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Nichols & Childs Revolving Rifle
Henry Ford once bemusingly announced that his customers could buy his Model T in any color they wanted so long as it was black. While the car had previously been available in several hues, and polychromatic variations were offered later on as well, black was indeed the only color on the lot when he penned those words in 1922.
Black paint dried more quickly and subsequently offered faster, more economical production. Mr. Ford was all about fast and economical production.
Henry Ford introduced the world to the concept of the assembly line. His cars subsequently mobilized the planet while simultaneously making him fabulously wealthy. Ford contrived a reliable design and then optimized it for mass production.
For decades, something similar could be said of American pocket pistols. There was admittedly a modest selection of slim semi-automatics available. However, for the most part, if you wanted a decent backup gun, you could have anything you wanted so long as it was a .38-caliber revolver.
Snubbie Genesis
The world’s first snub-nosed revolvers were adaptations of the Colt Single Action Army in the late 19th century. These stubby variants were alternately called “Shopkeeper Specials,” “Banker Specials” or “Sheriff’s Models.” While their shortened barrels did indeed make the otherwise full-figured wheelguns more concealable than their service counterparts, the heavy chamberings and classic frame still lent the weapons a great deal of bulk.
In 1927, Colt introduced the compact Colt Detective Special. Typically sporting a 2-inch barrel and chambered for the then-novel .38 Special cartridge, this carbon-steel revolver entered terms like “snubbies,” “snub-nosed” and “belly gun” into the American vernacular.
The Colt Detective Special rendered fine service for decades as either a backup gun for uniformed police officers or as a primary weapon for plainclothes detectives. One of the local law enforcement agencies in my town still issues snub-nosed .38 revolvers as backup guns today.
The Colt Detective Special is a double-action/single-action (DA/SA) design that weighs 21 ounces unloaded. Variations were also chambered for the .32 New Police and .38 New Police cartridges, and there were versions with 3-inch barrels as well.
The cylinders held six rounds, and the sights were fixed and open. With the exception of a seven-year period between 1986 and 1993, the Detective Special was in production from 1927 until 1995.
There is a well-attended religion that orbits around the nuances of collecting old revolvers, and I am not qualified to expound on the minutiae that define that particular gospel.
Should I hazard such an attempt, I fear I might inaccurately describe some widget and find myself burned in effigy by angry Colt collectors incensed that such a rank amateur might ever have been unleashed behind a word processor.
The topic I am now fully qualified to orate upon, however, is what these delightful little guns look like on the inside.
Fixing a Colt Detective Special
When you write for gun magazines, there is this false assumption that you know everything there is to know about firearms. In this vain, a dear friend recently brought me a sick Colt Detective Special with a plaintive request to “fix it.”
The gun was produced in 1972 and was in splendid condition. However, the cylinder would not close. Upon closer inspection, the cylinder assembly had ridden backward ever so slightly on its axis pin and jammed the action open. Intrigued, I settled down at my bench, fetched my tools and performed a bit of mechanical surgery.
The fix was straightforward enough. A bushing of sorts had unthreaded slightly with repeated reloadings and allowed the cylinder to slide backward just enough to deadline the gun.
Absent the special wrench required to rectify the problem properly, I danced around this component with a pair of jewelers’ screwdrivers until I got everything back the way Colt intended. What made the exercise so interesting, however, was the subsequent glimpse into the way folks used to make these handguns.
The voluptuous curves of this tidy little pistol lack the harsh geometry of modern utilitarian service pistols. The engineers who designed this gun deigned to square a corner when something rounder and more elegant might do.
After a little research, I found that many of the parts on these old guns are not interchangeable absent a bit of hand fitting. These components were intentionally made slightly oversized and then hand-finished by professional firearms assemblers at Colt who had studied since their apprenticeships to build these revolvers.
While this approach would undoubtedly imbue Henry Ford with some post-mortem anger, the end result with this old Colt pistol is a fit and finish that exceed the capabilities of modern machinery to reproduce.
The bluing is deep and sensuous, and steel glides across steel like greased glass. The cylinder spins like it is magnetically levitated, and the action is inimitably crisp and sharp.
The firing pin is fixed to the hammer, and the SA trigger breaks like crystal. However, the DA trigger pull, while still glassy smooth, is long and heavy enough to make for safe pocket carry.
The little gun demands a certain intentionality to make it discharge, something that is immeasurably important for a deadly firearm that might end up loose in a purse or in a pocket alongside your most sensitive anatomy. (That’s why you always carry it in a holster!)
The gun packs a full six rounds in a geometric envelope not much larger than a competitor’s gun that carries five. To break open the action for reloading, the release must be pulled to the rear. Compared to the Smith & Wesson version that presses forward, this seems a bit unnatural. However, greater men than I have won many a gunfight armed with weapons so designed. Who am I to judge?
The ejector rod on this particular version is shrouded underneath the barrel. There are others wherein the rod is left free. Once the action is open, pressing this rod backwards drops the empty cases cleanly.
The rod is naturally spring-loaded and returns to its resting position automatically. I got familiar with that aspect of the design while I had the little gun dissected as well.
The Colt Detective Special shoots plenty straight for defensive use. I never can seem to drop my rounds to precisely the same spot in both SA and DA modes, but that is undoubtedly a training deficiency. I should always practice more. There are scads of holsters available that pack the little wheelgun into most every anatomical crevice that is geometrically large enough to admit it.
Parting Shots
Modern CNC milling machines are great, and I drool over the latest and greatest in firearms just as much as the next gun nerd. However, they just don’t make them like the Colt Detective Special anymore.
There is a certain antiseptic sameness to your typical Glock, Sig or S&W service pistol. Fit and function are monotonously identical, and every single component will fit every single gun. Not unlike an iPhone or a Big Mac, every example of the species looks exactly like every other.
For an off-the-rack weapon used in combat, universal interchangeability is certainly a desirable trait. But for a time, mass-produced guns were still finished by hand. It was that final interplay between flesh and steel that made the gun perfect, polishing out its eccentricities and imbuing it with its own unique personality.
Such stuff as this brought us Georg Luger’s P08, the Mauser C96 and the Thompson submachine gun. Nowadays, this deep into the 21st century, more human beings around the world have cell phones than regularly use toothbrushes.
We expect our machines to take care of the monotonous things so we will have more time to do whatever it is we actually do these days. In a world awash to its gunwales in identical devices, it can sometimes be fun to tear down an old pistol like the Colt Detective Special and see how our forebears in simpler times skinned their cats.
Caliber: .38 Special
Barrel: 3 inches
OA Length: 6.75 inches
Weight: 21 ounces (empty)
Grips: Polymer
Sights: Fixed
Action: DA/SA
Finish: Blued
Capacity: 6
MSRP: N/A
Before Palmetto State Armory came out with the Krink,
this intoxicating little carbine was quite literally unobtainium.
The Kalashnikov is the most-produced firearm in human history. At least 100 million copies have seen service. One in every 10 guns ever built is an AK.
With that kind of market penetration, is it any wonder that gun geeks like me collect the things? After 75 years of production, the sundry variants, calibers and ancillary particulars are where gun nerd dreams thrive or die. I live in this weird little space.
Amongst all that many-splendored chaos, one particular variant was the absolute golden ring. Despite being ubiquitous on the other side of the pond, the AKS-74U Krinkov was unobtainium over here. And then Palmetto State Armory heard our plaintive cries and came to the rescue. Now, thanks to PSA, folks of modest means can get their hot sweaty mitts on a perfect rendition of the rare submachine gun version of Comrade Kalashnikov’s classic 1970s vintage assault rifle.
I was therefore uncharacteristically breathless when the Brown Truck of Happiness pulled into the parking lot. To me, this was a big freaking deal.
The distinctive muzzle brake/flash suppressor of the
original AKS-74U is perfectly replicated on the Krink.
Source Material
Palmetto State Armory provides top-quality renditions of unusual weapons that often cannot be found anyplace else. I have built north of a dozen AR-variant rifles using their reasonably priced parts kits. Their Harrington and Richardson line of vintage M16 variants is Candyland to the gun nerd who appreciates retro exotica.
PSA offers American-made AKs, budget-priced polymer-framed pistols and literally thousands of guns, accessories, gunsmithing gear and optics. Now that they have branched out into ammo and apparel, you could bring your own food, eschew underwear as any real man might, and live comfortably out of their online catalog indefinitely. And then they did this …
The latest addition to their extraordinary lineup is the Soviet Arms Krink pistol. Offered in five different variations, the PSA Krink will fill a previously unfillable niche in any well-seasoned gun collection. I simply could not wait to get my paws on one.
The American Treatment
In the interest of full disclosure, I am madly in love with this gun. That makes it tough to be dispassionate. As I mentioned, acquiring one of these things was a bit of a bucket list thing for me. The PSA Soviet Arms version does not disappoint.
Combloc-surplus 5.45x39mm ammo used to be both ubiquitous and cheap. However, Bitcoin once traded for about 10 bucks apiece as well. Nowadays, thanks to Putin’s war in Ukraine, 5.45x39mm has dried up.
As a result, PSA and Soviet Arms chambered theirs in 5.56x45mm or 300BLK. The similar geometry even makes the magazine look right. Please don’t think me a snob, but 7.62x39mm Krinks with that sharply curved magazine just make me itch.
The workmanship and build quality are everything we might expect from Palmetto State Armory. Additionally, as it is a Kalashnikov and a well-executed one at that, the gun is nigh indestructible. The particulars, like the distinctive muzzle booster, the unique rear sight, the pivoting top cover, and the unusual furniture, are all spot-on. Interestingly, it is at the rear trunnion where the real magic happens.
The PSA Krink pistol is plenty cool right out of the box with its pistol stabilizing brace. However, the addition of the GI folding stock, also from PSA, makes it perfect.
Weird American Firearms Laws
It seems incongruous that you can walk out of the gun store with a pistol that will hide in your pocket, yet a rifle with a barrel less than 16″ requires a buttload of paperwork and an onerous $200 tribute (pending repeal —Ed).
The motivations behind that date back to 1934 and are comically outdated. However, them’s the rules. The PSA solution is to offer the Krink with the original stubby 8″ barrel and a pistol stabilizing brace.
The pistol brace is indeed an inspired piece of kit. We all know what they do, and we all know how much the Left despises them.
This one even looks like the original Combloc stock. For me at least, awesome though they may be, seeing that not-quite-right pistol brace on the back end of that gorgeous AKS-74U carbine was like having sand on my eyeball. Fortunately, PSA saw that coming as well.
The receiver of the PSA Krink comes standard with the forward latch and pivoting mechanism of the original GI AKS-74U. The pistol brace mounts via a short length of Picatinny rail. However, that Picatinny mount secures to the gun via the original GI hinge. Removing the mount is as easy as punching out a pin. At that point things get interesting.
Before PSA had their way with it, the AKS-74U carbine (top) was essentially unavailable on the U.S. market.
Avoiding Imperial Entanglements
In 1934 when the National Firearms Act was passed, the $200 transfer tax was the modern-day equivalent of around $4,500. Nowadays, thanks to Bidenomics, $200 is dinner and a movie for you, your spouse, and your kids if they bring friends. In a perverse way, Joe Biden inadvertently took the teeth out of the NFA transfer tax.
Additionally, where processing time for a Form 1 application to create a registered short-barreled rifle at home used to be nearly a year, if you do it online via the BATF e-Forms system they are coming back just lightning fast — like a couple of weeks in many cases. I’m not sure what sort of energy drinks our BATF buddies are chugging up there in Martinsburg, but I’d like to buy them a case.
The details are still kind of onerous, but they are readily available online. Once you get your BATF Form 1 back approved you can legally bin the pistol brace and replace it with a GI side-folding skeleton stock.
PSA sells those as well. With the obligatory paperwork done and sorted, attaching the stock involves nothing more than that same pin in reverse. It took a little attention with a Dremel tool to get the latch seated perfectly, but then it was time to hit the range and look fabulous doing it.
The original AKS-74U was chambered for the Combloc 5.45x39mm round (right) while the PSA version shoots 5.56mm.
Trigger Time
The AKS-74U was the Russians’ answer to our XM177E2/CAR15. Both guns occupy roughly the same space and pull the same mission. Like the XM177, the AKS-74U is just stupid loud. When unlimbered at dusk, it also produces a muzzle flash that is visible from the International Space Station.
I absolutely love mine. The gun shoots magnificently out to about 200 meters. The short barrel will cost you some muzzle velocity, but I still wouldn’t want to get shot with one. This is a shockingly soft-shooting little rifle.
The PSA Krink would be a fine choice for a truck gun or to secure safely in your bedroom closet for those times the dog just won’t shut up in the middle of the night. Ammo is relatively cheap and available, and recoil is a joke.
The muzzle blast will indeed reliably clear your sinuses, but it will also make you some new friends at the local firing range. The PSA Krink seriously packs the cool points.
Historical Details
The AKS-74U was developed in 1973. Soviet military planners were in the process of switching over from the 7.62x39mm AKM to the new family of 5.45x39mm AK-74 rifles. Appreciating the need for a stubby carbine to be used by vehicle crewmen, special forces, and the like, the Russian Army did what they do. They launched a competition.
The playbill was a veritable Who’s Who of Russian gun-designing luminaries. SG Simonov, Igor Stetchkin, Mikhail Kalashnikov, Yevgeny Dragunov and AS Konstantinov all took part, but Kalashnikov predictably won the day. Kalashnikov’s design was perhaps not the most efficient of the lot. However, the fact that it was based on the standard AK rifle made it the obvious solution.
Built around a standard AKS-74 receiver, the AKS-74U carbine featured a stubby 8.1″ barrel, a side-folding skeletonized stock, a radical muzzle booster/flash suppressor, a new hinged top cover, and redesigned furniture.
The “U” stood for Ukorochenniy, which means, “Shortened” in Russian. The sight axis actually sat 3mm higher above the bore than did that of the parent rifle, but the manual of arms was otherwise identical. The PSA version replicates all of that stuff perfectly.
The AKS-74U was successful beyond expectations. Produced from 1979 through 1993 at the Tula Arms Plant, this sexy little gun was widely employed by pretty much every sawed-off dictatorship on the planet. I have coveted one myself for literally decades.
Nobody really knows where the term “Krinkov” came from. There are several theories, none of which seem terribly compelling. Regardless, the gun is known the world over as the Krinkov, hence the shortened PSA moniker Krink.
Ruminations
PSA is a national treasure. They are also growing like a pubescent teenager. Their ammo company is supposedly tooling up to make steel-cased 5.45x39mm ammo. I can’t wait to see where that goes.
I have been looking for one of these nifty little guns for two decades. Before PSA’s Krink, it would take, no kidding, five grand and a lot of luck to accumulate the parts to build one. The Form 1 registration and conversion require more patience than talent, and the $1,099.99 MSRP is quite reasonable for such a rarefied piece of iron. This thing is epic.
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