D.E. Watters

In a world full of compromise, some don't...unless you suck, and we hate you.

That photo shows the machining of STI's metal sub-frame, not its slide.

I think I see what you mean. The nosepiece appears to be fabricated from a separate stamping.

That's effectively how SIG-Sauer made their original stamped P22#-series slides. They welded a nosepiece to the stamping in order to close the front of the slide.

Marc Krebs (Krebs Custom) built a gas trap Kalashnikov for fun. http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=1842

I thought that the Fort-produced Tavors were chambered in 5.45x39mm. The following link shows their 5.45mm-specific magazine. http://www.fort.vn.ua/en/products/weapon-accessories/magazine-cal-545x39-mm.html

That is because the BAT was the Geco Action Safety. US importer Phil Engeldrum merely slapped a sticker over the factory Geco boxes.

The recent articles posted about the Czech Air Marshall ammunition research reminded me of some random comments I posted several years ago in regards to European police duty ammunition, particularly the Geco/RUAG Action-series. I'm going to try and piece them together here. The Action Safety round was developed by Geco (Gustav Genschow & Co.), an old German brand. It was part of the Dynamit Nobel family of ammunition manufacturers. The latter was ultimately acquired by the Swiss company RUAG. The goal was to provide an expanding projectile that would feed as reliably as FMJ in semi-auto and full-auto firearms. Up to the 1970s, few firearm manufacturers had ever considered the requirement to feed JSP or JHP ammunition in their designs. On the opposite side, most ammunition manufacturers still had not come up with a way to make reliably feeding and expanding JSP and JHP for self-loading firearms. Rounds that fed reliably often didn't expand, and rounds that expanded often didn't feed reliably. With the early Action Safety variants, the plastic plug was actually blown out the front of the projectile when it was fired. If you look at the product sheets, you can see that there was a small hole drilled all the way through the bullet. Later versions retained the plug to reduce the downrange hazard. Another German ammunition manufacturer, Metallwerk Elisenhutte GmbH (MEN), came up with its own answer: the Quick Defense. The Quick Defense originally had a thin metal cap over the hollowpoint. The cap collapsed into the cavity when the projectile hit its target, but the cap was not substantial enough to effect expansion. The cap was later replaced by a ball, kind of like the current CorBon Pow'RBall. . The light projectile weight for these rounds was inspired by the terminal ballistics theories of the 1970s that worshiped high velocity and kinetic energy. Back in the US in those days, the hot ticket in 9x19mm was the Super Vel 90gr JHP and the Federal Cartridge 95gr JSP briefly issued by the Illinois State Police for their S&W Model 39. In a 1972 document, the ISP claimed that one of the reasons they had adopted a 9x19mm pistol was that if they found the need for higher velocity, they could always rebarrel their pistols for .30 Luger! The ISP document explained that the advantages of lightweight, high velocity projectiles were that they gave good penetration in barrier materials, yet limited penetration in flesh. The lightweight projectiles would also slow down faster in flight, giving a shorter maximum range. This would reduce the danger to bystanders further downrange. Several of the latter variants in the Action and QD family were redesigned to appease political sensitivities. For instance, the Dutch Police wanted to adopt the Geco Action Safety back when they adopted the Walther P5 back in the 1980s. Once learning of this decision, various leftist organizations protested the issue of expanding ammunition as "inhumane". So they were left with the choice of either issuing standard military FMJ, or a reduced velocity/lightweight FMJ. In 1990, the Dutch were finally allowed to adopt the Action 3 variant, and several years later, the Action Effect variant. These were considered politically acceptable, as the nose didn't expand beyond the original bullet diameter. For other markets, the limited expansion MEN QD2 was positioned as an alternative to the Action 3 and Action Effect Here is a patent for the original Geco Action Safety design: http://www.google.com/patents/US4175492 This patent includes the original MEN Quick Defense design: http://www.google.com/patents/US4136616 This appears to be the patent for the later Action Safety designs that retained the nose plug (Action 4, Action 5, and Action Effect): http://www.google.com/patents/US6971315

Alas, for the purposes of the BATFE and State Department licensing, even assembly can be considered manufacturing.

FWIW: Arkansas is a T4, not a T5. The Texas supposedly has better AA in the game than its sister ship, the New York.

This article has a pretty comprehensive list. http://docslide.us/documents/fluted-and-annular-grooved-barrel-chambers-in-firearms.html

I haven't played with anything more recent than the Cylinder & Slide parts. Other choices include the Garthwaite kits and the Elite Warrior Armament kits. http://garthwaite.myshopify.com/collections/parts http://www.mcssl.com/store/19da216c8aac4c7086e1d49679cf71/bhp-products

I think your only choice will be the RamLine/Champion Target polymer stock.

FWIW: I recommend only removing the magazine safety's spring, and then reinstalling the magazine safety. Removing the entire safety assembly creates quite a bit of overtravel. Don't worry about the despringed safety flopping around. The tension of the trigger spring against the trigger lever will be enough to hold the safety in place.

It appears that the US Army met the court's demands and submitted their updated "responsibility determination" regarding Colt's ability to finish their M4 carbine contract. We'll just have to wait and see how the judge responds.

Where did you think the idea of using the Oerlikon in "Thunderbolt & Lightfoot" came from?

They have a full Russian cruiser and destroyer line now.

One thing to consider for players who haven't logged in recently. One of the recent patches completely changed the Captain skill point tree. So you'll need to go back and reallocate the points for each Capt. Alas, the skill tree reboot effectively nerfed the light cruisers' range, ROF and turret traverse buffs.

A new build is inbound that will supposedly help with load times. It sounds like it will be here in the next week or so. They'll be giving away 3 days of Premium time to anyone who logs in with the 0.5.5 build by May 10th.

Winnie the Putin!

The various HP-DA and BDA were not true HP variants. Even D.J. Saive's post-WW2 attempt at a DA pistol didn't keep much in the way of parts commonality with the basic GP35. Back in the 1970s, Louis Seecamp converted a pair of commercial HP for double-action. I suspect that it worked like his DA conversion for the M1911. The trigger would pull a draw bar which engaged a pin added to the side of the hammer, camming the hammer into the conventional single action position. At that point, the factory action parts then take over to trip the sear.

Oh yes, a bunch of Brownings have used the BDA label, but the SIG-Sauer P220 were among the first during the late 1970s. Another early BDA was the Beretta Model 84 variant. The BDA380's major differences from the original Beretta were the use of a fully enclosed slide and a slide-mounted safety/decocker.

Don't forget that some of the first SIG-Sauer P220 imported to the US were sold as the Browning BDA. I once saw a full set of the P220-based BDA in a pawnshop in Katy, TX: .45 ACP, .38 Super, and 9x19mm. They also had a P220 chambered in 7.65mm Parabellum.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=97512&NewsCatID=509

As I understand it, Beretta was basically given a no-bid contract to develop the ARX-160. That's what happens when you own nearly every domestic gunmaker, and your politicians aren't willing to consider a foreign design.