Chester County Armory M45 - Pearl $34K

[Rekraps]

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1104286299

 

I know very little about the Pearl guns, but this one looks nicely done! Price is exactly where it should be...

[Got Uzi]

I'll be curious to see what the transferable one at Morphys does this week.  They also have a pre sample K with four 50 round coffin mags as well.

[hkg3k]

20 hours ago, Rekraps said:

I know very little about the Pearl guns, but this one looks nicely done! Price is exactly where it should be...

Of note is that Pearl made their K receivers the same way the factory did...that the receiver is one piece and was formed by pressing a flat sheet of steel around a mandrel.  This, as opposed to the vast majority of transferable guns where the (registered) tube is welded to the demilled lower remnant. 

[Rekraps]

2 hours ago, hkg3k said:

Of note is that Pearl made their K receivers the same way the factory did...that the receiver is one piece and was formed by pressing a flat sheet of steel around a mandrel.  This, as opposed to the vast majority of transferable guns where the (registered) tube is welded to the demilled lower remnant. 

I had no idea.  How many K’s did Pearl produce?

[Got Uzi]

Not as many as Wilson, but I’m not sure on the total number. 

[Lewisfan]

I have a Pearl and like it. It is just a couple of numbers away from this one for sale. I had mine modified to be select fire. More parts available, I like the "hook" retainer on the end cap, and...why not. Runs great.  Same smooth trigger and reliability. 

When I had the gun "tuned up" a few tears back the trunnion was found to be slightly out of spec (alignment) + a few other issues (maybe the rear sight was off?). Anyways, once I realized that we were doing surgery to fix those issues then I decided to modify it to select fire (+ "the works" - refinish, get the nose job, add boobs, etc. LOL).  All past issues were addressed when it was modified to select fire. 

When I bought mine 20+ years ago, the same seller was selling a reweld too. So there's at least one reweld out there. I spoke with M. Pearl many years ago.  Super nice guy who shared a couple of interesting gun stories. I don't recall mfg numbers but I've heard "50+/-" Pearl K guns were made. Given that these guns (mine + one for sale here) are in the 106x serial range, I would assume at least 6x were made. 

[Got Uzi]

Having worked on select fire M/45BE guns, I have to say I would much rather have an M/45A or M/45B. The select fire parts now are less common than the FA parts and a lot more involved. 
 

I do like the hook on the B models but not enough I’d lose sleep over it. The funny part is how people think that the m/45B model is the select fire model but it’s not, the m/45BE is the select fire model. 

[Lewisfan]

Used to be that Port Said kits were the commonly found kit. Actual Swedish kits were kind of scarce. Then there was a flood of the select fire kits. And cheap. That's drying up now but I would wager that there are many more of the select fire kits than the older Port Said (or other) kits available.  I picked up 4 or 5 and I think that I likely still have 3 complete kits... and then I have other spares to last for generations. I would just grab something here and there over the past 20 years and then one day I looked at the spares pile and said "oh, this is hoarding". I sold several kits and some spares when I did an inventory. I rarely look at what's for sale anymore lest I be tempted. 

The funny thing is that I don't think that I have EVER had to replace a part due to wear or breakage. As I write this I'm thinking "well, maybe I should get rid of more?" We'll see...

It is somewhat fascinating how parts are everywhere and cheap and then one day they're gone, hard to get, and expensive.  Where do they all go?? This applies to ALL MG types. Head scratcher for me.

[StrangeRanger]

They go into post-samples, display guns and parts stashes

[Got Uzi]

A friend of mine has a Wilson tube K built on a Port Said kit. It’s been his shooter for since 1994 and in that time he has replaced one extractor and one sear. That is the one major aspect of the Swedish K/Port Said…they don’t break parts or wear out parts often. 

[USMCsean]

The Swedes built quality firearms. No matter what it was. Always good. High, high quality. They are on the exact same level as the Swiss. 

[BillinBama]

My first K was a Pearl, hd it a long time and shot it a fair amount, and I don't remember any stoppages whatsoever.  I came to rely on it to fire any brand/type 9mm I fed it.  I was looking through my old Form 4's and such, found the invoice where I paid $1306.00 for it including sales tax and shipping.  This was in 1992.  It was serial no. 1061, listed as a "Pearl Mfg. Corp. Carl Gustaf M-45." 

So I would take a Pearl any day, great gun IMO.

[Rekraps]

Great info you guys. Zero stoppages for my K's... always run great, eat any ammo & run well suppressed. 

[hkg3k]

With this discussion of Pearl K receivers and how they're made, just like factory...I wonder if anyone has ever had (or aware of) issues with the weld(s) between the registered Wilson tubes and lower section misaligned, cracking, breaking or otherwise require repair?

For myself, I had an "MB series" (Stembridge movie gun) back in the day.  It was a good, solid performer without any functional or structural deficiencies.  Seeing where some of the K prices have climbed...I wish I had hung onto it.

Edited May 15 by hkg3k

[Remo Williams 1]

The 2 biggest issues with a few of the welded guns were too much head space in the trunions and the tube diameter being smaller than the factory Swedish guns.  Both gun issues can be repaired by top gunsmiths.  If you had a diameter issue with the tube, the bolt could be sanded down to fit. This is obvious when you see a shiny silver bolt. 
 

I’ve never heard of a weld failing, but many owners complained about the welds looking amateurish.

Edited May 15 by Remo Williams 1

[johnsonlmg41]

condensed 

Edited Tuesday at 11:39 AM by johnsonlmg41

[USMCsean]

I agree with johnsonlmg41. A good rule of thumb used in the refinery is that an inch of weld is good for 2,000 lbs. The forces involved here are nowhere near that.  

[hkg3k]

12 hours ago, johnsonlmg41 said:

A tube gun is by far stronger than a factory gun.

That's interesting.  Are you talking about only where the lower flat (fire control) section is attached, or somehow that weldment would make the whole tube stronger?  I understand how a quality weld can be stronger than the metal it joins, but not seeing how it makes the whole tube stronger.  Could you explain? 

[Got Uzi]

Yeah I’m lost on how a homogenous piece of steel isn’t as strong as two pieces welded together.  

[johnsonlmg41]

edited content

Edited Tuesday at 11:40 AM by johnsonlmg41

[Lewisfan]

Yeah...I'm not convinced. If one wants to get technical you'd have to factor in that the mandrel approach (from a flat) is cold working the metal while shaping it. You'd further have to analyze the metallurgy of the flat steel versus the tube. I'd be surprised if tubes with high strength metal would be the default material selected to make a tube gun. I may be wrong, and I certainly do not know what metal properties were used to make factory guns, aftermarket folded guns, or tube guns, but all of these factors would have a part in determining what is "stronger". Then there's the point that you don't want them to be brittle, etc. 

[hkg3k]

1 hour ago, johnsonlmg41 said:

If a tube gun is properly built (like the one I have going), you have mostly a full tube with a cutout for the sear, thus maintaining a round tube which has far more structural integrity than a folded piece of steel, riveted in a few places.  The lower trigger group is welded to the tube, which while not much,  even adds to the strength of the round tube. 

My understanding is that the accepted method to fabricate pretty much all the registered K tubes was by cutting a full-length channel in the bottom of the tube...leaving a "C" cross-section for the entire length of the tube and then full-length welding on the lower section.  I suppose that could be stronger depending on the quality of the materials, fitting and welding.  I don't have my K any longer, but from what I recall, mine was built the same way.

 

 

Edited May 17 by hkg3k

[johnsonlmg41]

edited for clarity

Edited Tuesday at 11:41 AM by johnsonlmg41

[Labanaktis]

I will just add;

DOM tubing will always be more concentric (round) than a flat form put into a Die Press. 

Anytime you add heat, metal moves. So welded tubing will not be as concentric as drawn over mandrel tubing.

It’s really splitting hairs on the “strength” are we talking fatigue, compressive and/or tinsel? In the end they will outlive us. If a problem occurs like a house fire they can still be serviced and made like new again.

I’ve seen a couple “L’s” that were welded like complete shit. Most “L’s were pretty good and more recent “L’s” that were great. These welds were tubing onto deactivated guns with sheet metal from Egypt… not the best scenario…

The “MB’s” were complete, unfinished receivers (still needed welding for some parts) I believe the tube welded to the lower formed Channel makes for a stronger build. Plus I’m sure they fixtured the shit outta it before welding. That’s just me. 

I’ve never seen a transferable fail from a strength issue. The only time I’ve ever seen an issue was from a worn out “V” spring retainer on the bolt. The spring worn thru the “V” retainer and the extractor was floppy… I’ve seen people have issues with the sear not stopping the bolt. Sometimes the FCG was drilled in to low and the sear wouldn’t engage the bolt enough… there are a few easy fix’s for that though. 
 

Matt
 

 

Edited May 17 by Labanaktis

[Jim in Texas]

Interesting photos of the apparent MB receiver with the full-length cut along the bottom of the tube.  I would have expected them to have left the tube intact with only cuts where needed – such as Got Uzi appears to have done for his recent Pet project – semi-auto K.

I do not know what alloy the various K tube builders used, but 4130 DOM was widely specified for receiver tubes back in the 80’s, even in the softback Minuteman Publications book on Sten Mk II construction.