By James Ballou

Mention a mouse today and most will think of their computers. To my generation a mouse meant large ears and lecherous thoughts about Annette Funicello. What in the world does a “mouse” have to do with BAR’s? According to Maxwell G. Atchisson, a noted arms designer, “mouse” refers to the mechanical rate reducer developed for use on the 1918A2.

This mechanical delay appeared to be like a mouse racing back and forth in a cage. Early on, John M. Browning recognized that the cyclic rate of the BAR was too fast for a hand held machinegun. Remember, the bipod for the 1918 was not developed until 1922.

On September 12, 1924, Browning was granted patent Number 1,511,262. It reads in part, “The rate of firing may be so rapid that the shooter can not properly aim his gun or rifle, ammunition is wasted and the rapid succession of recoils is so severe, particularly in the case of a machine rifle being fired from the hip or shoulder, that the accuracy is much decreased.”

The essence of the mechanism is a clockwork spring that holds the bolt slide back until the ratchet engages the sear again to allow it to fire. In other words the retarding lever is pushed down to compress the spring and until it returns to the normal position the primary sear will not allow the bolt slide to go forward.

Interestingly enough, most people think the rate reducer was an FN design, but even a cursory examination of the two mechanisms will reveal its true origin.

Among the recommendations found in the ordnance committee’s memorandum. O.C.M. – 14553 – June 30, 1938 was section g. that called for a reduction of cyclic rate to reduce training problems and provide more accurate fire direction.

This led to the now familiar 1918A2. The rate reducer developed at Springfield Armory was a team effort. Among the members of the team were Maxwell B. Atchisson and William B. Ruger. Yes, that Ruger. They developed such things as the belt fed BAR and other classic innovations.

Atchisson is known for sub-machinegun designs, assault shotguns, and .22 conversion units. It was he who coined the term “mouse” for the rate reducing mechanism, that the team developed for the butt stock of the BAR. The heart of the mechanism was a weighted actuator that flitted back and forth in the butt stock like a mouse. It’s spring retarded movement provided a mechanical delay before it tripped a secondary sear release causing the rifle to continue firing at a cyclic rate of 350 -400 RPM. The Marine Corps, from early on, recognized the value of the BAR and geared tactics around the squad automatic weapon.

During WW II they wanted to restore its semi-automatic capabilities in order to maximized the accuracy. To accomplish this, a young Warrant Officer in the Corps developed the T-30 semi-automatic conversion. In January, 1946, the New England Small Arms Corporation began installing the T-30 field conversions. Obviously, from the number found they did not continue very diligently.

I would like to thank two individuals for their contributions to this article. Kent Lomont who sent me a box of a dozen different trigger housings and Bob Landies, who when asked for a semi-auto trigger housing sent me an entire cutaway Semi-Auto 1918A3.

Finally, Kent Lomont made the comment, “That the beautiful thing about the BAR is the case of interchangeability of parts from one maker to another. Even the Belgian, Swedish, and Polish BAR’s interchange to a degree”. This is not remarkable since Colt sent examples of their 1924 Commercial BAR’s to Belgium, Sweden and Poland as part of a franchise agreement. BAR’s are universal having been adopted by over 50 countries.

Kent A. Lomont
Lomont Precision Bullets
R P 1, Box 34
Salmon, ID 83467
Phone: 208-756-6819
Fax: 208-756-6824

Robert Landies
Ohio Ordnance Works, Inc.
PO Box 687
Chardon, OH 44024
Phone: 440-285-3481
Fax: 440-286-8571

This writer’s father and this writer recently began a series of articles for SAR. The series focuses on the World War II gun work by the Apache Regiment of the 101st Airborne. I immediately contacted writer and researcher Mark Bando. Mark informed this writer of the then new film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ from Dream Works/Paramount directed by Steven Spielberg. This writer’s father and the soldier on whom the film is loosely based served in the same regiment. They both jumped into Normandy with the 101st’s Apache Regiment — the 501 of Col. Howard Johnson.

I contacted Dream Works for additional information. The Dream Works/Paramount staff, provided very professional and enthusiastic assistance. Ms. Stephanie Watson, Mr. Spielberg’s Atlanta representative, kindly extended an invitation to my father and I to attend the sneak preview of ‘Saving Private Ryan’. On the appointed day we picked up Mike Thacker and motored to Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.

My father, Mike Thacker, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. During our homeward drive, I asked my father if he thought that the film accurately and faithfully portrayed the men with whom he served. He commented that it did credit to both the Airborne troopers and the Rangers, although he did not expect the actors to be in the same physical condition as Johnson’s Boys. My father felt that all of the actors had given very credible performances. He stated, ‘Though it may difficult to watch, I recommend viewing ‘Saving Private Ryan’ to all Americans over age 18. It is probably as close as Hollywood will come to war. War is not a parlor game. This film shows as well as Hollywood can what our generation did to insure the freedoms that we all enjoy today.’

As we motored southward, Mike commented that a prominent belt of 30 cal didn’t have primers. I laughed and said that we were probably the only three people in the theater that caught that. Mike’s statement brought us to the subject of the guns. Though very loud for a theater, we all knew that the real guns sound much louder than what we had heard. I then said that whoever drove those guns was very good. The steel sounded real. The motion picture soundtrack sounded as if someone had placed a microphone about 300 yards down the Knob Creek Range. The sounds reminded me of the old days when we had open lines on Thursday. You stepped to a position and, to use a 60’s drag race phrase, ‘run what you brung’.

The armed citizen and his history played an important off camera roll in this magnificent film. Mr. Steven Spielberg operates under the First Ammendment. For some elements of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Mr. Spielberg requested assistance from those who operate under the Second Ammendment. For some of the history and the story of this, read on. In the fullness of time, I would learn just how close I was to the truth about the soundtrack to ‘Saving Private Ryan’.

Not Just A Southern Tradition

To better understand what will follow, a bit of family and unrevised American history presents itself. The Spaniards first brought gun craft to an eastern American settlement with the founding of St. Augustine. The Spaniards later withdrew leaving an extant settlement. Christopher Burroughs, ancestor of this writer, joined the Jamestown Colony in 1608. The Saints occupied half the Mayflower when it wandered onto Plymouth rock at a later date. Shooting for sport, food, and self defense started in the South and became a Southern tradition. The shooting tradition spread. Shooting and an armed citizenry became two hallmarks of colonial America.

In 1861, George Rockingham Gilmer Cartledge ran away from Boiling Springs Plantation at age 13 and joined the Confederate Army. His little brother Joe, age 11, tagged along. Both finished The War of The Sixties as sergeants. George Cartledge gave his son, my grandfather, a .22 rifle at age six. He gave him a gauge for ever year at twelve. Grandfather did the same for my father. My father did the same for me.

Grandfather and his friend Walraven carried their rifles to school, shooting at targets along the way. Walraven became a legendary shot in Madison County. For years he served in law enforcement around Danielsville, Georgia. Stories recount crooks surrendering in armed conflict when they knew that they faced the guns of Walraven. Grandfather, father, and Walraven continued the tradition of generations. As proof, this writer’s father relates the following boyhood story from the year 1930. Its generational history leads from Old Bob Lee to ‘Saving Private Ryan’.

My father ran out of ammunition on a Saturday morning. To replenish his rifle, he walked from the farm to the general store in Ila, Georgia. Just outside town, he stopped at the blacksmith shop. There, for a while, he watched a distant cousin and his son doing what came naturally on a Saturday afternoon. The son’s years numbered nearly seventy. The old Confederate counted more than ninety summers. These two men engaged in spirited conversation as they sat on a pair of wooden crates outside the forge. They talked as fathers and sons have done in this land since before the Revolution.

Across the narrow road, a saw cut board leaned against an old oak tree. Into the board, the men had tapped a number of forged flat nails. They sunk the nails into the wood just deeply enough to hold them straight. They left the nails’ square heads and most of their shafts exposed. My father stood and watched as the two old men speedily and skillfully loaded four Confederate Colts. They then took turns driving the nails. A penny bet rested on each shot. The son shot magnificently. The old Cavalier gave his son a run for his money. About three cents changed hands.

The father and son had shot in the same rythmic double handed style that John Singleton Mosby raised to an art form at a place called Milford Farm. Those of other climes first viewed this shooting style at a place called Manassas. The two men then reloaded their black powder guns after the white smoke cleared. My father left and went for shells at the general store. As he walked away my father remarked to himself that he would not have wanted to have met that old Cavalier and his friends at that place they called Cold Harbor. In the fullness of time, other men would say the same of my father and his friends at that place that they called Bastogne.

I think of this story whenever I hear the phrase, ‘Form us up again!’. I know what would have happened had Old Bob Lee been able to ride by that blacksmith, stop and say, ‘Men, they need us again in Virginia.’ The old Cavalier would have tuned his pistols plainsman style and stuffed them into his belt. Without a second thought, he would have fallen in behind Traveler. His son wouldn’t have been far behind. Men such as these not only inhabit the South but every other part of this nation. They have answered their country’s call for generations. They will do so again. Mr. Steven Spielberg crafted ‘Saving Private Ryan’ to honor such men. They answered the call in Normandy.

Far from Madison County there exists another relic of Confederate shooting. Last Sunday I held in my hands a very unusual rifle. Made in the Jaegeresque style, it is a heavy barreled yet graceful flintlock conversion — a Kings Mountain type of gun that Stephen Vincent Benet once described in a War Between The States poem. The barrel starts as an octagon and ends round. It mikes to .58 caliber. Fine open sights grace its top. Double set triggers nestle in the brass trigger guard of the cheek plated and brass mounted stock. The lock plate reads ‘Harpers Ferry 1818’. The hammer and percussion cap base give the look of a Richmond conversion. With this rifle on April 12, 1863, Confederate sniper Johnny Lane shot one of James J. Andrews’ spies aboard ‘The General’ during ‘The Great Locomotive Chase’. As to where the rifle is, don’t ask.

1871 — The Defense Of Freedom

Throughout the history of America we, as America’s citizens, have answered her call to defender her. American shooting, not words or pieces of paper, has defended this nation. Shooting is a skill gained over time, the more practice the better. In every war but one, the Federal Army outshot its enemy. After the War between The States, one Union General said publicly what they all said privately. He stated that a smaller and poorer equipped army had outshot them. That General help found and served as first President of the National Rifle Association. His name was Ambrose Burnside. As a Union General he met members of this writer’s family across battlefields in Virginia. Ulysses Simpson Grant soon followed Gen. Burnside into the Presidency of the NRA. These men helped found America’s oldest civil rights organization to encourage American civilian shooting. Unlike in most other countries, America’s is a civilian army in waiting. The Generals encouraged civilian shooting so that the Federal Army would never be outshot again. They had seen with their own eyes what being outshot costs on a battlefield. Ambrose Burnside remembered Confederate distance shooters to the end of his days. Only 400 such men held off his army and got a bridge named after him in Maryland. One of those shooters was a member of this writer’s family.

The esteemed author Tom Swearengen once remarked, ‘The generation that learned to shoot before 1945 shot better than the generation of today. They knew their guns better and were just better at it.’ Some of us younger ones listened to and learned from that magnificent generation. Those who did found themselves in better stead when they too answered the call. They carried with them the civilian shooting tradition passed to them by each generation from 1871. On June 6, 1944 that pre ’45 generation landed in Normandy in defense of our freedom. They brought with them America’s most valuable hidden resource in time of peril — American civilian shooting. From the beaches named Omaha and Utah, they shot their way to Berlin.

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the German coastal defenders on Utah and Omaha awoke to face the greatest armada ever assembled by mankind. Not withstanding the armada, the Germans on Utah found another considerable problem behind them, the Apache Regiment. Among those troopers stood blood kin to the Army of Northern Virginia. Col. Julian Ewell, 3rd Battalion Commander, was grandson of Gen. Ewell and nephew to JEB Stuart. Frederick ‘Fritz’ Niland, the man on whom Steven Spielberg in part would base his movie, served in Julian Ewell’s Company H. As for this writer’s father, he missed Drop Zone C and landed at Chef du Tont. From there, his Thompson carried on the tradition of the Enfields of Grandfather George and Great Uncle Joe.

For The First Two Ammendments

Director Steven Spielberg decided to pay tribute to that pre ’45 generation. He chose the script ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and worked with its author in a collaborative effort. After the establishing scenes, the script opens with scenes from the most pivotal day in the 20th century — June 6, 1944. The soldiers coming off the LCI’s weren’t a debating society. They were shooters. In defense of freedom they had come to kill or capture the men who were shooting at them.

As an accomplished director, Steven Spielberg knew how to film ‘Saving Private Ryan’. After much consultation and many ideas, Mr. Spielberg knew the look that he wanted for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. He also knew the sound that he wanted for ‘Ryan’. Sonically, ‘Ryan’ might have suffered in lesser hands. Cheesy stock recordings of Title 2 weapons could have found their way onto the soundtrack. They have done so in many other films.

Recording the sounds presented Steven Spielberg with no problem. He knew the sounds that he wanted. Mr. Spielberg would use a Hollywood sound crew of the same high caliber that he always had. The difficulty arose in finding someone who could generate those sounds. This proved to require a little more effort than just a trip across town. To generate the sounds that Mr. Spielberg wanted, the sound crew turned to three men who had learned shooting from the World War II generation. These three men carried on the American civilian shooting tradition passed down to them through the generations form 1871. These three also carried on another tradition. They carried on the tradition of Title 2 weapons. However, men such as these couldn’t be found on the outskirts of Hollywood. They lived on the outskirts of Atlanta.

The Title 2 tradition began with two civilian who bought guns in 1898. Theodore Roosevelt accepted the Tiffany family’s generous donation. The first automatic weapons in American ground combat debuted in The War with Spain. Lt. William Tiffany’s family bought two 1895 Colt Automatic Guns for his regiment. The Rough Riders carried them up San Juan Heights (see SAR July 98). For ‘Saving Private Ryan’ only real sounds from real guns would do. For those sounds, Mr. Spielberg’s men came to the Title 2 community. In so doing, Steven Spielberg and his men may have learned something new — not just about us, but about themselves as well.

Check Your Chains at LAX

One of the finest Title 2 scholars in America lives in California. Though not universally known (and I would hasten to add ‘yet’), his attention to detail enhances the depth of many Title 2 writers. I am but one. Occasionally, he yearns for the type of freedom that in California qualifies as but a faded memory. He buys a ticket at LAX, mounts some silver wings, and flies eastward or southward. When he lands, he spools C and L drums. He then empties them until his heart is content. With his heart replenished he then returns to California and the day job that he loves.

When he began the background work to film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Steven Spielberg knew the following. Mr. Spielberg knew that many veterans who ‘were by God there’ would view his film. These veterans would know real from unreal. Men and women who came to Normandy by ship or parachute might suspend belief while viewing a comedy. These soldiers would not suspend belief while viewing a motion picture that dealt with them. Steven Spielberg applied his legendary craftsmanship to this film, with attention to the smallest detail. For the veterans who would view ‘Saving Private Ryan’ he wanted it not only to look like Normandy but to sound like Normandy. He wanted scenes that looked not staged but real. He wanted sounds not foley but real.

Mr. Spielberg immediately set out to find real guns and real sounds for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Telephone calls quickly brought home to Dream Works the Title 2 reality. In some things, Californians are not as free as other Americans. Blank firing antiques and replica Title 2s live in California. Real guns don’t.

The Thunder of Bethlehem

To solve his problem, Steven Spielberg turned to his friend George Lucas. Mr. Lucas operates, among other things, Skywalker Sound. Mr. Lucas assigned the Title 2 problem to Shannon Mills. Mr. Mills teamed with Christopher Boyes. Mr. Boyes has not a bad last name when one thinks of Class 3 in World War II. These two consummate professionals list ‘Terminator 2’ and ‘Titanic’ among their many credits. With the roster set, Skywalker Sound evaluated the problem. Then they tackled it.

Shannon Mills concluded that the men that Skywalker sought lived free. These men drove the old guns in the old ways. Mr. Mills reasoned that he could best find free men on Freedom’s Highway — the Internet. Though he did not know which off ramp to take, he knew how to erect a billboard. Shannon Mills booted up his vehicle, shot down the Liberty on ramp, and merged with the traffic. Picking out a likely mile post, he erected his billboard —’Wanted — Real Guns and Gunmen for World War II Motion Picture Soundtrack’ Mr. Mills posted his shopping list of hardware required and left his E-mail address. A friend of Kevin Brittingham passed the info on to him.

Shannon Mills telephoned Kevin Brittingham. They worked out the arrangements for the shoot. Two days later Shannon Mills and Chris Boyes rolled to a stop on West Crogan Street just past the Courthouse in Lawrenceville, Georgia. The way they had packed their Suburu Outback with sound equipment would have made Paul Hogan proud. Kevin, Harold, and Vince met Shannon and Chris at the front door of Advanced Armament. Kevin pointed to the loaded Advance Armament trucks and told them to fall in behind. The convoy motored to the large farm of Kevin’s brother Greg outside Bethlehem, Georgia. Once on the farm, the trucks made their way to Greg Brittingham’s 500 yard gun range.

Both crews unloaded their separate gear. Before they set up, they discussed shots and held a safety meeting. Neither crew counted this as their first rodeo. Kevin, Harold, and Vince brought up the crew served guns and stationed the small arms at the ready. They then brought up the ammunition. Shannon Mills and Chris Boyes spent about an hour and a half carefully placing microphones at strategic spots. In addition to wiring everything from the firing position to the back of the berm, they employed hand held sound recorders. After Skywalker Sound finished final sound checks and cleared the range, the Advanced Armament crew went through their gun checks.

Kevin and Harold set up the MG 42 on a Lafette tripod. Vince brought up the belted 8mm ammunition. Kevin and Harold took turns letting the gun rip and piling up brass. Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills took turns operating the switchboard to the well-placed microphones and working the hand helds. They had rigged various mikes with kill switches to capture the gun sounds from different positions. With the switchboard they captured impact sounds in grass, dirt, wood, water, and steel. Harold Shinn then brought up the Solothurn S18/1000 20mm anti-tank rifle. Kevin cranked the chain and shook the ground. Skywalker Sound captured the thunder.

The Advanced Armament crew then switched to other guns. They fired the A-4 Browning, the ’03 Springfield, the BAR, and the M1A1 Thompson. Skywalker Sound captured these guns in single shots, short bursts, and extended bursts. As with the ’42 and Solothurn, they captured the sounds of shooting mud, water, wood, metal, and trees. They then recorded sounds past trees, through trees, and bullet impacts into sand. Skywalker also captured the sounds of loading magazines and loading each of the weapons.

Both crews then set up to capture some of the eeriest sounds used in ‘Saving Private Ryan’. A friend, now a retired Army officer, commented specifically on these particular sounds after viewing ‘Saving Private Ryan’. He did multiple tours in Vietnam with both Special Forces and the Rangers. He knows of what he speaks. He stated that,’…those sounds of bullets going past their heads made the hair on the back of my neck stand up!’ Advanced Armament and Skywalker Sound devised an ingenious and completely safe way to capture those sounds.

Using the microphone kill switches Skywalker captured the bullets in flight as the gun crew fired suppressed weapons. Advanced Armament fired at or past designated targets. The appropriate mike picked up the desired sounds. Kevin, Harold, and Vince used modern subguns for this part of the recording session. Kevin first hauled out an MP45SD. He then followed with a Beretta M12S with can. Vince Mueller wielded a Colt 635 with can. Harold Shinn finished off the first part of the session with a canned Uzi. The Advanced Armament crew then took turns firing. As they fired, Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills recorded both bullet flights and impacts from the suppressed weapons.

At days end, the last piece of brass hit the ground. Both crews were exhausted. The men of Advanced Armament and Skywalker Sound had brought their considerable skills to bear. They had pooled their considerable talents to create the firearms sounds for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Their hard work and professionalism created something special for a very special movie. Kevin Brittingham stated that all of the guns sounds in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ came from the guns of Advanced Armament Corporation. Kevin, Harold Shinn, and Vince Mueller had the satisfaction of being half of the ‘Saving Private Ryan’ sound effects team. A couple of days later, the postman dropped off a letter. In it Kevin found a check and a thank you note from the other half of the team — Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills of Skywalker Sound.

Epilogue —’The Director Speaks’

In writing, most works contain an element in which the writer does not describe but speaks directly to the reader. Writers generally ascribe the phrase ‘the writer speaks’ to this element. One finds this in short stories, novels, and magazine articles. Motion pictures dictate a different kind of writing and a different element.

In film, first there is the script, or the word. The word answers the questions ‘Is it visual?’ and ‘Does it move?’. Dialogue and visuals drive films. These drivers make films the director’s medium, not the writer’s medium. Because movies also consist of collaborative effort, one very rarely finds the element of ‘the director speaks’. In ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Mr. Spielberg gives the viewer not only something wonderful but something quite rare.

In each and every detail, Steven Spielberg sought to honor those of that magnificent generation that secured freedom for all of us. He hired Dale Dye (see SAR July 98) as military advisor. He consulted with Dr. Stephen Ambrose and Mark Bando. He met with numerous reenactors, many historians, and visited actual locations to craft his film. When he looked for old guns driven the old ways, Steven Spielberg came to one of us. The Title 2 community legally owns and fires the old guns. In so doing we help preserve their places in history, both of uses and of gun craft. In the doing we honor those who came before us. When Mr. Spielberg asked for help from one of us, he paid the same honor to the D-Day soldiers that we do as a matter of course.

In short, Mr. Steven Spielberg wanted not only the sight but the sound of what so many had confronted. He wished for us to experience the most pivotal day of the 20th century — June 6, 1944. The veterans could point to ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and say to their grandchildren, ‘If you wish to know of the Second World War, see this picture!’. In so doing, Mr. Spielberg paid tribute to his father, to mine, and to so many other men and women of the magnificent generation that came before us. The readers and writers of the Small Arms Review now know the following. To get the correct sounds, Mr. Steven Spielberg did not go to Hollywood. He came to one of us.

In short, Steven Spielberg needed correct gun work. He asked.the Title 2 community for assistance. We delivered. Kevin Brittingham’s company generated the gun sounds for ‘Saving Private Ryan’. With those sounds, Mr. Spielberg added yet another component to the collaborative effort that is his magnificent film. Perhaps Herbert Biberman said it best. Mr. Biberman once remarked, ‘You must resist the tyranny of the Right and the Left. Your art must be free.’ In the making of ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Mr. Spielberg kept his art free. In the way he chose to keep his art free, he also kept it true.

‘Saving Private Ryan’ captured The Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Picture’. As for the Academy Awards, many honors awaited. In addition to other honors accorded the film on March 21, 1999, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed its highest honors for sound to Dream Works’ Skywalker Sound. The Academy honored ‘Saving Private Ryan’ with Academy Awards for ‘Achievement In Sound Editing’ and ‘Achievement In Sound’.

Though many more accolades will continue to come to this magnificent motion picture, the following says it for this writer. My father’s perspective on this picture comes from standing upright in Normandy with a Thompson submachine gun at 30 minutes after midnight on June 6, 1944. He landed as part of the Apache Regiment of the 101st, the regiment of ‘Ryan’. Thanks to Dream Works, I had the privilege of viewing this motion picture with him. Afterward, we talked about Normandy and the gallant men with whom he served. Some of that discussion rests in this article. Simply put, in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ Dream Works filmed the Defense of Freedom. In so doing, they employed the Sounds of Bethlehem. Well done, Steven Spielberg. Well done, Chris Boyes and Shannon Mills. Very well done.

This writer wishes to thank Ms. Stephanie Watson and the publicity staff at Dream Works/Paramount for their splendid asistance. Special thanks also goes to Phil Parker, ever alert and an all around good guy. I would like to thank Mr. Edward J. Land Jr. and The National Rifles Association of America for their kindness and splendid assistance. On a personal note, this writer would also like to thank Mr. Steven Spielberg, on behalf of his father and mine. — Rick Cartledge

Sources:

Kevin Brittingham,
Advanced Armament Corporation,
221 West Crogan ST,
Lawrenceville, GA 30045
770-277-4946 phone,
770-963-6556

Edward J. Land, JR.
National Secretary
National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill RD
Faifax, VA 22030
702-267-1055

The 101st in Normandy and The 101st From Holland to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest by Mark Bando,
9025 West parkway,
Detroit, MI 48239
$23 each, $42 both PPD
Note: Readers will find Mr. Bando in the credits of Saving Private Ryan

The Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences,
8949 Wilshire BLVD,
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
310-247-3000

‘Panther’
by Melvin and Mario Van Peebles
available at rental stores

‘Saving Private Ryan’
by Steven Spielberg
now playing, need we say more.

On Friday, August 13, 1999 I was reading an article in the LA Times called The Reality of Weapons Buybacks by Joe Mozingo. There are several very interesting points in his story. He seems frustrated with the results that they have been getting- read on:

“They set out with boundless energy and a mission to get guns off their streets, where violence is so common that many can’t imagine a life without it. With the help of their history teacher, the students at El Sereno Middle School decided to do what fed-up communities across the nation have done for years. They raised money to buy back weapons, preferably from gang members and other people who shouldn’t have them. They hit the pavement in May, selling candy to neighbors in their Eastside community.

But they soon marched into a thicket of logistical snags, showing the profound difficulty people face in trying to get guns away from bad guys”.

“But after working out many details of how gun owners would relinquish their weapons—to police officers on the scene—the students said they ran into a state law that seems to defeat the purpose of the buyback. Police cannot take a gun, even one voluntarily handed over, without noting the owner’s name, address and phone number, officials said.

Although the reason for the law is to ensure that guns used in crimes can be traced, the students logically assume that no gang member or criminal would turn over their weapon under such circumstances.

This has been the key dilemma with buybacks since they first became popular in the United States a decade ago, said Luis Tolley, western director of the nonprofit organization Handgun Control.

“They’re not going to take guns away from hardened criminals,” Tolley said, citing the alleged gunman at the Jewish Community Center, Buford Oneal Furrow. But he said the buybacks can help educate people, and remove guns from some homes, preventing an argument from turning deadly.”

”Tolley praised the students, but said their real service “is going door-to-door and talking about having guns in the home,” he said. “If you measure these buybacks by the guns retrieved, it’s going to be a failure.”

We already know that gun “Buybacks” are a failure. Criminals don’t turn in their guns, honest people do. While the California law that prevented the “Buyback” from proceeding anonymously may have “Crimped the style” of the anti-gunners, it did pull just a little bit of the wool off of the wolf, so we could get another glimpse of what kind of animal it is. They don’t care at all about the criminals, they care about educating people that guns are “Bad”. People can’t control themselves, so we have to make sure they don’t have sharp objects around they can hurt each other with. It would appear that we all need to live in a fluffy world, cared for by the liberals, kept from harm by keeping us stupid and far away from anything that could possibly harm us.

Symbolism over substance. Why not punish the criminals? How about enforcing the laws we have? Here’s a thought- why not try educating people about the safe use and storage of firearms, like used to be done?

Someone help those kids start a rifle team.

-Dan

Gun Dealers Urged To Counter Y2K Thieves

Concerns about possible civil disorder on January 1, 2000 when the power and lights may go out, are being raised not only by firearms consumers who are purchasing guns for self-protection at a steady clip these days, but also by firearms dealers who fear looters.

As the Clinton Administration increased controls on civilian access to firearms during the 1990’s, government statistics show there has been a corresponding increase in thefts of firearms from the premises of licensed dealers. Some criminals apparently feel if they can’t buy the guns, they will just steal them.

Recognizing these factors, the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association recently issued a warning in its members’ newsletter to plan for a worst case Y2K scenario by heading off the thieves with extra security measures. Criminals across the nation may be planning to burglarize gun shops after midnight on December 31, 1999, reasoning the police will be too busy to respond to store burglar alarms as they will concentrate on handling more serious emergencies brought on by Y2K, the Association says.

If there is no police response to the alarms, “thieves will have time to penetrate gun shops’ physical defenses and remove the firearms inventory. Remember, there is no lock that can’t be broken, no door that can’t be smashed, no bars that can’t be removed, if criminals have enough time,” the newsletter warns.

Dealers are advised to place all of their firearms in a secure safe. “At the very least, all firearms should be removed from view of the store’s front window. Place a sign on the store’s door stating, that all firearms have been removed.”

ATF News

In remarks made in early May before the International Association of Chiefs of Police meeting in Dublin, Ireland, John W. Magaw, director of the gun industry’s regulator, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) noted his agency’s investigations into firearms trafficking have found there is an increasing frequency for international organized criminals to be involved.

“The major areas for trafficking of US -sourced firearms in Europe are the Baltic States, the former Soviet Union, and the Balkan States. To a lesser degree, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Austria, Finland, and Germany have all been impacted by illegal international firearms trafficking,” Magaw explained.

Offering to provide technical assistance to interested agencies in combating illegal firearms trafficking, Magaw said the ATF National Tracing Center (NTC), which traces the origins and ownership of recovered US -sourced firearms at the request of American police is available for use by law enforcement agencies worldwide. “Tracing is often a vital step in identifying trafficking organizations,” Magaw stated.

“In 1996 the NTC had 15,000 international firearm trace requests, and 60,000 such requests in 1998. We anticipate 100,000 plus international trace requests for 1999. ATF, with our international counterparts, has initiated more than 1,500 international firearms trafficking cases, based in part, from information received from these traces,” Magaw disclosed.

The National Integrated Ballistics Information Network, an ATF/FBI partnership venture, was also mentioned as available to law enforcement agencies around the world. The Network employs a firearms identification technology system that captures a digitized image of the unique markings imprinted on a projectile and on shell casings and compares those markings with all other images of shell casings and projectiles previously entered into a database to produce potential matches. In this way, cartridges can be traced as having been fired from particular firearms. The system is being deployed not only in the US, but in countries such as Venezuela, Israel, Turkey, Taiwan, People’s Republic of China, Greece, South Africa, Thailand, and Canada.

Pawn Shop Raided

A federal search warrant culminating a three-month undercover investigation was executed May 20, at the 27th Avenue Pawn & Gun shop at 2045 NW 27th Ave., Miami, FL, as well as upon the store’s owner, Roman Hernz, by ATF and Miami police for alleged illegal firearm trafficking and sales.

Hernz, who had been in business since early 1992, and previously ran other pawnshops during the 1980’s, is suspected of conspiring and engaging in numerous illegal firearms transactions known as “straw purchases,” according to ATF. A “straw purchase” involves an individual who acts at the behest of the true purchaser to acquire the firearms. Specifically, the actual buyer uses the straw purchaser to execute the federally mandated firearms acquisition form (ATF Form 4473) purporting to show that the straw purchaser is the actual purchaser of the firearms.

In many instances, the actual buyers may be prohibited from legally purchasing firearms, or may simply want to hide their involvement in the procurement of the firearms. The licensee selling the firearm under these circumstances also violates federal law if the licensee is aware of the false statement on the form.

ATF’s National Tracing Center has determined that numerous firearms sold by 27th Ave. Pawn & Gun have been recovered by law enforcement authorities throughout the Caribbean and Central America. Foreign police officials initiated many traces after recovering the firearms at crime scenes in their respective countries.

This dealer, ATF says, though a medium sized pawnshop, has for the last six months been responsible for the multiple sales of more handguns than any other gun dealer in the metropolitan Miami area. A multiple sale refers to the sale or purchase of two or more handguns within a five consecutive day time frame. The store was also said to be a leading source of inexpensive ($100 to $150 price range) low quality pistols illegally trafficked to Haiti, Puerto Rico, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.

Hernz could face multiple federal counts of selling firearms in violation of state laws, selling firearms without recording the identity of the purchaser, and maintaining false firearms records. If convicted, Hernz could potentially be sentenced to five years and/or fined on each count.

Alleged Traffickers Nabbed

On March 10, Jamal Hyden of West Philadelphia, PA and Dominic Howard of Greensboro, NC, were arrested by the Philadelphia Firearms Trafficking Task Force (composed of ATF special agents and Philadelphia police detectives) for federal firearms violations. The arrests followed an indictment by a federal grand jury of the pair for conspiring to engage in the business of dealing firearms without a license, aiding and abetting, and (in the case of Hyden) receiving firearms while under indictment. The government further alleged the two agreed to have Howard purchase firearms in North Carolina at various licensed dealers, and Hyden was to sell these firearms for profit in Philadelphia.

During the course of the investigation, an ATF operative was able to infiltrate the conspiracy and purchase about 24 firearms. The types of guns purchased included: 15 Lorcin 9mm pistols; three Intratec 9mm pistols; one Glock .357 pistol; one Llama .45; one Jennings/Bryco 9mm; one HiPoint 9mm rifle; and two Norinco 7.62x39mm rifles. The total number of firearms trafficked by these individuals is still being investigated. All of the undercover purchases took place in Philadelphia. All of the purchased firearms, with the exception of two, had the serial numbers obliterated at the time of purchase.

The investigation initiated at the request of the Philadelphia School Board Investigation Unit for the tracing of two firearms recovered on school grounds. Philadelphia police offices early one morning had arrested two 18-year-old males for discharging firearms in the schoolyard of William Penn High School. Both firearms had their serial numbers obliterated.

The Philadelphia Police Firearms Identification Unit was able to restore the serial numbers. ATF then initiated a trace of the firearms and determined that both guns were purchased by Howard in Greensboro, NC just 48 hours prior to their recovery.

If found guilty, Hyden could receive up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million. Howard could receive up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $500,000.

Defendant Pleads Guilty

Gerald Lowrance of Stockton, CA, was recently sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised probation for violating federal firearms laws. As part of a plea bargain, Lowrance pled guilty to a violation of United States Code, Title 18, Section 922(k), possession and transfer of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

New ATF Chief Counsel

John J. Manfreda, formerly ATF’s deputy chief counsel, has been appointed chief counsel. In his new position, Manfreda is responsible for all legal services related to firearms, explosives, tobacco, arson, alcohol, and administrative law. He also is responsible for overseeing the preparation and review of proposed legislation, regulations, and executive orders relating to the laws affecting and enforced by ATF.

Military Developments

In other news, the U.S. Army is reported as testing a remotely-controlled robotic platform that can aim and fire arms such as the M-16 rifle and .50 caliber machine guns. Known as the Telepresent Rapid Aiming Platform (TRAP) T-2, the device enables troops to aim and fire their guns from positions out of harm’s way.

Developed by Precision Remotes, Inc. of Point Richmond, California, the $50,000 system allows the soldier to remain hidden while observing an area through a video camera and sighting in on targets through a high-powered, automatic focus sight. The system consists of a weapons mounting platform, a video camera, a sight and a control box with a viewfinder. The camera can be used for an overview of the target area, or to zoom in with the high-powered sight. The control box contains buttons for adjusting aim. TRAP also contains two lasers to warn intruders coming into guarded territory that they are being targeted in a high-tech version of the old, “Halt, or I’ll shoot” command.

When the control box is connected to the platform with electrical cables, the arm can be controlled from as great a distance as 1,000 meters. The control distance can be extended infinitely if connected via a radio frequency link. Weighing 38 pounds, the system is intended to be issued to squads or platoons and possibly mounted on vehicles.

Have identified reflections from the objective lenses and laser protective filters of its optics as an issue, the U.S. Army has awarded Tenebraex Corp. of Boston, Massachusetts, a contract for over 35,000 anti-reflection devices (ARDs) for five fire control and observation optics. The firm’s killFlashTM ARD filters will be used for the Army’s M24 Sniper Weapon System’s optics including the Leupold day rifle sight, the AN-PVS-10 Day/Night Sight, and the M144 spotting scope, as well as the M22 (Steiner and Corion) Binoculars and the M24 Miniature Binoculars.

killFlashTM ARDs use a honeycomb material and patented geometry to provide a retrofittable solution to glint and glare from optical surfaces with minimal light loss and no loss in resolution. In addition to hiding glint, the product is claimed to allow users to see the target better in conditions of high glare, such as when looking into morning or afternoon sun or when shooting across snow.

Glint is a serious threat to operational security, yet it is often not considered by military commanders. Glint, however, has played a crucial role in military history. For example, the Japanese Army’s second attack on Henderson Air Force base in World War Two’s Battle of Guadalcanal was turned when a U.S. Marine patrol saw reflections from a Japanese officer’s binoculars on a hilltop, in what had been thought to be unoccupied, impenetrable jungle. Because of that sighting, the U.S. commander was able to shift forces to his previously unprotected flank and defeat the enemy attack.

Moshe Dayan, the Israeli general, got his famous eye patch when a sniper saw reflections of the sun from Dayan’s binoculars. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the top Soviet sniper, Vasili Zaitsev, won his famous three-day duel with the top Nazi sniper, Major Koning, by looking for and targeting the reflection from the German’s scope.

Glint even played a decisive part in the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War. As the Confederates prepared to attack, Union General Gouverneur Warren arrived on the top of Little Round Top hill, where his men had reported seeing movement in the trees below. The General asked that a shell be fired into the area and as the shot went whistling through the air, the sound caused the enemy troops to look in its direction.

“This motion revealed to me the glistening of gun barrels and bayonets of the enemy’s line of battle, already formed and far outflanking the position of any of our troops. I immediately sent a hastily written dispatch requesting an additional division,” General Warren later said. Those reinforcements, turned the Confederate attack and preserved the Union’s possession of the hill.

KillFlash technology. in addition to sights, is also available for laser-protective goggles, vehicle headlights and windshields.

The military shotgun has been in use, primarily by the American armed forces, for well over a hundred years. Throughout its history as a military small arm, the shotgun has been called by many names. It was first termed a “riot gun” and later a “trench gun.” Later still, the military shotgun came to be called a “fighting shotgun” or “combat shotgun.” While the latter terms still prevail among some, we prefer the term “tactical shotgun” because it precisely describes the use of the gun – as a tactical small arm. While the terms “combat” or “fighting” have a certain macho appeal and the acquisition program was for a “combat shotgun,” neither term precisely defines the role of the shotgun as used by today’s law enforcement or the military. Therefore, we prefer to use a more precise designation – tactical shotguns. The shotgun came into its own as a military small arm in World War I, when American “doughboys” came to France equipped with Winchester Model 1897 “trench guns.” The shotguns were so effective in the trench warfare of the time that Germany lodged a formal protest against their use as “inhumane.” The German protest should give the reader a hint as to the devastating effectiveness of the tactical shotgun in close combat when loaded with the proper ammunition, but the shotgun was judged to be no more inhumane than other weapons and the German protest was disallowed. The tactical shotgun has been a fixture in warfare since, usually in jungles, cities, or in other military operations where an effective close combat weapon was required. Although the American military has been the primary user of tactical shotguns, recent developments in ammunition, most notably non-lethal and specialized shotgun ammunition, coupled with changing military roles and missions have brought the shotgun to the attention of the rest of the world. Many of the world’s small arms manufacturers now produce tactical shotguns, but the recent focus of the world’s potential tactical shotgun market has been the US military’s selection of its most recent tactical shotgun, the Benelli M4 Super 90, officially adopted as the XM1014 in April 1999. Once the first articles under the contract pass their testing, the “X” designation will be dropped and the new gun will take on the designation M1014 and begin replacing the Mossberg M590 and other slide action tactical shotguns in US inventory.

Selection of the XM1014 began with a US Marine Corps requirement for a “combat shotgun” that was established in the early 1990s. The requirement was subsequently revised to include the entire US military with the Marine Corps retaining overall program management. The initial shotgun competition was terminated in early 1998 due to technical problems and the program restarted in May of that year. The US military M4 Super 90 project was managed by Heckler & Koch while the gun itself was developed by Benelli. This was probably due to Heckler & Koch’s extensive experience in dealing with the US military and the firm’s demonstrated expertise in managing military small arms projects. Sales of the M4 Super 90/XM1014 will be handled by Benelli, save for US shotguns produced under the current military contract, which are H&K’s province.

The M4 Super 90/XM1014 is a semiautomatic, gas operated, tubular magazine fed tactical shotgun. The bolt assembly is similar to that of the Benelli Montefeltro, with a bolt carrier and rotating two lug bolt that locks into a barrel extension. The shotgun’s gas operation system incorporates a novel design, called Auto-Regulating Gas Operating, or “ARGO,” by the developers. The ARGO system uses two gas ports and tappet type pistons that ride in short cylinders beneath the gun’s barrel. The pistons impinge directly against the face of the bolt carrier to cycle the gun each time the trigger is pulled. According to the manufacturer, the system is unaffected by fouling, requires little or no maintenance and functions reliably with all types of standard shotgun ammunition from low brass target loads to 3 inch (76mm) magnum rounds. We verified this claim in testing, as discussed below. The ARGO gas system is a simple design that we estimate will be extremely reliable in service, based on our brief, but detailed, evaluation and examination of the gun.

Thus far, testing has proven that the XM1014 will reliably function for at least 25,000 rounds of standard ammunition without replacing any major parts. We tested the XM1014 using a variety of ammunition ranging from low-brass target loads, tactical reduced recoil through full power shotgun ammunition, including three-inch magnum and found that the XM1014 functioned flawlessly, regardless of the type of ammunition we used. The XM1014 will not, however, semiautomatically cycle non-lethal ammunition such as rubber buckshot, “bean bags,” or any other similar non-lethal ammunition. This must not be construed as a criticism, because there was no military requirement for the shotgun to function semiautomatically with these types of ammunition. It is merely a statement of fact of which the reader should be aware. The only military requirement was that the gun be capable of manual cycling to operate with non-lethal ammunition. Given the increasing use of the military for peacekeeping operations, however, non-lethal ammunition will probably be used more frequently than in the past. However, the inability to cycle non-lethal ammunition was a conscious decision on the part of the military and we must emphasize that the HK/Benelli gun meets or exceeds every military requirement.

The M4 Super 90/XM1014 is modular in construction so that the user can quickly exchange major components, including barrel, buttstock and forearm to meet changing mission requirements. In its basic configuration with collapsible buttstock, the XM1014 gives the appearance that it would be awkward to handle, but this is not the case. We found the XM1014 to be very comfortable to fire in all configurations. The overall design coupled with the ARGO gas system has the effect of reducing felt recoil and muzzle rise regardless of the type of ammunition used or stock configuration. Available buttstock configurations are collapsible with pistol grip, fixed stock with pistol grip, semi-pistol grip fixed stock and pistol grip only. Changing the XM1014 into any of its various configurations was easily understood and simply accomplished even without written instructions. Disassembly and assembly for reconfiguration or cleaning is straightforward and can be performed without tools in less than a minute’s time. External finish is heavy phosphate black on steel parts and hard anodizing on aluminum components.

Standard XM1014 sights are of the “ghost ring” type with a large rear aperture sight and blade front sight for quick target acquisition. These open sights are adjustable for windage and elevation using the rim of a cartridge. The front sight is fixed in place with a hex nut and can be replaced with a tritium unit if desired. The gun is fitted with a semi-fixed MIL-STD-1913 rail on top of the receiver that will accept any standard optical sight or targeting device. The rail is held in place using locking screws and can be removed, should the need arise.

The XM1014’s 18.5in barrel has removable choke tubes to accommodate virtually any type of ammunition or tactical condition. A 14in barrel is available as an option. Magazine capacity varies with barrel length. The XM1014 with standard 18.5in barrel will accommodate seven shells (6 in the magazine, plus 1 in the chamber) whether they are 2.75 or 3 inch type, while the 14in barrel reduces total magazine capacity to six (5 + 1) 2.75 inch shells or five (4 + 1) 3 inch shells. Overall length of the XM1014 is 39.8 inches with stock extended, 34.9 inches with stock collapsed and 30.3 inches with short barrel and stock collapsed.

Ammunition can readily be changed from type to another as the tactical situation changes. The shell in the chamber can be ejected without feeding a new round onto the elevator by simply pulling the charging handle to the rear. A fresh shell can then simply be dropped onto elevator, the bolt release pressed and the new round chambered. If the user wishes to discard the chambered round and bring up a new round from the magazine, he presses the small magazine release button located on the receiver bottom near the trigger guard and pulls the charging handle, thus ejecting the chambered round and feeding a fresh one from the magazine. The magazine release button is shaped differently than the safety and must be pressed in a different direction for actuation. There is thus little possibility of confusing the two. As stated, the tubular magazine holds six rounds in standard configuration, but tactical reloads can be accomplished at any time during a break in firing by simply “topping off” the magazine through the loading port.

The XM1014 also comes equipped with speedloaders for quickly filling the magazine. This is accomplished by inserting the speedloader tube against the studs visible on the lower edge of the receiver on either side of the loading port. Once positioned against the studs, the speedloader button is shoved forward to recharge the magazine. Speedloaders, however, are bulky, cumbersome to carry and hold only four or five rounds of ammunition. Tactical (partial) reloads using speedloaders is difficult unless the magazine can accommodate all the ammunition in the speedloader. Moreover, ammunition carried in speedloaders is essentially “fixed.” Once the ammunition is loaded into a speedloader, it is essentially in place and cannot be readily changed if the tactical situation demands. The user is thus restricted as to the types of ammunition available, basically as many of the cumbersome speedloaders as he has with different types of ammunition in each. Use of speedloaders thus actually degrades one of the tactical shotgun’s greatest assets – its flexibility. It is for these reasons that the value of devices such as speedloader tubes is questioned by many professionals. Not only do they have all the disadvantages mentioned above, speedloaders are only marginally faster than manually reloading the gun from belt carriers, “on the gun” carriers, or over the shoulder bandoleers.

Our informal test of the M4 Super 90/XM1014 revealed that it is a superb semiautomatic tactical shotgun. The gun is very well balanced. It handled and pointed well, despite the awkward appearance of the collapsible buttstock. With the semi-pistol grip or full pistol grip stock installed, the gun handles even better, but we suspect that most operators will retain the sliding stock. The sliding stock is easily removed by pressing a release, turning 90 degrees and sliding the stock off to the rear, leaving the pistol grip in place. The collapsible stock configuration thus provides the greatest degree of tactical flexibility. The cross bolt safety is located at the rear of the trigger guard. It has an oversized and uniquely shaped head that is difficult to mistake for anything else, even if the user is wearing gloves, and can be reversed for left-handed users. As stated, the XM1014 functioned flawlessly with every type of ammunition we fed through it, from low brass # 7 1/2 light target loads to 3 inch magnum slugs. The example that we tested patterned well with a modified choke tube, placing all 12 “00” buckshot slugs on a silhouette target at 25 meters. Slug accuracy at 50 meters was impressive. Tactical Foster-type slugs fired from the M4 Super 90/XM1014 impacted essentially at point of aim with all rounds remaining within an approximately 4.75 inch circle. Brenneke or Sauvestre slugs would almost certainly be more accurate. The XM1014 field strips quickly and easily without tools, unless one counts the charging handle, which is withdrawn from the bolt carrier and used to remove the trigger group and disassemble the gas system for cleaning.

What didn’t we like about the M4 Super 90/XM1014? First the fact that it is a semiautomatic. This writer may be considered a troglodyte, but he still prefers a slide action gun for tactical work, as even the best semiautomatic will not function with the full spectrum of tactical ammunition now available to military and law enforcement agencies and stoppages are easier to clear with a slide action gun. We find that manually cycling semiautomatic shotguns to operate the gun with non-lethal ammunition to be cumbersome due to the (usually) small charging handle and the necessity to remove a hand from the gun to accomplish the task. We should note, however, that this is a subjective judgement and must be balanced against the fact that a gas-operated semiautomatic shotgun such as the M4 Super 90/XM1014 greatly reduces felt recoil, thus enhancing accuracy. For the average soldier or law enforcement officer, semiautomatic operation also enhances target engagement and eliminates the possibility of “short stroking” the gun, thereby causing a stoppage. All of the preceding attributes are decided advantages in a tactical shotgun. These attributes, coupled with the influx of women and smaller framed men into law enforcement and the military lead us to the conclusion that the semiautomatic tactical shotgun will gradually replace slide action guns, even though the former will not cycle with all types of ammunition and slide action guns can be equipped with recoil reducers. In the final analysis, the user will have to judge for himself which type of shotgun best suits his agency’s requirements. The sole minor criticism we have of the HK/Benelli M4 Super 90/XM1014 is the recoil spring tube that protrudes almost a foot to the rear of the gun’s receiver when the stock is removed and the gun used with only the pistol grip in place. Despite the fact that the tube is used to retain the stock and pistol grip, we found that it was somewhat inconvenient when the stock was removed and the gun was used with pistol grip only. Again, this is a subjective judgement and others may not find this to be the case due to differences in human anatomy. This one minor complaint must be balanced against the other excellent attributes of the shotgun.

Overall, the HK/Benelli M4 Super 90/XM1014 offers the user desiring a semiautomatic tactical shotgun what is arguably the best “off the shelf” semiautomatic tactical shotgun available today. It is reliable, relatively lightweight, well balanced and has outstanding ergonomics. It is without doubt the most flexible semiautomatic tactical shotgun available not only in terms of function, but from the standpoint of configuration. The M4 Super 90 can be arranged into virtually any tactical configuration imaginable, from entry gun with 14 inch (355mm) barrel and pistol grip to full length barrel and fixed buttstock. The MIL-STD-1913 rail allows employment of any standard optic or night vision device. We can thus close by stating that any agency that has a requirement for a semiautomatic tactical shotgun would do well to follow the US military’s lead and look very closely at the HK/Benelli M4 Super 90.

SAR’s Suppressor Technology Editor Al Paulson was recently asked what he thought were good choices for someone’s “Kit” in the event of needing suppression on a firearm. The ensuing article provides some interesting perspectives and choices, and we hope this helps answer some questions for the readers- Dan

Who knows if this Y2K business is media hype or not? Friends who are computer programmers disagree. One suggests fixing code is simplistic stuff. Another points out that even the first release of Windows 98 was not Y2K compliant. He suggests that the Y2K problem is much more subtle and pervasive than a lot of people believe, and not all the Y2K problems will appear on the first day of the Year 2000. There are several minefields that will appear on subsequent critical dates as well. He also points out that a lot of public utilities use an archaic programing language that has not been taught at the college level in decades, so there are a limited number of qualified programmers to resolve Y2K issues for the many mainframes still using this old language. His personal solution to the Y2K issue was to buy a generator, bury a fuel tank, put in a well with hand pump, stockpile gallon cans of freeze-dried food and crates of ammo, and add some sound suppressors to his kit. That got me to thinking. What sound suppressors would I want in my Y2K kit? They would fall into several mission categories: small game hunting, big game hunting, general tactical, and long-range tactical.

Selecting silencers for a Y2K kit is somewhat daunting, since this is the golden age of silencer design. The state of the art has grown considerably in the last decade, and the industry is rich with talented companies making diverse and outstanding products. Some of these manufacturers are relatively large and well known, while others are small shops catering to small but fiercely loyal clienteles. Both big and small companies produce some really excellent products. The net result is that the consumer has a plethora of outstanding sound suppressors to choose from. The following are some of my personal favorites, which I hope will stimulate your thought processes concerning what your own needs may be. You may wish to add a few suppressors or integrally suppressed arms that will serve similar needs, be they from these or other manufacturers.

If food availability becomes a problem, the easiest way to supplement your existing stores is the hunting of small game. If local laws permit the use of suppressed firearms for hunting, you will be at a social and strategic advantage by using such tools.

Small Game Hunting

The criteria for selecting the best silenced arm for hunting small game will depend upon several factors. Can you hunt openly (i.e., with a rifle) or must you hunt surreptitiously (i.e., with a concealed handgun) to avoid alarming nearby farmers or residents, or to avoid giving away the location of your favorite hunting ground? Is visual stealth important? This would favor an integrally silenced arm, which the uninitiated will view as a target-barreled gun. Or is maximum service life more important? This would favor the use of a visually conspicuous muzzle can. Finally, does your skill level permit the use of a handgun to feed the family?
I now live in a semi-rural area that features individual homes and small subdivisions interspersed with small farms and woodlots. Hunting is frowned upon but small game abounds. Since hikers are welcome, I could go for a walk at dawn or dusk (when most game is especially active) with a day pack and an integrally silenced pistol hidden under a long shirt. It would be a simple matter to use a single well-placed shot to collect a rabbit, squirrel or game bird for the pot within the 50 yard effective range of a good silenced pistol.

In fact, I regularly did this when I was a graduate student at the University of Alaska—Fairbanks. With the blessing of campus security, I’d hike or ski the two miles to campus with a Ruger Mark I (not silenced to conform to local game laws). Since most of the two miles were woods, and since homes and cabins were rare, I frequently collected several snowshoe hares or grouse for the evening meal on the way home. All UAF security asked of me was that I keep the gun unloaded while on campus. While one saw people with long arms on campus routinely in those gentler days (often grad students who needed protection while conducting field research in bear country), it still would have been tacky to walk from class to class with a rifle on my shoulder. The pistol resided in my day pack, which was a ubiquitous and therefore invisible accouterment of campus life. The pistol was a graceful and discreet solution for adding meat to the table of a starving grad student.

If both game and neighbors are plentiful, my own bias would be to use an integrally silenced pistol that features a tensioned barrel to minimize barrel harmonics. Such pistols by manufactures like Gemtech, Sound Technology, and the D.H. Melton Company (to name a few) can be easily holstered and carried unobtrusively. This assumes the operator limits his or her shots to a range where first-round kills are assured and great care is taken to ensure that no livestock, hikers, or buildings lie behind the target.

If you can hunt openly in a rural setting, then I like a good silenced .22 rifle, which will greatly extend a hunter’s effective range. If visual stealth or maximum suppression are required, then I’m particularly fond of D.H. Melton’s Sound-Master integrally silenced Ruger 10/22, which can deliver a sound signature that is within 2 decibels of action noise when using subsonic ammunition, or it can deliver maximum practical subsonic projectile velocity by using high velocity ammunition, when maximizing penetration is important.

If I were cynical about the duration of problems following Y2K, then I’d opt for a muzzle can rather than an integrally suppressed .22 rimfire. Any integrally suppressed arm will have a finite lifespan, limited by the infinitesimally slow accumulation of lead and hard carbon residue inside the suppressor wherever there is porting. I have x-rays documenting this process, but I can’t publish them without giving up the design secrets of the manufacturer. For most end-users, this process is so slow as to be irrelevant; you’ll be able to leave these guns to your grandkids. But if you expect to hunt game for food on a frequent and long-term basis, then using a well-designed muzzle can might increase the number of rounds you could put through the system tenfold.

Perhaps the most thought-provoking muzzle can design in the marketplace is the Millennium .22 suppressor from Sound Technology. It’s very quiet. It’s as tough as a Russian T34 tank. Lead and carbon accumulation is minimal. Furthermore, the design will probably tolerate more lead and carbon build-up than any design I’ve seen, which means it could well deliver the longest service life. Finally, the Millennium’s mounting system is practical in the extreme.

For mounting to a rifle or pistol, it features a 5/8 inch, hardened steel stud with NF, left-hand threads. The muzzle of a heavy (target-weight) rifle or pistol barrel is counterbored, crowned and threaded to accept this stud. This arrangement has a number of practical advantages. (1) The new barrel crown is protected by the deep, threaded socket. (2) The use of internal threading in front of the new crown eliminates any expansion of the bore that might be caused by the use of conventional outside threading. Such expansion adversely affects accuracy. (3) The use of left-hand threading ensures that the muzzle can tightens to the weapon with each shot, since the barrels use RH rifling so the resulting torque from each shot is applied in a right-handed vector. (4) No external thread protector is required. (5) This design assures proper axial alignment and it compensates for face wear over the long haul. (6) The same suppressor can be swapped between rifles and pistols. Sound Technology’s Millennium suppressor would be part of a very practical and durable system for hunting small game after the dawn of Y2K and well into the new millennium.

Big Game Hunting

For most residents of the United States, deer are the most readily accessible large game. Decades of experience hunting big game in Alaska has given me some definite biases. One of these biases is my confidence in the efficacy of heavy bullets of large diameter. My standard gun for bear protection was a Winchester Model 95 in .405 caliber. It stopped three bears at very close range with a single shot each time. Another of my favorites was the .44 Special round, which proved to be very accurate and effective on the black-tailed deer of Kodiak and Afognak, consistently providing one-shot kills. Coincidentally, this is a subsonic round and well suited to employment with a silencer. An integrally suppressed Ruger 77/44 rifle would be my first choice for discreetly taking deer-sized game.

The suppressed Ruger 77/44 from John’s Guns is an especially attractive system. Featuring a 16.25 inch barrel, and a 1.25×20 inch suppressor tube of 4140 steel finished in a handsome but discreet matt blue, this suppressed Ruger 77/44 has an overall length of just 39 inches. More importantly, it has a superbly quiet sound signature, and it’s as accurate as the unsuppressed rifle. This system from John’s Guns is my suppressed rifle of choice for the taking of deer-sized animals.

General Tactical

Any tactical requirements related to Y2K would probably relate to a possible breakdown of the social order, which could manifest itself as looting, or as an increased incidence of robbery, burglary, and carjackings. For protection from robbery and carjackings, it’s hard to beat a concealed and unsuppressed handgun of major caliber, preferably in .45 ACP according to my biases. For home defense, however, it’s hard to beat a 5.56x45mm carbine fitted with a sound suppressor to preserve the family’s short-term and long-term hearing if the weapon must be fired. One of my favorite systems is a select-fire M16 with 11.5 inch barrel and a quick-mount suppressor. A quick-mount suppressor is handy because some tactical situations call for making as much noise as possible, such as the need to gain temporary fire superiority to disengage from a superior force or to flank the enemy using fire-and-movement tactics.

One of my favorite quick-mount cans for the M16 family of weapons is the Model M4 3L sound suppressor from Suppressed Tactical Weapons. STW’s Model M4 3L features a patented three-lug quick-mounting system which is the most robust and trouble-free quick mount in the business. Designed by Carl O’Quinn and Andy Andrews, STW’s M4 3L suppressor has just four parts. The rear end cap and suppressor guts are machined from a single block of solid titanium. This ingenious monobloc design does not use baffles and spacers in any conventional sense. In my opinion, STW’s very efficient, one-piece suppression module represents one of the most important technological advances in the history of suppressor design.

Crafted entirely out of G2 titanium, the M4 3L suppressor has an overall length of 8.5 inches. Since the quick mount slips over the weapon’s barrel for 1.6 inches, the suppressor only adds 6.9 inches to the overall length of the weapon. The diameter of the silencer is 1.3 inches and the weight is an astonishingly light 14.0 ounces. The M4 3L runs 6-11 ounces lighter than the other quick-mount systems in the marketplace. Only the superbly crafted, screw-mount titanium Viper Model 3016 from the Special Op’s Shop is comparably light, but this smallest Viper variant produces a much louder sound signature. An M16 carbine with STW’s M4 3L suppressor provides an outstanding system for the up-close and personal requirements of family defense and the repelling of boarders.

Long-Range Tactical

Some folks live in open areas where they can see trouble coming from a considerable distance. To deal with such problems, it’s hard to beat a precision rifle chambered for 7.62x51mm ammunition. My own bias would be to use a system that featured a sound suppressor since, as the old Finnish proverb explains, “A silencer does not make a soldier silent, but it does make him invisible.” Using a suppressed rifle greatly facilities the ability to engage a superior force at a distance.

Furthermore, if the rifle features a barrel with a 1 in 10 inch twist, then the operator could also use high-performance, 200 grain 7.62x51mm Precision Bonded Subsonic (PBS) hollowpoint ammunition from Engel Ballistics Research that will give accurate shot placement, good penetration, and reliable expansion at subsonic velocities. Thus the operator could place high velocity shots reliably out to perhaps 800 yards using conventional match-grade service ammunition or 1,000 yards using VLD ammo. This same rifle could also be used to provide virtually silent hits into 1 MOA at 100 yards by using EBR’s PBS rounds. This would be a very versatile system suitable for a wide variety of hunting or tactical applications.

There are a number of outstanding .30 caliber suppressors in the marketplace. One of my favorites is the TPR-S suppressor from Gemtech. The TPR-S is very quiet with supersonic ammo, and it has a large enough bullet passage to use with subsonic ammo when the rifle barrel has a 1 in 10 twist rate. (Some other .30 caliber cans have tight bores that require a 1 in 8 rate of twist with subsonic ammo.) One of the best features of the Gemtech suppressor is that it features a spring-loaded quick mount that snaps onto two asymmetric lugs of a patented muzzle brake called the Bi-Lock. Not only does this allow the operator to mount or dismount the can in a few seconds, it also means that the rifle returns to the same zero every time the suppressor is mounted. Screw-mount suppressors will frequently require re-zeroing every time they are mounted, unless a torque wrench is used to mount them with the same number of inch-pounds every time the can is installed.

Final Thoughts

Is all this concern about Y2K insightful or just so much hokum? Only time will tell. While you might never use that new-in-the-box generator or a basement full of freeze-dried food, a careful collection of suppressed firearms would serve you well for years to come, whether or not you and your loved ones are bitten by the Millennium Bug. A good suppressed .22 rimfire rifle or pistol, a silenced .44 Special rifle, a 5.56mm carbine with quick mount suppressor, and a silenced rifle of .30 caliber should prove to be practical tools that will cover a wide spectrum of requirements in the new millennium. But this selection is a very personal one, based upon my own experiences and biases. What suppressed weapons would best fill your own needs as the new millennium approaches? I hope the preceding discussion has stimulated your own decision-making process.

D.H. Melton Company
Dept. SAR
1739 E. Broadway Road, Suite 1-161
Tempe, AZ 85282
phone 602-967-6218, fax 602-902-0783

Gemtech
Dept. SAR
P.O. Box 3538
Boise, ID 83701
phone 208-939-7222, fax 208-939-7804
URL http://www.gem-tech.com

Engel Ballistic Research, Inc.
Dept. SAR
544A Alum Creek Road
Smithville, Texas 78957
phone 512-360-5327, fax 512-360-2652
e-mail engelbr@swbell.net

John’s Guns
Dept. SAR
3010A Hwy. 155 North
Palestine, TX 75801
phone 903-729-8251, fax 903-723-4653

Sound Technology
Dept. SAR
P.O. Box 391
Pelham, AL 35124
phone and fax 205-664-5860
e-mail rem700p@sprintmail.com
URL http://www.hypercon.com/soundtech

Suppressed Tactical Weapons, Inc.
Dept. SAR
6911 Bill Poole Road
Rougemont, NC 27572
phone 919-471-6778, fax 919-471-3314
e-mail raymonda@earthlink.net

Special Op’s Shop
Dept. SAR
P.O. Box 978
Madisonville, TN 37354
phone 423-442-7180
URL http://www.compfxnet.com/opshop

Producing a miniature machine gun that actually fires ammunition provides a whole different set of problems because as the scale reduces, so do the tolerances that, ultimately, must be maintained to some degree to provide safety when dealing with chamber pressures and other forces that affect the working parts. A machine gun has many working parts that must act in unison under stress. Thus, certain liberties must be allowed to compensate for this. While the operating principles of the weapon may still be adhered to, true scaling of the internal parts is generally not possible because it must be chambered for a commercially available cartridge which, in all likelihood, is not to scale. Besides the multitude of manufacturing difficulties, current law prohibits the manufacture of “new” functional machine guns (in any size) so there are extremely few miniature machine guns that are capable of shooting.

Without a doubt, the best-known fully functional belt fed miniature machine guns were made by Dennis Tippmann and his Tippmann Arms Company. Starting out in the 1970s producing 1/2 scale Model 1862 Gatling guns he then turned his attention in the mid 1980s (when the law allowed the manufacture of “new” machine guns) to producing in 1/2 scale the classic Browning series of tripod mounted belt fed machine guns.

What can be said about the Browning guns that haven’t been said many times before in a legion of publications? They are the epitome of classic functional design that makes them instantly recognizable with an operating principle that is simplicity itself as well as proving itself in combat as being a true workhorse under a multitude of adverse conditions. Tippmann chose to recreate the .30 caliber Model 1917A1 water-cooled and Model 1919A4 air-cooled machine guns and the venerable .50 caliber M2 HB “Ma Deuce”. The guns were live working models and offered in semi-automatic or, upon special request, ATF registered full automatic versions. They came complete with tripod, non-disintegrating plastic link or cloth belts, metal or wood ammo boxes, technical manual, operating chart and fitted oak arms chest. Chambered for the .22 Long Rifle and .22 Magnum (for the M2 HB), they provided a source of full auto fun at an affordable price. Though some parts are not 100% accurate in scaling detail (such as the slightly larger trigger) due to its functionality, they are nonetheless wonderful representations of the larger versions that they copy and there is absolutely no mistaking what they are. They truly do capture the essence of the Browning.

After the fall of the USSR, two young Master Russian Metal Workers named Sergey Alekseevich and Sergey Vyacheslavovich from the Central Military Museum in Moscow turned their attention to making extremely detailed, fully functional but non-firing miniatures in an effort to keep their talents honed and occupied. They set up a little shop in an undisclosed location and due to current political Mafia pressure they sell nothing in the former Soviet Union and their location is a closely guarded secret. Using some ages old milling equipment and drafting techniques often consisting of merely a pencil, straight edge and calipers, they created in exquisite detail, and in excruciatingly small limited numbers, versions of the Thompson, German MP-38 and Russian PPsH-41 sub machine guns as well as the Russian SG43 and SGM Goryunov heavy machine guns and the Russian Maxim Model 1910 on a Sokolov wheeled mount. Some of these miniatures even come with scaled down dummy ammunition that will actually feed, chamber and eject. Truly astounding and remarkable in detail! Their work is displayed in several military museums throughout Russia such as the Museum of Military Power in Rovno, Ukraine, the Military Power Museum in Ezhevsk, Russia and the Military Power Museum in Moscow. The three gun set of the Goryunov Model 1943 (SG43) and its further modification to the SGMs were originally ordered by two Swedish merchants for donation to the Swedish Arms Museum in Stockholm but the order was ultimately canceled due to the volatile political environment in Russia and the guns were then sold. Their craftsmanship has been acknowledged here in the states by winning a number of medals at the annual NRA conventions the past several years.

Another master miniature arms maker was Frank Adlam of Australia. He built just 30 miniature weapons in 1/4 and 1/8 scale in his 25 year career ranging from swords (4) to rifles (7), pistols (6), machine guns (8) and artillery pieces (5). A professional soldier for 32 years, he rose to the rank of Warrant Officer and Master Gunner and proofed ammunition and tested weapons for the Australian Army and Navy. He set up a little shop in a tiny radar hut in 1957 at the Port Wakefield Range in South Australia and taught himself to be a draftsman, forger, fitter, wheelwright, molder and turner. He even made much of the equipment he needed to produce his miniatures. He created wonderfully accurate miniatures all through the 1960s and showed them at numerous shows in Australia until he had a serious heart attack in 1972 and was forced to cease his beloved avocation. He died in 1982. His models were so accurate that when his widow attempted to sell the collection the Adelaide, South Australia police determined them to be dangerous, illegal weapons under South Australia’s gun laws and threatened to confiscate and de-activate them by welding them up. A friend of the family clandestinely spirited them away into hiding in another Australian state while appealing the police ruling on behalf of the Adlam family. It took nearly ten years but the Australian Parliament finally exempted the Adlam Collection from any firearms laws which allowed the family to sell the collection.

The skill required to produce such exacting miniatures is achieved by only a small handful of craftsmen worldwide from such countries as the United States, Italy, England, Australia, Spain and Russia. Working generally from home workshops a single gun, from drawings to finished product, can take literally thousands of man-hours. Production can be a single example to a “production run” of maybe twenty or so guns. The time and effort put into these miniatures are not conducive to earning a living from such an endeavor. They are made for the love of the challenge and a passion to create a tangible object of their skill. Whether hand forged centuries ago or with the help of modern computer assisted milling equipment available today, these Lilliputian firearms are truly masterpieces that can be appreciated by all.

Brrrp! Brrrp! I was putting rounds down range and grinning ear to ear. It was July 1993 and I was the first American (to my knowledge) to ever fire on the weapons range at the old Soviet Spetsnaz Polygon (special forces training base) in Adazi, Latvia. Brrrupppp! Brrrupppp! More automatic weapons fire punctuated the stillness of the forest and the sharp, acrid yet pleasing smell of cordite soon tainted the pine-scented morning air. If you had told me, say ten years ago, that I would someday be standing on the firing range of a Spetsnaz base in the heart of Latvia I would have laughed in your face. As a U.S. Army “cold warrior” the only way I thought I’d ever see a place like this would be while waiting for a bullet as I hung from a parachute and peered past the toes of my jungle boots at little green tracer “footballs” coming up to meet me. Either that or being led out from an interrogation cell on my way for use as an unwilling pop-up target by a bunch of guys named Boris and Ivan. Nope, neither one. Matter of fact, I was standing there happy as could be with a fully-automatic Soviet Stetchkin machine-pistol and watching gunsmoke curl from the barrel. Of course I was surrounded by Latvians, who if they don’t hate Russians, they certainly dislike them. Strongly. The Ruskies, by the way were still garrisoned a few hundred yards down the road. The Latvian press was referring to them as “occupation forces”.

I spent two very pleasant days on the range with new found friends in the Valdibas Apsardzes Parvalde. (VAP, Government Security Service), specifically the Special Intervention Group (SIG). The SIG was Latvia’s counterterrorist and hostage rescue unit. It is now known as OMEGA (See SAR, April 1999, Vol 2 No. 7 “Omega’s Small Arms”).

Several of the VIP’s diplomatic bodyguard section carried Soviet Stetchkin machine pistols, and they happily loaned me one. I fired the Stetchkin in the holster-stock configuration. On full automatic. Very sweet, I fell in love. A large, robust pistol but with many good design features, it wasn’t difficult to handle. Its large grip (containing a rate retarding device and big enough to hold a 20-round magazine) provided plenty of purchase for two hands. Overall quality of the materials used in production is high and tolerances were good. The Avtomaticheskiy Pistolet Stetchkina, 9x18mm Makarov caliber, was fielded in Soviet military, police and KGB armories in 1951. It was issued for use in special operations and special police task such as diplomatic bodyguard details and convert counterterrorism operations. It also saw some use as a sidearm for armored vehicle crews. The APS was designed by Igor Yakolevich Stetchkin, then a Tula Arsenal engineer and designer.

Development

The Stetchkin’s design parameters as set by the Red Army called for a 9-mm selective fire pistol with a large magazine capacity that would use its holster as a shoulder stock (ala the 9mm Parabellum firing Mauser M1932 or M172 Schnellfeuer pistole also known as the “Broomhandle”) and have an effective range of 200 meters. A design team was headed up by I.Y. Stetchkin in 1950. Stetchkin, the son of a doctor, had risen to the position of engineer at the Tula Mechanical Institute during World War II. After producing an approved design a working prototype was manufactured. It performed acceptably and modifications were made to two test weapons. Comparison testing was done with the Mauser Schnellfeuer and its Spanish copy, the Astra Model 902 aka Model F (both in 7.63mm Mauser) and the Soviet Sudarev PPS-43 submachine gun which fires the 7.62mm Tokarev cartridge. Stetchkin remarked that his design performed better than the Mauser and the Astra and nearly as well as the Sudayev. After further modification and extensive troop trials the APS was adopted into service with the Soviet Army in 1951. In 1952 Stetchkin was awarded the State Prize for his development of the APS.

Technical Specifications

The APS was designed to fire the 9x18mm 93-grain FMJ steel-core Makarov cartridge (the APS was introduced by the Soviets at the same time as the Makarov). Muzzle velocity is about 1100 feet per second. Field tests by western intelligence analysts have found the Stetchkin achieves a muzzle velocity of 1,063 fps for East German manufactured by Makarov ammunition and 1,096 fps for Hungarian ball ammo. The same ammunition test fired in a Makarov produced muzzle velocities of 1,006 and 1,015 respectively. The noticeable gain in muzzle velocity can be attributed to the Stetchkin’s longer barrel. This weapon used a 20-round detachable staggered or double stacked box magazine. The double or two-position feed magazine, which feeds from both sides alternatively, has a spring exposing cut-out which allows for cartridge capacity checks. The receiver is of forged steel with a milled finish. The high quality salt-blue held up well on all examples I fired or handled. Weight was conserved where ever possible so the weapon weighs only 2.25 pounds (1.02 kg) empty (less than a Colt 1911A1 .45 ACP. With a full 20 round magazine it weighs 2.7 pounds (1.22 kg). Its chrome lined, fixed barrel (pinned in place like a Walther PP) is 5.5 inches (140mm). Overall length of the pistol is 8.9 inches (225 mm) – add the stock and it is nearly 21 inches (533 mm) – and height is 5.9 inches (149 mm). It has a chrome-lined bore and reddish-brown bakelite synthetic grips. Variations also exist with smooth wood grips. The barrel has four right-hand twist riflings.

A 14.5 inch (368 mm) long wood combination stock and holster, like that used with the Broomhandle Mauser M712, with a belt clip (a spring clip with two sling eyes) for right-side belt carry and sling can be quickly clipped to the pistol butt. While all the Stetchkins I’ve fired or seen had wood holster-stocks plastic versions were also manufactured. A sling or lanyard eye on the left side of the pistol just behind the trigger provides for retention of the weapon. The sling is attached much like the Mauser Broomhandle stock, except in reverse. The male attachment on the pistol butt’s backstrap is inserted into a matching female T-slot cut in the steel endcap of the stock. A spring catch locks it into place. The clip-on stock can then be disconnected from the pistol via a butt-cap mounted release catch. The pistol is stored in the holster by way of a hinged top (like the Mauser stock-holster) which allows the butt of the Stetchkin to protrude to the rear when clipped on the right side of the belt, much like any conventional holster. A simple press stud indented into the stock just below the hinged top activates a spring catch to unlatch the lid for drawing or removing the pistol.

Inside the holster-stock is a combination screwdriver and cleaning rod. The sling which can be clipped to both the sling connection on the stock and the sling eye on the pistol behind the trigger. The Latvians (and also the Estonian Police), however, clip both ends of the sling to the sling eye on the right, or non-firing side of the stock. Four spare 20-round magazines are issued with a double flapped leather magazine pouch.

The APS is sighted for 200 meters. The rear sight elevation is adjusted via a knurled drum between two protective flanges. The open U-notch rear sight can be set from 25 meters up to 200 meters with incremental settings at 50 meters and 100 meters. The front sight is a fixed blade.

The Stetchkin uses a two-stage single-action five pound trigger while the double action breaks at about fifteen pounds.

Mechanical Functioning

The APS is a non-locking blowback design. This unlocked breech design is largely responsible for the relatively light weight of the Stetchkin. Such a non-locking blowback action is possible using the low-power 93 grain 9x18mm Makarov cartridge. When the Stetchkin is fired the breech of the weapon remains closed from the weight of the slide and pressure from the recoil spring. The side is actioned to the rear via gas pressure exerted on the base of the cartridge case. The hammer is re-cocked and the spent cartridge extracted and ejected. The slide is sent forward by the recoil spring, chambering another cartridge and closing the breech. In semi-automatic fire the trigger does not engage the hammer until the trigger is released and pulled again to fire.

Pulling the trigger repeats the sequence. In the full-automatic fire mode the hammer is automatically tripped as the breech is closed, firing another cartridge and this sequence repeated. There is a spring-loaded plunger in the grip between the frame backstrap and the magazine-well which acts as a rate reducer in the full-automatic firing mode, limiting the effective cyclic rate of 700 – 750 rounds per minute. The plunger is activated by a transfer lever (initiated by a slide lug) as the slide cycles rearward. On the upstroke it impedes the firing of a second round (in the semi-auto mode) when it engages with the transfer lever and selector. Besides lowering the cyclic rate to a manageable level in full-automatic is also functions as a slide buffer and reduces the recoil velocity of the slide.

Loading and Firing

To load the magazine simply press a cartridge into the magazine until it catches under the feed lips. The next round is pressed down directly on top of it. Insert the loaded 20-round magazine into the magazine well at the butt until it engages the magazine latching lug. The APS three position selector switch is on the left side of the slide along with a hammer-drop safety. To operate: set it at OA (Cyrillic OD) for single shots, then to NP (Cyrillic PR) for safe (where it locks the hammer and slide), and all the way back to ABT (Cyrillic AVT for avtomat) for full auto fire.

On “safe” the firing pin is locked and the hammer is tripped to a locked position. Note that the hammer and slide are now locked. The selector must be moved to either semi-auto or full-auto before the slide can be pulled to the rear to chamber / eject a round. Pulling the trigger in either firing position will cock the hammer, in double action and release it to fire the first round. Trigger functioning is then single action. The first round or burst can also be fired single action, but only by manually cocking the hammer. On full-auto the cyclic rate of 700-750 rounds per minute will quickly – in 1.6 seconds or so – empty the 20 round magazine. There is a hold open device consisting of a lug on the magazine follower which engages the slide to lock it open after the last round is fired.

The Stetchkin will also reportedly reliably fire the 9mm Kurz or 9mm “Sort” (.380 caliber) ammunition. The case diameter of the 9mm Makarov is .309 inches and case length is .68 inches while that of the 9mm Kurz is .372 inches and .71 inches, respectively. Expended cartridge cases of the smaller .380 caliber cartridge usually will be bulged. Note also that the cyclic rate will drop and the velocity and accuracy will be likewise effected. But it will chamber, fire and eject. (NOTE: Neither the author nor Small Arms Review advises firing any cartridge in a weapon except the particular round that the weapon is specifically designed for).

Unloading and Clearing

On a Stetchkin with the slide forward, point the weapon in a safe and neutral direction and insure the selector switch is on either semi-auto or full-auto. Pull and hold the slide to the rear. Observe for ejection of a chambered round. Engage the slide release-catch (located on the left side of the receiver below the slide and just forward of the selector switch / safety as on most automatic pistols). Release the magazine (like the Makarov the magazine catch is a knurled button on heel of the pistol butt). Inspect the chamber.

To clear the weapon with the slide locked to the rear; inspect the chamber. Release the slide. Release the magazine catch and draw out the magazine. You can then re-cock the slide and inspect the chamber if desired.

Field Stripping

To disassemble the Stetchkin: First, clear the weapon and remove the magazine. Insure the selector is on either semi-auto or full-auto. Like the Makarov, the trigger guard of the APS is pulled down to initiate disassembly. It will be held in the down position (unlike the Makarov or Walther) by a spring-loaded catch stud. Next, pull the slide back to the recoil spring and lift the slide from the frame. Pull the recoil spring off the barrel. Disassembly is complete. Further or complete disassembly necessitates the use of armorer’s tools to disassemble the trigger mechanism, hammer, selector switch, firing pin, safety, rate retarder – grip spring, and grips.

KGB Assassination Weapon?

The Stetchkin was also manufactured in a fully suppressed version, known as the APS-B (Besshumniye or “without noise”). At least one of these “silenced” Stetchkins was captured in Afghanistan. This version of the Stetchkin had a wire buttstock rather than the wood or plastic holster stock and sported a long muzzle suppressor which was offset so that the sights are not occluded while attached. The barrel was ported (reducing bullet velocity to a suppressible subsonic level) with four small ports near the chamber and eight more, larger ports near the barrel. The barrel diameter between the ported sections was reduced and the barrel then ensconced in a tubular gas expansion sleeve. This tubular expansion sleeve (fitting over the barrel and extending nearly two inches beyond the slide) is locked into place by lugs fitting into two notches in the frame. The suppressor (which could be attached to the stock for carrying) is screwed onto the expansion sleeve by a helical thread – two twists and it’s on – is retained by a spring-catch. The front of the slide is cut out to accept the suppressor and a larger diameter recoil spring. Both the suppressor and the pistol with stock were issued in a large leather flap holster with two individual pockets: one for the pistol and the other for the stock and suppressor. This version of the APS was probably used for covert operations by KGB operatives; it is relatively rare. In this configuration it was ideal for carrying out KGB”hits.” Especially by motorcycle mounted drive-by shooters if the target is standing on a street corner. It could also be used (in the fashion which the M-11 Ingram was supposedly designed for) to take out “a room full of very surprised colonels.”
There were also specially presented Stetchkins, no doubt to foreign military dignitaries. Boxed in a wood presentation case lined in green wool baize were a Stetchkin with polished stock, leather sling and four magazines with pouch.

Tactical Critique

The Stetchkin can be fired full-auto, single handed as the rate reducer and long recoil spring minimizes recoil. Muzzle climb is drastic, even with the shoulder stock attached, when firing long bursts. Short three round bursts allow for the best accuracy. With aimed, semi-auto fire from a stable firing position (sitting-supported or prone) by a trained marksman the Stetchkin will group on man-sized silhouettes out to 150 meters.

With a little practice the Soviet requirement of effective accuracy to 200 meters could be achieved, however, it is truly pushing the envelope for both weapon and cartridge. Accurate full automatic fire degrades considerably beyond 25 meters. In firing the Stetchkin with the stock affixed I was able to consistently hit man-sized silhouette targets at that range with 3-5 round bursts from the standing off-hand. This is course could just as easily have been achieved using most any submachine gun. Without the stock it punches twenty holes in a man-sized silhouette at about 10 meters only by controlling the pistol dramatically between bursts. As a close combat weapon it is excellent, if only for its rapid, multiple hit capability and ease of engagement.

The Stetchkin is one of the true machine pistols, defined as handguns designed to fire in full automatic, as opposed to small submachine guns such as the Micro Uzi or the Czech Skorpion Model 61 .32 ACP submachine gun. The Broomhandle Mauser, Spanish Stars, Heckler & Koch VP70z, Glock 18, and Beretta 93R, are all weapons designed for this purpose. Individual examples of other handguns such as the Colt 1911 have been converted to fire full-auto, but were not originally designed for this purpose.

There may very well have been political reasons for development of the Stetchkin. At about the same time as it was being designed Stalin viewed the increasing popularity of certain communist party aparatchiks from Leningrad with suspicion. The successful defense of the city during the Siege of Leningrad was an epic victory of the Soviets over the Germans. Faced with a shortage of small arms the PPS-42 (Pistolet-Pulemet Sudayeva M1943) was quickly designed by a military engineer. A.I. Sudarev, to make use of existing machine tools, parts and ammunition.

It was a crude but efficient submachine gun constructed almost entirely of heavy steel stampings and held together with spot welds, pins and rivets. This weapon became a symbol of the victorious defense of Leningrad (now again called St. Petersburg). Because of this visual link with the past and with the Leningrad leadership, Stalin ordered the removal of the weapon (continued in production with minor modifications as the PPS-43 until 1945) from Red Army armories in order to banish it from sight and from the consciousness of Soviet citizens. This was a major undertaking as nearly 1 million of these weapons were produced. A replacement may have been part of the plan. Hence the comparison at the arms trials of the prototype Stetchkin and the PPS-43. While this is only speculation on my part, it would be a better motive than simply deciding to arm troops with a machinepistol which was neither as portable as a Tokarev nor as accurate as a submachine gun. The Kalashnikov was also in full production at this time which further begs the question: why a machinepistol? An arms historian can also draw a link between the popularity of the Mauser 1920 Bolo pistols (Bolo being short for Bolshevik at the time) supplied in quantity by Mauser to the Soviet Union. The Bolo was chambered for the bottlenecked 7.63mm (.30 Mauser), a cartridge which became more popular than the pistol. The Soviets adapted this pistol cartridge to become the Tokarev 7.62mm, which can also be fired in the .30 Mauser pistols. Perhaps some Soviet general or Communist Party official enamored of the Bolo Mauser (politically incorrect for use as it was a German weapon), but not very knowledgeable about weapons and modern warfare wanted a suitable replacement.

Filling no real purpose (except perhaps in special operations) it did not enjoy widespread success and was largely withdrawn from service by 1980. The APS, however, was fielded by the Soviets or their satellites (especially Bulgaria) to various “wars of liberation” and guerrilla groups. The Stetchkin would be a handy weapon for arming field advisors and rear area specialists and it has popped up in Afghanistan, Mozambique, Angola, Rhodesia, Libya and Zambia. In 1996 three Stetchkins with ammunition and seven magazines along with thirteen handgrenades were found by South African police in a mielie field near Krugersdorp. They were probably an abandoned ANC weapons cache. The most infamous incident involving a Stetchkin occurred in January 1989 in Holland when a Bulgarian truck driver was detained by police after they noticed the undue attention he was paying to NATO bases. A search of the truck revealed a Stetchkin concealed in the cab. This was probably the last major incident involving hard espionage during the Cold War.

Considered rare, relatively arcane, and supposedly removed from general service in the USSR by 1985, I was surprised to find it in such general use amongst special operations units in the Baltics as late as 1995. I would guess that these have been largely supplanted by H&K MP-5s in Estonia and Micro Uzis in Latvia. However, if the Balts were making use of the weapon just a few years sago, then I suspect some elements of the new Russian Army might be as well. At the time I first fired the Stetchkin (1993) I was told it was available on the black market for $1,000 (USD). Following the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union a quantity of Stetchkins were undoubtedly removed from storage in state armories and peddled for hard currency. Counterterrorism instructors were warning students of the use and availability of this weapon to terrorists, assassins and criminals.

Various attempts to turn automatic pistols (semi-auto and select fire) into carbines via the addition of a shoulder stock holster prior to development of the Stetchkin met with mixed results. The most well-known machinepistols or pistol carbines include: the Mauser; the Astra; the Star Pistol Carbine Model “A” and its select fire version Model “M”; the long barreled P08 Model 1914/1917 “Artillery” Luger (further encumbered with a 32-round snail magazine’ and various 9mm FN Browning Hi-Power manufactures. None of these were great successes as general-usage military weapons. Stocked pistols are neither as accurate as carbines and submachine guns nor as portable as pistols. Perhaps the Soviets merely needed to find out for themselves what the Germans and the Spanish already knew.

US Lore of the Stetchkin

“Common Knowledge” dictated that the only Stetchkin machine pistol in the US was secretly stashed at Langley in the possession of the CIA. Rumors of one held by a Vietnam Veteran who took it from the body of a “Large Caucasian” in a cross border op during the Vietnam war were followed up by this author, to find he did not have the gun, but was a dog handler with the Marines who did in fact discover one on a “Large Caucasian” with a leather pouch full of documents and a Stetchkin, but as he and his team mates examined it, several of the CIA personnel who had called his K9 team in for a body search quickly removed it and the pouch. He did not have the gun. It was not supposed to have happened. He had the credentials to back up his story.

The ATF booklet on Curio and Relics lists the Stetchkin APS machine pistol, and has ever since I remember the publication. This would indicate, but not guarantee, that there is at least one registered transferable Stetchkin in the US.

LMO purchased 50 Arsenal refinished and new Stetchkin APS machine pistols in the early 1990’s. These were packed 25 per wooden chest, with plastic stocks, slings, and magazine pouches. Approximately 25 were imported for law enforcement use or as dealer sales samples, and are restricted as “Post 86 dealer samples”. The balance of the guns had the receivers destroyed and were imported as parts sets. Most of these were made into dummy guns, but some were reportedly redesigned into a semi automatic version by a Midwest manufacturer. With the stocks, these would have required registration as Short Barreled Rifles.

From the Stetchkins that were seen, it would indicate that the dates of manufacture were 1951 until 1955.

One of the suppressed versions is in the possession of the Royal Pattern Room in Nottingham, and SAR hopes to bring the story and pictures of that piece to the readers in a future issue. – Dan

Back in the 1950’s, when people were still amazed at things like supersonic flight and ballistic missiles, newer and faster aircraft seemed to be introduced almost weekly. The new 1,500 mph Lockheed F-104A Starfighter didn’t disappoint anyone as the U.S. Air Force put the world’s fastest jet through its paces at its first public flight on March 5, 1956. Gathered to watch the spectacle were over 200 reporters, government officials and other curious onlookers assembled at the Air Force’s production test facility at Edwards Air Force Base near Palmdale, California. When the show was finally over and the crowd inspected the plane on the ground, many noticed a rather curious bulge in the front left side of the fuselage. Several speculated openly that it covered the Air Force’s mysterious new “supergun”, a marvelous new machine gun that had been rumored about for the past two years but remained shrouded in secrecy. The Air Force, of course, would say nothing.

But there had been some hints dropped. A few months before the F-104’s flight, Lt. General Donald L. Putt made a speech during a meeting of the Aero Club of Washington. Gen. Putt, at that time head of Air Force armaments development, stated that the standard .50 caliber Browning aircraft machine gun with its 850 rpm cyclic rate had become outclassed in the new jet age. Replacing it was the M39 20 mm automatic cannon, a new weapon with a cyclic rate of about 1,700 rpm. And the M39, he continued, would soon be replaced by a still newer gun, a 20 mm gun that could achieve almost 7,000 rpm!

This and other vague references to the new “supergun” kept the rumors going strong until the Starfighter was first shown to the public. Then the desire for information became so strong that, shortly after the fighter’s flight, the Pentagon finally acknowledged that a new 20 mm machine gun was in the final stages of development, with regular production expected to begin later in the year. The gun was a joint venture involving the U.S. Army Ordnance Dept., the Air Force and the General Electric Co. of Schenectady, New York. The Pentagon had even given the project its own code name—”Project Vulcan”!

The story of “Project Vulcan” goes back to 1945 and a research effort being conducted between the then Army Air Force and the U.S. Army Ordnance Department’s Research and Development Service, Small Arms Branch. In command of this branch was Colonel Rene R. Studler and under his command were two officers, Cleves “Doc” Howell and Melvin M. Johnson, Jr. (of Johnson rifle and LMG fame). While traveling to Waterbury, Connecticut to consult with yet another machine gun contractor having belt-link problems, Howell suggested to Johnson the idea that the old Gatling guns should be tested with an external motor attached for possible aircraft applications. Johnson replied that he was not particularly pleased with the prospect of dealing with the belt-link problems of a high-speed Gatling. But Howell eventually persuaded Johnson of the validity of the concept and both agreed that a proposal should be brought before Col. Studler.

The colonel listened to the young officers’ proposal intently, and then granted them permission to do a “feasibility study” of the idea. Backed by Studler, Army Ordnance granted Johnson Automatics, Inc. (Melvin Johnson’s own company) a small contract to do research with antique Gatling guns that were in the collection of the Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The tests were conducted in late 1945 at Johnson Automatics’ private test range in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Johnson himself wanted to test one of the later versions of the Gatling, a caliber .30-06 or .30-40 Krag model from the period 1896 to 1910. Unfortunately none could be found at the time and Johnson had to settle for a .45-70 model 1886 Gatling with 10 barrels and a 103-round Accles feed drum. Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor of the original gun, had conducted a few tests himself with a powered gun in 1896, but by then the Gatling was being overshadowed by the self-powered designs of Browning, Maxim and others. Nothing came of those early experiments, and Dr. Gatling died in 1903.

Two tests were conducted, one at approximately 4,000 rpm and another at 5,500 rpm, each with the Accles drum loaded with only fifty rounds so that the gun mechanism could build up speed before firing. In spite of the clouds of smoke created by the use of original black-powder ammunition, Johnson’s tests were a great success. A few more bursts were fired and the old Gatling performed amazingly until an extractor failure brought the tests to an end. Johnson immediately submitted his findings to the Ordnance Dept. along with some recommendations for making a plausible belt-fed weapon. Ordnance was impressed enough with the findings that on January 18, 1946, only a couple of months after Johnson’s tests, the Dept. awarded the General Electric Company a contract to further study the idea. By June G.E. had a contract to develop a practical powered, belt-fed Gatling. Johnson’s original test gun was bought by Winchester in 1949 and eventually ended up in the museum of the Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation.

The Air Force, which was providing most of the funding for the project, laid down the initial specifications for the gun. It wanted 5,000 rpm, a caliber of about .60, a 60-inch barrel length with the entire gun being no longer than 80 inches, and five barrels. It also wanted the gun to be easy and quick to maintain and reliable at high speeds, altitudes and extremes in temperature. G.E. engineers went to work and by April 1949 they had a prototype that could achieve 2,500 rpm reliably. By June 1950 an improved prototype had reached 5,000 rpm, and by September it reached 6,000. Further testing was conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground and at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts. Four different versions were tested, and in May 1952 seven prototypes shot 75,000 rounds without a jam.

Things looked promising for the motorized Gatling, but it was not without competition. In 1945, as Hitler’s Third Reich crumbled, the Allies overran the Mauser facilities at Oberndorf and found that the Germans had produced a prototype gas-operated, high-speed cannon using a revolving drum to feed a single barrel. After the war ended, a joint project between Army Ordnance, the Air Force and the Ford Motor Company produced the M39 automatic cannon, a weapon very similar to the original Mauser. Development proceeded quickly and this weapon officially replaced the Air Force’s M3 Browning in time to see action at the very end of the Korean War, in MIG Alley in 1953. Eight F-86F Sabrejet fighters were equipped with the new guns and in only a few days destroyed 9 MIGs and damaged 12 more. The gun became standard equipment in all Air Force fighters until the introduction of the Starfighter in 1956, and was primarily produced by the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors. But even though the MIG Alley encounters demonstrated the validity of the high-rpm aircraft gun, the capability of the M39 was limited by its single barrel and even it couldn’t keep up for long.

Fortunately, progress on the new Gatling was made at a rapid pace. By mid-1952 three different versions were still being considered. There was the .60-cal. T-45 (also called Model “A”), the 27 mm T-150 (Model “B”), and the 20 mm T-171 (Model “C”). After additional trials at Springfield Armory the T-45 and T-150 were dropped from consideration and the T-171, now being referred to as the “Vulcan” gun after the project code-name, was stepped up to the pre-production phase. In August 1952 G.E. produced 27 T-171 six-barreled guns for extended Air Force trials at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and after successfully completing these trials General Electric was awarded a contract to begin pilot production of the gun at their Schenectady, New York plant in 1954.

The “Vulcan” was finally shown to the public at Aberdeen Proving Ground on August 28, 1956 after having been adopted officially by the Air Force earlier in the year as the M61. General Electric was awarded a 7-million dollar contract to begin full production late that year at Schenectady, and later production was moved to the company’s Aircraft Equipment Division plant in Burlington, Vermont. Two versions, one with electric motors and one with hydraulic motors, were produced to satisfy the requirements of the Air Force’s two largest aircraft contractors, Lockheed and Republic. A year after the T-171 was adopted, a larger 30 mm version dubbed the T-212 was introduced. The T-212 was originally designed to fire high-explosive shells and was to be used on heavily armored targets against which the 20 mm standard armor-piercing rounds were ineffective. But it was not until 1973 that the Pentagon would find a use for the big 30 mm, when on June 21 of that year General Electric was awarded a contract to produce the GAU-8A “Avenger”, an updated T-212, for use in the new Fairchild-Republic A-10 “Thunderbolt” (aka “Warthog”) close-air support aircraft.

It was never entirely smooth sailing for the Vulcan when it came time to decide the Defense Department’s budget. Major emphasis at that time was placed on guided missile development, and Air Force small arms development took a back seat. Several times “Project Vulcan” and other projects such as the M39 came close to being cut out altogether, and in fact all Air Force small arms programs were cut entirely in 1957 and did not resume again until early in the Vietnam War. But Vietnam was to be the coming of age for the Vulcan concept both in the air and on the ground, and would see the extensive use of both the Vulcan and its diminutive but famous offspring, the “Machine Gun, Aircraft, GAU-2/A”, more commonly known as the “Minigun”.

Many people believe that the Minigun was conceived and developed expressly for use in the Vietnam War, but that is not entirely true. A rifle-caliber gun for use in direct tactical support of ground troops was part of the overall concept from the start, and the “mini-Vulcan” gun was actually conceived as part of the original 1946 contract that spawned the T-171 and T-212. Development of the 7.62 mm version was begun in 1957 immediately after the U.S. Army adopted the T-44 (M-14) rifle and its 7.62mm x 51mm NATO cartridge in May of that year, and G.E. had prototype guns and universally mountable “gun pod” systems ready by mid-1958. The gun itself, designated by G.E. as the model GAU-2/A, was originally designed to be housed in its own self-contained “pod”, or enclosure, designated SUU-11A/A. This pod held the gun, its feed mechanism, fire controls and ammunition, and was intended to be a simple add-on assembly that could be mounted on the exterior of any subsonic aircraft. Later, in 1963, G.E. would also offer the Vulcan in its own self-contained bolt-on unit, nicknamed “VULPOD”, for use on close-air support variants of the F-100, the F-104 and F-4C fighters. But, like the T-212, the Pentagon simply didn’t have a use for the Minigun at that time. It would not be until mid-1963 and the Air Force’s search for a weapon system for their fledgling gunship program, that G.E.’s old 1958 prototypes would be dusted off and further developed in the Weapons Laboratory of Detachment 4, Aeronautical Systems Division of the Air Force Systems Command at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The rest, as they say, is history.

I have some serious reservations about recommending firearms for “Y2K” scenarios, because no one really knows what is coming. Yet, that has been the subject of conversation for many months, and people keep expecting some type of commentary from SAR. The following is my essay on the subject- simply my take on the situation. – Dan Shea

No one has the Crystal Ball. I keep asking, and can’t get a positive answer as to “What” is going to happen in “Y2K”. The answers vary from “Nothing at all” to “As the systems totally collapse, Bill Clinton will declare martial law and suspend elections, effectively ending the American system as we know it”. Some go so far as to say we are going to lose all of our modern civilization.

Well, that’s quite a spread there. Not to be flip, but how does a nineties kind of guy choose the proper suit and shoes for Armageddon, let alone the appropriate weaponry? It is totally beyond me.

The computer programmers I know vary from the ones who bailed out over the last few years, moved to Idaho or northern New Hampshire, got four miles up a dirt road and around a corner, are stockpiling guns and food…. to the ones who are still at their jobs, not worried in the least about anything but minor disruptions. Who is right? I really haven’t got a clue, and the knowledgeable people that I know are roughly divided in half on what they expect.

Are we about to face blood in the streets, massive political turmoil, and TEOWAWKI (The End Of the World As We Know It)? Or, are we about to lose power in some areas, for perhaps a week, and then it will all be just peachy. Again- this writer hasn’t got a clue.

What I do know is a little of what history teaches me, and just a little bit about firearms.

From that vantage point, I would like to totally erase the “Y2K” scenario from the rest of the article, because I think a prudent person is one who is prepared for most situations anyway.

I don’t want to be no refugee…

Historically, the lesson of human history is change, and it is seldom pretty. Usually violence is involved, and many times starvation, relocation, and other unpleasant situations are present. The Age of Aquarius is the only major change I can think of that was totally non-violent, and it only happened in the minds of some few assorted flower people. The Bible, which among other things is one of the best historical documents that we possess in the Western World, has many admonitions against not being prepared for adversity. For every comment about how the “Lilies do not toil” there is a story of how the very nasty Seven Years of Lean followed those nice Seven Years of Fat, and those who are prepared survived quite well. Most civilizations that lasted more than a few minutes have lore surrounding preparedness. The old “Ant and the Grasshopper” fable is one good example. The Ant toils and survives, the Grasshopper plays away irresponsibly and dies. (Then there is the modern version where the government comes and takes Ant’s stores of food and gives them to grasshopper, and neither have enough to survive.)

In the light of preparedness thinking, I would like to urge the following.

1- Do not drastically change your lifestyle, or get stressed out about it- you can only do what you are willing to do- If you were willing to live on a mountain top and fetch water from the creek, you would have been giving it consideration anyway. If that’s what you want, go do it.
2- Buy only things that you will use anyway. Don’t buy canned bacon if you don’t EAT canned bacon.
3- Buy those things privately, and store them quietly.
4- You need safe shelter, heat, food, water, and clothing. Make a list of what you need, and make sure you have enough for the foreseeable future- plus a little.
5- Plan your life efficiently around the things you use and need- define need carefully, no one needs a Porsche.

Many people put away things they can never use. If you switch from white bread, you know that spongy stuff that condenses into a little tiny ball of paste, to a whole grain stone ground bread, without working your system up to it, you will not only be facing digestive problems, but you can hurt yourself. Think about that with all of the items you use for preparedness.
Any good scout can give you a list of things you should have around the house for emergencies, and anyone who’s lived through a bad ice storm, hurricane, or civil unrest can suggest a list as well. Get with them, and fill out your list. That’s not what SAR is about.

In another section of this issue, SAR Suppressor Technology Editor Al Paulson makes a few choice takes on suppressors for your “Kit”. I would now like to make a couple of suggestions on regular firearms.

If you believe that you may have to hunt for food for the pot, in a survival situation, I would urge you to get a good 22 caliber rifle. Yes, 22 Long Rifle. You can comfortably afford a LOT of ammunition, and you can easily carry quite a bit as well. This might not be a popular thing to say, but I can tell you from many years experience that a couple of boxes of 22 LR equals a potload of partridge, squirrel, and other small, delicious game. The signature of the 22 is quite low in the woods as well, and almost non-directional from a distance. (Of course, if you have to hunt game on the prairie with 300 yard shots, or defend yourself against BIG game, this isn’t practical). Put a good scope on it- accuracy counts on small game, and a neck shot on a partridge keeps from ruining the meat.

Three other points about that little 22. First- no one worries too much about them, because they are almost warm and fuzzy- kid’s plinking guns. It’s almost the accepted second part of the sentence when someone tries to ban guns- “Well, except for the 22’s”. Second, if you are at all handy, you can devise ways to muffle the signature. In the case of today’s society, file a Form 1 or purchase a current manufactured suppressor, pay a tax, put on a legally registered muzzle suppressor. In a situation where all bets are off, you can be field expedient. Third, in the event that you are in dire straits…. Well, ask anyone with real time experience and they will tell you a stealthy person with a 22 can get just about anything they need, including superior weaponry.

The best part of the 22 is that you will always use it, emergency situations or not. You don’t have too much invested in the gun or in the ammunition. I highly recommend a couple of hours of 22 cal plinking to anyone, and take some kids along to show them the safe handling and enjoyment of firearms. You should be practicing anyway, just for proficiency. If you get a little paranoid and go buy 5 cases (25,000 rounds) because some article trips your trigger, well, heck, that’s a lot of trips to the sandpit, and it’s short money to boot.

You can’t lose with a 22 in your kit. Add a nice pistol or revolver in the same caliber, and you have some better concealment and mobility. Add unusual ammunition for diversity- subsonic, ratshot, Vipers, tracers, all have their use. I stick with plain old Hi Velocity 22 Long Rifle, and it has always served me well. Your personal political call on whether you want to give Bill Ruger any of your money- his 10-22 is a fine, reliable gun. I personally drift towards a bolt action, good scope, nice trigger, exhale slowly, light finger pressure on the trigger, and pretty soon there’s a nice little partridge ready for the pot. The 77-22 has always been a good gun, if a little pricey. Marlin offers some nice guns in the bolt configuration, with a reasonable price. Again, put good glass on it- I would suggest that the glass will probably cost close to what the host gun does.

Your interests are a little more intense

I guess this is somewhat more involved. In the back of your mind is combat. Real survival. What kind of rifle should someone choose for survival in a possible worst case scenario? This depends on your location, the terrain, and what, exactly you consider to be a “Worst case scenario”.

Paraphrasing Master Sun Tzu in the Art of War: “It is best to win without fighting”. Get serious here- you’re not going to sit in the woods and have a firefight with a modern army. The Warthog will sit back out of range and thoroughly mess up the area you are in. Modern munitions will ruin your day. It is also a difficult task to face down thousands of rioters with one single M16. Who the hell wants to do either? People can point out that Mr. Charles did a fine job of guerrilla fighting and holding our army at bay, but there was a lot more to it than that. The Viet Cong were a fighting force within the population- armed and trained by an outside army, with supply routes, and long term goals and objectives. Odds are, if a worst case scenario starts in your neighborhood, Uncle Ho won’t be sending you more rice and nuoc mam.

Learn to back up and regroup. I am talking about, before you think about weaponry, start thinking about exit strategies. If you live in a city, near an area that has a history of violent rioting, it’s more important to have a plan to get out and save your life and the lives of those you care about than to worry about the paintings Aunt Doris sent you. A man’s home may be his castle, but if you are standing alone, it can easily be your funeral pyre. Work with your neighbors on neighborhood defense if things start looking hairy, and if it gets real bad, have your way out pre-planned and well thought out.

A good survival rifle should be reliable. Accurate. Hard hitting with repeatable results. You should know your rifle’s good points, and it’s bad points. Parts should be readily accessible, as should ammunition. Put a scope on it. It should be light enough to carry for long distances, and it should be of the type to handle the jobs you choose for it in the area you live in, or may be operating in. One of my favorite rifles is a Steyr SSG with a kick-ass Leupold scope- it hits hard, and with someone who shoots better than me it would probably light a match at 300 yards. In the case of Hard Times, I would leave it in the vault. It weighs too much, and ammunition is not common up here.

I live in rural Maine. Almost every farmhouse has a twelve gauge, or a 30-30 Winchester or Marlin. If you really want to be a survival oriented person, having a firearm that is common to your area is a must. Parts are around, and so is the ammunition. 257 Roberts might be a screamer, but the Barkleys around the corner up by the old schoolhouse don’t have any of it for trading. I would suggest that anyone who is serious about a “Survival” rifle pick a common caliber for their area, and a common firearm as well.

At the distances encountered in the area that I live in, a 30-30 Winchester (Model 94) is devastating, and will drop a deer flat. It’s light, easy to carry, and handy to the shoulder. Might not drop a bear right off, but a well placed shot would damn sure give that bear pause for thought. I prefer a bolt action rifle, but the lever action is quick to the touch and handy as well.

Well, what about the impolite subject of arms for citizens, arms that are intended for use against other people? I am going to be frank about this. I pray fervently that we never see this on our soil again, and hope that peace can prevail around the world. That said, I do not expect this to be the case and combat comes to the discussion.

Forget your exotics. Keep it simple. If you want full or semi auto, your reasonable choices are pretty slim. AK-47 variant, or M16 variant. The HK’s are out of my consideration because of the parts availability- but if you have a good store of spares, go for it. People continually ask me what submachine gun I would grab if I had to. Well, if I HAD to grab a submachine gun, it would probably be an Uzi, but if I HAD a choice, it would not be a pistol caliber weapon. (The ergonomics of shooting the Uzi on the run, offhand, are superior to the MP5- for me. That’s my experience with them. I advocate the MP5 for police work, but would strongly recommend an Uzi over it for regular military forces). Forget the pistol calibers- the intermediate calibers are the most effective, and extend your range significantly. Wounding power, stopping power, lethality, whatever you want to call it- much more significant from 5.56 NATO or 7.62 x 39mm. Either caliber is getting pretty common today.

My choice would be an AR-15 variant. Semi-automatic. Flat top upper with a good optical scope, probably fixed 3x. 16 inch barrel with the M4 type of configuration. Fixed stock- that’s a personal preference. Tactical sling. This would be a Non-NFA firearm. No need to have it registered. If I wanted to go with an NFA item as my personal rifle, I would go with a registered receiver M16, dressed as an A2 with the 14.5 inch M4 configuration barrel. A suppressor would definitely be in the kit. Let Al Paulson test them out further, I personally liked and felt comfortable with quite a few different systems- including the old two point mount styles. The budget might prevail on this, but buy the best you can. Quality does make a difference.

Other than many years of owning full and semi automatic weapons, having handled tens of thousands of them, my choice above comes from three basic factors:

One: in the United States, parts and ammunition are commonly available for the M16/AR15 system. Parts are not readily available for the Kalashnikov series of firearms, and ammunition is available, but not common- if you contest that, name five police departments that use AK’s and 7.62 x39 mm. Now name five that use M16 variants and 5.56 NATO. Ammunition in the private sector follows a similar curve. This relatively common civilian ownership of the AR style guns means that parts and ammunition will probably be available trade goods in the private sector in the case of societal collapse.

Two: M16/AR15 variants are reliable, trustworthy systems. They are battle tested, battle proven, and have been updated by many improvements over the years. Take advantage of the newest technology, and your survival rifle can be almost Murphy-proof.

Three: Deadly effects of the Small Caliber High Velocity projectile, combined with volume of fire. If you need more convincing on this subject, read We Were Soldiers Once, and Young about the fighting in the Ia Drang valley in 1965. The overwhelmed US battalion fought its way through two days of incredible assaults. Some of the soldiers cursed the AR15’s that malfunctioned. Lt Colonel Hal Moore, the ass-in-the-grass commanding officer who was in the whole fight from the ground- not directing from up in a bird, credited the new “Black Rifle” along with the fighting spirit of his men as the reason they made it out of the valley. He spoke of the extra ammunition they were able to carry, and the withering barrage of fire they could lay out to break the backs of the NVA assaults. The unit suffered terrible losses facing those overwhelming odds, but still, in fact, they persevered. That the Commanding Officer credits the AR15 system as part of that success is a good recommendation. That type of combat experience has been repeated over and over in the last thirty odd years. Enough said.

Your new AR15 type rifle can be readily equipped with a 22 caliber subcal unit. Game-getting at it’s best. Keep it clean, because the 22 ammo will foul the gas system. Learn the scope on the 22 ammo, and you will enjoy many an hours inexpensive plinking, as well as the best the forest can offer in survival situations.

Spare parts? Relatively inexpensive, and easy to obtain. Spend about half of what you have in the rifle on spares, with 10 of each spring, and 3 or so or each small internal component, spare bolts, carrier, barrel, gas tubes, etc, and you should be well prepared.

Please don’t misconstrue this as SAR casting aspersions on any type of firearms. I took a specific location, as in the United States, and tried to choose what I would look for in an all around survival rifle. I hope you can apply my logic to your own area. There are places where an FAL variant would be the best choice, and certainly parts of the planet where an AK would be the best.

Money was also not considered. An SKS and a case of good ammo can go a long way as a survival weapon. These were devastating in combat, and I remember a short while ago we shot a whitetail deer with one- dropped flat and dead- one shot, with impressive terminal effects. However, the admonition regarding replacement parts is definitely in effect- try calling your neighbors for SKS parts or ammunition. Odds are you will come up empty. The same might happen with the AR15, but the odds are better here.

If you follow the above ideas, you should be well prepared for any eventuality. Best of all, you have purchased guns you wanted anyway. If all goes the way we want, and 2 January 1999 is just another piece of cake… you can go plinking on the weekends, then bring all the extra cases of ammunition that you hoarded up down to the Spring Knob Creek and rock and roll for a serious good time! But, a prudent person would leave a couple of cases in the back room, just in case…