By Dan Shea

This issue of SAR is being presented at the SHOT Show in Orlando, but it also coincides with what today (Christmas 2002) is being described as the projected time period of a war with Iraq. Tonight I am adding my prayers to go with those who may be in harm’s way while this issue is being printed. I would like to remind the readers of our “Cookies from Home for Shooters” program. If you give us the address of a deployed US Serviceman or woman whom you believe would like some good reading, we will send them about twenty assorted copies of Small Arms Review to hand around and read in those quiet moments they need to fill their minds with thoughts of home. There is no charge for this service, these people have done enough. It is just one small thing that we can do. I would like to ask our readers who publish their own magazines to consider the same program, it would be a nice show of support, and help fill the few idle hours that often accompany long days away in service to our country.

On the subject of active military, perhaps it is time for a moment’s reflection about our magazine, our hobby, our professions, our martial world. We at SAR consider ourselves in the realm of military firearms historians, shooters, and technicians. Many are enthusiasts who either collect or shoot. Many are in the industry, or are end users. We have a diverse group, and the interests are all very closely related, and perhaps that is worth some reflection.

One of the ways that the anti firearms ownership advocates operate, is to divide and conquer. We in the firearms owning community can be our own worst enemies…. Many are the times that I have heard a handgunner or a Trap & Skeet shooter talking down either hunters or those “Black Rifle” people. No reason for a man to own one of THOSE things, or to shoot animals either, they say. Well, the shooting sports in many ways were started as training for martial use of the firearms, or for hunting. Shooting sporting clays was a way to prove you could put birds on the table, feed your family. Pride in your skill, and bragging rights as well. Long range shooting is basically sniper training. For those who have studied the Second Amendment, it has always been clear that the Founding Fathers intended to protect the private ownership of “state of the art” military firearms. That is, an armed citizenry. Fact of the matter is that most handguns haven’t been used in the military, and neither have those fine hunting shotguns. If any authority ever gets around to doing a real analysis and goes with the intent of the Founders, the “Black Rifle” crowd and the military collectors are about the only ones with any Constitutional protection!

There is no way for us to ever be “Politically Correct”. Some of the submachine gun competition community have recently complained to me about us using the word “Sniper,” or including modern military information. I looked at the sport they engage in, with its shooting house courses, jungle walks, man-shaped popups, shoot/no shoot “Hostage” scenarios, etc, and I was struck by how much fun they have, and how politically incorrect they are themselves. Every aspect of the Class 3 community and the military firearms community is “politically incorrect”. There is nothing we can do about it, we can’t camouflage it, we can’t hide it, it is who we are. Perhaps we don’t need to put out “If they take our guns, how can we shoot the liberals” bumper stickers, the humor being lost on other than our peers, but maybe, just maybe, we should stay true to who we are. To our heritage, to our sports, to our collections, and to our memories, and to be unapologetic when someone tries to make us out to be other than who we are. We should stand tall and pass on the truth about military firearms and their use to our friends and heirs.

– Dan

By Robert M. Hausman

Val Forgett Sr., Father Of Modern Machine Gun Collecting Era Dies at 72

Valmore J. Forgett Sr., founder of Navy Arms Company, and internationally known as the father of the modern machine gun collecting era, died at age 72 on November 25, 2002. He had fought a long battle with the blood disorder Meylodisplastic Syndrome (MDS).

The roots of today’s heavy interest in full-auto firearms go back over 40 years to the mid to late 1950’s, when a young New Jersey engineer (who had been collecting guns since the tender age of 8), decided to turn his life-long interest in firearms into a vocation.

Valmore J. Forgett decided to go into the machine gun field while stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground as a U.S. Army technical writer. The friendships he had forged with small arms experts, his access to all of the arms records at Aberdeen, and his enthusiasm for gun collecting, all came together to give him the necessary background to enter the business. The large numbers of sub- and machine guns brought back into the country by World War Two and Korean conflict veterans also gave an added incentive.

Forgett began in business in November 1956 by offering Deactivated War Trophies, or DEWATS, as they were classified by the U.S. Treasury Department. Large numbers of veterans who had brought back full-auto arms from overseas were able to avoid paying the steep $200 registration and transfer tax required for a live machine gun, by rendering the guns into a deactivated condition.

Under the terms of the DEWAT classification in those years, any machine gun which had its chamber welded closed so a live round could not be inserted, and had the barrel steel-welded to the frame, under the supervision of a Treasury Dept. revenue agent, fell into the DEWAT category. This meant there was no making or transfer tax and the Treasury Department did not have to be notified when a sale was made. The firearm receivers did not have to be registered, as they are today.

Forgett was initially offered a large lot of imported automatic weapons. Realizing their sales potential, the necessary dealer’s licenses were obtained and Forgett’s first ad appeared in The Shotgun News titled simply “Machine Guns.”

The advertisement offered such prized arms as the Thompson submachine gun, the seldom seen United Defense submachine gun, the famous Johnson Light Machine Gun, and several others. While all were DEWAT’s, the triggers would still click and the guns’ bolts could still be moved back and forth. The response was phenomenal! Phone calls, letters and telegrams started to pour in.

Though it is not generally known in the trade, these early shipments of machine guns were actually imported by Sam Cummings, an ex-CIA operative and founder of Interarms (formerly known as Interarmco), of Alexandria, Virginia. Cummings would do the importing (mainly from South and Central America) and Forgett would do the deactivation welding on the guns.

“Ma Hunter”

The next ad Forgett placed in the gun paper appeared under the trade name of, “Ma Hunter, the sweet, lovable old lady who buys and sells machine guns.” Subsequent ads became entertaining as well as informative, and the amount of orders coming in continued to grow. Forgett had turned the DEWAT machine gun business upside down, shattering previous high market prices and offering, in quantity, machine guns that had formerly been very rare. His activities helped machine gun collecting become an established and respected branch of the gun collecting world as the numbers of automatic weapons collectors around the country grew dramatically.

The first edition of the catalog, of which only 100 copies were printed, was produced with a typewriter and contained line drawings of the guns. The cover contained an illustration of the bespectacled “Ma Hunter” herself, with a corn cob pipe in her mouth, big, bright eyes and appealing long eyelashes. The machine guns available were: M1 Thompsons selling for $80; “garden variety” Thompson M1A1’s $75; Johnson Light Machine Guns complete with bipod and magazine at $50; MII air-cooled Browning Light Machine Guns without mount for $60; British .303 caliber Bren Guns, described as the “most popular light machine gun in the world” at $75 for a specimen in “Grade I” condition, and $60 for one in “Grade II” shape.

In the heavy machine gun area, the catalog claimed to offer the world’s only supply of .50 caliber, water-cooled Brownings complete with spade grips. Manufactured by Colt, the guns sold for $50; a limited number of field mounts for heavy machine guns were available for just $85; and, “nice condition” Vickers .303 caliber water-cooled machine guns complete with mount were sold for only $100. The offerings also included 2-inch Dutch and U.S. 81mm mortars, as well as a variety of surplus ammunition, and miniature black powder cannons.

Forgett’s associate in the machine gun business, Sam Cummings, also operated a mail order firearms firm (in those pre-1968 Gun Control Act days when firearms could still be sold across state lines without federal paperwork) known as Hunter’s Lodge. The firm’s ads, which featured a variety of surplus arms but apparently no full-auto’s, carried a cartoon illustration of “Ye Old Hunter,” a bearded old man wearing a plaid shirt and a wide-brimmed hat with a huge feather stuck in its brim. “Ye Old Hunter,” the reputed proprietor of Hunter’s Lodge, was usually humorously depicted in the process of firing a revolver with a severely bent barrel.

Forgett soon expanded his business by promoting the idea of artillery collecting. Operating with the premise that there were many Americans who would love to have a cannon of their own, he printed up 2,000 copies of his first artillery catalog, betting correctly that many people would at least send in 25 cents to receive the catalog in the mail.

As early as 1957, the then 27-year old Forgett came to the attention of local newspapers for his arms collecting efforts. The September 15, 1957 edition of the Newark, New Jersey Sunday News carried a news item entitled, “Arms Collection Keeps Police Department Alert,” and contained an image of Forgett holding a Thompson submachine gun. The article noted Forgett’s “harmless-looking little warehouse” in Bogota, New Jersey contained: “six anti-tank guns, 30 field cannons, 175 submachine guns, hundreds of rifles and handguns, as well as thousands of live cartridges and shells. “New York and New Jersey State Police check at the store-house frequently,” Forgett was quoted as saying and added “local police check the premises every 20 minutes, all night long.” Forgett said he was more interested in the history of the weapons than the arms themselves and noted most of his collection was made up of arms used by both sides in World Wars One and Two. The paper noted half of the submachine gun collection at that time was deactivated. Forgett was then employed as a sales representative for his father’s sheet metal firm, Service Welding Co., in Ridgefield, New Jersey and operated his gun business part-time.

In December 1957, Guns and Hunting Goods Merchandiser, a trade publication, profiled Forgett, describing him as, “a fast-rising young machine gun salesman.” About one-third of the guns would be sold to dealers who would sell them to collectors, display them in their store windows as attention-getters or be used as decorations for the gun cabinets of “millionaire gun cranks, by flanking a rich mahogany cabinet with Thompsons. And somewhere in the U.S. there is at least one barbershop sporting a machine gun chained to the back wall,” the magazine said.

Industry Advocacy

In the same trade article, Forgett called for a lowering of the $200 transfer tax on live guns. “In the law under which I do business, the 1954 version of the 1934 National Firearms Act, there are both realistic and unrealistic elements,” he began. “Realistic is the basic fact that an unregulated promiscuous distribution of machine guns is not a good idea. The high tax is one of the most unrealistic things about the law. The average machine gun years ago sold for $200. The tax of $200 was designed to curb trade in these arms completely, by imposing a 100 percent tax on each sale.

“Today, machine guns cost much less, as so many are government surplus stocks of no military value. Sten guns sell for as little as $13 to $17, while Johnson LMGs, Brens, and many varieties of light, medium and heavy Brownings sell for $50 to $75. A tax of $200 on these in working condition does not accomplish the desired end of obtaining registration and payment of tax. Instead, it is so high that the small collector who obtains one from, say, a returned serviceman, simply ignores the law and fails to pay the tax.”

To add some perspective to what $200 could buy during the period, a new Volkswagen “Beetle” automobile could be purchased for about $800, so the federal transfer tax was actually one-quarter the cost of a new car in the 1950’s.

Noting that at the time, between 40 and 60 percent of the unregistered machine guns in the country were brought in by soldiers returning from World War Two and the Korean conflict, Forgett said, “The effect of the tax is to drive guns underground, rather than get them registered. Despite the Treasury Department’s proclamations encouraging voluntary registration and deactivation, the average GI and collector remains unconvinced they won’t be confronted with a grilling as if he were a mass murderer if he attempts to comply with the law.

“For the average honest citizen to have this fear of the authorities suggests abuses by individual agents in the field, added to inconsistent rulings from the (Treasury’s) central office, plus the originally obscure and vague or inaccurate wording of the law itself, have given the honest citizen something to fear”.

“If the Treasury Dept. would settle for a realistic tax figure, retaining the severe penalties for failure to register, an effective firearms control could be established in the machine gun field,” he continued. “And if the Treasury agents would stop acting as if every person with a machine gun was a hopped-up juvenile delinquent spoiling for a gang rumble, or a baby Dillinger lurking by a bank, I think they could count on the assistance of gun collectors and dealers across the nation, rather than their opposition. By dropping the high tax of the machine gun law, the authorities could enlist the help of collectors who are vitally concerned with getting rid of the ‘bad apples’ and keeping shooting and gun collecting, from muzzle loaders to machine guns, a clean sport and a clean business.”

In the late 1950’s, America was a kinder, gentler place for gun owners. Upon learning of a person in possession of an unregistered, live machine gun, Treasury agents would go to the gun owner’s home, and instead of coming in shooting as is sometimes done today, the agents would simply induce the subject to have the live machine gun welded to render it inoperable. Forgett recounted one such incident of the day.

“I’ve known a few such collectors (who kept unregistered fully-automatic arms),” Forgett recalled, “but they’re not gangsters by any means. Among the few I have known were arms factory mechanics and gun designers, including some of the most famous in the business. One collector was a successful grocer, a businessman respected in his community. Then one day, the Treasury came into his house and made him weld up every gun. Resulting publicity was so damaging he ultimately sold his business and moved to another state.”

Forgett soon opened a retail store known as Service Armament Co., the forerunner of today’s Navy Arms Co. operation. It was initially open only in the evenings. The store’s merchandise displays often shocked customers who came in, as it did not have the usual “sporting” type of merchandise on display.

Unconventional Store

The trade magazine described the shop as follows: “Upon entering the building, instead of the usual array of hunting rifles and shotguns, you see walls lined from floor to ceiling with light machine guns, submachine guns, anti-tank rifles, an occasional bolt action military rifle, and maybe even a .22 rifle or two.”

“On the floor beside the office desk are mortars, .50 caliber machine guns, and other odds and ends too heavy for the wall. Moving through the store you come to a small room containing nothing but ammunition and odd parts. You will not find standard ammo here. Perhaps you need some canister shells for your 37mm cannon. Do you hand load your own 20mm automatic cannon cases? Well, ‘Ma’ has new, primed 20mm cases for sale.

“In the rear of the store, ‘sweet old Ma Hunter’ keeps the field artillery. There were about 25 cannons scattered about the back room. These are genuine obsolete cannon purchased from the Guatemalan government, from revolving 37mm Hotchkiss cannon or a small 2-inch mountain gun to full-size Krupp field artillery. And ‘Ma Hunter’s’ is probably the only place in the world where one can purchase ‘Do It Yourself’ cannon kits. Each kit contains all the external parts needed to assemble a full-size 57mm anti-tank cannon. The 3,000 pound kit is guaranteed to keep you busy on long winter nights,” the magazine predicted.

Castro’s Machine Guns

A major source of machine guns in the late 1950’s was Raritan Arsenal. This government facility released large numbers of fully-automatic arms including Thompsons, M3 “Grease Guns,” Johnson Light Machine Guns and .30 and .50 caliber Brownings. Once the guns had their chambers welded shut under the supervision of a U.S. Treasury agent, all government records on the guns were destroyed as they were now classified as DEWATS, or non-guns.

Some of these deactivated guns from Raritan Arsenal, according to Forgett in an interview several years ago, wound up in the hands of Fidel Castro’s forces for use in the Cuban Revolution. The deactivated machine guns were reportedly purchased by a New York City-based Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) front organization with funds supplied by the CIA. An upstate New York arms merchant reportedly supplied the CIA with the necessary parts for reactivation. The guns were then shipped to a location in Florida where they were reactivated and shipped to Castro’s forces in Cuba by the CIA, according to Forgett.

Service Armament Co. inadvertently shipped some thirty-three deactivated Browning M2 machine guns on March 24, 1958 to a Mr. xxxx, at xxxx, New York, New York. Forgett maintained in the interview that xxxx was operating under the direction of the CIA. The ultimate end users of the guns were actually Fidel Castro’s military forces, after the guns were illegally reactivated by the CIA in Florida and then shipped to Cuba. (Dan’s Note: we have removed the names and addresses for security reasons, there are still a lot of angry people on this subject and some of the people involved are still alive today).

In 1958, learning of the availability of a quantity of Gatling Guns overseas, Forgett announced plans to engage in a Gatling gun match with three other shooters. Each was issued 500 rounds and used Forgett’s vintage 10-barreled hand-cranked piece to take turns firing at a 6-by-6-inch wooden post at 1,000 yards. The gunner who cut the post in half with the least number of rounds won. The idea was to build interest amongst the shooting public in the old crank-operated guns, which Forgett knew he could supply. Forget’s efforts at instilling the shooting of Gatling guns proved successful and in 1959 he traveled to Europe to search arsenals for some of the 1,200 to 1,500 Gatlings that had been manufactured.

River Castle

In September 1958, another business coup came when Forgett was given the opportunity to purchase all of the ammunition stored on the legendary Bannerman’s Island. In an article entitled, “Castle On The River,” the Bergen (New Jersey) Evening Record carried an article on Forgett’s efforts to remove the surpluses of warfare from the former island castle on the Hudson River, reached by boat from Putnam County, New York (the castle burned down soon after Forgett removed the materials).

The building, once owned by noted arms merchant Francis Bannerman, had been built on the island to keep its explosive inventory away from population centers.

Forgett and several aides spent 40 working days deactivating Civil War and other ammunition which was later brought to his New Jersey store and warehouse. To aid in the deactivation, he devised a hand operated machine that pulled apart the shells. The horde included such oddities as Civil War rockets nicknamed, “Whistling Dixie,” for the audible sounds their hollow ends made when propelled through the air.

Later, the increasingly restrictive legislative environment for the sale of machine guns and artillery pieces later led Forgett to get out of that end of the business. He focused his concentration on the sales of semi-auto and bolt action military rifles and handguns, as well as muzzleloaders and other historical replicas. Thus, the earlier company names, “Ma Hunter” and “Service Armament Co.” were dropped in favor of the new Navy Arms Co.

Forgett was one of the lucky ones, who was able to live the life he wanted by fulfilling his early boyhood dream. His high school year book listed his life ambition to “import, export guns,” and he did so on a grand scale.

The author publishes two of the small arms industry’s most widely read trade newsletters. The International Firearms Trade covers the world firearms scene, and The New Firearms Business covers the domestic market. Visit www.FirearmsGroup.com. He may be reached at: FirearmsB@aol.com.

By Michael Shyne

How does a restoration project begin? In my case it involved three long wooden cases, part of a purchase of a Title II firearms collection. The seller told me what they were: .50 caliber Brownings. No problem, I’ll get some tripods and have them complete and ready to go in no time. Not so! When I opened the cases I discovered something very different than I imagined: 3 original water-cooled .50 caliber machine guns, two manufactured by Colt and a third an original Hi-Standard, with its original HiStandard-manufactured water jacket! Okay.

The first thing I did was call Robert Segel who authored two articles on the subject of water cooled fifty caliber machine guns, one in the now defunct Machine Gun News (February 1990) and another in Small Arms Review that touched on the subject (August 1999, Volume 2 Number 11). This was the only post World War II source of information on this subject known to this author! Robert assured me there were only 21 known complete, original, live water-cooled .50s in the country. In addition, he did not believe Hi-Standard made the water-cooled version. Robert’s article featured the M3 anti-aircraft mount, a 400-pound beast appropriate to the water-cooled 50. Finding them proved impossible. Most of these mounts were trashed many years ago because there was no demand and they were just too heavy. Ryan is a water-cooled .50 owner in Texas. He directed me to Rapco, a company specializing in parts and paint for the restoration of military vehicles. By the utmost good fortune, they had a twin 50 shield mount removed from a World War II halftrack.

This mount turned out to be a Navy mount designated “Mark 22 twin pedestal mount for machine gun caliber 50 Colt Browning”, made by Heintz Manufacturing Company in Philadelphia. It was also designated the “Mark 15 50 carriage”, with both designations on shiny brass I.D. plates. What about the Hi-Standard? For that I was able to locate a single U.S. Navy .50 caliber shield mount.

The three .50 caliber water-cooled guns were generally complete but lacked some of the small parts unique to the water jacket. A Colorado collector sold me something from his parts pile, a complete 50 caliber water jacket assembly. That wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, so now I had the makings of four water-cooled guns and decided to convert a World War II .50 caliber machine gun manufactured by A&C Sparkplug from its air-cooled configuration to the water-cooled configuration. Four guns meant I needed another mount.

The next step seemed obvious: disassemble everything, have it sandblasted, paint it and put it back together. Today, the mounts released by the government are totally demilitarized, cut into little pieces that are worthy of nothing but the smelter. If you are lucky, you will find an old one that was not demilitarized. More likely, you will locate a mount that has come under the cutting torch, but can be restored. The mounts I had obtained fell into this category.

Disassembly sounds easy. Everybody has a few wrenches, a hammer and some WD-40. But before you start taking your mount apart, do two things. First, photograph it so you can remember how it goes together. Secondly, obtain the technical manual for the mount. For the water-cooled gun this was not easy. Both Robert Segel and Dan Spears sent me a xerox copy of the 1943 War Department TM 9-230 “Machine Gun Mounts for Boats”. It covered the M39 pedestal mount for the single .50 caliber air-cooled anti-aircraft configuration, the M43 pedestal mount for the single water-cooled anti-aircraft configuration and the M46 anti-aircraft mount for twin .50 caliber water-cooled guns. Although my twin mount was designated the Mark 22, probably a predecessor to the M46, and my single mounts were a successor to the World War II M39 and M43 single mounts, this technical manual proved priceless.

You want the steel reconstruction to be done well, but keep one thing in mind. Don’t become a perfectionist. The manufacturer of this mount wasn’t one and the imperfections of steel refabrication need to be no better than the initial construction of the mount. Paint covers a multitude of sins.

After complete disassembly, clean all of the parts thoroughly to remove grease, grime, sand and everything else that builds up in the crevasses of these old mounts. I found my pedestal bases to be full of grease mixed with sand. The only good news is that there are vent holes in the bottom of the pedestal that facilitate the process. My assistant made a tool out a short section of 31/2-inch OD pipe, by welding a long rod as a handle. This worked as an excellent scraper, allowing the years of buildup inside the pedestal spring housing to be scraped away.

Before taking everything to the sandblaster, lay all the parts out in an orderly fashion. Some parts don’t need to go to the sandblaster, and furthermore they are too small. Clean them yourself. Others may not be worth trying to reuse. This particularly applies to rusty bolts, washers and the tubular iron spacers that fit between the side plates of the mount. These spacers are nothing more than 3/8-inch ID or 1/2-inch ID iron pipe available at your local plumbing shop. New bolts, nuts and washers can be obtained at the hardware store. Their zinc coating will dissolve after immersing your parts for a few minutes in muriatic acid, also available at your hardware store. (Read and follow the instruction carefully, this chemical is dangerous and highly caustic). Wear eye protection and rubber gloves, use the chemical where its fumes will not become your next breath, and thoroughly wash all of the parts after they have been removed from the acid. Avoid leaving puddles of the acid for children or pets to step in. After this process, these parts will take paint well.

Some of these parts should not be sandblasted and others have delicate surfaces that need to be protected. The ball bearings and bearing races should be cleaned and carefully stored until reassembly. The races are generally numbered as a pair. If you are wise, when you disassemble it, you will note which one was the top bearing race and which was the bottom race, in order to reassemble the bearing group exactly the way it was put together by the manufacturer decades ago. One of the most critical parts is the bearing retainer. These are cast iron, very similar to piston rings in automobile engines. Too much twisting or flexing and they will break. Do not even try to remove or replace the bearing retainers until all surfaces are spotlessly clean down to raw steel, with no surface damage that will interfere with movement. Lightly lubricate all surfaces after they are cleaned, to facilitate removal and installation. Using a brass rod, carefully tap around the retainer, moving it only fractions of an inch so as not to cause much vertical twist. Cast iron rings can snap very easily. These will not be replaceable.

The pedestal socket is a complex brass casting. On the M46 twin mount I had planned to leave it unpainted, polishing it so that it would show off the beauty of the old brass alloy. However, its casting surface was too coarse and I chose to paint it, as it was originally. I was able to preserve the beauty of the brass on the single mounts after sandblasting the paint away with a very fine abrasive. Tell the sandblaster what you intend to do and he will know what to use. The surfaces were then polished using a simple wire wheel on an air powered die grinder. To preserve the color afterwards, they received a couple of coats of clear lacquer.

In my case, the sandblaster was able to paint the parts as well. I used Sherwin Williams Kem Kromik Universal Alkaloyd metal primer over the raw steel. The color coat was an excellent quality oil-based enamel obtained from Rapco. I used semi-gloss World War II green enamel #595-23070-11LFD for two of the mounts. I painted one of them with Rapco’s Navy gray enamel #16081.

Protect and preserve any identifying marks, insignias, numbers and letters, even if you have no idea of their significance. A stroke of the sandblaster’s nozzle or an accidental coat of paint would have extinguished any opportunity I may have to identify the British Commonwealth insignia on the twin mount’s shield. With research clues like this, the actual history of a particular artifact may be discovered. Imagine being able to authenticate which battles a gun may have been in. That information can multiply its interest to posterity (and its value)!

Since they were sandblasted, these parts need to be thoroughly cleaned before they are painted. All dust must be removed or it will diminish the quality of the finish. However, the dust may not only be on your parts. On my first mount to be repainted, the outcome was rough and gritty, even though the parts were well cleaned before they were painted. We ultimately found the problem: a dusty painting environment coupled with slow-drying paint. Washing down the ceiling, walls and floor of the painting environment solved this problem before the other parts were painted. In addition, a drying agent was added to the paint so that it would dry much quicker, shortening the time the surface remained sticky and vulnerable to airborne particulates.

A lot of work, time and expense had gone into the project so far. Yet, avoid rushing reassembly, even though it is the most rewarding part of the project. Again, lay all the parts out in an organized fashion. If you photographed them before they went off to the sandblaster or the painter, you can check your pictures and make sure everything is there. It’s very easy for a small part to be accidentally lost while being refinished.

When assembling the side plates to the pedestal socket, you will want to leave the side plate spacer bolts and the carriage case deflector bolts all loose until everything is loosely assembled. Then use the gun mounting pins to establish final alignment before tightening everything. If you don’t obtain proper alignment, you will tighten everything up but you won’t get the gun to fit the mount. After the side plates are installed on the pedestal socket, defer installing the cartridge case deflector until the recoil shield is in place. Once it is loosely in place, you can tighten everything down. It seemed to work best for Byron to put the side plate recoil shield and pedestal socket together as an assembly. Then, as a unit, set it on the pedestal with the counterbalance spring, outer bearing ring, ball bearings, and bearing housing in place on the pedestal. In spite of the crudeness of the appearance of the mount, there was a lot of precision work that was done to make it function property. Excess paint or sometimes even a single coat of paint on precision-fitting surfaces, will prevent proper reassembly.

The counterbalance spring, a large coil spring that fits inside the pedestal tube, deserves your attention at this point. You have to decide whether you want to use this mount for air-cooled or water-cooled guns as the spring requirement is different. On the World War II manufactured guns, the true M39, M43 and M46 mounts, the springs are color-coded. The counterbalancing spring for the air-cooled single gun mount is painted green. The water-cooled single gun mount spring is painted black. The twin mount in water-cooled configuration uses a spring that is painted yellow. Fortunately, my spring was yellow and was designed to support the extra 35 pounds per gun the water-cooled machine guns add to the system, plus their leverage multiplier. The single mounts I was restoring were post-World-War-II and designed for air-cooled guns only. I was under the belief that I could adjust the spring compression rod and make up for the difference. Assembling the gun and mounting a water-cooled .50 convinced me I was seriously in error. To complicate matters further, the World War II mounts have a single long counterbalancing coil spring that rests on the bottom of the pedestal base within the pedestal tube. However, the post-World-War-II single mounts I was restoring had been “improved” by shortening the main counterbalancing spring used to offset downward muzzle motion, and adding a short counterbalancing spring to offset upward muzzle motion. Since my single mounts were assembled for air-cooled use and I intended to use them for water-cooled guns, I needed to obtain coil springs that were substantially heavier and able to counterbalance the increased downward weight. I chose not to add stiffness to the smaller counterbalance spring that offsets the muzzle-up movement.

Coil Spring Specialty in St. Mary’s, Kansas was willing to manufacture a spring to my specifications. I sent them the original spring for air-cooled configuration, along with a sketch quantifying the additional weight the water-cooled guns would add to spring compression, plus the length of the lever arm involved.

From the moment your eyes rest upon one of these mounts or for that matter virtually any shield mount, it becomes clear that the gun is one of the lighter and more easily maneuverable parts of this assemblage. Avoid risking back injury. The M46 twin mount weighs 825 pounds. The M39 or M43 single mount weights 725 pounds. A hoist system is absolutely necessary for the disassembly and reassembly of these mounts. This is particularly true because of the care required in their alignment. Moving these assembled mounts is an impossible task without bolting them on a pallet and using a pallet jack.

Even though your mount parts are beautifully refinished, you may have to give them a few strong licks with a heavy hammer to make them fit together. Don’t sweat it! The good news is that Rapco has the very same paint color in aerosol cans, a must for this type of work.

With the exception of the shoulder brace padding and the swing, most everything is steel, iron or brass. But the shoulder brace frames have rubber tubing attached to dampen the vibration of the gun. In the original configuration, the rubber tubing is held to the frames by a length of half-round steel with treaded holes aligning to the holes in the exterior portion of the shoulder brace frames. If yours are in good enough condition to remove all of the screws and replace the rubber, you are fortunate. However, if the half-round steel member, which fits internal to the rubber tubing, is badly rusted, an alternative exists: use steel reinforced hose, specifically 250psi Dayco steam lance hose, part #7263 from a Los Angeles supplier. The advantage of the steel reinforcement is that it provides a grip for the 5/16 inch by 1 inch long hex head self tapping sheet metal screws which are inserted into the holes in the shoulder brace frames. You can hide the steel reinforcement by giving the hose ends a coat of black windshield sealant. By using this system, you can avoid the half-round internals and still end up with a very pleasing and functional result.

Frequently the shoulder brace frames have been lost from the surplus mounts. Making authentic replacements is not easy task. Dan Spears was in that predicament and made two, plus an extra for me.

Finally the great moment has arrived: mounting the gun. I wanted to make certain the new counterbalancing spring was appropriate, so my assistant and I filled the tombstone ammo can with 200 rounds of live ammunition and mounted it.

The single mounts I restored were clearly designed for the air-cooled guns, allowing the gun to be mounted from the rear of the mount without disassembly of any parts from the gun. The hole in the post-World-War-II shield through which the gun protrudes was smaller than the similar space provided in the M46 twin mount. However, it is possible to mount the water-cooled guns on the post-World-War-II single mounts by removing the cocking handle and possibly the spade grips and rear sight, and gently guiding the gun into place from the front of the mount. After the gun is secured in place, reinstall the parts you have removed and the gun will function properly. The World War II M46 twin mount has wider gun ports, but it is still easier to install the guns from the front of the mount.

With the water-cooled gun in place on the single mount, I attached the water hoses and the water chest (the water pump used to circulate water through the water jacket). This was the great moment. The joy of seeing the completed project was certainly worthwhile!

Symmetry always appeals to my aesthetic judgment. The twin gun is no exception. Two tombstone ammo cans, two pairs of hoses, two water chests and of course, two big black 50 caliber Browning machine guns with 45-inch water jackets sure add a lot of life to the M46 twin mount.

Project Complete. One more piece of our nation’s 20th century history preserved for future Americans. This is an example of why so many of us in the Class III world collect what we collect.

Coil Spring Specialties
632 West Bertrand
Dept. SAR
St. Mary’s, KS 66536
Phone: 785-437-2025
Attn: Dave

The Supply Depot
Rural Route 14, Box 1100
Dept. SAR
Bedford, IN 47421
Phone: 812-275-2801
Attn: Jim Lawyer

Rapco Parts Company
P.O. Box 191
Dept. SAR
Bowie, TX 76230

By Mark Genovese

I have been fortunate enough to be able to purchase two magnificent Colt Commercial Model 1928s on their original brass and steel tripods, and to my surprise they both had three-digit, all-matching serial numbers on even the smallest of parts. It appears that they were shipped from Colt Manufacturing in Hartford, Connecticut to the Argentinean military in the early 1930s. These are extremely rare Browning-type belt fed, water-cooled machine guns in 7.65x53mm Argentine. At first glance you would think these are your run-of-the-mill 1917 Brownings, but upon closer inspection significant differences are apparent.

It starts with the finish, which is deep rust blued and beautifully polished. Next, the ladder sight base is noticeably lower in height than that of the 1917 and the sight itself is much simpler as well, with just a V-notch. Also included is an anti-aircraft sight base that mounts to the water jacket. Instead of the spring-loaded hold-open top cover pivot assembly there is only a pushpin, and the backplate grip employs a simple yet ingenious manual block safety. Just thumb it in the up position to fire and down for safe. The top cover belt-feed lever is spring-loaded to the left as well, so it’s always in the proper position to close. They were delivered with a 5-inch long flash hider of a design I have never seen. The cocking handle is deeply knurled and the left sideplate is engraved “COLT AUTOMATIC MACHINE GUN MODEL 1928-CAL 7.65MM BROWNING PAT. FEB. 4 1919.” Just below that is an unusual telescopic sight mount held on by six machine screws and engraved “ejercito argentino infanteria y caballeria no 793” (the serial number of the gun itself.) Inside of a crest are the words “nedinsco systeem Carl Zeiss Jena 1740 M.G.A. 8A”. The internal bolt, extractor assembly, barrel extension, cam lock breech, lock frame and its parts all appear to be nickel-plated or possibly solid nickel. The bolt return spring is not captive, like the 1917, but more like the Browning AN-M2 aircraft type, which exits the front of the bolt during recoil and is held in the right sideplate via a relief notch. An unusual hard steel plate is recessed flush on the brass trunnion feed way, apparently to accommodate steel links as well. The tripod cradle is made of steel and does not employ a pintle. The gun mounts directly with a cross-pin. There is a large antiquated brass knob to the rear for elevation only. The whole cradle moves side to side for traverse fire. The entire yoke assembly is of cast brass and the third leg of the tripod is 30 inches long, whereas the 1917 third leg is 26 inches.

This project first got on its feet during a phone conversation with Stan Andrewski of Webster, New Hampshire when he enthusiastically recalled a new semiautomatic-only Browning 1919 he’d seen at Knob Creek. He said, “This is as close as it gets to the real thing.” I promptly made the call and was instantly impressed with the degree with which Mr. Tim Keller of Newton Falls; Ohio was willing to work with me on this project. There would be serious differences in the riveting of the original 1928 bottomplate. When confronted with this request (and many, many more) Tim replied “No problem, I’ll turn new ones on the lathe.” With that statement, Tim and his new company Black Bear Mfg. Ltd. had the go ahead and all my confidence to start the work. When I had questions about the semi-automatic conversion itself, Tim was kind enough to put me in direct contact with the inventor (and business partner) Mark Jacobs of North Jackson, Ohio. What really surprised me about Mark was he had never ever seen any other conversion of this particular model and was starting from scratch!

Sometime ago, Mark and his friends bought five Browning 1919 parts sets from Sarco of Stirling, New Jersey to build into semi-automatics. They soon discovered that there were no plans out there at the time. After many long, sleepless nights and several ideas later, Mark came up with an astonishing system, which was incredibly simple and robust. Twenty thousand rounds were run through his test gun and there were no broken parts of any kind. He designed a new bolt, sear, trigger and receiver right sideplate. Most other semi-automatic conversions employ a uniformly thicker right sideplate. This one is different. It has five 1/8”x 1”x 0.050” raised areas, with two in the front of the receiver and three toward the rear. They are barely even noticeable. The right side of the bolt, barrel extension and lock frame have the corresponding relief cuts. The bolt also has a 0.110” wider sear slide that will not accept anything but the new semiautomatic-only sear. This is also a new design, with a square trigger engagement notch different from the 1919 angled notch. They use the original lock frame and rear half of the trigger, and the way it disconnects is pure genius.

A complete set of plans with instructions is available from Black Bear Mfg. Ltd. at (330) 503-9863 for $150.00 and well worth it. If you’re mechanically challenged you can order a live test-fired 1919A4 semiautomatic-only for $1,895.00. The shipping crate (available at an additional fee), was custom made out of clear pine, the cradle was felt lined and the false bottom contained barrels chambered in .308, 8mm and .30-06. New additional parts included an extra bolt, barrel extension, backplate, a 1917 style muzzle gland, fiber washers and cartridge adapters in .308 and 7.65x53mm. The whole crate is painted O.D. green and stenciled with my name, the gun’s serial number and on each side “COLT BROWNING 1928.” I requested some extras including a modified top cover, a trunnion for multi-caliber use, tightening of the front sight, some repair work on the backplate retainer studs and the top cover latch spring. Also a little work was done on the threads of the flash hider, a custom serial number and much more. You simply couldn’t ask for a better semiautomatic-only conversion of this incredibly rare machine gun.

By Jeff W. Zimba

For several years there have been underground rumblings concerning something called “The Shrike” that was going to change the way we look at and utilize the M16 series. That day has finally arrived. Manufactured by Ares Defense Systems, it is poised to hit the market in late February and it has been one of the most anticipated weapons systems in recent memory.

The Shrike 5.56™ is a “drop on” belt-feed upper receiver assembly for the AR-15/M16 family of firearms. It requires absolutely no permanent modification to the lower receiver and allows the shooter the option of belt feed operation while still allowing the alternate use of the standard M16 detachable box-type magazine at the operator’s discretion. This new upper receiver assembly is an accessory and not a firearm in and of itself.

The namesake of this revolutionary new unit is oddly enough, a bird. The Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor), native to Canada is sometimes referred to as the butcherbird because of its practice of impaling its prey on thorns and barbed wire similar to the way butcher hangs meat in their shops. It is a small creature that packs an enormous amount of power, which also seems to describe this new weapons system perfectly.

The Shrike was invented and designed by Geoffrey A. Herring of Ares Defense Systems in Blackburg, Virginia. Herring has several patents pending on the Shrike. It was originally conceived by Herring as a way to provide the rifle squad with a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) without subtracting a rifleman. In order to meet this MENS (Mission Essential Need Statement) strict design parameters were required.

The weight was a major concern and with the complete rifle in the M4 configuration, including the Shrike unit, weighing in at less than 8 pounds, empty, Herring was well under the average 15-27-pound guns that troops were currently fielding.

As the M16 has been our primary service weapon for over 40 years, as well as that of many of our major allies, it seemed to be a natural choice as the host firearm for the Shrike. There were several attractive aspects to this, i.e., a substantial number of trained service personal already familiar with the M16 lower receiver, as well as a large national inventory already of spare parts necessary for the lower half of the firearm. This presented a cost-effective concept for the potential users.

The Shrike, well suited for military and law enforcement applications, was also designed to be a user-friendly system for civilian shooters and class III enthusiasts also. The system was developed with the idea that it must be able to function in a semiautomatic-only variation that would be adaptable to the thousands of AR-15 rifles in private hands. This brings a whole new dimension of shooting to those who do not live in class III friendly states, have trouble with their “Cleo’s” signing off on BATF Form 4s or just don’t want to spend the money or engage in the hassle of lengthy paperwork required to buy a registered machine gun.

Recreational and competitive shooters will love the option to use belts rather than standard box magazines for several reasons. Box magazines are easily damaged, cumbersome while trying to shoot from the prone position and they are becoming more expensive every day. The M27 links used with the Shrike are currently inexpensive and plentiful and when the box magazine is not inserted, the weapon can be much lower to the ground or shooting bench. For those who have purchased their AR-15 since 1994 and have guns considered to be “post-ban,” Ares Defense is offering a Shrike in a post-ban configuration.

Class III enthusiasts certainly have something to celebrate with the introduction of the Shrike. Since the 1986 ban on machine gun manufacture for civilian ownership has gone into effect, prices on transferable guns have gone through the roof. There were very few belt-fed machine guns chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO prior to the ban and prices on the ones that were available have become out of reach for most collectors. Before the introduction of the Shrike the only options were to spend in excess of $40,000 on a transferable Stoner 63(A) when one was available, or if you were fortunate enough to have a Class III license you could have purchased a “Pre-86” dealers sample FN Minimi in the area of $60,000 – $70,000 or more. Now we have the option of purchasing an M16 in the area of $6,000, adding a Shrike for another $2,995 and having a 5.56x45mm NATO belt-fed machine gun for well under $10,000.

The Shrike functions with either readily available M27 ammunition links or with the standard M16 box magazine currently on the market. Unlike the Stoner 63 there is no need to rearrange any parts when swapping from one feed type to the other. You can fire a magazine and empty it, lift the top cover and drop a belt into the feed tray, hit the bolt release to chamber a round and fire the belt until it is gone. Once the belt is gone you can insert another box magazine into the magazine-well, charge the firearm and continue firing.

The receiver of the Shrike is manufactured from 7075-T6 forgings. The quick-change barrel includes a barrel extension with non-adjustable headspace. It is gas-piston-operated and the standard handguard is insulated with a sheet-metal heat shield. Most of the parts are proprietary. Early prototypes used M16 bolts but Ares found that manufacturing their own parts, with their own modified design specifications results in a better end product. As it stands now, the only part that is unmodified from a standard M16 upper receiver assembly is the firing pin.

The lower receiver remains unmodified with the exception of adding a stronger main spring to assist in stripping rounds from the links, which require a higher stripping force than from a standard box magazine. The bolt catch supplied with the Shrike is also different, as the top section is displaced slightly rearward to bring it out from behind the feed tray. This part exchange takes less than three minutes and does not affect the way your lower receiver operates with any standard upper receiver.

Most weapons share several functions with existing weapons and the Shrike is no exception. Early pioneers in the art of gun design such as John Browning, Sir Hiram Maxim and Melvin Johnson developed principals that continue to be utilized and improved upon and new designers employ these principals along with new ideas to achieve their products. The Shrike uses a two-step shuttle feed with a traditional top cover such as the MG42. The quick-change barrel system is similar to that of the Stoner 63(A). Unique features not found in other weapons systems include mating of the Shrike to the factory lower receiver exactly like the original upper receiver and providing the option of using belts or magazines without modifying the lower receiver.

The fire control is exactly the same as your standard AR-15 or M16 and is not changed in any way by the addition of the Shrike upper receiver. If you have a semiautomatic-only AR-15, it will function in “SAFE-SEMI” just like the original. Since the bottom of Shrike bolt carrier was designed to provide the same functions as the original bolt carrier in the factory upper receiver, if you purchase the semiautomatic-only version, it will function with a registered lightning link. If you have burst fire control components in your lower receiver you will achieve the same performance with the Shrike upper as you do with the factory upper receiver, thus providing a closed-bolt “SAFE-SEMI-BURST” function. If you have a four-position trigger mechanism you will still be provided with a closed-bolt “SAFE-SEMI-BURST-FULL” function. If you have an open-bolt fire control mechanism such as the unit designed by Henry Tatro of Colt Industries, you will have an open-bolt “SAFE-FULL” mechanism such as the one used in the Colt M16A2 LMG, Model 750. A standard M16 type Shrike bolt carrier will have to be modified to work in this system and Ares Defense may provide this service to their customers at some point in the future.

The TAC™ trigger system invented by Terry Soper produces a closed-bolt “SAFE-SEMI-SEMI/AUTO” function very similar to the Steyr AUG rifle. When the “AUTO” position is selected the operator can fire in either “SEMI” or “FULL” depending upon the amount of force applied to the trigger. All of the above trigger mechanisms will function and may be used with Shrike as described.

Ares Defense has designed a few of their own trigger systems to work with their upper receiver to permit open-bolt fire in the “FULL” position when installed in a registered lower receiver. Because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) has ruled that an open-bolt firing mechanism installed in a semiautomatic-only firearm manufactured after 1981 would be a machine gun in and of itself, they designed these only to fit registered MIL-spec lower receivers. The first variation produces an open-bolt “SAFE-AUTO” function. The second variation produces a closed-bolt “SAFE-SEMI” and an open-bolt “AUTO” function. These will both be available as accessory options for those with approved Form 4’s or an FFL/SOT.

When I inquired as to what configurations the Shrike would be offered in, Geoff smiled and quoted Henry Ford’s famous “You can have any color Ford that you want, but they will all leave the factory black.” He said that in order to keep cost to a minimum for the end users they have settled on one basic configuration that should fit the majority of applications. A standard unit will be shipped with a 16-inch non-chrome-lined quick-change barrel with a twist rate of one turn in 9 inches. It will have a nylon-insulated hand guard, fixed sights, and a MIL-STD-1913 rail on the top cover, and a 1/4-inch small front take down pin. An offset pin can be used to mate it to the large-hole Colt AR-15s. Purchasers will have the option of a full-auto or semiautomatic-only bolt carrier and a pre-ban or post-ban barrel. The only difference between the full-auto and the semiautomatic-only is the stripped bolt carrier. The post-ban barrel has no threads and employs a permanently attached muzzle brake as per BATF guidelines and the pre-ban barrel has a standard 1/2×28 thread with a flash hider.

There are several accessories that will be available for the Shrike. Some are shorter barrels (13 – 20 inches), bipods, tactical barrel bags, SAW belt-box adapters, tripod T&E adapters, folding sights, a belt-linking machine and more. Proof of approved Form 4 or FFL/SOT must accompany any order for barrels shorter than 16 inches or for any open-bolt fire control components.

Just like any firearm, barrel life is going to depend heavily on maintenance and type of usage. If the operator practices good fire control discipline and regularly maintains the system the barrel should meet or exceed 20,000 rounds. If the shooter fires in 200-round bursts, reloads and does it over and over, (like we often see at large recreational events) barrel life will be significantly shorter.

Offering the Shrike in other calibers is not something on the horizon at this time. Many people have expressed interest in a 7.62x39mm caliber but it doesn’t seem practical now. The only belts that are really available for this caliber are Soviet RPD belts and Czech VZ-52 belts, both being fairly rare and somewhat expensive. The fact that they are both of a non-disintegrating design will further hinder performance of the Shrike due to the link ejection port being positioned above the brass ejection port. Just like there is an exception to every rule, there may be potential for one more caliber though. Where some countries do not allow civilian ownership of firearms in calibers slated for military use, the 5.56x45mm NATO may be restricted in some areas. If there were enough demand, Ares Defense would not rule out a conversion for .222 Remington that could be accomplished with a simple barrel change.

Shooting the Shrike

The configuration we brought to the range was a pre-production model with a 14-inch barrel in M4 configuration. We opted to use an optional vertical pistol grip on the front handguard. Before we started shooting we all had a briefing on the Shrike System and it was explained that we were shooting the last experimental, pre-production model manufactured before final production was implemented. Herring made us aware of upgrades implemented between manufacturing this model and the production model that would be shipped very soon. The level of research and development that had gone into this project over the last few years was now becoming obvious, as no detail seemed to be left to chance.

As we began the testing, Herring demonstrated the ability of the lower receiver, now with the Shrike upgrade of the new spring and bolt catch installed, to operate flawlessly with a M4A1 “standard issue” upper receiver as used by USSOCOM forces. He inserted a 30-round magazine and emptied it immediately. After the magazine was empty the bolt was locked open by the magazine follower such as in any standard AR15/M16. Now it was time to get to the Shrike.

The first of our tasks was to test the Shrike for belt pull. Many people who are not familiar with a belt feed mechanism are not aware of the amount of energy necessary to operate the action. It takes much more energy to strip a round from a belt than it does to strip a round from a conventional box magazine. In a box magazine the rounds are usually under spring tension being forced in the direction of the action and will automatically advance as each round is fired. In a Belt feed mechanism the action of the firearm must actually pull the belt into the mechanism and this requires additional energy. When you add the additional weight of an extremely long and heavy belt the extra energy necessary required to run the action is compounded.

Herring was first to shoot the Shrike in this testing phase and had actually been shooting 100-round hanging belts since this project was in its early stages. This was something he did on a regular basis and once again this task was accomplished with ease. After a brief conversation he loaded a hanging 200-round belt from the Shrike and held it over his head to try and keep the belt from hitting on the ground. A few rounds were fired in “SEMI” and then he switched the selector to “AUTO” and emptied the remainder of the belt without a malfunction. Everyone was satisfied with these results as it was an extreme situation because the belt is usually only pulled from a very short distance, most typically a hanging ammo box that is mounted immediately below the receiver. Since we were conducting a test we decided to push on. A belt over 300 rounds was linked and Herring had to stand on the tailgate of one of our test vehicles and hold the gun high over his head again to get as many rounds in the air as possible. At this point there was over 10 feet of linked 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition hanging from the feed tray of the Shrike. He again fired a couple of rounds on “SEMI” and switched the selector to “FULL.” After firing approximately thirty to forty rounds feeding flawlessly in “FULL,” he switched it back to “SAFE” and jumped down off the tailgate. Everyone in attendance decided that if this portion of the test were to go any further we would need an extremely long ladder. Our collective feeling was that it passed the belt pull test with flying colors and I even think it exceeded Herring’s own expectations.

The second phase of testing was to swap the feed device from one method of feed to another and back again without changing or altering the configuration, or even cleaning out remaining links from the link chute of the feed tray. We wanted to find out how it would function in a situation where a belt was expended and the availability of more ammo was only a standard 30-round box magazine. And then, going one step further, load with another belt.

A belt was loaded into the Shrike and it was charged. The entire belt was emptied and the bolt chugged forward. Upon this happening a loaded magazine was loaded into the factory magazine well and the charging handle was pulled back and dropped home. The entire 30 rounds were emptied in a few short bursts. With this, the magazine release was hit and the magazine fell to the ground. The top cover was lifted, another belt was inserted and with one hit of the bolt release, a round was stripped from the belt and locked into battery for firing. A few short bursts later and the last of the linked ammo was swallowed up by the Shrike. This test was also performed without failure.

Our next phase was to get the unit in the hands of several testers and get everyone’s individual opinion of comfort and controllability. All opted for a large belt and had different types of trigger discipline. Some fired several short bursts, some fired a small burst and a large burst and some just dumped their belts. Some of the shooters mentioned the presence of a slight “trigger-slap” and others felt nothing different than a standard M16 at all. The consensus of all the shooters, regardless of shooting style, was that the gun was very controllable and comfortable to shoot.

In absolute fairness, as the Shrike System definitely exceeded our expectations overall, the day was not without a few predictable slow-downs. As mentioned above, there were a couple of upgrades Herring implemented between this last pre-production model and those being manufactured for sale. One of these production upgrades consisted of changing the pin that secures the non-reciprocating charging handle to the bolt for cocking. On the early prototype the pin was simply pressed in and had a tendency to want to walk out. The production model has this pin cross-drilled and pinned to the charging handle to completely alleviate this problem. We experienced one slowdown due to this pin walking out as expected.

The second slowdown we experienced occurred when the pin that is part of the operating rod assembly sheared. Even with a problem of this magnitude, amazingly enough the system still continued to function firing in a three-shot burst mode. This problem has already been addressed as well in the series production phase by simply instituting an engineering change notice. All of our concerns were addressed and corrected prior to the first production run and we are now anxiously awaiting of the first shipment of the Shrike .556 Advanced Weapons System to arrive to their new owners.

Watch the pages of Small Arms Review for a future “Torture Test” and detailed photographic field strip and disassembly of the Shrike and information on new upgrades and accessories including the adaptation of the modified M203 40mm Grenade Launcher.

About Ares Defense Systems

Ares Defense Systems is an acronym for Advanced Research and Engineering Services for Defense Systems. Geoffrey A. Herring formed and licensed the company with BATF in 1997, in an effort to transform his passion for designing firearms and mechanisms into a business. Small arms study and metal machining have been cornerstones of Herring’s life since childhood.

Ares Defense Systems, LLC is primarily a Research & Development Laboratory with manufacturing capabilities. While some production components are sub-contracted to other establishments, the major portion of the products are machined in-house on MAZAK vertical and horizontal CNC machining centers. In addition to their own in-house projects, Ares Defense Systems, LLC provides small arms consultation and if needed, prototype development for companies with new and innovative small arms products.

Contact Information

Ares Defense Systems, LLC is located at the US Government’s secure Radford Army Ammunition Plant in Radford, Virginia, USA. Radford Arsenal is a restricted-access military reservation; therefore, all meetings are by appointment only.

Mailing Address
Ares Defense Systems, LLC
P.O. Box 10667
Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-0667 USA

Shipping Address
Ares Defense Systems, LLC
Radford Army Ammunition Plant
Building 208
State Route 114
Radford, Virginia 24141 USA

Telephone: (540) 639-8633
Fax: (540) 639-8634
E-mail: sales@aresdefense.com
Website: www.aresdefense.com

By Dan Shea

SAR had the opportunity to examine a Chinese Type 67 integrally sound suppressed pistol while overseas. This particular example was manufactured in 2000. The caliber is .32 Rimless – a special round (7.65x17mm Rimless). We were unable to locate any of this ammunition to perform chronograph testing.

The suppressor was threaded onto the muzzle of the host pistol. This was quite interesting, as early examples of the Type 67 observed in the scrap heap at Long Binh, Vietnam, had a “twist-and-press” means of attaching and detaching the suppressor, similar to the Type 64 sound suppressed pistol. Removing the suppressor on either model requires swinging the sheet-metal trigger guard down and out of the way. The trigger guard indexes the suppressor. Once the suppressor is removed, you can observe that it is vented in one small series of concentric vents at the tip of the chamber, then not vented anymore. When the front sight is aligned properly, the trigger guard will slide back into place, a very good feature for maintaining both sight alignment and point of impact after reassembly.

The suppressor internals are wire mesh, with a thin sheet-metal tube around the mesh assembly that slides into the tubular suppressor housing. Wire mesh is used as a “heat sink” and disrupts the path of the expanding propellant gasses. The front end of the suppressor has one baffle and one wipe which appeared to be rubber and had a central hole. The end cap is flat, no front concavity at all, which I would have expected in such a “close-and-personal” weapon. The Type 67 seems designed for the same role the British Welrod has filled so nicely over the years, with the added potential of semiautomatic fire.

This somewhat unique design features a split-type slide, the rear portion of which has a cross bolt lock on it. There is a two-stage trigger that when pulled back slightly permits semiautomatic fire. A firm pull on the trigger while firing, will block the slide from retracting, making a locked slide single shot. This is an excellent feature for clandestine weaponry of this type. This differs from the earlier, heavier, Type 64 pistol that provided for locked breech operation only when a selector bar was pushed to the right. This provides the operator with two choices – one shot with no empty case ejection or semiautomatic fire with conventional case ejection.

Ammunition performance is apparently variable, with some reported by Jane’s Ammunition Handbook 1998-99 as not penetrating an aircraft skin from 2 meters, but still having a moderate wound ballistics potential against human targets. This writer would still consider this weapon system to be a point blank tool. The caliber is also described variously as 7.65x17mm Rimless and 7.62 x17mm Rimless.

There is a convenient lanyard loop set out of the way in the lower side of the left hand grip frame area. This is a wise addition to an operational pistol. The black painted grip panels are held on with a single machine screw that goes through the pistol and holds the two wooden grips together.

The workmanship altogether was a bit crude, and the “screwdriver” on the front of the magazine base where it sticks out forward, is truly annoying. It almost seems designed to cut your hand from that position.

Disassembly:

Point in a safe direction and remove magazine, then retract the slide to inspect the chamber to ensure it is clear.

At the rear of the slide is a flathead screw, parallel to the bore axis. This screw is the tip of a guide rod very similar to a Browning 1919A4 machine gun recoil rod. To remove this, use a flathead screwdriver (The magazine has a flathead screwdriver on the front of it, but it is very weak and may twist off. The operator may want to grind this off anyway, as it is an annoying protrusion) DO NOT ALLOW YOUR FACE TO GET IN THE PATH OF THIS RECOIL ROD- IT IS UNDER HEAVY TENSION. Depress the rod and turn it with the screwdriver- you will feel the tension increase, and allow this rod and spring system to come to the rear and out of the slide. Be sure to control this operation carefully.

Using a thin blade flathead screwdriver or other suitable object, carefully pry the sheet metal trigger guard down and off the suppressor tube – it is hinged at the rear and will remain attached there. Turn the suppressor tube in an anti-clockwise manner – the threads are right hand. Remove the suppressor tube to the front. You will now be faced with a tightly rolled piece of wire mesh that surrounds the barrel – pull this out carefully from the front. The wire mesh has a thin tube that goes around it for support and containment. There is a cap that fits on the other end of the mesh. You may tap out the wipe and baffle from the tube.

Remove the screw holding the two grips in place.

Disassembly beyond this was not performed on the example we had access to, and from what I saw, I would not recommend it in the field. Access to all parts for cleaning is now available.

Reassemble in the reverse order. Note: putting the wire mesh back onto the barrel is tricky – this is not a highly advanced suppressor design. Be sure to check the path of the bore for obstructions after you put the wire mesh and its shield back over the barrel. The trigger guard will index the front sight on the suppressor tube – the guard will not go into place until the tube is properly aligned. Once everything is in place, close the slide and install the recoil rod assembly. Do this with great care, and remember it is pushed in, and then turned about a quarter turn – until you feel it come back up a slight bit and lock into the detent index, very similar to a 1919A4 recoil spring rod.

SAR’s Technical Specifications for the Chinese Type 67 suppressed pistol:

Caliber: 7.65x17R (.32 Rimless).
Overall Length: 8.875 inches (226.2 mm).
Barrel Length: 3.375 inches (95.25 mm).
Suppressor dimensions: 5 x 1 inch (127x 25.4 mm).
Height: 5 inches (127 mm).
Width: 1.125 inches (28.575 mm). Weight, Empty: 2.31 pounds (1.05 kg).
Magazine: 9-round, single-column, detachable box-type.
Barrel: Four grooves with right-hand twist.
Muzzle Velocity:
     755-820 fps (230-250 m/s) – From Jane’s. However, there are various reports of 1,017 fps (310 m/s), which would be more logical.
Firing Modes: Semiautomatic or locked slide.
Method of operation: Blowback.
Lock up method: Split slide, cross-bolt lock.
Finish on metal surfaces: blued.
Construction of receiver: Steel.
Furniture: Wood, painted black
Manufacturer: China North Industries Corp (Norinco), Dept. SAR, P.O. Box 2137, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
Iron Sights: Rudimentary Fixed, front and rear; front sight: crude blade;
rear sight: flat with notch.
Range of use: Point blank out to 15 meters/yards.

By J David Truby

Would Hitler have ordered the invasion of the British Isles had he and his General Staff known that many of the automatic weapons and rifles shown in Home Guard news photos from 1940 were…wooden guns?

There is a story behind that question, but first a bit of background history.

Prior to World War II, the British government had already confiscated private firearms from its citizens in a flurry of anti-gun activity somewhat like the continued anti-gun hysteria in the U.S. today. As a result, the British were largely disarmed when Hitler’s armies stood poised across the very short moat of the English Channel, ready for invasion. Even as weapons came from America, there were simply not enough.

One of those weapons coming from America was the famed Thompson submachine gun. Winston Churchill, Great Britain’s legendary symbol of World War II spirit, was quoted in the U.S. press as saying, “General Thompson’s gun may be, pound for pound, the most devastating weapon ever devised for war.”

His words moved to action quickly. The British government, which had told Auto Ordnance, the Thompson gun builder, a few years earlier that it wanted nothing to do with “that tatty American gangster gun,” was suddenly ordering thousands of the submachine guns. The orders came so fast that Auto Ordnance had to subcontract to Savage Arms to meet British needs.

In February of 1940, the British government began placing orders on commercial contract for Thompsons and by year’s end had bought nearly 110,000 weapons. Then, in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt decreed Lend Lease operational for our future allies, which effectively opened the doors of our arsenals, sending thousands of machine guns and submachine guns, including Thompsons, to the beleaguered British.

With Dunkirk a horrendous reality, Britain had lost many of her soldiers and most of her modern weapons; the threat of a German invasion was right there, in His Majesty’s face, staring across the Channel. Britain was, as the cliché said so accurately, a tiny, beleaguered, isolated island in that lonely summer of ’40.

At this point, Churchill and his staff, as adept with the weapons of psychological warfare as with the hardware, knew they had to add some feint to their fight. Propaganda, a tactic, which would be called Psychological Operations, a couple of wars later, was ordered to the attack.

About the only time the military and politicians are friendly and cooperative with the press is when it suits their own purpose, i.e., propaganda. After the disaster/miracle of Dunkirk and the Hitler-threatened invasion of the Home Isles, the British needed propaganda ammunition almost as much as the real thing. Churchill, Britain’s Prime Minister knew the value of propaganda, having utilized it in one form or another his entire career, personal and professional.

Various British units, reserve and regular, passed around the supply of modern weapons and were duly photographed with them for the world’s press, so as to appear that all were fully equipped with modern, automatic weapons.

As Mike Willis, of the Imperial War Museum staff, noted, “My father’s Home Guard Battalion had a considerable number of Thompsons and BARs and occasionally they were stripped of these weapons so they could be passed along to other units, to be photographed with them, to make it appear that all men were well-armed.”

Because there were not enough weapons to go around, some training and firearms drills were carried out using replica guns made from wood, the main phantom armament for the forces of propaganda.

Mike Willis reports that there were considerable numbers of wooden rifles and submachine guns produced in England during 1940 and 1941. He notes that the specimens he’s seen show great variation in detail and sophistication.

The wooden weapons were produced by local craftsmen at small workshops scattered across the country, just as many real small arms were subcontracted. Although the major use of the wooden guns was for training, a lesser known and, perhaps more vital use was for Churchill’s propaganda war.

Some of these weapons, numbering in the hundreds, were more fully detailed and finished, so they could be visually and openly handled by forces guarding vital military and home defense locations. The idea was to fool German agents already in place on British soil into reporting that the supply of modern, automatic weapons was much more vast than was thought, thus, possibly delaying an invasion, according to reports from Churchill’s wartime papers.

The wooden Thompson shown in this article is 32 3/4 inches long and weighs 5 1/2 pounds, as opposed to a real Thompson M1928A1, which is 33 3/4 inches long and weighs 10 3/4 pounds. The Thompson M1, which closely resembled the wooden models, is 32 inches long and weighs 10 1/2 pounds. It is currently owned by a private collector in Pennsylvania.

A.E. Hale, a British Ministry of Defence officer during World War II, recalls the propaganda planning in general and the wooden guns in particular, saying, “We had wooden rifles and some other training weapons, including some of the Thompsons. Mr. Churchill had the brilliant flash that we could also use these finished training weapons in propaganda photos.”

Thus, Home Guard and other defense units posed for publicity photos, showing the front ranks armed with a variety of Thompsons, Enfields, Bren and Lewis guns. Cursory examination of other rows of guard and reserves showed similar weapons. Closer examination would have shown that some of these other weapons were wooden, dummy weapons designed to fool German analysts studying the press photos and motion picture newsreels to make an intelligence estimate of the British capability for resisting an invasion.

Hale said, “We knew their agents would eagerly send these photos, which did appear in ours and American newspapers and their newsreels, to their intelligence analysts. Our hope is that they’d be fooled into thinking we were armed far more capably than we really were.”

Yet, as even the casual Thompson expert will observe, the wooden gun shown here has a drum magazine. A drum could not be used in the real M1 model. Hale noted, “As our people missed that detail, perhaps the Germans did also. We had a lot of your very real 1928 models with drums, though, and they surely looked formidable, even in photographs.”

For whatever the reason, of course, the invasion of England never happened. Whether or not the wooden Thompson played more than a very minor role in that bit of history is open to broad speculation.

A.E. Hale speculated, “Back then I would have feared the result had we not tried everything in our arsenal of subterfuge including those wooden machine guns.”

• August 2000 – Industry wins first appellate court decision with the upholding of the Oct. 1999 dismissal of Cincinnati’s lawsuit by the Ohio Court of Appeals.
• Sept. 2000 – Judge dismisses Chicago’s lawsuit.
• Dec. 2000 – Camden County’s lawsuit is dismissed as is the City of Philadelphia’s suit.
• Jan. 2001 – Industry suspends HUD suit. City of Gary’s suit ruled unconstitutional.
• Feb. 2001 – Miami-Dade’s suit is rejected by Florida Appellate Court.
• March 2001- City of Gary’s suit dismissed a second time.
• April 2001- City of New Orleans suit (the first-of-its- kind) was dismissed by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
• Aug. 2001 – ‘Hamilton Decision’ reversed by U.S. Court of Appeals.
• Oct. 2001 – CT Supreme Court upholds dismissal of City of Bridgeport’s suit and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to revive the City of New Orleans’ suit. Also, a U.S. Appeals court finds the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. To top the month off, the Florida Supreme Court rejects the Miami-Dade gun suit.
• Nov. 2001- A federal appeals court rejects the Camden County gun suit.
• February 2002 – The Georgia Court of Appeals dismisses the City of Atlanta’s suit.
• March 2002 – The City of Boston abandons its lawsuit.

A net income for the fourth fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2002 of $2.4 million, a 100% increase over the net income of $1.2 million for the third quarter, is reported by Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. The net income of $2.4 million was achieved on revenues of $23.8 million, an increase of 10% over the sales of $21.6 million achieved in the firm’s third quarter ended Jan. 31, 2002.

The company reported earnings of 11 cents per basic share outstanding and 8 cents per diluted share outstanding for the quarter ended April 30, 2002 versus earnings of 7 cents per basic share outstanding and 4 cents per diluted share outstanding for the third quarter.

EBITDA (Revenue minus Expenses, excluding tax, interest, depreciation and amortization) for the fourth quarter was $3.8 million compared to the third quarter EBITDA of $3.1 million, an increase of about 22 %. The increases, according to S&W, are attributable to marketing efforts resulting in improved sales, management’s efforts to consistently monitor and cut costs equating to better profit margins and a renewed positive sentiment toward S&W as it was returned to U.S. ownership.

“Our net income better reflects the cost cuts put in place by new management since acquiring the company last May,” commented Mitchell Saltz, chairman and ceo. “The steady trend of quarterly improvement throughout our fiscal year clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of our business plan.”

In other financial news, Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. recently announced it had executed a $15 million loan agreement with BankNorth and has retired $15 million in short-term debt related to its acquisition of Smith & Wesson Corp. last year, with the funds. The company retired a short-term $10 million note owed to Tomkins PLC and a $5 million note to Colton Melby, a member of the board of directors. The 12-year note to BankNorth carries an interest rate of 5.85% and is interest only for two years and straight amortization over the remaining 10 years.

Melby has chosen to reinvest the entire $5 million into equity. He has exercised his warrants for about $2.8 million and has reinvested the remaining $2.2 million through a private investment in common stock of the company.

“This transaction allows us to fulfill the balance of our short-term purchase requirement to Tomkins PLC by retiring the short-term note ahead of schedule and replacing it with a long-term note at a favorable interest rate, while adding $5 million in shareholder equity,” said chairman Saltz.

S&W Corp. has signed an exclusive worldwide agreement with AngioLax, to market and distribute the Tactical Vision product line developed and manufactured by AngioLaz. The products involved are unique new inspection and surveillance tools designed primarily for law enforcement and military applications. AngioLaz is a sister-company of Vermed Inc., a maker of medical equipment.

The Tactical Vision products are small, pole-mounted video cameras that have their own light source and integrated video monitor that allow the user to safely view areas otherwise inaccessible. Among the applications is the ability to look underneath vehicles, up or down staircases and into second floor locations from the ground. The non-conductive telescoping pole can be easily user adjusted from 57 inches to 12 feet. It is available with either an integral Infrared or LED light source.

“S&W’s brand name, reputation and global distribution network make them the ideal company to market and sell the Tactical Vision product line,” said Rich Kalich, AngioLaz’ president and COO. “We look forward to a long and growing relationship.”

The author publishes two of the small arms industry’s most widely read trade newsletters. The International Firearms Trade covers the world firearms scene, and The New Firearms Business covers the domestic market. Visit www.FirearmsGroup.com. He may be reached at: FirearmsB@aol.com.

Specialists in the tactical market for over twenty years, Accuracy International has a reputation for building military bolt action rifles of the finest quality. Continuing in that tradition, they have now introduced their new AE series rifle. The new rifle is chambered in .308 caliber and features a full-length aluminum chassis system. This new chassis is totally unaffected by climate changes, allows the shooter to apply a firm grip and any fixed object can act as a rest without transferring unwanted forces to the action. The new molded stock sides offer a se3cure and comfortable grip in all conditions. It is also impervious to solvents and cleaners. The chassis has a V-block mounting system for positive action/body location without introducing distorting forces. The 24 inch heavy match grade, free-floating barrel is threaded a full 1 inch into the action. The barrel has a twist rate of 1 in 12. The steel action can accept the optional Mil-Std 1913 optic rail. The new rifle also incorporates a fully adjustable trigger which can be set to as little as 3.3 pounds. Total weight of the AE rifle is 13lb, 4oz with an overall length of 44 inches. The rifle comes in any color you want as long as its black. Accessories include handstop, Harris bipod, Mil-Std 1913 rail, 8-shot magazine, sling, black soft case and a black hard transit case. The rifle carries a lifetime warranty to the original owner. For more information contact Accuracy International North America , Dept. SAR, POB 5267, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831. Phone: 1-865-482-0330. Fax: 1-865-482-0336. Web Site: www.accuracyinternational.com.

DSR-1 RIFLE FROM CQB PRODUCTS

CQB Products is proud to announce that they are going to be the exclusive importer/distributor and U.S. representative of AMP Technical Services’ new DSR-1 Rifle. The DSR-1 Rifle is said to be “The most sophisticated and technologically advanced tactical rifle in the world”. The new bull-pup style rifle is offered in three different calibers; .308, .300 Win Mag and .338 Lapua Mag. It features a fluted stainless steel barrel made by Lothar Walther (Shilen barrels available on request). The barrel system is free floated and quick change. This allows the rifle to be tailored to the shooter or mission. It can be changed to any of the three calibers as well as different barrel lengths. Barrel length for all calibers is 26.5 inches. At the muzzle end is a high efficiency, dual chamber, bi-lateral muzzle brake. The DSR-1 is magazine fed from either a 5-round (in .308 and .300 Win Mag) or a 4-round (.338 Lapua Mag) single stack magazines. Unique to the DSR-1 is a 3 axis rotational suspended bipod system. The rifle is suspended under the bipod allowing greater stability. The bipod has 3-way movability, cant, pitch and pivot. In addition the position of the bipod on the rifle is adjustable. The bipod legs also telescope in and out. Another innovative feature is an additional magazine well placed ahead of the trigger guard that houses a spare magazine which can be accessed very quickly. Other features of this innovative new rifle are almost to numerous to mention here. Some of the key features are a fully adjustable buttstock, adjustable trigger, hard mounted scope rail, adjustable forward hand grip and a full length Piccatiny rail. For more information on this innovative new rifle system contact CQB Products, Dept. SAR, 13681 Newport Ave #8330, Tustin, CA 92780. Phone: 1-714-731-9706. Web Site: www.cqbproducts.com.

LASERMAX NOW HAS MODELS FOR ALL GLOCKS

As the world’s only totally internal laser sight, LaserMax now manufacturers a sight for every Glock model sold in the United States. The LaserMax sight can be user installed in five minutes or less simply by field stripping the gun and dropping the laser sight in place of the original recoil spring guide assembly. After installing the new takedown lever with its integral on-off switch, the gun is reassembled and the sight is ready to use. No gunsmithing is needed. When the ambidextrous switch is activated, the highly visible pulsating laser beam is emitted directly below the gun barrel. The switch position reinforces uniform cover mode and standard safety practices. The pulsating beam increases accuracy and improves aiming speed by revealing the point of aim, which is in line with the gun barrel. As a law enforcement tool, the laser’s red dot has been proven to reduce assailant aggression. The laser adds less than one quarter-ounce to the weight of the gun, and with no external parts, your favorite grips and a standard holster can be used. Each LaserMax is factory aligned and carries a three year warranty on all but its expendable parts. For more information on these and other models for the LaserMax sights contact LaserMax, Inc., Dept. SAR, 3495 Winton Place, Bldg. B, Rochester, NY 14623. Phone: 1-716-272-5420. Fax: 1-716-272-5427. Web Site: www.lasermax-inc.com.

KG INDUSTRIES INTRODUCES THE “GAS GUN”

K.G. Industries, a technical innovator in shooting sports, is pleased to team up with Network Custom Guns to offer the revolutionary Gas Gun conversion for the classic Model 1911 pistol. The Gas Gun conversion improves performance in a number of key areas, including accuracy, recoil and firing rate. The Gas Gun is made for simple drop-in conversion into any standard 1911 pistol. Redesigning the 1911’s original link-system for an exclusive fixed-barrel, direct blow-back gas delay system, the Gas Gun eliminates many of the moving parts that contribute to the 1911’s characteristic recoil and reloading action. Because the Gas Gun’s barrel is fixed, it’s inherently more accurate. Computer-machined from Douglas match-grade air-gauged barrel blanks, the Gas Gun is manufactured to much tighter tolerances than the barrel it replaces. In the higher-end Ultimate model, the 1911’s slide it also replaced, with one that weights only half as much. Felt recoil is reduced by as much as 60% with the new Gas Gun and since, in all Gas Gun models the barrel is parallel to the frame, rather than tilted down (as in the original design), recoil energy is shifted straight back, to the shooter’s arm, rather than deflecting the wrist upward. This results in greater accuracy and control. Due to its superior design, the Gas Gun effectively doubles cycle-times over the old 1911. Among the Gas Gun’s other attributes, its self-cleaning gas system can handle magnum loads, and is less prone to wear, since the number of load-bearing moving parts has been reduced. For more information on the Gas Gun contact K.G. Industries, Dept. SAR, 537 Louis Drive, Newbury Park, CA 91320. Phone: 1-800-348-9558. Web Site: www.ncggasgun.com.