John Moses Browning was the Leonardo da Vinci of American gun making and his long relationship with Winchester, Colt, and FN changed the entire industry. The inventor of numerous “pocket pistols” of the 1900s (FN M1899, Colt 1903/1908 Pocket Hammerless, FN 1906 Vest Pocket, FN 1910) as well as the calibers they were chambered in (.25, .32, and .380 ACP), he probably did more for early 20th Century concealed carry than any other man.
One of his longest-lived designs was the well-liked FN Model 1910. A striker-fired, blowback action, single-stack .32 ACP (7+1 capacity) or .380 ACP (6+1 capacity) semi-auto with a 3.16-inch barrel, it remained in production for a solid 73 years, including military and police use in dozens of countries. Many of its traits such as the grip safety were familiar to past Browning designs. Other hallmarks, like its recoil-spring-wrapped barrel, were borrowed by later designs of the period such as the Walther PP/PPK and Makarov PM.
The M1910 proved so popular that FN produced it in a lengthened version (the M1922, which had a 4.46-inch barrel) and eventually managed to import it to the U.S. consumer market via the Browning Arms Company of St. Louis and Montreal starting in the 1950s.
The Browning Model 1955 was just a re-branded FN Model 1910. Made in Belgium, they began importation to the U.S. and Canada in the mid-1950s, hence the model number. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Then came the Gun Control Act of 1968, which, among other restrictions, placed an arbitrary list of requirements on imported firearms into the U.S. to meet a “sporting purposes” test. This included mandatory length and height requirements that left pistols such as the Walther PPK and Browning Model 1955 coming up short.
FN’s answer? Stretch the Model 1910, err, Model 1955.
This led to what is known as the Model 10 of 1971, or the 10/71.
Surplus M1911 Sales: As many of you just saw, we recently provided a detailed update on the status of this operation via social media and the CMP Forum. In summary, we assess that the CMP is still several months from resuming the sale and transfer of M1911 Pistols. Throughout this process, CMP staff members worked tirelessly implementing strengthened M1911 operations – with an increased workforce dedicated to the distribution of these pistols, all while CMP armorers continue to inspect and prepare pistols for sale.
Round four orders will be fulfilled once sales resume; followed by new orders. We have a large quantity of pistols on hand and can fulfill all round four orders and many thousands more once we resume sales. As we indicated in the previous update, after round four we will proceed with an open and continuous order process (no more rounds) and fulfill orders on a first received-first fulfilled basis.
But, don’t send in new orders in yet. We will promulgate guidance once we have a better sense of when sales will resume. We also expect the two pistols/person per lifetime limit to remain in effect for the next year. While this restriction is not codified in the law, it is guidance from the Department of the Army. The CMP will review options with the Army later in FY25. Again, we apologize for the unexpected delays within our M1911 program and are eager to once again distribute these exceptional firearms.
AMC classes restarting
The Advanced Maintenance Class (AMC) is a three-day course in Anniston, Ala., for those who wish to take their passion for the timeless M1 Garand rifle to the next level. Set within CMP’s Custom Shop, the AMC offers participants the chance to receive unparalleled, one-on-one training from experienced CMP armorers on headspace, barrel installation, component function, maintenance, and more – all absorbed as students construct personal rifles from CMP’s arsenal of authentic M1 Garand parts.
Additionally, students will receive a guided visit to the CMP South Store and Talladega Marksmanship Park to view the grounds and fire their newly crafted rifles from the course.
Due to the popularity of the classes, registration for the AMC will be based on a random drawing. Registration for the random drawing will be open from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. Registering for multiple classes is permitted, but no applicant will be selected for more than one slot. Former AMC participants are welcome to sign up for 2025.
The terms “silencer” and “suppressor” are used interchangeably in the firearms community, and we are here (hear?) to tell you the story of how this came about and which term is more correct.
Going back to the 19th century, “devices for the lessening the noise of firearms” were patented as far back as 1894. However, it wasn’t until Hiram Percy Maxim, a man uniquely obsessed with making loud things quiet for the sake of hearing protection, that the first trademarked “Silencer” (big S) came about in 1909.
Dr. Shush
Why was Maxim interested in hearing protection? A big part of this was because his father, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, generally regarded as the inventor of the modern belt-fed machine gun, went quite deaf after long periods of exhibiting his guns for interested clients sans ear protection.
Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim seen showing Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII, around his gun, and depicted in a 1904 caricature.
The junior Maxim began working on his acoustical mufflers in 1902 and by 1909 started securing a series of patents on “Silencer” and “Silent firearm” devices. His Connecticut-based company first was branded as the Maxim Silent Firearms Company, and later the Maxim Silencer Co.
Maxim, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, even marketed himself as “Dr. Shush.” Following in his father’s footsteps, he was his own best spokesman for his products and stressed how they made shooting safer and more enjoyable.
Maxim was a showman. (Photos: SilencerCo)
He successfully landed a series of large newspaper interviews in 1909.
The allure of a “noiseless gun” was sure to draw headlines. (Photos: Library of Congress, Chronicling America newspaper archive)
The company sold not only a series of Silencers but also couplings to attach them to barrels and instructions for gunsmiths and hardware shops to thread barrels for the screw-on devices, interestingly advocating a rather fat (by today’s standards) 20-thread pattern. Silencers could be purchased by mail order for $5, about $160 in today’s inflated dollars.
Were Maxim’s designs truly silent? Not at all, but it was great branding, especially when he had to fight for market share against a crowded field of contemporary competitors. Matthew Moss, writing for Small Arms Review, notes at least nine inventors at the time (Harry Craven, Anthony Fiala, Charles H. Kenney, Herbert Moore, Robert A. Moore, Eugene Thurle, R.M. Towson, Andy Shipley, James Stinson, et. al) were seeking patents for similar devices, with several ultimately going on to market them with mixed success.
There are few period tests between these 1910s-era firearm mufflers. The Army’s Ordnance Bureau, which ordered 100 of Maxim’s devices and 100 from Robert A. Moore’s firm for tests on the M1903 Springfield, preferred the former, noting that “it was possible to give perfectly audible instructions when the Silencer was used.” It was estimated to have reduced noise by as much as two-thirds. Given the technology of the era, that had to be what could best be described as a wild guess.
World War I era cutting edge: M1903 Springfield with the M1913 Warner & Swasey Musket Sight mounted. It also mounts a Maxim Model 15 “Government Silencer,” October 1918. The Army maintained its stocks of Silencers until 1925. (U.S. Army photo via National Archives)
Common Vernacular
In the end, Maxim’s Silencer (which wasn’t silent), won the marketing war and emerged as the Dr. Pepper among a crowd of Mr. Pibbs. Teddy Roosevelt used one to quietly zap tin cans around the yard without disturbing the neighbors and exchanged personal correspondence with the inventor. Period cartoons even gagged about noisy diners being offered “Maxim Soup Silencers.”
Maxim’s company went on to market Silencers for motorboats and automobiles on much the same principle.
Maxim upsized his Silencers for other applications.
The public had so associated the Silencer with firearm report moderators by 1934 that the National Firearms Act hearings – which largely started as an effort to ban most guns in the country, including all common pistols and revolvers – used the term no less than eight times. While handguns escaped the government regulation, silencers (little “s”) did not. Never being banned outright on the federal level, they were instead hit with a $200 tax, which adjusts out to $4,800 in today’s terms. The silencer term, enshrined in 1934, is still on the books in the U.S. Code, retained in the 1968 Gun Control Act, and used by the ATF today – an organization that was only established in 1972.
In the meantime, the repressive tax largely killed the American suppressor industry until the 1970s, when companies like Mitch Wer-Bell’s SIONICS and Dr. Phil Dater’s AWC (now Gemtech) began quietly (see what we did there?) operating. By then the stifling NFA tax, frozen at $200 since the Depression, had been whittled down to a more manageable outlay thanks to the federal government’s habit of printing fiat currency in an economic pinch after Nixon ended the gold standard.
What About the Term Suppressor?
In today’s terms, “suppressor” has largely supplanted and replaced “silencer” in use, starting with patents filed in the 1980s. The term is more correct as, while the devices moderate and reduce the sound signature of a muzzle report, they do not remove it. In most cases, despite what Hollywood would lead us to believe, while suppressors paired with subsonic ammunition that removes the “crack” of a projectile breaking the sound barrier can be made hearing safe, you can still hear the gunshot, albeit muted.
As detailed by the American Suppressor Association, suppressors typically “reduce the noise of a gunshot by an average of 20 to 35 decibels, which is roughly the same as earplugs or earmuffs.”
Even the most effective suppressors, on the smallest and quietest calibers (.22 LR), reduce the peak sound level of a gunshot to between 110-120 dB. To put that in perspective, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), that is as loud as a jackhammer (110 dB) or an ambulance siren (120 dB). For normal caliber handguns and rifles, suppressed sound levels routinely exceed 130 dB, just shy of OSHA’s “hearing safe” threshold of 140 dB.
For reference, check out this Taurus TX22 with a SilencerCo Switchback, one of the better rimfire cans on the market, firing standard velocity .22 LR ammunition.
It’s quieter, but you can still hear it.
In addition to noise abatement and hearing protection, the use of a suppressor can also help with firearms training, especially as it curbs the traditional “crack” to a more manageable “pop.”
Is it a “silencer?” Not really.
Is it a “Silencer?” Only if made by Mr. Hiram Percey Maxim’s Silencer Company.
Is it a suppressor? Yup.
So in other words, to turn a phrase, a Silencer is a suppressor but a suppressor is not a silencer, despite what the media says about potatoes.
Much like the long-discontinued Taurus Model 80 and Rossi Model 68, guns now some 30 years out of production, the Heritage Roscoe is a simple and rugged .38 revolver that looks good and doesn’t break the bank.
It has the look and feel of a vintage S&W J-frame but without the cost – and, unlike a classic Smith or Colt Dick, you can take it to the range and beat on it without losing any collector value. Plus, it has some modern features you didn’t find in those guns such as the transfer bar and heavy barrel profile.
The 3-inch variant runs an inch or so longer than a snub gun, giving a longer (4.97-inch) sight radius while wringing more velocity from the ammo used – all while being very concealable.
You can always get one and turn it into a budget Fitz Special, which seems like a great choice if looking for that.
Is it the best .38 for concealed carry or personal defense compared to more modern designs with shrouded hammers, better triggers, options for adding optics, and weight savings via the inclusion of aluminum and polymer? Not even close, but it can still clock in when needed.
It is no slouch in terms of practical accuracy and is rated to run .38 +P on occasion.
It’s nice to see the Heritage time travel with the Roscoe, which is a bit of fresh air, albeit with a twinge of cigar smoke to it.
Dark Mountain Arms may be a new firearms maker, but they come with a history of innovation, and their first product, the Stowaway, keeps that track record intact.
We’ve been following this incredibly light takedown rifle since it popped up on the radar earlier this year and actively testing one for the past couple of months.
A simple new platform from Fletcher, North Carolina’s veteran-owned Dark Mountain Arms, the Stowaway system is a single-shot, bolt-action takedown firearm initially being offered in 5.7 NATO, but as it is multi-caliber via an easy swap of a bolt face and barrel, future options on the table include 9mm, 4.6×30, .22 LR, .22 WMR, .17 Mach2, and .17 HMR.
An easily packable design with a weight of less than 3 pounds (2.8 pounds for the 16-inch threaded barreled rifle and 2 pounds flat for the 5-inch barreled pistol), the gun can be stowed in two primary pieces and then easily reassembled.
Founded by two friends in 2017, Montana’s Shield Arms has a simple philosophy of bringing new and innovative products to the firearms industry – while ingraining perseverance and community in all they do.
Established by Brandon Zeider and Seth Berglee in the Bigfork area, Shield is probably best known for its series of S15 pistol magazines for the Glock 43X/48, which boosts the pistol’s capacity from 10 rounds to 15.
A vintage deck gun system that was once a staple of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard has quietly fired its final shots.
Designed by the famed munitions firm of OTO Melara of La Spezia, Italy, and marketed from 1963 onward as the 76/62C Compact, the remote-controlled 76mm (3-inch) gun with its characteristic bubble dome was an immediate hit with NATO and Western fleets, eventually seeing service with 60 nations.
West German Type 148 missile boats show their 76mm OTO guns during a visit to the UK, in 1977
The reason it was so popular was that using aluminum alloys, a water-cooled gun barrel, and an automatic loader with an 80-round magazine, it delivered much better performance than any manned 3-inch gun mount in service at the time while weighing much less. Guided by the ship’s onboard radar and fire control system, it could engage air targets as high as 13,000 feet and surface targets out to 20,000 yards.
The 76/62 designation comes from the bore (76mm) and barrel length (62 caliber), the latter figure denoting a 4,724mm long barrel, which translates to 15.5 feet.
The 76/62C Compact, seen in its components from a 1980 U.S. Navy training publication:
Note the gun control panel which was mounted in the ammunition handling room below deck under the mount. The mount captain fired the gun from the panel while two ammunition loaders stood by to reload the magazine.
A look under the hood so to speak, showing off the details of the gun itself and its magazine.
The mag used two concentric rings of shells, each holding 35 rounds, with a hydraulic motor rotating the screw feeder– which held another six rounds not unlike that of a common “six-shooter” revolver. Together with the four rounds held in the loader drum, the gun held 80 shells, which could be expended in just under one minute.
A view of the magazine rings of the MK-75 gun aboard USCGC Mohawk (WMEC 913) while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, Sept. 1, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jessica Fontenette)
The types of “war shot” rounds in U.S. service included High Explosive Point Detonating (HE-PD), High Explosive Infrared (HE-IR), Variable Time Non-fragmenting (VT-NF), High Explosive Variable Time (HE-VT), and High Explosive Radio Frequency proximity (HE-RF).
Exercise and training shells included the Blind-Loaded and Plugged (BL&P) round with a live round that had an inert projectile while wholly inert rammable and non-rammable dummy and gauging rounds were also available.
Crew load 76mm rounds into the magazine of the MK-75 gun aboard USCGC Mohawk (WMEC 913) while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, Sept. 1, 2022. HE-PD rounds can be seen in the outer ring and blue-colored BLP target rounds are peeking out of the inner ring. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jessica Fontenette)
The gun control panel below-deck under the mount, complete with its view of the magazine rings. Seen on the USCGC Midgett (WHEC 721) in June 1999. USCG photo by PA2 Alice Sennott
Shells were brought on and off the packed in grey shipping containers, loaded old-school via chain gangs.
Sailors aboard the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) move 76mm rounds during an ammunition onload. Rodney M. Davis, based out of Everett, Wash., is on patrol in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Derek A. Harkins/Released)
For a great look at the inner guts of the 76/62C Compact, check out this short video from the German Navy, which has used the gun since 1965. Don’t worry if your German is rusty, the video speaks for itself.
With the U.S. Navy opting to mount a smaller 3-inch gun on its planned Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates in the 1970s– a big change from the manned 5-inch guns mounted on the Knox-class frigates that preceded them– the Pentagon went with the Italian “robot gun” design.
A destroyer escort, USS Talbot (DEG-4), in late 1974 had an Italian-produced 76/62C Compact installed on her bow forward of the superstructure in place of the ship’s original 5-inch manned mount which used a design that dated to World War II.
USS Talbot seen circa 1974-75 with an OTO Melara 76/62C Compact installed. (Photos: U.S. Navy History and Heritage Command)
The Naval Systems Division of the FMC Corporation in 1975 won the U.S. contract to build the 76/62C Compact in Pennsylvania under license from OTO Melara and delivered the first American-built model in August 1978. The Navy, which designated the gun the MK 75, went on to install them in 51 Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates built between 1975 and 1989, along with six Pegasus-class hydrofoil fast attack craft and on the Coast Guard’s 13 new Bear-class cutters that were constructed in the same era.
Likewise, when the Coast Guard’s 12 Vietnam-era Hamilton-class cutters were modernized starting in 1987, they received the MK 75 to replace their outdated 5-inch mounts. The guns were also installed on a series of warships built in the U.S. for overseas customers (Israel, Egypt, Australia, et.al).
The frigates carried the MK 75 atop their superstructure as the bow, the traditional location, was occupied by a missile launcher and its below-deck magazine.
October 2002. USS Sides (FFG 14) fires her 76mm dual-purpose gun at ex-USS Towers (DDG 9) during a SINKEX near San Diego. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
May 2011. The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Thach (FFG 43) fires its MK-75 76mm mounted gun while underway off the coast of Brazil. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
August 2014. The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) conducts a live-fire exercise of its MK 75 76mm/62 caliber gun. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
One of the frigates, USS Simpson (FFG-56), part of Surface Action Group Charlie, had the first combat use of the MK 75 in U.S. service when, in April 1988, used the gun to destroy Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on the Sirri oil platform during Operation Praying Mantis.
Another frigate, USS Nicholas (FFG-47)used her MK 75 during Desert Storm in January 1991 to clear Iraqi troops placed on nine oil platforms in the northern Persian Gulf off of occupied Kuwait. As reported at the time, the frigate “fired three shots at each platform to set the range, followed by about 20 rounds of high-explosive shells, ‘for effect.’ The effect was to demolish quickly all the remaining bunkers.”
The speedy hydrofoils, meanwhile, wore their MK 75 as a hood ornament.
As did the Coast Guard cutters.
Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane firing a commemorative shot on 30 May 2019 to honor the 158th anniversary of its namesake’s action near Fort Sumter, South Carolina. (Photo: USCG)
The water-cooled barrel, using salt water during the firing process and a freshwater flush from the ship’s onboard supply after the firing ceased, led to often extreme muzzle shots with the intersection of steam and propellant.
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Northland conducts a live firing of the MK 75 76mm weapons system while underway, on September 20, 2020, in the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo: USCG)
March 2000. The Coast Guard Cutter Tampa’s 76mm gun blasts a projectile at a moving target during live-fire exercises. Participants took turns firing at “robo-ski,” a small, remote-controlled jet ski. Tampa gunners hit the target every time. USCG Photo by ET3 Shane Taylor.
The gun uses a saltwater cooling system and a freshwater cleaning run after firing concludes, seen here on USCGC Escanaba in 2028.
All things come to an end
However, there has been a slow-motion end to this story that started with the retirement of the hydrofoils in 1993, and the frigates losing their MK 75s by 2015 in a series of refits. This left the Navy, who “owns” the installed weapons on Coast Guard cutters, still on the hook for logistics contracts with BAE systems and OTO Melara (now Leonardo) for parts and support.
Those days are gone as the 76/62C is out of production both in the U.S. and Italy, with Leonardo replacing the system in its catalog with the faster-firing (though still with only an 80-round ready magazine) and more stealthy 76/62 Super Rapid (SR) Gun Mount.
Eventually, the Ordnance Shop at the Coast Guard yard took ownership of the MK 75 program and was even tapped to support the guns on frigates and cutters transferred overseas.
Since then, the Hamilton class has all retired and has been transferred overseas and now the Bear class cutters are in the process of being stripped of their MK 75s during refits, and replaced by smaller (albeit currently produced) MK 38 25mm guns. Overseas allies are similarly phasing out the gun.
This brings us to the coda of the Bear-class USCGC Mohawk (WMEC 913) firing her MK 75 for the last time this summer, an event that was held during a gunnery exercise in the Florida Straits. The service said in a press release this week that it was a “significant historical event” as Mohawk was “the last in its class to fire the onboard Mk 75 gun weapon system.”
Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk’s (WMEC 613) Mk 75 weapon system fires, Aug. 16, 2024, during a gunnery exercise in the Florida Straits. Mohawk was the last Famous-class medium endurance cutter to fire the onboard Mk 75 mm gun weapon system as large caliber weapon systems onboard these cutters are being modernized for the service life extension program. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ensign Brian Morel)
Perhaps once the mount is phased out for good, the USS Aries Museum, the only preserved U.S. Navy hydrofoil, can pick up one of the old MK 75s to help complete her Cold War profile.
The Kalashnikov pattern AKS-74U (GRAU Index 6P26) rifle was adopted for service by the Soviet military in 1979. A shortened version of the 5.45x39mm AK74, the U stands for “Ukorochenniy,” which is Russian for “shortened” which is logical as it only has an 8.3-inch barrel and 19.36-inch overall length with its stock side folded.
Soviet paratrooper clutching his AKS-74U Krinkov
Of course, the AKS-74U is better known in the West as the Krinkov. Its typically issued in the same vein as the M1 Carbine was in WWII among the U.S. Army: to equip vehicle crews, for use by officers and NCOs, and by light/elite troops such as airborne and special operations units. In all, equipping something like 30-40 percent of the Russian ground forces.
Well, it seems those days are over.
The Kalashnikov Concern JSC announced recently it plans to put the 5.45mm AM-17 compact rifle into mass production in 2025. The rifle’s design, based on the Dragunov MA (yes, as in the same guy behind the SVD rifle) was updated following combat trials in the Ukraine.
The new features include a folding telescopic buttstock, an ambidextrous fire selector switch, a Picatinny rail coupled to the barrel, what looks to be M-LOK slots, and a charging handle that can be installed on either the right or left side.
The same general size of the AKS-7U, the AM-17 is lighter and easier to produce due to the fact that it uses a polymer lower rather than sheet metal, while still allowing a rate of fire of 850 rpm.
Germany’s Heckler & Koch finally dropped a commercially available micro compact 9mm pistol this week, debuting the thoroughly tested HK CC9 onto the market.
The polymer-framed striker-fired “one and a half stack” 9mm offers flush 10+1 and extended 12+1 capacity magazines, is optics-ready (RMSc/407k footprint) with a tritium front sight and a blacked out, serrated rear sight; and is somewhat modular through the use of interchangeable backstraps.
It is almost the exact same size as the SIG P365 (introduced in Jan. 2018), Springfield Armory Hellcat (Aug. 2019), and March 2021’s Ruger MAX-9 and S&W M&P Shield Plus. Then of course there are the more recent Canik Mete MC9, Taurus GX4, Stoeger STR-9MC, et. al, ad nauseum.
However, HK has a big up by saying they held to the same standards as their full-size duty pistols and tested the micro compact to the NATO AC/225 standards across 750,000 rounds. This meant running it in extreme temperatures, dust, sand, and mud, and “being dropped to simulate real-world conditions,” with the latter part seeming like the company was throwing a little shade at some other pistol makers.
So they may have just taken the time to get it right…
Palmetto State Armory on Tuesday signaled the end, at least for now, of its love-hate relationship with rebooting the iconic StG 44.
The South Carolina-based gunmaker announced at SHOT ’23 that its clone would be the first in what they dubbed the “Battlefield” series of historic guns. PSA had enlisted Mac Steil, the “M” of the defunct Hill & Mac Gunworks, a small gunmaker that had been working on an updated semi-auto Sturmgewehr clone for the better part of a decade but never made it to market.
The StG reboot is now vapor ware.
The guns were to be made with modern techniques complete with a threaded barrel, a long stroke piston operating tilting bolt action, an HK style trigger pack, wooden furniture, and the possibility of being chambered in 5.56 NATO, 7.62x39mm, .300 AAC Blackout, or the original 7.92 Kurz– the latter is still in production by Privi Partisan in Europe.
However, that bubble now seems to have popped, as PSA announced this week.
The TL;DR: They couldn’t make it work and the juice apparently wasn’t worth the squeeze.
