Remember the Arm Pistol? It’s Back (Maybe)

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Designed by Mack W. Gwinn, Jr, Bushmaster Armpistol ads started popping up for the gun in the early-1970s. It was arguably the first AR pistol on the consumer market. 

Mack W. Gwinn, Jr, a Vietnam-era member of the Army’s Special Forces recon teams, was also an un-lauded 1970s firearms genius. He created the Bushmaster series pistols (the Arm Pistol), rifles, and SMGs; the QCB variant of the .50 cal M-2HB, the SSP-86 pistol, and the 90-round MWG magazine for M16 and Mini-14.

His son, Mack Gwinn, III, now leads Hydra Weaponry.

HW was supposed to come to SHOT show and exhibit the newest version of the old Arm Pistol, the BMP-223, but their booth space (40420) was empty when we went looking for them in “the basement.”

As noted by Hydra: “The BMP-23 is the 5.56m pistol that Gwinn Jr. would have built if he had today’s CNC machinery and technologically advanced materials.

The AK47-type gas piston design pistol with an A2 grip is composed of lightweight aluminum and steel construction, coming in at 5.2 lbs. The chrome-moly barrel is 11.5 inches. The BMP-23 features integral iron sights and a unique 40-degree swivel design that allows it to switch from right to left-hand operation.”

Sounds cool. Be a lot cooler if we could have seen it.

From the Basement of SHOT Show

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One of the most uncovered things at SHOT Show last month, I thought, was the Rhineland R3000.

The what?

Exactly.

With styling that evokes the classic Walther WA2000 bullpup, the R3000 is constructed using full-size AR10 parts compatible with SR25-pattern magazines.

At its heart is a custom monolith extruded T7075 aluminum receiver married up to a Shilen match grade barrel with a stainless steel barrel nut, a low-profile gas block that fits under a full-length M1913 top Picatinny rail designed for top or side-mount bipods, a CMC match grade trigger pack, HK pattern push pins, and an American walnut thumbhole bullpup stock.

Note the side-charging bolt carrier group.

If you ever thought, hey, I’d love a WA2000 clone in .308 with AR10 compatibility, then the R3000 could be for you

They also have an R2000, which is the same thing but in an AR15 5.56 concept.

Navy Getting to Finally Do…Navy Things

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Word is, with the surface fleet pulling a budget version of the convoy battles of the North Atlantic in the Red Sea over the past few months, with Houthi/Iranian drones, small boats, and cruise missiles tabbing in for U-boats and Condors, recruitment and retention is tracking upward.

That’s because it is hard to spend the next four years getting the blue weenie while worrying if you have your POSH/SAPR modules up to date and policing up your area while your ship is cold iron at the yard for the next who-knows-long period and the biggest opportunity to actually “do” something kinda high speed is the prospect of the occasional tense transit through the South China Sea. Or worse, recruiting duty.

With that, the Navy just recently put together this excellent 3-minute mini moto movie featuring pep talks from the tin cans getting “birds away” on the Houthi line.

FYA, there are at least 53 documented attacks by the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) between 19 November 2023 and 6 February 2024 in the region.

And, for a deeper dive, VADM Brendan McLane, Commander, Naval Surface Forces (the SWO Boss) talks readiness, manning, Red Sea operations, and directed energy weapons with USNI host Bill Hamblet for a half-hour.

Gevechtstank? Ja

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As we have covered before, the Dutch Army had some light mech units before WWII but after the conflict went all-in on combined arms units, first fielding MAP-program M4 Shermans:

Dutch Sherman M4A1E8 76mm HVSS gevechtstank 1955 NIMH AKL064735

And then purchasing 468 new Leopard 1s in the 1960s.

Twee cavaleristen in een Leopard 1V (Verbeterd) tank in een verdekte opstelling tijdens een oefening, vermoedelijk in West-Duitsland, circa 1984 NIMH

Followed by another 445 Leopard 2A4s (NL version which were all German but used Dutch radios, antenna bases, FN MAG machine guns, and smoke mortars) in the 1980s, then upgraded the latter to 2A5 and later 2A6 standard.

Een Leopard 2A5 in opstelling onder winterse omstandigheden. Op de tanktoren is een mondingsvlamnabootsingsinstallatie gemonteerd. November 1998. NIMH AKL052587

This also gave them a modicum of power projection overseas to its few remaining colonies, as seen in the 2006 shot of a Leo 2A6 landing on the beach in Curacao during Joint Caribbean Lion.

Then came a great tank-going-out-of-buisness sale, with the Dutch selling just about everything they had with tracks to five allied countries and in 2012 disbanding its last full-time armored unit. The sole tank unit at the disposal of the Netherlands is 17 leased Leopard 2A6s as part of a joint German/Dutch unit (the German 414th Panzer Battalion).

Now, it seems like the Dutch have seen the error of their ways, and want at least a full-strength tank battalion– which will cost something like $339 million a year, not counting the expense of new armor.

Baa, Baa .45

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While on the ground at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas last month, we came across a Government Issue .45 1911 that looked more at home in the South Pacific in 1943. 

As part of its Air Aces Series, Auto-Ordnance had its new Black Sheep 1911 on display. Crafted by the folks over at Outlaw Ordnance, the artists start with an Auto-Ordnance Stainless 1911 and then apply a carefully researched red, white, and blue Cerakote finish that emulates a World War II aircraft associated with famed Marine air ace Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. 

A functional work of art, underneath the custom Cerakote finish, the Black Sheep 1911 is still an Auto-Ordnance Stainless 1911 in .45 ACP. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Note the “rivet” pattern, the sheet of Rising sun victory stencils, and the correct “Lucybelle” nose art. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

lso, note the “belly” of the gun is left in the white to emulate the aluminum body of an F4U Corsair. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The aircraft Boyington was photographed with in November 1943, White 86 (BuNo.18086), was an F4U-1A Corsair of the same type he flew with the Black Sheep. Ironically, no records confirm he ever flew it in combat and the bird was made up specifically for the photoshoot. As such, it included 20 Kyokujitsu-ki rising suns, one for each confirmed Japanese aircraft he had shot down by that time, his name, and the nickname (“Lucybelle”) of his then-girlfriend, Lucy Malcomson. He would later fall out with Malcomson, leading to a bitter court case and, when the 1970s TV show “Baa Baa Black Sheep” would recreate this plane, Boyington, then on his fifth wife, advised the producers the plane was named “Lulubelle” instead.

A late model Goodyear FG 1D Corsair (BuNo 92246), one of only about 100 Corsairs left, is painted to emulate White 86 and is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com) 

It has Boyington’s name stenciled under the cockpit but no “kill” flags or Lulubelle/Lucybelle nose art. I guess NNAM didn’t want to wade into that controversy

x

I SPY with my little eye…

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The future USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) recently successfully completed builder’s sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico. Not your typical San Antonio-class gator, LPD 29 is equipped with the first SPY-6(V)2 in the fleet. The Raytheon-produced SPY-6(V)2 Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) features air traffic control and ship self-defense capabilities and will be carried by future big-deck phibs and retrofitted to Nimitz-class carriers during refits.

Ingalls Shipbuilding image

Ingalls Shipbuilding image

Ingalls Shipbuilding image

As noted by Ingalls:

Ingalls Shipbuilding has delivered 12 San Antonio-class ships and currently has three LPDs under construction, including Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29); Harrisburg (LPD 30), the first Flight II LPD; and Pittsburgh (LPD 31). LPD Flight II is the next generation amphibious ship to replace Whidbey Island (LSD 41) and Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) classes of dock landing ships.

Gotta be quicker than that…

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“Escort Carrier HMS Nairana Stalked Unsuccessfully by U-Boat 502, 1 February 1944,” by Charles David Cobb via National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth.

Cobb, Charles David; Escort Carrier HMS ‘Nairana’ Stalked Unsuccessfully by U-Boat 502, 1 February 1944; National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/escort-carrier-hms-nairana-stalked-unsuccessfully-by-u-boat-502-1-february-1944-25980

While a stirring image, the caption, however, is not correct.

U-502, a Type IXC boat under Kptlt. Jürgen von Rosenstiel, was lost on 6 July 1942 in the Bay of Biscay west of La Rochelle due to a rain of depth charges from a 172 Sqn RAF/H Wellington aircraft, with all hands lost.

The escort carrier HMS Nairana (D05), meanwhile, only entered service on 12 December 1943. While on shakedown,  as part of F. J. “Johnny'” Walker’s famous Support Group 2, using Enigma intelligence, chased down the damaged U-592, a Type VIIC under Oblt. Heinz Jaschke, on 31 January 1944 off Ireland, and sent her to the bottom with all hands.

Nairana, whose air group notably splashed a trio of lumbering Junkers Ju 290 while on convoy duty in May 1944, was transferred post-war to the Royal Netherlands Navy as the HMNLS Karel Doorman (QH1), the first Dutch aircraft carrier, then was later sold for commercial use, only being scrapped in 1971.

A Story Told in 10,000 Hot Dogs

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The aging (laid down 7 April 1987) Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), sailing 61,000 nautical miles while serving as the air defense commander for the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (GRFCSG) on a tense Med cruise, just returned to her homeport in Norfolk after 8 months underway.

PIRAEUS, Greece (Dec. 3, 2023) Sailors aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) take in a mooring line as the ship pulls into the port of Piraeus, Greece, Dec. 3, 2023. Normandy is part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and is currently operating in the Mediterranean Sea, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense. The U.S. maintains forward-deployed, ready, and postured forces to deter aggression and support security and stability around the world. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Malachi Lakey)

The “Vanguard of Victory” chalked up some interesting numbers while deployed.

From NS Norfolk PAO:

Over the course of 262 days, Normandy’s crew conducted over 40 replenishments-at-sea, and manned flight quarters 670 times. Normandy’s embarked air detachment, the “Spartans” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70, flew 393 sorties, totaling 1,132 hours flown.

Over the course of 262 days, Normandy’s crew conducted over 40 replenishments-at-sea, and manned flight quarters 670 times. Normandy’s embarked air detachment, the “Spartans” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 70, flew 393 sorties, totaling 1,132 hours flown.

Normandy’s culinary team prepared and served over 388,500 meals, which included over 68,619 lbs. of fresh fruits and vegetables, 4,382 lbs. of steak, 10,520 hot dogs, 3,207 lbs. of bacon, 89,000 individual eggs, and 800 lbs. of coffee.

You know when they broke out those steaks, the crew knew what was up. 

Sadly, this may be Normandy’s final deployment, as she is slated for mothballs next year.

Herr Tournier’s tour of the Americas

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Dragoon, Dragoner-Regiment Prinz Ludwig, 1777. The only mounted Brunswick unit sent to the Americas, they left their horses in Europe and were supposed to get mounts in Canada but only about 30 were supplied, leaving the rank and file to fight on foot. [SOURCE: Uniforms of the American War of Independence. A series of 24 collector cards. Illustration by R. J. Marrion. Fellow of The Company of Military Historians of America. Victoria Gallery, London, England. 1992.]

An interesting piece over at the Journal of the American Revolution by Todd W. Braisted of one Carl Tournier/Charles Turner who, a private soldier in the Prince Ludwig Regiment of Brunswick Dragoons (Dragoner-Regiment Prinz Ludwig), was sent to the Americas under British employ, captured by the Colonials at the Battle of Bennington in August 1777, spent a few months in a POW camp then cast his lot with the Americans of Col. Samuel Brewer’s battalion at West Point, then paroled himself in the summer of 1779 to return to the British.

He then was turned over to Friedrich de Diemar, a Hannoveran captain late of the 60th Regiment of Foot, to join Diemar’s “Black Hussars” troop of the Queen’s Rangers, which had to be raised as a provincial unit to get its collection of 180 odd escaped former German POWs paid.

As noted by Braisted:

So Charles Tournier had the distinction of being a soldier of the Principality of Brunswick, serving in a Loyalist establishment, commanded by a Hanoverian holding a commission in the British Regular Army, officially being placed in the new troop of hussars on September 21, 1779.

More on Herr Tournier’s tour of the Americas over at All Things Liberty.

Do you have an SCR-300 you can Loan to a Museum Exhibit for a bit?

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Come on guys, I know lots of you have a bunch of old gear on the shelf. You radio nerds take note, there is an exhibit that needs to borrow an SCR-300 for a little while.

The meat and potatoes of it, from a curator friend of mine:

Our big project is a traveling exhibit on Edwin Howard Armstrong, radio pioneer extraordinaire with a side interest in radar. He’s best known for inventing and innovating the wideband FM technique of wireless transmission, most notably in broadcasting, but he also supported the succession of AM walkie-talkies (notably the SCR-536) by an FM version that resisted interference from AM electrical noise sources like engine motors. Incredibly, despite the Galvin Corporation (later Motorola) producing 50,000 of the SCR-300, they’re as rare as hen’s teeth here and abroad; even the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at WPAFB is looking for one.

Our exhibit on Armstrong will spend the next two years at the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology and the Pavek Museum in Minneapolis, with potential follow-ons tbd. Do you or anyone you know in your substantial milhist networks have an SCR-300 that we could borrow for exhibition? It would be professionally displayed in a case, insured, and credited as desired.

If you have an SCR-300 (it doesn’t need to be functional), reach out to me at egerwriter@gmail.com and I’ll put you in touch.

Thanks

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