Bullpups aren’t all that uncommon these days. No one sees a bullpup and goes oh wow, that’s revolutionary. Guns like the Steyr AUG might have been revolutionary in their day, but they’re old hat now. In studying the history of bullpups, you’ll find plenty of experimentation with the idea going back to 1860 and bench rest target rifles. Declaring one to be the first is a bit tough to do, but we can track down which was the first to ever see combat. The first bullpup rifle to see combat was an oddity all the way around. Even the name—PzB M.SS.41—is odd.
The PzB M.SS.41 – An Oddity
The country of origin and who used the gun is odd, the design is odd, the caliber is odd, and odd is today’s word of the day. The Czechs designed the PzB M.SS.41. That’s not a big surprise because Czech small arms have always been creative. It was Josef Koucký. If that name sounds familiar, he was one of the lead designers of the CZ 75 handgun. While Czechs designed the gun, it was used by Germany in World War II.
The design dates from the 1930s and is an updated version of the PzB M.SS.38. When the Germans occupied Czechoslovakia, they took over the CZ factory in BRNO and began producing firearms for the German military. This is where the Germans got their hands on the PzB M.SS.41. These rifles, and others like them, were originally invented in World War I as anti-tank weapons.
Gun Wiki
Anti-tank rifles weren’t uncommon. In the 1930s, powerful anti-tank rifles like the original Model 38 or the Boys Anti-Tank rifle could easily penetrate a tank’s armor. Anti-tank rifles were massive, heavy, and crew-served guns. The Czechs wanted a rifle that a crew of only two people could operate.
Most of the world’s anti-tank rifles utilized fairly large projectiles, which we’d describe as anti-material rifles. The Germans used a very fast 7.92 mm projectile. The 7.92×94 Patronen cartridge allowed the PzB M.SS.41 to be lighter than most rifles, and when mixed with the shorter bullpup design, it was easy enough for a two-man crew to manage. Initially, there was no SS in the gun’s name, and it would have likely been called the Model 41.
Then the Germans Came
When the Germans took the factory, the rifle appealed to the SS, which used a wide variety of weapons since it was outside of the typical armed forces command structure. The SS already had the 7.92 Patronene cartridge in its supply chain. For the often oddly armed SS, the PzB M.SS.41 must have seemed like an excellent coincidence to find. After the SS adopted the rifle, it became known as the PzB M.SS.41.
The rifle had more appeal than just the caliber. The modern anti-tank rifle of German forces was the Panzerbüchse 39, but the SS couldn’t get many of those in their armories. Plus, the PzB 39 was a single-shot rifle that was over 63 inches long. The PzB M.SS.41 was a bolt-action, magazine-fed rifle that was 53.5 inches long. Weight-wise, it was only a pound heavier than the PzB 39.
Modern Firearms
If you’re an infantryman tasked with targeting an armored vehicle with a rifle, I’d also want a repeating option rather than a single-shot design. The rifles were mainly used on the Eastern Front, where they became known as the first bullpup to see combat. The weapon was used for a brief period in an anti-armor role.
As tank armor improved rapidly, these weapons became less useful, and by 1942, the SS declared rifles obsolete. They may have stuck around dealing with light armor or entrenched positions, but the SS stopped producing them in 1942.
The PzB M.SS.41 Operating
Remember, odd is the word of the day. This bullpup bolt-action rifle uses a fixed breach, and looks as long as you want. You won’t find a bolt handle. Instead, the pistol grip is the bolt handle. It unlocks the system, and the entire barrel moves forward and rearward to extract, eject, and reload the next round. The barrel rides on rollers to keep the action smooth and quick.
The magazines were detachable and came in five- and ten-round varieties. Behind the pistol grip sat the magazine catch, a simple single-stack design. An interrupter design unlocked the first round, allowing the barrel to move rearward to pick up the cartridge from the magazine.
Proxibid
The sights were side-mounted so the right-handed shooter could use them while operating the enormous rifle. The sights also folded, likely helping to ensure they didn’t snag and break. Small features like a leather cheek pad and a recoil pad helped increase the gunner’s comfort. A bipod was necessary for the 28-pound rifle. A massive muzzle likely spared shoulders, and there were even provisions for a sling.
The barrel could be easily removed from the receiver, significantly reducing the gun’s weight and size. A team of two men could move across the battlefield with the weapon broken down and assemble it when they reached their final position.
Overall, the rifle had all the Czech creativity you’d expect. These weapons were reportedly very well made, and while they were quickly out of date, they showed innovation. It’s arguably the peak of man-portable anti-tank rifle technology. Sadly, the SS used the rifles rather than the Czechs using them against the SS.
I used to love Stargate as a kid, I loved the movie, and later, I enjoyed the TV show. I recently decided to walk to Nostalgia Land and revisit the film and series. Who has time to watch ten seasons of Stargate? So, I turned to a pop culture listicle for a top 20 list. After a few episodes, something I didn’t remember as a kid dawned on me. This show has a serious tactical drip. Drip is a term the kids use to describe stylish.
Stargate and Guns
Does the Stargate show have great gun handling or impressive tactics? No, not really, but the guns they use are far from boring. In fact, whichever team armed the Stargate cast clearly had an eye for style and strived to fill the show with some seriously awesome guns. It seems like an odd thing to write about but stick with me. Let’s dive into the world of Stargate SG-1’s best guns and appreciate the tactical drip they provided.
The P90
This one is a big duh. Stargate and the P90 go together like peanut butter and jelly. The P90 is the most famous of Stargate’s firearms and the most associated with the series. In the mind of most people, including me, it’s the main gun of the SG-1 team throughout the series. Interestingly, the P90 didn’t become the main SG-1 team gun until the fourth season.
IMFDB
The P90 had a very high-tech look and was a very modern gun during the run of the Stargate TV series. FN created the P90 to occupy a niche firearm needed by NATO known as the Personal Defense Weapon. These guns sit between an SMG and a proper assault rifle. The unique bullpup design and top-loaded magazine allowed the gun to stand out. It also allowed the gun to be occasionally dual-wielded when necessary.
The MP5A3
Before the SG-1 team received P90s, the weapon of choice was the MP5A3. HK MP5 doesn’t need much of an introduction. What’s neat about the gun in this series is the amount of work the armorer team put into it. It’s not just a plain MP5. The MP5A3 in the series wore custom Colt AR optics fabricated to fit claw mounts. A 4X scope on an SMG is silly, but it looks cool.
IMFDB
Next, the forend is a dedicated Surefire design with an integrated weapon light. Finally, most of the team uses magazine connectors to tote an extra magazine on the gun. Most also wore single-point slings for that late 1990s drip. These guns were carried in most seasons but faded after season 4 and the P90.
USAS-12 Assault Shotgun
Throughout the series, the Stargate SG-1 team faced off against various opponents. This includes the robotic replicators, which often took the look of above-average-sized bugs. These small, fast-moving creatures swarmed targets. When the SG-1 team took the replicators on, they often carried the USAS-12 Assault Shotgun. This makes a ton of sense because hitting a small, rapidly moving target is difficult but a little less difficult with a shotgun.
IMFDB
These weren’t your grandpa’s Remingtons, either. The USAS-12 is a box magazine-fed, semi-auto shotgun that borrowed some stylings from the AR series of rifles. In 1997, they were high-tech and rarely seen in the United States since Clinton declared them to be destructive devices. They certainly destroyed a few replicators in their time with the SG-1 team.
Daewoo K3
Throughout the series, there were times when the MP5 and FN P90 couldn’t cut it. These are ‘sub’ machine guns; you need a ‘dom’ machine gun. When these times came to fruition, the team turned to the Daewoo K3. It’s an odd choice for a US-based Stargate team if they are meant to be Daewoos. In reality, they dressed the guns to resemble the M249 SAW light machine gun.
IMFDB
They are often seen in the hands of background Marines who are assigned to the Stargate base. The production added paratrooper stocks, vertical grips, and handguards to give them that SAW look.
Carter Special Micro 16 Carbine
In season 7, the Carter Special, also known as the Micro 16 Carbine, is introduced. It’s not your average AR 15 kit. Major Samantha Carter carries the weapon. The Carter Special is an ultra-short AR with several custom features. The production took an Olympic Arms K23B and dressed it up. Have you ever seen a movie called Tomorrow War? Well, this is the dad of the rifle from that film.
IMFDB
At its core, it’s a micro-sized AR with a 7.5-inch barrel covered with a Picatinny rail. The gun has a vertical foregrip and an Elcan OS 3.4x28mm sight. The stock is a Hera wannabe from a company called Bell and Carlson. The gun almost exclusively fires from Beta C Mags. It’s a silly-looking gun, but it is still interesting to see.
Beretta 93R (Kind Of)
The SG-1 team had some slick guns, but they weren’t the only ones carrying blasters with a little drip to them. In episodes with the Secret Service, their gun of choice appears to be the Beretta 93R. Kind of. It’s a dressed-up 92FS designed to look like the all-too-cool 93R machine pistol.
IMFDB
There is something to be said for taking the time to dress a gun up to make it look even cooler than the average handgun. It’s also worth noting the 93R was designed for executive protection teams, but it was never very successful.
That Stargate Drip
Stargate was such a fun franchise. I’d love to see the cast come back to make a sweet reunion episode, but I fear Amazon would really goof it up. They certainly couldn’t capture the coolness of the original series. I’m not sure who was behind the guns of Stargate, but I want to give them a hand. They did a fantastic job, and it convinced me to find time to watch ten seasons. Are there any other Stargate fans out there?
The creation of Israel brought with it a smorgasbord of firearms. The early version of the Israeli Army was fielding everything from British Enfield rifles to AKMs. The handguns were a variety of guns from the ultra-modern to some WWI survivors. Most of their weapons came from Western Europe and the United States. One of the more beloved weapons of the early IDF was the M1 and M2 Carbines. The light handling, low recoiling, and auto-loading design made them well-loved by soldiers. Unsurprisingly, it would be an Israeli company that created the Hezi SM1 PDW.
Small Arms Journal
The Hezi SM1 PDW reimagines the M1 Carbine as a modern bullpup PDW. Go read the reasoning for creating the M1 Carbine and the reason for creating the NATO PDW concept. They have an almost identical mindset and reasoning. A lightweight, easy-to-shoot weapon that offered more range and penetration than a submachine gun but would be lighter and shorter than a rifle. They designed these guns for rear-echelon soldiers who might otherwise be armed with a pistol.
Like the STG 44, which established the first assault rifle, the M1 Carbine is arguably the first PDW. An Israeli company, Advanced Combat Systems of Even Yehuda Israel, decided that the 82-year-old gun could still rock and roll with the best of them. To this day, the platform is used by the Civil Guard, private security, and even tour guide services.
The Hezi SM1 In Living Color
The Hezi SM1 doesn’t just use an M1 action in its design. This upgrade kit converts existing M1 and M2 Carbine rifles to a bullpup platform. The Hezi SM1 isn’t a firearm per se as much as an upgrade kit for an existing platform. The Israeli military and police tend to prefer their bullpup designs, as we’ve seen with the Tavor series of rifles, so it’s not a big surprise they decided to take that route.
Advanced Combat Systems
The Hezi SM1 kit uses a synthetic polymer stock system. The design found a way to make all of the controls ambidextrous and accessible by the non-firing hand. That’s not a feat the classic M1 Carbine would claim. The gun uses a top-mounted, nonreciprocating charging handle.
Bullpupping the rifle trims a significant amount of size. The gun is 30% shorter and measures out to 26 inches or so overall. This makes the gun roughly the size of your typical SMG but still packs the .30 carbine cartridge. Weight-wise, it still comes in at 6.4 pounds, which keeps it nice and light.
Advanced Combat Systems
The rifle features an integrated carry handle design. It has a set of iron sights and a rail to mount an optic. Upfront, the chassis wears a rail that makes it easy to mount a light or other accessory. The Hezi SM1 can use the 30 and 15-round magazines and, reportedly, work with the select-fire M2 Carbine.
Worth the Trouble
Replacing the classic wood stock and using a shell-like upgrade kit offers its advantages and challenges. One advantage is the ability to easily mount modern accessories. It’s much easier to scope the Hezi SM1 kit with optics, lights, lasers, and the like than to rig a system to work on the M1 Carbine.
It’s much smaller than the standard M1 Carbine, making it easier to carry and use in urban environments. Advanced Combat Systems claims the weapon is 50% faster on target than the standard M1 Carbine. Shorter guns are typically faster and easier to get on target, but 50% faster seems like a bit of a stretch.
Advanced Combat Systems
One of the concerns of this platform is ensuring reliability. This system requires an integrated ejection port much smaller than the M1 Carbine’s open design. It needs to lock down to the gun to ensure accuracy and that the optic can even be zeroed. Unfortunately, these kits aren’t in the US to be examined and dissected. Let’s not forget the trigger will most certainly suffer.
If the concerns can be addressed, this would seem to be an excellent upgrade to existing M1 Carbines. It keeps the gun lightweight and increases its maneuverability. If I were a police officer in Israel carrying an M1 Carbine, the bullpup kit would make the system easier to carry and much easier to use in and out of vehicles. Likewise, these kinds of kits tend to extend the service life of the weapon.
With that said, the Hezi SM1 doesn’t seem to have been fielded. The information on the platform is scarce, and it doesn’t seem like the Israeli government and Civil Guard felt undergunned with their current crop of M1 Carbines.
“Underneath our starry flag, Civilize ’em with a Krag.” For a rifle that only served for 11 years or so, it’s kind of impressive that it caught its own mention in a song. The Krag-Jorgensen, also known as the Springfield Model 1892-99 rifle in American use, wasn’t a bad rifle, but Mauser designs quickly outperformed it. It’s rarely talked about today and didn’t get a World War to stand out. It might have been our first repeating rifle and first smokeless rifle, but it wasn’t remarkable. What stood out about the Krag was a pair of experimental bayonets.
The Krag and Bayonets
The first bayonet the Krag had was the classic triangular-type design. The Army realized that was a bit out of date and then moved to adopt a copy of the Swiss knife bayonet. Knife bayonets were common in Europe, and the United States jumped on board. The original Krag bayonet featured a nice 11.5-inch blade, which easily turned the Krag into an effective spear.
Wikipedia
The US Army liked the idea of multipurpose tools in this era, and the tools of the infantrymen were mainly rifles and bayonets. A rifle acts like a rifle, and adding a bayonet makes it an effective melee weapon, so naturally, the rifle is already a multitool or murder. The bayonet, though, what does it do besides be a pokey thing at the end of the rifle? It’s also a knife, but apparently that’s not enough.
The Army thought, how can we create a bayonet that can act as a bayonet, as well as a very effective fighting knife? Also, can we make it an entrenching tool? Ooh, and we’ve been in the jungles a lot, so maybe it could be a good brush-clearing tool. That led to the first of the Krag’s prototype bayonets.
Enter The Bowie Bayonet
It was eight years into the Krag’s Service, and America was involved in a few small conflicts with troops stationed all over the world. In 1900, the Army launched its grand plan to release a bowie knife bayonet for the Krag series. As a test run, the Army produced 2,000 bowie knife bayos and sent 1,500 to the Philippines and 500 to Cuba.
Rock Island Armory
The bowie knife idea is as American as apple pie and heart disease. Jim Bowie designed the knife for one task: killing. Jim Bowie wasn’t a good man, but he was good with a knife. He became famous for his prowess with a blade at a time when small pistols weren’t all that reliable. The bowie is a fighting knife, first and foremost.
A fighting knife is great, as a fighting knife. As a bayonet, it wasn’t all that great. The clip-point design meant it couldn’t pierce and penetrate like a real bayo. The design also used a fairly thin and light blade with most of the weight to the rear, which made it crappy for clearing brush.
Rock Island Armory
It achieved one goal, and that goal was looking cool. Looking cool is half the battle, and c’mon, look at it! The other half of the battle is violence, and the bowie knife bayonet sucked at that. However, one good turn deserves another.
The Bolo Bayonet
The bowie variant was a failure, but it helped inspire Captain Hugh Wise to design a bolo bayo. Soldiers realized the Philippine locals had it right with their bolo knives. These blade-heavy tools were perfect for the thick vegetation of the Philippine jungles. Captain Wise went to work designing and building his own bolo bayonet.
He sent his prototype to Springfield Armory and told them this was what troops needed. The Bowie showed they were affable to the idea of radical bayo designs. Springfield Armory built 56 of these knives between 1902 and 1903 and sent them to the Philippines for testing.
Rock Island Armory
The bolo design doesn’t seem like the best bayonet option. The wide blade requires a lot of effort to use and to stab deep. A thinner blade has a bit less drag when used to pierce an enemy, so it can go deeper with less effort. The bolo wasn’t a great bayonet but was reportedly a decent field knife. It was easier to chop the brush and use the knives more like a machete.
Was it a good entrenching tool? I have no idea, and trying to turn a knife into an entrenching tool just seems like a dumb idea. The bolo bayonet could have succeeded, but by 1903, the military was already beginning to adopt the Springfield M1903. There wasn’t a lot of need for a new bayonet for a rifle that was going away sooner than later.
Into the Future
It’s worth mentioning that a Bolo variant of the Springfield M1903 Bayonet was tested. The 1915 design didn’t go anywhere, but it showed the idea wasn’t dead. Trying to make a bayonet that does it all is downright silly. Make a bayonet that’s good as a bayonet, and handy as a knife, and not much more. Still, as far as looks go, the bayonet and bolo bayos score high!
I like weird guns in obscure calibers. My later weird gun might be my most mainstream weird gun. The S&W 432 UC is just a J-Frame, a common option for concealed carry. However, it chambers a somewhat odd cartridge, the .32 H&R Magnum, which also means you can load .32 S&W Long and .32 S&W as well. They are all obscure calibers that can make finding support gear difficult. In my search for speed strips, I stumbled across one company making them, a little company called Tuff Products, which makes a speed strip called the Quick Strip.
I’ve heard both Steve Fisher of Sentinel Concepts and Darryl Bolke mention using Tuff Products, and if those two use their products, they have to make good stuff. I noticed a few retailers often list this specific size of Quick Strip as 9mm and .223 and tend to leave out the .32 caliber function. The model number is 8327, and they are designed to function with the various .32 caliber rounds, like the H&R, The S&W loads, and the Federal Magnum. Order them straight from Tuff Products if you aren’t sure.
The Tuff Products Quick Strips
The Quick Strips cost me a total of 11 dollars, and I received two eight-shot strips for my little bit of money. It’s not a bad deal. The strips are made of soft, black urethane material. They are super flexible, and the slots are expertly honed and sized correctly for my .32 caliber rounds. It’s a small bonus that they work with 9mm rounds since I do, in fact, own a 9mm Ruger LCR.
Those eight slots make it really easy for me to plop in.32 H&R Magnum rounds and line them up for convenient carry and easy reloads. Quick Strips and other speed strip-style devices are the most convenient way to carry extra ammo for your revolver. They are admittedly slower to use than speed-loaders but much easier to carry and easier to conceal. You can just drop it into your pocket.
The Tuff Products Quick Strips are compatible with the NeoMag RASC. The RASC is a neat little device that adds a larger, wider handle to your Quick Strip and a pocket clip to make it super convenient to carry and very easy to draw from a pocket-carried position. That’s my next purchase as I’ve become the young boomer who packs a revolver rather than a fancy automatic.
Range Time and Reloads With the Quick Strips
My gun is a six-shot J-Frame, but I ordered an eight-shot Quick Strip. I only load the Quick Strip with six shots, and I use the extra room to establish a better grip and make more intuitive reloads. Having those little extra slots makes reloading a good bit easier. I’m still a work in progress regarding revolvers, but my current setup seems to work really well for me and the S&W 432 UC.
The Quick strips give up the rounds with ease. Just press the rounds into the chamber and peel the Quick Strip away from the cartridge. The urethane design of the Quick Stripes makes it easy for the rim to come free and drop into the gun. Devices like this should be seen as disposable and they will wear out like anything else, and at 11 bucks you might think that will come sooner than later.
Be prepared to be at least a little wrong. I’ve been practicing reloads with one of my two Quick Strips (and leaving the other loaded for carry) a ton. I’ve done well over a hundred live fire reloads with the Quick Strip and an equal number of dry reloads, and they still grip those rounds as tightly as on day one.
Quick, Strip
The Tuff Products Quick Strips might be the only .32 caliber speed strips on the market. With the release of the new 432 UC, I’m guessing there might be an uptick of interest in the Quick Strip. I’m here to say it’s a rock-solid option. It’s easy to use, easy to set up, and, unlike a lot of competitors, comes not just in .32 but in multiple sizes. The strips cost less than a footlong from Subway, so it’s an easy choice for me.
Today, I want to talk about the idea of the Ranch Rifle. As far as I can tell, Ruger was the first to popularize the term. These days, it’s been applied to a few guns, and like many, I’m left wondering what exactly makes a ranch rifle. I like weird weapon genres. Stuff that escapes the larger cultural zeitgeist of the American gun-buying public. Stuff like tackle box guns, for example. It’s very niche and seemingly unknown to most gun owners.
I started by asking the only rancher I know what rifle he totes while working, and he doesn’t tote a rifle. He has a Beretta 21A in his pocket and an old Stevens pump action shotgun in his truck. So, no Ranch rifle is to be found or defined. Since asking a rancher was a bust, I had to rely on the marketing material from firearm companies to better determine what precisely a ranch rifle is.
Where Did Ranch Rifles Come From
As mentioned, the earliest use of the term I can find relates to the Ruger Mini 14 Ranch Rifle. The Mini 14 and the term Ranch Rifle have become synonymous, but the ranch model did have a few different features from the standard prior to 2004. The ranch version of the Mini 14 had a mechanical ejector and a flip-up rear sight, and it was set up for Ruger scope rings.
Ruger took the American series in the ranch direction. The Ruger American Ranch Rifle is a mouthful. These Ruger Americans were made to be lighter and more compact, with 16-inch barrels and what’s more or less intermediate power rounds. Rounds like 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster don’t count as intermediate, but they can fit in a standard AR action.
Ruger leaned hard into the term, but it wasn’t the only company to do so. Heritage made a big version of its Rough Rider. They pushed the barrel to 16 inches, added a stock, and called it the Rancher. It’s a .22LR that’s easy to swap to a .22 Magnum. There is also a tactical Rancher for those who want to mount optics. These are single-action revolver rifles, so they are somewhat odd.
Foxtrot Mike makes a rifle called the Ranch Rifle. It’s an AR-15-based rifle with a proprietary lower that eliminates the pistol grip and accepts Remington 870 stocks. FM even sells a model with the Woox wood stock. The bolt design is proprietary, but the rifle can use almost any AR upper.
In that same vein of shotgun stock equipped AR-like rifles, the SIG MCX Regulator also uses the term ranch rifle in its product description. It’s the same idea with an MCX short-stroke gas piston spin.
What Can We Gather?
If I were just looking at these guns, it would seem like there is a theme to the ranch rifle. It tends to be a repeating rifle. The rifle also appears to stress a lightweight design with a low-recoiling cartridge. Control seems to be the idea behind the common chamberings of the cartridges present. Basically, if it works with a multical AR lower, it can be used in a ranch rifle.
There is also a lean away from tactical design for whatever reason. I don’t quite see an advantage to using straight stocks with semi-pistol grips. I don’t think they offer any advantage, but they certainly don’t offer much of a downside. Ranch rifles also tend to stick with a certain aesthetic.
That aesthetic is old-school cool. I dig it, personally. I like wood stocks, and I’m one of the rare guys who likes the AR with a shotgun stock look. The term ranch rifle certainly invokes a Wild West appeal, and Wild West guns didn’t have collapsing stocks or pistol grips. If I worked a ranch, I’d likely think a stock standard AR rifle or carbine of some type would work perfectly fine and arguably be a bit cheaper for riding around in a pickup truck.
The advantage I see in the lack of modern tactical parts and pieces is the ability to shove the rifle into some form of scabbard hanging off the side of a horse. A pistol grip or big A-frame front sight might make that tricky; thus, the old-school stocks tend to work well for this very niche use.
Ranch rifle is most certainly a term that is more applied to aesthetics, but that’s okay. All-black furniture, M-LOK handguards, and similar features get boring after a bit. So, we can all indulge in some Monte Carlo stocks and wood furniture every now and then.
But joining us in our noble quest is the one and only Ian from Forgotten Weapons to read unto you the gospel of why you should temper your enthusiasm for the M14.
It was a bad rifle surrounded by better ones. If Armalite’s C-Suite had listened to their engineers instead or knew the properties of aluminum and why it doesn’t make good gun barrels, we would likely have had ARs much sooner. If the US had honored its promise after shoving 7.62 down NATO’s collective standardization hole, we’d have also carried FALs. But none of that worked out. Instead, we got the service rifle, briefly, that was stuck decades in the past. All while everyone else enjoyed the modern conveniences of pistol grips and thumb selectors.
Anyway, enjoy the videos. No, I don’t care if you own an M1A or carried an M14, and like them, that’s fine. It is perfectly fine to like something while also acknowledging it is objectively bad. The best I can say about the M14 is that it was the worst of the best.
Look, sniping in movies is generally terrible, but there are few movies that do a good job with it. Today Keith and Caleb are listing their best and worst
This isn’t some pithy pitch for you to sign up for some training subscription. There are plenty of good training locales, good instructors, and good ways to go about practicing the life-saving skills that firearm proficiency provide. Quick list of good places to Google: IWI Academy, Citizens Defense Research, Sentinel Concepts, Green Ops Training, Teufelshund Tactical (especially if you like MP5s), Symtac (especially for shotguns), Tactical Fitness Austin, and there are plenty more, but that should get you something to work with. But what I am asking specifically is if you are training correctly.
Are you, in your dry-fire and live-fire practice, picking the proper drills to hone fundamental skills? Or, as many are, are you over-shortcutting and leaving things behind?
This questions spawns from a conversation I had with a friend who was commenting about training “reloads” for speed. However, said friend was only training the mechanic of releasing the magazine and putting a new one in. Both magazines empty. No additional control manipulation.
This, ladies and gentlemen of the audience, is training wrong…
Now, there are specific instances where that mechanic may be of value, but most of them are in the competitive sense, not the tactical. They are certainly not the way to train the skill foundationally and then modify it for the tactic of the event.
My friend was not training for competition, they were training for ‘tactical’ in the sense of a reload during a fight.
So let me address some common errors I see in practice methods and then some ways to remedy them.
Stimulus/Response
The first error I see people make is false stimulus. I see it in reloads, malfunctions, and firearm transitions from long gun to handgun.
There needs to be a reason you are doing these things. If you are training to do them in an ’emergency’ setting, then the stimulus must be, or must be as close as feasible to, what the firearm will do in real life.
You don’t just ‘do’ an empty gun reload. The gun tells you it is empty, and then you reload it. You don’t just ‘tap-rack-bang’ a firearm after notionally saying “malfunction” in your head or aloud. The gun tells you something is wrong, and then you fix it. You don’t just decide to draw your sidearm to practice that when you have a primary.
There should be a conscious choice to do so, like limited space, and the pistol is the better gun for this particular moment. Or your primary gun is down. On that last one I am speaking of live fire exclusively. I’ll address dry later below.
Many drills, and some qualifications, that are allegedly to train or test these skills do so while omitting the stimulus. Without the stimulus, without the trigger for the response, we don’t know when to start doing the fix. We have only practiced part of the fix, and we are lacking the part that tells us there needs to be a fix in the first place. All of these skills are fixes for problems. We don’t do them when all is right in the world and with our primary gun.
I’ll list the drill type/skill type, and then I will cite the improper example and a proper example to fix the stimulus/response problem.
Speed/Emergency Reload
Scenario: Your gun is empty. That is bad. You need to make it not empty.
Speediest. Reload.
Wow. That certainly is fast.
Fast and picking a magazine up off a table, getting it into the gun, and then right back out of the gun. I would put good money on the failure of troops training this way, ejecting full magazines out of their guns right after putting them in. Why? That is the action they are practicing—immediate load and replace.
They aren’t practicing getting ammunition from where they actually wear ammunition, or in what they actually carry ammunition in. They aren’t practicing working the action on the QBZ-95. Whether it has a bolt release or a manual charge, they are doing neither.
In the most simple possible terms, this is a parlor trick.
You may also hear things referred to as ‘gaming’ the drill. That is giving yourself all the little cheats to do it fast (because that makes the brain happy with the good success chemicals) instead of practicing to do it correctly. Remember, these drills are specifically to fix problems. Shooting drills can be fast; these are problem-fixing drills, and they need to fix the problem.
Proper Speed Reload: 1-R-1
I’m going to use the most ammunition conserving version of the drill, the One-Reload-One. In reality two-reload-two or NSR-reload-NSR (Non-Standard Response, 2 to 5 rounds) are better technical indications of what you want to feel. But I know ammo is $0.50 a trigger pull as of this writing, and a 1-R-1 will get us what we need. I will also cover a way to do this dry-fire below.
Setup: Two magazines, one with rounds and one empty. Load a round into the chamber of your gun and then swap the magazine for the empty. You should have a loaded round and an empty magazine in the gun and then the magazine with ammunition in your preferred pouch, pocket, etc.
Running the drill:
On signal, fire until the gun indicates empty. Use of a target that is moderately difficult to hit is recommended so that the shot process is still mandatory for success.
Note: I didn’t say fire the shot and reload, fire until the gun indicates ’empty’. For most modern rifles and the majority of semi-auto handguns, this is indicated by bolt/slide lock. For firearms like the AK or a double-action revolver, the indication is a trigger press that drops the hammer with no shot.
Perform the reload completely.
Fire a final shot with a hit to the target, still preferably something that is a moderate challenge to hit so that the entire shot process is required.
Use a small target, like a 3-4″ circle at close distances. A reduced silhouette/c-zone steel at distance is also a good indicator. A target that requires a deliberate proper shot. This will mitigate the tendency to just get the gun back into “can fire” condition and ripping off the final round, because doing so will result in a miss.
When you can, turn this into a 2-R-2 or an NSR-R-NSR and require hits to advance. It will use more ammunition and slow down repetitions, but the speed of the repetitions matters less than the quality of the repetition.
Question: In the shoulder or out of shoulder for long gun reloads?
Answer: Out, almost always out of the shoulder. Controlling the gun’s movement by tucking the stock heel under the armpit allows much greater control of all the things you are doing with very little speed detriment. Especially if you yourself are moving between positions. It is not ‘the fastest’ reload if you are reloading from a static position, but it is the most consistent in all off-hand positions.
Dry-Fire: Time to Get Dummies/SnapCaps
Inert training ammunition or “dummies” are required here. Yes, required. Pony up the $20 or less and get a few. Yes, you can just over-muscle the slide/bolt release. No, you shouldn’t do that if $20 can make the stimulus far more correct. You want the gun to feel right, it is communicating with you tactilely. So get dummies, dummy. [/rant]
Yes, even for AKs and other non-locking guns, there is value in locking in magazines with round(s) resisting the insert and working the action to load one properly. This can help highlight and fix mistakes like riding the slide/charging handle and failing to fully chamber a round as a result.
Setup: Use two magazines, an empty magazine and one with the dummy round(s), or for revolvers, a speed loader, speed strips, or loose rounds as you carry/prefer. Set the magazine with dummy rounds like you would have it for a reload in a pouch, pocket, vest, etc.
Insert the empty magazine into the firearm and work the action. This will either lock the action open or set up the firearm like it has fired the last round.
Aim in and attempt to fire (obviously, it won’t).
Perform the reload.
“Fire” the reloaded firearm or at least acquire a good site picture.
These live and dry drill variants for the reload exercise the full range of motions involved in the reload. Now, if there is a certain part of the reload motion that needs to be practiced in isolation, such as the actual magazine exchange, isolating that and doing 5 or 10 good reps to clean up that isn’t a bad idea. However, that isolated skill clean-up must be integrated into the larger drill to hone and complete the reload cycle skill.
If you do not, then you can expect to be very good at the parlor trick portion, and that is it.
Transition to Pistol
Let me preface this one a bit. We are talking about the emergency transition to pistol here. The tactical transition to pistol, like a tactical reload, is not an emergency necessity. You don’t dawdle by any means, but it is the emergency transition to pistol due to a failure of the long gun that I see people practicing incorrectly.
How?
Their long gun isn’t down. It still works just fine. So, they are performing a tactical transition and calling it an emergency one. That doesn’t work.
Like the emergency reload, the emergency transition to the sidearm needs to be triggered by a stimulus—the long gun not working.
Luckily, like the emergency reload, there are easy ways to setup a proper stimulus.
Live Fire: 1-T-1
Like the one-reload-one above, this is for ammo efficiency. To get away from ‘gaming’ this drill a little more you can do non-standard responses before and after. But again, the single shot to failure and then solving the problem is the goal. We can reach the goal with a shot prior and after the fix.
Setup: Three magazines—two rifle, and one pistol. One rifle magazine with rounds and one empty. Load and holster your pistol. Load the rifle and then insert the empty magazine. Store the loaded rifle magazine in your reload pouch, pocket, etc. You can also do this for pump or semi-auto shotguns, just load one shell.
Fire your long gun until failure.
Again, do NOT just fire the shot and go to the transition because you know that it is coming. Induce the failure so you get the stimulus, and the gun tells you there is a problem.
Transition to pistol.
This requires two simultaneous actions—properly dropping the long gun to a stowed/slung position out of the way and drawing the pistol from the holster.
Fire and get a 2nd hit on the target.
Oh, you thought you were done? Ha! No. Time to get that long gun back working.
Using the support hand, pick up and check the long gun.
Yes, you know the gun is empty, but you can do variants on this drill with hard stoppages, too. Check the problem before solving the problem, so you solve the correct problem.
Holster the pistol.
Fix the problem and get the long gun loaded again.
Reset the drill with the empty magazine and repeat three to five times smoothly. You don’t have to beat any of these drills to death. If you notice a portion of the drill you are struggling with, isolate it and work that for a few good reps before integrating it back into the whole drill.
Dry Fire: Time for dummy rounds again
Setup: Three magazines—two rifle, and one pistol. A few snap caps/dummy rounds in one of the rifle magazines. Alternatively you can also use shotgun dummy shells and an empty shotgun. Seriously, get dummy rounds. It improves these drills. Setup the long gun empty, either action locked open properly at bolt lock on an empty magazine or action closed as is proper for the long gun.
Attempt to fire.
On long gun failure transition to sidearm.
Examine long gun for failure type.
Holster the pistol.
Fix the long gun to a loaded status with a dummy round in the chamber.
Reset and run it through clean a few times. Again, no need to beat these to death if the stimulus and response are being done properly.
MALFUNCTION!
Stoppage… Jam… whole field of whoopsie daisies… whatever technical term you prefer, the gun stopped working. We will cover the soft and hard malfunctions/stoppages here in general. I don’t get into type I, II, III, IV, or thumb war. Too technical. There are two major categories and two ways to address them that solve nearly everything nearly all of the time.
The point is to get you into motion fixing the gun, not successfully identifying the stoppage exactly like some sort of stoppage anthropologist. You can also join these drills with the transition to pistol drill and should do that if you are carrying both guns.
Soft Stoppage: T-T-R-A
There are two reasons for a soft stoppage/malfunction.
The chamber is empty.
The round in the chamber is a dud.
Both of these problems are solved in the same way—get a good round into the chamber. To do this, follow T-T-R-A, Tap-Tug-Rack-Assess
Tap: Make sure the magazine (if applicable, looking out for you, shotgun peeps) is properly seated into the firearm.
Tug: Pull on the magazine to make certain it is seated properly and locked into place.
Rack: Work the action all the way and at speed to eject the bad round (if there is one) and load a replacement round.
Assess: Determine whether a shot is still necessary and act accordingly.
This is a more technically nuanced update to the old ‘tap-rack-bang,’ that conveys all the proper steps in a concise manner. It might not roll off the tongue as entertainingly, but still. The most common error I see people make while training this is skipping the Tap and Tug portion because they “know” they are ‘gaming’ the drill, that the magazine is seated, and that running the action will work.
Don’t. Game. Problem-solving drills. I see people who jump into a cycle of repeating the action that didn’t work over and over again because they thought the action would. They were gaming the steps instead of solving the problem and reading the stimulus.
Setup: One magazine of rounds or dummies. Start with the gun empty and at least one round or dummy in the magazine.
Attempt to fire the gun until failure
Gun will “click” in failure
Tap (if applicable, tube magazines)
Tug (if applicable, tube magazines)
Rack (if applicable, revolvers)
and Assess for shot necessity
Fire if necessary
‘Surprise’ T-T-R-A , 5 – Shot Stoppage
This variant uses one or more live shots to simulate a more organic stoppage/malfunction.
Setup: One magazine with rounds and at least one dummy round. Place the dummy round so that it is somewhere between the 2nd to 5th shot in the gun. A live round should be in the chamber.
Fire the gun until failure, achieving five good hits on a target of moderate difficulty.
Yes, shot placement and process still, and always, matter.
Tap, tug, rack, assess when the gun fails to fire.
Complete the remainder of the 5 hits.
You can adjust the round count a little, but varying the amount before and after breaks up the pattern a little and can induce a better reaction to the failure stimulus instead of the count.
Aside: The problem with most low round count drills/qualifications is our pattern recognition learning loves to grab onto a number when that is consistent too. If I know the third drill in my qualification is always soft stoppage, and that it is always the 2nd round because that is how it is setup, I can gain a false sense of speed and efficacy because I am working with extra patterns that allow me to ‘game’ it.
Gaming a drill isn’t “wrong,” and the ability to game a drill doesn’t make the drill a bad one. But purposely gaming it defeats the purpose of problem-solving drills. Let speed drills be the speed drills. These are not speed drills, they aren’t to be done slow but they are not speed drills. /Aside.
Hard Stoppage: Out of Battery, All Variants
The problem I see with hard stoppage practice isn’t people doing it wrong. It is people not doing it at all.
There are many types of hard stoppages. I have found over the years that describing them all in detail and the technically most efficient method to fix each one tends to glass over eyeballs and make steam start pouring out of ears. It is too technical. There is too much going on, and identifying the technical aspect and remembering the nine to nineteen steps to fix it get in the way of actually fixing it.
Information overload of the technical sense overrides the dominant ability to act. I didn’t see any real way around it though, this is something to know in order to fix a major problem with your gun.
Then good old Clint Smith said some smart shit that I repeat to every class and person I have taught since I heard it.
“If the gun ain’t working. Unload the gun and then reload the gun, simple.”
Here is a list of hard stoppages
Double Feed
Stovepipe
Failure to eject
Failure to feed
Failure to extract
Failure to go into battery
Bolt override (super fun in AR-15’s)
Those are seven distinct problematic stoppages, and each has nuanced ways to fix them. Some are specific to the gun you are shooting. However, all of them, on all platforms, come down to the two overriding actions that Clint so eloquently put.
Unload the gun
Reload the gun
Simple, get the problem all the way out of the gun and then put ammunition back in. Those are your ruling principles for solving the hard stoppage.
Setup: For most guns a double feed or a stovepipe are the easiest ones to induce this failure. Your choice. Crack the action of the firearm open and induce the out-of-battery condition of your preference. You can place a round in the chamber and then close the action gently to induce a double feed or you can open the action enough to stick a case partially into the open action to keep it open, either works. I personally like to practice on double feed as they are the more common.
Attempt to fire until failure.
Mushy/unresponsive trigger.
Look at the action and observe how problematic it is.
You could just be slightly out of battery and able to close the action on a semi-auto pistol for example.
You could be able to smartly rack the action of a rifle that is mostly closed and clear the problem.
Be smart, look and think, then solve.
Pulling pressure off the magazine by holding back or locking the action open will help you. How, will depend on the gun you are practicing with.
Remove the magazine (if applicable).
Remove obstructing ammunition and cases.
Let the action close.
It should close completely, this is a good indication that the problem is probably solved.
Check that the magazine has rounds ready to feed or grab a new magazine.
Reinsert the magazine.
Push and Pull the magazine to make sure it’s seated.
Run the action to chamber the round.
This will also give one last extraction and ejection opportunity to a round/case that may have been in the chamber, good or bad doesn’t matter. It goes and the new round takes the spot.
Assess and fire if necessary.
Hard stoppages are complex, hence “hard” being the adjective. This simplified drill is still 10 steps. You can set it up with dummy rounds at home to work through it or you can practice it live on the range. I recommend doing both.
So, are you training these correctly?
The question that prompted the article. Are you doing these problem solving training items correctly? If not, try the ways I describe.
Is gaming ever ok?
Yes.
Gaming certain drills, especially reloads and transitions, is absolutely okay within the context of a game. USPSA, 2-Gun, and 3-Gun being excellent examples. The tactics of the game are different than the tactics of running the gun as a fighting implement, modifications of behavior to fit the game are therefore allowable.
I would recommend, however, that you train the base methods above first. Then modify them to the particular game you training for.
I love revolvers, and I always enjoy any chance I get to write about them. However, I still categorically consider revolvers to be a dying art (amongst the mainstream shooting public if anything). Most revolvers that were common yesteryear are now becoming expensive collector’s items.
Have you seen the going rates for a vintage Smith & Wesson Model 19 in good condition today? It’s not cheap. Similarly, have you seen what brand new revolvers from major manufacturers like Smith & Wesson, Colt, or Ruger retail for? I’d wager the median price in 2024 hovers around the $900 mark, with the true mean being closer to $1,000-$1,100.
My point is that both classic revolvers and those made by traditional houses are less accessible and relatively expensive. Only those who are already bonafide revolver people would care to bear these costs. Statistically speaking, this same group of customers already tends to be older, better established, and have more disposable income.
However, my fear is that high prices will cause the revolver world to self-select and fizzle out until it’s relegated to obscure Internet fora. I could write an entirely different essay on why preserving the legacy of these complicated, low-capacity contraptions matters. But that’s beside the point. Once they hit a high note, they’ll fade out, and so will the rich culture that follows them.
Taurus Keeps Revolvers Affordable
Then there is Taurus, the Brazilian gunmaker known for selling accessibly priced firearms. Taurus isn’t new to revolvers, and it offers them in various calibers and frame sizes. I’m not a gunsmith, but one could say that Taurus revolvers’ DNA hails from the Smith & Wesson side of the family tree. It’s not hard to see why, especially understanding the historical connection between Smith & Wesson and Brazil for the better part of a century now.
Like with any proper Smith & Wesson revolver, Taurus cylinders turn clockwise. With their side plates removed, the view under the hood will look familiar to any S&W aficionado. As its own enterprise, Taurus is able to sell firearms at relatively affordable prices because it owns all the means of production needed to manufacture its products. Therefore, Taurus is able to reduce costs by making and finishing everything in-house in Brazil.
Taurus hasn’t always had a sunny reputation with respect to its quality control, but it had a good reputation when it first hit shelves in the United States. It’s also important to keep in mind that the quality of the recipe is one thing, and how the meal is cooked is another. And we know theirs is a good recipe, as it borrows from the S&W cookbook.
Right now, Taurus is working diligently to turn this image around and restore its former reputation. Besides optimizing its Georgia facility to make it more conducive to good quality control and efficient workflow, the company has also placed real-deal shooters who use their products in management roles.
Most Any Person Can Own a Revolver
The end result of Taurus revamping its business means that almost any person can buy a .38-caliber Taurus 856 at a normal gun shop or sporting goods retailer and take home a revolver that’s frankly pretty damn good for the money (as I’ve experienced firsthand). This is a big deal because customers have the chance to buy a revolver that they can actually shoot, carry, or train with at a reasonable cost.
These guns can be run hard without fear of breaking them or damaging a heirloom either. I, too, was skeptical prior to my first review. But after reviewing two of their revolvers and the GX4XL 9mm ultra-compact, they’re more than decent for the money. This is what led me to purchase both of my .38-caliber Taurus 856 revolvers.
It’s fair to mention that Taurus isn’t the only company selling affordable revolvers. However, I don’t have enough of an informed opinion on other affordable revolver options at this point in time.
Something for Everyone
Offering affordable firearms is crucial for two reasons. First, in our country, socioeconomic status should not prevent anyone from exercising constitutional or natural rights. Second, which specifically ties in to revolvers, is that the sale of such guns is perhaps the exact type of lifeline the revolver needs from completely dying out.
Nowadays, with the price of everything going up and inflation reducing the buying power of the dollar, shooting, in general, is getting difficult. Affordable guns give, say, a twentysomething-year-old kid who isn’t rich the chance to experience six-shooters the way some of us were able to with old cheap trade-in Smith & Wessons, which have all but disappeared.
Notions of affordable revolvers capturing the heart and imagination of a young kid strapped for cash aside, there’s also something to be said for the idea of being able to buy two guns for the price of one. Then you have a “go-to” and its backup piece.
Last, but not least, there’s also something to be said for the lower-income person living in an anti-gun restrictive locale. That 856 could be one of their best options.
An assortment of Taurus (and one Rossi) revolvers. The two on the left are editorial samples and the two on the right are my personally owned guns. If you’ve read my work, you’ll no doubt recognize the 2″ 856 snubbie. The revolver on the upper lefthand corner is interesting because it’s the new Taurus 327 TORO chambered for .327 Magnum. It wears a Holosun EPS Carry on loan from Big Tex Ordnance.
Columbus, Miss. (April 23, 2024) – APEX Ammunition is excited to congratulate outdoor writer Brad Fenson on his World Turkey Slam. Fenson completed the slam on April 20, 2024, in the Sonora region of Mexico when he dropped a Gould’s turkey with one shot using APEX Ammunition’s 12-gauge Mossy Oak Greenleaf Turkey TSS load, featuring a combination of #9 and #10 shot.
World Turkey Slam
Fenson was hunting with Ted Jaycox of Tall Tine Outfitters and said they set up a breeder hen with a gobbler decoy and an extra hen decoy. They called sporadically that afternoon, and after three hours, the bird snuck in behind them and gobbled when it saw the decoys. It was within 50 yards and strutted right in. One shot from the Mossberg 940 Turkey Pro, and it was over. No flop, with the dense pattern focused on the head and neck.
“The APEX Mossy Oak Greenleaf Turkey TSS is a game changer,” said Fenson. “Little things can make a difference, but these specialized turkey loads make a significant difference in accuracy, range, pellet density and lethality.”
“All of us at APEX are celebrating Brad’s achievement,” said Jason Lonsberry, President and CEO, APEX Ammunition. “He is an accomplished hunter and all-around great guy, and we couldn’t be happier for him. We just wish we could join him for dinner when he cooks this bird. He’s quite a chef!”
In addition to achieving his World Turkey Slam, Fenson also completed his Mexican Turkey Slam with this Gould’s.
For more information on APEX Ammunition, please visit ApexAmmunition.com.
About APEX Ammunition
What started in 2017 with a few handmade shells for a hunting trip with buddies has become an obsession to provide wingshooters with the absolute best-performing ammunition possible. Founded by U.S. Veterans and hunting enthusiasts in the great state of Mississippi, APEX Ammunition pioneered the commercial application of ultra-high-density Tungsten Super Shot to create the hardest-hitting, most accurate shot loads in the business. The driving principle behind the company’s continued quest for innovation and better performance is its commitment to delivering a hunting experience like no other.
In the 1970s there was a big sport shooting fad. Things like IPSC popped off, skeet and trap experienced a revival, and other shooting sports like bowling pin shooting grew in popularity. There was money to be made in the casual competition shooting space, and Winchester looked to cash in. The Winchester-Western Division of the Olin Corporation created its own casual shooting sport known as Wingo.
You’ve likely never heard of Wingo because it didn’t last long. Only one Wingo facility was ever built, and it was in San Diego. The first Wingo facility served as something of a sample, a testing ground for the sport and its potential popularity. The facility opened in 1971 and lasted less than a year. Wingo’s goal was to combine a casual shooting sport with a more laid-back atmosphere.
Winchester treated Wingo a bit like bowling. There was the palace to play the game, as well as a place to eat and a lounge to relax between rounds or while you waited your turn. It was a simple sport anyone could compete in, and you didn’t need to bring guns, ammo, or targets. That was all provided. Just show up, pay your dollar, and shoot your round.
Wingo – The Guns and Ammo
The sport was pretty simple. The goal was to create an indoor wing shooting sport. Instead of clay pigeons and twelve gauges, the targets were ice balls, and the shotguns were .20 caliber. The guns used in Wingo were Winchester-designed lever action shotguns that used a .20 caliber proprietary round to prevent folks from bringing their own ammo. The guns were basically the same size and weight as other .22LR rifles, but were smooth bore. They were single-shot guns.
Rock Island Armory
The .20 caliber shotshell was a crimped rimfire round. The little brass casing held 119 #12 pellets that forced a 30-inch pattern at 50 feet. These shells are scarce these days and also cost a pretty penny.
It’s noted that they were equipped with Qwik Sight occluded red dot scopes, but the few that ever came up for sale lack the scope attachment. The Wingo rifles have a ventilated rib, much like a traditional shotgun. These guns are scarce these days and are not inexpensive. Winchester built less than two dozen of these guns. The Wingo rifles were tethered to a bench to prevent the rifle from pointing outside of the shooting area.
Guns International
The rifles could also only be fired when the target was released and were fit with a microphone to record when the weapon was fired. Part of the scoring process recorded the time it took for you to hit the target. The targets were hollow four-inch ice balls that were produced on-site. They were stored in a hopper that constantly shook them to keep them from sticking together. They use a pneumatic air system to launch the targets.
The Sport of Wingo
The more I read about Wingo, the more I would have liked to try it. It sounds like a ton of fun and seemed safe enough for the untrained masses to shoot. The game was meant to be a multiplayer experience with up to four players divided into two teams.
One team took a turn shooting while the other sat at the control panel. The targets were launched from one of five ports, which were arranged like the number five on a piece of dice. The opposing team got to pick which port fired the ice ball target, as well as the trajectory and even the speed. The targets would be launched at 30 miles per hour. The balls were launched directly at the shooter, but if the shooter missed, they hit a low wall harmlessly.
When the shooter hits the target, the game assigns them a score between 1 and 10, depending on how fast they hit the target. The maximum score possible was 100. The game could also be played with a single person setting the console to automatically random. In reading about the sport, it seemed like the Wingo guns were so quiet ear protection wasn’t required.
I’d love for something like this to exist now. It would gamify shooting so the whole family could enjoy it. The sport never took off. One dollar in 1971 was worth about eight bucks now. Eight bucks for ten shots doesn’t seem super expensive, but I imagine the game would go by fast and would rack up the money quickly.
Still, I would love to see Wingo return, but all we know is that it’s forlorn. That won’t stop my obsession with shotguns from trying to find a Wingo shotgun for the collection!
As I have been heavily tinkering around with a PTR 32 KFR, roller delays are back on the menu, boys (and girls, and orcs, and hobbits, and dwarves, and elves, and men of the west, etc.)
Delayed blowback is most famous in the H&K and H&K derivative, but the French FAMAS also used a delay system (lever). Gas piston has since ruled the day nearly universally. But these guns are still fun! They are not the most practical designs anymore but the sheer tenacity to make them work is fun.
Additionally, the design utilizes a floated barrel, and the moving parts are all behind and disconnected from the barrel, lending it a dramatic amount of accuracy potential.
Anyway, here are Josh and Henry of 9-Hole shooting the 5.56 version, the 33/93.
One shouldn’t take modern carbines and all of their accoutrements for granted. Since the conclusion of the Second World War, the soldier’s personal rifle had begun to evolve. It moved away from a longer barreled, low-capacity, high-powered affair into something portable, ballistically efficient, and with more capacity.
We can observe these trends up through the 1990s and the dawn of the GWOT (Global War On Terror). By this time, the 5.56x45mm NATO had become the de-facto service rifle cartridge of any modern fighting force. It was also around this time when the guns themselves weren’t evolving as much as their attachments and accessories. By the heyday of the GWOT, the result was the highest level of synergy between man, his weapon, and their lethality.
Cutting-edge optics and other accessories and the attachment surfaces needed to support them incur weight and monetary penalties, of course. There’s never such a thing as a free lunch because no matter how wonderful the LPVO or laser/IR illuminator, they cost more ounces (sometimes pounds) and more dollars. There is no way to get around this. And this is why there’s still something to be said about the elegant simplicity of a minimalistic general-purpose carbine, also known as a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) rifle.
The minimalistic carbine is highly portable and only includes the core essentials on board: a sling, an optic, and maybe a weapon light (in that order). Though modern tactical attachments can be very useful, their omission on minimalistic carbines represent a sort of liberating freedom from the extra burden and physical cost. The result is a highly portable and handy carbine that has everything one needs and nothing they don’t.
The Colt 6520
Years ago, during the “Trump Slump,” a period in the gun industry where the market was extremely soft and prices were very low due to a supply glut from the anticipation of a Democratic 2016 presidential victory, I came across a used police trade-in Colt 6520 carbine for cheap. This Colt has a 16-inch pencil barrel, cycles off a carbine gas system, and uses a vintage Colt A2 fixed carry-handle upper receiver. Its total price was too good to pass up, and at the time, having any AR with a fixed carry handle was something of a novelty to me.
I’ll admit that I seldom shoot this Colt 6520, but in my defense, over 90% of my writing seems to involve handguns. Punching centerfire rifle primers is already something of a rarity to me these days. But every time that I think about selling that old Colt, without fail, I’ll grab it from the safe and marvel at how light and handy it is—and change my mind.
With its skinny pencil barrel and nothing more, it weighs all of six pounds, and it’s hard not to appreciate it for what it is—simple. That Colt serves as the inspiration for this entry. And dear reader, as soon as I can get away with it, I want to find a way to mount a lightweight LPVO on top of its carry handle.
The Pencil Barrel BCM
BCM 16 inch pencil barrel carbine with Trijicon MRO and Magpul MS1 sling pictured next to a “Carbine Bill Drill” I was recently shooting.The same BCM carbine mounted with a 1-4 Trijicon Accupower LPVO somewhere out in the hills
Though not officially a complete carbine, I have another (slightly more modern) minimalistic carbine that I’ve come to enjoy. This carbine is an amalgamation of random parts. However, its core is composed of a complete BCM bolt carrier group and a complete BCM upper receiver. Like that old Colt 6520, I bought this complete upper receiver set used. And like that old Colt, this carbine also dispenses lead with a 16-inch pencil barrel and fixed front sight.
It also doesn’t make use of the fanciest rails or furniture. The entire unit gets by with a complete grey Magpul MOE SL furniture set. Although basic, and maybe even a little ugly, both the MOE SL butt-stock and the handguard punch above their weight without being too expensive.
That handguard, in particular, is hideous and has terrible lines. However, it’s very comfortable to hold, it’s ergonomic, and it’s extremely well-designed. It even has some built-in M-LOK slots for minimal accessorizing. After actually shooting the carbine with this handguard, I ate crow because it’s a great piece of kit.
Likewise, the MOE SL stock might be a little ugly since it somewhat resembles an Ugg boot. In its defense, it, too, is also well-designed. It’s not too heavy, provides a nice slope for a comfortable cheekweld, and even has some integrated QD slots. Unlike the fixed-iron sight Colt, this BCM carbine has a flat top upper and I’ll either mount an LPVO or a reflex sight, depending on the mood.
Normally, this BCM carbine wears a Trijicon MRO, an older one, which I got for cheap, too. Other than the optic, it just has a sling with QD swivels.
Everything You Need, Nothing You Don’t
With its lightweight furniture and pencil barrel, it’s a pleasure to carry. It points well, too; you’re left with that feeling of having everything you need and nothing you don’t.
If you were a Marine in the Vietnam War, what gun do you think you’d be issued? Likely an M16, but maybe an M14 if you came in the first waves. Maybe an M1911 if your job called for it. You might somehow get your hands on a shotgun, which could be anything from an M1897 to an M870. Those are all realistic answers to the question, but what if I told you that a Beretta Model 12 was also an option?
What’s the Model 12
The elusive and cool Model 12 occupies the submachine gun genre and chambers the 9mm cartridge. In the Vietnam era, the 9mm cartridge wasn’t often seen in the hands of American troops. Beretta mixed features of submachines, both old and new, when they designed the Model 12. It was a fairly sleek and lightweight submachine gun that differed a bit from the famed tube guns and the near-disposable SMGs of World War II, but it was still an open bolt, direct blowback design.
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A vertical foregrip created a distinct profile, and the metal skeletal stock made the weapon a compact option. The weapon featured a fire rate of 550 rounds per minute, which made it quite controllable in full auto. Unlike many other SMGs of the era, it offered true select fire settings with a semi-auto and automatic option. The telescoping bolt was also quite new in the 1960s.
The Model 12 served in numerous conflicts around the world. In fact, it was found in the hands of insurgents in Iraq. The weapon has been produced under license by Taurus, FN, and PT Pindad. If the MP5 hadn’t come along, they might have become the preeminent submachine gun of the era. Much like the MP5, the Model 12 found its way into the hands of Marines around the world.
Marines and the Model 12
You’ll never see the Model 12 listed on a Marine Corps Table of Equipment. Technically, the Marine Corps never issued the weapon to Marines. Rather, the State Department issued the weapon to Marine Embassy Guards. The Marine Corps supplies Marines to various embassies around the world. While they are still Marines, they are working for the State Department.
Marine Security Guards work with State Department personnel to provide a first line of security for embassies and embassy personnel. They man gates, watch cameras, act as counter-snipers, and form Personal Security Details when necessary. In the modern era, the typical armament of a Marine on embassy duty is likely to be the M4 or M27, a rifle the Marine would be familiar with.
Handguns that are likely to be used are the Beretta M9 or possibly the SIG M18, if it reaches that embassy. Even in the modern era, the State Department may issue Glock handguns to Marines at embassies. In the 1960s and even into the 1980s, the Marines on Embassy duty were armed with State Department weapons.
The State Department had chosen the Beretta Model 12 as the main long gun of embassy security, which was complimented by Remington 870 shotguns. Most of the embassy guards in Vietnam simply carried Model 10 revolvers loaded with five rounds. The Model 12s were a break-glass in case of combat-type tools.
Speaking of Combat
One of the few, if not the only, times Marines used the Model 12 in combat was during the Tet Offensive. Why Marines protecting an embassy in a warzone weren’t armed with M16s was up for debate. There are a few who blame the State Department. Specifically the head honchos trying to convince the country that they were winning the war and peace would come soon enough. Marines with M16s and M60s at the embassy would send the wrong message.
When the Tet Offensive launched, and the embassy was under siege, the Model 12 was one of the few options Marines had to fight back with. Submachine guns are fine, but when you are facing off against an enemy with AKs, RPGs, and more, the gun’s limited range and utility start to become a problem.
Marines did what Marines did best and fought back, holding the embassy until reinforcements, armed with rifles and machine guns, could sweep in and repel the attackers.
The Model 12 remained in the State Department’s arsenal until at least the 1980s. There is a picture of a Marine in Beirut toting a Model 12 in some external security function. It stuck around well after the Marine Corps and State Department should’ve learned their lesson.
The Model 12 Now
Beretta recently released the PMX submachine gun, which aims to replace aging stocks of Model 12s. This more modern, closed-bolt SMG takes some major cues from the Model 12 but brings it into prime time. The Model 12 was a good submachine gun, but it wasn’t a good option for a warzone when compared to a rifle. The Model 12 might not have officially been a USMC weapon, but it served in the hands of Marines for what appears to be decades. So, let’s give it a retirement party and an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.
