by Larry Sterett and Vic Fogle

The Encyclopedia of Handheld Weapons
Edited by James Marchington.
ISBN 1-930983-14-X
Published by Lewis International Inc.
Available from Cheaper Than Dirt,
Dept. SAR, 2524 NE Loop 820,
Fort Worth, TX 76106.
Price: $27.97, plus $7.99 s&h
1-800-421-8048 or www.cheaperthandirt.com
Reviewed by Larry Sterett

Following a short Introduction discussing such topics as the “changing face of war,” this thick hardbound volume provides coverage on nearly 300 different modern handheld weapons. There are a dozen categories, ranging from Semiautomatic Pistols to Utility and Special Purpose Blades. Each weapon category begins with a one-page Introduction, after which the weapons are presented in alphabetical order by name of country of origin. (The Assault Rifles, Sniping Rifles, and Combat Shotguns are presented in order by country of origin, but the Submachine Guns are presented in order by the name of the manufacturer of model.

Coverage of individual pistol, revolver, and submachine gun models includes Background, Operation, Controls, and for some models, Service. The long arms and edged weapons are discussed differently, without specific feature coverage, but often with additional comments. Each model is illustrated with one or more black and white photographs or drawings; some parts, fieldstripped, in the field shots illustrating the weapon in use may be included. In addition, specifications are provided for each weapon. However, the specifications provided depend on the type of weapon.

This is a handy volume for quick reference on many of the handheld weapons currently in use by the military, police, and security agencies. Light machine guns or weapons above assault rifle size are not covered. This volume has a useful nine-page Glossary, beginning with ACR and ending with Zero, but it does not have an index. Locating a specific model is not a problem, however, and is easily accomplished by looking for the model under the proper category in the Contents pages. Small arms students, military historians and researchers should find this a useful volume for reference. It’s not Jane’s Infantry Weapons, but it provides good basic information and the illustrations are good.

The Complete Machine Gun: 1885 to the Present
By Ian V. Hogg
London: Phoebus Publishing Co.
and New York: Exeter Books, 1979
128 pp., illus, artwork index, tables
out of print, ISBN 0-89673-012-3.
Reviewed by Vic Fogle

The Complete Machine Gun is a compact but surprisingly comprehensive trip through most of the era of the machine gun – roughly the last part of the 19th century and most of the 20th. In this period the machine gun largely dominated combat on various battlefields of the world. In assessing the importance of the coming of the machine gun, Ian Hogg wrote “if any single event can be said to have transformed the history of warfare it was the perfection of the true automatic machine gun by Hiram Maxim in 1885. Its effect was far greater than the introduction of aircraft or even nuclear weapons to the battlefield. Its importance paralleled the introduction of firearms themselves into a world of arrows and spears.”

The volume contains two separate but parallel surveys; published earlier in Great Britain, one covering machine guns and the second submachine guns. The periods into which the author divides his presentations are pre-World War I, the war itself, between the wars, World War II, and post-World War II up to the late 1970s. The surveys conclude with discussions of the Mini gun and the MP5. Upon this framework the author stretches a canvas upon which he paints in a background of national aspirations and rivalries, differing military philosophies, diverse national characteristics, and changing combat conditions, displaying the guns against this setting. Ignoring 19th century colonial use, mainly by his own countrymen, and domestic American use by industrialists and by National Guardsmen acting in their behalf, Hogg’s emphasis is upon 20th century military usage, and he shows how national tensions called forth new weapons and, in turn, counters to them. He discusses more than just the most popular models. While the most produced models are featured, so are many little produced or failed models: certainly the MG42 is included, but so is the super rare Gast; the Thompson naturally appears, but so does the SIG MP41.

Photos abound, some are large as a complete 11 3/4” x 17 1/4” page spread, usually showing the guns in action or being carried. Additionally, there are line drawings and many colored illustrations. Indeed, so copious are the book’s graphics that the only index is an artwork index covering the 280 illustrations, of which 153 are in color.

By pausing briefly from time to time, Hogg enriches his survey with additional, often non-mechanical, explanations. While he describes operating systems and parts for submachine guns, he also draws our attention to such things as German tactical doctrine on the difference between light and medium machineguns, rather than the reverse. He explains the Japanese model numbering system and Japanese ammunition. He details the Carl Gustav-Swedish K-Port Said lineage and that of the Sten family. And he summarizes Japan’s struggle with the Taisho 11 by noting that “it can come as no surprise to find that the weapon handbook listed no less than 26 different kinds of stoppages that the gun might suffer from” In explaining why there was little development work done immediately after World War I, Hogg tells us that military establishments were tired, their budgets were being cut, and there was no immediately perceived threat. Moreover, most military planners throughout the world were convinced that World War I conditions were a non-recurring aberration. These brief commentaries over which Hogg lingers set the book apart from most similar surveys.

The large format and relative thinness of this book give the impression, at first glance, that it may be a “coffee table” book, meant to impress visitors. But it is the reader who will be impressed. This is a fine job for what initially appears to be a quick survey. There is enough history in it to provide good depth, so that designers and armies do not seem to exist in a vacuum, unacted upon by any other forces. One always wants more in a good book, but Hogg packs a great deal into this one.

Such was my introduction to the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners; .50 Caliber BMG Rifle and Machine Gun Shoot, held in Morgan County, Colorado. After picking my way through openings in yellow Caution tape and locating a likely looking parking place, I found my hosts shooting at auto hulks that were presumably several hundred yards down range, even though I couldn’t seen them. The firing line was dimly illuminated by generator powered lights, but I began to wonder if aiming was more by instinct and memory than by sights. Then again, perhaps some of the most experienced had locked down their T&Es while there was still enough light to see impacts. About ten o’clock the line shut down, and those who hadn’t already done so went to sleep.

Morning allowed me to fill in details. We were in grazing country of gently rolling hills, not really hilly, but not level either. Our particular section of the landscape resembled a saucer with the entrance, parking lot, and concession area on the rim. Somewhat below them was the firing line, with access so that shooters could drive right up to their firing points for unloading before returning to the parking lot. Most attendees camped at the site, for the nearest motel was at least ten miles away. Well below the firing line was a relatively level bottom that had been plowed so as to diminish the chance of ricochets and fires. This impact area was approximately round and was open except for trees across the back, about 700 yards out, and up the left side, ending perhaps 200 yards from the firing line. The closest target of any kind was at about this distance in the plowed field. Three target cars-or rather, what was left of them – were at 300, 400 and 500 yards. The weather forecast was for what meteorologists euphemistically call “unsettled” weather, which means that they don’t know what it will be. The natives, with considerably more prescience, almost all had awnings over their firing points, and some of them shot from snazzy Steyr military trucks with special “vehicles collector” license plates. The prospect of rain and wind held down attendance, but a lot of people found the place, anyway. After all, when a shoot is near the geographic center of the U.S., has targets to 1200 yards and is so young that there is still open firing line space available, people are bound to notice.

Every machine gun shoot differs from every other machine gun shoot in the kinds of guns that appear, in the distances at which they can be shot, in the targets that host organization supplies and in such refinements as parking adjacent to the firing line. Consequently, some shoots cater mainly to subguns at relatively short distances. Others allow beltfeds to perform at several hundred yards.

By contrast, the RMGO’s theme seemed to be “wide open spaces”. With the closest target car at 300 yards, other targets stretched out to a large propane tank at 1200 yards. Consequently, longer range guns predominated. While many shooters brought belt feds in various calibers, there were more than a few .50 caliber rifles of various descriptions, plus Lahti and Solothurn 20mms.

These are all guns which produce considerable blast, and the idea of wide open spaces extended to the firing line as well. Firing points were a generous ten feet wide, rather than a cramped six or eight feet. Not only was the extra space welcome as a buffer against muzzle blast, but it also by no coincidence, fit the size of awnings most shooters had.

One of the features that made this shoot distinctive was the number of propane tanks shot. Most were simply placed at various distances in the plowed ground by a large tractor type loader. No one knew the amount of propane remaining in those tanks placed in the open; when hit some gave no indications, some emitted a blue or white smoke, and others burst into flames. Everyone’s favorites were those tanks known to contain propane that were put into the target cars and then holed with ball rounds. This released the propane throughout the car, where it was subsequently ignited by tracers or incendiaries. Some splendid fires resulted, with the smoke wafting gently in the general direction of Denver International Airport.

This was one of those happy shoots at which there was a very high percentage of renters – of people who came to shoot rather than to look. Particularly impressive and gratifying was the proportion of women and young children who shot, all of them smiling and enjoying themselves. It was obvious that they felt the event was a real treat. Some renters, in fact made an effort to shoot one of each model gun available.

One group of vendors from Denver was well supplied with “the good stuff”. On consecutive firing points they had a 1917 Browning, a BREn gun, a 1919 Browning, and a MG34 and MG42. Business for most of the vendors was worthwhile.

The pieces which drew the largest crowds and the most interest, however, were a 37mm artillery piece and two bowling ball mortars. The artillery piece was an immaculate, beautifully maintained Bofors L1, built in 1937, serial number 1. The renter seated himself on the left (gunner’s) seat and looked through the sight. Then an owner showed him to fire it safely and loaded it for him. The result at the firing line, whatever it might be down range, was pure joy for the renter.

The description of a bowling ball mortar as a “potato gun on steroids” is not entirely without merit. While the latter may project a perfectly good potato two hundred yards or so, the former is by comparison truly awe inspiring. I had never given the matter of bowling ball size much thought, but one of the mortar owners mentioned that both men’s and women’s bowling balls had to be the same diameter in order to be returned through bowling alley machinery; only the weight was different, with foam cores of various sized determining the final weight. Some balls appear to go significantly higher than others. It is unclear whether lighter balls went higher because they were lighter or whether heavier balls went higher because their greater weight caused the build up of a higher pressure before their launch.

I have never built, owned or fired a bowling ball mortar, so I am certainly not an authority on them, but after talking with friends who own them, I can give a very sketchy idea of their construction. The friends who built them used empty nitrogen welding gas bottles with the bottoms cut out of them. A substantial solid steel round ball is welded to a piece of threaded steel that fits into the hole where the pressure regulator normally goes, and this round ball is what tracks around the mortar base you must have for aiming and for keeping the mortar from digging its way into the ground. A firing mechanism detonates a musket cap, which in turn ignites a surprisingly small charge of cannon powder that is carefully put down the upturned muzzle of the mortar, so that it covers the inside of the ignition hole.

The mortar’s open end is supported vertically by two upright telescoping steel legs that are connected to a locking collar that encircles the mortar tube at the open end. These legs, along with the ball which rides in the groove in the mortar base, provide the three point support which enables the mortar to stand upright and to be aimed.

After that the tube is loaded with a carefully and gently placed bowling ball, the musket cap is placed on its anvil, the firing mechanism is cocked, and the shooter fires it by pulling on a long lanyard from a safe distance. Balls are usually only scorched by firing and can be re-used indefinitely. The trick is finding them down range.

When fired, the bowling balls can go several hundred feet into the air. Being able to see them in flight is unquestionably one of the principal appeals of these novel creations. If you’re not alertly looking at the mortar at the time of ignition, you may miss seeing the ball in flight altogether. I don’t know if the owners were attempting to hit the target cars, but some of the balls appeared to go several hundred yards down range, and I’ve heard reports of far longer shots. The height balls attain would insure a devastating impact. Sometimes they bounce about ten feet into the air, but most that I have seen buried themselves full depth into the ground. You wouldn’t want to be under one as it descended, and if it came down on a house, it would penetrate to at least the basement floor.

On a cautionary note, the foregoing information should not be inferred by anyone as a recommendation by either this writer or this publication for the construction of these devices. If a reader really desires one, he or she would be well advised to attend an RMGO shoot and to talk with owners and builders of these mortars, as well as seeing them in action. Most information is learned about them by trial and error, and potential owners are reminded that, unfortunately, limits can only be determined by exceeding them. Bowling ball mortars are powerful devices, and self construction by persons unfamiliar with them is specifically NOT recommended.

Saturday also saw an interesting and fast moving accuracy match for hunting rifles that elicited a lot of participation and interest. It also proved that even rifle shooting can be interesting if action is briskly sustained and bullet impacts can be seen, either on the target or the backstop. The competition began with each shooter standing about five yards behind a bench rest with rifle rest and sandbags on it, rifles and cartridge in hand. At the start of time the shooter had fifteen seconds to approach the bench rest, load his rifle, sit down and fire one shot at a water bottle sized container of Tannerite, known to many as binary explosive, on top of a stake at 300 yards. After many marksmen had tried and failed, the target was brought in to 200 yards. Only one shooter, Vern Mastin, hit it; he won half the total of the entry fees. RMGO donated its half, along with receipts from another container for a total of $264, to the World War II Memorial Fund. Additionally, the shoot raised another $111 for the American Red Cross.

In terms of weather, Sunday turned out to be a much better day. Attendance was correspondingly better too. Shooting continued until well into the afternoon, principally at propane bottles, most of which provided at least a puff of smoke when hit.

sentative Mark Paschall “Colorado’s junkyard dog for freedom.” This was a very safe, legal, well conducted shoot, and it’s a pleasure to recommend it. The present location has worked out well, and the shoot has proved to be so popular that a May weekend has been added to the September one. The next shoot will be May 3-5, 2002. Better road signs have been promised, but if you arrive at night, be sure to watch for parachute flares.

Anyone who likes machine gun shoots would be well advised to attend this one. It is geographically centrally located, there is open space on the firing line, targets can be engaged at great enough distance to make shooting interesting, and it’s in a good setting. Best of all, it’s run by friendly, knowledgeable shooters. Come and enjoy it.

Information specifically relating to these shoots, including reservations, fees, and maps to the location is available directly from Robert R. McBride, 6585 W. Mississippi Place, Lakewood, CO telephone 303-934-1915.

Information on RMGO’s legislative activities may be obtained from RMGO, Box 3114, Denver, CO 80201, phone and fax 303-432-3006 or www.rmgo.org Exdir@rmgo.org

This is not a gun book in the usual sense of the term. Rather, it is a description of a fortunately transitory world made by the machine gun and artillery. Focusing entirely upon World War I, this book supplements Ellis’ The Social History of the Machine Gun, which dealt in large part with the adversaries’ difficulty in adapting to defensively employed machine guns. Ellis’ assessment is that the Western Front was an unparalleled nightmare of filth, decay, noise, blood and death, in which men fought for reasons they hardly understood for a future they almost ceased to believe in, and which offered nothing when it came.

At the outset both the Central Powers and the Allies foresaw a war of movement, but French reliance upon elan and the bayonet proved no match for German Maxims. Yet the French had enough firepower to stall the German advance and, after several engagements followed the Battle of the Marne, the lines began to coagulate, all the way from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier. Because the Germans decided first that they would dig in and hold the ground they had won, they chose the high ground and most defensible points, obliging the Allies to set up defenses on the most indefensible ground, often with poor drainage and a high water table.

It is Ellis’ belief that “though artillery causes a great many casualties throughout the war, when advancing against enemy trenches it was the machine gun bullet that was likely to fell a man. It is no exaggeration to say that they completely dominated the actual battlefield.”

Most combat veterans wonder how their wars compare to other wars. Ellis provides a wealth of information on just what trench warfare was like, often in graphic detail. Consider mud – he states that the worst aspect of the mud was that men drowned in it. When they found impassable communications trenches and were forced to travel on top of the ground, they could fall into a shell hole and be sucked down. A soldier at the Third Battle of Ypres described:

“A khaki-clad leg, three heads in a row, the rest of the bodies submerged, giving one the idea that they had used their last ounce of strength to keep their heads above the rising water. In another miniature pond, a hand still gripping a rifle is all that is visible while its next-door neighbor is occupied by a steel helmet and half a head, the staring eyes staring icily at the green slime which floats on the surface almost at their level.”

There are similar descriptions of other hazards that the soldiers faced: trench foot, cold, randomly buried decomposing corpses, huge rats, flies, nits, artillery fire, poison gas, raids and patrols, infection, shell shock, inadequate and bad food and venereal disease.

Some 23% of the British troops who were wounded in December of 1915 were hit in the head, neck or face, attesting to the activity of German snipers. The latter were specially chosen and given specialized equipment, including scope sighted rifles and camouflaged capes. Moreover, unlike the British, the Germans stayed in the same sector for long periods, thereby learning the topography intimately. Usually they crawled into no man’s land at night and stayed out until the following night, moving from cover to cover after firing. Even hollow trees were used as “hides”. One British officer who took a quick look over a parapet in 1916 was hit twice by different snipers. The British did not begin really to organize their sniping organization until mid-1917.

Trench raids were organized to secure information and to maintain the offensive spirit. As the war progressed distinctive weapons evolved: rifles were shortened, truncheons and clubs were adopted, and knives came into use. Grenades were rediscovered. We can see the beginning of the specialization that produced the assault rifle, the sub-machine gun, and the small unit tactics used at Stalingrad twenty-five years later.

As the war dragged wearily on and became an isolating, alien, all-enveloping nightmare, where did the soldiers find the capacity to endure? They realized that no one who hadn’t been there could understand what they suffered, so a kind of compensatory alienation from home concerns set in. This alienation was accompanied by a heightened sense of comradeship and compassion and by pride of self and of unit. For many, too, there was a strong feeling of patriotism along with personal honor. “What most men feared was fear itself, finding themselves unable to do what was required of them.”

In addition to Ellis’ own competent exposition, he utilizes much good source material. The book is well illustrated with period photos, frequently of casualties, although photo quality leaves much to be desired. The book benefits immeasurably from the inclusion of well chosen quotations from letters home, poetry and soldiers’ descriptions of battlefield conditions. Although the author makes clear that, between military censorship and the soldiers’ desire not to worry loved ones, there was much false optimism sent home and relatively little realistic reporting during the war. Much of the source material chosen is poignant and eloquent, possibly because of the social classes that were most likely to be writing. Regrettably, Ellis does not include footnotes or endnotes to identify the sources beyond identifying the authors and should have done so.

All in all, Eye Deep In Hell presents a vivid and unforgettable record of life and death in World War I trenches and will be of interest to almost all veterans and students of war and its technology.

THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE MACHINE GUN
By John Ellis
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street,
Baltimore, MD 21218-4319
800-537-5487, 1896 192 Pages
Forward, illustrations, bibliography, bibliographical essay, index.
$16.00 paperback
ISBN 0-8018-3358-2

Man’s struggle to adapt his social practices and institutions to the possibilities of his technology is a popular theme in much late 20th Century writing, and nowhere is it more interestingly discussed than in John Ellis’ The Social History of the Machine Gun. It is Ellis’ thesis that “the general aspirations and prejudices of particular social groups are just as important for the history of military technology as are straightforward problems of technical efficiency. Guns, like everything else, have their social history… The anachronistic ideals of the European officer class, the messianic nature of nineteenth-century capitalism, the imperialist drive into Africa and elsewhere…were more important to the history of the machine gun than any bald assessment of its mechanical efficiency.”

After passing quickly over the technical preconditions necessary for the development of rapid firing cartridge arms, Ellis describes how the development of the industrial revolution determined that the machine gun would be invented and improved by an American. An acute shortage of labor necessitated high production per worker in order to hold prices down. Consequently, there was great incentive to utilize machines not only to make products but also to make other machines. The country had few guns and gunsmiths, so that it was relatively unarmed. These facts, combined with the absence of an organized guild of hand-workers who would feel their livelihood threatened by machine production, caused a lasting association between the machine tool industry and small arms production beginning as early as the famous Ely Whitney musket contract of 1798.

Ellis compares the reception of the machine gun by several social and occupational groups. American gangsters, beginning in the mid 1920’s, took to the Thompson sub machinegun enthusiastically and used it deep into the 1930’s. A second group, consisting of adventurers and industrialists, used machineguns to subdue natives in Africa and India, while in the U.S. they were employed, often by National Guardsmen, to threaten workers in West Virginia, Colorado and San Francisco. Yet another group that got extensive experience was the far-flung collection of junior officers, principally British and German, whose mission was instilling the blessings of western civilization among the residents of remote colonies. But because Europeans regarded colonial warfare as having little in common with “real” wars, machineguns came to be associated in the military mind with colonial adventures against strange, subhuman adversaries, so that they would have no relevance in a European war among equals.

The primary focus of the book is on the spurning of the machinegun by the European senior officer corps in the years before World War I and the painful, grudging acceptance of fully automatic weapons during the war. According to Ellis’ theme of the dichotomy between social-in this case military-institutions and technology, it was the industrial revolution, with its sweeping alterations in the way things were made and financed that surged past European armies, leaving their leaderships as an isolated, multi-national backwater. The armies were officered by that part of the landowning class bypassed by the industrial revolution, and while these officers were dimly aware that the machine had transformed much of society, they clung desperately, decade after decade to the pre-industrial belief that men controlled the battlefield and would dominate it by personal courage and heroic action directed by superior will power. The old certitude of the battlefield-that the issue would be decided by a glorious charge, pressed home by cold steel and would result in recognition of superior heroism-must not be threatened by a mere machine. Because the revolutionary firepower of the machinegun threatened to end this myth and thereby the opportunities to display material virtues, the senior officer class of the European powers attempted to ignore this new class of weapons.

Understandably, Ellis’ research has been concerned principally with the British officer class, and he tends to universalize his findings by asserting that it was the same in other countries, despite having done much less research on them.

Numerous photos and sketches enliven the book, and the many quotations add color and punch.

A former faculty member of the University of Manchester, Ellis writes smoothly and gracefully. A bonus which greatly increases the value of the work is the author’s extensive use of end notes, so that the reader can consider the author’s sources. Their presence should not disturb those who don’t read end notes, while it enhances the volume of those of us who do.

There are, regrettably, several errors that a good editor should have excised. They include reference to “William” Browning where the context indicates John, and even though he mentions the difference, Ellis persists in including Gatling and Gardiner guns, along with the mitrailleuse, as machineguns. Perhaps he should have said “rapid firing guns.”

On balance, this is a splendid volume that will be found thought provoking by everyone interested in machineguns, war and technology.

As a whole, the course demanded straight shooting and control down narrow lanes of fire, all the while incorporating diverse elements for shooters and allowing the target crew fast reset times. The no shoots were thoughtfully located to forestall either horizontal or vertical sweeps.

Ian Dunleavy flew through the tricky course best in an outstanding 69.55 seconds with a M16 9mm. Second was Roger Meyer with an MP5 in 74.53 seconds. Scott Carlile was third in 80.11 seconds with an M16 9mm.

Meanwhile, back up on the noisy main range, the assault riflemen were jockeying for position.They fired from any position they wished over two horizontal hay bales, one atop the other.Targets were steel knockdown plates at 50, 100 and 150 yards. For these shoots plates are welded to steel right angled bases, and the target part measures 12” x 12” high at 100 yards, 12” x 18” high at 150 yards and 12” x 24” high at 200 yards. At the assault rifle maximum range of 150 yards, some of the targets stubbornly resisted knockdown by .223 bullets. Following the 150-yard stage, the rifleman had to stand and puncture an elevated filled gallon water jug at about 25 yards to stop the clock.

Randy Jewell won the minor caliber assault rifle match with an impressive 33.04 seconds with a M16. Runner up was Hal Gould in 59.81 seconds, gun unspecified, with Jim Ebert, also shooting a M16, placing third in 140 seconds.

Major caliber honors went to Wayne Woodcock’s 71.59 seconds with an H&K G3. The same model garnered second for Ron Fortier in 80.15 seconds, Larry De Mello, shooting an M14, closely trailed him in 80.97 seconds.

In the unlimited class – that is, any assault rifle and any sights – Bill Koald had the fastest time, 43.81 seconds, with an unspecified gun. Ed Omland followed in 59.34 seconds with an M14. An identical model gave Fred Simmons a time of 108.46 for third.

The crew served match used the same falling plates out to 200 yards. Ron Fortier, shooting a Browning 1919 A4, won impressively in 39.56 seconds. Steve Wozny was second with an A6 in 75.41 seconds, just ahead of Bachynski’s 79.47 seconds with another A4. Each bank of plates had a red no shoot in it to require fine traverse control. It’s always both pleasant and novel to see crew served guns fired as they were intended to be fired – using the sights combined with fine adjustments of traverse and elevation -rather than the Hollywood method that most civilian gunners adopt.

Those shooters who came back on Sunday for Albany’s monthly subgun match were treated to a modified course with some even more challenging elements than Saturday’s, making Albany’s Spring Shoot a particularly inviting place for buzz gunners. Even looking at the equipment is worth the trip, and all this is in addition to the club’s large two-day open shoot.

Non residents render valuable support to the Albany full-auto program, and this seems a good time to thank them. The club is grateful both to the many Washingtonians who drive down to rent guns and to the growing number of Idaho residents who bring their own guns hundreds of miles to shoot with us. You’re all appreciated!!

Also much appreciated is the fine statistical work done by Wayne and Joan Woodcock, who provided the match results for this report.

Although the monthly sub-gun matches go on all year long, Albany’s next major machine gun shoot will be in December. Further information may be obtained from Mark Cook at 541-745-5619.

Well before daylight there were vehicles lined up at the gate. The writer has never understood the reasoning behind holding the shoot two weeks before Christmas, but perhaps this timing gives participants a break from the enforced cheerfulness and chores of the holiday season. At any rate, several hundred hardy souls temporarily escaped Christmas shopping to make noise, have fun, and think about something else. No rain yet, just heavy clouds.

Everything seemed to come together part way through the shoot as event director Mark Cook briefly interrupted shooting long enough to inform everyone that the U.S. Supreme Court had overridden its Florida counterpart and had stopped the most recent recount in the Endless Election, our period of electile dysfunction in which the highest court in the land, in George Will’s words, “signaled checkmate against Al Gore’s protracted search for a way to get a court to make him president.” The result was a loud cheer that put everyone in an even better mood. About that time the heavy clouds broke up, and the range was covered with bright sunlight that remained throughout the afternoon and produced a high of 50 degrees. A good omen for shooters? Let’s hope so. We’re overdue.

As shooters came to the firing line in the early morning gloom, they soon laid out an impressive display of weaponry and accessories of all kinds. The most popular piece was, understandably, the M16 in a number of variations and calibers, of which short barreled versions predominated. These, in turn, sported a wide range of muzzle attachments. Joining the M16’s in the assault rifle category were a mix of AK47 variants and what appeared to be either a German Kar 44 or MP44/StG44; both were among the first assault rifle prototypes. Among belt feds, light machine guns of Browning design, mainly 1919 A4’s, dominated the field, along with several BARs. In addition, there were a couple of M60’s, a couple of MG34’s, at least three MG42’s, and a delightful veteran Maxim MG ’08. Then there were many submachine guns of several calibers, including Thompson’s, Uzi’s, Mac’s, grease guns, Sten’s, Yugo 49’s, PPSh 41’s, and a few unique items such as an FN P90. The latter is a futuristic looking creation in 5.7mm caliber that was originally intended for support troops but that is also being used by law enforcement agencies. SAR has covered the P90 in military issue in past volumes.

There seemed to be a better than usual representation of .50 caliber arms both in Ma Deuce machine guns and in .50 caliber rifles. These were interspersed wherever the owners wanted to setup, but because even this spacious firing line was crowded, it seems likely that in the future the .50’s will be together in one section.

One inventive .50 caliber rifle shooter fashioned a rest almost four feet high of black plastic pipe, the top of it was made half-round, with caps, and the rifle’s bipod feet rested in this so that the shooter could sit more or less upright on a stool and be out of the gravel. Moreover, when shooting a .50 caliber with this rest, recoil was much less punishing than it would have been in the prone position.

Shooters enjoyed a wide choice of targets. In addition to water filled plastic jugs, there were suspended painted lids from 55 gallon steel drums. Non-reactive targets at 200 yards were a tank and a Jurassic creature, both cut from plywood and painted, and overhanging everything were long strings of gaily colored helium filled balloons that were replenished at every break in shooting.

During the afternoon, an enthusiast from another state brought the largest guns, a pair of real showpieces. The first was a beautiful Solothurn 20mm on an original wheeled carriage. Since the company that made this model was physically located in Switzerland, Americans have long wondered why the Swiss, who did not participate in World War II, made so many of these guns that they were widely offered for sale cheaply during the 1950’s. The answer is that following 1929 the plant was partially controlled by Rheinmetall-Borsig, the biggest munitions company in World War II Germany, and this company used the Swiss location to circumvent Allied restrictions on German automatic arms development and production during the inter war period.

Right beside the Solothurn, standing upright when it was at rest, was Don’s Lahti 20mm on a modified stand. The part of the stand attached to the gun was an original cylindrical cage “tree” mount with large take-up screws at the right angles to its axis. When the Finns used this, they cut off a small tree several feet off the ground, set the cage part down over the stump, and then tightened the take-up screws to hold the gun in place, much as some Christmas tree stands work. The present owner fitted a vertical adapter that entered the cage to a wide-foot .50 caliber tripod, so now the gun is held about 4 1/2 feet off the ground and can be fired standing up in treeless areas. Recoil was surprisingly mild, although if fired repeatedly without earplugs it would sell a lot of aspirin.

A break of sorts, at least in noise, was created about noon when there was a half hour period limited to suppressed guns. A surprising number of them immediately appeared, representing specimens from numerous manufacturers. Tom Denall, of Bend, Oregon was there to show the Ruger bolt action .44 Magnum rifle that he suppresses, and Gemtech, of Boise, Idaho had a table with suppressors and catalogs. There was a suppressed .50 M2 on the line, but its suppressor, about a foot long and 2 1/2” in diameter, was so short that the spectators could see powder burning well in front of the opening, and like the suppressed .50 at Knob Creek a couple of years ago, it proved that trying to suppress a .50 with a small can while using full velocity ammo can be a waste of time.

Once again, a very high percentage of attendees came to shoot. By no means all brought guns, but they know that vendors always being a wide variety to rent. Albany admits all those who have paid the “shooter” rate to the firing line, rather than restricting the number of “shooter” badges. This arrangement is especially appreciated by those living in non-Class 3 states such as Washington and California. Most of those who enter as spectators succumb to the appeal of shooting and they are able to become shooters by merely paying a small additional charge for the “shooter” identifying ribbon.

Albany hosts submachine gun matches on the second Sunday of most months, but the next open shoot of this magnitude will be the weekend of May 19-20, 2001. Then, in addition to this kind of informal open shooting, state championships for submachine gun, assault rifle, crew served, and belt fed competitions will be decided. These championships are fired mainly at steel plates of various sizes which require combat strength loads to knock them down, and are quite popular.

Updates and further information are available from: Albany Rifle and Pistol Club, Box 727, Albany, Oregon 97321. The website is www.proaxis.com/arpc For those bringing guns, the 5320.20 address is: Albany Rifle and Pistol Club, 2999 Saddle Butte Road, Shedd, Oregon 97377. Mark Cook, the Event Director may be reached at 541-745-5619.

Oh, the terror of it! Good people completely surrounded by objects of evil incarnate! What horror! As the scores of people gazed appreciatively around them, they saw pernicious pistol gripped armament, hideous high capacity magazines, scary shoulder-stocked pistols, diabolical destructive devices, suspicious semi-auto shotguns, brutal black plastic in many configurations, confrontational compensators, fearsome flash suppressors, and myriad malevolent machine guns. One baleful banana mag was of such large capacity that it appeared to be almost semi-circular. Particularly shocking were those guns that brazenly boasted brutally business-like bayonet lugs, for several of the lugs held real bayonets. In fact, one shooter professed himself ready for a bayonet exercise. A reunion of Janet Reno’s infamous Team Waco? No, just the Albany, Oregon, Rifle and Pistol Club’s Banned Guns Solidarity Shoot, held May 31, 1998.

Some of the best ideas are themselves the result of the confluence of several simple but good ones. In this instance, the good idea of holding the shoot came, first, from the truism that it is totally unnecessary to have either a complicated reason or major event as a reason for holding a shoot. The second simple idea is the rueful, bemused acceptance of the fact that, because of the thrust of the present administration’s philosophy and accompanying actions, many of the people who shoot at Albany have become, through no deliberate, positive act of their own, the owners of guns and/or accessories whose further manufacture or importation into this country is currently banned, although possession and commerce remains legal. One example is the club member who read a morning paper one day and learned that he now owned a destructive device, Clinton having whimsically changed the status of the Streetsweeper the previous day. So rather than mope or whine, ARPC decided to sponsor a sardonic “solidarity” shoot, held two weeks after the main shoot, another opportunity to come out and shoot strictly for fun with kindred spirits.

There was a certain show and tell aura to the get-together. Many smiled appreciatively as they looked over each other’s treasures. The scores of shooters who attended took full advantage of the opportunity to unlimber some really questionable ordnance. Understandably, many of the items were not exactly state of the art for various kinds of regular competition. What standard course of fire, for example, allows a shoulder-stocked 9mm pistol with at least an 18 shot magazine? For what standard course of fire does one use an M1 carbine that folds into about 15”? But that’s irrelevant. The point of the exercise is that if they’re fun to shoot, that’s reason enough to own them. And considering that the targets consisted of the same kinds of drum lids, balloons, and water jugs that were so popular among machine gunners just two weeks before, the guns were highly appropriate. The day’s shooting was provided gratuitously by ARPC strictly as a public service to all shooters. Everyone there had a good time and hoped that the shoot will become an annual event. It was certainly something to see!

As a footnote, in case anyone is curious about connections, the Albany range is approximately 45 miles from the site of the unfortunate May 21 shootings at Thurston High School. Naturally, the question of whether to proceed with the shoot was raised in the wake of the shootings. The club officers decided, quite rightly, to press on. These officers correctly determined that Albany’s shoot was a legitimate recreational event at which guests would safely and legally use legally acquired firearms for a sporting purpose, in contradistinction to the crimes committed at Thurston with illegally acquired firearms used as weapons. It is high time that we shooters everywhere quit being apologetic about our shooting avocations and quit allowing our enemies to define us. This writer’s hat is off to the Albany club’s courageous and correct decision to hold the shoot as planned. It is only by closing ranks and going on about our business that we shooters can maintain shooting sports of all kinds in this country.

May 18, 1998, dawned dry and bright at the Albany, Oregon, Rifle and Pistol Club range. As the sun rose and quickly burned off patchy fog, numerous small, puffy white clouds appeared. The sun had considerable warmth to it. After a long succession of overcast, showery days, the 18th appeared to be an ideal day for shooting.

Unfortunately, the 18th was the day after Albany’s spring machine gun shoot.

The 16th and 17th, like numerous days before them, were marked by periods of intermittent rain and threatening-looking weather. Not a good time to do anything outdoors. Numerous shooters were apparently unaware of the previous completion of the club’s main range firing line cover and noise suppression structure, of which more later, for attendance was smaller then anticipated. Those who did brave the recurring showers found the usual warm welcome and a multiplicity of targets down range. Scores of water-filled jugs awaited the shooters, as did long strings of gaily-colored, bobbing balloons that were periodically replaced. In addition, there were numerous hanging drum lids at 100 yards for those unsure of their zeroes. (Surely no decent machine gunner would find them to be challenging targets. Surely.)

A survey of the firing line showed that relatively modern machine guns predominated. Of the gun assortment on the main range, the majority were of the World War II era or later. There were numerous M-16s and their clones as well as pieces chambered for the 5.56mm cartridge. Several M-60s could be seen. A wide variety of subguns appeared, especially in 9mm, although many of the subgun shooters remained on the north range where the hotly-contested subgun match raged both days. But the World War I period was also well represented. Long bursts from assorted Brownings turned many heads. There were several Ma Deuces and A4s, plus a couple of A6s and BARs. Most of us are accustomed to Brownings, so the foreign guns were even more interesting. Providing a counterpoise to the familiar Brownings were several Vickers, and one local enthusiast shot an experienced looking Maxim MG 08-15 that was fascinating to see; it had, as they say, a lot of character. Equally appealing was a beautifully turned-out MG 08 that was brought by a gentleman from Nevada. Obviously a man of discerning taste, he also brought Vickers and Browning beltfeds. Several entrepreneurs provided a wide variety of guns for the unarmed venturesome to rent.

Interruptions in the shooting came more often at this event than at the December one because of concurrent firing of an assault rifle competition down on the left end of the range. The falling plates taken down by the assault riflemen required frequent resetting, and shooters made good use of these breaks by hunting down brass and links, loading belts, and going for food. Consequently, it seemed somewhat less formal than other shoots. Periodically, someone would exuberantly dump a magazine or a belt into a mud hole with the express purpose of seeing how high he could get the water to fly.

At this event non-shooters could enjoy watching from close proximity to the firing line and still remain dry, for this was the first machine gun shoot since the spacious new firing line cover was completed. This impressive edifice, measuring 185 feet long by 27 feet deep by approximately 12 feet high at the front and back underneath, is not merely an accommodation to ward off the incessant rain that falls in the Willamette Valley; it has another, equally worth-while purpose. One would think that a range located along a freeway in the middle of a farming valley would be immune from noise complaints. One would be wrong. Therefore, in the interests of being a good neighbor and also in the interests of being able to continue shooting .50 Browning ammo ARPC has installed a handsome combination firing line cover and sound abatement structure.
It is of steel, completely enclosed at the rear, with three access doors, and it reflects sound down range toward the Saddle Butte backstop. Beyond the north end of the firing line the cover continues an additional 35 feet and is partitioned to form a work room and a garage for the club’s fire truck.

It may be of interest to readers everywhere to learn how a private club that does not take in fees from the public during fall sighting in days and is not near a major population center can accomplish such an undertaking. The answer is that the club is a fairly large, very well run organization which fills the needs of the Valley’s population rather than trying to dictate what or how people will shoot.

There are a wide variety of shooting activities to satisfy almost every taste. Rifle shooters can choose among high power at 200 yards, smallbore indoor position, black powder, and benchrest for both smallbore and high power calibers. Handgun programs include metallic silhouette for both smallbore and centerfire, IPSC, and indoor bullseye. Trap is available, as well. Inter-disciplinary programs are old west (rifle, handgun, and shotgun), full-auto (regular monthly shoots are submachine gun plus either handgun or shotgun), and defensive shooting (shotgun and handgun). There are monthly competitions, which are open to all comers, in a number of these shooting disciplines. Competitors are kept abreast of at least some of the activities because, in addition to the club’s regular monthly newsletter and event schedule, individuals in several of the interest groups desk-top publish small, specialized news-letters.

Another reason for the club’s strength is that, unlike many clubs whose focus is inward, ARPC is an outward-looking organization, quick to see needs and opportunities in the surrounding area. A junior program, hunter safety, and two gun shows a year (the last was about 400 tables) are additional club activities. The club allows numerous police and military groups to use some of the club’s facilities on a scheduled basis during the week, thereby providing other sources of support with real political muscle. There is, after all, nothing like providing a public service to justify your existence. Recruitment of NRA members, especially at the gun shows it sponsors, is yet another successful activity of great value both to the club and to the NRA. The result of all this effort is a sizable, diverse club some of whose members live forty miles away. But all can find what they want here.

All revenues from full-auto shooting, less expenses, go straight into the Albany treasury. Consequently, machine gun shooting is the activity that brings in more money than any other. Shooters forgo awards at the monthly matches and instead bask in the psychic glory of having beaten their cohorts. Recognition comes in the monthly Albany Full-Auto, a special interest newsletter published by Bill Berg, Box 3722, Eugene, OR 97403 (541-689-1893). Usually exceeding twenty pages a month, this very useful periodical contains shoot results, course descriptions, occasional guest articles or critiques, political news and commentary, match photos, legislative information, cartoons, internet gleanings, and interesting web sites. A model of what a special interest newsletter can be, it is available to any interested party by subscription.

Albany’s May machine gun shoots appear to be the largest organized automatic weapon shoots held west of the Mississippi, and it is doubtful if there are any unorganized efforts that are larger. Not only Oregonians but also Washingtonians and Californians, who must store their class 3 holdings out of state, come here to enjoy the fellowship of shared interests. Other states are also represented. Anyone with a legally owned machine gun of .50 Browning or smaller is welcome to come and fire it at one of our shoots.

Although there are monthly subgun competitions, the next big non-competitive machine gun shoot is scheduled for December 12, 1998. People are probably loading ammo for it right now!

To get more information on any shooting program or to confirm a match date, contact ARPC at Box 727, Albany, OR 97321. Voice mail is 541-924-5914. E-mail is arpc@proaxis.com while the club web site is http://www.proaxis.com/arpc. The club’s property is located along Interstate 5, but unfortunately there are no exits at that point. If approaching from the north, leave I-5 at exit 228, go left (east) 1/2 mile on Oregon 34, and turn right (south) onto Seven Mile Lane. After approximately six miles, turn right (west) onto Boston Mill Road and follow it to the club’s entrance, near the freeway overpass. If approaching from the south, leave I-5 at exit 216 and turn left (west). Follow this road (Oregon 228) 2 1/2 miles to Halsey. At the four-way stop intersection turn right (north) onto U.S. 99 and follow it to Shedd. At Boston Mill Road turn right (east) and go approximately 4 miles, crossing the freeway, and turn right (south) or go straight ahead onto club property. We’ll be looking for you!

On December 13th the Albany, Oregon, Rifle and Pistol Club held it’s annual Full Auto Winter Fun Shoot. This was the last non-competitive full auto get-together of the year in the northwest. The monthly subgun match took place the following day on Albany’s north range.

Considering the demands upon enthusiasts’ time from Christmas shopping, necessary winter chores, and indoor activities, a larger than expected turnout made the shoot a fine success. Exact figures are unavailable, but an unofficial count found approximately 120 people in attendance around noon, and they continued to arrive until almost 4 PM, when it was over. According to a gatekeeper, approximately 90% opted for the $9 “shooter/firing line access” rather than the $5 “spectator” status.

What they found was a wide variety of machine guns. As is the case at any such shoot relatively modern guns predominated. There were all kinds of MACs, several with wooden stocks, and apparently all members of the Browning family, including FN Model “D”’s. The H&K logo appeared often. Another large genre was M16s and other 5.56s of various configurations. A fifth major grouping was that of 9mm subguns; examples included Carl Gustafs, Port Saids, M76s, PPShs, Yugos, and Uzis. I watched a shooter happily picking off bobbing 8” balloons away down range with a Maxim 08/15 twice his age, and as I left a recent arrival was unlimbering a Vickers.

Because a chilling fog limited valley visibility and kept temperatures close to freezing, it was a far from ideal shooting day, but that didn’t seem to bother people. Numerous heavy jackets and a few propane heaters showed participants, forethought, and the clubhouse fireplace (right by the food) was understandably popular. The attendees were young, and they came to shoot. Rental business by several entrepreneurs was brisk. One attractive fiftyish lady got her first taste of class 3 by emptying a 9mm buzzgun and promptly pronounced the experience “as good as sex”, thereby giving her husband considerable food for thought. He was last seen trying to convince her that at least sex lasts longer.

This considerable firepower was unleashed at numerous plastic jugs, drum lids, and balloons set up at various distances down range. A crew behind the line kept busy filling the multi-hued balloons, tying them to strings, and then tying the strings to cords that could be secured across the range, so that the balloons were buffeted by the breeze.

Safety, the number one priority, had been well planned. Painted stripes on gravel marked the firing area where the guns were set up. Just behind that was the regular paved firing line, which became a staging area and ready line. Access to either area required a “shooter” ribbon, to be worn somewhere on the back of the shooter’s jacket. Non-shooters stayed behind both areas. While not restricting the number of shooters to an absolute figure, as is the case on Knob Creek’s main firing line, this arrangement makes it possible for the owners of rental machine guns to be up on the line with the renters, coaching them, clearing misfeeds, etc. This procedure seems to work especially well where the renters are on the main firing line; at Knob Creek, of course, the bulk of the firing of rental guns occurs on a distant range, where the guns’ owners can provide instruction under less stressful circumstances. Moreover, Albany’s procedure encourages renters to shoot more, without long waits or trips to the “rental” range or exchange of shooter badges.

Another ARPC practice may also serve the needs of other clubs. Since it’s sometimes not always apparent if a machine gun is ready to fire, the standard practice at ARPC is to insert a fired 12 gauge shotshell in the breech of any uncased machine gun between usages or when moving it. The shotshell may hold up the top cover or it may hold the bolt part of the way back, but in either case, the presence of the empty shotshell, along with the absence of a belt or magazine, means that the gun is safe. A number of these shotshells can be seen in the accompanying photos.

It was obvious that the shooters appreciate the hospitality of the ARPC. The club serves a farming area of small towns and draws its membership from an extensive area. The club members are people of wide interests, and the club welcomes them all. In contradistinction to some other clubs, the response to a request for a different kind of shooting is “Why don’t we try this and see how we like it?” As a result there are programs for indoor rifle and pistol, bigbore and smallbore pistol metallic silhouette, DCM shoots to 200 yards, black power, IPSC, cowboy action, defensive shotgun, and defensive handgun. The club additionally sponsors two gun shows a year.

There is no question that machine gun shoots are the largest contributor to the club’s income. The monthly subgun shoots are fired in a series of seven bays that are deeply bermed and dug into the north side of Saddle Butte. These bays are graded and graveled, and two boast spacious covers similar to that which is being extended over most of the main range. Since these same bays are used for scenarios by IPSC and cowboy action participants-plus a number of local police organizations-a mover wire is left connected, and some barricades, doors, etc., are kept in place or stored nearby. There are, of course, stands, knock-downs of all kinds, pepper poppers, and several kinds of target holders. Scenarios are limited mainly by the imagination of the scenarists.

The high point of the machine gun program occurs with the spring shoot, a full weekend affair at both the main and north ranges. The format is for informal, open shooting most of the time on the main range, with competitions for crew-served machine guns and assault rifles held there, also. The subgun match stages are run concurrently on the north range. This shoot is surprisingly large when one considers that both Washington and California are non-class 3 states, and Idaho is almost 400 miles away. Attendance is increasing and is coming to resemble a downsized Knob Creek, minus the target cars, flame throwers, dynamite, and drums of paint reducer. There are even souvenir tee shirts available.

For those who don’t shoot the monthly subgun matches, this December get-together will provide happy memories until the spring shoot. The latter will probably be the third weekend of May, but be sure to confirm this date before coming. For more information on any shooting program or to get shoot dates, contact ARPC at Box 727, Albany, OR 97321. Voice mail is 541-924-5914. E-mail is arpc@proaxis,com, or see website at: http://www.proaxis.com/ arpc

While the club’s property is just off I-5, there are no exits there. If approaching from the north, leave I-5 at Exit 228, go left (east) 1/2 mile on Oregon 34, and turn right (south) onto Seven Mile Lane. After approximately 6 miles, turn right (west) onto Boston Mill Road and follow it to the club’s entrance, near the freeway overpass. If approaching from the south, leave I-5 at Exit 216 and turn left (west). Follow this road (Oregon 228) 2 1/2 miles to Halsey. Turn right (north) onto U.S. 99 and follow it to Shedd. At Boston Mill Road turn right (east) and go approximately 4 miles, crossing the freeway, and turn right (south) onto club property.

In the meantime, there’s lots of brass to be reloaded!