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Gun Review: Smith & Wesson M&P Auto Pistol

By
Massad Ayoob
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0

Mostly praised for its features and functionality, the new Smith & Wesson M&P may be notable for something even more important: a manufacturer's willingness to listen to the end users of its product.

Officially introduced at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas in first quarter of 2006, the Smith & Wesson Military & Police semiautomatic service pistol became widely accepted in law enforcement, combat pistol competition, and the armed citizen sector in less than a year. Articles in the firearms and law enforcement press, and on the Internet, have concentrated on its mechanical features and its “shootability,” both of which have much to recommend them.

However, there is another story hidden within.  It is the story of a rapidly changing old-line company that has found within itself the courage to break not just one mold, but two.  Smith & Wesson found the courage to step past its old products and develop something dramatically new. The firm also found the courage to take a new approach to handling consumer complaints and responding to end-user needs.

Background: the Smith & Wesson M&P Pistol

Joe Bergeron, head of autoloading pistol production at S&W, led the development of the M&P pistol. Something of a child prodigy as a young engineer at Colt’s, Bergeron came to Smith & Wesson with a deep understanding of how semiautomatic pistols work, and of how they are designed, and of how they are manufactured. These are three different things entirely, and they made Bergeron a triple threat in the industry, and the logical man to spearhead the M&P project.

Bergeron and his people came up with a new design that didn’t look derivative. It was the first time Smith & Wesson had done so with a semiautomatic service pistol design in 50 or more years. This is not to say that it didn’t incorporate features from other designs.  However, those features were add-ons, not whole design concepts that defined the pistol.

From Heckler and Koch came three concepts, two now almost universally adopted and the third worthy of the same acceptance. The polymer frame, first seen in the 1970s on the HK P9S and that company’s semiautomatic adaptation of its machine pistol, the VP70Z, has now become the new standard platform for police duty sidearms.

Another now-ubiquitous feature is the attachment rail molded into the frame’s dust cover. Appearing first in the early 1990s on HK’s USP, it was originally proprietary to HK’s own UTL (Universal Tactical Light, built for them by InSight in New Hampshire), but this feature was soon standardized into a Picatinny rail format by the industry.

Even later incarnations of HK service pistols now use the Pic rail specifications.  The third feature was the ambidextrous slide release, first seen on major brand service pistols in HK’s 2000 line.

From Glock, which picked up the polymer-frame ball that HK dropped, ran with it, and popularized it, came the multi-part trigger incorporating a safety device. On the Smith the trigger differs from the original Glock in execution, however.

From Walther came the widely copied concept of interchangeable backstraps to adjust grip frame size to fit a broad variety of hand sizes.

Smith & Wesson had a tool in its toolbox that the competitors did not: an extensive, scientific study of hand size done in the early 1990s for their Sigma project.  With this, plus updated knowledge of ergonomics gleaned from the rapid advance of that science as applied to pistols in the last decade, S&W’s M&P team leaped ahead of the competition with a series of grip inserts that offered not only different trigger reach, but alternate sizes and shapes of grip width to more appropriately fill the shooter’s palm.  The result is probably state-of-the-art in the interchangeable auto pistol backstrap today.

No SmIG, Smock, or Smalther

The M&P ends a long history (and, for S&W fans, a somewhat sad one) of derivative firearms design. Let’s go back about twenty years…

In the late 1980s, under then-CEO Steve Melvin, Smith & Wesson inaugurated its AIP (Automatic Improvement Program).  The result was that its standard double-action service autos, dating back to the Model 39 of 1954, were updated into a third generation that appeared in 1988. Mechanical defects in the originals had been pretty much cleared up in the second-generation guns of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which bore three-digit model numbers (Model 459, Model 645, etc.).

The big changes in the third generation were ergonomic.  Trigger pulls were smoothed out considerably, and grip profile was changed completely, causing these four-digit model number pistols (Model 5906, Model 4506, etc.) to bear a remarkable resemblance to the popular SIG- Sauer.  Perhaps inevitably, these Gen Three Smiths were nicknamed “SmIGs” by the cognoscenti.

1993 saw the debut of the Sigma, S&W’s answer to the market-dominating Glock.  It was like a Glock in its shape, construction, and takedown, and in .40 S&W caliber, there was even one-way interchangeability of barrels between the brands. Glock sued Smith and won a substantial settlement.

The Sigma did not take hold in the law enforcement market, though it would become a bestseller when S&W cut the price and reinvented it as an entry-level auto pistol for the armed citizen market. By then, gun buffs were derisively calling the Sigma a “Smock.”

As the end of the century approached, S&W entered what would be an ever-tightening relationship with Walther.  The collaboration led to an “Americanized” version of the German Walther P99, dubbed the SW99.

It got off to a rocky start when, in a highly publicized move, the New Jersey State Police adopted the SW99 in 9mm, and then cancelled the contract due to claims of repeated malfunctions. Some of this gun’s European design features did not work well with American law enforcement handgun doctrine.

The decocker, a push button flush-fitted on the upper left portion of the slide, was extremely awkward to operate, and the gun could be holstered cocked without that condition being visible to officer, instructor, or supervisor. These features did not endear the SW99 to the U.S. law enforcement establishment, and it too languished in the wake of ever-increasing Glock dominance of the American police market. Meanwhile, predictably, the SW99 had become known as the “Smalther.”

By contrast, no such cute nickname has attached itself to the S&W M&P, nor is that likely to happen.  It does not resemble any other popular gun.  Its “sculpturing” is distinctly Smith & Wesson, with slide lines that hearken back to the S&W Model 41 target pistol of the late 1950s.  Grasping grooves on the slide are cut in a distinctive wavy format popularized by Smith & Wesson’s Performance Center several years before.  The grip tang sweeps backward in a sleek and functional style reminiscent of nothing so much as a Robar grip re-shaping on a Glock.  The Military & Police has its own design, and it has its own look.

Imperfection and Correction

No new design ever survives its “beta testing” in the field without unexpected glitches cropping up.  The first guns that get into the field are the ones that endure rough currents on the final “shakedown cruise” before the product sets sail on the turbulent seas of a competitive marketplace.

Let’s take a quick look at handgun history. The Colt of 1911 did not come under scrutiny for design improvement needs until the early 1920s, and the recommendations of the Army Ordnance Board did not go into effect, creating the 1911A1 pistol, until the latter part of that decade. Making this classic gun “drop-safe” took much longer still.  The 1911 design continues to evolve.

In Smith & Wesson’s own yard, the imperfections in the basic Model 39 design lay dormant from its introduction in 1954 until 1967, when the Illinois State Police became the first large police department to adopt the gun en masse. With some 1,700 troopers qualifying with them regularly and carrying them in the field, problems with extraction, feeding, and breakage now immediately became apparent.

Design changes were implemented rather quickly in the 39-2 series, but some core problems were not substantively addressed until the second-generation guns emerged more than a decade later. It took most of another decade for the refinements of the third-generation guns to at last fulfill the promise of the original S&W service automatics. The process had taken some thirty plus years.

And therein lies a tale, perhaps the most interesting part of the short S&W M&P auto pistol saga.  Within less than a year, Smith & Wesson has identified shortcomings in the M&P design, and has moved immediately and substantively to correct them.  This backstory is one of the most encouraging selling points of the M&P, yet has gone virtually unnoticed.

The Backstory

From the early stages of the M&P project, Bergeron had sought end-user input.  Gun-wise cops and police instructors such as Dave Spaulding were flown to the Springfield, Massachusetts plant and solicited for input as they worked with the prototypes.  Bergeron listened, and implemented recommendations.

Example One: The Iowa State Patrol, looking to trade in their tired S&W 4046 pistols, wanted a more modern polymer handgun firing the same .40 S&W round. They acquired three test samples of the M&P.  One suffered repeated feed failures.

The matter was reported to Bergeron, who set about tweaking the design. The problem was cured. ISP adopted the .40 M&P and is in the process of phasing them onto the street at this writing. The author has heard of no such feed problems with M&Ps since.

Example Two: Aware that a straight-thumbs grasp of the duty pistol had made the jump from IPSC competition into law enforcement training, and likewise aware that with some pistols (such as the Beretta and the SIG-Sauer) this grasp over-rode and deactivated the slide stop, Bergeron and his crew originally designed the ambi slide stops of the M&P in a low-profile configuration which, to boot, was shielded by a small outcropping of polymer.

Unfortunately, the part had now become so small and deeply hidden that it was no longer accessible to a thumb that was trying to use it to close the slide.

This writer and others noticed it immediately and brought it to Bergeron’s attention. This was one of the first “fixes” to be incorporated into the ongoing design.  By summer of 2006, M&Ps were coming through with fully functional ambidextrous slide stop/slide release levers.  The current units seem to be, like Mama Bear’s porridge, “just right.” The straight thumbs hold does not over-ride, yet right-handers and lefties alike can easily and deftly lock the slide open for inspection, or thumb the slide release lever down to achieve the fastest possible speed reload.

Example Three: This writer’s initial T&E sample M&P was one of the first .40s to leave the factory. It functioned perfectly when properly grasped, but when deliberately “limp-wristed” as by an officer with an arm injury, it would constantly malfunction with chamber misfeeds.  The writer left a voicemail for Bergeron on the matter, and others doubtless touched bases with him on it as well.  Before long, a colleague received another test sample, deliberately fired it with limp, relaxed hold, and was unable to induce a stoppage.  This seems to be the way all of the M&Ps have come through since, in both 9mm and .40 S&W.

Example Four: Early test samples of the M&P exhibited inconsistent trigger pulls. Shot One would have a crisp break, Shot Two might feel heavier, and on Shot Three the trigger might feel as if it was dragging.  This appears to have been, no pun intended, smoothed out at the S&W factory. The last several M&Ps inspected by this writer have all shown consistent trigger pulls.

Example Five: Smith & Wesson originally announced that the new pistol would be available in four calibers: 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .45 ACP.  The .40 was the first to be offered to the market, and as noted above, problems were addressed and cured as soon as they reared their heads.  By the time the 9mm came out, the platform had been thoroughly tested for the smaller caliber.

The 9mm M&P has been winning IDPA matches for S&W factory team members Ernest Langdon and Julie Goloski, both former national champions in the game. David McDonald of Team Blackhawk is kicking butt with his .40 M&P in competition. Other shooters are also doing well with the Military & Police autos, usually in 9mm.  This speaks well of the engineering and beta testing that went into the 9mm version before it “hit the street.”  A major Ohio police department has adopted the 9mm M&P as standard issue, having placed an order for guns numbering in four figures, and also reports no problems.

Beta testing is now taking place with the .357 SIG version. It is something of an oversimplification to state that this cartridge is simply a .40 S&W necked down to 9mm. Some manufacturers who produced multiple models in .40 have decided not to market the same guns in .357 SIG. S&W produced the Sigma briefly in the caliber, then discontinued it, returning to 9mm Luger and .40 S&W as calibers of choice. Homeland Security testing resulted in the approval of the HK pistol in 9mm, .40, and .357 SIG, but of SIG’s own models in 9mm and .40 only.  Joe Bergeron tells me that, so far, testing of the .357 M&P is progressing with excellent results.

The .45 ACP version of the Military & Police exists only in prototype at this writing. It will probably be slightly thicker through the slide than the other three chamberings, but otherwise will differ little in appearance.  Having proven to “shoot soft” in its first two calibers, there is no reason to believe that the combination of impact-absorbing polymer frame and low bore axis will not likewise tame the powerful .45 ACP cartridge when it is offered on this platform.  Again, it’s proof that S&W is going carefully with each new variation of the M&P, and acting immediately upon any shortcomings found in factory experimentation or field-testing.

With a large US military contract for .45 ACP pistols coming up, S&W will keep a particular eye on the development of their newest .45. At least one version of the contract reportedly calls for a manual safety.  As witness the Taurus Millennium and 24/7 pistols, it should be no problem to incorporate an ergonomic frame-mounted thumb safety on a striker-fired, polymer-frame pistol such as the S&W Military & Police.

Perfection is Hard to Attain

As diligently as S&W has pursued the ideal of perfect function with their new pistol, it has still eluded the M&P design in some small ways. The wavy, sharp-edged grasping grooves on the slide made operation quick and positive when the gun is in hand. However, at least one user found that when the gun was carried in deep concealment in a belly band next to bare skin, the sharp edges of the slide cuts abraded him unmercifully. He told this writer that two hours into a day shift, he called home to his wife to bring him a Glock in the same caliber at work.

The M&P is clearly chasing the Glock pistol, and one of the Glock’s strongest points in the field has proven to be the virtual invulnerability of its TeniferTM finish.  Tenifer cannot be applied to pistols in the United States, and the S&W M&P is a “made in USA” product.  Therefore, S&W finishes it with MeloniteTM, which has been called an American analog to Tenifer.

This claim has not yet been definitively established.  I know one purchaser of a .40 M&P who wore his new Smith next to his bare skin in an inside the waistband holster that did not shield the rear of the slide from body contact, and in one day of hot Southern summer produced rust in the slide grooves.

Summary

The Smith & Wesson Military & Police semiautomatic pistol is a very young gun, but the maturity and functionality of its design has been greatly hastened by a company policy of closely monitoring field reports and immediately acting upon any genuine shortcoming in design or execution.  This is an extremely positive sign from the manufacturer.  It bodes well for this particular new product, and for future offerings from Smith & Wesson.

Gun Review: Taurus PT 24/7 OSS DS

By
Kevin D. Michalowski
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When Taurus originally came out with the 24/7 line, everyone talked about the ergonomics, light weight and wonderful grip. Now the Taurus 24/7 OSS DS offers all these features plus a longer barrel and sight radius – and the new double strike feature lets you simply pull the trigger again on a misfire.

When Taurus originally came out with the 24/7 line, everyone talked about the ergonomics, light weight and wonderful grip.  Now we have some more to talk about. The 24/7 OSS DS, offers all these features plus a longer barrel and sight radius and the new double strike feature lets you simply pull the trigger again on a misfire.

Now there are two schools of thought on this: One is that any misfire should be immediately met with a malfunction drill. The other is if you can quickly pull the trigger once more and make the gun go “bang” you've just saved that three-quarters of a second it takes to “tap, rack and roll.”  I'll go for the double-strike option any time. If the firing pin hits the primer twice without a result, I'll look for cover and run the malfunction drill.

But there was something else I liked about the Taurus: The orange magazine follower. Yes, that's right, ORANGE. And I now think all magazine followers on all fighting pistols should be orange. This visual indicator of an empty magazine is outstanding. It is especially good in a training situations when you are checking or clearing a weapon.

Getting on with the real meat of a gun test, the OSS was a dream to shoot. With 15 rounds of .40 S&W on top of that orange follower, there was lots of shooting to be done. The long slide and comfortable design of the OSS made rapid fire accurate and fun.

When I moved over to the .45 ACP model, I noticed the magazine followers were not orange and therefore should be fixed, but I also noticed that the guns came with a magazine-loading tool for a reason. Even though the .45 ACP holds 12 rounds and the .40 S&W holds 15, getting that final round of .45 in the magazine was something of a chore. The loading tool really helped.

Shooting the .45 was every bit as comfortable and enjoyable as the .40 S&W, though I tended to shoot the .45 quite a bit low. I'll chalk that up to my 6 o'clock hold on the target. A dead-center hold seemed to work better.

All in all, both guns are worth a look if you want a long-slide model with plenty of firepower.

If you want to get your hands on a Taurus PT24/7 OSS DS, check out www.taurususa.com.

Senator John McCain and Gun Owners: A Strained Relationship

By
Brian McCombie
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You might have assumed that the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) recent endorsement of Arizona Senator John McCain ( R ) for president was a slam dunk, especially given the anti-gun record of his opponent, Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D).  Yet, while the NRA is definitely opposed to Obama, its relationship with McCain has been a difficult one, even with the endorsement.

Speaking about McCain’s record, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told the Associated Press, “He's cast more than 60 votes in the Senate in support of the Second Amendment.”

In a prepared statement, LaPierre added, “John McCain has more than two decades of pro-gun and pro-hunting votes in Congress. He has stood time and again to preserve our Second Amendment freedom and our rich hunting heritage.”

All good.  So why the friction? Well, as the National Journal reported in September,  “One of the biggest battles McCain has had was with the National Rifle Association. He sponsored legislation requiring background checks at guns shows and a bill to tighten campaign finance laws, including restrictions on issue ads by third-party groups in the waning days of an election.  Those stances earned McCain a ‘C+’ rating from the group in his 2004 re-election race after previously consistent ‘A’ grades in past races.”

“We have had two disagreements with John McCain on gun shows and campaign finance. However, we like to examine everyone's record in its entirety,” NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the National Journal.

Certainly, McCain helped his cause when he picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

As Newsweek reported, “Like many Alaskans…Palin is a lifelong hunter and strong proponent of Second Amendment rights. A longtime member of the National Rifle Association, she told USA Today when she was running for governor as a Republican in 2006 that, ‘We hunt as much as we can, and I'm proud to say our freezer is full of wild game we harvested here in Alaska.’”

In addition, “Palin publicly applauded the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 ruling in District of Columbia vs. Heller that struck down the District's 32-year-old ban on handguns.”

So, too, did McCain, who used the Court’s decision to publicly affirm that the Second Amendment was an individual civil right.

Yet, that did not sway the Montana Shooting Sports Association, which endorsed Ron Paul over John McCain and Barack Obama.  McCain, though, received a backhanded sort of endorsement.

According to the Associated Press, “The group gave Republican John McCain a D in its scorecard. [Democrat] Obama got an F. Paul, on the ballot under the Constitution Party banner in Montana, got a A from the group.  But the MSSA says ‘pragmatic’ voters should choose McCain, because he is not as bad on gun issues as Obama.”

Meanwhile, Gun Owners of America (GOA) remained unconvinced on McCain.  As John Velleco, GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs, wrote, McCain flip-flopped on gun control during his 2000 presidential run, when he spoke in favor of banning so-called “Saturday Night Special” handguns.

In addition, McCain, “entertained the idea of supporting the ‘assault weapons' ban. His flirtation with anti-Second Amendment legislation quickly led to a political marriage of convenience with [the anti-gun group Americans for Gun Safety.]  Within months of the formation of AGS, McCain was featured in radio and television ads in Colorado and Oregon supporting initiatives to severely regulate gun shows and register gun buyers. Anti-gunners were ecstatic to get McCain on board.”

According to Velleco, “In fact, as recently as 2004, McCain was able to force a vote on a gun show amendment…John McCain tried running for president in 2000 as an anti-gunner. This year it appears he is seeking to ‘come home’ to the pro-gun community, but the wounds are deep and memories long.”

Yet, no presidential election is run in a vacuum.  McCain, after all, is running against someone.

As NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the National Journal.  “McCain has a solid pro-gun voting record. There are two disagreements. You [have to] contrast that with Barack Obama's record, which is a consistent record of voting against gun rights, hunting rights and even self defense.”

To read Part 1 of this special election series The Senator from Illinois, Click Here.
To read Part 3, Key Federal Races, Click Here
To read Part 4, State & Local Issues, Click Here

SOURCES:

McCain NRA AP 10/9/08:
https://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gNHyi-Dusche-SUEbzEpf4fY9JtQD93MVT5G0

NRA La Pierre statement,  McCain, RTT 10/9/08:
https://www.rttnews.com:80/Content/PoliticalNews.aspx?Node=B1&Id=736854

McCain NRA National Journal 9/2/08:
https://www.nationaljournal.com/conventions/co_20080902_1482.php

Palin, Newsweek 8/29/08:
https://www.newsweek.com/id/156276

MT group, AP story on KPAX-TV.com, 9/12/08:
https://www.kpax.com:80/Global/story.asp?S=8999567

GOA McCain:
https://www.goapvf.org/mccain.htm

The 2008 Elections Part I: The Senator From Illinois

By
Brian McCombie
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0

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in the Heller case, that the Second Amendment was an individual right, Illinois senator and Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama was quick to voice his support for the ruling. Throughout his campaign, in fact, Obama has maintained his support for gun owners and their right to keep and bear arms. Yet there’s a troubling pattern when it comes to Obama and his views on guns and gun control; a pattern that has alarmed gun owners and groups such as the National Rifle Association.

For example, when he was running for the Illinois State Senate in 1996, Obama filled out a questionnaire distributed by the Independent Voters of Illinois–Independent Precinct Organization. Among the questions asked, according to the New York Sun, was one about gun control.

“It asked candidates if they ‘support state legislation to … ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns,’” the Sun reported. “Mr. Obama's typed response was, ‘Yes.’ His [presidential] campaign later said a staffer filled out the form and unintentionally misrepresented Mr. Obama's position.”

“I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns,” Obama said when confronted with the questionnaire.

Yet Lois and Alan Dobry, board members of Independent Voters of Illinois, remembered it all differently. They actually “interviewed Obama when he submitted the questionnaire,” Bloomberg reported. “It is inconceivable, they said, that he was unaware of the answers, which he defended.”

“He was unequivocal,” Alan Dobry said of Obama’s support for a handgun ban.

More recently, Obama was asked about his views on concealed carry. At the time, Obama was campaigning in Pennsylvania, soon before that state’s presidential primary. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Obama’s response to that question was, “I am not in favor of concealed weapons. I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations.”

Then there’s Obama’s now-infamous quote, uttered at a fund-raising event. While describing small towns and rural areas of the country that have experienced difficult economic times, Obama said, “And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion, or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

That supposed “bitterness” of gun owners has become a campaign issue. According to ABC News, The National Rifle Association has “announced it is firing away at the Democratic presidential candidate with a cache of TV and radio ads.”

Two of the ads focused on votes Obama took previously or positions the senator has said he supports. They included a vote for a federal bill that “would have expanded the definition of ‘armor-piercing’” ammunition, and in the process banned nearly all big-game hunting ammunition. Also, there’s Obama’s assertion, in a 2004 Senate debate, that the Clinton-era assault weapons ban should be renewed.

A third ad, “Way of Life,” featured Scott Siefert, a Michigan farmer, who referred to Obama’s line from that fund-raiser.

“Because I believe in traditional American values, go to church and exercise my right to own a firearm,” Siefert said, “Barack Obama says I'm bitter. Well I'm not bitter, I'm blessed.”

Last, Obama’s choice for a vice-presidential running mate was not one to curry favor with gun owners: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

“The Delaware senator's grade from the NRA is a big, fat ‘F,’ based on votes to retain the ‘assault weapons’ ban, impose background checks on private sales by individuals at gun shows and [for voting against easing] … lawsuits against gun manufacturers,” the Examiner noted. “This is not a guy who's enthusiastic about the individual right to self-defense.”

At a Charleston, S.C., debate in July, when Biden was vying for the presidential race, a video clip from a Michigan man asked this question: “To all the candidates, tell me your position on gun control, as myself and other Americans really want to know if our babies are safe.”

According to Politico, the man then “picked up what appeared to be a semiautomatic assault rifle” and said, “This is my baby, purchased under the 1994 gun ban. Please tell me your views. Thank you.”

Biden’s response?

“I’ll tell you what, if that is his baby, he needs help,” Biden said. “I don’t know that he is mentally qualified to own that gun.”

To read Part 2 of this special election series McCain and Gun Owners, A Strained Relationship, Click Here.
To read Part 3, Key Federal Races, Click Here
To read Part 4, State & Local Issues, Click Here

Gun Digest is the national bi-weekly source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Our in-depth editorial, exclusive price guide and new product features, brings valuable information to our high profile subscribers. Subscribe Now!

Hands On! Alpen Apex Binoculars Great for Duty Use

By
Kevin D. Michalowski
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0

Vickie Gardner, vice president of Alpen Outdoor Corporation, often tells people, “If you don’t want to throw your binoculars to someone else, you paid too much for them.”

Well, Gardner has good news for those who carry binoculars in hunting trucks, police cruisers, DNR trucks and on water patrols. The Alpen APEX binos, Model 495 offer 10×42 magnification in an amazingly small and tough package and the BAK4 glass and prism design bring startling clarity for a binocular that retails for about $350.  The folks at www.binoculars.com have this to say about Alpen products: “Alpen products feature the latest ergonomic designs, finest-quality glass and optical coatings, and cutting-edge technological advancements. Add Alpen's exceptional customer service and lifetime product warranty, and it's clear why Alpen products are all the rage in sports optics.”

All the rage? That’s likely because these are compact binoculars that provide bright, clear images and take the kind of punishment people other than birdwatchers dish out to their gear. The Apex binoculars weigh in at just 24 ounces and are waterproof and fogproof. The roof-prism design makes for a slim profile and the 304-foot field of view at 1,000 yards gives you a good look at distant objects. These binoculars provide all the durability and clarity of glass that costs twice the price. They will serve your needs.

If you want to get your hands on a pair of Alpen binoculars, check out www.alpenoutdoor.com.

 

Gun Digest is the national bi-weekly source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Our in-depth editorial, exclusive price guide and new product features, brings valuable information to our high profile subscribers. Subscribe Now!

Cowboy Up: Cowboy Action Shooting Primer

By
Dave Morelli
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A brief primer on cowboy action shooting, partner. The gun writer with no name gives today's gun fighters a run for their money.

Spring is when I get the cowboy shooting stuff in order.

The cowboys around here shoot all year, but the challenges of winter wind and sub-freezing temperatures make me think about more pleasant shooting in spring. Plus, cowboy shoots have more participants as the weather warms, and people are one of the biggest pleasures of cowboy action shooting.

You will have a difficult time finding a better caliber (pun intended) of people than cowboy shooters, and I look forward to shooting with these folks as much as I like levering rounds through my favorite Winchester.

Here’s a brief primer on cowboy action shooting.

The Cowboy Scene

Cowboy action shooting is governed by the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS), which has sanctioned shoots divided into many categories. Aside from various shooting styles, there’s a division between black-powder shooters and smokeless-powder participants.

According to the SASS handbook, 12th edition, smokeless categories include Traditional, Modern, Duelist and Gunfighter. Black-powder categories are Frontier Cartridge, Frontiersman and Classic Cowboy/Cowgirl.  The B Western Category is like the open division, with flashy and fancy costumes.

There are also age divisions in cowboy action shooting. Juniors are 16 or younger, and are divided into Young Guns, 14 to 16, and Buckaroos, 13 and younger. Forty-Niners are 49 and older, seniors 60 and older, and Elder Statesmen/Grand Dames are 70 and older. There are also divisions for women.

Costuming is important at a cowboy match, and competitors must wear authentic garb throughout the shoot and ceremonies. It’s unique to the sport and part of the fun. No Cordura or nylon — only natural materials like cotton and lots of leather.

Get Your Six-Guns!

To get started in cowboy action shooting, you need two pistols, a rifle and a shotgun. The pistols must be single-action six shooters, and the type of sights will decide whether you shoot traditional or modern.

According to the rulebook, pistols with adjustable sights place you in the modern category. The Traditional category requires the blade for a front sight and a notch or slit in the frame or hammer for a rear sight.

Revolvers must be centerfire from .32 to .45 caliber and in common revolver calibers. Participants in the Buckaroo Category, for the youngest shooters, can use .22 rimfire calibers.

The rulebook lists the legal revolver for each shooting category, so if you’re just getting into the sport, that can help you decide which gun to choose. I’ve always liked traditional-type revolvers, which have fixed rear sights. I shoot in the Gunfighter category, and a traditional revolver is required for that.

The main revolver emulated in cowboy matches is the Colt Peacemaker Model 1873. Many shooters use Remington or Paterson conversions, but Colts are the one. A new-model Colt will easily cost you $1,300 or more, and you need two to compete.

Most shooters rely on modern replicas for match guns. Ruger remade the single-action-type revolver in the 1950s, and in the mad rush of cowboy shooting, the gun evolved into the Vaquero. The first Vaquero — now classified as the Old Vaquero — was replaced a few years ago by the New Vaquero.

Although it looks like a Colt Single Actions, the New Vaquero is profiled more like the Colt. The biggest difference is the grip size. The New Vaquero has a narrower grip, like the original Colt. The New Vaquero comes from the factory with a smooth trigger and opens to a chamber for reload stages.

The Vaquero differs from Colts in that the flat springs have been redesigned with coil springs, and the hammer is protected with a transfer bar. I have shot two Old Model Vaqueros with 4.625-inch barrels for about 10 years, and they are still going strong.

The transfer bar makes the revolver safe for six-shot carry. SASS rules dictate that only five rounds can be loaded in the revolver, and the hammer must rest on an empty chamber. That is for safety, as some shooters use original Colts and replicas that are not safe with six rounds. You can recognize the transfer bar by the profile of the hammer, because it doesn’t have the firing pin attached. Many modern replica manufacturers are switching to the transfer bar. Examples include Taurus’ Gaucho and Beretta’s Stampede.

The Italians gave us Spaghetti Westerns and excellent-quality old West replica handguns. Uberti and Pedersoli make excellent rifles and handguns, and several companies import these guns and then add special features to them. Cimarron, EMF Co., Taylor and Sons and Navy Arms import several varieties of revolvers that mimic old Colts but are much less expensive.

They also produce Schofield-type revolvers and replicas of some early conversions. Many cap-and-ball revolvers of yesteryear were converted to cartridges so folks could use existing parts and frames to meet the new technology. You might check out replicas of those guns if you wanted to emulate that time period.

Holstering revolvers in period-correct or B-Western style is also important. Leather will make or break your look. You can find leather in all price ranges, and it doesn’t hurt to start with less-expensive stuff until you determine your style and shooting category.

If you shoot Traditional or Duelist, you might want to go with a cross-draw for your second revolver, unless you plan to use a border-shift technique (drawing your weak-hand gun with your weak hand, shifting it to your strong hand to shoot and then returning it in reverse order).

If you shoot Gunfighter events, you will likely want a right-and-left holster, with the top of the gun forward on both. When I shoot a Traditional or Duelist match, I border-shift my weak hand gun.

Rifles at the Ready

The rifle is probably the most romantic weapon of the old West. The lever gun is the symbol of the West and is still a tactically sound defensive rifle. With a little practice, you can fire a lever carbine as quickly as you can line up the next target. Some shooters are so fast that their brass lines up on the side of the rifle just like with a semiautomatic.

Rifle selection depends on the category you intend to shoot. In general, a rifle must be a lever- or slide-action manufactured about 1860 to 1899, with a tube magazine and an exposed hammer. The calibers must be a pistol caliber for main-match shooting. The .25-20 and .56-50 are exceptions. It’s wise to have your competition pistol and rifles be the same caliber. That comes in handy when reloading ammo, as all your supplies are the same.

Experienced cowboy competitors have several favorite rifles. Early Winchesters had a toggle-action operation system, which still makes for a smooth, fast lever gun. The 1860, 1866 and 1873 Henry rifles are period correct, and the lever is as fast as on newer models. I like the 1873 iron-frame. Many shooters are putting short-stroke kits in these to decrease the travel of the lever to chamber a round. They are SASS-legal within certain specifications.

The Marlin and Winchester 1894 models are great cowboy guns. Even though the Winchester is out of production, you’ll always see a few at every shoot. It has a smooth action and is a great shooter. The Marlin is still in production, and you can’t go wrong with one of the company’s cowboy series rifles.

My club has an SASS-sanctioned Black-Powder Blow Out every spring. I normally don’t shoot black powder, but I like this match. For this, I prefer toggle models, such as the 1873, because they are simple to take apart.

In black-powder matches, there’s a good chance you will have to hose out the action between stages, as it might foul up and make the lever difficult to work. Also, this makes cleaning the gun after the match easier, as complete disassembly is easy.

I shoot smokeless and black powder in my 1873, but you must not use smokeless loads with pressures that are too high. I shoot the same smokeless load in my rifle as my pistol, which produces about 750 feet per second with Hogdgon TiteGroup.

Shotguns, Too

Shotguns are also category-specific for some shooters. Generally, folks use any side-by-side or single-barrel shotgun from 1860 to 1899 without automatic ejectors. Guns can be box-lock or external-hammer guns with single or double triggers.

Lever-action, single-barrel, tube-feed exposed-hammer guns of the period are OK, but the only slide-action allowed is the 1897 Winchester original or replica. Various categories require that only certain shotguns can be used. For example, the Frontiersman category requires a side-by-side or lever-action shotgun. All guns are shot with black powder.

Until recently, you could find an original shotgun for a good price. I just found a smoking deal on GunBroker.com for an original 1897 from 1905. I had to remove a poly choke and reface the barrel, but it was well worth the time. It’s very cool to shoot matches with an original gun. (That goes for pistols and rifles, too.)

Stoeger is still a good choice for double-barreled shotguns, and the Chinese make 1897 replicas that are a less expensive option than originals. Remington markets some inexpensive doubles that are good for cowboys.

Shotguns can only be loaded with two rounds at a time. That keeps pumps equal with doubles. Also, it’s wise to have a spare shotgun, especially if you travel far to shoot. Some originals are finicky and can break down. The same goes for the newer replicas.

One thing about cowboys is there will always be folks that let you borrow a gun to finish a match, even if you shoot better than they do. It’s the cowboy way.

Cowboy Practice

I have always shot in the Gunfighter class, except when I just wanted to do something different. My mentors always told me to practice with my weak hand, and I stress this to my students, too.

Shooting as a gunfighter has made me do that. Plus, it’s cool to shoot like gunfighters in the movies. The biggest problem I had is lining up the sights. Now, no matter the type of gun I’m shooting, my scores are better with both hands because I’ve trained my eye to go from gun to gun.

I live pretty far from any practice matches, so I don’t get to practice as much as I’d like. However, Action Targets makes some high-quality steel targets suitable for cowboy shooting. Cut them in round or cowboy configurations.

DS Welding also makes targets, including the Original Bird/Can Thrower, which is a shotgun target. I missed a similar pop-up target during a match once. By practicing more, the pop-up is dead meat.

Having a few targets around keeps me in shape when I can’t make it to practice matches.
Action Target also has a new hostage target that’s a silhouette plate with a 4- or 5-inch rotating target that goes back and forth when hit in the disc of the head. That gives a cowboy shooter a big, fast, precision target. It’s a fun, challenging addition to a cowboy shoot.

All cowboy matches require all-lead bullets. You can mold your own, but with companies such as LaserCast and Meister around, I don’t bother. It gives me more time to pour lead for my buffalo gun.

Give it a Try

Cowboy shooting is one of the fastest-growing shooting sports, and it’s easy to see why. It’s more fun than a tree full of young hoot owls. Shooting guns has been a part of my work for years, and to get dressed up like a cowboy, mountain man or B-Western hero and shoot guns in old West scenarios with like-minded grown-up adolescents is just plain fun. In fact, that’s the whole idea behind cowboy shooting — having fun.

Gun Review: S&W 317 AirLite

By
Editor Dan Shideler
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1
The Smith & Wesson AirLite achieves its remarkable 9.9-oz. weight through a combination of carbon steel, aluminum and Titanium alloys. The author says the gun feels like it's made of molded styrofoam.
The Smith & Wesson AirLite achieves its remarkable 9.9-oz. weight through a combination of carbon steel, aluminum and Titanium alloys. The author says the gun feels like it's made of molded styrofoam.

Innovations in firearms — real innovations — almost seem to be a thing of the past, don’t they?

I mean, imagine for a moment this is 1910. In the past five years, you would have witnessed the introduction of the Browning Auto-5, the first successful semiauto shotgun; the Remington Model 8, the first successful semiauto high-power rifle; and the Standard Model G, the first gas-operated autoloading rifle. What’s more, the Colt Model 1911 pistol and Winchester Model 12 pump shotgun would be just around the corner.

What a great time to be a shooter. Every day, it seemed, one of the big companies came out with something truly new and extraordinary.

It’s different today, of course. Today we work ourselves into a lather about this new cartridge, that new frame alloy, this new camo pattern or that new laser sight. Nothing wrong with that; these are improvements, and we’re properly appreciative of them. But true innovations — that kind that make you go all squishy inside — are few indeed.

My last squishy moment came in Fall 1997 at the old Bristol Sporting Goods store in northern Indiana. My mother had just died, and I was looking for a little trifle to distract my father from his troubles. All of a sudden, there it was in front of me: a brand-new Smith & Wesson Model 317 AirLite .22 snubbie.

Feeling Squishy

I had heard Smith & Wesson had introduced some new super-lightweight revolver but hadn’t actually seen one yet. I suppose I was expecting something like the old 15-ounce Colt Cobra, but when the guy behind the counter handed the AirLite to me, my first reaction was, “You gotta be kidding.”

This couldn’t possibly be a real gun — it was more like those super-loud Wasp capguns we had when I was a child; the ones that took plastic caps molded in a round, red little ringlet.

That little J-frame has now passed from my father back to me. In fact, it’s sitting on my desk as I write this, and my reaction is the same as when I first laid eyes on it: You gotta be kidding. It’s an early one with a serial number lower than 2,000, and it pretty much matches its description that appeared in the catalog section of the 1999 Gun Digest:

Smith & Wesson Model 317 AirLite, 317 LadySmith Revolvers.
Caliber: .22 LR, eight-shot.
Barrel: 1-7/8 inches.
Weight: 9.9 ounces.
Length: 6-3/16 inches overall.
Stock: Dymondwood Boot or Uncle Mike’s Boot.
Sights: serrated ramp front, fixed notch rear.
Features: aluminum alloy, carbon and stainless steels, and titanium construction. Short spur hammer, smooth combat trigger. Clear Cote finish. Introduced 1997. Made in U.S. by Smith & Wesson.
Price: With Uncle Mike’s Boot grip: $451.
Price: With Dymondwood Boot grip: $484.
Price: Model 317 LadySmith (Dymondwood only, comes with display case): $505.

I still have the receipt for my Model 317, and it says I paid $449 for it — nearly full retail. I never buy guns for anything near the manufacturer's suggested retail price, so I must have been very impressed with the AirLite. I still am, come to think of it.

Remarkable Combination

Many have rightfully questioned the usefulness of an 8-shot .22 LR revolver. Aside from their effectiveness as a self-defense gun, the author sees value for the savvy collector.
Many have rightfully questioned the usefulness of an 8-shot .22 LR revolver. Aside from their effectiveness as a self-defense gun, the author sees value for the savvy collector.

Gun Digest must have been asleep at the switch in 1996 and 1997. It didn’t get around to mentioning the AirLite in print until the 1999 edition, and that was limited to a single sentence in the “Handguns Today” section by Hal Swiggett:

“[At the SHOT Show], the one that caught my eye was the Model 317 AirLite, an eight-shot .22 with 2-inch barrel, weighing only 9.9 ounces.”

In my opinion, the AirLite rated much more of a hullabaloo than that; maybe something on the order of a 72-point banner headline screaming: “S&W INTRODUCES LIGHTEST DA REVOLVER EVER!”

That’s pretty much what the AirLite was. Its most similar predecessor was the old aluminum-framed, nine-shot Hi-Standard Sentinel .22 snubby, which came in at around 16 ounces with a 2-inch barrel.

The Sentinel was a great gun (notwithstanding its tendency to shoot high at almost any distance), but compared to the AirLite, it was a bloated heavyweight.

The AirLite achieved its remarkable weight by a combination of carbon steel (barrel, hammer and trigger) and aluminum or titanium alloys (everything else), plus strategically placed milled-out areas (grip strap and trigger guard). In all, it adds up — or subtracts down — to a revolver that feels like it’s made of molded Styrofoam.

Early as it is, my M317 didn’t come from the first production run. According to Supica & Nahas in Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson (Krause Publications, naturally), the earliest Model 317s carried a serial number prefix of “ULT,” which was followed quickly by the “LGT” prefix. The Model 317-1 designation was used for the still-later adjustable-sight versions and a very rare 2-inch snubby with a stainless-steel barrel manufactured in 2000. Only 120 of those were made, so it’s the rarest of the AirLites. (If you find one, buy it. Better yet, tell me where I can buy it.)

Mixed Reviews

Current opinion of the M317 AirLite is mixed. It’s one of those love-it-or-hate-it things. I love it, of course. Others find fault with its sleeved barrel; plastic-looking Clear Cote finish; short, sharp hammer spur, which makes single-action operation uncomfortable at best; and its stippled serial and model number on the crane recess and butt.

Still others say the Model 317 AirLite is a gun without a purpose.

“What good is an eight-shot, fixed-sight .22 snubby?” they ask.

That’s a pretty good question, one for which I have no ready answer. The AirLite is a descendant of the original Model 34 Kit Gun, which in my opinion is probably the finest, most gracefully economical .22 revolver ever built. The original Kit Gun, as you will recall, had an adjustable rear sight, even in its 2-inch version — quite a desirable feature if you shoot a variety of .22 ammo and really like to dial 'em in there.

Smith & Wesson must have recognized that right off the bat, because in 1998, it introduced the Model 317 AirLite Kit Gun, an adjustable-sight version of the original AirLite with a 3-inch barrel. So where does that leave the plain old M317 AirLite?

The only possible answer is that it was intended as a supremely portable self-defense bellygun. This supposition is supported by the AirLite’s combat grips and bobbed hammer spur. It even has a crosspin for a lanyard concealed in the outline of its grip frame, I suppose if you literally wanted to tie one on.

Shideler would prefer a .32, .38 or .45 ACP for personal defense, but if he had to use the S&W AirLite .22 LR he would grab some Aguila 60-grain .22 SSS, or Sniper Sub-Sonic (left).
Shideler would prefer a .32, .38 or .45 ACP for personal defense, but if he had to use the S&W AirLite .22 LR he would grab some Aguila 60-grain .22 SSS, or Sniper Sub-Sonic (left).

Regrettably, any discussion of the AirLite as a self-defense gun begins and ends with its .22 LR chambering. I’m a big believer in the .22 LR, but if I knew I’d need a defense gun in the next two minutes, I’d reach for a .38 Special or, at a minimum, a .32 ACP (and that’s assuming a .45 Colt is out of reach). The AirLite must have been intended for a consumer who prefers revolvers, believes in the stopping power of eight .22 LRs, will be shooting only at combat distances or puts light weight above any other characteristic. That’s a pretty skinny demographic.

If I were to carry the AirLite as a defense gun, I’d probably stoke it full of the Aguila 60-grain (that’s right, 60-grain) .22 SSS Sniper Sub-Sonic .22 LR ammo rather than something like a CCI stinger. I don’t really trust any of the hyper-velocity .22s to expand reliably out of a 2-inch barrel, but I’m pretty sure that Aguila’s 60-grainer would burrow in pretty deep.

Or maybe S&W introduced the AirLite just to show the world only it could build a 9.9-ounce revolver. If that was the case, well all right then. It's a good enough reason for me, but the fact remains that I don’t see many first-generation Model 317 Airlites, new or used, floating around out there. To me, that’s one earmark of a sleeper-in-waiting.

How does the AirLite shoot? Who cares? It’s a belly gun, so you’re pretty sure to hit any belly you’re aiming at, especially if that belly, like mine, resembles something that blew up in Lakehurst, N.J., in 1937. Oh, the humanity.

The Current Scene

The Model 317 AirLite still exists in the S&W lineup in the form of the original 2-inch, fixed-sight bellygun, and as an updated kit gun with a 3-inch barrel, adjustable rear sight and HI-VIZ front sight. Both versions have the now-familiar-but-nevertheless-ugly S&W safety lock just above the cylinder release. Suggested retail is $672 and $735, respectively (ouch). Street pricing runs from five to six big bills. (Ouch again.)

I’m the last person to suggest that you should run out and buy a brand-new AirLite for $500 or $600. But if you’re offered a good deal on one, you might consider it. If nothing else, it’s the finest cap gun ever made.

Hands On! AOM150 Paratrooper Model Revives a Classic

By
Kevin D. Michalowski
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Who loves the M-1 Carbine?  Everyone. And for lots of different reasons.

Now, The M-1 Carbine Paratrooper Model is back. The Auto-Ordinance division of Kahr Arms began production of a M-1 Carbine replica in 2005 and thanks to consumer demand has worked diligently to recreate the Paratrooper Model. It is now ready for the public.

This .30 caliber rifle with a walnut stock and folding buttstock is as true a reproduction of the original as can be made.

With an overall open length of 35-3/4 inches and an 18-inch barrel, the AOM150 folds down to 25 ¾ inches.  It comes equipped with a blade front sight and flip-style rear sight.  The AOM150 weighs in at only 5 pounds, 6 ounces and retails for $965. Guns are shipping now.

And right, they may not be the perfect man-stopper and the folding stock means they won't be tack-drivers, but they are fun to shoot and reflect a piece of American history that should not be forgotten.

More than 5 million M-1 Carbines were made during WWII and the gun is still very popular with shooters and collectors, but prices for original model paratrooper guns have skyrocketed.

The AOM150 will fill that niche for collectors who love to shoot the little rifle and shooters who want to add an interesting piece of American history to their collections.

To get your hands on one of the great guns, check out www.tommygun.com and www.kahr.com.

 

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Handgun Maintenance for Reliability

By
Dave Morelli
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A few years ago, I was shooting a basic pistol course at Gunsite with a Sig P 220 ST. The course lasted a week, and instructors recommended that each student bring at least 1,000 rounds of ammo. Some students actually shot more (I fired about 1,100 rounds). The Sig is an extremely reliable pistol, so I figured the course provided a good chance to see how long the gun would last without cleaning before it started to malfunction.

The test wasn’t very scientific, but about halfway through the course, I started to experience failures in extraction and the slide closing. It was nothing major — just enough to make you nervous. Actually, that was perfect, because we worked on clearing jams, and my problems provided good training. That night, a good cleaning solved all the problems.

A dirty gun will eventually start to affect reliability. Because you don’t know when you’ll need your weapon, it’s imperative to keep it cleaned and lubricated after each shooting session.

I once read that Wild Bill Hickok used to shoot the loads out of his Navy revolvers every morning, clean them and reload the guns for the day. That’s a bit paradoxical, because the only reason he had to clean the guns is because he shot them to unload them. Wild Bill believed that his equipment should be ready in case of an unexpected assault.

We must take care of our guns so they can take care of us. With modern products, that’s not a time-consuming process, and it can be done in minutes after shooting.

Break Them Down, Clean Them Up

The first thing I do with my pistols is break them down to the manufacturer’s recommended cleaning condition. That usually means removing the slide, barrel and spring from the frame. With a single-action revolver, the cylinder comes out of the frame. Of course, that’s unnecessary with a double-action revolver. I don’t dismantle the entire frame every cleaning unless something happened to warrant it, like dropping the gun in water or sand. Don’t laugh — it happens. I like the fact that you can take the barrel out of a pistol to clean it. I think that lets me do a better job.

A gun bore is extremely sensitive to mistreatment. I like to clean every bore with the same care as I would a sniper rifle. Many people use bore snakes nowadays, and those do a good job cleaning bores. I’m a bit old-fashioned and like to scrub out the bore with a brush and patches. Also, I shoot lead bullets in my .45 and 10 mm, and even though lead is really hard these days, it usually leaves some fouling you must remove. In my cowboy guns, through which I frequently shoot lead, there comes a point when accuracy goes out the window because of lead build-up. Therefore, those guns get a quality scrub after every shooting session.

My semiautos shoot copper and lead, as I shoot defensive ammo. However, I don’t depend on the copper to push out all the lead because I don’t believe it does. Besides, copper also leaves deposits that must be removed.

I give the barrel a good soaking with Shooter’s Choice, which I have been using for many years. The company makes solvents for lead and copper. Hoppe’s has been around since I can remember, and I still use No. 9 and other products. I like Bench Rest 9 copper solvent when I use jacketed bullets.

Regardless of which solvent I use, I’ll wet a patch, spread it out in the barrel and then set the barrel aside to soak. Then, I work on the frame of a pistol or cylinder of a single-action. While that’s soaking, I spread solvent on other parts that need to soak. I believe solvent works better the longer it’s on fouling.

For many years, I’ve worn surgical gloves when using solvents. These substances are notorious for permeating skin, and as much as I use the stuff, I think gloves are a wise precaution. A box of 100 gloves costs about $6 bucks and lasts a long time. The ones without powder and are a little thicker work great. They are really useful around the shop to keep junk off your hands.

I use brass brushes exclusively, even on my pistols. If fouling won’t come off with brass, it won’t come off with stainless steel. The trick is to be persistent and keep scrubbing. Brass wears easier on the bore, too. I also use brass toothbrush-type brushes on the frame and around the cylinder and forcing cone. Nylon is OK, too, but hammered-on fouling around the forcing cone of a single-action will come off faster with a brass bristle brush.

After a good scrubbing with brass, I send another wet patch down the barrel and around the frame and other areas and then brush it again. Usually, I make 10 to 15 strokes in the barrel and make sure the other spots are visibly clean. Then, I run a few dry patches down the barrel and wipe off the external spots. I look down the barrel with a light. Usually, you can see lead deposits along the edge of the rifling. Copper deposits will show up as green stains on the patches. When the green disappears, the copper is pretty much cleaned up. I repeat these steps the patch comes out of the barrel clean.

After I’m happy with the barrel and other spots, I run some JB Non-Embedding Bore Cleaning Compound down the barrel. I get it from Brownell’s, and it’s amazing stuff. Even if my patches are coming out of the bore clean, I can run some of this through the barrel on a patch, and the patch comes out black.

When selecting a cleaning rod, it’s wise to use a material that is softer than steel. Many are made of aluminum or polymers. The idea is to have something that will yield to the steel of the bore if you accidentally bump the crown. The rod should be relatively stiff so it doesn’t bend and rub the inside of the bore. Brownell’s catalog has too many bore and chamber guides to list here. Most are very inexpensive and should be used during every cleaning job.

Rifles should be cleaned from the chamber side, if possible, and a chamber guide will help you avoid damage to the throat. If you’re cleaning a lever gun or revolver you must enter through the muzzle, a cleaning rod with a guide will keep the rod lined up and protect the crown.

Make sure your other disassembly tools don’t damage gun parts. A good hollow-ground screwdriver set is a must. These sets are so inexpensive nowadays that every gun owner should have one.

The Versa Tool by Wilson Combat is one tool I always keep in my 1911 bag. It’s a pocket-sized tool kit with everything to dismantle a 1911. It’s great for quick repairs on the line or quick cleanings during a hunting trip or other mission. As a 1911 fan, I’m never without one.

Down to Parts

When it’s time to break the gun down to a pile of parts, I still clean the aforementioned parts the same way. I use solvent to clean all the small trigger parts and springs. If you don’t like the smell of solvents, you can also remove dried oil and crud with Simple Green. It does a good job but removes all the oil, so the metal will have to be relubed to avoid rust.

If you’re not familiar with the full disassembly of your pistol, take it to a good gunsmith for this cleaning. Some guns will go back together several ways, but only one will let it function.

When I take an action down completely, I clean each part and lightly oil it with Break Free oil. I rub the oil into each part so it gets into the metal, keeping it slippery and protected. I use Brownell’s Moly Paste on the sear and trigger surfaces because it’s a dry lubricant. It will not collect grime and dust like oil does, and it works its way into the metal and decreases wear to make the trigger feel better.

After I reassemble the gun, I rub a rag impregnated with Break Free over the outer surfaces. This leaves a very light protective coat on the finish of the gun but doesn’t feel oily. This is important to protect the surface of a carry gun, especially one with a blue finish. Sweat from carrying in warm climates will attack a finish like saltwater.

If you plan to store the gun, place it in a case that will protect it. Boyt makes Tactical cases that protect against corrosion. The copper-infused lining was developed to protect vehicles being shipped overseas against salty ocean winds. I have a pistol case that holds my Springfields, six magazines, a Versa Tool and some cleaning supplies. Also, I can carry it in a bigger Tactical Bag. For a SWAT operator, this is a great case for call-outs.

During warmer months, I shoot at least once a week and clean my carry pistols relatively often. Remember to keep an eye on a carry pistol you don’t shoot often. During winter, lint and dust from clothing builds up around the trigger and hammer areas. I’ve even found it in the mechanism during complete cleanings. Usually, I blow lint out with compressed air, and if I have a lot of lint, I’ll pull it down and wipe everything off. If I carry my pistol in dusty conditions in an external holster, I clean it up occasionally, even though I haven’t fired it. I was really fussy with my duty pistol and touched it up often.

There’s a faster way to clean the complex parts of a gun without tearing it apart: gun-blaster-type products. These do not replace full disassembly and cleaning, but they help you in a pinch. Hoppe’s makes one, as do Tetra and Birchwood-Casey. These have cleaning fluids in pressurized spray cans, and melt crud and blow it out of the action. When it dries, it leaves a dry action with no oil, so the action requires some lubrication. The trick is to lubricate action parts lightly, without gobbing on too much oil. Too much of even the best lubricant will attract dirt and grit and cause problems.

You can also clean handguns with a solvent tank and compressed air. At the police firearms range, we had a huge parts washer filled with Hoppes No. 9. We field-stripped our guns after qualifying and soaked them down. We had to remove the grips from the gun, but the solvent saturated all the parts. Then, we brushed out fouling with brass bore brushes and toothbrush-type brushes. Excess solvent was then blown out with compressed air and dried off with a cloth. We lightly oiled our guns, and they were ready for duty.

A small parts washer is very inexpensive. I use a tabletop model in my shop for cleaning gun parts. These can be used in lieu of spray-can blasters. Be careful where the solvent blows, and make sure there’s adequate ventilation. If vapor odor is a problem, you can fill the parts washer with Simple Green.

Shooters often forget about magazines, but they also require frequent care. Faulty magazines cause most semiauto malfunctions. Wipe mags clean of dust, and remove fouling from the feed ramp. Most magazines can be taken apart and cleaned. It’s amazing how much dust collects inside them. Be careful not to bend the feed lips when taking them apart. Occasionally, I shoot carry ammo in the magazines and replace it with fresh rounds. That gives me practice with my carry stuff and rotates ammo on which I might have to depend.

Keep Them Running

Maintenance is the key to reliability and weapon longevity. Guns are machines that are prone to malfunction. Design has relieved many flaws, but proper maintenance will keep a defensive tool running when you need it most.

Custom-1911

The Custom 1911

Learn how to ask the right questions when purchasing your 1911 pistol, and make an informed, intelligent decision with the wealth of information provided in The Custom 1911 by Bill Loëb. Because this ever-popular pistol has been produced by more companies than any other firearm in history, the available options may at first seem intimidating. Wade through the vast availability of the 1911 pistol, and grow in your understanding of the main differences between the abundance of custom shops.

Gun Review: Wilson Combat Standard Model

By
Kevin D. Michalowski
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While there is a bit of debate concerning the role of the shotgun in police work, there is no debate about the fight-stopping power that comes through a 12-gauge bore. And if there is one universal sound that signals things are getting really serious, it is the sound of someone racking the slide on a combat shotgun.

So, with that in mind, if you need a shotgun for self-defense, police work or military operations, you want something that will never fail you. Get your hands on a Wilson Combat Standard Model.

The Standard Model incorporates the features most shooters look for in defensive shotguns. The 18-inch cylinder-bore barrel with a 3-inch magnum chamber will handle any ammunition, including less-lethal rounds if you go that route. The magazine tube holds seven rounds and comes complete with an extra-power heavy-duty stainless magazine spring for sure shell feeding in any situation, and a high-visibility, non-binding follower to indicate an empty-magazine tube at a glance. You can also get a four- or six- round receiver-mounted Sidesaddle shell carrier

For sure grip and target illumination, the Standard model offers a synthetic butt stock and fore-grip. The fore-grip includes a 6-volt SureFire Tactical Light with 11,000 candlepower. Wilson offers a standard buttstock length, with an optional shorter buttstock – or your choice of an optional Knoxx SpecOps Stock or AR collapsible stock.

Other included features are a jumbo-head safety, multi-purpose tactical sling, buttstock sling swivel and a rigid magazine tube front sling mount. Wilson's adjustable TRAK-LOCK. Ghost Ring rear sight is paired with a ramp-type front sight with a tritium self-luminous insert for fast and accurate aiming.

We started shooting this gun offhand at 25 yards, but it was so smooth and accurate, we started backing up and when it was still on target out to 200 yards, we figured that would be “acceptable combat accuracy.” The cylinder bore consistently put all the pellets from 00 buck into a 19-inch wide target and the pistol grip made control a dream.

Retail prices start in the $1200 range. To get your hands on a Wilson Combat Standard Model, check out www.wilsoncombat.com.

 

Gun Digest is the national bi-weekly source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Our in-depth editorial, exclusive price guide and new product features, brings valuable information to our high profile subscribers. Subscribe Now!

Free M-16s! A Tactical Bargain for Law Enforcement

By
Scott Wagner
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February 28, 1997 changed the way law enforcement officers and more importantly, their administrators, viewed the deployment of rifles in the field.

A Wake Up Call

That was the date of the Great Los Angeles Bank Robbery. Using fully automatic 7.62 x 39 caliber rifles, two heavily armored and armed robbers shot it out with members of the L.A.P.D. 200 officers responded to the robbery with 9mm pistols and 12 gauge shotguns loaded with 00 buckshot.

As we all know, the officer’s weapons were almost totally ineffective against the robbers. While awaiting the arrival of SWAT, two officers borrowed AR-15’s graciously loaned to them by an area gun shop. Unfortunately one of the officers wasn’t familiar with the AR-15 weapons system, and was unable to use the rifle. The other rifle didn’t have an effect on the final outcome, but the tactical thinking was quite correct-buckshot and handgun rounds are ineffective against armored suspects!

Prior to the LAPD incident, there was a gradual movement towards arming officers with pistol caliber carbines of either 9mm, .40 Smith and Wesson, or .45 ACP calibers. While these weapons found favor because they offered more accuracy than a handgun and reduced recoil compared to a shotgun, they offered no serious ballistic advantage.

Even if LAPD officers were armed with these carbines, they still would have been ineffective against the armor worn by the robbers. The shootout made it clear that pistol caliber carbines were not the solution to a heavily armed criminal element.

In a big ceremony and news conference after the shootout, the LAPD that received a donation of some 200 surplus M-16’s from the military. These full auto weapons were received with fanfare but not immediately deployed due to policy considerations (L.A. certainly didn’t need street officers spraying full-auto weapons around town). This was a watershed moment, because it made the M-16 an acceptable and necessary police tool, and caused it to become the pre-eminent law-enforcement rifle system.

While the AR-15 hasn’t supplanted the shotgun in the patrol car, it certainly has supplemented it. Prior to the L.A. shootout, it was thought by administrations that the 5.56 mm caliber was too powerful and penetrative for urban/suburban use. However advances in controlled-expansion ammunition and ballistic testing proved that the 9mm fired from a carbine-length barrel provided MORE risk of over-penetration than the 5.56 mm with the right bullet, eliminating liability concerns.

Not only is the AR-15 being issued in the field as a general-duty patrol rifle, but in the shortened M-4 versions, has gained favor over previously utilized entry weapons like the venerable HK-MP5.

In addition to the superiority of 5.56 mm over the 9mm, the AR-15 operating system is much more familiar to the new and welcome influx of combat veterans from Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan into the police ranks. The only thing holding most agencies back from widespread issuance of the AR system has been cost.

For the price of one quality AR-Rifle from the major manufacturers, a department can purchase two to four police shotguns, depending on make. They also could purchase two (or more) pistol-caliber carbines. In this day of ever-decreasing budgets, what can a department do to equip its officer’s with the AR-15 system for either patrol or tactical use when the cost is so high? The answer is the Department of Defense 1033 Weapons Program.

Outfitting Your Agency

The DOD through your individual state Law Enforcement Support Office, (which can be found by typing in DOD 1033 Program on an internet search engine), will provide your agency with a quantity of M-16 A1 full-auto rifles in an amount commensurate with your department’s number of sworn officers and the population of your jurisdiction.

The total cost is approximately $24 per rifle in shipping from the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois. The only condition to this donation is that the M-16s remain DOD property. They cannot be sold by your agency or traded in since they are not technically yours. If your agency no longer needs them, they are required to be returned to the DOD in originally issued condition.

This doesn’t mean that you cannot modify them; it means that when you return them, they have to be in original condition.

My agency, the Union County Sheriff’s Office in Marysville, Ohio, decided to make application for a grant of M-16s. Newly elected Sheriff Rocky Nelson recognized the fact that while our patrol area is still mostly rural, our deputies are beginning to encounter urban type threats and approved the application. We applied for 15 rifles and were granted 10.

Although our policy is not complete as of this writing, we envision the rifles being deployed for both tactical team and patrol use, and converted to fire in semi-auto mode only.

The ordering process was relatively simple. The rifles were shipped directly to our office a short time after application was made. The rifles came packaged in individual cardboard boxes and were separated into their upper and lower receiver halves. Each half was wrapped in what appeared to be a Mylar type silver wrapping paper. Included in the box was a new sling and a 30-round magazine, each wrapped packaged in clear plastic.

The rifle itself is the A1 model. This means that it has the triangular Vietnam-era handguards, simple but rugged A-1 rear sight adjustable for windage only, forward assist with no case deflector, birdcage type flash suppressor, shorter than current issue buttstock (which is great for the smaller-stature officer or tactical officer wearing heavy body armor), and the original light 6.5 lb weight afforded by the skinny A-1 barrel configuration. Rate of twist is 1 in 12.

The condition of the rifle was very good to excellent for a military weapon this old. Stored since approximately 1975, there was some minor exterior rust and white aluminum oxidation on the receiver that was easily wiped off. Interior parts were in very good shape showing little sign of wear. The weapon was bone dry from lack of lubrication in storage, but showed no signs of abuse or neglect.

After the rifles arrived, the question was how can turn this basic weapon into a more modern tactical weapon in the most economical way, especially with the condition of not permanently modifying it? Also, what needed to be done to it to optimize it for patrol?

Testing the Weapons

In our opinion, all we needed to do was to add a high intensity flashlight and a red-dot type optical system. To accomplish the mounting of these systems, I turned to Troy Storch at Midwest Industries. He sent me their MCTAR-15-04 Tactical Light Mount and their MCT-A2C A2 Adjustable Cantilever Optics Mounts.

The Tactical Light Mount is a solid, well engineered system that mounts on any AR-15 with a standard front sight. The mount provides a Picatinny mounting surface on either side of the front sight, and lists at only $34.99. A Surefire G-2 Nitrolon 65 lumen light was attached by single scope ring to the mount. Using the G-2 in this position requires no separate pressure switch; it is operated with the support hand thumb. The G-2 is priced at $34.99. The Cantilever Optics Mount is billet machined from 6061aluminum and is hard coat anodized. It is adjustable and allows co-witnessing between the optics and iron sights. It mounts via a single bolt through the hole in the AR’s carry handle, and is secured by a wide, flat nut designed for easy hand tightening. Price is $116.95.

For testing purposes a personally owned Leatherwood Hi-Lux Red Dot sight from Bushmaster was mounted. This excellent red-dot sight is only $79.95. Total for this basic tactical weapons system? About $280. Of course with the myriad of options available for
AR’s these days, even more customization can be done to it if desired.

After a thorough cleaning, (which made the rifle look as good as new) by Cpl. Matt Warden, we took one of the M-16’s to the range on a very cold March morning and mounted all the hardware. We had a limited test time, and purposes of the testing were three-fold.

First, we wanted to determine the functionality and reliability of these M-16’s, second, to select the most accurate duty load for the M-16 and third, to test that load against an automobile to determine effectiveness against hard targets.

We had only limited time for all three tests. As the M-16’s would be configured to semi-auto only for issuance to deputies in the field we started with some very basic accuracy testing. Full auto fun time, er, testing, would wait until later.

Checking of basic accuracy was important because there was no way of knowing how many rounds have been sent downrange from any of these weapons. The bores look reasonably good but there are no accuracy guarantees. Speaking of bores, as I mentioned earlier, the twist rate is the old 1 in 12 inch rate rather than the 1 in 7 or 1 in 9. This means that the bore can only stabilize bullets with weights of 55 grains or less. While heavier bullet weights for police and military use seem to be a must these days, one is absolutely limited to a weight of 55 grains or less in these rifles. This lack of stabilization of heavy bullets by a 1 in 12 twist barrel was borne out when firing some 62-grain NATO green tip ammo during testing against the automobile. Out of 30 rounds fired, 10 hit the car door exactly sideways, leaving a perfect cookie-cutter outline of the bullet in the door. Not exactly what one wants in terms of accuracy or ballistic performance.

Being limited to 55-grain projectiles is really no problem. Since our law enforcement rifle engagement distances average less than 50 yards, using bullets in the heavier weight ranges that may perform well to 400 yards really aren’t necessary. Nor should our officers be firing at anyone with open-sighted rifles at those distances anyway!

We tested two of the best 55-grain duty loads available-Hornady’s TAP and Winchester’s Ballistic Silvertip, along with Winchester 55-grain FMJ rounds. Five-shot groups were fired. Accuracy of all loads tested was adequate, but not stellar. Several factors affected testing that day. Cold weather with light snow compounded firing prone unsupported. We also used plain brown IPSC cardboard targets against the same colored backstop, and it was hard to maintain a consistent point of aim. Groups ended up hovering around 2 to 3 inches at 50 yards using either the open sights or the Hi-Lux Red-Dot.

I am certain that with a sandbagged bench and better weather conditions and target, groups would improve. One other thing to keep in mind; the M-16A1 was never a tack driver. That is why the A2 was introduced, to improve accuracy at extended range. You simply cannot get sniper rifle accuracy from these rifles but you certainly will get accuracy on par with that of the Ruger Mini-14 for example, which is more than adequate for patrol or close quarters entry use.

In terms of ballistic performance the TAP and Ballistic Silvertip rounds did very well against the auto, a Pontiac Grand AM. Fired through the windshield, each round penetrated front and rear seats, and came to rest denting the inside of the trunk. They did as well on shots through the driver’s door, passing through it and into the passenger door, causing a dimple on the exterior sheet metal of the passenger door. Ideal performance, in our opinion.

This offer from the DOD is one of the best ever made to law enforcement. Every agency interested in 5.56 caliber patrol or tactical rifles should apply for these weapons.

Out of several hundred rounds of practice and duty ammo fired (much of it with FMJ ammo in full-auto mode), there was not one malfunction, even when the weapon became very hot to the touch. If you never handled an M-16 in the A1 configuration, you will be pleasantly surprised. Its light weight allows it to swing into action quickly, and we didn’t find its 4 inches of additional barrel length over the M-4 to be a hindrance in clearing rooms. It might not be quite as maneuverable as an M-4 with the stock collapsed, but is certainly is a capable performer If you choose, you can even keep it in the full-auto configuration, which after the test firing, was tempting but for us out of the question and really not necessary. Don’t miss out, contact your State Law Enforcement Support Agency today.

— Scott Wagner is a Professor and Police Academy Commander at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio. A 26-year law enforcement veteran, he is a Special Deputy at the Union County Sheriff’s Office in Marysville, Ohio where he works in patrol and training, and is a member of the SRT Team. He welcomes your comments at [email protected].

Resources:

Midwest Industries Inc.
833 West College Ave., Waukesha, WI 53186
Phone:(262)896-6780 Fax:(262)896-6756
https://www.midwestindustriesinc.com

Bushmaster Firearms Inc.
999 Roosevelt Trail
Windham, ME 04062
https://www.bushmaster.com

SureFire LLC
18300 Mount Baldy Circle
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Toll Free: 800-828-8809
Email: [email protected]
https://www.surefire.com

Hornady Mfg. Co.
Box 1848
Grand Island, NE 68802-1848
1-800-338-3220
https://www.hornady.com

Winchester Ammunition
Att: Product Services
427 N. Shamrock St.
East Alton, IL 62024.
https://www.winchester.com

Hands On! Trijicon Reflex Gets You On Target, Fast

By
Kevin D. Michalowski
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Now I'll be the first to admit that a prairie dog shoot might not be the best place to test a superfast combat style optical sight for an AR-style rifle. But when I can pick up said rifle, topped with Trijicon's Reflex optical sight and start plunking rodents at 150 yards offhand and out to 300 yards from the bench, with a standard S&W duty carbine, it might be more than just my meager shooting skills at work. 

The new Trijicon Reflex is a non-magnified, self-luminous sight engineered to provide additional light gathering capabilities. The new 42mm lens gives you the largest sight picture possible and the fiber optics technology automatically adjusts the brightness level and contrast of the aiming point to available light conditions. A tritium-phosphor lamp aiming reticle glows in low-light conditions for precise shot placement

The Reflex also offers Parallax-free sighting and enables fast, both-eyes-open target acquisition and accurate aiming and is adjustable for a full range of +/- 30 MOA (one click per inch at 100 yards).

And best of all: No batteries required.

This sight was fast, easy to use, clear and without a doubt a big part of why I was hitting the prairie dogs. With zero magnification, the sight will work fine for everything from CQB out to 300 yards. There is no clutter in the reticle, just put the dot on the target and squeeze the trigger. This is a perfect scope for police and military applications and will serve the homeowner well if a rifle is used for self-defense. As a hunting scope, mount this thing on a brush gun and you'll be shooting fast and accurate in places most hunters would have trouble walking through.

If you want to get your rounds on target quickly, get your hands on a Trijicon Reflex. Check them out at www.trijicon.com.

 

Gun Digest is the national bi-weekly source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Our in-depth editorial, exclusive price guide and new product features, brings valuable information to our high profile subscribers. Subscribe Now!

 

From Mexico, With Love

By
Editor Dan Shideler
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I’ve always been intrigued by the offbeat. When I was in seventh grade I had to express an interest in some sort of field for a career day event at school. The other children chose the usuals: law enforcement, medical and education. Me, I chose mortuary science, a choice that eventually paid off inasmuch as it kept me in pizza and Stroh’s while working my way through college at a series of Indiana funeral homes.

Given my penchant for the unusual, it’s no wonder that throughout my early adult years, I was intrigued by entries such as this, which appeared in the catalog section of the 1988 Gun Digest:


CABANAS MASTER BOLT ACTION RIFLE 

Caliber: 177, round ball or pellet; single shot. Barrel: 191/2 inches. Weight: 8 pounds. Length: 451/2 inches overall. Stock: Walnut target-type with Monte Carlo. Sights: Blade front, fully adjustable rear. Features: Fires round ball or pellet with .22-caliber blank cartridge. Bolt action. Imported from Mexico by Mandall Shooting Supplies. Price: $150.

Cabanas Leyre Bolt Action Rifle. Similar to Master Model except 44 inches overall, has sport target stock. Price: $134.95.

Model Mini 82 Youth (161/2-inch barrel, 33 inches overall length, 31/2 pounds) $69.95

Pony Youth (16-inch barrel, 34 inches overall length, 3.2 pounds) $79.95


Well, there was something you didn’t see every day: a BB gun that didn’t use compressed air or gas as a propellant, but a .22 blank cartridge. Obviously, there could be no practical use for such a gun — which meant, of course, that I just had to have one.

The idea of such a blank-fired BB gun wasn’t entirely original with the Cabanas company. More than a century earlier, Europeans had used similar guns for a sport called zimmerschutzen — literally, “indoor room shooting” or parlor shooting. These guns used a percussion cap to fire a tiny lead ball, usually a lead BB shot, at velocities suitable for indoor target practice.

Oddly, the great Italian maker Pedersoli makes a reproduction of a typical European zimmer pistol from the mid-1800s. Over here in the United States, Remington made about 200 Remington-Rider derringers from 1860 to 1863; this odd little duck also used a percussion cap to fire a .177 lead ball. Today, a close copy of this tiny pistol is being produced in limited numbers, again by Pedersoli.

Really now! Except for replicas, the idea of using a cap or a .22 blank to fire a lead ball must have died 100 years ago. Hadn’t it?

Apparently not, if these Cabanas really existed. I vowed that I would get my hands on one.

I am nothing if not patient. It took me nearly 20 years to own a Cabanas, but here I sit today with not just one of them, but three. Here’s how it happened: I was painfully slogging through the Standard Catalog of Firearms, which I edit, running value checks on the tens of thousands of guns listed in the book.

At the beginning of the “C” chapter, I hit on the listing for “Cabanas” — more properly known as Industrias Cabanas, S.A. of Aguilas, Mexico — and I remembered the old Gun Digest entries. Several models were listed in Standard Catalog, so I took a quick drive on the information superhighway to see if it would lead me to more information about Cabanas guns.

Lo and behold, on the Web site of one of Gun Digest the Magazine’s most prominent advertisers (hint), I found Cabanas guns up for auction at reasonable prices. I placed some bids, and the rest, as they say, is history.

So now I own a small flock of Cabanas rifles. Considering that these guns are rather scarce on this side of the Rio Grande, I suppose that makes me northern Indiana’s Cabanas king. A king, maybe, but not an expert.

Background, Origins

I can tell you that Cabanas Industrias, S.A. translates into Cabin Industries Inc. The company was in business from about 1949 to 1999, and Cabanas guns are fairly well known in Mexico’s limited shooting circles. But because of the language barrier, it’s tough for me — an aw-shucks Hoosier who barely speaks English — to research the company in depth.

For example, here is part of a Mexican internet discussion thread concerning the Cabanas R83 single-shot pistol. I translated it from the original Spanish with the help of free online software:

“In the case of this pistol, I have noticed that has certain detail in its operation, perhaps I am making the things bad, them comment since I hope to make understand me not to know the terms suitable. When wanting to load the pistol, I have only managed to make a shot, since after this, the part that is hauled backwards not is on guard to leave lists it towards the following firing, I leave a good short while it and later it is possible again to be driven. Serian so amiable to help me with this problem. Greetings from Mexico!”

Well, greetings to you, too! I have read that probably 20 times, and it still baffles me. I gather there’s a problem with this fellow’s pistol, specifically with the part that is hauled backward when it “lists it toward the following firing.” However interesting that might be, it’s not very illuminating.

I got my NIB/NOS (new-in-the-box, new old stock) Cabanas (pronounced “ka-BAN-yus”) peashooters from an exceedingly polite gentleman named Dave Guthridge of Sioux City, Iowa. Three or four years ago, Dave bought out some of the inventory of the now-defunct Mandall’s Shooting Supplies of Scottsdale, Ariz., and it included dozens of Cabanas guns and parts. Dave squirreled away these oddballs and is selling them one by one.

Although Dave couldn’t tell me much about the Cabanas company, the guns he sold me included all of the factory literature, which helped shed some light on how these guns function. But it didn’t explain why Cabanas guns were made in the first place.

The answer apparently lies in Mexico’s strict laws against civilian ownership of firearms. In Mexico, your average man in the street is forbidden from owning most cartridge-firing arms of .22 caliber and larger, a situation that varies slightly according to the whims of geography and politics. Where gun ownership is allowed, it’s limited pretty much to rimfire rifles, and the process of buying even these is layered in bureaucratic red tape.

Cabanas guns represented a clever way to let shooters bang away with something more substantial than airguns. Because Cabanas guns are .177 caliber, they evade Mexico’s .22-caliber restriction. And because they don’t fire fixed ammunition, they aren’t considered firearms.

In Mexico, that is. Here it’s a different story. Our friends at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives apparently consider the Cabanas to be a firearm, according to this definition:

“DEFINITION OF “FIREARM”: 18 USC § 921(a)(3), (4). Any weapon (including a starter gun) which will expel a projectile by means of an explosive or is designed or may be readily converted to do so.”

The fact the BATFE considers a Cabanas a firearm probably explains the guns’ lack of popularity in the United States. Who wants to go through the hassle of all that paperwork simply to own a hot-rodded BB gun?

But a Cabanas is no more a toy than is a modern air rifle. An 8.2-grain lead BB propelled at the Cabanas’ advertised muzzle velocity of 1,100 feet per second (more about that later) yields a muzzle energy of 22 foot-pounds, compared to about 35 foot-pounds for the .22 Short standard load with its much heavier bullet.

Projectiles

In attempting to learn more about the Cabanas, I learned that not all .22 blank cartridges are created equal. In Mexico, apparently, they have (or had) little plastic-cased blank ammo called Floberts that were made specifically for the Cabanas.

These cartridges may have provided the necessary “give” to let them chamber in a Cabanas, but I’ve found that American-made brass-cased .22 can be a tight fit in the chamber of these odd little guns.

CCI makes a star-crimped smokeless .22 blank that approximates the length of a .22 Short case. Winchester offers similar black-powder blanks, but I hesitate to use them since I don’t enjoy cleaning black-powder fouling. Gun Dog Supply of Starkville, Miss., offers what they call their “acorn blank;” a cute little crimped nubbin of a load that produces less noise than a standard blank. I found that the CCI blanks are a tight fit in all my Cabanas guns — a situation that improves as the gun is broken in — but the Gun Dog Supply acorn blank does all right.

It eases into the chamber like it was meant to be there.

Projectiles were another challenge. Not many manufacturers offer dimensionally-correct .177-inch lead balls for airgun use, and I wasn’t about to sit down with a 5-pound bag of lead BB shot and a micrometer.

Luckily, I discovered that Pyramyd Air of Bedford Heights, Ohio (www.pyramydair.com), offers Gamo .177-inch lead balls and assorted lead diabolo (skirted) pellets, so I ordered a representative sampling and had them on my doorstep five days later.

About using lead pellets in Cabanas guns: The hang tag that came with one of my Cabanas rifles has strict instructions about the use of other than round lead balls. Here’s what the tag says:
“Por ningun motivo introduzca mas de uno municion al efectuar su disparo. No utilice de acero ni diavolos de ningun otro tipo.”

My free online software, which I am rapidly coming to distrust, translates this as:
“By ningun reason introduces but of the one ammunition when carrying out its firing. It does not use of steel nor diavolos of ningun another type.”

That’s a big help. I never took high-school Spanish, but even I can figure out that the tag is saying something like, “Do not use steel bullets or diabolo pellets.” But maybe there’s a misplaced modifier kicking around in there. Does it mean that you can’t use steel bullets (that is, steel BBs) or steel diabolo pellets, or does it mean that you can’t use diabolo pellets at all, even lead ones? Anybody?

My Cabanas rifles range from the bottom of the line to a fairly advanced model. The most modest is the Pony. It’s about as simple a gun as you could ask for: a single-shot bolt-action rifle with straight-gripped hardwood stock. It doesn’t have a safety, and its trigger can’t be adjusted, though the rear sight is adjustable for elevation.

To fire the Pony, you open the action and drop a lead BB into the tapered chamber. Then you place a .22 blank in the chamber — not an easy task with my sausage-like fingers — and close the bolt. You then cock the striker knob at the rear of the bolt, squeeze the trigger, and bang.

To extract the empty case, you pull back on the manual extractor, a ribbed collar that surrounds the barrel just forward of the chamber. Two spring-steel prongs then pop the empty out of the chamber, and you poke it with your finger to clear it. All of the Cabanas blank guns function in this same general way.

One step up from the Pony is the Mini 82. The Mini is quite similar to the Pony but has a flared muzzle extension attached to it that looks like a suppressor but is actually a barrel weight. The Mini also has an adjustable trigger, a hooded front sight and a curved butt. If you didn’t know better, you’d think the Mini was some sort of CIA black-ops hypodermic gun or something.

Next comes the Leyre. It looks like a real gun, with its target-style stock with cheekpiece. It also has an adjustable trigger, a manual safety, a bolt that automatically cocks on closing and a receiver that’s grooved for scope mounts. With the Leyre, you also get a real buttplate; something the Pony and Mini lack.

First up was the Mini. I charged it with a Gamo lead ball and CCI blank. Pop! Two inches high and left of center. Pop! Two inches high, center. Pop! Two inches high and one inch left. Friends, that’s not much of a group. Any decent airgun could do better.

I then tried the acorn blanks; same group but not as high. I then tried some Beeman diabolo pellets (Crow Magnums) and discovered what the Spanish hang tag meant: Don’t use diabolo pellets, lead or not! The pellets keyholed and some never even found the paper. What’s worse, two pellets left their skirts in the bore (which is the first time in my life I ever objected to having an empty skirt around). Any thoughts I had about hunting with a Cabanas went flying into the woods, along with a half-pound of Gamo 177-inch round balls and a few pellets.

The results from the hour-long shooting session were disappointing. My chronograph revealed that the muzzle velocity from the acorn blanks ranged from 703 fps to 830 fps with a lead round ball. The CCI blanks were magnums by comparison, yielding an average muzzle velocity of 1,041 fps. Not bad velocity, really, but again, there are plenty of decent pellet guns that can do better.

Itemized Cabanas

I’ve assembled a partial list of Cabanas models, but it is probably incomplete. At the very least, Cabanas offered the Model 82 Mini, Pony, Leyre, Master, Espronceda IV (similar to the Leyre but with a full-length sporter stock), and Laser (similar to the Leyre but with a thumbhole stock and finger-grooved pistol grip), which might have been identical or very similar to the so-called Phaser and Taser models. (Phaser and Taser strike me as American-style marketing labels that Mandall applied to the guns rather than Cabanas factory designations.)

Rounding out the line was the Model R83 pistol, a futuristic-looking little bolt-action. (Ever the glutton, I’ve got an R83 on order from Guthridge.) All of these Cabanas guns had hardwood stocks of varying degrees of quality and finish.

Cabanas apparently went down for the third time in 1999, but before the waves closed over them, they had time to manufacture a line of more or less conventional hinged-barrel, air-powered 177-inch pellet guns called the Model 210 Sport. The Sport guns had brightly enameled stocks that certainly make them stand out in a crowd. Guthridge will be happy to tell you about these interesting Cabanas pneumatics, and you can e-mail him at [email protected] for more information.

Gun Review: Taurus PT-1911 AR

By
Kevin D. Michalowski
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0

The Taurus PT-1911 AR provides all the performance of a custom handgun in a package that won't break the bank. It's a faithful representation of the 1911 platform with a great trigger to boot.

Taurus PT-1911 AR - Gun DigestNow, if you love the 1911 platform, the PT-1911 AR is the gun for you. 

It's big and solid, with an accessory rail forged right into the dust cover. And shoot! This gun is every bit as smooth and accurate as guns costing twice as much.

The PT-1911 AR provides all the performance of a custom gun in package that won't break the bank.

The first thing I noticed right out of the box was the great trigger pull. Not too light, but very crisp.

The ambi safety is tough and the beavertail grip safety puts your hand right where it needs to be. The Novak sights are great and everything from the fit and finish to the checkering on the grip panels was outstanding.

Try as I might, I could not find anything to complain about as I looked at and fired this gun. The accuracy was all there. It functioned flawlessly with a smooth feel that said “custom gun” with every movement.

If you want to get your hands on a PT-1911 AR, check out www.taurususa.com

The Way It Was

By
Bob Ball
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0

 

 

After a summer going door-to-door and selling subscriptions to magazines such as Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post, I finally collected a grand total of $10 (a fortune for a youngster in 1939), which I kept securely hidden in a cigar box in my room.

At Center School, in West Hartford, Conn., most boys were excited about collecting souvenirs from the American Revolution up to the pre-war 1930s. Two of the most popular catalogs were a Practical Jokes catalog — which featured whoopee cushions, exploding cigars and Japanese finger locks — and the most valued: Bannerman’s Antique Gun and Military Collectors Catalog.

The Good ‘Ol Days

What was Francis Bannerman Sons Co.? It was one of the oldest war-surplus houses in the United States, having been established by Bannerman, a Scottish immigrant, at the end of the Civil War, when the government had huge stocks of material to dispose of after hostilities ceased. Because of the company’s long experience, sound business practices and uniformly high-quality goods, Bannerman became the leader in surplus military goods for generations, remaining in business for about 100 years.

For weeks, I pleaded with my dad to take me to New York City so I could see Bannerman’s, the mysterious emporium of my dreams. It was at 501 Broadway. Dad finally relented, and to the envy of my male schoolmates, he and I finally boarded a dirty, cinder–coated coach on the old New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad to make the long-awaited trip to the big city. In those days, a round-trip ticket cost $5. After a subway ride to lower Broadway, we emerged from the bowels of the city and walked a short distance into the front door of Bannerman’s aged and grimy block-wide building.

The entry door was on the right, and a big display window took up the rest of the frontage. My eyes immediately locked on the row of cases that ran from the front of the sales area to the rear of the store, where there was an inviting open display section. It was the mother lode, and I was certain I’d died and gone to collector’s heaven. Then I saw the thing I had read and dreamed about: the famous One-Dollar Table. Tearing my eyes away from the display cases, and hastily deciding I could examine them later, I hurried to the table.

Without hesitation, my hands darted out and grabbed a complete but slightly rusty .50 Springfield trap-door musket. (Incidentally, when I went to Bannerman’s about a year later, I picked up a Siamese-marked Model 1871 single-shot Mauser rifle.) The next three hours were better than any Christmas morning of my life, and I spent it in a frenzy of unabashed greed. I picked up odds and ends, including a bayonet and scabbard for the trap-door rifle for less than $2. I also acquired belts, canteens and ammunition pouches for less than $1 apiece.

All that was lacking was the looks of envy I’d surely see when I told my pals at Center School about my big adventure and then showed them the spoils. If only they could have seen me. Years later, I decided that Ralphie and his BB gun in that now-famous Gene Shepherd holiday classic A Christmas Story had nothing on me.

However, I could sure understand his anticipation and the ensuing excitement when his fondest dream came true.

Bannerman's A Boy's Dream Store

But let’s get back to Bannerman’s. Presiding over the sales area was a crusty fellow named — if memory serves — Butch. If you asked Butch for something but he couldn’t find it after rummaging around for a bit, he proclaimed himself a self-appointed final arbiter and decided what you would get. That was that.

He had a powerful position and seemed to enjoy it to the utmost. I had my heart set on 50 rounds of packaged dummy .30-06 cartridges in clips. Butch searched to no avail, so I ended up with 50 rounds of 6 mm Lee Navy straight-pull cartridges in clips in 15-round boxes, which, had I known it then, were invaluable.

Although disappointed at the time, I can now send a hearty “thank you” to Butch.

Believe it or not, when I returned from overseas in 1946, I stopped at Bannerman’s for old times’ sake. Lo and behold, I saw Butch presiding over his domain, just as he had eight years earlier. Much to my surprise, many of the other faces were also familiar.

Obviously, Bannerman’s employees enjoyed working there as much as I relished participating in it — if only for a few hours. (You might wonder what I was doing returning from overseas in 1946 when I was only 9 in 1939. I was one of those underage guys who managed to enlist in the Army when only 15. But that’s a story for another day.)

In addition to Butch’s one-dollar table, Bannerman’s had an eye-catching panorama surrounded by a barrier of ropes. It featured more than 50 6 mm Lee Navy straight-pull rifles that had been recovered from the Maine. Each was covered with a discolored layer of rust, but because they were from a famous ship, they cost a whopping $40 apiece. Throwing caution to the wind, I wandered behind the rope line — and who could blame me?

I was as wide-eyed as a child with carte blanche in a candy store, and nothing could stop me. Well, that’s not quite true. I was promptly yelled at and sheepishly returned to my place behind those darned ropes.

To the right of the Maine rifles were several beautiful Gatling guns mounted on field carriages and surrounded by some World War I Vickers machine guns on tripods.

Front and center in the dazzling display was the famous old dynamite gun of Teddy Roosevelt fame from the Spanish-American War. Notoriously inaccurate, this gun used a dynamite projectile that was fired by compressed air generated by a blank cartridge. There was also a captured .45-caliber Spanish-Nordenfeldt multi-barreled “machine gun” fed by hopper, which I saw years later in the collection of a fellow Connecticut collector.

As if that wasn’t enough to keep my head reeling, hanging from the ceiling over the entire display was an early 10-foot-long compressed-air Spanish Torpedo from the Spanish-American War, complete with a warhead, air-chamber, engine propellers and rudder.

As I stood there entranced, my eyes open and mouth agape, a simple question ran through my mind: Could there ever be a more glorious display?

The Care-Free Era Ends

However, all great things must eventually end. Dad kept his eye on the time to make sure we got back to Grand Central Station for the train ride home. That had to be a strange sight. Would you believe that we carried all these newfound treasures onto the subway and through Grand Central Station? When we boarded the train, I toted a rifle down the aisle until we found seats. After we arrived at Hartford, I hoisted the treasures onto a bus that took us to the suburb of West Hartford.

When I view that journey through the prism of today’s politically correct mindset, it’s amazing that no one seemed concerned about a child carrying a rifle and bayonet loosely wrapped in paper. When finally seated on the train, I was determined to admire my haul, and Dad cautioned me not to keep taking the bayonet out of the scabbard. Nonetheless, those items didn’t represent a threat to public safety in anyone’s mind. They were simply things boys were enamored of and often collected, which even made them popular objects of show-and-tell in grade school.

Believe it or not, no one flinched later when I dragged a rifle down the sidewalks of West Hartford, flushed with pride at my latest find.
For me, that trip to Bannerman’s marked the beginning of a lifelong avocation, and it was a day I’ll never forget.

What was my tally for all those treasures? $6.55, leaving me with $3.45 to put back in the cigar box until I collected more for my next trip to the big city — and, of course, Bannerman’s.

That special trip came one year later. I was a seasoned Bannerman’s veteran by then, having saved enough for a return visit to collector’s heaven. The maiden aunt of a neighborhood buddy agreed to take two “wild Indians” to New York and Bannerman’s emporium. God bless Aunt Clara for what must have been the most stressful day of her life. I’m sure she regretted the decision before we had stepped off the train. And God bless my dad for helping to make the dreams of a child come true.

Unfortunately, we’ll never see those carefree times again. However, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been a part of them.

— Bob Ball is a U.S. Army veteran and long-time collector of military weapons, specializing in Mauser military rifles. He is also a lifelong student of military history. His book, Mauser Military Rifles of the World, currently in its fourth edition, is the leading reference on Mauser rifles and their values. He is one of the nation's leading experts on historic military firearms and their use throughout the world.

The Black Sheep of the Family? AR-15s as Collectibles

By
Editor Dan Shideler
-
0

My mother was raised in abject poverty. So, naturally, she was always on the lookout for signs of uppity-ness and pride on my part and eagerly awaited opportunities to put me in my place.

One day when I was about 30, I was having Sunday dinner at Mom’s house. She offered me some peas. “No thanks,” I said. For some reason, Mom took that as a prideful insult and, banging down the wooden serving spoon like a gavel, hurled a stinging accusation at me: “You … pea snob!”

Even today, 15 years later, my wife calls me a pea snob when I put on airs. It’s true, I suppose — or at least it was in the past. For example, for decades I avoided military and paramilitary firearms, believing I was too good for them or that they weren’t good enough for me. Colt 1878 Double Action? Sure. Browning Auto-5? Certainly.

Winchester Model 54? Bring it on. But show me a Mauser 1898 or an M1 carbine or, God forbid, an AR-15 and I’d point my nose in the air, snort contemptuously and say, “Puh-leeeeze!”

Maybe I couldn’t make the leap from blued steel and walnut to parkerized finishes and synthetics. Maybe I didn’t want to be accused of playing G.I. Joe.

But for whatever reason, I avoided “black guns” like the devil would avoid a holy-water spritzer with a lemon twist.

Then one rainy day about 10 years ago, I took in a preban AR-15 clone on trade. Maybe I could trade it for, oh, a Model 12 Duck Gun or something actually worth having. But fate intervened in the form of a box of .223 Remington shells left over from my old Ruger No. 3 carbine.

On a whim, I loaded up the AR-15 and took it out back to the range. As I squeezed off the first round, the rain stopped, the gray clouds parted overhead, a beam of golden sunshine stretched down and kissed my brow, and an unseen angelic host burst forth with a C-major chord.

At last, I had seen the light. The gun wasn’t half-bad!

Is the AR-15 somehow beyond the pale of legitimate, serious gun collecting? I used to think so. Now, obviously, I don’t. Yet I understand — but don’t agree with — the reasons why some otherwise well-balanced gun collectors don’t pursue the AR-15.

It’s Ugly

If you think the AR-15 is ugly now, imagine how it must have looked in 1964, when the U.S. Army officially adopted the AR-15 as the XM16E1.

At the time, the short-lived M14 and the .30 M1 carbine were standard issue — and whatever their faults, at least they had walnut stocks and looked more or less like a rifle was “supposed” to look. But the AR-15! Oh my! It must have had George S. Patton spinning in his grave.

With its plastic stock, carry handle and exaggerated pistol grip, the AR-15 looked like something Flash Gordon would use to mow down Ming the Merciless. To modern eyes, the AR-15 looks, well, different, like ugly but lovable Aunt Edna.

However, in my opinion, the AR-15 looks no odder than one of those ornate mid-’50s “Shah of Iran” Weatherby rifles, which legendary stockmaker Jules LaBantchni described as looking like a Navajo blanket. Nylon 66 rifles, XP-100 pistols and yes, even the 1911 Colt automatic, all looked weird in their day. Now, they’re hot collectibles.

The AR-15 is like a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz: Both were the product of a unique era in American history. For that reason alone, the AR-15 is worth having. And I wouldn’t mind a 1959 Caddy, either!

They’re Not Accurate

When the AR-15 was designed, the concept of “massed fire” still influenced military thinking. Better known as “spray and pray,” this concept emphasized firepower over individual accuracy. Perhaps it’s not surprising that the AR-15 suffers from the general opinion that as a military gun, it can’t be very accurate.

In the words of Pepe LePew, “Au contraire, mon cher!” Several months ago, I watched as a local shooter put his AR-15 through its paces at a local public range. He had a Rock River upper decked out with an ER Shaw bull barrel with a Leopold 12X, and even I, who was raised on checkered walnut and blued steel, had to admit it looked like a formidable outfit.

As I stood there, this fellow put three consecutive shots from sandbags onto the paper with handloaded ammunition. When we arrived at the target, I found I could cover the holes with a dime.

That, friends, is 17.91 millimeters edge to edge.

That’s the best group I’ve ever seen made with an AR-15. I have no illusions that I could shoot such a group myself, but it shows what a good AR-15 can do.

I Don’t Like the 5.56 NATO Round

You don’t? Well, blame Donald Hall of the U.S. Army’s Office of Small Arms Research and Development. He suggested, way back in the mid-’50s, that a high-velocity .22 centerfire would have about the same battlefield lethality as a .30-caliber cartridge in most situations.

For those who say that the 5.56/.223 has no sporting applications, I’d like to introduce them to several groundhogs and a fox or two who would not concur. The .223 is not my first choice for a deer cartridge — although I have no doubt that a Speer 70-grain spirepoint could do the job — but as a varmint or target round, the .223 is a real performer.

Besides, AR-15s are also available in .308 Winchester and 9 mm Parabellum, so take your pick.

They’re Not Collectible

In collecting anything — whether it’s guns, cars, art pottery or guitars — the first rule is the thing must exist in sufficient variation to make collecting challenging and worthwhile. There must also be a continuing demand for the thing collected.

The AR-15 qualifies on both counts. If fact, if you wanted to collect only Colt AR-15s, you’d have your job cut out for you. Colt-produced AR-15s are classified as sporters or nonsporters. Nonsporters generally have bayonet lugs and flash-hiders and generally bear the “AR-15” designation on their upper receivers.

Collectors further distinguish between “preban” and “postban” models, the “ban” referring to the late and generally unlamented “assault weapons” ban of 1994 to 2004. Prebans generally fetch higher values than post-bans, though this isn’t always true since the lapse of the ban. For current AR-15 pricing information, see the chart below.

Take Another Look
To those who collect AR-15s in all their magnificent variation, I applaud you. To those who disdain AR-15s, I understand but respectfully suggest you take another look.

And to Mom, wherever you are, please pass the peas.

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