Full Circle - A Treatise on Roller Locking Deluxe First Edition 2006 The thirty chapters in this long awaited book tell the in depth story of the ingenious half-locked roller action, from the curiously simultaneous development of initial prototypes by two German companies during World War II - the Mauser Gerät 06H and the Grossfuss MG42V - right through to the present day. After the war the roller lock was taken first to France, where several hitherto little-known assault rifle prototypes were developed by ex-Mauser engineers in calibres 7.65x35mm French short and 7.62x33mm (.30 US carbine). In 1950 the roller lock moved to Spain, where what became the CETME family of roller-locked weapons was developed by ex-Mauser engineer Ludwig Vorgrimler, initially chambered for the unorthodox 7.92x41mm cartridge. By the mid-1950s the roller lock had returned - "Full Circle" - to Germany, and a co-operative manufacturing programme had been established between CETME and the fledgling German armsmaking firm Heckler & Koch GmbH, whose pre-adoption prototypes included the 7.62mm NATO calibre H&K "STG CETME" and the H&K "DM3 (CETME)". The finalised G3 rifle was adopted by the Bundeswehr in 1959, and nearly two million examples were produced by H&K and Rheinmetall with fixed, folding and retractable buttstocks. The roller lock action then formed the basis for the H&K weapons "family", consisting of numerous models and variations of SMGs, carbines, rifles and machine guns in calibres ranging in power from 9mm Parabellum to - very briefly - .50 Browning! Versions of the G3 and other H&K arms were also sold commercially (we list 25 countries using ready-made H&K product), and manufactured abroad under license. Models made by or for Burma, Denmark, Greece, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Thailand and Turkey are depicted and described, with clear illustrations of their unique features and markings. Final chapters include an overview of the burgeoning Aftermarket -
H&K and CETME copies and clones produced in Europe, the UK and the
USA today for civilian collectors and shooters - and a roundup of G3
accessories, including bayonets, blank firing adapters, the various
optical sights and mounts, tools, and training aids. [Order]
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The author, a prizewinning German military historian, has spent years researching original documentation held in the military archives of Germany and elsewhere to produce the entire technical and tactical history of the design, development and fielding of the world's first mass-produced assault rifle and the revolutionary 7.92x33mm kurz cartridge. It has been said that Adolf Hitler was the greatest general the Allies had during World War II, and several examples of his fatefully bungled tactical decisions are discussed. None was perhaps more significant than his refusal - on three separate occasions during 1942 and 1943 - to sanction the adoption of the intermediate-calibre assault rifle as the general-purpose infantry weapon. Its acceptance and fielding thus proved to be a long, tortuous and never-fully-completed process, and, as a measure of the complexity of the story, in all of German small arms history, no weapon was renamed so often within such a short period of time. Its ultimate name, Sturmgewehr 44, was belatedly bestowed in October 1944 by Hitler himself after his early failures to appreciate the advantages of the assault rifle had delayed the programme for a full year, and by the time he changed his mind, a general rearming was out of the question. Nevertheless, the Sturmgewehr was by far the most important and influential small arm and cartridge of World War II.
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In typical Collector Grade fashion, this book presents the entire, in-depth story of its subject firearm, in this case the controversial British SA80, right from the founding of what became the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) Enfield in the early 1800s; briefly through two World Wars with Enfield at the forefront of small arms production for British forces; and covering the adoption of the 7.62mm NATO cartridge in 1954 and the L1A1 rifle in 1957. That's where this book begins to differ from the normal saga of a successful small arms development, for even though the SA80 has been the issue small arms system of the British Armed Forces for almost twenty years, the controversies surrounding it have never let up. The 5.56mm SA80, consisting of the L85A1 IW (individual weapon) and L86A1 LSW (light support weapon), was the last weapon system to be developed and produced at RSAF Enfield, which was closed down in 1988 and later turned into a housing estate. Ironically, the brand-new Royal Ordnance facility in Nottingham, purpose-built to manufacture the remainder of the SA80 contract, suffered the same sad fate within a decade. Meanwhile, Heckler & Koch GmbH, then a subsidiary of British Aerospace, were awarded a controversial £92M contract which saw the entire small arms arsenal of the British Armed Forces shipped to Germany for modification and retrofit into the L85 and L86 A2 versions. While it appears that the unpopular LSW is being phased out in favour of the belt-fed FN Minimi, no plans have yet been announced to replace the L85A2 IW.
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This first Collector Grade edition includes chapters on the genesis of the Remington Arms Company; Browning's five long recoil patents; the history of the Modèle 1900, the nearly identical clone produced by FN in Belgium, and the use of Browning, Remington and Winchester autoloading rifles by the French Air Service during World War I; the "cosmetic revamping" of the Model 8 which resulted in the Model 81; in-depth histories of production changes, markings, shipping dates, codes, and costs; deluxe-grade (engraved) and special models (factory experimentals, military, police and F.B.I. variants); contemporary autoloaders from around the world; notes on collecting the 8 and 81; how the long recoil autoloader works; disassembly, troubleshooting, and Model 8 and 81 component interchangeability; ammunition, ballistics, and reloading; factory options and aftermarket accessories (charger clips, magazine conversions, iron sights, scopes and mounts). The last chapter, titled "The Legend", is a fascinating study of Remington advertisements, posters and sporting art, which have become increasingly popular collectibles in recent times.
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Here is the first in-depth study of all the Swedish Mausers - the 6.5mm m/94 carbines, m/96 long rifles, m/38 short rifles, Swedish K98Ks (called the m/39 in 7.92x57mm, then, after rechambering to fire the 8x63mm machinegun cartridge, the m/40); sniper rifles, and other military adaptations such as grenade launchers and artillery simulators. Then the focus shifts to the experimental prototypes and trial match rifles of the 1950s - some in .30-'06 - and finally to the precision competition rifles which became famous around the world. These include the CG 63 and its two military versions, the m/6 and m/7; the folding-stock CG 62 and the CG 63S Biathlon rifles; the CG 63E, which was approved by the British National Rifle Association; the CG 63 Junior Rifles in .22LR calibre; and the later match rifles such as the FFV 67 and CG 80. The Swedish 6.5x55mm m/94 cartridge, one of the most accurate military rounds ever designed, was further improved in 1941 by the adoption of the excellent m/41 boat-tailed "torpedo" bullet, and numerous loadings are depicted and discussed. We also cover a wide variety of the micrometer-adjustment rear sight inserts and "diopter" receiver sights which were produced in order to allow shooters to take full advantage of the accuracy and precision of the Swedish Mauser. Full chapters on bayonets and the many accessories, both military and civilian, conclude. [Order] [Checkout] |
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Crown Jewels: The Mauser in Sweden - A Century of Accuracy and Precision