This issue is being handed out at the SHOT Show, and we are very pleased to present it to you. As always, your issue of Small Arms Review is something we’re proud of: a whole lot of people worked for a long time to bring you this issue. This is one of the reasons we decided to include an article on, “Who brings you your SAR.” We’ve also had a lot of fun and want to peak the interest of longtime readers who may have suspected hidden meanings here and there, so we included a short guide to some of the fun things we’ve done in the past.

Since this is being handed out at SHOT Show in January, the idea of having a pull out map for firearms friendly things to do in Las Vegas area seemed like a winner. We covered everyone we knew with a range and/or gun store, and hope we didn’t leave anyone out. There were a couple we see advertised or mentioned, but never got response by phone or email, and we couldn’t find them to stop in and visit, so, we hope this is inclusive. If you’re coming to SHOT show, just look that map over and plan your visits, everyone’s website is included so you can check their hours and details. There are several new ranges in town with machine guns, as well as the long-time shops. We suggest getting to Vegas a few days early, or stay a few days later, to explore this unique local phenomena.

Shameless Plug: if you stop in at “LMO: The Store,” in Henderson, it’s a great place to pick up back issues of SAR as well as books we publish and binders. Everyone knows that Debbie and I own LMO, I just wanted the readers to know that if they come to The Store, there’s a full rack of SAR there to browse through along with all the other Class 3 related items.

In this issue, we managed to cover the spectrum of our reader’s interests pretty well. Personally, I’m torn between the Swedish m/36 water-cooled Brownings that Robert wrote about – beautiful guns – and Maxim’s article on the Spetsnaz CQB rifles, the cornucopia of next generation Russian fighting weapons. The amazing Swedish twins that Robert scored are in excellent condition, and this might be the first time I have ever seen these covered in English, and certainly the best photos. On the other hand, the 9x39mm cartridge has really caught my interest, since firing it many years ago overseas. We have some to test thoroughly now (overseas), and will bring you those reports, but at LMO we’re also trying to replicate the cartridge stateside, so watch for that.

I’m just talking about my favorites in this issue, it’s all good. One thing that we should all be grateful for is the new NRA of the last decades. Our reports show just how NFA friendly the NRA has become at the Conventions. There are consistently important awards given to historical displays on machine guns and designers. This acceptance has run through much of the NRA leadership and the Board, and we should all continue to try to bring our concerns to them, and support the NRA in these types of endeavors. I think Robert Segel’s “The Machine Gun Designs of John Browning” display was outstanding, and several other SAR “Usual Suspects” have won awards for their displays in the past.

In that spirit, we should try and start the display section at the Small Arms Review show again. It was for lack of volunteers to run this that we had to stop doing it: there needs to be a consortium, and MLPLLC has always been a small company without the ability to overextend at a show. Our group could certainly have some interesting displays. Remember, displays do a number of things for the community; invite more interest in NFA, bring people out of the woodwork who have similar interests, and educate people (especially the young people) in general on the historical and technical importance of military firearms. For the person doing the display, there’s the satisfaction of sharing their collection and interest, and the chance that someone walking by will have the Holy Grail they need to top off a section of their collection.

-Dan

As a collector, I think this issue might be one of my favorites. We were all talking at the editor’s meeting and wanted to do something a bit special for the issue being handed out at the SAR West gun show (Our 11th SAR West, by the way). This issue is the result. We’ve been going more towards commercialized covers and just decided to do a simple one – a Dad and his two daughters, competing with their original historic Thompsons in a shoot. The story on that shoot is truly an American story, one that all collectors and shooters should be paying attention to – 20 years of competing with Thompsons and gathering with like-minded friends.

We’re also very happy to bring the story of the UC-9 submachine gun of RoboCop II fame to the readers, along with the news that there is actually another cache of transferable machine guns that has been unearthed. Personally, I thought it was great to just see a pic of the late Utah Conner in print, along with the elusive Marty Pearl. Marty made many of the fully transferable machine guns in the collections of our readers.

The Max Atchisson profile is a great one, digging into the source of many of our NFA toys as well. I corresponded with Max for many, many years, and finally met him when Kevin Brittingham invited me to his shop in Georgia and we went out to talk with Max. That was a roller-coaster ride for sure. Max was brilliant but tended to go off on tangents, and shooting fully automatic Reising .22 LR machine guns with AM180 drums on them in Max’s basement is something I’ll always remember fondly. Brilliant guy, of the sort that built the NFA community.

Of course, the finale of the Colonel Jarrett articles from Blake Stevens is the one that ties that series of four together. I never met Col. Jarrett, but it’s possible that he mentored almost every one of the people who mentored me into this business. In this issue, Blake lays out the whole smorgasbord of writers who influenced the small arms community starting in the 1940s, along with their books. At LMO we have a large pile of Col. Jarrett’s photography in the library, and many times we look over the photos of the “Farm Day” shoots that they had in the 1930s. They were working through the Great Depression, and dressing up and shooting machine guns, driving tanks, and using their biplanes… very inspirational, and I think instructional to those who are thinking we’re having an “end of days” event. Keep going to the shoots: that’s what keeps this community going.

Let’s see, WWII Browning belts – near and dear to my heart as an old 1919A4 fan… Vickers .50 calibers? Got to love it… I’ve been trying to find one in the U.S. for years. I’ve got a lock for the .50 Vickers Low Velocity gun, and occasionally can be seen toying with it, wishing the rest of the gun would magically appear. We’ve been able to work on them in the UK over the years; it’s just that none seem to be in the NFRTR…. Debunking the Repro 1929 Thompson Catalogs? Well, that’s one we need in the collector community because most of us will pay silly money for an original. Not to say that the ones they just turned up aren’t collectable as well… Hot vs Cold bullets – now that’s the kind of tech article we love to bring to the readers, it’s bound to start a thousand conversations… and the LWRCI PSD Rifle- a great modern rifle to get us all out to the range.

We’re all very pleased to bring you this issue, which we’re handing out at SAR West. We’ll also be handing out the KCR issue that didn’t make it on time. We only found out on Thursday night that the pallet was still 1,000 miles away and would be delivered on Monday – after the Creek. No other magazines made it to the Creek this time either, we’re not alone. I wasn’t sure I could get there due to AUSA, the Vegas Show, and Milipol Paris, but I did get to see people on Friday, buy some stuff, sell some stuff, and hit Mark’s Feed Store on the way back to Vegas.

On another note, like most print media, we’re fine-tuning things. Starting this month we’ve reduced the amount of magazines sent to outlets that aren’t selling at a high rate, and dropped some others. If your friend’s favorite bookstore doesn’t have the issue, instead of just laughing at him and not lending your copy to him, send him to www.smallarmsreview.com to subscribe. Or, let him read your copy, but we know how unlikely it is that you’ll let him keep it.

-Dan

We hope you enjoy this issue; it’s been a fun one to put together. From the cool review of the SIONICS Corporation and its colorful leader, Mitch Werbell, to the excellent series on West Hurley Thompson parts, the 1909 Benet-Mercie machine gun balanced by the 1909 Maxim Silencer, the Charlton revisited, and the Browning Belt series starting article, it’s been a great issue for the collector community. There’s a lot more in this issue, plus our expanded Class III directory.

Readers sometimes mention that this issue or that might not have that much that interest them, but others really “hit the spot.” This has a lot to do with where we anticipate handing out copies of SAR. Since this is a Knob Creek issue, we’re heavy on the collector stuff.

Blatant Plug:

Some of the most fascinating firearms designs of all came from pre-World War II era Japan. This has long been an interest for me, from the Baby Nambu pistols to the hopper fed Type 11 LMG. Most of my collecting time has had the Japanese machine guns involved in one way or another; and once most of the handguns, rifles, and machine guns are collected, the accessories and the memorabilia come in – machine gunner’s sake bottles, cups, trays, medals, etc. can be a fascinating study. We generally think of the Japanese WWII era submachine guns as being confined to two variations of the Type 100 in 8mm Nambu. Not true – there were a variety of SMGs used that were made in other countries and adapted over, as well as an intriguing variety of submachine gun designs that border on Bullpup or third generation manufacture – all in the 1920s-30s. SAR has previously told the story of several of these that were brought to the U.S. early on and registered in the 1968 Amnesty. Now, much more of the story is available. William M. P. Easterly, one of our community’s National Treasures, has put all of his research on the Japanese submachine guns into print. Admittedly, it’s not a polished book form presentation, it’s a self-published set of documents and photos, but he covers the subject thoroughly and adds so much information to the knowledge base that it’s incredible. I received this as we were going to press and wanted very much to get this information out to the Knob Creek crowd, thus the “Blatant Plug” in Sitrep. If you have an interest in Japanese weaponry of that era, you need this book. It’s available for $36- USD Post Paid in the U.S. from:

William M. P. Easterly
PO Box 2814
San Juan TX 78589-2814
Or, check it out on the website at www.dragonsoffire.com

Lastly, if you’re at Knob Creek, this may be the first one I’ve missed since sometime in 1983. With our other commitments around the world, it’s tough to drive the van and trailer out from Nevada, and shipping pallets out hasn’t worked too well in the past, but the reason is that at this point I have AUSA that week, then meetings in DC, then over to Milipol in Paris. I’m trying to get to the ‘Creek, but in case I don’t, I’ll see y’all at another ‘Creek, and I hope you have a fun, safe time.

-Dan

This issue of SAR is being handed out at two prominent U.S. military shows; Modern Day Marine and AUSA – the Association of the United States Army. Since so many of the new readers are active duty or retired military, we’d like to thank you for your service, and remind you of our “Cookies from Home for Shooters” program. Simply give us an APO or FPO address and we will send a box of approximately 30 back issues of SAR to the deployed service member at no charge. If you’re a reader and you think you would like to sponsor sending a box, please do: just send a check to us for this purpose. One military box costs $12.95 to send, so 10 boxes would be $129.50, 100 boxes would be $1,295. Our readers would be proud to realize how many people have stepped up to the plate and donated shipping costs to the troops since 2003.

SAR constantly receives thank you letters from the troops, dating back to the first build up in the current war; where Jeff Zimba made sure that the “Troop Greeters” in the airport at Bangor, Maine had a constant supply of SAR to hand out to the troops both passing through on the way to Iraq or Afghanistan, or on the way home. We have a firearms magazine, and that’s what we can give, and of course many of our troops are firearms enthusiasts so it’s a good fit.

For those who are unaware, the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Pete Geren, had 10,000 copies of SAR picked up and taken to the combat zone to hand out. We had already responded to the former Under Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Dionel Aviles (an avid SAR reader) and he had the United States Marines show up at our printer and accept our donation of 10,000 copies of SAR for the USMC. These went in-country and the response was stunning: they love the magazine. What more can you expect from “The Gun Club” as the USMC is sometimes referred to…

In any event, our estimate is that we have sent over 120,000 copies of SAR to the troops deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, on ships, and at bases as far as Korea and Djibouti. I remember one young Marine who was ticked off because his “Cookies from Home for Shooters” box came to the unit in Djibouti and his fellow Marines in time-honored fashion popped the box of goodies, split up his gear, and he came in and found them voraciously reading his SARs. He, in time-honored fashion, simply gave up because his brothers-in-arms were reading his firearms magazines and well, other than them breaking them in, no harm done and all had a good read.

We’ve had many stories from readers who deployed and when they got to their outpost in the puckerbrush, they climbed into the back of a beat up Humvee and found- dog-eared copies of SAR scattered around the back for some good down-time reading.

We at SAR have been supporting the troops in this way since day one. We believe in you. We hope that during your tour, if you were lucky enough to find copies of SAR or have them sent from us, that you enjoyed them and they helped pass the time or educate you a bit on the small arms in today’s world, as well as the historical arms used by some of the old fossils who contribute to this magazine.

God Bless, God speed, come home soon and watch six. -Dan

SARCON 2011 Canceled

Unfortunately, we did not receive enough pre-registrations to warrant having the 2011 SAR Convention here in Las Vegas this September. We’ve refunded all the Conventioneers who signed up, and will consider having another convention when the economy is stronger. We want to thank all of those who did sign up, and in case you had booked your tickets and were still coming out to Vegas that weekend, we’ll be happy to invite you to a small private shoot, barbecue, and tour of LMO at no charge. It seems that many of the people planning to attend had to put off their decision until July or August, and we simply can’t wait any longer without committing to large overhead fees. We want to bring you the best experience possible, and that may have to wait until 2012 or later if the economy isn’t back up and running.
In this issue, we bring you the continuing view into the amazing story of Colonel Jarrett and build-up to how he has influenced generations of the “Gun Culture” through his museum, Aberdeen, his wartime accomplishments, turning the tide in North Africa with his collector’s knowledge, and the trickle down effect of everything he did for us today. There are two more installments in this story in future issues so don’t miss them. I am particularly struck by how much of a gun-guy’s fantasy life he led. From the piles of interesting firearms and militaria he acquired at a very young age, to how his knowledge was so useful in defeating The Desert Fox himself and driving the Nazi’s back across the North African Desert. Sort of a “Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” fantasy story.
Well, Colonel Jarrett really did that, in his version and day. It’s a great story. We have some more like it to bring to you, as well as some upcoming Interviews with noted author and Tai-Pan Thomas B. Nelson, Jonathan Arthur Ciener himself, and Donald G. Thomas of MAC fame. -Dan

In this issue we have covered a lot of historical aspects of the machine gun with an emphasis on where you can go see things during your summer vacation. For those lucky enough to be in Germany in early July, it would be worth checking out the East Bloc Military Vehicle Festival. Twenty years has passed, and that’s enough time for the living history groups to start forgetting the bad stuff and remembering the interesting – keeping an eye out for DDR SKSs for sale, of course.

Those going to the UK would be well served with adding a visit to the Fort Nelson museum, a part of the Royal Armouries. I’ve been there many times, had the Cook’s Tour, and found many interesting pieces tucked away in the corners – there’s even a Nepalese twin barreled Bira gun in one little alcove, a very interesting first take on the machine gun idea from the 1870s, done by Nepal. Fort Nelson is worth a visit, especially in the summer.

The article on John Foote is especially interesting to the MAC shooting community. John played an essential part in that entire situation, and his other designs have influenced our community as well as popular culture with the Encom projects.

Perhaps most interesting to me is Part I of the story of Col. Jarrett. It’s possible the Colonel was the most influential man in all of small arms during the last century – at least to the scribes and historians who wrote the books on small arms starting in the 1950s. The rest of the community read those books from Tom Nelson’s World’s Submachineguns to Dan Musgrave’s German Machineguns, to the Collector Grade offerings. A later part of this series will cover the plethora of writers whose seminal works came from the mentoring of Col. Jarrett. In the LMO Library, we have the Colonel’s original film, and one day I hope to get it all digitized and identified. In that mother-lode of old glass and large format photography, was an envelope labeled “Dress up day at the Farm, 1937.” Inside this were pictures of what could be an early Knob Creek or Wikieup, a group of enthusiasts who in the mid-1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, went out and shot their machine guns. They didn’t just do that – they fired cannon, drove tanks, flew biplanes, fired Minnenwerfers, and dressed the part from the Zulu War to The Great War. Col. Jarrett and his group of enthusiasts found a way to get through the Great Depression by uplifting their spirits in the common cause of piling up empty brass. Sound familiar?

I have to admit that looking through these pictures always makes me wonder, “Is that my 1918 Chauchat, or my 1907 St. Etienne?” From the reaction of other collectors, they are doing the same thing as they look over the Jarrett pictures. Perhaps one day we’ll find a list of serial numbers of the firearms that were in the collection and chase them down to include that fascinating history.

In all, as we observe the fallout from the recent operation resulting in the death of Osama bin Laden (at last!), and the Arab spring turning into an uncertain Arab summer, I’m reminded of the seemingly eternal connection between our martial interest and the fate of the world. As Libya devolves towards its inevitable fate, we watch and most of our community is commenting not on the eventual end to this, but, “Did you see the DP-28s being used there? The SG-43s?” I am troubled of course, by the possible hijacking of these revolutions. From our Brothers-in-Arms who are true freedom fighters trying to free their peoples for a better world, stolen by the radical extremists, who will lead these countries back into the Dark Ages? Let’s hope the leadership of the West can come to terms with what needs to be done, and support the honorable Middle Eastern leaders and countries as these changes occur.

And, along with all collectors around the world, I’ll be watching for where all those 98 Mausers and MG34s end up… Dan

“We have a harder time with the red tape heroes than we do the enemy – maybe we are fighting the wrong guys.” – The late Volker Kurtz

Volker always had a way of cutting through the baloney. To those who didn’t know him, for decades he was the face of HK Oberndorf, running tests in jungles, deserts, and tundras, and also braving the sometimes hostile environment of the international trade shows. Volker was a true believer in not only HK, but primarily in the end users; soldiers, police, and anyone under arms that was on the side of what’s good and right. We lost him a little while ago, and our community is a poorer place for that.

Public relations is hard enough, but when your customer is protecting people, saving lives, and sometimes having to take them while in harm’s way, it makes it more difficult to wander the myriad hallways of bureaucracy and not be amazed at the roadblocks in the way of getting things done. One wonders if the people on the approve/disapprove end of the paperwork truly understand what’s at stake. It also makes it hard to go to those end users, the ones who have it all on the line, and say, “Well, regulation such-n-such, paragraph so-n-so, basically means that even if this is the best item for you to use, you can’t have it because it didn’t pass some bureaucratic test.” The end user doesn’t care; he or she just wants to get the job done.

The current training environment is a good example. The end user asks, “Please train us on the SVD Dragunov. We’re not only facing it in combat, but our allies are using it so we need it in our training.” The trainer files import paperwork, and is told, “We’re sorry, but the SVD is Russian and under the VRA you can’t import them.” The trainer files for Chinese SVDs and is told, “We’re sorry, but those are Chinese and can’t come in to the US.” The government then suggests that the trainer utilize the Romanian FPL/PSL because it “Looks like an SVD.” Well, it’s not an SVD – it’s a dressed up Kalashnikov, a totally different system. That’s like training a mechanic to fix Fords using Toyotas because they “Look the same.” Yeah… four wheels, doors, engine, trunk… they’re “The same.”

Before I go completely off the edge, let’s acknowledge that this particular problem stems from years of anti-firearms ownership people in Congress passing laws about things they don’t understand, with unintended consequences downstream. The regulatory agencies are pretty well trapped into this enforced obstructionism. However, it would be nice to see solutions found.

I have often mused that there is a secret Department of Impediment within every government (as well as inside some large companies) and that they have their people clandestinely scattered throughout the other agencies. It’s really just a mindset, Can-Do versus No-Can-Do. I can tell whether someone wants to solve problems in the first few minutes of talking with them. If all they offer is countless reasons of why they can’t do something, no matter that it appears they can, then I know I have a member of the Department of Impediment in front of me.

Fortunately for all, there are unsung heroes within the bureaucracy that fight through every day, and do try to find those solutions. Instead of a blanket condemnation of the agencies we deal with, let’s try to recognize the good guys and weed out the bad ones. This is why we need strong trade/consumer organizations to represent us, to help navigate the regulatory scheme we all have to live with. It doesn’t matter if you’re a major multi-national corporation or a collector of firearms, if you are in the U.S. and have to deal with unusual weapons you generally are confronted by the National Firearms Act and its arcane intricacies. The NFATCA is a good organization to support in this case, whether you’re a collector or that large organization that needs to deal with restricted firearms.

On other regulatory issues, the latest SNAFU that just went FUBAR was the alleged ATF sting operation at the U.S./Mexico border, which allowed straw purchasers who had been identified by dealers per their legal obligation and turned over to ATF for instruction, to purchase thousands of modern weapons and smuggle them to Mexico. Lives have been lost, damage is done, let’s hope that the government gets this mess cleaned up and puts stops in place to keep that from happening ever again.

– Dan

Mid-February- Abu Dhabi, UAE– It’s been a heck of a year for those of us in the small arms community: a real roller coaster ride. Prices fluctuating as the economy force some to reevaluate their collections and what they can cull out to raise some cash, others who get a bit more flush buying those up and price supporting with only minimal drops from 2009 prices. As I write this, M16 prices have recovered, HKs are stable, MACs, etc. seem low, and WWII Thompsons are up, while Colt Thompsons are down a bit. I have noticed that many high end Colt’s are not reaching the market, their owners not having much pressure. Quoting one Texas dealer, “Hell, Dan (pronounced Day-unh) I own ‘em and I lahk ‘em a lot, and I got plenty of money, so why should I sell these? Cain’t git no more very easy, so I’ll just keep ‘em now. Ah maht never sell ‘em anyway, they’re so purty.” Hard to argue with Texas logic, so I don’t anticipate seeing cherry Colt ‘21s dropping too much from an excess hitting the market. That said, there are certainly bargains to be had. Don’t be shy if you have extra cash and see something you want, make offers, you never know. I’ve noted a lot of friends saying they’ve moved back into collecting the firearms themselves, not just accessories. I recently picked up a 1907-T St. Etienne as I had the Omnibus tripod sitting around needing a gun anyway… now the accessory hunt starts…. As well as whatever Holy Grail is sitting in the background, like a 1915 Bergmann, 1915 Villar Perosa, 1913 Parabellum…. Who knows? That’s the great thing about collecting and “The Hunt.”

In the military world, the new offerings are staggering and you have to keep your eyes open every day to see where the technology is moving to. It seems to be accelerated by the Internet discussions, which may speed up the designers and their ideas. I see that as healthy, if we just had better laws, say being pre-1986, then maybe more innovators would be working on new designs. The world market is driving a lot of new designs from all over, and SAR is trying to cover this for you.

It’s also refreshing to see how many Americans that are out here that have been at the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot; young veterans, old shooters, designers, etc., many of whom grew up reading SAR. Well over 120,000 copies of SAR were handed out to the U.S. troops in the field in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other hotspots, let alone the hundreds of thousands of copies distributed at military trade shows from Germany to Brazil to Malaysia. These magazines are all little soldiers out there working to keep the small arms community and its enthusiasts in contact and communicating. We keep getting new perspectives, new articles, and that makes us all stronger. Sitting here in Abu Dhabi, at the IDEX trade show, it’s amazing how many of our readers are walking the show, and as mentioned, it’s also amazing to me how many of the Internationals and ex-pats have not only heard of the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot, but have actually been there. If you’re reading this at KCR, give a little thought to that. It’s not just the regional people and it’s not just national. KCR and Shepherdsville, KY are on the international map as a gathering point for the small arms enthusiasts.

Kent (Lomont) and I used to have a running joke in the ‘80s and ‘90s where he’d always bellow out, “Dude! How long can we keep doing this?” and my response has always been, “Dude! These ARE the good old days.” Even though we never answered the real questions behind this, it’s been a long strange trip and having been at every ‘Creek since 1983, it comes up every time I go. In these days of Obama, Pelosi, and well organized anti-firearms zealots getting more stealthily organized, if we don’t stand together, those joking around comments could well be prophetic. Let’s pass this freedom and heritage on to our grand-children, let alone our children.

-Dan

It could be safe to assume that when the first 1911 pistol was test-fired, inspected and sold, there would be little consideration that an article would be penned 100 years later in 2011 on a new offering of the same design. The time-tested and proven 1911 series handgun is not only still available, but going strong. They are still highly sought after and manufactured in numerous configurations. When modern technology and technique meets such a proven design, we can expect this trend to last for many more years.

American Tactical Imports is quickly becoming well known for offering high quality firearms at very reasonable prices from several points on the globe. The firearms we are focusing on today originate in the Philippines and are manufactured by Shooters Arms Manufacturing (SAM).

At the time of this writing the FX 45 1911 series pistols are available in 5 configurations: The Military, the GI, the Titan, the Titan SS and the Thunderbolt. All are steel receivers and parts with solid mahogany grips. While some models are reminiscent of classic 1911 offerings, other designs are modernized and geared towards the competitive or professional shooter.

The FX 45 Lineup

The Military most resembles the traditional, standard size 1911. With its 5-inch barrel and 8-round magazine capacity, it has a full length slide with light, rear serrations, and an overall length of 8.46 inches. The sights are a fairly low profile and the rear sight is drift adjustable for windage. The hammer is a knurled, wide spur. The mainspring housing on this model has a lanyard loop like some early original military designs.

The GI is similar in size and handling to a standard Combat Commander. Though the grip length is the same as the Military model to utilize factory 8-round magazines, the slide and barrel are shorter to aid in concealability without giving up magazine capacity. The hammer is the rounded Commander style and the grip safety has an extended beavertail. This model has an extended safety. The barrel length is 4.25 inches and an overall length of 7.87 inches. Trigger and sights are the same as the Military model.

The Titan falls in between the size of the Defender model and the Officers model with a barrel length of 3.125 inches and an overall length of 6.93 inches for optimum concealability. The magazine well and grip are also shorter and the magazine capacity is 7 rounds. The mag-well is slightly beveled for easier reloading. This design has a lightened trigger and also employs the same hammer and extended beavertail as the GI model. The sights are a higher profile and are drift adjustable for windage with a black rear blade and white dot front sight. The slide is heavily serrated in the rear on this model. The hammer is the rounded Commander style and the grip safety has an extended beavertail. This model also has an extended safety. The weight of this model is 1.87 pounds.

The Titan SS is almost the same as the Titan except it is stainless steel with a matte finished slide and polished frame. The slide is heavily serrated front and rear. All other specifications are the same as the standard Titan.

The Thunderbolt is similar in size and shape to the 5-inch barreled GI model with several upgrades from the standard design. It has the addition of a mounting rail beneath the barrel in front of the trigger guard, an extended beavertail grip safety, a lightened trigger, an extended and heavily beveled mag-well, a stippled grip both front and rear, a lightweight trigger, an extended ambidextrous safety, a heavily serrated slide front and rear, and fully adjustable 3-dot sights for windage and elevation. Like the GI model, it uses standard 8-round magazines. The overall length and weight are also the same as the GI model at 8.46 inches and 2.31 pounds respectively.

All models were supplied with checkered mahogany grips, and the grip style is standard of this design in case the user desires to change to aftermarket grips.

Initial Examination

Upon opening and examining all models listed above we were immediately very impressed. Each pistol was shipped in a heavy cardboard box lined with soft Styrofoam, in a sealed plastic bag with a light oiling for protection. This writer cringed at the “shiny” appearance of each gun, as it is a personal preference for matte finishes on such firearms. That cringe turned to joy as soon as the oil was wiped from each pistol. With the exception of the stainless steel Titan SS, all were finished with a deep, dark uniform finish. Even the stainless model had a matte slide. Of course the finish is just a personal preference and some like them as shiny as possible.

Once they were cleaned the actions were checked and it was time for a trigger test. Every trigger broke like glass. There was not the slightest bit of creep in any of them and every one had a very short fast break. They all greatly exceeded our expectations in this area.

The fit was very tight with little to no noticeable movement between the slide and the frame on any model. They all moved slick and smooth and almost had a hand-fitted feel to them.

The markings are very clean and clear, from the largest logo to the smallest importation and serial number marking.

The mahogany grips were all checkered without any noticeable blemishes and the Titan models both have a large diamond in the areas of each screw.

Range Time

Several types of ammo were tested with all the FX 1911 model guns. Since there are no distinct mechanical differences between other 1911 types, the testing did not include muzzle velocity testing. Our focus was on function and practical accuracy. All groups were fired at 10 yards (30 feet) off hand with a combination of Wolf 230 grain FMJ, Remington 230 grain FMJ and Winchester Bulk (often referred to as white box) 230-grain FMJ ammo. All models functioned great, and only 1 shooter had a few rounds that did not feed completely during the initial break-in. It may have been a combination of the new guns, the heavy internal oil and below freezing temperatures, but on 3 rounds total, in 2 different guns (1 in 1 gun and 2 in another) the slide needed a light tap forward to completely feed the round and close up. Other than that there was not a single failure to feed, fire or eject. By the end of a few boxes of ammo everything was working excellent. The groups were impressive and definitely on par with other manufacturers’ 1911 models, especially given the testing was done in a windy 21ºF environment. The Thunderbolt performed exceptionally well duplicating a few “ragged 1-hole 8-shot groups” right away.

Conclusions

All who had the opportunity to examine the FX 1911 guns from ATI were very impressed with the performance, the crisp triggers and the fit and finish. None were informed of the MSRP until after getting their initial impressions. When shown the pricing, the comments were a unanimous expletive variant of “No way!” Since many of our testers worked with us on some of the more expensive variants we have tested in the past few years, they were all under the assumption these must be a high-end line as well. The extremely reasonable prices were found almost unbelievable to all who had the chance to test and handle them. This writer agrees. No matter the model, they are a great value for your money and should not disappoint even the most ardent 1911 fan.

No matter if you are looking for a new starting piece for a serious race gun build, or you are buying one expecting better than average performance out of the box, if you are or want to be a 1911 aficionado, you may end up finding a “new favorite” pistol for a lot less money than you ever expected to spend.

American Tactical Imports
100 Airpark Drive
Rochester NY 14624
(800) 290-0065
www.AmericanTactical.us
(Please visit their website for a list of dealers)

There are a lot of publications that cover general firearms interests and there are many organizations that cover them as well. We have our niche, and for almost 15 years we have stayed true to it. I’ve always known that Small Arms Review had influence nationally and internationally, far beyond our NFA community, because so many of the top echelon of the firearms community are in our community as well as their regular groups. The end users and industry people, as well as the collector and shooter community, avidly read this magazine.

We’ve recently seen that the NFATCA has a similar effect. The NFATCA presence in the firearms community is one of solid, successful, influential activism. We discovered that self-knowledge as part of our work with the larger organizations that have been “guarding the gates” far longer than the NFATCA. We are on equal footing “downtown” with many of them, and the regulatory agencies we deal with know that and treat us as such.

Both of the above are signs of successful planning, hard work, integrity, and general stick-to-it attitudes. In the words of “Captain Jack Sparrow,” we also know the difference between the two things a man must know- what you can do, and what you can not. This comes from decades of shared experience. It’s not that we don’t work towards the big, popular goals; we just understand groundwork and timing. If we pick battles we can win and put our energy into them, and work in the long term towards the bigger picture, we have success for all and make the NFA community a better place one victory at a time. Then, when the opportunity is there, we can move to make paradigm shifts back to the Constitutional intent regarding firearms ownership.

As in the above, we know who we are, and who we are not. We’re not a community with enough draw to have 4 million members in our main organization. Yes, I’m speaking of the NRA. For over 150 years, they’ve been at the front. You can’t say “NRA” in the NFA community without a number of people bringing up the 1986 law that sacrificed machine gun manufacture for private ownership on the altar of other, larger concerns. Well, that’s what we have to deal with, it’s in the past haunting our future. Many of us are either still Life Members or have gone back to being Life Members in the NRA, and right about now, we’re going to be getting our ballots for the NRA Board of Directors.

The ballots will be sent to the NRA voting members in the March issues of the NRA’s magazines (American Rifleman, America’s 1st Freedom and The American Hunter). Ballots must be received by the NRA not later than 10 April 2011.

Essentially, if you have chosen to stay a voting member of the NRA, here’s your chance to make sure that the interests of the NFA community are represented on the NRA Board of Directors. I was unable to get a list of the Members of the Board that are up for re-election before press-time on this issue, but there is at least one person I know of who is up for re-election that we know is a friend to the NFA community, Mr. Allan D. Cors. I’ve known Allan for what seems like forever; he’s a regular Knob Creeker and SAR West attendee, and he and Tom Nelson, Bob Faris and that crowd of Emma Gees have been “tight” since the 1950s. I know he’s been on the NRA Board since around 1972, and he’s a still, quiet voice of guidance for many of us. His Curriculum Vitae regarding the NRA follows, but you’ll often find him, hands dirty, working on some rare machine gun or tank – enough said. Apply a similar view of other Board Members, and our community will be well represented -Dan

Mr. Allan D. Cors, McLean, Virginia:

• Current NRA Board member.
• Nominated by Nominating Committee.
• Public affairs consultant/lobbyist in Washington, DC.
• Trustee of the NRA Foundation serving seven years as president.
• Active competitive shooter, hunter and avid gun collector who wants to preserve Second Amendment rights for future generations of Americans.
• Principal advocate on NRA Board, along with Congressman John Dingell, for the establishment of NRA’s Political Action Committee.
• Since 1968, active in lobbying the U.S. House and Senate on firearms related issues.
• Member of NRA’s Gun Collectors, Legislative Policy, High Power Rifle and Audit committees.
• Board member of the Civilian Marksmanship Program.
• Selected as a firing member of Virginia State’s 6-man high power rifle team at Camp Perry National Matches, 1966-2004.
• Distinguished Rifleman with President’s 100 awards.
• Founder and Chairman of the National Museum of Americans in Wartime.
• President of the American Society of Arms Collectors.
• Endorsed by the NY State R&P Association.