- I have to assume you are referring to the Gemtech product line. In some of Gemtech’s suppressor baffles, there are mysterious holes that Dr. Philip Dater refuses to discuss. He says they are proprietary to his designs, and will not reveal the technology involved, stating that this is simply the result of his many years experience in suppressor design. After I got your question, I went to my reference collection of silencers and started taking apart some of his designs from the 1970s and these “Dater Holes” were not there. I didn’t bother going any further on this to find at what point in his designs these appear, and would not like to speculate as to the real purpose. If you are not referring to the suppressors, and, heaven forbid, you are referring to something anatomical, then the only other reference I could imagine for “Dater Holes” would be the inexplicable wormholes in the time-space continuum that it is rumored that Dr. Dater uses for international as well as intergalactic travel. It is probable that he learned of these when he worked at Roswell during his military career back in the early 1950s, but I would be speculating. Explaining any of THAT is far above my pay grade.

Send questions to:
Raffica
sareview@aol.com
Or mail to Small Arms Review
Attn Raffica
631 N. Stephanie St #562
Henderson, NV 89014

SAR Magazine ID Guide:

Magazine: .303 caliber Browning Automatic Rifle
Manufacturer: British BSA (Birmingham Small Arms factory)
Notes: Magazine is made of two stamped halves welded together. This example has “15” painted on the
floorplate.

Category: RDC2B (Rifle caliber, Dual column, Curved, presents from two columns, Box style)

Caliber: .303 British
Capacity: 20 rounds
OA Length: 6 1/4 inches
Backstrap: 6 3/8 inches
Max. Width: 3.590 inches
Body Width: 3.160 inches
Max. Depth: 1.140 inches
Body Depth: 1.000 inches
Construction: Steel

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives now recognizes that certain firearm barrels can be used to assemble both importable and non-importable firearms.

Form 6 applications to import firearm barrels that can be used to assemble either an importable or a non-importable firearm will now be approved by the ATF. However, ATF will continue to deny applications to import barrels, frames and receivers of non-importable firearms.

The change in position, which was announced by way of a November 22, 2005 open letter to industry signed by Audrey Stucko, Deputy Assistant Director (Enforcement Programs and Services) at ATF’s Imports Branch, brings an end to a point of contention which was loudly voiced by importers at last July’s annual Importers Conference in Washington, D.C. hosted by ATF. Attendance at this meeting was limited to licensed importers.

ATF has now publicly stated that it believes that such “dual use” barrels would be eligible for importation into the United States under section 925(d)(3) for commercial purposes, provided prospective importers of such barrels make representations indicating that neither the importer, nor subsequent purchasers of the barrels, will use the barrels to assemble non-importable firearms.

Importers of such barrels will have to provide “sufficient information,” e.g., specific model designation(s) of the firearm(s) that the barrels will be used to assemble, in the “Specific Purpose of Importation” section of the ATF Form 6 that would enable ATF personnel to establish that the barrels sought for importation are being imported for assembly into importable firearms.

If the dual use barrels are being imported for resale to third parties, the importer must state in the “Specific Purpose of Importation” section of the ATF Form 6 that purchasers have been or will be advised that the barrels may only be used for assembly into certain importable models and must list the specific models for which the barrels will be sold. Inclusion of a model not known to be sporting may require the submission of a sample for evaluation to determine if importation of the barrels will be approved.

Background

The issue of the non-importability of certain barrels first arose by way of a July 13, 2005 open letter to industry from ATF which advised that the provisions of 18 U.S.C. section 925(d)(3) established the standards for the importation of firearms and ammunition into the United States. In particular, ATF advised section 925(d)(3) provides that the Attorney General shall authorize a firearm to be imported if it meets several conditions: (1) it is not defined as a firearm under the National Firearms Act; (2) it is generally recognized to be particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes; and (3) it is not a surplus military firearm. However, the subsection further provides that “in any case where the Attorney General has not authorized the importation of the firearm pursuant to this paragraph, it shall be unlawful to import any frame, receiver, or barrel of such firearm which would be prohibited if assembled.”

Importers were further advised that ATF had determined that the language of section 925(d)(3) permits no exceptions that would allow the frames, receivers, or barrels for otherwise non-importable firearms to be imported into the United States. As a result, ATF would no longer approve ATF Form 6 import permit applications for importation of any frames, receivers, or barrels for firearms that would be prohibited from importation if assembled. No exceptions to the statutory language, for example for the repair or replacement of existing firearms, were permitted.

A Mixed Blessing

The industry has requested ATF to adopt its former position on the issue of the importation of parts for non-importable firearms since at least the time of the annual Importers Conference last summer. The dual use barrel issue was raised at that time and Ms. Stucko and other ATF personnel present at that meeting promised the industry that they would look into the matter.

Importers expressed disappointment at ATF’s apparent now final decision on the question of whether it would allow the importation of barrels, frames and receivers for otherwise un-importable firearms for the purposes of “repair or replacement” of existing firearms already in the U.S. This former stance (prior to July 2005) was widely known as the “Buckles Doctrine”, as it was the position of the Bureau under its former director, Bradley Buckles.

ATF relented on the matter (somewhat) by way of an August 12, 2005 dated Open Letter to importers in which ATF announced it had decided to extend the time period for importers to act upon previously approved import permits. ATF said the extended period would allow time for importers who had entered into binding contracts in reliance upon approved permits to bring their shipments into the U.S. for entry into commerce.

However, the F.A.I.R. Trade Group, the professional importers’ organization, has continually held that the Buckles Doctrine was a restriction on the trade of goods that could be legally used to assemble lawful firearms and thus contrary to the intent of Congress in regard to the import regulations.

Many believe that ATF’s stance in the matter is an attempt to end the marketing of machine gun kits, as the barrel ban severely affects the importation of barrels for these kits. Without the barrels, the kits become virtually unmarketable, unless the manufacture of barrels is taken up by a U.S. based firm. Such a move, however, would greatly increase the cost of the kits.

There have been allegations that ATF engaged in a “secret” decision making process before making its parts ban decision. Approved permits for the affected parts were allegedly being delayed since January 2005. This caused a situation where businesses were continuing to make purchases of the soon to be affected goods overseas with no idea that ATF planned to deny their import permits.

In a letter to ATF written last July objecting to the move, F.A.I.R.’s president Charles Steen wrote that direct questions to both examiners and to ATF management regarding the perception that permits related to the § 925(d)(3) policy were not being processed were met with either a complete denial of any policy to delay processing of these permits or assertions of ignorance-leaving the industry unaware of pending action.

ATF’s latest stance is not the end of the matter, however, as the industry continues to work for a legislative solution through the F.A.I.R. Trade Group.

Dealer Enters Guilty Plea in Parts Kit Case

During the second week of trial in federal court, the defendant entered a plea of guilty to committing mail fraud involving the illegal transfer of machine guns and giving a false statement to an ATF agent.

United States Attorney Jonathan S. Gasser, stated that Ernest Wrenn, age 56, of North Augusta, South Carolina, has pled guilty in federal court in Columbia, SC to one count of mail fraud involving the illegal transfer of machineguns, a violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1341; and one count of knowingly making a materially false statement to a federal law enforcement agent regarding a matter within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of ATF. U.S. District Judge Margaret B. Seymour accepted the plea.

Evidence presented during the trial, which started on November 7, 2005, established that on June 20, 2002 ATF Special Agent Baldwin visited Wrenn, owner of Poor Man’s Gun and Pawn Shop, at 614 Atomic Road, North Augusta, S.C., in order to pick up Maxim machine gun kits which had previously been deemed illegal by the ATF Firearms Technology Branch. At that time, the defendant provided Special Agent Baldwin with a written statement in which he falsely represented the number of items from the Maxim machine gun kits that were still in his possession.

On June 28, 2002 a federal search warrant was executed at Poor Man’s Gun & Pawn and the defendant admitted that he was in fact still in possession of the illegal Maxim machine gun parts Special Agent Baldwin had requested. ATF agents said they found two fully assembled Maxim machine guns in the defendant’s possession.

On January 29, 2004, based on new information, ATF agents executed a second search warrant at Poor Man’s Gun & Pawn. The evidence obtained during the second search confirmed that the defendant had engaged in a scheme to defraud customers of their money by falsely representing that the machine gun kits sold by the defendant were approved by ATF. During the first week of trial, the Government called about 15 witnesses from 14 states to testify about their business transactions with the defendant. The witnesses testified that they spent anywhere from $2,500 to $25,000 on the defendant’s products on the basis of the defendant’s representations that his products were legal to possess.

Gasser stated the maximum penalty Wrenn can receive as to the mail fraud count is a fine of $250,000 and imprisonment for twenty years. The maximum penalty for the false statement count is a fine of $250,000 and imprisonment for five years.

Brazilians Vote ‘No’ to Gun Ban

Two thirds of Brazil’s voters have rejected a national referendum held October 23, 2005, which would have banned the sales of most firearms and ammunition in the country.

Campaigners for gun control in Brazil and around the world expressed surprise and disappointment at the result of the referendum in which 64% of the 122 million voters said ‘No’ to banning the sale of firearms and ammunition.

“The financial and marketing power of the gun lobby and the gun industry in Brazil won in the end,” said Rebecca Peters, Director of the International Action Network on Small Arms, a major international organization working for gun control world-wide. “We are disappointed at this lost opportunity to take a dramatic stand against gun violence, but we know the country’s strict new guns laws (implemented in 2003) will continue to help save lives.”

In the 3 weeks leading up to the referendum vote, Brazil’s election law required that each side be allocated equal air-time to promote their arguments. The pro-gun lobby used that period to run a professional television educational campaign.

The referendum was one of the measures contained in a national gun law introduced in December 2003, aimed at the poor that generally made it illegal to carry guns, imposed tighter restrictions for obtaining a gun, and stiffened penalties for using or owning guns illegally. In 2004, 3,200 fewer people died from gunshot wounds, a drop of 8% and the first decrease in 13 years.

The Brazilian referendum is believed to be the first time any country has put its national gun laws to a popular vote. Brazil has the highest number of gun deaths in the world, around 38,000 a year – or more than 100 every day. This is a higher rate than in many conflict zones. It is also the second largest producer of guns in the hemisphere.

Surveys done a month before the vote had shown most people favored the ban but more recent polls swung the other way. Groups favoring the ban accused local arms manufacturers of funding a big gun rights campaign and manipulating fears. The international pro-ban proponents had hoped a successful ‘Yes’ vote would influence gun laws in other developing countries.

If the ban had passed, most sales of guns and ammunition would have been halted, although public safety officers, private security firms, judges and sport clubs would still have been able to buy them.

The number of firearms shops fell over 80 percent to about 250 in Latin America’s largest country from some 1,500 after the new law was enacted in late 2003. It calls for psychological exams, shooting and gun-handling tests, and high registration fees that must be paid periodically. Gun owners are limited to buying only 50 cartridges annually. Gun prices and fees are already prohibitive for most people in Brazil, where the average monthly wage is about $400. In addition to the cost of the gun, buyers have to pay $300 more for registration, exams and a shooting course. These requirements remain in effect, though the near total ban proposed in the referendum was defeated.

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul – home to Taurus and Rossi, Brazil’s two largest firearms manufacturers – the ban was rejected by a ratio of more than four to one.

Violence is rampant throughout Brazil, from the cities to the Amazon jungle. Drug gangs control Rio’s slums – one area is named the “Gaza Strip” because of the frequent clashes. Juvenile delinquents are often dealt with by hired hitmen called “justiceiros” and in the vast interior, land disputes and other scores are settled by hired gunmen known as “pistoleiros.”

It’s estimated there are over 17 million firearms in Brazil, nearly 60% of them illegal. Civilians hold about 4 million registered firearms.

Fiocchi/FN Partner for 5.7x28mm Ammo

Herstal, Belgium-based FN Herstal and Lecco, Italy-based Fiocchi Munizioni S.P.A. have officially signed a cooperative agreement for the manufacturing of 5.7x28mm ammunition by Fiocchi in the United States. The 5.7x28mm ammunition developed and designed by FN Herstal will be marketed under the FN brand name.

The agreement has been expanded to include the U.S. market. Fiocchi of America has begun loading SS196 SR and SS197 SR cartridges in its Ozark, Mo. manufacturing facility. The FN-designed cartridges will be sold in the U.S. by FNH USA, LLC through its distribution network.

“This agreement allows us to keep pace with consumer demand for the popular 5.7×28 mm cartridge as well as the Five seveN USG handguns and the new and upcoming PS 90 semi-automatic carbine,” said Rick DeMilt, Director of Commercial and Law Enforcement Sales and Marketing for FNH USA. “Having a U.S. supplier is a significant advantage.” Founded in 1876 by Giulio Fiocchi, Fiocchi Munizioni S.P.A. is a worldwide leader in the manufacture of small caliber ammunition.

Crimson Trace Partners with SIGARMS

Crimson Trace Corporation has entered into a co-branding bundle with SIGARMS, makers of SIG SAUER pistols. Lasergrip-equipped SIG pistols will be available on models P220 Classic Full Size, P229R Classic Compact Size, and P226R Classic Full Size, and will bear the SIG SAUER logo.

The all-black Lasergrips complement the tactical appearance of SIG SAUER pistols, and the Lasergrips will be pre-sighted at the factory, making the package ready to shoot right out of the box. According to Sig Sauer, the packages are available now through its network of “SIGnificant” dealers.

The author publishes two of the small arms industry’s most widely read trade newsletters, The International Firearms Trade which covers the world firearms scene, and The New Firearms Business which covers the domestic market. He also offers FFL-mailing lists to firms interested in direct marketing efforts to the industry. He may be reached at: FirearmsB@aol.com.

BUFFER TECHNOLOGIES M-4/CAR-15 EXTRACTOR UPGRADE KIT

Providing more than four times the extraction force of the standard parts, the Buffer Technologies upgrade kit offers AR-15/M16 users a way to ensure a more positive functioning rifle. This upgrade provides a particularly important improvement for the M-4/CAR-15 series of short barreled rifles, with the higher port pressures and more violent extraction common to these weapons. The upgrade consists of an improved spring, plunger and O-ring, which can be easily installed in minutes. It assures reliable extraction even when the chamber becomes heavily fouled after extensive shooting, or when used with ammunition that is less than optimally matched to the rifle’s port-pressure requirements. Buffer Technologies is a Missouri-based manufacturer and distributor of tactical weapon accessories for military, law enforcement and shooting sports. Its signature products include patented recoil buffers for automatic pistols and rifles as well as the MagCinch dual-magazine system. For more about this new product as well as their entire line, please contact them at Buffer Technologies, Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 105047, Jefferson City, MO 65110. Phone: (877) 628-3337. Fax: (573) 634-8522. Their website is www.buffertech.com.

NEW BELT LOADER FOR 1919A4 BMG AND VARIANTS

JJ Custom LLC has just introduced a new single stage belt loader for the Browning M1917, M1919 and its variants. The new loader is very well made from steel with a parkarized finish to match most guns. It features star wheels with a hand rotated knob that indexes the belt for each new round. The rounds are initially placed in the belt by hand and then pushed into the belt with a toggle clamp/ram. Then the star wheels are indexed to the next position to load another round. It takes longer to describe it than to do it. It loads .308/7.62 NATO, .30-06 or 8mm cartridges in cloth belts for the 1917/1919/M37 series of guns. The new loader is designed to be completely ambidextrous and features 1/4 inch mounting holes in the base so it can be mounted firmly to a loading bench or portable loading base. While it is single stage, meaning it loads a single round at a time, it is fairly fast and can load a 100-round belt in about 20 minutes or less with practice. It sure saves blisters on your fingers trying to load a belt by hand and it doesn’t cost between $1,000 and $1,200 like most of the old original military loaders are bringing today. This loader even features oil holes so you can keep it running smoothly. The new JJ Custom loader retails for $315. For more information, please contact JJ Custom LLC, Dept. SAR, 2400 State Route 48, Houston, OH 45333. Phone: (937) 295-5255. They can be found on the web at www.jjcustom.net. Be sure and ask them about their other products for the 1919 series of guns.

NEW HOLSTER FROM ELITE SURVIVAL SYSTEMS ACCOMMODATES LIGHT

The new 7680 holster from Elite Survival Systems was designed to fit most standard pistols with a light attached. This versatile holster was designed with adjustment points that allow the gun to fit with or without the light attached. It is constructed of 1000 denier nylon inside and out, with an internal stiffener which holds the holster’s shape. The weapon is secured with an adjustable thumb-break retention strap and Velcro over-strap for added security. It also has a spare magazine pouch with an adjustable flap for secure fit. The 7680 is available in two sizes to fit most full-size pistols with lights attached. It is offered in several configurations for use with a belt or with Elite modular vests and packs. It is also available in a tactical thigh version. As with all Elite products, attention to detail and quality of materials make the 7680 an ideal solution. For more information on this as well as their full line of excellent holsters, cases and range bags, please contact them at Elite Survival Systems, Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 245, Washington, MO 63090. Phone: (636) 390-8360. Fax: (636) 390-2977. Please visit their website at www.elitesurvival.com.

The NFATCA is pushing forward early in 2006 continuing to work diligently in getting to closure on the NFA Guide Book. Our contractors have completed, and we have reviewed, the first six chapters of the manual. These first six chapters have now been forwarded to ATF for examination. We plan to continue this process in hopes of having the manual completed and published by late spring of this year. Many of you have asked if you could review some of the information in the manual but we have kindly refused these requests. At this stage our contractors are expert in the rulings, the guidelines, and court decisions on all of this information and we are moving to publish the first version of this book as soon as possible. For those of you I have spoken with, I have mentioned to you that Long Mountain Outfitters has, for many years, provided us with The Machine Gun Dealers Bible. It has served many of us as the only source for good information on everything from forms to gun classifications. The NFA Handbook is kind of like the Machine Gun Dealers Bible on steroids. Keep in mind this will simply be the first version of an NFA Handbook and our plans are to continue to keep it updated with the results of the latest rulings and information that we discover in our workings with ATF. I’m sure though there will be plenty of questions and criticism. Nevertheless, this will be the most comprehensive set of information ever provided to the NFA community. More information on the details of the hand book will be in our next SAR report.

In earlier articles we have mentioned that we have been invited to assist ATF in the electronic forms process. The NFA Branch is making a presentation at SHOT this year to unveil the workings of the first two forms in the electronic conversion process. We still have a lot of work to be completed in this area but are certain that we will all be pleased in the progress ATF and their contractors have made in recent months in getting this portion of the process completed. 2006 will be a banner year for us to see major improvements in the forms processing arena.

For those of you who have experienced the rapid change in the form processing events in recent months, we can all see the differences in what is happening especially with form three transfers. Our most recent record was a fax of three form threes on a Thursday with approved documents back in the dealer’s hands by the following Wednesday. This is a marked improvement in service.

In light of the many experiences we have all had with the introduction of the new form three, in recent meetings, we have opened the door to tackling the infamous 4473 to streamline the process of filling out the form, filing the information and making it easier for compliance checks in the future. The new form has brought its own share of criticism from all sides of the community. We know we have an issue here and the NFATCA and ATF plan to work, again, in a collaborative effort to resolve any further issues in this process.

On a final note, several of you have criticized us for not providing “more meat” in our efforts to keep you informed. We plan on responding to that in our next issue by dedicating the entire article to the contents of the NFA Handbook. We will give as much information as possible to keep you apprised on the details of our workings. Please understand that in many situations our work with ATF is just beginning and that publishing the details and the events will not help the progress we are making. Unveiling new products and results, once we complete the work, is our best strategy and we will continue down that path. We only ask for your patience, your persistence, and your loyalty to an effort unprecedented in the NFA community.

The AUSA (Association of the United States Army) holds its annual meeting every year during the fall in Washington DC., except for the one in 2001 which was abruptly canceled. It seems most of the attendees were suddenly busy overseas with the opening shots in the War on Terror. The meeting has been held at the Washington Convention Center every October for the last three years. The DC Convention center is the only place in the District area that’s both big enough, and secure enough, to hold the meeting: particularly the display hall. This is the 51st annual meeting of the AUSA. This year more than 30,000 members and guests attended the exposition and meetings. It is a very significant event, both for the Army and for the public that it serves.

The Washington Convention Center is not just a large but is also a convenient location for the AUSA annual meeting. It is located northwest of the US Capitol Building, at Mount Vernon Square/7th Street. With a Metro station literally at the door, the Yellow and Green lines of the subway make the Center very easy to get to from the entire DC metropolitan area. The maps that are given out at the registration booths show the full exhibit area, a complete schedule of events, and a map of the surrounding DC area showing hotels, restaurants, and the Metro lines.

Few other military shows can boast being larger than the AUSA annual convention and none of those are in this country. Outside of a military base, no other displays will show more or bigger hardware. When General Dynamics wants to show off one of their premier products, they just bring in a fully functional Abrams main battle tank right from the line. One year, the tank inside the display area had been on a hot range only a few days earlier – the bomb dogs loved it.

If you think something the size of a modern battle tank might stand out in an indoor display, think again. There were 130 displays from Army units and organizations, as well as more than 400 industrial displays from representatives from the United States as well as more than a dozen countries from around the world. The AUSA show occupied more than 450,000 square feet. The exhibits covered nearly a quarter-million square feet of space all on their own. Not only were all of the major weapon systems used by the Army represented in the exhibits, so was the bulk of the ancillary equipment, from uniforms, ammunition, communications, vehicles, food and water. Even the Chaplain Service was well represented. Unless you’re over in the Sandbox or the Rockpile, AUSA is probably the only place you will ever see a Field Communion Kit, packed for field carry in its fitted web gear.

Besides just the general run-of-the-mill weapons and equipment (there is such a thing?), both futuristic prototypes as well as historical displays were available for viewing, in many cases in a hands-on presentation. This is a very prestigious show. Moving through the aisles will have you literally rubbing shoulders with four-star generals. Back in the 1980s, President Reagan was a luncheon speaker at the AUSA Convention, and he has hardly been the only President to attend. Manufacturers and industry representatives seem to try to outdo themselves every year with bigger and better displays, bringing out their very best and showing it to its maximum advantage.

The AUSA annual meeting does a great deal more than just give defense industry representatives a place to show their goods. The many conferences, seminars, and presentations at the event make it a significant professional development opportunity for the career soldier. The Annual Meeting delivers the Army’s message, this year being a Call to Duty – 230 years of service to the nation. The exhibition area also showcases the capabilities of the organizations that make up the Army as a whole.

This year’s meeting came at the end of this country’s fourth year in the global war on terrorism. The intensity and commitment of the Army’s service men and women can be clearly seen on the faces of the many of them who attend the meeting. Walking through the halls and areas of the Convention Center, you see representatives of all of the Army’s major commands, and organizations, sometimes both past and present. Walking through the exhibition area it is not out of the ordinary to see the pleasure in the face of a veteran of such units as the 82nd Airborne or the Big Red One when he meets a young soldier who is now serving in his old unit. And that soldier carries forward the pride of the veteran in his service in Afghanistan, Iraq, and all around the globe.

Information on the Army, its present actions, and its recent as well as past history, are available just by taking the time to stop and watch. Presentations are constantly being given on the exhibition floor while the area is open. Multi-media shows back up the talks given by the soldiers who have “been there and done that.” And these are also the people who use the hardware, materials, and services that are showing all around them.

The Exhibition Area

The industry displays are the heart of the exhibition area, and they are well worth the work involved in getting to the meeting. All of the major companies, and more than a few of the smaller ones, are around the floor. General Dynamics, AMC, Bell Helicopter Textron, Heckler and Koch, FN, Colt, Alliant Tech, AAI, Glock and more show weapons systems ranging from small arms to artillery, armored vehicles, and aircraft. The Army organizations also show their materials and capabilities. One particular area that should be pointed out is the Army PEO (Program Executive Office Soldier) display pavilion. It is probably the single most interesting and wide ranging display pavilion in the exhibit area. The PEO office is tasked with the mission to develop, acquire, field, and sustain everything the soldier wears, carries, and operates with. It is a huge organization with a very large field of interests. At the PEO website (www.peosoldier.army.mil) you can read the details about the organization, its divisions, and the equipment they are responsible for. But reading about it is not the same as a hands-on examination of the material. It is at the AUSA exhibition that the individual can do that close up and personal look at some of the gear that only exists in experimental or prototype forms.

Most of the materials and services on display in the exhibition hall were not the sorts of things you could expect to buy privately. Some would be on sale to the public eventually, such as the 7.62x51mm drum magazine from the Beta Company. But most would never see a gun shop showroom. That doesn’t mean an attendee would have to leave empty-handed. Almost every single piece of material in the hall, from single rounds of ammunition to massive trucks and armored personnel carriers, had literature available to explain, give technical details, or just describe them. These pass-out documents could range from a simple single-sheet on a particular item, to full company catalogs – printed or on DVD, of a company’s entire line of products and services. Most of the military organizations at the exhibition followed suit with their own literature.

Just one organization, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) had an entire book of several hundred pages available that detailed each item they had in use or under development. And in the big tent-covered display, USAMRMC were showing examples of many of the items in the book – from a new style of efficient bandage to the latest vaccines and pain killers.

Dillon Aero Inc. had their miniguns and mounts on the floor, as well as a catalog listing their upgrade services, parts, and accessories. They don’t just make reloading machines. Ammunition, the feed devices to carry the ammunition, and the web gear to carry the feed devices, could be seen, sometimes handled, and almost always read about. Designers and developers, engineers and salespeople, were on hand to explain what could be seen by attendees. Entire lines of ammunition of all calibers were shown by the manufacturers. Producing companies from as far away as Norway, Sweden, South Korea, and Singapore had tables, cabinets, and racks of rounds ranging from 5.56mm to 240mm cannon shells. Many of the displays included cutaways of the ammunition and fuzes, showing not just what the rounds were but how they worked. Full ranges of color codes, and what they all meant, were sitting behind glass.

Simulation systems, ranging from an enclosed live-firing range with Simunition-fitted weapons to tank main gun training devices, showed the new methods of training today’s warfighter. It could be startling for an attendee to be walking down an aisle and suddenly hear the subdued blast of a 120mm Abrams gun firing, immediately followed by the mechanical sounds of reloading and the cry “Up!” indicating another shot was ready to go. Once you saw the simulator, which was the entire turret of an Abrams sitting on the floor, you at least understood that it wasn’t an attendee’s reaction to the parking situation in DC. The armed Humvee inside a tent-like booth allowed soldiers to actively engage the enemy attacking them, learning how to repel an ambush without costing lives or putting out live rounds. These are among the means that make the United Stated fighting man unequaled in the world.

The hardware and training to use it were not the only subjects covered by the industrial representatives at AUSA. Maintenance was not forgotten. Tools, diagnostic equipment, shelters, even wreckers capable of moving a broken-down main battle tank were spread out for close examination. Otis Products had a large display showing their wide range of excellent cleaning kits, several of them being present military issue. Once a weapon was clean, it had to be lubricated. Adaptive Molecular Technologies had their product on display, not that it would be known by that name, Militec-1 is a very popular and successful synthetic weapons lubricant, so highly thought of that soldiers would spend their own money to purchase it. But the people who make Militec-1 are long-time supporters of AUSA and they were doing a land-office business passing out samples of their product. The bottles of lube were well received by soldiers, many of whom were soon to return to the combat zone.

Black Tie Finale

The last major event of the AUSA meeting is a Wednesday evening black-tie formal affair: the George Catlett Marshall Memorial Reception and Dinner. These are two separate affairs, the dinner following the reception and require purchased tickets, something that sells out very quickly which shows the popularity of the event. Black-tie requires formal evening dress for civilian men and the women and, for military guests, full Mess Dress uniform. Not something you see everyday, even in Washington. For everyone attending, it can be an education in military style and due to the wide variety of foreign dress uniforms, the reception can be a startling view.

The exhibit area closes early on Wednesday so that the representatives can prepare themselves and the booths for the incoming guests. A separate ticket is required for the reception and the later dinner, and the one for the reception is well worth the price. This is the evening when the exhibitors and the AUSA staff put on a show for their guests. Entertainment is offered that ranged from military singers, a country western band, and even a ventriloquist in an evening gown. In all, the reception and the formal dinner following it made for a very interesting conclusion to a unique military event.

Admission Policy

The AUSA annual meeting and exposition is a private affair and not open to the general public. Admittance is limited to AUSA members, members and civilian employees of the U.S. Armed Forces, designated representatives of member and exhibitor companies, invited guests of the Association, and those who have an identifiable relationship with the U.S. Army. It is not difficult to join the Association and www.ausa.org is the website of the AUSA and it invites concerned citizens as well as all of the above to join them in AUSA membership. The annual meeting dates for 2006 are 9-11 October, once again in the Washington D.C. Convention center.

The Ceská Zbrojovka Samopal vzor 1958 assault rifle entered service as the standard assault rifle of the Czechoslovakian army in the late 1950s and continues to serve Czech forces on duty in Iraq. While it shares a passing resemblance to a Kalashnikov, its engineering is entirely different. Recently, a Czech factory released a semi-automatic version of the Model 58, called the VZ-58S. One such rifle became available for inspection and testing and Small Arms Review decided to see how it would perform at the range.

With the VZ-58S (a.k.a. the CZH-2003 Sport), you have an exact duplicate of the military version, right down to the markings and barrel length. For all intents and purposes, it appears to be the same 7.62x39mm rifle that Czech arms designer Jirí Cermák created in the town Uherský Brod. Here was a design so successful that the Czechs continued to produce them when all other Iron Curtain countries were forced to manufacture Kalashnikovs.

The VZ-58 is a gas operated, magazine fed, select fire weapon. It employs a short stroke gas piston located above the barrel but, unlike the AK the gas piston, has its own return spring. The locking system features a tilting locking piece, not too far off from what we see in the Walther P-38 and Beretta M92 pistols, and the bolt locks into the machined receiver.

The charging handle is located on the right side of the bolt carrier and the carrier also provides a stripper clip guide. The 30-round magazines are pressed aluminum construction and incorporate a rear tab to lock the bolt open when the magazine is empty. This is an inspired addition to the weapon which makes reloading very fast.

The trigger group arrangement is also unexpected as it is a striker fired design. The striker uses its own spring located under the main bolt carrier return spring. The fire selector is situated on the right side of the receiver and has three positions for safe, single shot and fully automatic fire. It is a simple design, but as with all Czech workmanship, the entire package is over-engineered and machined to a high degree. It would not have been cheap to produce the VZ-58.

The open sights include a hooded front post and open notch adjustable rear, which looks like the AK type. A bayonet mount is provided and unexpectedly the blade bayonet slips on from the rear to lock forward. In the same way, a folding bipod is fitted to certain 58s in the field.

There are three basic variants of the VZ-58: the 58P with its fixed buttstock and the 58V with a side folding metal stock. The 58Pi includes a large optic mounting bracket on the left side of the receiver for the mounting of night vision equipment.

The furniture is unique in that it is made of wood-impregnated plastic in later models. What we have here is essentially the addition of wood chips to a plastic resin placed into a mould. The resulting furniture is red in appearance, strong and durable.

When compared to Kalashnikovs, the VZ-58 is notably smaller and lighter. It is roughly the same size as an M1 Carbine. The Czech Army had planned to replace the rifles with the newer 5.56mm NATO CZ-2000 rifle system, but that transition has been stalled for economic reasons. If you watch the news, you would be surprised how often the VZ-58 is used, including its use by the current Afghanistan government forces.

A closer look

The factory produced semi-auto only version of the VZ-58 is now being sold to civilians around the world for under $500 a unit. It seems that cash is king in the Czech Republic and for qualified buyers, even full-auto 58s can be had for $80 US.

Note that the VZ-58S is not made by simply converting the host rifle into a semi-automatic version. Each VZ-58S starts out as a receiver that has never been used to construct a VZ-58, but one that has simply sat around in crates all this time. The receiver has then been modified to prevent the use of full-auto parts. The result is a rifle that externally looks identical to the military assault rifle right down to the fire control selector. Turning the selector to ‘30’ (full-auto) now disconnects the entire trigger group.

It should be stressed that the VZ-58S is not importable into the USA for civilian use for a number of reasons. Its barrel is the standard length of 15.35 inches, it is not constructed using any US made parts, and its receiver was originally built in the late-fifties to the 1970s as a select-fire receiver.

The finish on the VZ-58S is a uniform grey, likely manganese phosphate, that contrasts nicely with the red synthetic stock, handguards and pistol grip. It is evident that once the rifles were assembled, they were given a finish treatment so that out of the box the rifles look great.

In many respects the rifle is ambidextrous. The fire selector can be moved to ‘30’ with the left thumb from the safe position. Naturally, this is only useful for real VZ-58s. The cocking handle is angled up to a slight degree and located high on the right side of the breech block so right handed operators can load without canting the weapon. The magazine release can be used with either hand with equal ease.

Mechanically the rifle is tight and the fixed stock takes a long handled screwdriver to aggressively remove it. The ergonomics are exceptional but the rifle and its pistol grip will feel small in most hands. The pistol grip, additionally, needs periodic tightening.

What is exciting about receiving one of these rifles is the array of accessories available. The test rifle came from Marstar Canada and included two 30-round magazines, one short 10-round magazine, a new leather two pocket military magazine pouch, a field cleaning kit with blank firing attachment, military sling and a gun case.

It gets better with the optional accessories: four 30-round magazines, a four pocket leather magazine pouch, a bell type flash suppressor, a bayonet and scabbard, a military folding bipod and the paratroop issue folding stock. The folding stock is very strong but does not provide a comfortable cheek weld. For this reason, this writer constructed a slip on wooden cheek pad finished to match the rest of the furniture. It allowed the convenience of a folding stock with the comfort of a fixed stock.

Modern range test

For our evaluation, we took the Czech rifle to the range along with a crate of Czech 7.62x39mm, some Norinco ball and an assortment of magazines and accessories. The chosen range was 100 yards. Inserting a 30-round magazine into the carbine, it is easy to see why the VZ-58 is so popular – it is so light. One chambers a round by merely pulling back the operating handle and letting it go.

At 100 yards in the standing position, it is effortless to place five shots within seven inches. This kind of accuracy is more than enough to subdue an adversary. The trigger has a somewhat spongy two stage feel to it, but it works. The brass would eject up and forward and usually spun like a propeller; which was mesmerizing to watch.

When the 100 yard bench test was conducted using the military bipod, the groups shrunk to around 2.5 inches. This does not qualify the rifle as a tack driver, but for a military 7.62x39mm with open sights, this is pretty good. Most AKs and SKSs have a great deal of trouble duplicating this feat.

The rifle is easy to shoulder and operate and the recoil is moderate. The one negative aspect of the design, however, is its propensity for muzzle climb and subsequently its effect on the shooter’s cheek. Fortunately, the Slovakian firm Grand Power produces a highly effective muzzle compensator. This is a most welcome accessory that makes rapid firing accurate.

After 500 rounds, there was not a single failure to feed, fire, extract, or eject. Being able to use stripper clips was indeed handy. The carbine did not beat the shooter’s shoulder and it was quick to reload and bring to bear.

Field stripping

It is straightforward to field strip the VZ-58S. First remove the magazine, clear the chamber, and let the bolt go forward. Pull the trigger. Then press in a pin located at the rear and left side of the receiver. Pulling the pin to the right, the next motion is to press the sheet metal dust cover forward and up out of the receiver. The recoil spring and striker spring are captive and come with the dust cover.

The breech block and bolt are pulled to the rear and lifted out of the receiver. Removing the striker cylinder out of the breech block allows the bolt to drop out. The bolt can be further stripped using the tools provided in the issue cleaning kit, but this is not required for a field stripping.

The top handguard comes off by pressing another pin to the right. The operating rod is pulled back slightly to clear the gas block and then pivoted up and out of the rifle.

Conclusion

It may be that as a combat weapon the VZ-58’s time has eclipsed. As the civilianized VZ-58S, then again, the design may have a new lease on life. The range test provides a short insight into what it would be like to trust one’s life in the little rifle and the results are gratifying. In this writer’s opinion, the VZ-58 is in every way a superior weapon to the Kalashnikov.

It is true that the VZ-58S is not legal in America, but there is an alternative. So as to not tease the reader too greatly, those interested in the VZ-58 pattern should consider the well regarded VZ-2000 rifle obtainable through Ohio Ordnance Works.

New variants of the VZ-58 continue to come out of the Czech Republic, including one with an 18.9 inch barrel to make it legal in more jurisdictions. A picatinny rail upper hand guard is available as well as a CAR stock adaptor. The VZ-58 is one well-conceived package and so it should be interesting to see where the design is headed in civilian hands in its various forms.

The firm of Armi Jager in Italy is best known for its military rifle clones. It has dominated the rimfire submachine gun market for 25 years with almost a dozen best selling models. Jager entered the arms scene in 1974 with their Model AP-74, a US M16 rifle look-alike with plastic furniture resembling the early Vietnam vintage models. The Italian .22 clone not only faithfully copied the exterior configuration of the US service rifle, but also field stripped and operated in the same manner. The AP-74 takes a standard 15-shot magazine and a 20-shot magazine is offered as an option. A deluxe version with wooden furniture quickly followed and was an instant success. Following the AP-74 is a new compact model with a folding stock designated as the Commando. The standard Commando model differs externally from the AP-74 by having a detachable wooden buttstock and a conventional low profile sight. The compact Commando has a 16-inch barrel; shorter than the full size AP-74’s, but proved to be more accurate and reliable in overall performance. Jager introduced a new generation AP-74 in 1990 in the form of the newly adopted Colt M16A2 with round ribbed plastic hand guard, an A2 style pistol grip, and a bird cage style flash hider. Jager offered the new versions with new model designations namely M16A1-22 (full size) and CAR15-22 (Carbine) featuring a shorter 16 inch barrel complete with alloy telescoping stock. The new receiver configuration was a close copy of the improved Colt design. However, internal components remained the same.

As the popularity of militarized semiautomatic weapons in the civilian market soared to its highest peak in the 1980s, Armi Jager became the undisputed dominant force in the development and marketing of authentic military rimfire look-alikes in the international market. In this decade, the Russian AK-47 assault rifle became the center of attraction among military gun enthusiasts and collectors. The demand for the AK-47 combat rifle among private collectors was soon answered by Jager in caliber .22. In the early part of the 1980s, the Italian firm introduced the AK-22, a spitting image of the famous Soviet battle rifle. The AK-22 is a work of art in both design and workmanship featuring well made and reliable 15 and 30-shot banana-type steel magazines. Like its early predecessors, the AP-74 and Commando, the AK-22 was again an instant success not only in North America but internationally. Its worldwide popularity became an inspiration to other well known manufacturers that also made their own versions of the M16-22 and AK-22: most notably the Arms Corporation of the Philippines (ARMSCOR).

The 1980s was a very turbulent era worldwide, primarily in the Middle East. Israel was constantly challenged by fanatical militants’ incursion into its territory to create chaos. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF), using FAL rifles, soon embarked to modernize its bulky and aging small arms of mixed origins and develop a small and robust assault rifle firing the M16 5.56mm rifle round. The new rifle was the Galil, a native design claimed to be an improved Kalashnikov. Israel’s opposing forces are well equipped with the Russian assault rifles which they recognized as the most reliable small arm for desert fighting. After the adoption of the Galil assault rifle by the Israelis, the US gun media gave the weapon an extensive review and endorsement. The worldwide news media exposure of the Galil in action soon generated enough interest in the civilian market prompting its maker, Israel Military Industries (IMI), to introduce a semi-auto version in both .308 and .223 calibers. The Galil and the Uzi submachine gun soon became the most sought after models by collectors and gun enthusiasts worldwide.

Having recognized the instant market appeal of the Galil assault rifle in the international scene, Jager wasted no time and introduced the Galil-22 barely a year after the AK-22 was introduced. This quick transformation and production was made possible by the similarity and format to the earlier AK-22 allowing very minor cosmetic changes to transform its exterior to the desired new configuration. Jager engineers were very clever in creating their rimfire look-alike marvels. All models, starting from the early AP-74 to their last entry, the MAS-22, a French Famas bullpup assault rifle look-alike, shares the same basic trigger mechanisms. The AP-74s were offered in cal .22 LR and .32 ACP while the AK-22, Galil-22 and MAS-22 were chambered for .22 LR and .22 Magnum. The receiver of the AK-22 and its variants adapt quite nicely to the Magnum caliber allowing longer travel and heavier bolt as required by the more powerful cartridge.

The Galil-22 comes with a beautifully contoured fixed wooden stock, matching pistol grip and a grooved foregrip similar to that of the original Israeli issue rifle. Like the AK-22, the Galil-22 incorporated an internal cast alloy receiver containing the trigger mechanism and bolt group assembly. The barrel and fake gas tube is mounted in the usual manner at the front end of the receiver. To create an authentic look, Jager utilized a stamped sheet metal outer casing for the receiver to match the top cover. Both sheet metal components have a dull parkerized finish that beautifully complemented the overall aesthetics of the gun. The long AK style safety has an added square hook that can be used to manually lock the vertically mounted Galil type cocking handle allowing the bolt to be held open for a quick barrel check and cleaning purposes. When the bolt is closed, the front end of the safety lever blocks both the movement of the bolt and the trigger. The fully protected rear sight is an “L” piece adjustable from 50 to l00 meters. It is adjustable for windage via a side mounted screw from the left side of the protector wing. The matching front sight is a protected post installed on an authentic looking cast alloy base. On the left side of the base is a sling swivel attachment. An authentic looking khaki color canvas military sling was supplied with the gun. The lower front end of the base has a built-in functional M16 rifle bayonet attachment. The 20-inch barrel features an M16 bird cage style flash eliminator that is both attractive and functional.

Internally, the Galil shares the basic trigger mechanism of its early siblings like the AP-74 and AK-22. The trigger mechanism of the Jager look-alikes are simple, robust and proven reliable. The massive hammer and sear are virtually wear free guaranteeing many years of hard use and shooting enjoyment. The trigger pull is light and crisp with hardly any noticeable over-travel contributing much to accuracy. The spacious interior of the receiver where the trigger group is assembled has contributed much to the rifle’s outstanding reliability providing enormous space for dirt built-up. The Galil-22 uses the same bolt as the AK-22 with the exception of the cocking handle being mounted vertically, like the original Israeli design, making it fully ambidextrous. Another excellent feature borrowed by Jager from the AK design is the internal rail system from which the bolt travels inside the receiver. This arrangement assures uniform bolt cycle which in turn also enhances feeding reliability. The Galil-22 features a captive recoil spring system. A large steel cylinder supports the rear end of the spring assembly which acts against the retaining catch for the receiver top cover. This part also acts as a bolt travel limiter. In the .22 Magnum version, the cylinder is cut shorter allowing for increased bolt travel for the longer Magnum round. The bolt on the Magnum is also longer and heavier. One of the unique (though not recommended) features of the Galil and AK-22 is their ability to be fired without their top covers in place.

There were a few interesting accessories offered by Jager for the Galil-22 which will also fit the AK-22. Of particular interest is the metal folding stock which would allow a more compact configuration for the full size model. The metal stock would fit both the AK-22 and Galil-22. This useful accessory only became available in the early part of the 1990s. The folding stock, although well designed, is a bit on the flimsy side. The metal tubing used are not as thick as expected and the flattened portion that connects to the main base that locks up with the frame extension is also somewhat weak. Nevertheless, for a .22 it is acceptable. It is quite likely that the manufacturer opted for this material to keep the weight down. The operation of the folding stock is quite similar to the Israeli design, which is basically copied from the Belgian FAL Para model. To unlatch, push the stock downward under spring tension from the main base to disengage the lock, which is a stamped “U” shape sheet metal. With the stock base on the downward position, the part can then be moved to the desired position as selected by the operator.

A unique folding bipod was also introduced by Jager after the initial entry of their AK-22 in the market. The bipod is primarily made of thick sheet metal stamping that neatly folds in the middle to create a very compact but stable support for prone position shooting. The folding connections are spring loaded. A large bent wire locks the two legs together in the folded position. When the connection is unhooked, the legs spring out automatically into position. The top part of the bipod is made of machined aluminum block. Multi-function tightening screws were strategically positioned in three locations. The top screw tightens the connection of the bipod to the barrel. The center screw controls the angle of rotation of the rifle horizontally, while the bottom screw tightens the vertical position of the aluminum mount. The bipod is very well made and finished. The Jager folding bipod is a perfect mate for the Galil-22 and will further enhance its collector value. Another excellent optional accessory offered by Jager for the AK and Galil .22s is a side mounted scope mount. To install the mount, simply remove two of the left side screws that secure the sheet metal housing to the interior frame. Align the two holes of the mount to the screw holes of the frame and secure the connection with the replacement hand operated screws that came with the mount. Installation is quick and simple with no additional modifications to the gun required.

A military rimfire clone is not complete without a matching hi-capacity magazine. In the subgun era of the 1980s, 30 and 50-round magazines are the norm. Jager first offered their AK-22 with 15-shot and a 30-shot capacity. These were both of the slim-line patterns. A 30-shot wide curved magazine format soon followed thereafter to enhance the aesthetic of the gun to make it look closer to the original rifle. The later .22 Magnum model was only offered with a 10-shot straight box magazine. This was a drawback from a marketing perspective. The limited capacity on the more powerful magnum version is the contributing factor to its lackluster market acceptance. It is very likely that very limited numbers of the Galil .22 Magnum were sold in North America. On the other side, this version may command a higher collector’s price today than the regular .22 LR models. Unfortunately, I was unable to test or find any of the .32 ACP or .22 Magnum versions made by Jager in its look-alike line.

The early slim-line 30-shot steel magazine used in the AK and Galil .22 as produced by Jager were also used in other look-alikes such as the Thompson .22, Bingham PPS-50, 1022 and still used in current .22 conversion kits for full bore assault rifles with special adapters to fit specific models. The Jager rimfire subguns, and their accessories, were available exclusively from Mitchell Arms in California between 1985 and 1995.

Having examined and test fired most of the rimfire clones since their introduction in North America in the mid ’70s, I have come to conclude that the Galil-22 proved to be the all time winner. It is the most authentic looking among its other military styled .22 siblings and competitions. It is extremely accurate, very well balanced, outright pretty and amazingly reliable. Regretfully, the superlative Galil-22, just like its other import counterparts, fell victim to import restriction with the introduction of the Clinton Crime Bill in the 1990s. If we could turn back time and bring these highly crafted Italian made super clones back again, and chamber them with the new hot rimfire cartridges complete with hi-capacity magazines, Jager could easily reclaim its lost status in the paramilitary weapon era. For those who were fortunate enough to acquire any of the company’s hi-tech look-alikes when they were still widely available, they should consider themselves lucky. In my opinion, the Galil-22 will remain as one of the finest rimfire autoloaders of all time.

Through no fault of her own, Jessica Lynch accidentally and unwillingly restarted the bitter war of women in combat in the U.S. military. When the high command at the Pentagon gave her an unearned Bronze star in 2003, the cynical media created her as a heroine and the feminist movement shot their own principles in the foot by idolizing this innocent young woman. The simple truth is, while doing her job, she was a casualty of an enemy ambush in Iraq.

Thousands of miles distant and light years away in a spectrum of personal courage unknown to 99% of all Americans, had they known about all that hoopla, a small group of elderly women must have chuckled with that sardonic, depreciating humor so characteristic of Russians.

While U.S. military management wrestles with the politically sensitive issues of American women in combat, the Russian armed forces have had women on their firing line for war after war after war.

The Soviet Constitution clearly states in Article 133, “The defense of the Fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen of the USSR.” More than 800,000 Soviet female soldiers, some as young as 15, experienced WWII combat, with the deadliest service coming as snipers, a role at which those women excelled. When it came to military snipers in WWII, Soviet women wrote the manual.

The Soviet WWII sniper rifle was a modified version of their standard issue Mosin-Nagent 1891/30, known as the M91/30. It was an 11.3 pound rifle with a five-round integral magazine, firing the 7.62x54R round with a 150-grain bullet. The sniper version rifles were factory verified for true accuracy, then modified by having the bolt turned down and addition of a telescopic sight. Earlier rifles were issued a 4-power PE model telescope, while later ones had a 3.5 power PU model telescope. The PU telescope was shorter and had no focus ring, therefore the shooter had to have excellent or corrected vision. The more popular PE model had a focus ring and was well-liked among snipers, according to most histories. The M91/30 rifles were produced by the USSR from 1937 until 1963. Some Eastern European nations were using the M91/30 sniper rifles into the 1970s.

Most Russian World War II snipers, male and female, preferred the M91/30 to the newer SVT 40, a semi-automatic rifle firing the same cartridge, because it was more reliable and the bolt action made no noise. Although the rapid second shot of the self-loader was technically an advantage, in that combat environment, jams and misfeeds were common and the mechanical action was a sound signature snipers did not need.

The Soviets began serious development of a sniper program along with development of “modern” optical sights in the 1920s. The first experimental Soviet M91/30 sniper rifles were equipped with German Zeiss-Dialyther model optical sights.

The first production rifles coming from the Tula Arsenal were equipped with the Emil Busch AG model VP scope, with issue running until 1942. Sniper rifles were also produced at the Iszeusk arsenal, which are the more commonly encountered models.

That’s the cold technical side. Now, for the heat of the battle. Stalingrad was the first publicized glory for the USSR’s women snipers. According to The New York Times military editor, the late Hanson W. Baldwin, “Women snipers made a fantastic contribution to that Soviet turnaround victory and not only in a propaganda sense. They used those women snipers in brilliant fashion, and they were among the most deadly and proficient snipers I knew of during the war.”

Laza Mironova, famed sniper of the Soviet Marine Corps, was credited with over 100 kills during the siege at Stalingrad alone. Later, in street fighting near Moscow she would kill 32 German officers in a single day.

According to the late Dan West, a WWII Hearst News Service reporter, “Snipers doing general firing could count only confirmed kills of officers and NCOs. Hits on other ranks weren’t recorded in that body count, so Mironova’s total was much higher.” He added, “This Mironova girl had a lot of medals hanging on her when I saw her in Moscow in December of 1943… She got a personal award from Stalin himself that January. After the war, I learned she was killed in the early spring of ’44.”

Another highly decorated female sniper was Ziba Ganiyeva, who had nearly 300 official kills to her credit at war’s end. Retired as the highest ranking woman in the Red Army in the late ’80s, this General Officer was regarded as one of the coolest shots among the entire WWII soviet sniper corps, male or female.

Litva Rugo had a quantity of what military strategists called “quality kills,” i.e., 118 of her kills were German officers above the rank of 1st Lieutenant. Her official total kill was 275. “We were told that killing its leaders would destroy the German army, so that’s what we did,” she explained in an interview in a Soviet military magazine in 1980. Her commanding officer added, “We told Rugo that killing officers was important as it broke their chain of command and shattered morale. She was dedicated to that order… This courageous People’s Army Hero was only 20 years old then, and will always have an honored place in the history of the USSR.”

Gen. Vasili Chuikov, the leader who broke the German stranglehold on Stalingrad and is considered the hero of that battle by USSR historians, praised the women snipers in his wartime journal, writing, “These truly heroic comrades did much to turn the battle for our honored defenders with their dedication, duty, bravery, and sharp aim… These Soviet women killed many leaders among the Nazi hordes which ran loose in our country.”

In September of 1942, a German lieutenant wrote to his wife, “We no longer measure our progress in these streets by meters, but by German corpses…our boys are falling to these women soldiers the Soviets use as sharpshooters.”

Gunther Rhine, a Wermacht NCO who survived the end at Stalingrad thanks to air evacuation after his third major wounding, said, “I was totally afraid of the Soviet women soldiers, most of whom were about as humane as the shooting end of a machine pistol. They were damned good shots, too, and cool, very cool customers…made grand snipers.

“In my two years on the Eastern front I learned that the Soviet female soldier was every bit as violently attuned as her male counterparts. In soviet combat outfits it didn’t matter if soldiers were male or female. All that mattered is how well and how many of us they killed.”

That morbid view was echoed by former U.S. Army Capt. Tom Samuels, who was a liaison officer with the Soviet army in 1944. After the war, he wrote, “One theme kept coming to me in the field reports I read and from my discussions with Soviet soldiers of both sexes and the few German POWs I spoke with, that for sheer courage, brutal efficiency and killing calm under fire, the Soviet female snipers were always mentioned in awe.”

That was the Soviet Union; its back to the wall, with everyone fighting the German invaders. Any competent social scientist can tell you about territorial imperative and its effect upon aggression levels. In an interview with the late Dr. Margaret Meade, she was emphatic that women are inherently far more brutal than men and that given the circumstances women will be far more deadly soldiers than men.

Dr. Meade noted, “Examine the biological sciences or anthropology, read military histories for documentation. It is true, if you give the weapons and means of war to women, and if they have a cause, they will fight for keeps. There are no rules for the aroused female defending her young, her family or their territory. There is no built-in chivalry here, she’ll fight to the attacker’s death.”

So, the lethal capability is there and needs only to be activated and channeled. While male soldiers may be physically stronger than females, if each is using a relatively easily handled weapon, e.g., a sniper’s rifle, the dominant male strength means nothing.

According to Dr. Larry Swensen, a psychologist who worked with the U.S. Army’s Marksmanship Training Unit during the Vietnam War, “With a sniper, killing is much more of a mental than a physical action. An ideal sniper has cool, detached reactions coupled with competitive achievement. Steady nerves and an ability to handle targeting situations are vital…Many times women are better suited to this role than men…one of the strongest proofs for this is the performance of the women snipers the Soviets used in WWII…”

One of the fabled Russian snipers who survived WWII rose to command rank as a field grade officer. Vrna Zworykin retired with the rank of Colonel in 1974. From 1941 until 1943, though, she was one of their army’s top snipers, serving everyday, except for brief leaves, on the front lines. She was awarded a commission after fighting off German invaders who overran her unit’s positions. As one Soviet propagandist wrote at the time, “She traded her telescope-equipped Mosin-Nagant M1891/30 sniper rifle for a PPSh submachine gun to cover that close combat.”

According to Soviet records, Vrna Zworykin killed 85 German officers in the summer of 1942 alone. In her “pitched battle with the overrunning German raiding party,” she was credited with 60 total kills. After being commissioned she was assigned to training duties, although she personally led a team of snipers into Germany early in 1945 to target high-ranking German officers.

Earlier, during the summer of 1943, the Soviets assigned a team of five women snipers to the Baltic area for special missions. Within a three month period they had a group total of 197 German officers and two Nazi political leaders on their dead list. One of these women sharpshooters had some exposure to the British SOE.

A former SOE sergeant, the late T.J. Guthrie, was assigned as a liaison between Soviet partisans and the British. He worked with the unit to which “Zelda”, the sniper’s codename, was assigned. He said, “She was a top shot and showed little emotion in action. Otherwise, I found her to be a sweet lady. She had pretty good English.”

“I was evacuated late in 1943, and before departing I gave her my ‘scoped Enfield rifle, which one of our tradesmen had really tuned for accuracy. I believe she was genuinely touched. She told me she would use this against the invaders of her country.” The Soviets also assigned women snipers to partisan units in many of the other areas in which fighting occurred. In the Balkans, Ekaterina Zhdanov’s dead body was worth a German-paid reward the equivalent of $25,000 American dollars because of her success as a sniper.

She was the deadly sniper who had 155 German officers and senior NCOs to her kill list credit when she disappeared and was presumed dead after a heavy partisan-German battle in Bulgaria late in 1943. In addition to her sniping abilities, Lt. Zhdanov was also the commander of her partisan group.

Another Soviet female officer behind sniper’s crosshairs was Tari Vucinich, who operated in the Ukraine before, during and after the Germans swept through the area. Lt. Vucinich was mentioned in Soviet war histories as “a premier huntress and killing shot who terrorized Nazi barbarians.” When the Soviets began to push back the Germans she waited for the front line to roll up to her, sniping retreating German officers on their way out. She was credited with 155 kills before dying in a Luftwaffe attack on her unit in 1944.

The late Luther Asch was a German veteran who fought against these snipers during the retreat from the USSR. He reported, “I was witness to a sniper who hit five of my fellow officers in one day, never closer than 200 meters. One shot, one officer dead…five times. We found out it was a woman because one of our scouts wounded her and we captured her. She was about 30 years old and tough as the country we were fighting in. We patched her up best we could and an SS man came to take her away for interrogation, I guess.”

Former Capt. Asch’s uncertain comment about the sniper’s fate is because the Germans usually treated snipers like partisans and spies by taking them over the hill and shooting them.

Andor Dverk, a WWII Yugoslavian partisan, recalled a Soviet officer known to his people as “Vera,” saying, “She was a very special shot with that telescope rifle. She had 32 Germans to her credit at Stalingrad and told me she had killed 18 Nazi officers in other battles. She personally shot 18 while with us.”

In Poland, in 1945, the late Col. Jerry Sage, an OSS legend who was then a Captain, remembers stopping to pick up a Russian soldier hitchhiking in a snow blizzard. Capt Sage wrote that he noticed a rifle with a sniperscope over the soldier’s shoulder and asked in his poor Russian about sniping. The grinning response was “Da, da, over thirty Germans dead.” The young soldier also showed him the Red Star of Stalingrad and other awards for combat bravery.

“To our surprise there was ample evidence from the well-rounded and filled blouse that this soldier was a woman. She laughed at our surprise, pulled off her fur chapka cap and shook loose long blond hair,” Jerry Sage writes. “She looked a little like Sonja Henie, the skater and movie star, but, she described how she stalked and lined up her German targets like the professional assassin she was…When we neared her unit she waved us a cheery good-bye.”

Writing about women snipers, Gen. Vasili Chuikov noted, “All Soviet people fought to save the homeland, men and women together. Our women made very good sharpshooters…and they killed because they had to. Enemy bullets make no distinction of male or female target, why should ours?”

Dwight Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander during WWII, wrote in his memoirs, “While the United States worried about women being too effective as camp followers or not being effective enough as typists and file clerks, Russian women were already in the front lines, spilling their blood and that of the invading Germans…The best of these women were those deadly snipers who helped save the Soviet Union.”

One of those tough Russian female warriors, a marine named Katyusha Mikhaylova, told one historian, “Just before battle, a male marine handed me a baby’s pacifier and said, ‘When we go into battle we won’t have time to baby you, so take this. I told him, ‘We’ll see who is going to take care of whom.’”

In one of those forgettable, Saturday afternoon, Technicolor westerns of the war years, cowboy star Randolph Scott said, “A gun is the equalizer between a big man and a little man.” The same principle applies to the sexes.