Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 73, Issue 13 i Firearms News

The Swiss had defended their neutrality during World War II with the K31 rifle, as well as some older Schmidt-Rubin rifles, both chambered for the 7.5x55mm Swiss cartridge. Because of the Swiss military reserve system, in which soldiers took their rifles home after completing their training and initial service, older rifles remained in service as long as those to whom they had been issued served. Both of these bolt-action rifles showed typical Swiss quality and accuracy. The utility of both rifles was increased by the quality of Swiss marksmanship. During the 1950s, as the rest of Europe adopted select-fire rifles with detachable box magazines, the Swiss also began development of a new battle/assault rifle. The AM55 that was designed during the early 1950s employed a half-lock or delayed-blowback operating system.…

When Red Dawn was released in 1984, film critics seemed like they were trying to outdo each other to convince the movie-going public that the film was not only bad, but also ludicrously improbable. “As it stands, the film is simply too ridiculous for words,” wrote one. “[I]f nothing else, Red Dawn plays like a Reaganite masturbatory fantasy,” sneered another. For some reason, many “progressive” male movie reviewers can’t seem to just talk about a movie without imposing sexual fantasies of their own (one Red Dawn review I looked at actually had a sub-section titled “Homoerotica”). Without getting too deep into psychoanalysis, I liked the movie for what it was and know plenty of others who did as well. And while we don’t pretend it’s the greatest cinematic masterpiece ever…

The first 5.56x45mm/.223 semi-auto “assault rifle” I owned was not an AR15 but an FNC (Fabrique Nationale Carabine). As soon as I could afford them, I bought an FN FAL Para model and an FNC Para model. Magazine availability influenced my choices. The FNC took readily available AR15/ M16 magazines and the FAL took the inexpensive and widely available 20-round FAL magazines, the result of large numbers of FALs in military armories all over the world. That wasn’t the only reason I bought an FNC. If I had just wanted a rifle that took AR15 magazines, I would have bought an AR15. In fact, a few years later I purchased a Colt AR15A2, which I still use. There were a lot of other aspects I liked. I’ll discuss them later.…

Barring some recent exceptions including public schools and airports, Nevada has been an “open carry” state for as long as anyone can remember. It’s an arid, mostly empty land where ranchers talk “acres-per-cow,” not “cows-per-acre.” Help might be days away, and — thrown from a spooked horse and dragging by one stirrup — a cowpoke might have one last chance…providing his sidearm is still on his hip. The kind of clientele who came to frequent the sawdust gambling joints of the desert oasis of Las Vegas 70 years ago didn’t mind running into the occasional cowboy with a sidearm, back when the biggest event in town was the horseback Hellzapoppin’ Rodeo & Parade. Heck, Benny Binion of the downtown Horseshoe Casino WAS a pistol-packin’ Texan. But the urban corporate moguls…

The year was 1981, and the country still reeled from double-digit inflation spawned by a catastrophic Jimmy Carter presidency. The U.S. and the USSR stared intently at each other from atop tens of thousands of nuclear weapons. Persistent fallout from the Age of Aquarius, our failed foray in Vietnam, and the recent oil crisis shaped current events. Pulling out of the seventies; the hair was big, the people were weird, and fashion trends could foment blindness if gazed upon unduly. The Russians were trying their hand at subduing Afghanistan, and newly minted Middle Eastern terrorists began queuing up for their AK rifles and suicide vests. The Iranians had recently held our hostages for more than a year, and Mount St. Helens reminded everybody that volcanoes were still a real thing.…