22 May 01

Comments on rifles from my African friends:

"The only rifles that work well here are the Kalashnikovs ( Rs, AKs, Galils)= =20 and the SKS. They are not as =E2=80=98tight' (or as accurate) as M16s and F= ALs, but=20 they keep going through all kinds of conditions.

When we were supplying an =E2=80=98army' in Angola, they wanted to see Ameri= can=20 M-16s, South African Rs, the French FAMAS, the English Bullpup, and the=20 Austrian Steyr AUG. All worked fine in standard tests, except, of course,=20 the British gun which summarily fell apart. However, the last =E2=80=98test= ' was=20 unique. They asked that we drive a tank over each rifle, one at a time! We= =20 did, and only the FAMAS and our R survived. Both were badly scuffed and=20 bent, but both continued to function normally. They selected the R. =20 On another subject, our local African arms producer, Vektor, has now been=20 ordered by our government to stop all production and marketing of all pistol= s=20 and autoloading and pump rifles for local, civilian consumption. For the=20 moment, their line of bolt-action, hunting rifles will stay in production,=20 and they will still produce Rs for our military and overseas sales. They=20 obviously want to make defensive firearms unavailable to all us civilian pon= d=20 scum.

Another subject: You can add Norinco ammunition to your not-recommended list= .=20 My students, like yours, typically buy the cheapest ammunition upon which=20 they can get their hands. After innumerable stoppages and other=20 ammunition-related problems, they moan and whine, distracting the rest of th= e=20 class. We have had a number of slam-fires and innumerable other=20 ammunition-related difficulties with Norinco ammunition, particularly 223. =20= I=20 no longer allow it here."

/John