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| from Guns & Ammo December 2006 |
Thoughts from the Gunner's Guru -- December 2006
The Guru discusses the war overseas, the Wright R-3350 "Cyclone", the giant sable, Syncerus caffer, Broomhandle Mauser, Steyr Scout, and using a shooting sling
By Col. (Ret.) Jeff Cooper
We have Gunsite graduates now on third tour in the sand box and they still volunteer to go back for more. How inspiring it is to note that our entire overseas establishment is a voluntary organization! Our men are fighting because they see a reason to do so. They are in no way disheartened by a homefront news establishment that does its best to cut away their reason for existence.
Our war department gives us overwhelming reason to be proud of this point in history. I am personally proud to have been an active member of that establishment for many years, and I am further proud to have personally known many men who have been over there and seen that--and done that.
The Wright R-3350 "Cyclone" engine was certainly a terminal effort of piston-type power. It was a "double radial" with two rows of nine, supercharged, air-cooled displacement of 3,350 cubic inches and ranged in power around 2,500 horses. Since we are in the jet age now, it is probable that this Cyclone was the end of the line in piston engines.
It is curious to observe the clumsy nomenclature used by the press at this time. The terms 9mm, self-loading, semi-automatic and so on seem to confuse them. I have not seen "revolver" used now for many years in the public press, though it is often more descriptive than "9mm."
We hear rumors to the effect that the giant sable of southwest Africa may not be entirely extinct. If that is true, it is wonderful news.
Don't call it a Cape buffalo. Hasn't been one within a thousand kilometers of the Cape in 100 years. This is a gaucherie. Syncerus caffer is no Bison bison.
In playing around with the Broomhandle Mauser, we have discovered something. Since this piece is 110 years old, I suppose it is time to discover things about it. What I have found is that the Broomhandle was not a pistol at all. It was not called that. It was called the "Mauser System 96" and served a purpose for which a pistol was not designed. The fact that Winston Churchill used it like one at Omdurman has confused this point.
But basically the Mauser System 96 was a collapsible officer's carbine for service in which commissioned officers were expected to furnish their own weapons. Riding in its wooden stock, the Broomhandle gave a fresh-caught junior officer something to support his service sword, and I guess it did this pretty well, remembering that none of the world's armies issued the Broomhandle for any purpose whatever.
Plinking with this piece with stock attached is rather effective and pretty good fun. It was assumed that junior officers would always have preparatory time when action loomed. Thus it was not a service pistol at all and was not intended as such. It is not as effective as a carbine, but it was a lot handier. Times do change.
The Steyr Scout is now a production item available for sale over the counter, and Baby, the idealized heavy rifle, now rests securely at the sconce at Gunsite. These are artifacts of which I am consciously proud. They are good things to know about, and I am glad to have participated in their creation.
Since the military no longer teaches marksmanship in any serious sense, they do not teach the use of the shooting sling. I was taught the loop sling of the '03 rifle in high school ROTC, and it served me extremely well. I killed my one and only bull elk, my record ram, my mountain caribou and my white goat using it. Naturally I think it is a technique worth knowing, and I taught it assiduously(!) here at Gunsite for many years. Go thou and do likewise.
Knowledge is power. Learning is fun. This gains something in translation.
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