So... any of our members here have an interest in firearms?

Occasionally a uneducated type will dis American weaponry of WW1 and WW2 claiming weapons of the British or Germans were much superior. They generally brag on the Lee Enfield rifle, the Lewis Gun. the Maxim and Vickers guns and the Luger, not realizing that those weapons were based in great part or wholly on designs by American inventors.
BSA greatly improved the heat treatment and manufacturing of the Lewis gun but it remains and American design not a British design.
While the toggle breech is seldom found in use these days a number of successful modern LMGs use similar mechanisms by way of the BAR mechanism adapted to the beltfed configuration and improved by Fabrique Nationale in the 50's as the FN 58 which several more modern LMGs are based on. The BAR locking system was also used by the Poles to develop the fastest firing aerial machinegun of WW2.
Besides the Borchardt Automatic pistol the toggle breech goes back to the Henry rifle and beyond. The Jennings rocket ball rifle and several paper cartridge carbines used the toggle breech long before metallic case cartridges were invented.
The Mauser twin opposed front locking lug bolt was foreshadowed by the Green paper cartridge Civil War era rifle.

I've also seen some brag on the K43 as superior to the Garand, and a few weeks later ask for help in finding K43 replacement parts to repair breakages.

On gun I have always lusted after but not been in the position to find is an M93R, there is just something about the Beretta's and particularly this one that has always appealed.
Any one here got one?

Since that's a selective-fire pistol, almost no one in the US has them because ATF wants Class III to disappear. I can't imagine there are a lot of them out there in the world except maybe law enforcement. Or illegally, I suppose.

Can't imagine it's all that easy to control one.

It does but there's not much of it there.

It seem that they are mostly in the Italian police force or counter terrorism and difficult to obtain. As close as I have got to one is a high end Toko Maru manufactured airsoft lol, and just playing with that makes you really want the 9mm version.

Came across an article on a one off factory selective fire Luger carbine years ago. Oddly the single known example was among weapons seized by the British from the IRA. Apparently German gun runners, and that was pretty common before and during WW1 and in the 20's, had presented it to the IRA in hopes of future orders, or to see it tested in combat.
The weapon used Artillery Luger style snail drums and the select fire mechanism was housed in the fore end, which made conversions of standard Lugers fairly easy, just rebarrel and add the fore end.

I can imagine the politics of that especially with the relationship between Ireland and Germany even up to the 2nd world war.

I remember a very similar holster marketed for the Colt Woodsman in the 60's, a classic design.

Moved away from watches for a while and have been focusing on firearms, since I last posted here. You guys have posted some nice firearms since I have been away. @noelekal, those 1911s are spectacular.

I don't have anything at that level but I did pick up a 5.56 Ruger Mini 14 (recent production with the sturdier barrel), 9mm Beretta 92 FS, 9mm CZ 75B, 45 ACP CZ 97BD and a .357 mag S&W Performance Center M&P R8. Now I need to find the time to get to the range.

In fact I may actually have a pattern for that holster. I ordered a NOS Tandy pattern pack with gunbelt and western holster patterns but it also has patterns for more modern revolvers and autoloading pistols like the 1911 and the Colt Woodsman. I'll dig it out tomorrow to make sure.

It just occurred to me that I might adapt the design for my FN 1922. I have a East German police holster made to fit any .32 or .380 pistol still in their postwar inventory as well as the Soviet Makarov.
The 1922 was a favorite of the Germans in WW2 when they could get them. A friend's father had one he salvaged from a German bomber he shot down when manning a .50 Browning guarding a captured German airfield in North Africa. Several German bombers not knowing the field was in allied hands had tried to land there and got shot up.
He found the body of one of the crew in the broken off tail section, the rest burned with the rest of the bomber. He had the man's wallet with all ID and letters and pictures of a beautiful young woman, probably the dead man's wife.
The pistol had what looked to be wooden hand carved grip panels with silver Luftwaffe eagle inlaid. Quite a war trophy.

My neighbor also manned a fifty guarding a captured German airfield. They had just strung a cable from a generator to the building chosen as the new HQ when a shot up German bomber tried to make an emergency landing there. It struck the cable and cartwheeled into the new HQ killing all the American outfit's officers.

Looks like a great buy on a trail cam.
On sale for around 2/3rd off
https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/1023043380

Time to make use of some spare parts. Next month is one of my grandsons birthday. Since the kid really enjoys shooting ar's Today I did a dry run of checking if all the parts go together without issues, so far so good. I ordered a complete lower and have the other parts that are needed. Since my grandson is not old enough to take custody of the ar it will remain in my custody secured in my gun safe. I'm off to a good start on his birthday gift.

Maybe ten years ago the U S Army was testing a indoor M-16 target system that converted a standard M-16 or any related AR rifle to fire .22 lead balls using high pressure air.
Something of this sort would be a good starting point for a young shooter before being let loose on the world with a full powered AR type rifle.

There are a few fairly realistic looking pellet rifles patterned after the M-4 carbine. Can't vouch for them personally though.

There are 22LR conversion kits.