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All About Guns

The RARE Sturmgewehr STG44

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Well I thought it was neat!

Morning bathers in Las Vegas watch the mushroom cloud from an atomic test just 75 miles away back in 1953. The cloud had a brilliant red and purple cast.

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All About Guns

Smith & Wesson: Old vs New. Do they make them like they used to?

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All About Guns This great Nation & Its People

Theodore Roosevelt’s Amazon Adventure and Gun Gift By Kurt Allemeier

Following his stinging defeat in the 1912 election, President Theodore Roosevelt planned a trip to South America with a lecture tour and river expedition in the works.

On the trip he exchanged one river expedition meant as an enjoyable excursion for another that was far more dangerous. That trip, on the River of Doubt, veered into a fight to stay alive.

An engraved nickel and gold plated Smith & Wesson .38 Double Action 4th Model Bicycle revolver Roosevelt carried with him to South America and bestowed as a gift to an Argentine university president on his speaking tour is available in Rock Island Auction Company’s May 13-15 Premier Auction. Engraving on the short-barreled gun was done by master engraver L.D. Nimschke or his shop.

ad-shot-on-backgroundLot 238: This engraved nickel and gold plated Smith & Wesson .38 Double Action 4th Model Bicycle revolver is an extreme rarity as well as the gift of Theodore Roosevelt to a former Argentine university president on a trip to South America in 1913.

South America Tour

As one who enjoyed “the strenuous life,” Roosevelt, who was 55, wasn’t one to sit around and let his defeat to Woodrow Wilson gnaw at him. He accepted an invitation to South America for a series of lectures as well as a river tour to collect flora and fauna samples.

A friend, Rev. John Zahm, a Roman Catholic Priest who had traveled extensively in South America, invited Roosevelt on the expedition. An off-hand comment by a Brazilian official suggested an expedition of the unmapped River of Doubt that feeds into the Aripuanã River. The Aripuanã meets the Madeira River, the Amazon River’s largest tributary. The River of Doubt hadn’t been officially named since it had yet to be explored.

“I thought of making the trip a zoological one only, but in Rio de Janeiro I learned there was a chance of our doing a work of geographical importance,” Roosevelt later wrote.

S-W-facing-left-on-backgroundThis extremely rare .38 caliber Smith & Wesson Double Action 4th Model Bicycle revolver has some amazing engraving from the shop of L.D. Nimschke or by the master engraver himself.

Roosevelt, despite the risks, wanted to take on the River of Doubt. The director of the American Museum of Natural History, a sponsor of the original expedition, warned against the danger.

“If it is necessary for me to leave my bones in South America, I am quite ready to do so,” Roosevelt wrote.

Theodore Roosevelt – The River of Doubt, Part 1

Expedition Begins

Col. Candido Rondon was a veteran of the Amazon forest, a former military officer who led the effort to install telegraph lines through the jungle served as co-leader of the party. He was aware of the dangers faced by the expedition.

He and Roosevelt discussed what to expect, the former president wrote, “such as poisonous insects and the fevers they cause, dysentery, accidents in the rapids, and starvation!”

The expedition party traveled upriver by steamboat to a remote town where it began an overland trek to the River of Doubt. Several men fell ill and half of the pack animals died of exhaustion. Further complicating matters, it was discovered that the provisions were more for a cruise like Zahm had in mind than a tough river adventure. There was olive oil, tea, sweets and Rhine wine, but not enough necessities like dried food and salted meat.

Rio-RooseveltPresident Theodore Roosevelt stands next to a marker with the new name of the River of Doubt, Rio Roosevelt, or Roosevelt River. Naturalist George Cherrie is on far left. To the right of the marker is Col. Candido Rondon, who co-led the expedition, and Kermit Roosevelt, the president’s son.

Before setting off on the River of Doubt, the expeditionary team downsized due to the lack of proper supplies. In February, 1914, the party started out with the former president, his son, Kermit, Rondon and his assistant, a doctor, naturalist George Cherrie, and several porters. The number was 22.

Dangers of the Amazon

From the start, the expedition faced the threat of alligators, piranhas, and hostile natives. Roosevelt wrote of being overwhelmed by “torment and menace” from mosquitos and stinging flies.

A venomous coral snake nearly bit the former president who was saved by the thick leather of his boot. Still Roosevelt was captivated.

“It was interesting work, for no civilized man, no white man, had ever gone down or up this river or seen the country through which we were passing,” Roosevelt later wrote. “The lofty and matted forest rose like a green wall on either hand.”

Indigenous people, later learned to be hostile to outsiders and cannibalistic, were stalking the party. Rondon, the Brazilian, forbid anyone to go deep into the jungle after discovering his hunting dog shot with arrows.

S-W-in-case-on-backgroundThe impossibly rare engraved, gold and nickel plated Smith & Wesson Double Action 4th Model Bicycle revolver that was presented as a gift by Theodore Roosevelt.

River Rapids

By March the expedition faced treacherous rapids and had to decide whether to shoot through them or portage through the jungle. Several canoes were destroyed, causing delays as new ones had to be made. They were making about seven miles per day.

On one occasion, daring the rapids turned fatal. A canoe carrying Kermit Roosevelt and two other men was sucked into a whirlpool then sent over a 30-foot waterfall. Kermit and one of the men escaped. The third, a Brazilian, drowned.

Malaria and Murder

Men were overtaken by malaria, dysentery, and suffering as supplies ran low.

Roosevelt, attempting to rescue a canoe in a series of rapids, suffered a nasty gash on his leg. Easily treated in civilization, the wound quickly got infected, leaving the Rough Rider delirious from fever as high as 105 degrees and begging to be left behind. His son wouldn’t hear of it.

“There were a good many days, a good many mornings when I looked at Colonel Roosevelt and said to myself, he won’t be with us tonight,” naturalist George Cherrie later remembered. “And I would say the same in the evening, he can’t possibly live until morning.”

Roosevelt-with-Cherrie-on-his-rightFormer president Theodore Roosevelt with naturalist George Cherrie to his right. The men explored the River of Doubt in South America in 1914.

Cherrie would eventually be a veteran of 40 expeditions in his career and have several species, including a lizard, birds, and a pocket gopher named after him.

Eventually, on a muddy riverbank, the expedition’s doctor was forced to operate without any type of pain reliever for the former president. No matter, the doctor cut away the dead flesh and Roosevelt, who lost nearly 60 lbs. began to improve.

One night, a Brazilian porter was caught stealing food. He fatally shot the man who caught him and fled into the jungle. The party couldn’t find the fugitive and left him to his fate.

River Rescue

In April, the expedition started seeing signs of civilization. They recognized rubber trees tapped for their sap by Brazilian pioneers who had pushed into the jungle. Some of the pioneers were generous to the ragtag expedition and provided new canoes and food.

A relief party was spotted on April 26 at the confluence of the River of Doubt and Aripuanã River. The expedition had trekked more than 400 miles on the River of Doubt.

At his first opportunity, Roosevelt sent off a telegram to the Brazilian government declaring the expedition, “a hard and somewhat dangerous, but very successful trip.”

By the time Roosevelt returned to New York in May, 1914 he was strong enough to walk down the gangplank to meet well-wishers.

Theodore Roosevelt – The River of Doubt, Part 2

Addressing Naysayers

Roosevelt was met by critics about the extent of his role with the expedition, but a lecture tour of the United States and Europe quickly silenced them. The party brought back 2,000 species of birds and 500 mammals for the American Museum of Natural History.

River-of-Doubt-cartoonTheodore Roosevelt was met with naysayers who didn’t believe the events of the expedition. He proved them wrong on a lecture tour of the U.S. and Europe.

The expedition took its toll on Roosevelt who suffered from recurring malaria for the rest of his life that he called “old Brazilian trouble.” He died in 1919 at the age of 60.

An expedition launched on the renamed River of Doubt, now Roosevelt River, in 1926 confirmed nearly everything the earlier expedition did. Rondon, as the leader of the first expedition, was responsible for naming the river and chose to name it after the 26th president.

Teddy Roosevelt Revolver

The engraved short-barrel Smith & Wesson .38 Double Action 4th Model Bicycle revolver, with its silver barrel and frame and gold-plated cylinder is an extreme rarity in Smith & Wesson collecting. The engraving is from the workshop of famed engraver L.D. Nimschke. These double action revolvers are rarer than their Safety Hammerless cousins, especially special order short-barrel versions so this is a nearly impossible to find Smith & Wesson model.

S-W-facing-right-on-backgroundLot 238: An extreme rarity, this engraved short-barrel Smith & Wesson .38 Double Action 4th Model Bicycle revolver was a gift given by President Theodore Roosevelt on a South American tour before departing for an expedition that turned out to be a fight for his life.

Heap on it being a gift from one of America’s most beloved presidents and the revolver’s value increases even further. The gun is accompanied by a statement of provenance in Spanish by the great-grandson of the original owner, Dr. Figueroa Alcorta.  The statement says the revolver “was given to my great-grandfather Dr. Figueroa Alcorta when the ex-President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt, visited the country in 1913.” Argentina is the country referred to in the statement, and in the statement the revolver is identified by serial number and short description of gold and silver plating and pearl grips as well as a description of the accompanying retailer box. Alcorta is a past president of the University of La Plata in Argentina so likely met the former president on his lecture tour ahead of the expedition. The history, rarity and provenance of this Smith & Wesson makes this an amazing and highly desirable piece of gun memorabilia.

Sources:

The Amazonian Expedition That Nearly Killed Theodore Roosevelt, by Evan Andrews, history.com

The River of Doubt, Theodore Roosevelt Center at Dickinson State University

‘The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey,’ by Candice Millar

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Gear & Stuff Well I thought it was funny!

Oops, I hate when that happens!

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All About Guns Gun Info for Rookies

5 Steps to Make an Old Rifle Shoot Like New by MARK KAYSER

5-steps-to-make-an-old-rifle-shoot-like-new_lead.jpg

Regardless if you procured an outdated rifle from an older family member, via a gun-show purchase or through some other method, you hope the vintage shooting iron still hurtles projectiles downrange accurately. You may get lucky with that classic gun, but you also may struggle with it spitting bullets irregularly like a malfunctioning baseball pitching machine. You might address the issue via a gun shop visit or DIY gunsmithing. Additionally, consider these five upgrades as possible remedies for errant rounds.

Before you give your old friend a major makeover, do some research. Use the serial number, model number and other details of the rifle to determine its age. First, the firearm may be an actual antique, and if you have ever watched the PBS program “Antiques Roadshow,” you understand that modifying the character of an item typically decreases its value.

Second, older firearms were not manufactured with the same specifications as their counterparts today. Those older designs may not be up to the task when launching the higher pressures of modern ammunition. Risk of injury or even death could result in a mismatch. Seek out advice from the manufacturer and trusted firearm experts to determine whether your old rifle should return to the field or rest comfortably above the fireplace mantle.

Cleaning rifle bore


Spring Cleaning
If given the green light to transform an elderly rifle, you can start easily with spring cleaning. Give that old firearm a good scrubdown from end to end. Whether the past owner neglected regular cleanings or simply put the rifle away after the last deer season without cleaning it, a good cleaning could remove performance-affecting gunk throughout.

Make sure the firearm is unloaded and then disassemble, with the help of manufacturer guidelines. This gives you access to all nooks and crannies containing crud. Clean from the breech end with the help of a bore guide as you push your cleaning rod toward the bore. Your goal is to remove all deep-seated copper fouling in the barrel. Repeat until your patches come out clean.

Using gunsmithing tools and solvents, clean the bolt, action, trigger assembly and any mechanisms that hold cartridges, including springs. Afterwards, lubricate lightly with rust prevention products and foul the barrel with one or two shots before assessing accuracy. Fouling removes traces of oil and cleaning solvents, plus it pads the rifling with copper and powder residue. If your rifle shoots accurately and you are happy, your improvements may be complete.

Hornady .308 Winchester Ammunition


New Fuel
After your lawn mower sits all winter, a dose of new fuel helps spark it back to life. New ammunition could do the same for that older rifle, especially after a deep cleaning. Set aside any stockpiles of nostalgic ammunition that may have come with the rifle and explore the latest options. After establishing that your rifle can handle newer advancements in ammunition, research selections that are receiving kudos in articles, forums and blogs. A lot has changed since the original Peters deer hunting cartridges were last available. Technological boosts, such as Hornady’s revolutionary use of Doppler radar to aid bullet design, have led to projectiles that fly more accurately and expand with consistent results.

Handloading may be your thing, and it provides an environment where you can safely create your own recipe for accuracy success. Not only can you tailor loads to match the era of your rifle’s specifications, but you can also tweak them until a bullet flies to your objective.

Whether you test with factory updates or handloaded perfection, new ammunition can make an older rifle shine in performance.

Replacing Rifle Stock


Stock It
Rifles of yesteryear traditionally featured stocks crafted from wood. Some of these were elegant examples of artistic craftsmanship. Others might be held together with a firm wrapping of electrical tape. Unfortunately, the wood stock could be a major culprit in marginalizing your rifle’s precision usefulness.

With weather variables (humidity being the worst), wood could swell and apply pressure to the barrel or receiver, affecting accuracy. Fortunately, you have several easy fixes to the issue. The first fix is to glass- or pillar-bed the action along with free-floating the barrel. Order either kit from Brownells and do it yourself or find a gunsmith for the job. Before you chart this course, consider again the antiquity value of the rifle. This alteration could reduce its value with the “Pawn Stars” employees.

To protect vintage value, ditch this option and shop for a replacement stock. Technically advanced stock systems, crafted of a single component or layers of polymer, graphite and even Kevlar, provide a quality replacement for pressure issues. You can even peruse laminated wood options if you favor that feel. Plus, if you ever wish to sell your heirloom, simply swap back the stock and advertise it as original. MagpulHogueBoyds and others manufacture stocks that are bedded and easy to install.

Installing Riflescope on Rifle


I See Clearly Now
Despite a reemerging spotlight on open-sight rifles, most of us rely on a riflescope to perfect our aim. Your rifle may have arrived with a scope on it, but evaluate the optic to see if it is better gifted or tossed. Improved glass and multilayer coatings, trajectory reticles, focusing abilities and first- and second-focal plane reticle choices can improve your aim.

Technologically advanced optics systems, like SIG Sauer’s Sierra3BDX system, Bluetooth communicate between the riflescope and the rangefinder to automatically adjust the reticle. The 1970s Weaver riflescope that tops your grandfather’s rifle cannot do that trick. While swapping scopes, consider upgrading hardware, including new rings and bases. If yesteryear tugs at your heart, save the old hardware and scope to restore that rifle to a past era when it completes your tour of duty.

Timney Replacement Trigger


Crisp and Clean
Lastly, like NASA, a clean launch ensures a good start to your mission. A new trigger can guarantee a good bullet launch. It is possible your earlier cleaning returned the trigger to a quality state or a gunsmith could tune the old trigger into a functioning mechanism with a sweet spot. Companies such as Timney and Geissele manufacture replacement trigger systems for a variety of firearms. Study up on an upgrade for your project rifle and consider having work completed by a competent gunsmith. A trigger needs to be adjusted according to manufacturer recommendations or you need to be responsible if you decide to set your trigger for a more sensitive release.

Installing New Rifle Trigger

Many precision rifles have adjustable triggers from 1.5 to 4.5 pounds. A setting between 2.5 and 3.5 allows you to depress without jerking and keeps your rifle safe. This is critical, as a trigger adjusted too light could accidentally go off simply by slamming the bolt closed.

A rifle with senior-citizen status does not have to be sent to the display case. With some creative ingenuity, it can still play a major part in your future hunts.

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Soldiering The Green Machine War

Bert Waldron: Nature versus Nurture, A Sniper’s Story by WILL DABBS

On the surface, this just looks like some GI with a really nice Vietnam-era sniper rifle. To the VC in the Mekong Delta, however, SSG Bert Waldron was so much more.

“Many GIs in Vietnam thought the night belonged to the enemy, but in the Mekong Delta, darkness belonged to Bert Waldron.” –Major John Plaster

Fear in wartime is a profoundly powerful weapon. It invariably shapes the affairs of men.

Think back to the last time you felt truly frustrated and helpless. At some point in their lives, everybody finds themselves in circumstances utterly beyond their control. It’s a terrifying sensation.

These guys were some extraordinarily effective fighters until it got dark and SSG Bert Waldron went out hunting with his night vision-enabled M21 sniper rifle.

Perhaps you were the subject of bullying. Maybe you were a little kid and got lost. For the Vietcong in the Mekong Delta in 1969, the engine behind their nightmares was SSG Bert Waldron.

What began as a source of refuge and solitude from chaos eventually became a home of sorts for a young Bert Waldron.

SSG Waldron was a broken man imbued with a dark gift. Born in Syracuse, New York, in 1933, Waldron came of age amidst chaos and despair. The product of a dysfunctional home, young Bert despised his stepfather. This antipathy drove the kid into the nearby forest in search of peace and solitude. There Bert Waldron came to think of the wilderness as home.

The most successful sniper of the Vietnam War got his introduction to military service in a place like this.

Bert Waldron’s life could be a case study of the effects of nature versus nurture. By his 23rd birthday, the man had been married three times. His unique emotional milieu apparently made him all but impossible to live with. Waldron enlisted in the US Navy and served during the Korean War. He left the Navy in 1965 after twelve years to try his hand at civilian life.

Don’t let the youthful demeanor fool you. These guys were stone-cold killers.

With the country embroiled in an increasingly bitter land war in Southeast Asia and life out of uniform not to his liking, Waldron enlisted again, this time in the Army. He completed Basic Training at Fort Benning and five months later was in Vietnam.

The most successful US sniper in Vietnam had a mere eighteen days in a place like this to learn the rudiments of his craft.

Waldron’s prior service in the Navy earned him Staff Sergeant’s stripes, but he still had very little experience with practical soldiering. Once in country, SSG Waldron attended a brief eighteen-day sniper course taught by members of the Army Marksmanship Unit. I don’t know exactly what they taught during those two and one-half weeks, but it took. In short order, SSG Bert Waldron became a holy terror behind a sniper rifle.

These hulking Tango Boats also served as proper mobile sniping platforms.

SSG Waldron was assigned to the 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry, Regiment, 9th Infantry Division under LTG Julian Ewell. Operating in close conjunction with the Navy’s Mobile Riverine Force, SSG Waldron and his fellow snipers cruised the murky waterways of the Mekong looking for trouble. Waldron’s prior service as a sailor made him a perfect fit for this joint operation with the Brown Water Navy. More often than not Waldron staged onboard ATC’s or Armored Troop Carriers. These heavily armed and armored riverine vessels were called Tango Boats and offered US forces a prickly platform for operations throughout the myriad shallow waterways of the Mekong Delta.

Tourists pay money to visit the Mekong Delta today. Back in the 1960s, this idyllic piece of jungle was a killing ground.

The Mekong was heavily populated and teeming with VC. Charlie typically played to his own strengths, conducting many operations under cover of darkness when American air power and artillery support could not be readily brought to bear. Then Bert Waldrop and his snipers hit the battlefield with high-tech sniper rifles equipped with starlight scopes. The result was unfettered carnage.

War Stories

In addition to a few basic technical skills, a successful sniper needs courage, patience, and audacity. Bert Waldron had these gifts in spades.

It takes unimaginable courage to strike out alone into the jungle in the middle of a firefight, but that was exactly Bert Waldron’s forte. In January of 1969, Waldron and his unit came under intense night attack by a force of forty well-armed VC. When his unit found itself in danger of being overrun SSG Waldron pressed out into the jungle alone to hunt. Using his accurized M21 sniper rifle and AN-PVS-2 starlight scope he could spot the enemy maneuvering in the deep foliage and pick them off as opportunity allowed. During the course of the engagement, SSG Waldron savaged the attacking force and broke the back of the assault. This fight earned him a Bronze Star with “V” device.

The accurized M21 sniper rifle fitted with the AN/PVS-2 starlight scope represented the absolute state of the art in precision night sniper systems during the Vietnam War.

Three nights later SSG Waldron discovered a large VC force moving tactically. He tracked the enemy unit using his night vision system until he gained an advantageous position to attack. SSG Waldron then sniped and maneuvered, engaging from various angles to convince the VC they were facing a larger, more organized force. Three hours later he had killed eleven of the Cong and forced them to leave the field. This night’s work earned him the Silver Star.

Thanks to SSG Waldron and his fellow snipers the VC no longer owned the night.

Eight days later SSG Waldron and his spotter were set up near Ben Tre scanning the darkness around their rice paddy with their starlight equipment. They encountered a seventeen-man VC patrol and took out their lead scout as he emerged from the treeline. Calls for artillery support were denied because of a nearby friendly village. At a range of more than 500 meters and under cover of darkness SSG Waldron killed eight VC with eight rounds from his sniper rifle. The surviving members of the VC combat patrol melted back into the jungle to safety.

This skinny little guy was a holy terror on the VC.

Four days after that SSG Waldron was deployed in support of an ARVN unit in contact. He discovered a group of six VC attempting to outflank the ARVNs and gain a position of advantage. SSG Waldron then meticulously killed all six of the insurgents, picking them off one by one in the darkness with his sniper rifle and night vision gear.

The Distinguished Service Cross is the Army’s second highest award for gallantry. SSG Bert Waldron earned one twice.

In one nineteen-day period, SSG Bert Waldron conducted fourteen successful nocturnal sniper operations. For his dedication, valor, and ruthlessness he was awarded his first Distinguished Service Cross. By now the VC were beginning to appreciate that horrible feeling of helplessness. Where previously they could move and operate in the darkness with relative impunity, now SSG Waldron and his snipers brought death from unexpected quarters. Their efforts began to take a toll.

SSG Bert Waldron just had a gift for the dark art of military sniping.

SSG Waldron’s effectiveness as a sniper clearly spawned from some innate skill. He had only had eighteen days’ worth of formal sniper training. During one engagement a VC sniper was peppering a passing Tango Boat from the top of a coconut tree some 900 meters distant. While the boat’s crew struggled to find the hidden sniper with their heavy crew-served weapons, SSG Waldron killed the man with a single round from his M21 rifle…while the boat was in motion. The Physics behind making a one-round kill from a moving boat against a camouflaged adversary nearly a kilometer distant strains credulity. However, the details were verified.

SSG Waldron’s combat record stood until it was broken during the Global War on Terror by Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.

For these and similar actions SSG Waldron was awarded his second Distinguished Service Cross. Waldron’s reputation exploded among both Allied forces and the Cong, earning him the respectful nickname Daniel Boone. After eight months in country, the 9th ID rotated home and SSG Waldron with them. By the time he left Vietnam Bert Waldron had 109 confirmed kills, fully 12% of all the kills logged by all of the division’s snipers. Until Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle broke his record in 2006, SSG Bert Waldron was the deadliest American sniper in history.

The Weapon

The M14 would have been earth-shattering in WW2. By Vietnam the design was already badly dated.

The Army adopted the M14 rifle as a replacement for the WW2-era M1 Garand in 1959. A gas-operated, magazine-fed design, the M14 really reflected the previous generation’s technology. At 44 inches long the M14 was found to be unduly bulky for the bitter close-range jungle fighting that characterized the war in Vietnam. By the mid-1960’s the M14 was being replaced in SE Asia by the lighter, more maneuverable M16.

The M21 began life as an accurized National Match version of the M14 service rifle.

The US Army is indeed a majestically cumbersome beast. In 1955 the US Army Marksmanship Training Unit (USAMTU) embarked on a quest to incorporate snipers into the Infantry squad. In the malaise of the early 1960s, this initiative was discontinued. However, the exigencies of combat in Vietnam renewed interest in the art. That exposed the need for a dedicated precision sniper rifle.

The approaches to sniper rifles by the Army and Marine Corps were fairly disparate. The Army’s M21 offered 20 rounds of on-demand semiautomatic firepower.

While the Marines were using modified bolt-action hunting rifles, the Army contracted with Rock Island Armory to build up 1,435 National Match M14 rifles with Redfield 3-9x Adjustable Ranging Telescope (ART) sights. The ART was the brainchild of 2LT James Leatherwood and included both range finding and bullet drop compensation in its mechanism. This new rifle was formally designated the XM21 and first issued in 1969. An improved version with a fiberglass stock was classified the M21 in 1975 and served until 1988 when it was replaced by the bolt-action M24.

The AN/PVS-2 starlight scope offered unprecedented capabilities to the sniper hunting at night.

The AN/PVS-2 starlight scope was the first truly successful man-portable passive night vision weapon sight fielded by the US Army. This device amplified ambient starlight to produce a usable image in the absence of an active IR emitter. While such stuff is commonplace today, it was radical indeed in 1967 when it was first deployed to Vietnam. When combined with the early SIONICS suppressors fielded in 1969 the AN/PVS-2 offered American snipers a literally unprecedented capacity to own the night in Vietnam.

The Rest of the Story

Bert Waldron struggled to find his niche in civilian life. Here he is seen on the left instructing at Mitch WerBell’s paramilitary training school in Georgia.

Like so many true professional warriors, Bert Waldron found himself ill-suited to peacetime life at home. He served as a senior instructor for the US Army Marksmanship Training Unit (USAMTU) until his discharge in 1970. Along the way he met Mitch WerBell III through the commander of the USAMTU, COL Robert Bayard. and accepted a position as a counter-sniper advisor with Cobray International, WerBell’s weird creepy paramilitary training school in Georgia.

Mitch WerBell was one serious piece of work. We have explored his story here at GunsAmerica before.

Mitch WerBell dabbled in overthrowing third world governments for a time and made quite a few enemies along the way. In 1975 COL Bayard was found murdered outside an Atlanta shopping mall. His killer was never apprehended. Throughout it all Bert Waldron’s name was a persistent fixture.

Bert Waldron was by all accounts a profoundly committed patriot and a truly exceptional soldier.

For the next two decades, Waldron worked in the shadows, plying the dark skills he mastered in Vietnam into a livelihood. Along the way his final marriage self-destructed and he was investigated by the FBI. In October of 1995, Bert Waldron died of a heart attack at age 62. His ex-wife Betty said this of him, “Bert was a wonderful soldier. He loved his country, he would have died for his country, but he had a lot of problems as a human being.”

Our great republic cannot prevail without such men as Bert Waldron.

Bert Waldron was a “Break Glass in Case of War” type of soldier. America desperately needs such men. It is simply figuring out what to do with them when the bullets aren’t flying that seems to be the perennial challenge.

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All About Guns Anti Civil Rights ideas & "Friends" Born again Cynic! Cops Gun Fearing Wussies You have to be kidding, right!?!

FedEx and UPS Help Feds Track Gun Sales, State Attorneys General Say New shipping policies seen as attempt to ‘bypass warrant requirements’ and create gun registry By Kevin Stocklin

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, together with 17 other state attorneys general, are asking shipping companies UPS and FedEx to explain their newly implemented policies to track and record Americans’ firearms purchases and disclose whether these policies have been coordinated with the Biden administration.

In letters sent on Nov. 29 to FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam and UPS CEO Carol B. Tomé, Knudsen and his co-signers wrote that the shipping companies’ policies “allow your company to track firearm sales with unprecedented specificity and bypass warrant requirements to share that information with federal agencies.”

“What both of these companies are saying is that they’re doing this so they can better cooperate with law enforcement,” Knudsen told The Epoch Times. “That’s all fine and well, until you find out that that’s a violation of federal law.”

Based on reports from gun stores, Knudsen’s letter states, FedEx and UPS are now requiring federal firearms license holders to provide details of each shipment to the shipping companies, including the contents and recipient, allowing them “to create a database of American gun purchasers and determine exactly what items they purchased.

Citing the new policies, the letter states: “Perhaps most concerning, your policies allegedly allow FedEx [and UPS] to ‘comply with … requests from applicable law enforcement or other governmental authorities’ even when those requests are ‘inconsistent or contrary to any applicable law, rule, regulation, or order.’ In doing so you—perhaps inadvertently—give federal agencies a workaround to federal law, which has long prevented federal agencies from using gun sales to create gun registries.”

“The ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] is hoping they’re not going to have a warrant problem,” Knudsen said. “They could just go get this information from UPS and FedEx.”

FedEx and UPS’s new gun-tracking policies follow efforts by Visa, Mastercard, and American Express to also monitor purchases from gun stores, with the intention of handing that information over to federal law enforcement. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the federal government from conducting searches of U.S. citizens without a warrant and “probable cause” that a crime was committed.

Increasingly, however, banks, credit card companies, and now shipping companies are conducting those searches on the government’s behalf.

The letter demands that the shipping companies respond within 30 days, clarifying their policies and explaining whether or not they acted in coordination with the ATF or any other government agency. It also asks them to clarify a reported “gag order” under which they directed gun shops not to disclose the terms of this policy to the public.

Possible Collusion?

The two letters to UPS and FedEx were virtually identical because the policies the companies implemented appear to be strikingly similar, raising the additional issue of possible collusion between companies that hold an oligopolistic position in shipping. Collusion in restraint of trade has long been illegal under U.S. antitrust laws, including the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890.

“It’s either collusion, they’re working together, or what I suspect is, it’s probably originating out of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or the Biden administration,” Knudsen said. His letter recommends that the shipping companies “consider taking actions to limit potential liability moving forward, including the immediate cessation of any existing warrantless information sharing with federal agencies about gun shipments.”

If the shipping companies don’t answer his questions within 30 days, Knudsen said, “I’ll probably start with an actual formal civil investigative demand where we’ll ask for some documentation. That’s short of a subpoena and an actual lawsuit, but, ultimately, if they don’t want to cooperate, a lawsuit is where we’re going to end up.”

In response to the letter, FedEx told The Epoch Times in a statement that “FedEx is aware of the letter from the state attorneys general. We are committed to the lawful and safe movement of regulated items through our network.”

UPS responded that it “has not bypassed any laws to provide customer information to the Biden administration or federal agencies related to the shipment of firearms. UPS will only provide information about our customers or shipments when required to do so by law, such as in response to a subpoena or a warrant.”

UPS “will respond to the letter sent by several state attorneys general to answer their questions and clarify misinformation. UPS will continue to abide by all applicable laws in providing service for firearm shipments,” it stated.

“The policies set forth by FedEx and UPS are troubling, to say the least,” Mark Oliva, public affairs director of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told The Epoch Times. “They carry with them serious risk of privacy concerns for law-abiding gun owners, and Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is correct to be wary of how this information is to be used.

“We know that pressure was applied to these common carriers by antigun Democratic senators and the result was these new policies. It does seem rather coincidental that the Biden administration and certain elected officials that have been frustrated in instituting extreme gun control measures are suddenly and curiously seeing big businesses doing exactly what they are not allowed to do by law.”

Knudsen was asked why the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which is tasked with protecting consumers against corporate collusion, is taking no action against what appears to be a coordinated effort by the shipping companies to target the firearms industry.

“I think there’s probably pressure from the White House to not do that, which is why you’re seeing AGs in states like Montana that have joined me to push back on this. If the federal government isn’t going to do their job, we’ll step in and make them do it.”

He said that gun shops are being targeted not only by credit card and shipping companies but by insurers as well.

“I’m aware of a number of FFL brick-and-mortar gun shops, and also some retailers that are just middlemen in Montana, that have been denied property-casualty insurance on their business property simply because they’re in the firearms industry.”

Kevin Stocklin is a writer, film producer, and former investment banker. He wrote and produced “We All Fall Down: The American Mortgage Crisis,” a 2008 documentary on the collapse of the U.S. mortgage finance system.
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A Smith & Wesson Model 14-3 Barrel Length 8 3/8ths inch, in caliber .38 S&W

Smith & Wesson Model 14-3 Barrel Length 8 3/8ths inch Condition Used Metal Condition Excellent Wood Condition Very good Bore Condi .38 S&W - Picture 1

Smith & Wesson Model 14-3 Barrel Length 8 3/8ths inch Condition Used Metal Condition Excellent Wood Condition Very good Bore Condi .38 S&W - Picture 2
Smith & Wesson Model 14-3 Barrel Length 8 3/8ths inch Condition Used Metal Condition Excellent Wood Condition Very good Bore Condi .38 S&W - Picture 3
Smith & Wesson Model 14-3 Barrel Length 8 3/8ths inch Condition Used Metal Condition Excellent Wood Condition Very good Bore Condi .38 S&W - Picture 4
Smith & Wesson Model 14-3 Barrel Length 8 3/8ths inch Condition Used Metal Condition Excellent Wood Condition Very good Bore Condi .38 S&W - Picture 5