"The gun had a total capacity of six rounds (five in
the magazine and one in the chamber) and lacked a
disconnector. This meant that it could be fired by
holding down the trigger while rapidly manipulating
the slide, which resulted in a high rate of
fire."
So in another war . . .
. . . this characteristic - the lack of a
disconnector - made this trench gun THE weapon of choice
among those occupying forward positions during the Korea
War. Visualize crouching in your hidey hole with five of
these babies laying in the snow in front of you and a
million bugle-blowing Chinese in quilted coats running
toward at you. Let's see, 18 double-ought buckshot
pellets (of about .30 caliber) x six rounds x five M97
Winchester trench guns = a world of hurt. Like the
Hallmark commercial says . . . When you care enough to
send the best.
Ironically, a modern reproduction
of this vintage beauty has found favor with the Cowboy
Action Shooting folks and is available in today's shotgun
marketplace for under $500. It's made (as if you hadn't
guessed) in China!
Mario Puzo, says in The
Sicilian that . . .
". . . he had a lupara .
. . the deadly Sicilian shotgun (that) was so common
and so often used for assassination that when
Mussolini cleaned out the Mafia, he had ordered all
stone walls knocked down to three feet in height so
that murderers could not use the walls as ambush
points."
And W.E.B. Griffin points out
in Special Ops . . .
". . . were armed with
cut-down Remington 1100 12-gauge shotguns. They had
carried such weapons in Vietnam, having found they
were both very effective close-range people killers,
and easy to carry in aircraft. All three weapons and a
case of 00-buckshot for them had been carried . . . in
a locked case (because he) strongly suspected that if
their weapons preferences were known, everyone would
want a shotgun."
So much for the dark side of
the shotgun business.
Terry Wieland author of The
Fine Shotguns of Spain and Shooting Editor of Gray's
Sporting Journal . . .
. . . wrote a nifty new booklet for called:
Spanish Treasure that provides a good historic
perspective and documents 's mastery of the art.
There's a fascinating story about how the King brothers
helped break into, then later dominate, the UK
market. The King brothers brought two English guns to
to use as patterns. The boxlock was a Westley Richards
which became the model No. 4 (from which the No. 4 DeLuxe
and No. 4/53, from which the Bill Hanus Birdgun was
derived). The Holland & Holland was the sidelock
pattern for the 's now famous models No. 1 and No. 2.
Lot's of useful features including a serial number
listing with dates of production plus color pictures of
all 's side-by-side and over/under models and topped
off with a testimonial from Michael McIntosh for his
model No. 2. From your friendly distributor or: Bill
Hanus Birdguns, P.O. Box 533, Newport, OR 97365. Include
$5 for Priority Mail service. The booklet (32 pages plus
covers) is free but postage isn't.
THE SIXTEEN GAUGE MANUAL,
Fifth Edition
Published by Ballistic Products @ $9.95 . . .
. . . shotgun shell reloading has long been
recommended as off-season therapy for the upland game
hunters. It is not unknown for such activity to rescue
such practitioners from mind-dulling daily life and allow
them to slip into a daydream - almost at will -- where
it's always a crisp fall day, with the foliage just
starting to turn and your dog is starting to get birdy in
the grass at the edge of an old logging road . . .
But even if you don't avail
yourself to this time-proven therapy, you owe it to
yourself to buy (@$9.95) a copy of THE SIXTEEN GAUGE
MANUAL - FIFTH EDITION published by Ballistic Products
(888/273-5623). Lot's of great 16 gauge anecdotal stuff
from Grant Fackler and the BP team, who obviously love
the gauge, plus almost 400 tested 16 gauge loads to meet
every shooting requirement -- everything from 5/8 oz.
powderpuff loads to 1450 fps screamers -- plus reloading
tips galore.
Because there are lots of older
16 gauge guns with varying chamber lengths, you'll also
find loading data for 2-1/2", 2-5/8" and, of course, the
modern standard length of 2-3/4" in this reference.
Additionally, there are sections with loads for Bismuth,
Steel, Hevi-Shot(tm) and lead shot.
Few activities in life allow one
to indulge in fulfilling daydreams while producing a
useful product. This expert guidebook shows how it's
done.
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