1956-1967

by Dr.EUGENE SOCKUT

       The post-Sinai Campaign period saw another modernization of Israeli military small arms. The 8mm Mauser 98 was relegated to a second line  position, replaced by  the new Belgian 7.62 NATO FN FAL assault rifle. First produced in belgium, these were later made in Israel under contract from FN. in time most of the Mauser 98 irfles were rebarreled to the 7.62 NATO caliber. Bolt action rifles are still favored by many Israeli soldiers because of their greater accuracy.

       Officially, the Italian Beretta 1951 9mm semi-auto postol is the standard Israeli army handgun, but few are in service. Handguns are low-rated in Israeli military thinking; the Uzi SMG is portable enough to replace them, they feel. Handguns such as the 38 Enfield revolver, the 455 Webley revolver, as well as the Colt 45 auto postol are in common use among Israeli officers. The Israeli Police seem interested in the 9mm Colt Commander.

         In the 1950s Israel manufactured a few revolvers resembling the Smith and Wesson Military and Police Model. These used the rimless 9mm Parabellum cartridges in half-moon clips quite like those used in Colt and S&W 1917 revolvers chamberred for the 45 ACP loads. These revolvers served to demonstrate the level of quality production that Israeli Military Industries had achieved. Most were distributed as special presentation pieces.

Uzi Submachine Gun

by  Dr. EUGENE SOCKUT

     The 1956 Sinai Campaign established the reputation of an Israelidesigned and made 9mm Parabellum submachine gun called the “UZI” (pronounced OOO-zee). It was named after its designer, Maj. Uziel Gal, who had served time in jail under the British rule in Palestine for making submachine guns for the Jewish underground. Production of the weapon began in 1951.

      The Uzi has some very desirable characteristics. For example, the gripsafety acts on the sear, resembling that on the Clot 45 pistol, plus the usual trigger safety which also serves as the selector button. These help to prevent accidental discharge if the gun is dropped or jolted, features wery useful for paratroopers, “tankers,”or mobile infantry. It uses a grip magazine, again like the Colt 45, a convenience for night warfare, taking advantage of the “hand finds hand” concept. The grip also provides added protection for the 25,32 or 40-round magazine since a part of the latter is surrounded by metal. The Uzi has no external moving parts when the gun goes throgh the firing cycle, thus reducing the chances of jams if placed against an object.

      An unusual feature is the comparatively long barrel (10") in relation to the 25.2" over-all length of the weapon. This is achieved by machining a recess in the blot for the barrel. Thus bolt metal surrounds the barrel on three sides, helping to hold the weapon steady, damping upward climb during full automatic fire. The extensive use of metal stampings and heatresistant plastics insures ease of fabrication. Maintenance is relatively simple. For example, the barrel may be easily removed by unscrewing the barrel-locking nut by hand. The most widely-distributed SMG in the Western World, the Uzi is also, many experts say, one of the finest made anywhere.

       The Uzi is made in Israel by IMI(Israeli Military Industries) and in Belgium (under license) by FN. Because of its many excellent characteristics it is the standard NATO sbmachine gun, being in service in Belgium, West Germany and the Netherlands. It has also found acceptance in South America, Africa and the Far East.

photo by : word.guns.ru

1948-1956

by Dr. EUGENE SOCKUT

Israeli Prime Minister David BenGurion reflected that it was more efficient reflected that it was more efficient from a political and military standpoint to place such elite units as the Palmach under a single unified command. This was accomplished in November of 1948. Gen. Yigael Yadin, succeeding Gen. Yaakov Dori (Israel’s first chief of staff)established the structure of the new army. It was to be essentially one of reservists led by a small professional nucleus. Moshe Dayan, a protege of Ben-Gurion’s, and regarded as a military and organizational genius at an early stage in hiscareer, was put in command of Israel’s southern front with Egypt in 1949.

           Dayan felt that the morale, training and equipent of the army needed rejuvenation, that an elie unit would act as an ideal to emulate and help to establish a spirit of compettitiveness. The unit was formed and named Battalion 101 By 1953 its successful exploits had a beneficial effect on the army, and Ben-Gurion soon promoted Dayan over other senior officers to be Chief of Staff.

             Now Dayan began his full reorganizational concept in earnest. He recommended that:

              1.     Every officer should have paratroop or commando training.

              2.     The army was to be primarily a combat force, with every soldier undergoing combat duties.

              3.      A military college in Israel was to be immediately established for officers with the rank of major and above, and most officers were now to be Israeli trained.

             Dayan’s insistence on these three recommendations met some opposition, but in time they were all accepted as standard army policy.Experience has proven the value of his viewpoints.

           In time, Arab raids and the Arab blockade of Israele shipping in the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aqaba triggered the outbreak of the Sinai Campaign of 1956. It was in this campaign that the new concepts of training and tactics established by Dayan proved highly successful, Israeli forces slashing across the Sinai peninsula in less than a hundred hours! But again, diplomatic pressures and the threat of  economic sanctions forced the Israelis to pull back from the Sinai, as it had in 1949. Then Great Britain threatened to intervene unless the Egyptians were given back this vast desert. Dayan, in the field with his victorious troops, helped them swallow this bitter political pill.

Photo by en.wikipedia.org

1948-Israeli War of Independence

by Dr. EUGENE SOCKUT

           During November of 1947, The United Nations divided the country originally promised by the League of Nations divided the country originally promised by the League of Nations to be the Jewish National Home into one Arab and one Jewish state. The Jews, desperate to resettle the survivors of the concentration camps of Europe, accepted this decree but the Arabs did not. With the departure of the British military forces in May of 1948, 8 Arab armies invaded Israel. Every able-bodied Jewish man and woman sprang to the defence, but the tremendous shortage of weapons and the chaotic mixture of calibers and types of guns made the small arms situation critical. Some Enfield 38 revolvers, 303 SMLEs, and Sten SMGs were taken from or secretly bought from departing British soldiers. Sympathetic Irish troops “lost” two tanks which the Jews found. Captured German infantry weapons, such as the MG42 LMG, Mauser rifles, Luger and Walther 9mm pistols, were brought home in bits and pieces by Jewish Palestinians who had fought with the Allies. Small numbers of light arms were brought in by plane and ship, many of them surplus American weapons collected in the U.S. by Jews and their sympathizers. Among these were Colt 45 autos, Springfield and Garand 30-60 rifles, M3s and Thompson submachine guns. Even two B-17 bombers were flown toward the Holy Land, one never getting further than the Azores. The FBI and the U.S. government seemed o wink t these shenaniigans, but the British tried to stop these arms shipments even after Israel achieved independence.

          Because of the small arms shortage many ingenious Rube Goldberg shotcuts were attempted. For example, the necessary machinery for making Sten barrels was not at hand. Old rifles were cannibalized and their barrels shortened and altered to fit Israelimade Sten guns In time, these were replaced by barrels locall produced. Another development was the fitting of Enfield rifles with Israeli-made grenade launchers. These were humorously stamped U.S.A. (Yiddish for Unserer Stickle Arbiet or Our Bit of Work.

           Another hastily-engineered product was the melting down of kitchen utensils into calings for hand grenades by the trapped Jewish forces in th besieged city of Jerusalem.

          Because of the shortage of such essential items as mortars, cannon and bazookas, the Israelis came forth with a mortar called the Davidka (Little David), designed by one David Leibovitz. These proved a godsend. Some 36 of them were fabricated from sewer pipe and steel rails, their projectiles making a tremendous noise when they landed. Though militarily ineffective they created panic among the enemy, who feared that the Jews had developed an atomic bomb! Nevertheless, effective as some of their arms were, the need for first class military hardware remained acute in the early stages of Israel’s War of Independence.

          The landing of large amounts of Czech-made light arms in operation Haseda (stork) helped ease the shortage, enabling the Israelis to open the road to Jerusalem and break the siege of that beleaguered city. These Czech arms consisted of 8mm Mauser rifles and MG34 LMGs, while another bonus was the shipment of large quantities of Polish hand grenades.

        The end of Israel’s War of Independence found the Israeli military in control of a mixed bag of light arms. It was felt that the 8mm Mauser rifle, the 9mm Sten and the 8mm Besa Medium MG were best suited for the young state’s defence needs, so these were accepted as standard. In time, Sten guns and Mauser rifles were entirely manufactured in Israel. Large amounts of non-standard weapons remained in stock, however, and were issued to regular army troous. The British SMLE303 rifle, a popular non-standard weapon, was issued in large numbers to regular army and border-defence settlements.

photo by : jewishsearch.com

1939-1948

by Dr. EUGENE SOCKUT

ages

     The Hagana Command knew that erlatively few guns, spare parts, and munitions could be secretly gleaned from British Army depots, and that this small number could not meet their arms needs. Yehuda Arazi, a mysterious figure in Hagana undercover word, negotiated a secret agreement with Poland for 8mm Mauser bolt action rifles and “Browning Type” meedium machine guns of good quality, plus some Radom 9mm Parabellum pistols. Luckily, the British did not believe Arab reports that large planes had landed near their villages during the night. Needed raw materials were secretly imported for the Hagana underground workshops, which were expanding into production of light mortars and hand grenades. Submachine guns such as the 9mm Sten could now be manufactured along with the ammunition needed for them. Weapons were secretly stored in cellars, holes in the ground, and in the inner walls of buildings in the expectation of the conflict that all feared would follow the end of WWII.

     During May, 1939, the British issued a “White Paper” restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine. Moshe Dayan and some 42 Hagana men were imprisoned in the fortress at Acre because of their opposition to this policy. However, in 1941 the British position in the Mid-East was threatened by the pro-Nazi Vichy French governments of Syria and Lebanon. The British needed their immediate neutralization to prevent General Irwin Rommel’s Afrika Corps from linking up with a feared Vichy French thrust through Palestine. Ironically, the British were again forced to use the people who they dnew would and could do the job.

      Jewish volunteer Commando units were asked to protect the roads and bridges leading into Palestine. Dayan and his fellow prisoners were released and assigned to this task on the northern borders of Palestine. In one engagement, Dayan was looking through his field glasses when struck by a sniper’s bullet that drove one lens into his left eye, hence dayan’s famous black eye-patch. Another soldier seasoned during these battles was Yitzhak Racers, Shimon (Koch) Avidan and Israel Karmi. During the Hitler period German Fews had fled to Palestine by the tens of thousands. It was from these immigrants that the special units were formed. Armed with captured German weapons and uniforms, they gave an excellent account of themselves. A fictionalized version of their exploits was told in the Hollywook film Tobruk.

     Toward the end of 1943,parachute units of Jewish Palestinians, who had come from countries under Nazi domiwas raging another battle against the edicts of the British White Paper was being waged in Palestine. Jewish underground forces were divided into three groups: the Hagana, representing the majority of the population; the irgun Zvi-Leumi, a large right-wing group formed by Vladimer Jabotin sky, developer of the Jewish Legion of WW I, and the smallest group, the Lechi (fighters for the freedom of Israel) or Stern Gang, as the British called them. During WW II, unlike the Hagana and the Irgun, the Lechi (led by Abraham Stern)considered the British just as much the enemy as the Nazis, attacking British facilities and personnel with the same gusto the Irish Republican Army displayed during the “Irish Troubles.” After the war, the Irgun and then the Haganajoined in attacks on the British in palestine.

      The small arms of these underg. round forces ran the gamut of weapons available around the world. As a general rule, French arms prevailed in the north because of its proximity to the Vichy French battlefields. British arms were found in the rest of Palestine. Milk cans, cut in half, then rewelded and hermetically sealed, were a favorite hiding place for arms since they could be safely placed underground. The Sten SMG was most desired because of its simplicity, protability, and the ease with which it could be broken down and hidden in the skirts of female members of the resistance groups.

Special Night Squads

     Spring of 1938 saw a new Britishled Jewish force called “Special Night Squads,”  commanded by a brilliant British Army intelligence officer, Order Charles Wingate. Captain Wingate was a Bible-toting Protestant whose pro-Zionist opinions soon got him into trouble with the British Imperial Staff. The Special Night Squads atracted the brightest and bravest of the Hagana men, and daring commando raids testing new military tactics were the order of the day under Wingate.

     Captain Wingate’s actions and attitudes toward the Jews won him their love and respect—as well as the nickname Hayedid(friend). Wingate recalled the past military exploits of such Jewish generals as joshua and Gideon. Because the topography of the land had changed so little since biblical times, the tactics of those early Jews (sharp thrusts,mobility and carrying the battle to the enemy) were still valid. Wingate was later to find fame in masterminding the defeat of the Italians in Ethiopia during World WarII. He died in the Far East after organizing and leading a group called Chindis or “Wingate’s Raiders,” who fought against the Japanese in the Burma campaign. Today, in Israel, his name is still spoken with reverence, for Orde Charles Wingate, more than any man, helped to mould the character of the future army of Israel.

by Dr. EUGENE SOCKUT   

1936-1939

Israeli-Uzi-9mm-A4587

        Assisted by the Fascist Powers, a full scale Arab revolt broke out in 1936. Attacks were made on British forces stationed in Palestine under the League of Nations Mandate. These forces were there, ostensibly, to help form a “Jewish National Home,” but in actuality the British used the principle of divide-and-rule among the Arabs and Jews. Raids were made aginst British communications systms, police posts and army bases, against Jewish settlements. The British, reluctantly, were forced to rearm the Jews. Quasi-military units, called “Supernumerary Police,” were immedeately formed. These troops were issued such standard British military equipment as the SMLE 303 rifle, the Webley 455 revolver and the Lewis 303 MG. Meanwhile, the Hagana, which had changed its tactics from static defense to mobile offensive warfare, considered the Supernumerary Police an excellent training vehicle for future officers. One of the men the Hagana called to duty with the S.P. was young Moshe Dayan, then honeymooning in England. Meanwhile, the Hagana organized mobile field platoons, called “P.U.S.H,” placing and active duty lasted for a period of 6 months. Many of Israel’s future leaders were trained in these field units, among them Dayan and Yigal Allon (later to be Deputy Prime Minister of Israel), learning the new tactics of fluid warfare and surprise attack. A technique called “Hammer and Anvil” was developed whereby the anvil unit would ambush and engage an Arab force until the hammer group, led by Dayan, would join the conflict and crush resistance. Much in formation on firearms, logistics and tactics was cataloged for futrure use. An interesting development was a “cloth cartridge catcher” for the 9mm Hispano Suiza submachine gun. This device caught the tell-tale ejected shells.

UZI Submachine Gun

The Israeli Army 1920-1936

     In 1920 the region of Tel-Hai in northern Palestine saw large-scale attacks by Arab bands against Jewish settlements. In one of these battles the Jews lost Josef Trumpeldor, one of the founders of the Jewish Legion and the only Jew ever to win a commission in the Czar of Russia’s army. The need for a larger Jewish defense organization became apparent. A new group called the Hagana (Hebrew for"defense")replaced Hashomer. Hagana members were trained in the use of small arms and unit warfare;some of the arms were bought in vienna. As usual after a war, these were surplus military weapons of the period—the Austrian 1907 Roth-Steyr 8mm pistol, the 1912 Steyr 9mm pistol, and The Austrian 1888/90 8mm straight pull rifle and the Austrian Schwarzlose 8mm machine gun M07/12 were also used by the Hagana.

        “Our task is not to kill, but to defend ourselves,” Became the motto of the Hagana. Havalagah (restraint)described the mood that prevailed among these settlers, who could best be described as “reluctant warriors.”

         In 1929 disturbances broke out once again. After a 7-year period of relative peace, Arab mobs incited by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem attacked isolated Jewish settlements.  It soon became aparen to the Hagana high command that their forces would have to be quickly expanded to meet the new challenge. The country was then divided into 20 regional centers, each commanded by a trained officer, to furnish needed protection to the  isolated settlements. Special training courses for officers were immediately instituted to enable he Haganah to cope with the new situation. Since light arms continued to be bought from many sources, ammunition supply became a nightmare. Pistols, for example, ranged from the lowly 22 rimfire to the 455. Extablishment of secret underground workshops to make small arms, components and ammunition relieved this problem to a certain extent.

The Israeli Army 1904-1920

by Dr. EUGENE SOCKUT

     Spurred on by these early successes, dozens of new Jewish setlements were built in the areas of Galilee, Samaria and Judea. It soon became necessary to expand the Shomrim into a larger and better-trained force called Hashomer. Carridge rifles and pistols became more prevalent though no standardization of weapons was feasible. Mauser, Luger and other pistols of 7.62 and 9mm Parabellum calibers were in service as well as various 25, 32 and 380 semi-automatic pistols. Large caliber revolvers of Russian and British design became common after the end of WWI.

     The out break of World War I had found the allies in a life and death struggle with the Central Powers. One of these was Turkey. One of these was Turkey, whose empire extended throughout the Middle East. Palestine and Trans-Jordan, part of this empire, were promised to the Jewish people in exchange for their support of the Allied Powers. The Arabs, whose support was also sought,were promised the larger portions of the empire, these later to become Iraq,Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf sheikdoms. The Emir Feisal, leader of the Arabs, welcomed this arrangement between Arab, Jew and Englishman, but the honeymoon was to prove short lived.

      During WW I, Jews fought in an Allied unit called the Jewish Legion. They were armed with the standard British infantry small arms of the period—the SMLE Mark I bolt action rifle, the Webley 455 top-break revolver, and the Levis 303 machine gun. Tranining and tactics were decidedly British, Organized by a brilliant Jewish soldier, Vladimir Jabotinsky, the Legion consisted of such units as the 1st Judean Regiment—raised in the U.S. by David BenGurion, and the Third Palestine Battalion, soldiered by Jews from Palestine. These units fought under Field Marshall Allenby, and were commanded by a pro-Zionist colonel named Patterson, a regular British army officer. Arab soldiers were led by T.E. Lawrence, the famed Lawrence of Arabia, who was simultaneously pro-Zionist and pro-Arab.

       After the Armistice of 1918, the British disbanded the Jewish units and confiscated their weapons. How ever, experience with British military methods of logistics, training and tactics was to prove invaluable in the future for the Jews of Palestine. Some British light arms were “liberated” by the returning soldiers. 

The Israeli Army 1878-1904

by Dr.EUGENE SOCKUT

      Prior to 1874, most of the Jews living in Palestine were native born. A few traced their ancestry back to the Jewish-Roman Wars of 70 A.D., which resulted in the destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth, and changed the “land of milk and honey”into a desolate, eroded place—land not to be independent again until the birth of modern Israel in 1948.

        During the 1870s, Jews began retruning to the Holy Land, driven by their belief that the rebirth of an independent Jewish nation promised by the prophet Isaiah was at hand. Though many Jews had hone to the Holy Land throughout the exile, the first successful mass movement began at this time. This phenomenon was called Zionism, a rebirth of Zion, the Land of Israel. A gathering in of the scttered Jewish people was its goal.

      The small arms of these early Zionists were representative of the period, consisting mainly of black powder muzzle-loading and cartridge guns of mixed origin, but chiefly European.Because of incessant Bedouin Arab attacks, the pioneers constructed defense walls around their settlements which resembled the stockades of the early American pioneers. Like the early American settlers, they found it necessary to train themselves in the use of small arms. This led to the development of a defense force called Shomrim (watchmen), whose duty was to guard the settlement’s livestock and rields. In the historical exhibition of the Hagana Museum in Tel-Aviv, there can be seen, along with ancient muzzleloaders, a “shilalee,” hand carved by an old rabbi tired of being set upon by Arab ruffians as he went to prayers.

The Israeli Army

archer02

a history of its small arms, tactics and training.

What enabled a nation of less than three million people to defeat a foc backed by a populace almost fifty times their number? Arms, yes, but much more than that—Israel’s secret weapon is the fantastic spirit of her people, their firm belief that they cannot lose a battle, much less a war.      by Dr. EUGENE SOCKUT : THE GUN DIGEST

       THE HISTORY of Israeli military small arms procurement, development, manufacture and use is directly related to the establishment and growth of the Third Jewish Commonwealth in hisory. In biblical times, as well as today, the land of Israel found itself surrounded by a succession of would be conquerors. Situated at the crossroads of three  continents—Europe, Asia and Africa, Israel,s very geographical position made it mandatory for them to take up arms for self-defense.

     Three times in the past 22 years the world witnessed events as miraculous as the biblical military victories of Joshua over the Philistines. In the Arab-Israeli Wars of 1948,1956 and1967, tiny israel succeeded in vanquishing enemies whose numbers of men, quantity and quality of war materiel should have resulted in the total destruction of the Fewish State. What factors contributed to the ability of a nation of 2.5 million to defeat forces backed by populations almost 50 times its size? Tracing the small arms history of the Yishuv, (Hebrew name for the Fewish commuity of the Holy Land)best illustrates the ability of a people to persevere against insuperable odds and emerge victorious.

photo: balagan.org.uk

The National Rifle Club

introduction and notes by John T. Amber

farrow_02_220

The story of an 1886 shoot between the last of the great muzzle-loading marksmen and the breech-loaking upstarts from Walnut Hill.

WE ARE particularly pleased to reprint this account of a great event in shooting history from the 1886 pages of Firest & Stream. It was the occasion, apparently, of the first shoulder-to-shoulder contest between the die-hard advocates of the muqqle-loading rest rifle and several noted marksmen using the newfangled breechloaders (these las had only been in use generally for some dozen years.)

       Mr.Murray Leyde of Painesville, Ohio, an old friend, was kind enough to send me a photo copy of the old account. In it I learned exactly how string measurements were made in that period, clearly and withcut question—as you will learn in your reading of the report. It had been assumed that the technique was pretty much as the anonymous correspondent has it, but here is the exact methodology outlined. Briefly, each shot in the string was measured from the intersection of the diagonal lines to the bullet hole, then the 10 measurements were simply added together

farrow_firing_220

It is difficult to compare these old string scores with today’s targets—most commonly measured from center to center of the bullet holes farethest apart—unless a reproduction to a know scale of the old target is available for measuring. In the present instance we have two of them to assess.

      Fletcher’s first string measures 2 5/8" center to center, the string total 9 7/16 " as the table shows. Brown’s third string measures 3 9/16"—almost a full inch greater than Fletcher’s—but Brown’s string score on histen shots is 9 13/16", or only 3/8" worse. Fletcher’s group is quite obviously a better one than Brown’s, but simply reading the string measurements would not have revealed the graphic difference.

       Another nice bit of source data given in this 1886 report is the quite exact load information put down for most of the contestants, to say nothing of the drawing that depicts, to scale, the variety of bullets used by 15 of the marksmen.

     Further comments will appear in the text, set inside brackets.

Other Garcia/Berettas

by JOHN T. AMBER

The AL-2 gas- operated autoloader (make in 12-and 20-gauge) has some new touches this year. Buttstock and fore-end show more checkering, in a new pattern, treatment of the now capped pistol grip has been improved, and the fore-end offers a wider, more hand-filling form. Field guns show new de luxe engraving, with additional amounts on Skeet and trap models. Easy and virtually complete disassembly of the AL-2 permits quick cleaning and inspection, a much-neglected job with some other autos. Extra barrels are readily exchanged, too, without tools or initial factory fitting.

         The AL-2 offers extra safety, too—live shells can e removed from the magazine without shuffling them through action, and a heavy, hardened steel block cams the firing pin back until the bolt is lully home.

          The rest of the large Garcia-beretta line continues in production—there’s an inexpensive single-barrel folding gun in 12 or 20; another single made in 12 gauge only, the TR-1 or TR-2, and an excellent buy in a trapgun at its low $160 cost($185 for the vent-rib TR-2); the fine Beretta BR series, a range of side-by-side doubles in 12- and 20-gauge, I consider Best Buys in their type class: the GR-4, made with single selective trigger, ventilated rib, auto ejectors and a semi-beavertail fore-end, is an especially good value.

        The Beretta SL-2, a recrently-introduced pump 12 bore that exhibits numerous excellent features, appears to have been taken off the Garcia list, perhaps pro tem.

        Beretta will be delivering a single barrl trapgun before long, Dick Wolf has told me. This will be on the BL frame, their boxlock gun, and the tentative designation is the Mark II.

Garcia-F.I.

by JOHN T. AMBER

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The two rifles on our back covers are from Firearms International, an organization well and favorably known, that was recently acquired by Garcia.

       The smaller rifle seen is the Sako Vixen, called by F.I. the “most accurate production rifle in the world.” Well, that’s a claim that takes in anawful lot of territory, but it is true that a Sako rifle, a 222 right off the shelf and without tuning, once set a world records at 100 yards in a National Bench Rest Rifle Assn. shoot—10 shots in the Light  Varmint class making a target only .209" center-to-center.

      Will they all do that well, sans tuning and whatever? I doubt it. Yet no one can deny that’s a mighty nice performance, and it is indicative of what the Sako L-461 actioned rifle can do, and it is equally true that the L-461 action—with or without Sako barrel—has been a much-sought-after item for many years—when it could be bought! They were a scarce unit for a long time, but the supply seems to be in better shape nowadays. The Sako Vixen rifles are made in only three calibers—222,222 Magnum and 223. The rifles come in three styles; a standard Sporter, a Heavy Barreled version, and in Carbine form, with full length or Mannlicher stock and a 20" barrel. The others use a 23 1/2" barrel.

  SakoFinnbearrightview

     The other Sako pictured on our back cover is the Finnbear (L-61), made only as a half-stocked sporter and in such bigger calibers as 270,30-06 and most of the belted magnum calibers, including the newly added 375 H&H. A rugged and well-built action, the Finnbear, and very well suited to the more potent big game loads.

       The rest of the Garcia F.I. line continues pretty much intact, though there have been some product  changers since a year ago. The Sako Forester bolt acion and the Finnwolf lever action rifles show no change, nor does the F.N. Supreme bolt action rifle line.

     The AYA shotgun line—a sidelock double and three boxlock side-by-sides-has been dropped, it appears, and the Lasalle auto and pump shotguns are no longer listed. The Musketeer rifles, Mauser-actioned, have been retained, and a new line of doublebarreled shothuns—with outside hammers—has been added to the list. The "Overland" arms are made by Rossi in Brazil, suppliers also of the Regent Gallery Model 22 slide-action rifle and Presentation revolvers (22 LR and 38 Special), new on the F.I. list

      F.I. still carries the Gaucho, Star, Astra Cadix, Regent, Taurus and Unique handguns—revolvers and autos—but not in quite as full an array as before, thanks doubtless to the stringencies of the GCA 1968 in good part.

picture by: common.wikimedia.org,shooterforum.com

Beretta BL Series

beretta_Express_SS06

The  other over-under double gun on our front cover is one of Garcia’s BL series, a line of high quality boxlock guns in the popular price range—a gamut these days that runs from about $200 to $500, with a few models at the top end commanding a price a bit higher.

     There are 5 models in the BL group, and all of them have several features of construction in common, important aspects they all share. First there’s the low profile of the BL reciver, achieved through an unusual—perhaps unique—method of hinging and barrel lockup. The hinge pins are located at a point alongside the middle of the lower barrel, not underneath as with so many other overunders. There are no underlugs on the Beretta BL barrels, thhus a considerably shorter receiver, top to bottom, is obtained. This makes for a gun easier to handle, lighter over-all, stronger and, because the mass of the receiver is around the barrels, not below them, recoil is reduced and a second shot can be got off faster.

         Recoil—felt recoil, That is—is reduced because thrust is more directly rearwards, and lessened muzzle lift means getting back on the sightsfaster for that second shot.

 category-premium-shotguns_01        A second common factor in all BL guns is barrel construction. Barrels, of chrome-moly steel, are processed at the Beretta factory through all steps from the raw, forged solid billet through boring, reaming and chambering to the point where they’re ready for insertion into the Monobloc breeches. All machining is done on the Monobloc, none on the barrels, where the attachment of lugs, ribs,etc., requires shot heating and the attendant danger of distorsion and alteration of tensile strength. In addition, the Monobloc technique of mounting barrels results in a much stronger system.

       A third feature of all BL Berettas is a clever and foolproof barrel selector system.

       In many double guns, the top-tang sliding safety combines with a button or whatever to let the shooter switch from top barrel to bottom—or vice versa—and in this system it’s necessary, usually, to shove the safety back to the ‘Safe’ position before changing barrels. Not so with Beretta’s BL doubles—the changeover can be made instantly, whether the safety is on ‘Safe’ or not. An excellent idea, and one that could well let you kill that bird that you could have failed to grass with a selector button you had to fumble with.

      Mainsprings in all BL guns are of coiled type, made of the best Swedish steel; breech faces are grooved to deflect and carry gases away if a primer fails, and all BL guns show careful attention to excellent fit of wood to metal, of meticulous filing, stoning and smooth-working assemble of internal parts for perfect functioning and dependable operation.

        From here on, however, the BL grades differ: BL-1 is a 2 trigger gun, made without a barrel rib, but the front trigger is hinged, a feature usually found only on guns with a much higher price tag—this lets you find the rear trigger faster, and also keeps your trigger finger from banging into the back of the front trigger when the rear trigger is touched off.

berettas2

The BL-2 is like the BL-1 but has a single selective trigger, and both are available only in 12 gauge field grade, with 26",28" or 30" barrels.

    The BL-3 comes with a ventilated rib, nicely matted, a single trigger of selective type and plain extractors. Engraving on the BL-3 is of better quality and more extensive, and new this year are BL-3s in 20- and 28- gauge, offered in both 3" Magnum chambering and as Skeet guns with 2 1/2"  chambers. A 12-gauge 3" Magnum is also on the list, as are 12-gauge Skeet and trapguns. These target type BL-3s are &25 extra, but that also covers special sears, a manual safety, middle sights and straighter stocks, with Monte Carlo combs, and a trap-style recoil pad on the BL-3 Trap Gun.

    The BL-4 (the style shown on) and the  BL-5 are alike except for the latter offering a fully engraved, gray-finished receiver, better quality wood and finer, more extensive checkering. Both have auto ejeectors, all other features of the BL-1,BL-2 and BL-3 guns mentioned, and both are available in the some wide choece of gauges listed for the BL-3.

         Standard stock dimensions for all five BL 12, 20 and 28 Field and skeet grakes are:1 1/2"x2 1/2"x14 1/8" but trapguns have a trigger pull length of 14 3/8", with drop figures of 1 3/8" by 13/4". All can be had with extra sets of barrels, though differing a bit with in grades as to chokes, lengths and price, of course.

picture by: the spoting life.net, shotingtime.co.uk,proguns.com