1990 G Advertisement for 86 Dealer Sample Steyr MPi 81
The year was 1990 and many cold-war era sub-guns struggled to military/ LEO buyers as interest began to fall more in favor of shorter barreled assault rifles and the MP5 series of firearms. Rock bottom prices could be had on many sub guns manufactured from the 1960s-80s for machine gun dealers in the US. For $269, the MPi 81 was a true bargain. Guns like the MPi 81 began turning up in MG rentals at shoots here in the US in the 1990s. It was a wonderful opportunity to fire a cold-war era subgun that was seldom seen in the civilian market.
The January 1986 edition of Firepower was packed with a number of articles that ranged from the introduction of the Calico M1-II gatling style conversion kit for M1 Carbine. At that time, surplus M1 carbines were still fairly reasonable in price and cheap .30 Caliber M1 ammo was plentiful. These kits were produced in fewer numbers than it's little brother, the Calico Two Twenty Two and must have been a blast to fire. One article details the use of a 1911 full auto conversion that is in the US patten office and the introduction to the Springfield SAR 48. This was one of the last few Firepower Magazines published before the Firearms Owner Protection Act of 1986 that included the prohibition of the manufacturing of transferable machineguns after it's passage.
This is an advertisement from the Styer Daimler division of America circa 1982 for the FN FAL series of rifles. It was taken from Guns Annual 1982 Vol 25. The FN FAL is a treasure when it comes to cold war battle rifles and still has a strong following to this day.
The D Max Industries Pistols and Carbine in 9mm, .45, and 10mm have an intersting place in semi-subgun history as their construction were quite well thought out. They are an interesting blend of 1911 parts, mixed with an AK and M1 Garand firing system. Bud Lang interviewed Darrel Holland of Practical Gun Works (PGW) prior to their releas under the DMAX brand. Ill be covering more about the DMAX Industries series of guns in future posts. Enjoy:
While not a product of the 80's, this documentary produced during the 1990's is an interview with Retired LT. CME. Michael J. Walsh about Stoner 63 weapons system used with by the Navy Seals in Vietnam. The video shows an impressive firepower demo of the Stoner 63 in a few of it's different configurations. While there is a wide range of information about the Stoner 63 available, this video chronicles the development of the weapons system throughout part of the Vietnam war through the eyes of LT. Walsh. The video covers the developments made by Cadillac Gauge for the weapon, the development of the "dead man's pin" and various ammunition feeding systems. To see a larger format video please visit: https://youtu.be/uwjx7NA1HQs
Firestorm: How To Handle & Fire Fully Automatic Weapons
The well known former Soldier of Fortune Magazine editor in chief, Peter G. Kokalis passed away in January of this year. He was a prolific writer for a variety of magazines and journals over his very long and well documented career. In addition to articles published in SOF, Small Arms Review, and Firearms News (formerly Shotgun News), my personal favorite of the magazines he worked on in the early 1990s was Fighting Firearms.
After his death, I recalled I had a VHS copy of a video produced in the late 1980s called Firestorm: How To Handle & Fire Fully Automatic Weapons. The video showcases a variety of firearms and firing techniques for subguns, assault rifles, and belt-fed machine guns. Part informational instruction video and part entertainment, the video gave viewers to see a few unusual firearms at the time, such as the VZ 58 and the Mauser Schnellfeuer. The source of the video is from a older VHS tape. DVD transfers exist and are available. Regardless of what you thought of him, Kokalis was a library of knowledge about weapons and wrote some exceptionally technical articles.
