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News — Werner E. Schmiedel

Werner Schmiedel

Kudos to David Venditta, Content Editor, The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania for finding this photograph of Werner E. Schmiedel at the National Archives in St. Louis.

Schmiedel, also known as “Robert Lane,” was the leader of the “Lane Gang” that terrorized Italian shopkeepers and travelers in 1944.

Schmiedel’s crime spree began on September 2, 1944, when he was confined at the Disciplinary Training Stockade near Aversa, Italy.  A white soldier born in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, he escaped and made his way through war-torn Italy to Sparanise, twenty miles northwest of Naples.  On September 7, he and gang compatriots, Private James W. Adams and Private Anthony Tavolieri robbed an Italian man of 150,000 lire.  The men moved to Formia and robbed two MPs of their pistols and brassards on September 17, 1944.  Later that day, the trio and two other gang members robbed Polish Lieutenant General Wladyslaw Anders’ driver near Capua.

The men then moved to Rome, where on October 10, 1944, they robbed a café and killed a man.  Over the next two weeks, authorities arrested numerous members of the gang around Rome.  Tavolieri died in a confrontation; finally, on November 3, 1944, authorities arrested Werner Schmiedel at “Rocky’s Bar” in Rome. He previously went AWOL from May 20, 1944 to June 2, 1944.  He escaped from the guardhouse on June 13, 1944 and remained at large for three days.  He escaped again on June 21, 1944 and remained absent until June 30, 1944.  On August 19, 1944, a GCM found him guilty of violating the 61st Article of War and sentenced him to twenty years, but Brigadier General Francis H. Oxx reduced the period of confinement to ten years.  In thanks, Schmiedel escaped confinement on September 2, 1944 and his last crime wave began.

After his last crime spree, Schmiedel was convicted by another General Court Martial and sentenced to death.  He was executed by hanging at Aversa, Italy on June 11, 1945. The Army buried Schmiedel at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Naples, the General Prisoner plot, in Grave 2-17.  Exhumed in 1949, Werner Schmiedel is buried at the American Military Cemetery at Oise-Aisne in Plot E.  His remains are in Row 3, Grave 53.

News — Werner E. Schmiedel2015-09-19T19:49:48-05:00

Concealed Carry – Smith & Wesson Model 627

 

Smith & Wesson Model 627, .357 Magnum, 2.625-inch barrel

Now let’s examine what type of firearm you may want away from home, whether you are traveling out of  town or doing routine day-to-day activities near where you live.  First, respect all the laws in your area concerning open carry of weapons or concealed carry.  Concealed carry is where firearms cannot be seen by the casual observer.  Other definitions include: “carried in such a manner as to not be discernible by the ordinary observation of a passerby.”  There is no definition of passerby, although I would submit that a law enforcement officer would “sense” the presence of a concealed firearm much more readily than my dear old grandmother!  There does not seem to be a requirement that there be absolute invisibility of the firearm or dangerous weapon, merely that it not be ordinarily discernible.    Open carry refers to the practice of “openly carrying a firearm in public.”  I will not list the states in each category because it seems as if they are always changing – or at least changing pieces of their laws.

I also will not try and “hard sell” you on one type of weapon or another.  Here are a few general rules, though.

The worst gun in the world is the one you chose not to carry and you then find yourself in a situation where you need that weapon but do not have it.  Sometimes, it is just a matter of forgetfulness, but in most cases, a person does not take the weapon because it is too heavy or bulky and thus is uncomfortable to carry on your person.  So you don’t carry it, and maybe 99.999% of the time it’s no problem; but that last .001% can be disastrous.

The second worst gun in the world is the one you are carrying, but it is one that either the ammunition or weapon does not function reliably.  It could be too old and prone to small parts breaking; it could be unreliable ammunition (especially if you are firing reloads); or it could be a weapon that you are not truly familiar with and so you do things such as improperly seating the magazine, or leave the safety on when you want it off, or you freak out if it has a failure to fire and you cannot clear that, etc.  You can get past this by having an experienced gunsmith inspect your firearm, use highly-rated ammunition, become extremely familiar with the weapon and keep it cleaned and lubricated.

The third worst gun in the world is the one you are carrying, which reliably functions, but you cannot hit the broad side of a barn with it.  We are talking really bad here, as the range that you will generally be protecting yourself is not 100 yards, not 50 yards, but something less – often much less.  That is not to say that you should never practice shooting at 25 to 50 yards, but start close, get proficient there and then work your way out instead of the other way around.  So what can make your firearm inaccurate at close range?  Perhaps the gun itself; perhaps the ammunition; but the most likely reason is that you are not practicing enough or that you are uncomfortable with the muzzle flash, the noise or the kick (recoil) of the weapon.  To overcome any of those, try and practice your way out of it; the more you fire, the more you will become used to the effects.  Make sure you wear hearing protection whenever you practice, as well as some type of safety/shooting glasses.  You can do some simple weight training exercises to build up the strength in your hands, wrists and arms.  We are talking about guns that weigh a few pounds; the heaviest pistol (we’ll use this word in place of handgun even though aficionados term semi-autos differently than revolvers) in the world is only about seven pounds.  Get an expert to teach you.

Your genetics will determine the size of hands you have; and those individuals with smaller hands will generally – but not always – find it harder to control larger caliber pistols that those with bigger hands.  However, even if you practice every day, there will be a caliber limit above which almost every person does not like to shoot – although that varies for each individual.  But it leads to the fourth worst gun in the world: the one you have that is both reliable and accurate, but whose bullet is of insufficient caliber and velocity to cause your attacker to cease attacking you after it hits him.  First, let us assume that you are shooting at the center of mass of the attacker – the center of his chest.  That way, rounds spot on will hit things like heart and lungs (which quickly “dissuades” most attackers), while rounds that are a couple of inches off the absolute center will still hit vital life-support areas such as other internal organs and large blood vessels.  Leave all the fictional novel and movie shots – such as head shots – for trained shooters.  You can achieve the same effect in one of two ways.  Either hit the center of mass with one, two or three rounds of a powerful caliber, or hit the center of mass with a whole lot of rounds of lesser caliber, because at some point the quantity of rounds hitting your attacker’s chest will have a lethal effect all their own.  Of course, during the time it takes for you to hit your attacker with many rounds, allows him to be firing back at you. 

This leads to perhaps the most-argued point in concealed carry handgun use – caliber selection.  Ideally, you have been able to borrow handguns of different calibers – both semi-automatics and revolvers – and have fired enough rounds through every one that your friends are starting to complain that you are going to burn out their barrel (a specious claim unless you make competitive shooting your life’s work.)  Many ranges, such as The Bullet Trap in Macon, Illinois, let you rent different firearms; that is a good way to avoid buying a handgun that you subsequently find you do not like.  You know what caliber and type of weapon you can control and with which you can hit your paper target, or perhaps metal silhouette, time after time in generally good lighting conditions, but not under the level of stress you will encounter in a real-life dangerous situation.  Can you remember what sequence you need to follow to shoot the weapon without fumbling around?  Can you make adjustments after the first shot if it is not center of mass and quickly make a follow-up shot that is accurate?  Can you reload it quickly?  In lower light conditions (sometimes a range will let you do this if you are supervised and no one else is on the range) are the factory sights still useful?  Can the weapon you intend to buy later be fitted with a laser sight, such as one from Crimson Trace, should you want to try that method of low-light condition shooting?

I have shot thousands of pistol rounds over my lifetime, from calibers of .22 Long Rifle, to .45 ACP to .44 Magnum.  I have shot other weapons in combat in the Army, but have never shot a pistol to try and kill another human being.  I am a pretty good shot in training conditions; I like to go to the range and my lifestyle allows me to practice whenever I wish.  I have fired both semi-automatics and revolvers; my guess is that I have fired 60% of all pistol rounds through semi-autos and 40% through revolvers.  I have never fired a derringer.  It was only a matter of time before I obtain a laser sight, because as the years go by I can see its benefits.  As I assess what the most likely danger I will face with my lifestyle (I don’t stay out late at night in high-risk areas,) and having been in high pressure situations, I know how stress works and for me that means I need a very simple weapon, a revolver.  I also assess that if I am in a shooting situation, it will generally be one or two assailants trying to rob me, or – if the national security situation continues to deteriorate – with ISIS jihadists in this country trying to kill active or retired military, either lone attackers or in groups of two (the greater the size of each group the more likely it is that it will be exposed before it acts; two individuals, or lone wolves, can remain pretty secret.)

So for a maximum of two targets, in which the worst case is that they are actively trying to kill me, I believe that by choosing a .357 Magnum revolver, with an eight round cylinder, I should be able to end the engagement within those eight rounds, probably half that, but better safe than sorry.  The .357 Magnum should be powerful enough that one center of mass hit will likely incapacitate or kill the attacker and two center of mass hits certainly will.  I’ll have a speed loader just in case I am trapped and cannot get out of the area, and if there is a group larger than two, I should be able to see their presence earlier that will permit me to evade them and call the situation in to authorities.  Given the expense and vagaries of the legal system, it is a lot easier for me if the legal authorities kill these punks and not me.

Yes, there are always outliers.  In one incident a few years ago, a Chicago police officer fired 33 rounds at an assailant; the gang member was struck 14 times with .45-cal. ammunition – six of those hits in supposedly fatal locations.  The fourteenth and last round killed him.  But the only way to eliminate all outliers would be to carry a flamethrower and my better half would nix that right away.

That whole lengthy (perhaps too lengthy!) diatribe led me to try a Smith and Wesson Model 627, .357 Magnum, with a 2 5/8 inch barrel, courtesy of The Outpost Armory, located near Murfreesboro, Tennessee at Exit 89 off I-24.  They have a huge selection of firearms, ammunition, gear, and reloading supplies (615-867-6789.)  What convinced me?  Again, simplicity is most important; if one of the eight rounds were to fail to fire, I simply squeeze the trigger again and the cylinder rotates with another round.  Secondly, I can use a little less expensive ammunition (.38 Special) to practice.  Now given the short length of the barrel, which aids in “carryability” (remember the worst gun is one that you don’t carry,) the velocity the rounds coming out of this are going to be slower than a pistol with a longer barrel.  Many .357 Magnum 125 grain jacketed hollow points have a muzzle velocity of 1702 feet per second from a six-inch barrel, while the muzzle velocity in a 2 5/8-inch barrel is only 1193 feet per second.  For 158 grain .357 Magnum jacketed hollow points – another popular self-defense load – those fired from a four-inch barrel, for example, will have a muzzle velocity of 1293 feet per second, as compared to 1053 feet per second in the shorter barrel.

Those numbers show a difference to be sure, but how does that translate to common terms and is that reduced velocity still effective?  In gelatin tests that replicate the human body, the Winchester .357 Magnum PDX1 125 grain jacketed hollow point bullets penetrated a layer of denim (simulating clothes) and then 13.5 inches of gel, the diameter of the wound channel being much greater than .357-inches for the first five inches of penetration.  Given that this performance was from a .357 Magnum with a shorter 2-inch barrel that indicates to me that the Model 627’s short barrel will do just fine and that it was interesting to go through a wide variety of .38 Special ammunition, .38 Special +P ammunition and .357 Magnum ammunition to see what is ideal for both the pistol and this shooter.  Remember, no matter what caliber you end up with, the round must have enough energy to reliably deliver an expanded bullet (one that  mushrooms, becoming a larger diameter to do more damage) – deep enough to do its job to cause enough injury to stop the attacker.  It doesn’t have to be a lot of extra energy – it just has to be enough.

OK, now about the pistol itself.  The Model 627 has an empty weight of 37.6 ounces.  If it is loaded with 125 grain jacketed hollow points, add another 4.16 ounces (0.52 ounces per) for a total weight of 41.76 ounces.  If you are firing 158 grain rounds, that will increase to 42.15 ounces.  The length of the barrel is 2.625 inches; overall length of the weapon is 7.625 inches.  The overall appearance, perhaps in part because of the unfluted cylinder, is chunky, with a “There is no way I can conceal carry this,” thought crossing my mind.  The stainless steel frame and stainless steel cylinder have a matte finish; it is an N-frame, the same platform the company uses for its .44 Magnum.  If you are ordering one, the SKU is 170133, which will ensure you get the right model.  The front sight is a dovetail red ramp, while the rear sight is an adjustable white outline.  The trigger is both double action and single action capable.  The 8-shot cylinder is recessed to be able to use full moonclips for reloading.  The Model 627 is one of the S&W Performance Center products, which the manufacturer indicates are made to a higher standard (“the ultimate expression of old-world craftsmanship blended with modern technology”); S&W has figured out supply and demand and because they do not churn PC products out in large numbers, wait times are often long.

The piece has a transfer bar safety mounted on the frame; this thin strip of metal rises once the trigger is squeezed, allowing the hammer’s energy to be transferred to the firing pin and then on to the primer.  What this allows is for the shooter to load all eight chambers, as the technology (which is not confined to only Smith & Wesson) eliminates the small chance that the hammer could get snagged on clothing and then drop accidentally on a round discharging it.

The first thing we’ll do is see what the accuracy of the piece is when fired from a supported position; we want to take as much human error out of the shots, so I will rest my wrists on sandbags on top of a sturdy table, sit on a nice chair, so there is no twitching or jerking from my end of things.  I have very good protective hearing headsets, to eliminate the noise factor.  The lighting conditions are bright in the indoor range; again, we want to see what the Model 627 will do in as perfect an environment as we can make it.  We will begin with single action firing to take even more human influence out of the equation.  We will start with the factory grips (believe they are “Secret Service” style) that are wood and have two finger grooves, leaving my little finger off the weapon; I can tell that I will be uncomfortable with this as with every other pistol I have liked firing – even the diminutive Walther PPK – I have been able to get all my fingers on the grips.

Smith & Wesson 627

Smith & Wesson 627 with Crimson Trace

Went to the range and sure enough, my concern was well-founded; I simply could not control the weapon and the checkered grip bit into my right hand at every opportunity.  I quickly obtained a Crimson Trace Lasergrips, the Model LG-314 for Smith & Wesson N Frame round butt revolvers.  They went on easily and provided two positive results.  First, the rubber overmolded grips provided apace for all fingers, as well as made the weapon easier to control.  Second, they assisted in accuracy.  The test session at the range with the new grips proved outstanding.  Firing at B27Q—Blue Half-Size (human silhouette) targets to add a bit to the difficulty factor, I found that firing at distances from 21 feet to 45 feet – using both iron sights and the laser – for every eight round cylinder, I averaged six rounds in the ten and nine rings and two rounds in the eight ring.  These shots were taken 50% supported on sandbags and 50% from standing unsupported.  This included .38 Special rounds, Remington .38 Special +P rounds, some Western Super X .357 Magnum 158 grain, and even some Buffalo Bore .357 Magnum 180 grain hard cast lead.

Renowned gun writer (and shooter) Elmer Keith once stated that a short barreled revolver was no less accurate than one with a six inch, or longer, barrel.  This Model 627 really looks promising, so let’s start experimenting with how to best carry it.  Two methods of carry stood out.  The first was a shoulder holster from Armory Express Outlet in Coral Gables, Florida.  The owner, Tom Gucciardi, worked with me and the end product is an excellent horizontal carry, with the pistol under my left arm and two speed reload pouches under my right.  The straps are thick and wide which is important as its a heavy pistol.  The weight is well-distributed; you won’t forget you are wearing it with a revolver this size, but once I applied some R.M. Williams Saddle & Leather Dressing from Australia, the straps became so pliable it added a great deal of comfort. 

The second holster I have found quite useful is from Diamond D Leather in Wasilla, Alaska.  From them I obtained a Guides Choice leather chest holster.  This holster puts the pistol in the direct center of your chest and was developed for hunting and fishing guides in Alaska, who might require a pistol quickly in case of an unexpected encounter with a dangerous animal.  The design is open carry and I will carry it that way each time I go fishing in Montana with my old Army buddy Hank; in fact it allows (at least for me) the fastest method of drawing this particular weapon.  In addition, I have found that it can be carried in this guide holster concealed if you wear a light dark-color windbreaker over it.  In short, its a great revolver, a hard puncher and an excellent eight-round capacity, combined with an excellent sight and wrapped in two excellent holsters.

 

Concealed Carry – Smith & Wesson Model 6272017-05-15T13:35:11-05:00

Last Days of the Nazis – New Time and Channel

Last Days of the Nazis, the History Channel

Here’s the latest: History 2 Channel will be airing all 6 episodes on Sunday, May 17th, starting at 6:00 p.m. (Eastern) and going until midnight.

Last Days of the Nazis is a story that has rarely been broadcast on television before.  It is a dark and compelling history of Nazism from a different perspective – that of the Nazis themselves.  In 1945, the Allies rounded up and interrogated thousands of ex-Nazis.  These interrogations became a fascinating, but largely forgotten, part of the historical record.  The six-episode series uses these interrogations to dramatically bring to life accounts by Nazi death camp commandants, Nazi doctors, generals, architects and members of the Hitler Youth.  Albert Speer, Julius Streicher, Karl Gebhardt, Rudolf Höss – these men and many others tell their own stories.  It is an inside look at the minds and motivations of the most evil regime in history.  This is what the enemy said when they were on the wrong side of the interrogation table.

French appears in each episode, with several other historians, to provide commentary and explanation of how these Nazis thought and acted.  He also helped provide extensive backgrounds on these historical figures in the preparation of the series.

 

Last Days of the Nazis – New Time and Channel2015-10-27T11:15:18-05:00

A New Knights Templar? (Part 4)

 

Maasai warriors hunting a lion

Although the primary mission of the original Knights Templar was military combat action, relatively few members were combatants.  The majority of its adherents acted in support positions to assist the knights and to manage the financial infrastructure of the organization.  Once Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a leading Church figure, lent his support, the Templars became the favored charity in all of Christendom.  Templar headquarters in many lands received land, money and businesses.

In 1150, the original Knights Templar began generating letters of credit for pilgrims journeying to the Holy Land.  These pilgrims deposited their valuables with a local Templar office before embarking.  In return, he would receive a document indicating the value of the deposit; he would use that document upon arrival in the Holy Land to retrieve their funds in an amount of equal value.  In return, the Knights Templar received a small percentage of the wealth, an arrangement that was an early form of banking and may have been the first formal system to support the use of these forms of documents.  The system thus not only improved the safety of pilgrims by making them less attractive targets for thieves, but also contributed to the Templar coffers.

Today, a New Knights Templar organization would require a different system to meet a much-more complex world.  As before, the most efficient organization of the New Knights Templar would be by country, as there is no real reason to have an international control body.  The New Knights Templar is not going to defeat ISIS and other evil militant Islamic organizations alone.  They are not going to command large forces, disperse billions of dollars or compete against nation states on the world stage.  No, a New Knights Templar will probably evolve as a much smaller entity, consisting of numerous units, each of which would probably be no larger than regiment in strength (1,000 to 2,000 individuals.)  The organization may find that it has adequate volunteers from Country X to form a regiment; Country Y to form a battalion (500 individuals); and from Country Z only a company (100 individuals) can be formed.  Additionally, because of the norms, skills and heritage, the unit from Country Z may be a medical organization, while Country X is fielding an infantry unit.

Fielding by country provides several advantages.  First, there is generally no language barrier within a single country.  Second, there is a built-in support structure back home to reinforce those Knights Templar at the front.  Third, a nation’s laws and political objectives may change over time.  Should a nation shift its views against its citizens being members, the cut-off of volunteers from Country X will only affect the New Knights Templar units from Country X, not all units if citizens from Country X had been spread across the force.

The New Knights Templar would have three major ongoing tasks to accomplish, and accomplish well.  In each nation, the organization will need personnel to raise funds, help recruit, provide some type of military training (within the context of what is legal to do in that country), conduct supporting public affairs activities and work behind the scenes with political leaders to increase – or at least maintain – support for the organization.

A second group of New Knights Templar in each country would be responsible for the transportation of New Knights Templar personnel, and selected equipment, from the home country to the area of foreign operations.  This group would also procure selected equipment and ensure it was legally and properly transported; they would then “marry” this equipment to New Knights Templar volunteers on the ground, which would include equipment familiarization.  Finally, this second group would be responsible for re-deploying front line New Knights Templar to their home countries.

The third group, obviously, are those New Knights Templar are the actual fighters, translators, logisticians, medical personnel and civil affairs experts that actually go on a tour of duty overseas.  Each nation providing volunteers for a New Knights Templar will find its own best way to recruit volunteers.  One overarching principal will likely be that every volunteer can find an area in which to help; that all contributions are valuable; and that each volunteer must balance the degree of personal service in the organization with his or her ongoing personal and family commitments.  If those commits preclude service overseas, than whatever the volunteer can contribute should be valued.

For those volunteers that seek active overseas duty protecting the innocents and directly fighting the Evil, the sending countries would do well to remember Colonel Ardant Du Picq, a French Army officer and military theorist of the mid-nineteenth century.  Du Picq’s analyses stressed the vital importance, especially in contemporary warfare, of discipline and unit cohesion.  He also believed that the human element in war is more important than theories.  Before his death in combat in 1870, du Picq had already published Combat antique (Ancient Battle), which associates later expanded into the classic Etudes sur les combat: Combat antique et moderne, most often referred to by its common English title of Battle Studies, which was published in part ten years later, although the complete text did not appear until 1902.  A thorough study of all of du Picq’s thinking boils down to one of his fundamental truths:

“Four brave men who do not know each other will not dare attack a lion.   Four less brave, but knowing each other well, sure of their reliability and consequently of mutual aid, will attack resolutely.”

New Knights Templar organizations should strongly consider recruiting volunteers from among four people who already know each other well; they could have served in their own nation’s military together; gone to school together; or in some manner already know each other.  They should deploy together, work together overseas and re-deploy together home.  New Knights Templar organizations will quickly find that individual replacements cause nothing but problems.  A group of four volunteers – perhaps that will be termed as its own “Lion Team” – will work well together, be that as a medical unit or direct combat formation.

Training opportunities for volunteers for combat units will undoubtedly be limited and expensive, both in the home nation and once the volunteers are deployed.  Therefore a second consideration for volunteer selection – at least for combat duty – is previous experience in a nation’s armed forces.  Combat veterans have a stabilizing effect that cannot be over-estimated.  opportunities to fully train on host nation soil may be limited, so the higher the level of skill a volunteer brings in, the better.  Additionally, the enemy that the New Knights Templar will face will have months, if not years, of their own combat experience, albeit most of it was against defenseless women and children and those who could not adequately defend themselves.  With the formation of a New Knights Templar, that will be about to change.  To be continued…

 

A New Knights Templar? (Part 4)2021-06-15T17:59:56-05:00

A New Knights Templar? (Part 3)

 

Max Weber: Monopoly of Power of the State

The 800-pound gorillas in the room that could make the establishment of a New Knights Templar difficult are nation states.

One could easily make the argument that the history of mankind has been a violent one.  In ancient times, kings and queens could send their empires to war or order the execution of a criminal or political opponent with as little as a nod of the head.  Within empires, local tribal leaders often held similar power over life and death.

By the time of feudalism – during the period of the Crusades – European kings depended on loyal vassals to do their bidding and so often turned a blind eye when these vassals sometimes felt the need to do violence to one another over a slight or family grudge.  At the same time in Europe, the Catholic Church held great power, and often in consultation with secular rulers, could urge the faithful to “take up the Cross” and go on Crusade with the full knowledge that violence would result.  Religious courts also could try individuals on perceived religious violations – such as heresy.

With the rise of the nation state, governments desired to be the sole arbiter of the use of legitimate violence within their borders.  This phenomenon was perhaps best described by German philosopher Karl Emil “Max” Weber.  The modern state, he believed, emerged from feudalism by expropriating the means of political organization and domination, including violence, and by establishing the legitimacy of its rule.  Writing during the period 1890 to 1920, Weber – in his work – Politics as a Vocation, Weber defined a concept he termed Gewaltmonopol des Staates (Monopoly of Power of the State) as any organization that succeeds in holding the exclusive right to use, threaten, or authorize physical force against residents of its territory, which was most seen at the level of a nation state.  According to Weber, this could only occur via a process of legitimation of that organization.  He then went into detail that this social authority was most often seen in three forms, which he labelled as charismatic, traditional, and rational-legal.

According to Max Weber, the state was the source of legitimate physical force, with the public police and the military as its main instruments; he also added that private security could also be used with state authorization.  Weber delved into several levels concerning the monopoly of force, believing that this did not mean that only the government could use physical force, but that the state was the only source of legitimacy for all physical coercion or adjudication of coercion. This would provide citizens with the backing of law when individuals found themselves in a situation requiring the use force in defense of self or property; the right derived from the state’s authority.  This fits with other philosophers’ views that the state can grant another actor the right to use violence without losing its monopoly, as long as it remains the only source of the right to use violence.

As nation states progressed, many expanded on this theory and in many cases desired that they have a monopoly on the potential to use force.  Starting with totalitarian régimes, governments began to limit ownership of firearms – stating that weapons were the root cause of violence – but in actuality believing that an unarmed citizenry will be a docile citizenry.  Over the last half century, these policies have been adopted in traditional democracies.  England – the home of the Magna Carta, actually enacted The Unlawful Games Act in 1541 that required every Englishman between the ages of 17 and 60 (with various exemptions) to keep a longbow and regularly practice archery.  It was repealed in 1960 by the Betting and Gaming Act.  Great Britain now has some of the tightest gun control laws in the world.  Only police officers, members of the armed forces, or individuals with written permission from the Home Secretary may lawfully own a handgun; in all other cases, handguns are prohibited weapons.  Rifles and shotguns require a certificate from the police for ownership, and only after a number of criteria are met, including that the applicant has a good reason to possess the requested weapon.  The government has determined that self-defense or a simple wish to possess a weapon is not considered a good reason.  Furthermore, secure storage of rifles and shotguns is also a factor when licenses are granted; this has devolved to mandatory overnight storage of a shotgun not in the owner’s home, but at an authorized shooting or hunting club safe.

Nation states also are fairly reluctant to permit their citizens to fight for any group that is not the armed forces.  The United Kingdom has laws preventing their nationals from enlisting in foreign armed forces, and they are examining the loss of citizenship for those citizens that join terrorist organizations.  Prior to now, the legislation hasn’t been used much; for example, way back in the Greek War of Independence, British volunteers fought with the Greek rebels, which could have been unlawful; it was unclear whether or not the Greek rebels were a “state” per the Foreign Enlistment Act, but the law was clarified, saying that the rebels were a state.

Both the British and American governments turned a blind eye toward their citizens’ participation in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.  The United States has laws that seem to both make fighting as a mercenary or fighting as part of a non-US entity overseas legal and illegal at the same time.  The United States has not banned Americans from fighting with militias against ISIS, although it considers the Turkey-based Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), a terrorist organization.  The Kurds have turned to the Internet to find foreign fighters, creating a Facebook page called “The Lions of Rojava” with the stated mission of sending “terrorists to hell and save humanity.”  The United States has pushed recently for a legally binding United Nations Security Council resolution that would compel all countries in the world to take steps to “prevent and suppress” the flow of their citizens into the arms of groups considered to be terrorist organizations. 

This is where the problem may arise.  The government of the United States, as well as governments in many European countries, has been extremely reluctant to name militant Islam as an enemy, fearing to antagonize any Muslim that may take offense.  Rather than target groups that are true terrorists – calling a spade a spade – it will be tempting to broaden the category to include about any group that is armed and fighting in these conflicts.  Should such a broad definition be adopted, it will be the nation states attempt to kill a New Knights Templar in its cradle and could put any volunteer in legal jeopardy.  To be continued…

A New Knights Templar? (Part 3)2021-06-15T18:00:19-05:00

A New Knights Templar? (Part 2)

 

Pope Francis: stopping aggression is legitimate

Certain conditions would have to exist before a New Knights Templar be formed in such a way that it could endure for the long haul, as the battle against militant Islam will not be won in the near future – in fact, it may become the Second Hundred Years War.

A New Knights Templar would likely differ from the original version in many respects.  The Catholic Church officially endorsed the first Knights Templar in 1129; the New Knights Templar – while it may contain many Roman Catholics – could very well consist of non-Catholic Christians, Jews, Jews, Hindus, Muslims and members of other faiths; it is not inconceivable that Atheists might even join.  The commonality of volunteers for the New Knights Templar will not be religion – which was the common denominator of the “Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” that later became known as Knights Templars.  The common denominator will not be nationality, just as it was not in the original warrior group.

The most-likely common characteristic of all would-be volunteers to participate in the New Knights Templar would be a belief that there is both Good and Evil in the world and that militant Islam – such as ISIS – has demonstrated on a daily basis that it is Evil.  Furthermore these volunteers, brave men and women from around the world, would likely believe that Good should be triumphant, that Good must defend those who cannot defend themselves and that each individual can make a difference in this struggle against Evil.

Not every would-be volunteer for the New Knights Templar would be a member of an organized religion or would even be interested in what the leaders of major religions might think of the concept of the New Knights Templar taking up the sword to combat militant Islam and defending those innocents in its path.  However, for some volunteers, it would be important to have the moral support of those leaders and it appears that they will.

Enroute to South Korea on August 14, 2014, Pope Francis commented on the military victories by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS or ISIL) that have resulted in persecution and murder of Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities.  Earlier, a papal communique against this violence was sent to all the nunciatures and the Pope wrote a letter to the United Nations’ Secretary General.  The Pope, additionally, met with the governor of Iraqi Kurdistan and named Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, as his personal envoy to Iraq.

Pope Francis made the following remarks on that flight with respect to ISIS/ISIL in Iraq: “To stop the unjust aggressor is licit…One single nation cannot judge how you stop this, how you stop an unjust aggressor…Stopping the unjust aggressor is a right that humanity has, but it is also a right of the aggressor to be stopped so he does not do evil.”

In April 2015, the Community of Sant’ Egidio, a Catholic lay movement focused on ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue as well as conflict resolution, called for the creation of “safe havens” for Christians in Iraq and Syria, as well as the creation of an international police force capable of identifying and apprehending the authors of terrorist acts.  In May 2015, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York marked  the desperate plight of Christians in Iraq and Syria with an urgent plea for Americans to take action before it’s too late.  “When it comes to the persecution of Christians, we are talking about an… international emergency.”

For would be volunteers for a New Knights Templar that are Roman Catholics – or other denomination Christians that take interest in the words of the Pope – it appears that the pontiff’s words would clearly permit men and women of conscience to stop the unjust aggression of militant Islam so it does not do evil.  It is equally clear that the Pope is leery about a single nation determining the level of force that it will use to stop aggression, probably because that nation may allow selfish national objectives to cloud the issue of how much force is adequate to stop the aggressor versus how much may be too much.  That concern, while valid, probably would not applicable for members of a New Knights Templar, whose volunteers will be from many countries around the world, not just one.  Each individual would bring the norms and values of the nation from which he or she comes.  No single country would hold sway on the activities of these volunteers.  As will be described later, a New Knights Templar would probably have no world-wide governing body; the power of the organization would rest in the individual conscience, spirit, initiative and creative talents of each member, and every level of bureaucracy layered above the individual would have a stifling effect.

Leaders of Protestant Christian faiths seem to be in the process of making their own declarations that good men and women have their full blessing to fight evil and defend the innocent.  In September 2015, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby decalred that the aerial bombig campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS) was a just war.  He stated that military action was justified on the humanitarian grounds that te victims of ISIS needed help in escaping the barbarity of Islamic extremists.  The Archbishop, principal leader of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, went on to state that: “There is justification for the use of armed force on humanitarian grounds to enable oppressed victims to find safe space.”

If they wish to support the fight against militant Islam, similar proclamations need to be made by leaders of other faiths and some have already come on board.  Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi, born in Israel but now a prominent public figure in New York said the following: “A child who grows up with a Torah education knows that there is good and evil in the world, and knows that he is expected to strengthen the good and counter the bad.  Wrote King David in the 97th Psalm: “Ohavei Hashem sin’u ra” – if you love God, hate evil!  That is the moral passion that Judaism has encouraged for 3,500 years – and that is why those who are imbued with its values understand that the evil of this world is very real indeed, and that all of us have an obligation to do our best to fight it.”

For a New Knights Templar to come into being, with a chance to be viewed as the good of humankind, Muslim Imams must endorse that groups such as ISIS and other militant Islamic entities should be fought by all true Muslims of good faith, along with their brothers and sisters of other faiths.  In March 2015, Imam Syed Soharwardy, the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, created the edict which condemns radicalization and recruitment for ISIS.  Muslims around the world have long been condemning ISIS, but this is the first time there will be an official fatwa stating so.  Within days, 38 imams and Islamic scholars from across Canada signed the fatwa.  It is a start.

However, another hurdle to the formation of the New Knights Templar would be that entity of which Pope Francis was concerned – the modern nation state – and that will be addressed next.  To be continued…

A New Knights Templar? (Part 2)2021-06-15T18:00:37-05:00

J.P. Sauer and Suhl, Germany

 

J.P. Sauer 3000 Lux, German 12 gauge/7x65R Drilling

J. P. Sauer und Sohn GmbH (Sauer & Sohn) is a German manufacturer of firearms.  Founded by Lorenz Sauer in 1751 in Suhl, Thuringia, “The Green Heart of Germany,” the company is the oldest recorded firearms manufacturer still active in Germany.  The company’s production remained in Suhl for two centuries through numerous accomplishments.  Lorenz Sauer went into partnership with J. S. Spangenberg in 1774. 

In 1815, Johann-Gottlob Sauer started managing the firm; in 1820, he began manufacturing weapons of war as well as percussion and needle-fire hunting arms.  Johann Paul Sauer became the manager of the company in 1835 and founded his own workshop.  Three years later, he founded the company Spangenberg & Sauer with Ferdinand Spangenberg.  The firm expanded in 1849 to be known as Spangenberg, Sauer & Sturm, Suhl.  The gun designs of the company were entered at several world fairs beginning in 1851 and won numerous prizes and medals, as Johann Paul Sauer and his son Lorenz created the new name of J. P. Sauer & Sohn and utilized a trademark of a standing giant with a club, associated with the name in 1873.

The firm decided to produce hunting weapons in 1880 at a branch located at Französischestrasse 40-41 in Berlin.  A year later, they produced their first drilling, a three-barreled weapon.  In 1895, with Franz Sauer serving as the sole owner, the first self-cocking three-barreled gun with a separate cocking lever for the rifle barrel was introduced.  The company’s branch in Berlin moved to Jägerstrasse 59-60 in 1900.  By 1915, the luxurious version of the Model XVIII double shotgun, also known as the Meisterwerk shotgun, was produced for Sauer’s most demanding customers.  By 1940, the German military was responsible for the majority of the company’s sales.  The M 30 Luftwaffe-Drilling became a hunting arm of almost mystical popularity.  After the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, the partition of Germany by the victorious Allies left the city of Suhl – and the Sauer firm – in Communist East Germany.

The new J. P. Sauer Company was founded on March 26, 1951 by Rolf Sauer, and investors who saw the value of the Sauer name and reputation.  They decided to build a new factory in Eckernförde in Schleswig-Holstein on the Baltic Sea between Flensburg and Kiel.  An important research and development facility of torpedoes for the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) in World War II was located here and had employed seven thousand skilled workers that were out of work when the facility was razed in 1948.  The construction of the new Sauer factory began in 1951 among the rubble and 200 of these skilled workers were hired, together with 70 skilled craftsmen from Suhl and the original Sauer factory who were able to leave the Russian occupation zone.

The Sauer Drilling became the most popular arm of its type in the world in 1956, in part because the Sauer Drillings were the first rifles to have revolutionary new hammer-forged rifle barrels.    From 1960 through 1999, the model 80 Sauer Drilling was produced for the Colt Company in Hartford-Connecticut and became known as the Colt-Sauer Model 3000 Drilling.  This was a basic Anson & Daly type drilling with a Greener safety as they had already been made formerly in Suhl.  It was available with 16 gauge, and 12 gauge shotgun barrels and six different rifle calibers. 

The basic Model 3000 or Drilling 3000 was produced from 1955 to 1997 in shotgun calibers 12, 16 and 20 with a variety of accompanying rifle calibers.  The gun featured a Blitz action, pistol grip with cheek piece, Purdey double sliding bolt with Greener cross bolt and Greener safety on the side.  The scalloped action has a straight ending towards the stock, loading indicators on the top strap, double triggers and extractors.  The Model 3000 was made in at least two versions: standard (STD), and premium (LUX); lightweight with alloy action (DUR), and barrels of Böhler Antinit Stahl (ANT).  The Lux version featured more decorative wood pieces and an engraved receiver.  The final versions of the Model 3000 had separate handling of the lock for the rifle barrel.

In 1965 the Murmann Family became the new owners of the company.  Rolf Sauer, who had led the rebirth of the company, died in 1972.  In the year 2000, Michael Lüke and Thomas Ortmeier acquired the company.  They also own the Blaser Company and the new Mauser Company.  In 2009, J. P. Sauer was re-founded in Isny im Allgäu, a town in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where Blaser is located.

In March of 2013 a new modern manufacturing facility was started in Isny that combined Sauer, Blaser and Mauser under one roof.  Barrel production and SIG Sauer pistol manufacturing have remained in Eckernförde.  Currently, the Lüke and Ortmeier Gruppe own the company and have its headquarters in Isny im Allgäu, Germany at Ziegelstadel 20.

This particular J. P. Sauer & Sohn Model 3000 Luxury West German drilling is in caliber 12 X 12 X 7.65R.  It is rated as having 98% plus original condition.  With a serial number of G3533, the weapon was produced in 1967 at Eckernförde.  The weapon has 25″ solid matt ribbed barrels.  A tang barrel selector that raises the rib leaf sight when pushed forward to select the rifle barrel; rear sight designed for a 100 meter shooting distance.  The front trigger is a set trigger when using the rifle.  

The excellent condition shotgun bores measure at full choke and half choke and accommodate 2 3/4” shells.  All barrels are Nitro proofed.  The coin finished game scene on the engraved receiver shows an elk on one side and a deer on the other.  The gun has a Blitz action and Greener style side safety.  The streaked and checkered European walnut stock has a matching one piece checkered and full beavertail fore-end with a Deeley style release.  The weapon measures 14 ½” length of pull.  There is a Sauer factory butt plate.  The left bore diameter measures .719”; the right shotgun bore is .728”.  The left bore restriction measures .032” while the right is .035”.  The drop at heel (DAH) is approximately 3”; the drop at comb (DAC) is approximately 1 ¾”; the DAF is approximately 2”.  The unloaded gun weighs 7 pounds and 8 ounces.  It is fitted with sling swivels.

The 7x65R is a rimmed bottleneck cartridge designed by famous Leipzig arms and ammunition manufacturer Wilhelm Brenneke in 1917, providing an edged version – for easier extraction – of his already popular 7×64.  It uses a case 65mm (2.559”) long.  The shoulder angle is 20.25 degrees and it uses standard 7mm (.284”) bullets.  Norma offers four factory loads for the 7x65R, three with 170 grain bullets and one with a 156 grain bullet.  The Norma 156 grain Oryx bullet is loaded to a muzzle velocity of 2723 fps and muzzle energy of 2569 ft. lbs.  The 200 yard figures are 2200 fps and 1678 ft. lbs.  The 170 grain Vulkan load has a muzzle velocity of 2657 fps and muzzle energy of 2666 ft. lbs.  The 200 yard figures are 2143 fps and 1734 ft. lbs. (very similar to the .308 Winchester.)

Leupold introduced their four-star-plus, VX-3 1.5-5x20mm Illuminated Reticle (IR) riflescope in 2010 and one is on this weapon.  It is the All-American interpretation of a European/African safari or dangerous game scope, boasting a one-piece, 30mm main tube, illuminated reticule and a 1.5x minimum magnification to maximize the field of view.  VX-3 optics are fully multi-coated using Leupold’s proprietary Xtended Twilight Lens System that specifically matches the lens coatings with each lens element, based on its glass type and index of refraction.  The lens edges are blackened to reduce internal reflections.  Highly abrasion resistant DiamondCoat2 is applied to all exterior lens surfaces.  Like all Leupold Gold Ring scopes, the VX-3 is made in Beaverton, Oregon USA. The tubes and adjustment turret are CNC machined from solid 6061-T6 aluminum bar stock for maximum durability.  The front of the tube and the rear of the ocular bell are threaded for Leupold Alumina accessories.  All Leupold Gold Ring scopes are covered by Leupold’s industry standard setting Full Lifetime Guarantee, regardless of whether they are still owned by the original purchaser, with no receipt or registration card required.  Note that this is a flat-out “lifetime guarantee,” not a “limited lifetime warranty.”

This particular VX-3 scope has an overall length of 9.6” and weighs 13.3 ounces.   The red dot reticule (left) provides accuracy for shooting the rifle, while the surrounding red circle shows an excellent approximation of the expected 12 gauge shotgun patterning.   It has a field of view at 100 yards of 66.5’, with the scope set on 1.5x.  The highest magnification actually is calibrated at 4.5x.  The battery providing illumination is a CR-2032.  The images seen through the VX-3 are crisp and clear, with good contrast.  Flare and coma are well suppressed, as are all other visible optical aberrations.  Color rendition is accurate and well saturated.  Compared to other scopes of its type, the VX-3 1.5-5×20 Metric has good center sharpness and very good edge sharpness.  The degree of illumination of the reticule can be set to four daytime settings and four low-light settings.

J.P. Sauer and Suhl, Germany2015-08-17T11:53:34-05:00

Johann Fanzoj and Ferlach, Austria

 

Johann Fanzoj Combination 16 gauge/7x57R over-under

The art of gun-making in Ferlach dates back to the 16th century.  Austria’s southernmost province, Carinthia, became threatened by periodic attacks from the Venetians to the southwest and the Turks from the southeast.  To defend the valuable area, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I ordered that a powerful arsenal be built in the major town of Klagenfurt; the project was completed in 1566 by his son Maximilian II.  Max decided that he needed an arms industry that would trump the Trompia Valley center that supplied the Venetian Republic.  Thanks to the nearby natural resources of iron and timber, water from rivers cascading down the Karawanken mountains and an already well-established workforce of skilled iron- and metalworkers, a weapon industry evolved that would soon become world famous.  For more than nine generations the Fanzoj family has played a significant role in shaping this proud tradition.

In the early days, weapon production was organized as a “house industry.”  The manufacturing process was divided strictly into several different tasks.  Every master gunsmith had a specialized skill and a weapon went through many a master gunsmith’s hands before it was offered for sale.  Master gunsmiths learned the trade from their fathers, and passed the knowledge on to their own sons.

In 1750, having moved to the valley (known as the Dale of Roses) from Holland, the name Fanzoj appeared in the chronicles for the first time as a local gunsmith; this was the same year as Holy Roman Empress of the Habsburg Dynasty Maria Theresa created the first set of guild rules for the gunsmiths of Ferlach.  A 1781 census showed that there were 203 master gunsmiths in the village.  By 1793, Emperor Francis II granted an exclusive trade mark to the Guild of Ferlach Gunsmiths to protect the “authenticity and quality of the arms from Ferlach.” 

By 1845, the number of gunsmiths in Ferlach had grown to 308.  By 1876, the craftsmen founded the “Association of Master Gunsmiths,” en elected body that helped procure parts and distribute profits.  Two years later, the “Imperial Professional School for the Arms Industry” was founded.  One of the future leaders of the Fanzoj firm, Johann Fanzoj, received a Certificate of Gunmastership in 1885.  Over the next two decades, Ferlach ceased manufacturing military weapons and began to concentrate on hand-crafted hunting rifles, shotguns and combination/drilling guns.

In 1906, Johann Fanzoj (VI) designed the Ischler – a short, lightweight, single-shot rifle with an external striker – which he dedicated to Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, who was a passionate and prolific hunter.  The Ischler reportedly never left the Emperor’s side on a hunt and Johann Fanzoj often accompanied him during his legendary hunts.  Johann thus became a Purveyor to the Imperial Court of Franz Joseph I.

In the last century, World War I and II hit the Fanzoj family hard economically, with some family members even emigrating to the United States of America during the Depression Era (there were 308 gun-makers in Ferlach in 1934 which dropped to 80 in 1946), but after a short period of stagnation in 1945, the demand for hunting weapons rose once again.  Even during the peak years from 1965 to 1980, Fanzoj produced only up to 200 weapons per year.  Johann Fanzoj (VIII), then Senior Manager, saw the handwriting on the wall and succeeded in expanding the company to world-wide recognition with new areas of business and trade by contracting production volume even further and concentrating on the top of the top of the line.  

Due to his untiring dedication, innovative commercial talents, and investments in the production facilities, Fanzoj weapons today delight hunters around the world.  It did not hurt that he became the first Ferlach gunsmith to go on a safari to Africa in 1969 and on his return initiated the era of large caliber double rifles in Ferlach; these quickly became highly esteemed working tools valued among professional hunters in Africa – weapons that could be relied upon in true life and death situations.  By 1989, the number of gun-smiths in Ferlach had dropped to 56.  Johann Fanzoj continued to be a highly-regarded member of international hunting associations and ethical commissions, and served as the Prior of Carinthia for the International Order of St. Hubertus.

In 1998, Daniela, the daughter of Johann Fanzoj (VIII), succeeded him as company director, after studying in the United States, Russia and Croatia.   Together with her younger brother Patrick, an accomplished engineer in charge of the manufacturing process, they form a young and dedicated team that has forcefully implemented their commitment to handcrafted products of superior quality, adding two showrooms – in Zagreb (Croatia) and Ljubljana (Slovenia) and strengthening the firm’s image as international experts for hunting and shooting worldwide. 

The company takes on only about 20 commissions each year as a custom-made firearm can take as long as three years to design and craft, ranking among the very best in the world and demanding premium prices.  Basic models start at €40,000, but custom-designed rifles cost more than 10 times that amount.  These prices, in turn, have elevated older Fanzoj weapons into protected heirlooms and highly-desired flawlessly functioning weapons of masterful craftsmanship worth far beyond their original price, when they do appear on the market.

The Fanzoj philosophy is quite simple but elegant – build fine hunting arms – unique, individual pieces of highest artistic and technical value – handcrafted by true masters of their trade with only one goal in mind: to realize the personal vision of the individual Fanzoj customer.

The company is managed by family members who love hunting and have a deep understanding of guns and what a hunter requires of his or her gun.  They continue to design and build every precious part of a Fanzoj with one thing in mind – the hunting experience.  Currently, there are eleven gun-makers (among which is famed master gunsmith Florian Mutenhaler) and craftsmen that work at the Fanzoj facility in Ferlach.  Average gun-making experience per worker is 25 years.  Fanzoj weapons have been purchased over the years not only by Emperor Franz Josef, but also former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Fanzoj firm works in the niche where most of the very few remaining high end producers of hunting weapons cannot follow.  This is because every single piece of their guns is crafted meticulously by hand and that continues to make their products a worldwide success.  Additionally, many Fanzoj creations stretch existing technological limits, for example, in their new bolt action Mauser 98 that they construct not of steel – as had been done since the gun’s inception over 100 years ago – but of titanium.

This particular example of a Johann Fanzoj weapon was made in 1962, a combination over-under gun (known as a Bocksbüchflinte) that married a shotgun with a rifle.  This Fanzoj 16-gauge/7x57R, serial number 21 822, has an additional number 2461.62, which means that it was the 2461st gun to be inspected and proofed in Ferlach that year of 1962.  Featuring double triggers, it has a 14 inch length of pull; overall length of the weapon is 40 inches.  The drop at comb is 1 ¾ inches; the drop at heel is 2 ½ inches.  Without the scope, the weapon weighs 6 pounds and 9.6 ounces.  Concerning the triggers, known as a German stecher system, the rear trigger is used to lighten the pull and to cock the front trigger.  Once engaged in this manner, the front trigger will fire with just slight pressure, increasing accuracy. 

The 16-gauge shotgun upper barrel is marked Böhler Blitz Stahl and rifle barrel is marked Böhler Blitz Stahl Spezial G55; it is chambered for 2 ¾ inch shells.  The stock is made of dark European walnut; front and rear sling swivels provide a solid point of fixture for whatever sling the owner desires; the butt of the weapon has a horn plate to provide snag-free shouldering of the gun.  The weapon features a Kersten breech that is characterized by two flanges sticking out of the barrel unit in the rear to the left and right.  These flanges slide into fitting cutouts in the breech and are bolted there by two cross bolts.  Such a system is very strong.  The coin finished weapon is engraved on the right side of the receiver with a male deer in a forest.  On the left side are three Auerhahn, the largest member of the grouse family and an endangered species in Germany and Austria, in low shrubs. 

The 7 mm rifle lower barrel is regulated to shoot 4 cm high at 100 meters.  This, combined with the flat trajectory of the round, allows for accurate snap shooting from 50 meters to 220 meters.  Testing the firearm at 100 yards, using sandbag rests for stability, three round groups achieved a phenomenal accuracy of 5/8 of an inch.  The 7×57mm cartridge, also known as the 7 mm Mauser, was developed by Paul Mauser of the Mauser company in 1892 and adopted as a military cartridge by Spain in 1893.  It was subsequently adopted by several other countries as the standard military cartridge.  Although not used my military forces now, it remains in widespread international use as a sporting round. The 7×57mm has been deservedly described as “a ballistician’s delight.”   The rimmed cartridge, 7x57R, was developed from the 7×57 shortly after its introduction for use in break-action rifles and combination guns.  A rimmed cartridge greatly simplifies the issues of designing an extractor, particularly in a combination gun or drilling which must also be designed to extract rimmed shotgun shells.

This round became popular in Africa, where it was used on animals up to and including elephants, for which it was particularly favored by noted ivory hunter W.D.M. “Karamojo” Bell, who shot about 800 African Elephants with 1893 pattern 7×57mm military ball ammunition using Rigby Mauser 98 rifles, when most ivory hunters were using larger-caliber rifles.  Bell selected the cartridge for moderate recoil, and used 172.8 grain long round-nosed military full metal jacket bullets for reliable penetration.  The 7x57mm round was also used by the Indian hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett to put down the infamous man-eating Leopard of Rudraprayag besides a few other Man-Eaters of Kumaon (tigers and leopards.)

This quality firearm deserved a quality telescopic sight and indeed received one.  The weapon has a Schmidt & Bender Hubertus fixed power 4×32/64 scope made from aluminum alloy, with integrated dovetail and front base plate, so as to fix to the weapon with German claw mounts.  These mounts allow the hunter to quickly mount or dismount the scope, depending on the situation.  Because the mount has such fine tolerances, once it is snapped on, no confirming rounds are needed to be fired before the hunt begins.  The serial number of the scope is 3580.  The scope, the optics in which are quite clear, features a German #1 reticule (works excellent at twilight hours.)  It is 10.82 inches long and weighs 11.62 ounces.   

Schmidt & Bender (often abbreviated as S&B) is a German company specialized in producing high end telescopic sights for hunting, sports, law enforcement and military arms.  The company was founded in 1957 in Bievertal, near Giessen in Hesse, by master instrument maker Helmut Bender and instrument maker Helmut Schmidt.  The company started with producing telescopic sights for large German (mail order) hunting equipment sales chains under various brand names and gradually started to produce telescopic sights under their own brand name.  Since its inception, much of the assembly process is done by hand, which is why the company can only turn out a limited number of scopes annually.

The original sale of the gun appears to have been to a hunting specialty store in Germany.  It was purchased from the store by a hunter from Bonn, along the Rhine River, in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen.  Hunting laws and regulations are much different in Austria and Germany than they are in the United States.  Landowners and forest masters (Forstmeisters) determine what is to be hunted and at what time of year, rather than state-produced hunting seasons.  Therefore, this weapon was designed for the hunter who might be offered an opportunity to hunt birds (flying and on the ground,) deer and foxes on the same outing.  The original owner, a businessman, owned a small game area along the Lower Rhine, in which he hunted European Roe Deer, hare, Gray Partridge and Wild Boar.  A German-American businessman, and big-game hunter, purchased the weapon in 2013 but did not have an opportunity to hunt with it.

Daniela Fanzoj, after checking the company records, believes that her grandfather, Johann Fanzoj VII, oversaw the construction of the gun. 

 

Johann Fanzoj and Ferlach, Austria2015-05-26T12:30:37-05:00

Finding a Strategy to Defeat Militant Islam

 

Strategy to Defeat Militant Islam

To develop a strategy to defeat ISIS, we must first identify the center of gravity of this enemy.  For competent strategists, the center of gravity, be it the bulk of the enemy’s army or other capability (although seldom an enemy leader), is the hub of all power and strength.  Destroy it and the enemy collapses.  The strategic center of gravity of every militant Islamic organization, from small terrorist cells to large conventionally formed and equipped armies, is the magnetism of certain tenants of Islam that attract an almost inexhaustible number of recruits that are prepared to do violence to non-believers and even die for their cause in their quest to expand their religion into a caliphate under Islamic Law.  Given that, the attached chart shows what must be done.  These actions are not sequential; they will often overlap and several may take decades to accomplish.  However, if we can follow these guidelines, we will prevail in the end.

 

Finding a Strategy to Defeat Militant Islam2021-06-27T16:22:52-05:00

Ludwig Borovnik and Ferlach, Austria

Ludwig Borovnik Drilling

 

Ferlach, Austria -- A Cradle of Gun-making

In the very southernmost valley of Austria is located the town of Ferlach.  About a dozen gun-making companies there craft some of the finest shotguns and rifles in the world.  This is the story of one of them and a unique firearm he produced.

Herr Ludwig Borovnik, who was born in 1824 and the mayor of Ferlach, turned his passion into a career and set up business as an independent gunsmith in Ferlach, Austria in 1848.  The company that he founded was later taken over by his son, Ludwig Borovnik II; it remained a small, family-run enterprise well into the 1930s.  

On April 14, 1942 the family fortunes were undone when all members of the family were deported to Germany on cattle wagons by German authorities.  After the end of the war, the family returned to Carinthia and found it in ruins.  Just a few years later, Ludwig Borovnik II died of ill health that had never improved since his return from Germany.  Ludwig Borovnik III, who had been born in 1925, assumed the role of head of the family and rebuilt the business from scratch.

In the 1950s, Ludwig Borovnik III made use of his language skills to import and sell timber from Yugoslavia.  Having got the business off to a good start, he was the first wood-seller in Ferlach to start trading stock wood and rose to become one of Europe’s largest walnut wood traders.  Much of the finest examples of the wood found their way to his gun shop as well.

In 1960, Ludwig Borovnik III first met passionate hunter Helmut Horten and his wife Heidi.  Their relationship blossomed into a friendship and business partnership that would last 25 years.  A great many hunting trips to Yugoslavia were organized, facilitated by Ludwig Borovnik III’s excellent relations with Marshal Josep Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia from the end of World War II until 1980. 

Ludwig Borovnik IV assumed leadership of the business in 1986.  In what was maybe the proudest business transaction of his career, he received Juan Carlos de Borbon, King of Spain, in his showroom.  The King personally inspected the guns that had been ordered for him and was delighted with the manufacturing detail and precise handiwork of the weapons.  U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush also ordered a firearm from the company.

Ludwig Borovnik IV headed the company proudly until 2004, when Ludwig Borovnik Jr. took over the responsibilities.

Crafting a Borovnik rifle requires extreme precision.  After four years at a special technical school, their gunsmiths also have to undergo more training supervised by the firm’s master gun-maker.  As a Borovnik rifle is 90% crafted by hand, without the use of any machines, it can take up to two years to complete.  The client is involved at every stage in the manufacturing process from gun-making and stock-making to engraving.  Personal wishes can therefore be taken into consideration at any time, and thus each of these precision guns becomes a unique masterpiece.

Expertise handed down through the generations turned the old trade of making war weaponry into the distinctive craftsmanship that has since made Ferlach’s gun-makers world famous.  In the hands of a master craftsman each stroke of the file goes towards giving the gun its own personality.  Expertise, experience and a love of the profession are however our master gun-makers’ most valuable tools.  The engraving is the gun’s face.  It gives it beauty and personality.  Often it tells of hunting, often of fauns, goblins and fairies and sometimes also of love.  Usually however it reflects the owner’s soul.  In the highest-end guns, Borovnik engravers invest up to 3,500 hours of work in cutting and chiseling their masterpiece in the steel.  The ambition to create a perfect work of art is the constant driving force for Borovnik’s world-famous engravers.

Years of experience and the art of reading the wood are the basic requirements for becoming a master stock-maker.  And only the best of them are allowed to work with our exquisite stock woods.  Each stock is selected personally by the client and custom finished to fit.  Borovnik holds one of the largest and most exclusive stores of stock wood in Europe.  All the wood of the weapon’s stock is dried naturally for at least 20 years before use and features highest quality and breathtaking beauty. 

Many people mistakenly believe that Ferlach is a trademark – it is not.  Rather, Ferlach is a small village where a gun guild was started as early as 1558.  Ferlach (in Slovene: Borovlje) is the southernmost town in Austria, about 17 km south of the Carinthian capital Klagenfurt.  It is situated in the Rosental Valley of the Drava River, at the base of the northern slope of the Karawanken mountain range.  Just south of these mountains is the country of Slovenia.  Thanks to the nearby natural resources of iron and timber, water from rivers cascading down the Karawanken mountains and an already well-established workforce of skilled iron- and metalworkers, a weapon industry evolved that would soon become world famous.  Nowhere else on earth is such a collection of gun-smithing talent as there is in this little town in southern Austria.  Neither is there anything that compares to the gun-smithing school (Höhere Technische Bundeslehranstalt Ferlach) where a young man or woman at the age of 15 to 16 can enter a four-year course in firearm design that makes it possible to build a rifle from scratch with hand tools and graduate with a four-year degree, or five-year course in engineering.  Upon completion of the four- or five- year course a graduate can build a rifle, any rifle, be it sidelock, boxlock, double rifle, over-and-under, drilling, bolt-action, side-by-side – you name it – with any stock design and then engrave it or provide inlays of gold or silver.  If any gunsmith in the U.S. can compete with the average graduate of Ferlach’s gun-smithing school, there is a good chance he graduated from Ferlach.

The history of the town is depicted in its coat of arms: it features a tree, bee cone, two crossed silver nails and a rifle.  Since the 15th century, Ferlach was known for its firearms manufacturers, the main armorer of the Habsburg Monarchy.

In the 1500s, it was absolutely necessary that all the people involved in fabricating a firearm were located together in close proximity.  This enabled the barrel maker, the stock maker, and the lock mechanism maker to work together closely to ensure that everyone was performing their task(s) correctly, effectively and efficiently.  In 1558, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I (who was also the King of Bohemia and the King of Hungary and Croatia) assigned 100 gunsmiths from the Habsburg Netherlands to Ferlach for the purpose of producing arms.  According to legend, two Schaschl brothers left Liege, Belgium and were the first to settle in Ferlach to start a gun factory, which was in operation until 1818.  During the 30-Year-War (1618 – 1648) arms production in Ferlach went through its first “boom” and capacity expanded.  Weapons from Ferlach soon became renowned throughout Europe.

As the individual skills became better and more refined, more and more firearms were manufactured.  Eventually, individual gunsmiths began to put their name on the barrel or frame of those guns which they had either manufactured solely or with the help of their fellow Ferlach craftsmen.  Since all Ferlach firearms are essentially hand-made per individual special order, very few are exactly alike.  In the past, the gunsmiths of Ferlach have produced almost every type of shoulder arm imaginable, including such modern weapons as superposed and juxtaposed rifles and shotguns, hammerless drillings, repeating rifles, 3 barrel rifles, combination guns, four-barrel combination guns (called vierlings), hammer guns of every type, etc.  Some of these specimens represent the highest refinement in the gun-makers trade.

In 1946, there were 56 gunsmith companies in Ferlach (at one time there had been over 100), but the numbers dropped continuously.  In 1989 only 16 gunsmiths remained and in 2008 only seven active gunsmiths continued producing guns, although this number has increased slightly in the last few years.  Most guns manufactured in Ferlach today are by individual special order with a wide range of calibers/gauges and other special features and options.  As of this writing, these existing gunsmiths in alphabetical order appear to be: Ludwig Borovnik (1848), Johann Fanzoj (1790), Wilfried Glanznig, Josef Hambrusch (the oldest firm beginning in 1752), Karl Hauptmann, Christian Hausmann, Gottfried Juch, Josef Just, Jakob Koschat, Peter Michelitsch, Johann & Walter Outschar and Herbert Scheiring.   Legendary firms that are no longer in business include Josef Winkler, Franz Sodia and Johann Sigott.  Top engravers who have lived in Ferlach and who work on individual pieces for the gun-makers have included such names as Mack, Krondorfer, Orou, Schaschle, Singer, Maurer, Widmann, Stogner, de Florian, Plucher and Oblitschnig.

Each of the master gun-makers does some things a little differently from the other and they might also offer some things, which the other gun-makers do not.  All use Böhler Antinit, Böhler Blitz and Böhler Super Blitz steel, which are so strong that they allow the thickness of the barrels to be reduced, thus reducing the final weight of the weapon.  The gun-makers also make their own actions (with the exception of bolt-action rifles).  They tend to be a little secretive about some of their processes and methods of manufacture, even from each other.  A customer, who decides to visit Ferlach to have a gun made, should allow a week in the village to visit every gun-maker, if the client has not already picked out a gun-maker.

Ferlach received town privileges in 1930 and today remains a center for the production of hunting rifles.  Currently the town has 7,377 inhabitants.  The Ferlach Guild (Genossenschaft) represented most of Ferlach’s gun-makers until it was dissolved in 2004.  Current prices reportedly range from $25,000 to $500,000 per piece, which take six to ten months to produce; at the high end, production can take two years.  Only Beretta has been making guns longer than Ferlach and is still in business.  The gun-making industry brings in $8,500,000 to $10,000,000 to the town annually. 

One of the classic combinations of weapon made in Ferlach is of two shotgun barrels arranged on top of a rifle barrel, known as a “drilling” gun.  The drilling is not intended for target shooters, but predominantly used for high-seat hunting, driven hunts and game bird shoots, making it a gun that fulfils all expectations and lives up to pretty much any hunting situation.

The example we will review today is a Ludwig Borovnik 20-gauge/.222 Remington Magnum drilling, serial number 40 3017, was crafted in Ferlach, Austria in 1969.  The number 40 was the sole proprietorship number for the firm of Ludwig Borovnik and is found on their arms.  The weapon has side-by-side 24¼” barrels (full/modified chokes for the shotgun barrels.)  Featuring double triggers, it has a 14 ⅝” length of pull; overall length of the weapon is 41 ½”.  Without the scope, the weapon weighs 6 pounds and 12.8 ounces.  Shotgun barrels are marked Böhler Blitz Stahl and rifle barrel is marked Böhler Blitz Stahl Spezial G55.  The rifle barrel is also marked Ludwig Borovnik-Ferlach.  The weapon also has a marking of 128.69 indicating that it was the 128th weapon to be proofed in 1969 by the Ferlach Genossenschaft to ensure its safety and quality control.  The weapon has two triggers with a Blitz Action – a design where the moving parts of a break-open gun’s action are mounted to the trigger plate.   The receiver locking system is a Greener Crossbolt, a tapered round bar, operated by the opening lever, passing transversely through the standing breech and a matching hole in a rib extension; to strengthen the lock-up. 

When the drilling is set for the shotgun mode (Sch) on the top switch, the front trigger fires the right shotgun barrel and the rear trigger fires the left.  The lower butt-stock of the weapon has a special compartment that holds five .222 Remington Magnum rifle rounds under a sterling silver access door.  The coin finished drilling is engraved on the right side of the receiver with two deer (male and female) in a forest.  On the left side is a pair of ducks over a pond.  The pistol grip cap features a likeness of the Auerhahn, the largest member of the grouse family and an endangered species in Germany and Austria.  Other areas of the receiver have floral engravings.  Today, Ludwig Borovnik’s shop in Ferlach is: Ludwig Borovnik KG, Präzisionsjagdwaffen Gewehrschäfte Aller Art, at Bahnhofstrasse 7.

The weapon has a Pachmayr Decelerator Recoil Pad that was probably installed after the weapon was received by Flaig’s Custom Guns in 1970.  Flaig’s (just north of Pittsburg in Millvale, Pennsylvania) commissioned Ludwig Borovnik to produce several drillings and combination over-under shotgun/rifles in American calibers for export, although the numbers were small considering the time it took the small Borovnik shop to make it each weapon.  In this era, Borovnik made 168 total weapons per year.  To date, this 20-gauge/.222 Remington Magnum combination by Borovnik is the sole example to appear on the secondary market and may be the only weapon Borovnik ever made in this caliber pairing, given that most of his weapons were sold in Europe and these are not popular European calibers.   This weapon has Flaig’s motif engraved on the trigger guard.  Charles Flaig died in the early 1990s and his store closed soon afterward.  During this era, 98% of few Borovnik arms imported to the United States went through his firm.  A rear sight rises into the “up” position, when the tang selector is moved to the rifle (K) setting.  In this setting, the front trigger fires the rifle. 

The caliber .222 Remington Magnum is now out of standard production, the last rounds made in mass in 1998, although selected manufacturers make limited numbers every few years.  The caliber is just slightly more powerful than the .223 (50 to 100 feet per second faster at the muzzle.)  

The weapon has a Zeiss telescopic sight.  On November 17, 1846, 30-year-old mechanic Carl Zeiss opened a workshop and a small store in Jena’s Neugasse 7.  In 1892, Carl Zeiss built the first telescopic sight (based on Beaulieu-Marconnay design) for sniper rifles and machine guns.  Zeiss designed the C-series for the American hunter with integral objective and ocular bells and an integral adjustment turret.  The one-piece construction allows perfect lens alignment, micro-precise adjustments and structural integrity, with quick focusing, rubber armoring at the eyepiece, T-Star multi-layer coating and parallax setting (free at 100 yards.) 

A Zeiss Diavari-C 1.5-4.5x 18mm Rifle Scope serial number 204031, manufactured in 1987 in Wetzlar/West Germany, is mounted on the drilling using special German claw mounts manufactured by EAW – Ernst Apel GmbH, Würzburg/Germany, made in their factory at the village of Gerbrunn – ensure the scope is automatically bore-sighted, whenever it is mounted – which eliminates the need to fire a confirmation shot in the field.  It is a variable power from 1.5-magnification to 4.5-magnification.  Eye relief is 3.54.”  When set on 1.5-magnification, the scope has a field of view of 72 feet at a range of 100 yards.  The length of the scope is 12.28.”  The weight of the scope, which has the older steel tube instead of aluminum, is 16 ounces without the claw rings.     With the scope mounted, the weapon weighs 8 pounds and 12.8 ounces.

An Austrian hunter would use a weapon of this nature to hunt birds with the shotgun barrels and perhaps a fox or large hare with the rifle.  In the United States, with our different hunting laws, and depending on the state, the weapon could be used for turkey or pheasant with success.

 

Ludwig Borovnik and Ferlach, Austria2015-08-17T12:14:37-05:00
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