Breach, Bang, Clear has an interesting photo piece matching up WWII era airborne photos with that of today’s Joes. Interestingly enough, the modern ones are of the Texas Army National Guard’s 143rd Airborne Battalion of the 36th Infantry Div (ARNG).
The 143rd is not the stereotypical National Guard unit. The battalion is full of combat veterans and Rangers, including many 75th Regiment veterans.
Flight Global reports the last 22 QF-4 Phantom aerial targets, currently part of the 53rd Wing’s Detachment 1, 82 Aerial Targets Sqn, based at Holloman AFB will be out of service by the end of 2016.
When they are expended, they will end the U.S. military’s 58 year love affair with the big smoky J79-engined F-4 whose first flight was 27 May 1958.
Which in the end is rather poetic.
U.S. Army Cpl. Brittany Montana fires an M2 Browning .50-caliber machine gun on Camp Atterbury. Montana is a Reservist assigned to the 354th Military Police Company. U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Michel Sauret.
Earlier this year Anniston Army Depot, which is upgrading all the service’s legacy M2 Browning heavy machine guns to the new M2A1 standard which allows faster barrel changes without having to headspace (laws yes), had a vintage 1921 production model Ma Deuce come through. The gun, serial number 324, has somehow remained in service for 94 years and still works just fine.
From the Army’s presser:
“Looking at the receiver, for its age, it looks good as new and it gauges better than most of the other weapons,” said John Clark, a small arms repair leader.
Despite the fact that the weapon still meets most specifications, it may be destined for the scrap yard.
Modifications made to the weapon in the field mean part of the receiver would have to be removed through welding and replaced with new metal, a process which usually means the receiver is scrap.
“I’d rather put this one on display than send it to the scrap yard,” said Clark, adding the weapon’s age makes it appealing as a historical artifact.
Here’s to hoping the gun stays on extended retirement rather than goes to the torch. After almost a century on the sharp end of the spear, the old soldier deserves it.
My G22 Joker with RTF2. What’s RTF2? Keep reading.
In 2009, Glock came out with an updated version of their gun that featured better ergonomics named the “Rough Texture Finish, Version 2,” or commonly just called RTF2.
Besides the texture, along the slide, a set of scalloped cutouts replaced the strait up and down slide serrations that had been a facet of the Glock since its introduction in the 1980s. These cutouts were shaped like thumbnails and were instantly but dubbed ‘fish gills’ by those who encountered them.
Besides the slide, the entire lower frame grip surface area was stippled in fine lines. These lines worked like non-skid and gave the gun an almost instant tackiness when picked up, eliminating complaints from those who contended the Glock sometimes got slippery when wet.
While some complained that the new grip was too abrasive to their sensitive hands, many shooters took immediately to the RTF2. The Gen 3 pistols were the pinnacle of the designs to that point, incorporating lessons learned from twenty years of making the polymer guns. That, coupled with the radical new grip offered by the RTF2 seemed a winning combination and the texture was soon seen on the 17, 19, 21SF, 22, 23, 31 and 32.
Nevertheless, that wasn’t the case as the RTF3 and finally much more subtle RTF4 series of less aggressive truncated pyramids became standard on the Gen 4 Glocks when they were introduced.
It’s my personal favorite (hey, at least I’m honest). I have a G22 of this variety that has a documented 11,700 rounds through it with no issues other than a cracked magazine baseplate (that was my fault) and, while I have a set of replacement springs on hand, the gun still functions fine with the factory originals.
Others also fell in love with the design. In 2012, Colion Noir declared the G19 RTF2 his “IDPA gun of choice” writing a short article about it the next year after still loving it and doing a video of his gun, calling the gun “aggressive” and cautioning that its not for everyone.
(Note he also did a NSFW mashup on the discontinuation of the texture featuring an irate Hitler)
Then there was trouble in paradise.
In late 2010, Glock stated though channels they would only sell RTF 2 Gen 3s (though without the gills) through law enforcement channels in the future as they weren’t selling well to the non-law enforcement market, but were still viable in the cop market.
However, that’s not entirely true. An agency whose range I use often in South Mississippi switched from the RTF2 G22 to a Gen 4/G22 after complaints the gun’s texture worked pills up on their poly uniform shirts and scarred the inside of their enforcer’s consoles.
Want to see a picture?
Yup, the same thing on the console of my ole Jeep, from my personal RTF grizzly bear. Meh. It’s a Jeep. It adds character.
Last November Larry Vickers and Lipseys announced that they would release a limited run of 5000 new but gill-less RTF2 Gen 3s in FDE (is that enough abbreviations for you, or do you want more?) split between G17 and G19 models which shows at least that these guns were still in some form of production even after being “replaced” five years ago.
As could be discerned, the gills are gone for good. The G22 RTF2 was first introduced for release in the 2009 Shot Show (January 2009) then the G17 RTF2 was announced for release May 2009. That makes it a 18 month run for the G22 RTF2 with crescent serrations and an 14 month run for the G17 RTF2 with crescent serrations
Word is Glock will still do special RTF2 runs such as the Vickers combo if you request them in quantity large enough for them to be worth their while.
I have an email into Smyrna to see just how big of a run that is, or if the rumor is even true.
Watch this space for updates.
Here at LSOZI, we are going to take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all of their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.
– Christopher Eger
Warship Wednesday Nov. 18, 2015: The Brooklyn Stinger of the Calico King
Here we see the steam gunboat USS Scorpion (PY-3) in her gleaming white scheme in an image taken in 1899. She may not look it, but when the Detroit Photographic Co. snapped this photo, the mighty Scorpion was already a killer.
Mr. MCD Borden (not Franz Ferdinand)
Ordered by Massachusetts textile magnate Matthew Chaloner Durfee Borden, commonly referred to at the time as “the Calico King” due to his huge factories in the Fall River area, Scorpion began life in 1896 as the very well-appointed steam yacht Sovereign built by the private yard of John N. Robins in South Brooklyn, New York to a design by J. Beaver Webb.
The rakish vessel, a 212-footer at the waterline (250-foot oal) with twin masts and twin screws powered by 2500shp of triple expansion engines, she could touch 15 knots with ease and, when running light in just ten feet of seawater, surpass that when needed.
The New York Times wrote she was, “supposed to be the fastest craft of its size on the Atlantic seaboard, and all the Jersey Central Railroad commuters between Seagirt and Atlantic Highlands know all about it.”
Borden entered her into the New York Yacht Club, where he was an esteemed member and she sailed under his care with the Seawanhaka Yacht, South Side Sportsmen’s, and Jekyll Island Clubs as well.
When war with Spain came, Borden did the patriotic thing and placed his yacht at the Navy’s service, who promptly hauled her to the New York Navy Yard, painted her haze gray, added a quartet of 5″/40 guns located on her sides, fore and aft of the superstructure– the heaviest battery fitted to any yacht converted for service during that conflict, and commissioned her four days later as USS Scorpion on 11 April 1898.
While only a yacht, her powerful 5″ guns, typically reserved for cruisers, made her a brawler able to dish out some heavy blows and the Navy Department had just the man to conn her. You see Scorpion’s skipper was German-born LCDR Adolph Marix (USNA Class of 1868) and the former executive officer of the battleship USS Maine whose explosion in Havana four months earlier had sparked the war.
By May she was off the coast of Cuba and spent an eventful ten weeks capturing lighters, assisting with landings, enforcing blockades and patrolling the shallows and high seas alike with the Flying Squadron.
On July 18, she was part of a 7 ship attack force, including two gunboats of shallow draft—Wilmington and Helena; two armed tugs—Osceola and Wampatuck; and two converted yachts—Hist and Hornet that sailed into the heavily fortified Spanish base at Manzanillo and, with using her big 5-inchers to good effect, kept the Spanish coastal batteries tied down while the smaller ships destroyed five Spanish gunboats, three blockade runners and one pontoon in less than four hours with little damage to themselves.
When the war ended, Scorpion was recalled to New York, painted white and refitted with a smaller armament while Marix left on his way to become a Vice Admiral. He wasn’t the only one. Over the course of her 31 years in the Navy, she had a staggering 21 skippers to include a Medal of Honor winner and no less than five who went on to become admirals.
In October 1900. Description: Catalog #: NH 2742 Copyright Owner: Naval History and Heritage Command
Another Detroit Publishing Co. shot, this one from 1903, with her laundry hanging. LOC
View of officers and men circa 1904. Note the six-pounder Description: Catalog #: NH 83748
Photograph of ship, with diary entry and roster of officers. Lieutenant Commander Richard G. Davenport was aboard as passenger. Description: Catalog #: NH 43803
As you may have guessed, Borden never got the Scorpion back and the Navy paid good money for her. She spent six years with the North Atlantic Squadron as a dispatch ship and flag waver small enough to venture into backwater ports around the Caribbean and protect U.S. interests.
Speaking of which, by 1908 she was on her way to Europe. Keeping the svelte gunboat with her 60-70 man peacetime crew in semi-permanent anchor in the Bosporus near the Dolma Bagtchi Palace, she became the station ship in Constantinople. There she remained, leaving to take the occasional Black Sea or Med cruise, for a decade.
Several times she took part in international actions, helping to assist earthquake victims in Messina, Italy; landing armed sailors to guard the U.S. Legation in Constantinople during riots in the city; and venturing into the disputed Balkan ports during the tumultuous events that led up to the Great War.
USS Scorpion (PY-3) in Constantinople, circa 1912 NHHC UA 04.01 Margaret Duggan Collection
Speaking of which, when the U.S. entered WWI on the side of the Allies, the humble Scorpion faced the might of the German-cum-Ottoman battlecruiser Goeben and, a suddenly a stranger in a strange land, was peacefully interned on 11 April 1917 without a fight, her breechblocks removed and a guard posted.
View taken at Constantinople, Turkey, in 1919 of ship’s officers. Front row (L-R): Lieutenant Samuel R. Deets, USN; Commander Richard P. McCullough, USS; Lieutenant Leonard Doughty, USN. Back row: Lieutenant George P. Shields (MC), USN; Paymaster Clarence Jackson, USN; Lieutenant William O. Baldwin, USN; Lieutenant Gale A. Poindexter, USN. Description: Courtesy of LCDR Leonard Doughty, 1929 Catalog #: NH 50276
When the war ended, she rearmed and remained as the flag of the U.S. High Commissioner to Turkey, keeping her place in now-Istanbul until 1920 when the influx of White Russian exiles and tensions with Greece forced her relocation to Phaleron Bay, Greece, where she remained on station until recalled back to the states 16 June 1927.
In the early 1920s, the Black Sea was an American lake, as the Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Ottoman fleets had largely ceased to exist while the British and French fleets, facing near bankruptcy and mutinous crews, respectively, were keen to send only a few vessels to Constantinople and Odesa and withdraw them as soon as possible. At its height, the U.S. fleet in Constantinople included over 26 warships including the battleships Arizona and Utah, a dozen destroyers, heavy and light cruisers, floating repair shops, and transport ships.
Anchored off the Dolma Bagtche Palace, Constantinople, probably during the early 1920s. Description: Original negative, given by Mr. Franklin Moran in 1967.Catalog #: NH 65006 Copyright Owner: Naval History and Heritage Command.
1925
Decommissioned, Scorpion sat on red lead row for a couple years, a Spanish-American War vet in a fleet of 1920s modern marvels.
On 25 June 1929, she was sold for her value in scrap. Very few artifacts remain from her other than some postal covers.
Her name has gone on to become something of an albatross for the submarine force. USS Scorpion (SS-278), a Gato-class submarine, was lost in 1944 to a mine in the Yellow Sea while USS Scorpion (SSN-589), a Skipjack-class submarine, was lost in an accident in 1968. In each case there were no known survivors and her name has been absent from the Naval List for 47 years.
As for Borden, he passed away in 1912 at age 69 while his beloved Sovereign/Scorpion was in Europe. His leviathan American Printing Company outlived them all, but by 1934 was shuttered because of the Great Depression.
Specs:
Displacement: 775 long tons (787 t)
Length: 212 ft. 10 in (64.87 m)
Beam: 28 ft. 1 in (8.56 m)
Draft: 11 ft. (3.4 m)
Installed power: 2 × WA Fletcher Co, Hoboken NJ triple expansion steam engines; 2500 IHP total; powered by twin Babcock and Wilcox 225# boilers. (as built) later Four Yarrow boilers, two 1,400ihp vertical inverted triple expansion steam engines, two shafts.
Propulsion: Twin screw
Speed: 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement: 35 (civilian service) 90 (1898) 60 (1911)
Armament:
(1898) – Four 5″/40 guns
(1905) – Six 6-pounder (57mm) guns and four 6mm Colt machine guns
(1911) – Four 6 pounders in rapid fire mounts
If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International
They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship you can find http://www.warship.org/membership.htm
The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.
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I’m a member, so should you be!
Fort Benning’s PAO has put out a good series of “Shooter’s Corner” safety and manipulation drills for the M4 series as explained by the Army Marksmanship Unit in the past few weeks. Its a tad dry, but really good stuff.
Since 1966 Strum, Ruger has made a number of their rifle designs with a full-length stock that harkened back to the days of Imperial Germany and Austria. These guns, the International series, have an interesting back-story and provide collectors with a good shooting rifle that also attracts immediate attention.
Where did the design come from?
In 1889, Paul Mauser was revamping his Model 71/84 bolt-action rifle, in an attempt to gain some more overseas contracts. One of his guns, a short carbine with a full-length, one-piece wooden stock that went all the way up to the muzzle crown, was eventually sold to the Argentine government as the M1891 Cavalry and Engineers series carbines.
1891 Argentine Engineer’s Carbine
The one-piece stock allowed the horsemen to pick up their rifles and put them back inside leather scabbards or over their shoulder without a barrel, hot after fast or prolonged firing, burning their neck, or melting the scabbard or horseflesh.
Other cavalry carbines had much the same idea and even the British Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle had a full-length stock that ended very near the end of the muzzle.
In 1903, the Austrian Mannlicher–Schönauer rifle, using new and innovative rotary magazine of Herr Otto Schönauer, kicked off a much larger production run of these guns with a similar stock, which soon were offered for the civilian market– proving very popular with aristocratic European hunters pre-WWI.
While the military left this concept behind, the style remained a hit with sportsmen who frequented the Alps, Carpathians, Pyrenees, and other European mountain chains as the full-length wood stock allowed the gun to be used as a walking stick when needed to boost up trekking up hills and added a modicum of protection for the barrel when you’re banging it against trees and descending from a bluff. In fact, Mannlicher still makes these full-stocked guns in a dozen different calibers today, proving that a 126+ year old design can still prove popular.
Enter Ruger..
Ruger M77 RSI International Hawkeye in .270. You know that’s swag.
Cette photographie est protégée par un copyright, merci d’en signer l’origine par la mention : © Photo Marius BAR – Toulon (France) site internet : http://www.mariusbarnumerique.fr voir rubrique Boutique -> Navires/Warships
As a salute to France. Here we see the battleship, Richelieu, as viewed from USS Saratoga (CV-3), during operations with the Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean, 1944, her tricolor proud in the wind. The 150,000shp powerplant on these ships was the most powerful ever installed on a dreadnought up to that time and would only be surpassed by the 212,000shp units of the Iowa-class fast battleships. During Trials, Richelieu was able to maintain a speed of 30 knots at a displacement of 43,100 long tons at 155,000shp. When forcing the engines to 179,000shp, Richelieu was able to steam at 32.68 knots.
(Photo: US National Naval Aviation Museum: 1977.031.085.011)
Its advisable to put one of these together before you need it. Just saying.
Here in the U.S., the 1911 reigns supreme in the minds of many shooters, with perhaps the Glock series coming in a very narrow second place finish. Among 1911 fans, the Commander style guns, which offer a more compact .45 for concealed carry has long been a crowd-pleaser. With that being said, it shouldn’t surprise you that Glock has an equivalent.
Meet the Commander
In 1949, Colt redesigned their legacy M1911 .45ACP GI to meet a tender from the Army for a compact handgun to arm officers with. Their design is known to history as the Colt Commander, which debuted on the civilian market the next year. Sporting an aluminum (Coltalloy) frame, this more compact version of the old longslide tipped the scales at 27 ounces (unloaded) and had an overall length of 7.75-inches due to its 4.25-inch long barrel.
You know that’s some pretty shit there.
Still using the standard 1911 single stack mag, it held 7+1 rounds. The gun has proved popular, remaining in production for decades with Colt through its steel-framed Combat Commander, Commander Gold Cup, Combat Elite and CCO series. Further, it’s been imitated by just about everyone that makes a 1911-style pistol from Llama to Kimber and Rock Island.
Why the G30
In 1995, Glock was on the ropes due to the Federal Assault Weapons Ban enacted by Pres. Clinton. This flawed legislation banned a number of guns from sale and production over cosmetic features and placed a 10-round cap on detachable magazines. As Glock’s bestsellers at the time were their 17-shot G17, 13-shot G21 and 15-shot G19/G20/G22, this law could have really put a bind on sales.
However Glock took the 10-shot limit and decided to build (smaller) guns around it, introducing what has gone down as their “baby Glock” series; the 9mm G26, .40cal G27, and 10mm G29. These subcompact guns revolutionized concealed carry when introduced and helped get Glock through the AWB years. The .45ACP model of the crop was the G30 and it has a veritable crop of offspring– all very Commander like.
