By David E. Petzal

To understand the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M-1, it’s helpful to recount the experience of my Uncle Ed who was a naval officer in World War II. In the course of his training he was expected to qualify with the Model 1911 Colt by standing 25 yards from a bull’s-eye target, assuming a duelist’s stance, firing 10 rounds, and getting a score of at least 70 out of 100. Uncle Ed, whose prior experience with handguns was nil, did not get a shot on the paper. The range officer who scored his target took out a fountain pen, punched ten holes in the black, and said, “Congratulations, Ensign, you’ve just qualified with the .45.” Uncle Ed, who was a thoughtful type, then bought a Colt .38 Special revolver which he carried throughout the war.

By Phil Bourjaily

Currently Dave and I are writing a sort of followup to the Total Gun Manual entitled “100 Great Guns” and as I have been reacquainting myself with the world’s most famous firearms, I was reminded of the interesting story behind the very rare .45 caliber Luger.

In the movie Wall Street, greedmeister Gordon Gekko brags about owning “the rarest pistol in the world,” and shows off a (prop) .45 caliber Luger. Also known as “the million dollar Luger” the pistol was not merely a product of Oliver Stone’s imagination; it does exist as an interesting footnote to the familiar story of the Army’s adoption of the 1911 as its sidearm.

By David E. Petzal

In writing my post on the M-14, I alluded to our less-than-sterling record of not always putting the best guns in the hands of our servicemen. This is not a base canard; it is a dismal fact.

Let us start with the War of Southern Miscalculation, when the Union’s issue weapon throughout the conflict was the Model 1861 Springfield Rifle Musket (above). It was a good weapon as muzzle-loaders go, but it had a sustained rate of fire of two rounds per minute (three in the hands of someone who was really good) while the cartridge-firing lever-action Spencer, which was available in the latter stages of the war, could deliver 20. Union Ordnance would have refused to issue the Spencer at all save for the direct intervention of A. Lincoln, who tried it and liked it. The Spencer rifle and carbine established an admirable record and might have shortened the conflict had they been in wider use.

By David E. Petzal

In the strange and generally disappointing record of U.S. small arms development, no rifle has an odder history than the M-14. The original concept behind it was so addled that Joe Biden could have come up with it—a single weapon that would replace the M-1 Carbine, the M-3 Grease Gun, the M-1 Garand, and the Browning Automatic Rifle. Starting after World War II, and using the Garand as its foundation, the Springfield Armory came up with a modified design that weighed slightly less, held 20 rounds in a detachable box magazine instead of an 8-round clip, and had an option for semi-auto or full-auto fire. It was chambered for the 7.62 NATO cartridge, a more compact version of the .30/06, but with just about the same ballistics.