Zombie Guns #9

 Another theme gun genre that continues on

Firearm Factory of the Month: Great Western Arms Co.

The time was the early 1950s, the place was Los Angeles......I have said it before that Hollywood was made famous by the gun and Hollywood has made many a gun famous.

Westerns were big in Hollywood in the early 50s and you can't make a western movie without Colt Single Action Army revolvers, it was the "Gun that Won the West" after all.

Here is the problem, Colt quit producing the gun in 1940/41, although there were plenty of used Colt SAAs running around, parts and pristine ones were starting to run out. In addition, there was a demand by the consumer for new guns that matched what was seen on the silver screen.

In America when there is a demand for something, it is only a matter of time before someone comes along to fill that demand. Such is the case with the Great Western Arms.

Before we tell this story, we should mention that Bill Ruger also saw the same demand and introduced his .22 Single Six revolver in 1953.

Founded by an engineer from Northup Grumman named William Wilson, a gun store owner named Hy Hunter along with several investors including people tied to the LA Rams NFL Team.

They founded the Great Western Arms Company to produce a Colt copy both for Hollywood and the fans of western movies.

Wilson actually visited Colt in Hartford to make sure they were not interested in bringing the SAA back into production and they claimed they were not (this changed a few years later).

The company opened for business in 1953 using frames that were investment cast by a company named Ferrocast.

The early guns actually used some Colt N.O.S. parts, although some dispute this.

Hy Hunter (yes that is apparently his real name) owned a gun shop in Los Angeles and was one of the first to carry/distribute Great Western Arms revolvers, the picture below shows him in his gun shop with Carbine William (in the cowboy hat) inspecting some Great Western Arms revolvers.

The company did OK for the first couple of years, sales were good, they had endorsements from John Wayne, Audie Murphy and others, but around the same time Great Western Arms was started other gun makers (mostly in Europe) also began making copies of the gun, then in 1956 Colt reintroduced the Colt Single Action Army (known as the 2nd gen).

In 1959, after serval bankruptcies, they were bought out by Early & Modern Firearms (EMF) who also imported competitors to the Great Western.

By 1964 it was over, 22,000 revolvers and 3,300 derringers were produced by Great Western Arms.

What Remains:

The introduction and popularity of the Great Western Arms revolvers no doubt had an impact on Colt's decision to reintroduce the Single Action Army.

The original factory was on Miner Street in Los Angeles, somewhere between E92nd and E88th streets.

The factory in North Hollywood at 11728 Vose Street still stands, it is now a cabinet shop

The Early & Modern Firearms shop at 12418 Ventura Blvd in Studio City is now a massage parlor, hair studio and clothing store.

Hy Hunter's gun shop is also gone, once on the corner of Ontario Street and West Burbank Blvd, it is now a postal services company.

https://greatwesternarmsco.com/history/timeline-notes/

http://www.greatwesternfirearms.com/history/

https://gundigest.com/collecting-the-first-colt-clone

https://greatwesternarmsco.com/quality-and-build/on-the-use-of-colt-parts/

https://vawv.jouwweb.nl/handguns/revolvers

Egyptian Military Rifles

 Egyptian Military Rifles - By Randy Chamberlain

The Israeli Armed Forces produced many powerful and reliable firearms such as the popular Uzi, the Galil Assault rifle, Dror Light Machine Gun and the Desert Eagle pistol.  However, Israel isn’t the only Middle East nation with a significant firearms industry.   Egypt has also developed weapons domestically with a goal to supply all the other Middle East countries with firearms.

In the late 1800’s, the Ottoman Empire had control of Egypt.  They wanted to modernize the Egyptian army’s firearms and in 1868, they placed a large order of Remington Rolling Block rifles.  France, an ally to Egypt at the time, needed weapons for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 so Egypt defaulted on the order, so the firearms could be delivered to France instead.  Then in the 1870’s, the order was filled for Egypt and was used for the expansion of the Egyptian army.  In 1882, a revolt was led by Ahmed Urabi, aimed to end foreign control and establish a constitutional government.  Britian stepped in to stop the rebels and stabilize the region as they relied on the routes through the Suez Canel.  The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty from 1936 gave limited self-governance back to Egypt and reduced the British military presence in Egypt, who later joining the United Nations in 1945, to secure its sovereignty.

In 1948, King Farouk wanted to strengthen the military gun power in the Egyptian Army.  The King contracted 30,000 FN49’s from Belgium.  These firearms would be paired with an 8mm Mauser cartridge but would use stripper clips for reloading as the cartridge would often stick, which wasn’t a good scenario for reloading during battle.  The cartridge was mainly removed for cleaning, and the wood stock had a brass plate to hold a cleaning kit in the stock.  The FN49 operates on a short stroke gas piston operating system.  The weapon has a tilted bolt and dust cover that slides when cocked, as well as adjustments for both elevation and wind drift.  Some of the weapons had been stamped with the King of England’s crown, however later rifles were stamped with an eagle for the new Egyptian government. 

The Egyptians weren’t too fond of the FN49’s and wanted to produce their own weapons so in the 1950’s, Sweden sold Egypt the license and machinery to start making the semi-automatic Hakim rifle.  The word Hakim translates to “the ruler, judge or governor” in Arabic. Originally designed by Erik Eklund, as an Ag m/42 for the Swedish Army, the Egyptians converted the design to use 8mm mouser.  Its weight comes in at 10.5 lbs. and comes with a 24.5” barrel.  It operates with an adjustable gas valve that goes back to the carrier and has a permanent muzzle brake to help reduce the concurrent recoil.  Between 1955 through 1962, there were around 70,000 Hakims produced by Egypt.  There were also 2 types of Egyptian training Hakims produced, one as an air gun with a skull and cross bone stamp, made by Anschutz, as well as a 22 caliber, made by Beretta.  Like the FN49, the Hakim uses a 10-round detachable magazine designed to be loaded from the top with 5-round stripper clips.  Many of the Hakim rifles seen combat in Yemen, as well as the 1973 Yom Kippur war. 

Another variant of the Hakim is the smaller semi-automatic Rasheed Carbine (sometimes spelled as Rashid), which resembles the Soviet SKS.  With a 20.5” barrel and solid wood stock, it weighs 9.25 lbs. unloaded.  Much like the Hakim, the Rasheed uses an adjustable gas operating system with a 10-round cartridge, using stripper clips to reload, but it’s scaled down to use much less powerful 7.62×39 Soviet ammunition.  The carbine has a rear ladder sight, with a "battle" position for short-range fire, as well as increments of 100 to 1000 meters, although the rifle only has a 300-metre effective range.  The Rasheed also has an SKS-style bayonet and an improved bolt system. 

Around this time, Egypt started to become friendly with the Soviets and began to distance themselves away from the European countries.  The Hakim and Rasheed firearms were soon being replaced with the Maadi AKM 762x39.   The Rasheed production halted after only around 8000 were produced.  Some the Rasheed rifles were distributed among the Egyptian military and police.  Later, around 2500 were imported into the U.S. for the collector’s market.

At that time, the Soviets sent advisors and tooling to Egypt and soon after, the same factory that produced the Hakim became a licensed production facility for the Maadi assault rifle.  The Maadi AK is an Egyptian copy of the Russian AKM, with a gas-operated action with a long stroke piston and rotating bolt.  Most were produced with a 16-inch barrel, although some were produced with longer barrels as well.  There are semi-automatic or full-auto configurations.  It has a detachable box magazine that holds 7.62x39mm ammo.  The stock is traditionally wooden with handguards, and the grip is a distinctive, unique Egyptian pistol drip.  The left side of the trunnion is marked with the model, caliber and serial number.  With the Russian tooling and Soviet Engineers guiding the original Egyptian production, the Maadi is considered one of the closest foreign-made copies of the original Russian AK47, known for a high level of craftsmanship and making it highly sought after by collectors.

In 1952, the Egyptian Revolution began, and Egypt became a republic on June 18, 1953, with Mohamed Naguib as the first president.  By 1956, the Suez Crisis brought the British control to an end, and Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal.  Production of the Maadi AK continued until the Russian advisors were expelled from Egypt in 1972 and in 1973, Egypt started to get close to the U.S. again.  Egypt continued producing an AK, calling it a Military MISR Police/Export Firearm.    

In 1982, 2000 Maadi firearms were imported into the U.S. collector’s market, but imports were halted by the 1989 import ban.  It wouldn’t be until 1993 through 1995, when two companies started to import Maadi rifles again in two configurations – a 16” barrel and a 20” barrel, some, with threaded barrels, came with a thread protector (a nut) tack-welded in place.  In 1997, another company started to import the MISR AK, with the treads turned off the barrels.  In 1998, the U.S. no longer allowed imports of high-capacity magazines and soon, imports stopped all together, making the Egyptian AK’s very valuable to collectors.

Sources:

YouTube, MilSurpWorld, A quick history of Egyptian Military Firearms, 2017

YouTube, TFBTV, The Egyptian Hakim Rifle, 2021

YouTube, Mishaco, Egyptian Rifles: FN49, Hakim, Rasheed and Maadi

YouTube, ForgottenWeapons, The Rasheed: Semi-auto Battle Carbine From Sweden, 2024

www.GunsInternational.com, Egyptian Maadi AK-47 7.62x39mm

Wikapedia, Rasheed Carbine, Hakim Rifle

About the author:

Randy has been a decades long member of the NRA and the Civilian Marksmanship Program; he began collecting weapons in the 70's and has owned more than 500 weapons. He will be contributing his vast knowledge of surplus and collector weapons.

Interesting Firearm Photos #92

 

Happy Glocktober everyone, this month we have some interesting firearm photos featuring Glocks.

This is also the start of Pumpkin Spice Ammo season

OK back to the Glock porn

Sorry couldn't resist