23 Sept 01

>From a friend and student:

"I purchased a ‘Norinco, AK Hunter' (sporterized stock on a Kalashnikov, with a two-position, flip-up rear pistol-type sight) years ago, so that I would have a weapon capable of firing 7.62 x 39 ammunition. I shot the rifle upon first obtaining it and found some reliability problems igniting Chinese ammunition. Russian Wolff ammunition worked fine. The rifle was then cleaned and put away until yesterday.

During range firing, the manual safety lever became stuck in the ‘off' position. I pointed the rifle at the backstop and jiggled the safety lever up and down in an effort to engage it. THE RIFLE FIRED! There was no manipulation of the bolt, and the trigger was never touched.

I immediately declared the weapon unfit, unloaded it, and retired it from further use.

It will be turned in at the next, local, $100.00 gun-buy-back."

Lesson: Be it ammunition or guns, anything with "Norinco" on it is not recommended.

/John

24 Sept 01

On the Kalashnikov System from Alex Robinson of Robinson Arms:

"I haven't seen many Norinco or Polytech rifles which did not work. I must say that I've not shot the ‘Hunter' edition. The only AKs which I've seen that don't work consistently are the Romanian SAR-3s in 223 Cal. The fire control parts are not to spec on many. The hammers have been cut so that they do not reliably hit the firing pin. The worst part is that the magazines do not properly feed the rounds into the chamber.

If your students are interested in the Kalashnikov System. We import the AKs built on RPK receivers. They are called VEPRs. They are remarkably accurate but are a little on the heavy side. We have them in .308, .223, and 7.62x39mm. Only the .223 and 7.62x39mm are high capped, but they all work flawlessly."

/John

24 Sept 01

This is from a friend who is a civilian employee of DOD. He is scheduled to deploy overseas with his military unit, as he is an integral part:

"I pointed out to my military superiors that civilians (like me) are not covered by SGLI (or any other kind of life insurance for that matter) in a war zone and asked if they would be able to get SGLI to cover us. I was curtly informed that would not be possible. I also indicated, in a war zone, I wanted to carry a gun. That request was greeted with incredulous looks and comments like, ‘You're a noncombatant. You can't carry a weapon.' I pointed out to them that Mr bin Ladin and his ilk consider no one to be a noncombatant, and that they underlined that philosophy in NYC earlier this month!

I then made it clear that, of the insurance and personal protection situations were not solved to my satisfaction, I wouldn't be going. I'm not about to be unarmed and unprotected in a war zone. I was looking for a job when I got here. They went into a dither. I'm holding firm.

Too bad it takes a ‘civilian' to lead the good fight!"

Lesson: One would have thought all this would have all been worked out long ago. Things haven't changed much since 1950!

/John