dalbert

Enforcers with muzzle devices is my vote. David

They might be Enforcers. David

How awesome is that! David

I want to ask if anyone here has an AR15 manual from earlier than February 1960. I have some very early AR15 paper, and a Colt publication from 2/60 in my collection is the earliest item I've ever seen. I looked through The Black Rifle, and The Black Rifle II, and did not see anything earlier, though there are only a handful of manuals documented in those books. The item I have is not shown in The Book of Colt Paper. Thanks! David Albert dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

Hi Skip, Yes, please send me a photo of the top of the sight showing the meter markings, if you would please to my email listed below. I greatly appreciate it. Another member sent me a pic of a 1000 yard example. Thank you very much! David Albert dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

Thanks for the link. I have photos of both sights, but they are copyrighted, like the content at the link. I am looking for someone to take a pic of their own example sights so that I can publish the photo without worrying about a copyright. David

I'm hoping someone here can help me out. I would like to publish photos of 2 different styles of C96 Mauser Broomhandle pistol sights in a chapter I am doing for a book, and it will possibly be published in a journal, also. If you have a Broomhandle with either a 500-meter or 1000-meter sight, I would appreciate if you could reach out to me. I would credit your name for any photo used. Thanks In Advance! David Albert dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

I bought mine in 1988 in Austin for $1200. David

Refinished. I bought several for $3 apiece at the Houston Gun Show circa 1990. David

The funny thing is I couldn't even edit the original color and highlight. Not sure why. lol. Oh well. I'm sure the regret of selling in 1985 haunts you. A replacement can be found, though at probably 24x the original price. David

Phil Askew is in Las Vegas currently, and visited the Mob Museum. Turns out that the Berrien County, Michigan Sheriff's Office has loaned them Colt Thompson #2347 for display. For those who may not know, Colt #2347 is the primary weapon proven by firearm forensic pioneer Calvin Goddard to have been used in the St. Valentine's day Massacre in 1929. A 50-round drum was fired through it by Al Capone's thugs to kill 7 people in a garage in Chicago. The late Lt. Mike Kline of Berrien County displayed these guns several times, many of them with The American Thompson Association, and I was lucky to know Mike, and to have close personal access to #2347 and #7580. I once fired 50 rounds through #2347. Eeriest time I ever shot a firearm. It has little file marks along the trigger guard indicating number of kills. If I recall correctly, Goddard also proved this Thompson to have been used in an earlier murder, maybe 1926. Anyway, not sure how long #2347 will be on display, but Phil was nice enough to send me the photos. Thanks, Phil! David Albert dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

Thanks, Dan, for this information. We are lucky to have you documenting this, which should prove helpful to someone in the future. Your observations will help us better understand why the .22 WH Thompsons have varied reputation for reliability. David

I’m happy to hear that Kahr treated you well, robbo. David

Could have been missed? Or maybe cost reduction, as Merry Ploughboy suggests. David

I'm writing a chapter for a book about Chinese Nationalist procurement of firearms from the U.S. between 1921-23. In 2009, I acquired over 100 documents from that time period which documented procurement and export of Thompson Submachine Guns, Broomhandle Mausers, and hundreds of Orbea Hermanos S&W copy revolvers, among other very interesting items to export to Nationalist China to combat Chinese warlords. Many of the guns provided samples which were subsequently copied and morphed by the Chinese. Anyway, during my research, I sorta re-discovered one of the earliest firearm importation regulatory efforts in our nation's history. On March 27, 1922, Judge Learned Hand ruled for Smith and Wesson against Orbea Hermanos of Eibar, Spain for unfair trade practices, issuing a temporary injunction which subsequently turned into a permanent injunction. To quickly summarize, Orbea had been marking their pistols to resemble S&W M&P revolvers, and at a glance, they fooled many buyers to the tune of hundreds of thousands of lost sales to S&W. Orbea fakes were $12 to S&W's $24 at the time. I am summarizing greatly in this post, and trust me, there's a lot more to the story. My question to those who read this post is as follows: Do you have an Orbea Hermanos revolver that resembles a S&W M&P, with markings almost the same? Or, do you have an Orbea revolver with gold lettering? Orbea got past the injunction later in 1922 when they began to highlight their country of origin in gold lettering. Previously, as part of the ruse to fool American buyers, their markings highlighted the "Smith and Wesson" in ".38 Smith & Wesson" caliber. Anyway, I'm looking for examples of pre and post injunction Orbea Hermanos M&P style revolvers of early 1920's vintage. I want to compare photographs, and I'm also interested in acquiring examples of these pistols for my collection, even though they are of substandard quality. My research has led me down a fascinating path, and now I want some examples for myself, lol. Thanks in Advance, David Albert