American Semi Automatic Pistols

According to ATF statistics, 1, 219, 664 semi automatic pistols were manufactured in America in 2007, which is over 3x more than the number of revolvers for the same year. Over 25% of US manufactured pistols were made by American owned companies. Smith & Wesson alone made 302 633 pistols, which is more than Sig Sauer, Beretta USA, Glock, FNH USA and CZ USA put together, and the second largest US pistol manufacturer in 2007 was Strum, Ruger & Co. But neither of these American companies produce competitive semi automatic pistols. Smith & Wesson’s idea of innovation was to bring out a substandard and unlicensed version of the Glock in 1994 — 12 years after the original came out in Austria — and to add insult to injury they called it a Sig! SIGma — a stroke of genius!

The S&W M&P series would have been cutting edge thirty odd years ago, but in 2005 they’re just another Glock wannabe, as is their new SD range they brought out for the civilian market this year. Ruger are even worse. The SR9 they brought out in 2007 can be best summed up as a piece of crap and the 2008 Ruger LCP is a 6+1 round capacity 9mm Corto, which is one round less than the Beretta 3032 Tomcat, but that came out 14-years ago! Whereas the Beretta Px4 Storm subcompact has a 13+1 round capacity in 9mm and shoots as accurately as a full sized pistol and with barely any recoil. There’s just no comparison.

Colt 1911

And the only pistols that Colt, America’s most famous handgun manufacturer, are currently making are more variations of their famous 1911.Their Colt 2000, which came out in 1992 and was supposed to be their pistol for the new millennium wasn’t even still in production in 2000. In fact, the Colt 1911 was the last truly competitive American semi automatic pistol. That’s part of the problem because nearly every American pistol manufacturer makes a version of the Colt 1911. If they were only being made for nostalgia or sport that would be fair enough, I own a couple myself, but the problem is that is still being made and sold as defensive pistol.

I know a lot of Americans thinks that the Colt 1911 is the best semi automatic pistol ever made, and to be fair, when it was first commissioned as a service pistol by the US army in 1911, it was an innovative, greatly admired and often imitated pistol. But now, just shy of a century later: a heavy, overbuilt, single action, 7×1 round capacity full sized pistol is an antique. To be honest it was really starting to show its age before WWII. Even in 1911, it wasn’t the most accurate firearm on the market: the Luger P08, Glisenti Model 1910, and Bergmann Bayard M1910 Mars were all more accurate, even if they were less durable.

The Colt 1911A1, which came out in 1924, and was designated the M1911A1 by the US military was a barely improved 1911. The only differences were a shorter trigger, indents in the frame behind the trigger, no “Double Diamond” on the grip, arched mainspring housing, longer grip safety spur, wider front sight and a shorter spur on the hammer. The working parts of the weapon were unchanged. The Pistola Campo-Giro de 9mm Modelo 1913-16, Astra 1921, Astra Model 900  (1927), Walther PP and PPK  (1929), Tokarev TT-33, Beretta M1934, FN 9mm Hi-Power 1935 and Walther P38, which were all better pistols than the M1911A1 were in production before the outbreak of WWII.

The reason that the M1911A1 was in service from 1924 until it was replaced on the 14 January 1985, by the Beretta 92FS had nothing to do with combat performance; it was because it was over-procured. During WWII the US military procured 1.9 million M1911A1 and didn’t purchase any after 1945 because they had more pistols than men. Although the US military adopted the Beretta 92FS in 1985, the Italian army adopted it in 1980 as a replacement for the Beretta M1951. The Beretta 92FS is was one of the original wonder nines and came out back in 1972 and its proved itself to be far more accurate and reliable.

The US military are looking Now they are looking to replace the Beretta 92FS but after 65-years in the wilderness, manufacturing revolvers, I can’t see Colt getting the contract with a double stacked 1911. If the rumours are right, the US Army want a .45 ACP calibre polymer pistol. So Smith & Wesson better start looking at ripping off the Beretta Px4 Storm SD.

 

Knife Sharpening

A lot of chefs get their knives professionally sharpened but you won’t find any artists getting their pencils professionally sharpened. Admittedly, most of those workshy, soap-dodgers don’t do enough doodling to blunt their pencils, but you get the point — no pun intended — sharpening a knife requires a little bit of knowledge and skill.

There are lots of different ways to sharpen a knife: I learned two of them at school during woodwork and metalwork classes. Unfortunately, a lot of lads don’t do useful subjects like that they do home-economics (aka cooking and shopping), sowing, and pottery, which ain’t going to be much help when he gets married and his old lady wan’t him to sharpen her kitchen knives. She’s not going to know how to sharpen them because you know she didn’t do metalwork or woodwork at school — she’s a bird — she took cooking and shopping. And it doesn’t just end there: a mate of mine gets a call from his sister because her boyfriend’s got a puncture and he don’t know how to change a tire! Jesus, Marry and Joseph: I could change a tire, hotwire a motor and drive by the time I was twelve.

Anyhow, you sharpen a knife by grinding it against something harder than the blade, which removes metal from the edge, like a grinding wheel, whetstone, Japanese water stone, diamond coated steel, belt sander, sand paper, V sharpener or draw through sharpener. You can even grind it against the bottom of a coffee mug, and if you’re that much of a cheap bastard, you probably wipe your arse with a free newspaper and buy your Mrs lingerie from a second hand shop.

Whatever you sharpen your knife with you need to grind a consistent bevel angle along the entire length of the edge. The bevel angle depends on the grind and type of knife: it’s 10° on a razor, 20° on a kitchen knife and 30° on a meat cleaver. That’s why a V grind sharpener is better than sharpening freehand on a whetstones or waterstones, but personally, I prefer using a bench grinder or the scary sharp method.

Mechanical grinders are the most effective way to put an edge on a blade but they’re also the most dangerous, especially if you’re female. In fact, if you’re female you shouldn’t be touching any power tools. Here’s Willy from Carson’s Saw Shop in Eugene, Oregon, who has been abusing the gimp chained up in the back room, and professionally sharpening tools for 25 or 30 years — he can’t remember — demonstrating how not to use a pedestal grinder. The idiot grinds against the side of  the wheel instead of the edge. How he hasn’t lost his fingers or killed himself is a mystery to me.

Willy doesn’t bother using a grinding jig to get an accurate and consistent angle, he just guesses and when screws up, he says it doesn’t matter, and he’s supposed to be a professional sharpener. How that shop stays in business is beyond me. If you’re going to use a bench grinder — you can get one for well under $50  –  follow the safety instructions, they’re there for a reason. Also don’t guess the angles use a grinding jig. You can get a decent one for $30 but if you’re too cheap you can make one out of wood with a G-clamp. You can also use an angle grinder but don’t turn it upside down on a working surface or hold the blade with one hand and the angle grinder in the other. Secure the knife in a grinding jig or vice and use the angle grinder with two hands.

After grinding, a blade has a wire edge, which needs to be honed to get rid of all those burs. Otherwise it won’t retain an edge and you’ll be sharpening the knife all the time. The difference between grinding and honing is that you don’t remove any metal when you’re honing. So technically, honing isn’t sharpening. You’re just straightening the edge, which makes it cut better. That’s why you can’t sharpen a blunt blade on a steel. Then you have the final stage of the process: polishing, which finishes and smooths the blade, and reduces oxidation. You can use a polishing stone, leather strop or sand paper to polish a blade, or you can just buff it against a buffing wheel on a bench grinder, which is what I normally do.

 

Stropping a Razor

I shave with a Dovo Full Hollow Ground black nickel 6/8″ straight razor, and before every shave I’ll strop it on leather strop, with some Stangen strop paste. Just like this.

It’s easy to do and takes no real skill. You lay the razor flat, draw it across the strop spine first and turn it over, then go the other way, and remember a slow pass is just as good as a fast pass. It’s not a race. Obviously you’re not sharpening a blade with a strop, you’re just realigning the blade and taking off any burs. When a strop isn’t enough you can make a few passes on a honing stone, and when that fails, then you’ve got to sharpen it, although a lot of barbers, like chefs, send them off to be professionally sharpened. But I think that’s stupid because it’s not difficult to sharpen a razor.

A straight razor is hollow ground i.e. it’s concave coming to a fine delicate edge, so it’s easy to fuck up on a whetstone, waterstone or a grinder. But you can sharpen and hone it with sandpaper: sharpen it on a 1k grits, hone it on a 4k grit and polish it with a 6k grit, stroking the blade across the paper just like you’re stropping, and spray some water on the paper. You only need a few passes on each grit. But don’t do it to often and put some electrical tape on the spine of the razor to protect it, because otherwise you’ll grinding the spine, but you don’t need to worry about that on a strop.

Can you use a strop with a normal knife I hear you ask. Well as it goes, yes you can, just a couple a couple of passes after you’ve ground the edge will take the burs off and polish it. But if you do it like you do a razor dragging it spine first, you’ll end up with a concave bevel angle. So use it like a grinding stone: tip to heel at a 20º angle (or whatever your bevel angle is) against some leather on a hard service. I’ve got a proper barber’s strop hanging on the bathroom sink because I use a straight razor, but you could get away with using an old leather belt as a strop.

 

Using a Honing Steel

As I said in the previous post using a honing  steel is just used for realigning the edge but doesn’t remove any metal. But this is where some people get confused, realigning the edge makes the knife sharper, without actually sharpening it. t makes sense: if you think about it because when you realign the edge on a honing steel you’re straightening it — a straight edge cuts better than a bent edge — it’s as simple as that. So a couple of strokes before and after every use on a honing steel will prolong it’s sharpness but every so often you’re going to have to sharpen it as well because you can run a dull blade down a honing steel as much as you like, you’re never going to sharpen the thing, which is why a lot of people have blunt knives.

This is where some people can get confused, a diamond coated steel, sharpens a blade, because industrial grade diamond is harder than steel and will strip metal off every time you run the edge of the blade down it. Now you might think a diamond steel is a good idea because you’re actually sharpening the knife, but if you use a diamond steel as often as you would use a honing steel, you’re going to wear down that knife pretty fast and if you’re not keeping a consistent angle using the steel, you’ll round or chip the edge. So a diamond steel is only good if you really know  what you’re doing, and most people don’t. Here is Gordon Ramsay, top chef with Michelin stars coming out his arse, demonstrating how to fuck up a top of the range Wüsthof knife with a Wüsthof diamond steel.

If you clang a knife against a diamond or honing steel like that you’ll chip he edge of the knife and the steel. Here is how to do it properly:

When you hold the steel tip facing down, don’t hold it in a reverse grip, hold it in a forehand grip so your arm is out of the way and go nice and slow — it’s not a race. But even if you do it properly make sure you’re doing it at the correct angle, 20º on a kitchen knife, unless you’re stupid enough to buy Japanese chisel ground knives, which you only steel down one side and at a 15-18° angle. Japanese chefs might rate them, but lets be fair, they don’t even use knives and forks –their idea of good cuisine is poisonous raw fish, eaten off the floor with a couple of twigs. What the fuck do they know about cutlery?

 

Condor Pipe Dagger

Condor Pipe Dagger

When I first saw the Pipe Dagger, I thought Condor were taking liberties charging $ 79.98 for a sharpened piece of pipe, because that’s what it is it is. To be fair it’s a 16 3/4″ and 1/8″ thick piece 1075 high carbon spring steel (HRC 55) hollow pipe, weighing 0.75 lbs, with an anti-rust black satin powder finish, and an 11″ blade cut at an angle from the handle to the tip, sharpened to a fine point on both edges. It’s got a rubber stopper on the end, which you can remove and it looks better if you do. So you’re probably asking why I bought this knife and why my  favourite Ecuadorian knife manufacturer made it?

Arlan D. Lothe the designer came across some head-hunters in the Borneo jungle saw their bone daggers, and asked them whether they registered the patent. They said, “course we’re ain’t, we’re cannibals, we’re going to eat you, what you going on about?”  So to cut a long story short, he escaped and nicked the design off them. Alright I’m making that up — but he did copy them off the Borneo head-hunters’ ceremonial bone dagger.

I bought it just for the novelty, but it’s actually a decent fighting knife and hog-sticker. I’ve used it on a few pigs — just don’t tell the farmer. Condor say that if you rotate the blade on the thrust it will cut a hold double its width, which is true, but what I found  is that if you do that, you tend to rotate it on the way out as well. That gives you a cut over three times the size. And you can also thrust in and just keep twisting, which will chew up flesh.  It also double slashes and because it’s tapered it draws into a V shape, which is going to be very difficult to stitch up.

There are two screw holes under the butt cap so you can attach it to a spear shaft. It also comes with a black hand made leather sheath, and like all Condor knives, with a limited life time warranty. Although this dagger is long, it’s not that wide so you can conceal it on your person if you wanted. Personally, I think I’ll probably just end up using it as a spear.

 

Caracal C

Caracal C

As Stefi said in her previous post we’re limited on the number of defensive firearms we own. So you might think I’ve not had much range time with other semi-automatics. Well I have. I’ve had a lot of range time with the Astra A-80, Beretta Px4 storm SD, Beretta Px4 storm, Beretta Px4 storm compact, Beretta Px4 storm subcompact, Beretta 90two, Beretta 98 FS, Beretta 8045 Cougar, Beretta 8045 Mini Cougar, Beretta 9000 F40, Beretta 3032 Tomcat, Beretta 21 A Bobcat, Bersa Thunder 9 Pro HC, Glock 17, Tanfoglio witness 1911, Taurus PT92, and Zastava CZ 999 Scorpion, and I’ve had limited time with some other semi-autos as well.

The latest, the Caracal C (Quick Sight) – a gift from my beautiful wife —  has to be one of the finest semi-automatics I’ve fired. Which is a bit of a surprise because Caracal are a recently established United Arab Emirates arms manufacturer with their production in Abu Dhabi, but distributed by Tanfoglio.

The Caracal semi automatic were designed Willy Bubits, a former weapon designer for Glock, Walther and Slayer, so he knows what he’s about. The Caracal pistols have been adopted by the U.A.E. police force but as far as I’m aware not by anybody decent but they have passed all the NATO and the German military and police test. They were also tested by shooters from the Italian NOCS, GIS, 17º Stormo Incursori, Col Moschin and the Corpo della Gendarmeria dello Stato della Città del Vaticano at the Futura Club last October, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they start getting picked up by western special forces and police tactical units soon because they really are that good.

The Caracal C is selling for €590 ($770) and the Caracal C Quick Sight for €620 ($810). It comes in 9×19 NATO, 9x21mm IMI, .357 SIG, and .40 S&W — mine’s the 9x21mm IMI caliber, which has a 13 round capacity — and weighs 750 g (26.4oz), has a total length of 186 mm (7.3″) and barrel length of 90 mm (3.5″). It’s a Double Action and has an ambidextrous magazine catch and great ergonomics. It very accurate, virtually no recoil and ultra reliable. The Caracal C is the compact version and easily small enough for concealed carry. It’s an excellent defensive gun.

 

Fighting Machetes

This will probably come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog, but in my opinion you can never have too many weapons. You might not get the chance to use them all but its better to have them there than not. Lets have it right, a machete isn’t a gardening tool, hunting knife, butchers knife, or razor to shave your Mrs’ legs with —  granted, you could do all those things with a machete, but what it’s really for is hacking body parts off people you don’t much care for. I’ve got ten of the things, and trust me, I didn’t buy any of them to go camping in the Amazon with.

Fox Machio

My cheapest machete is a Tramontina, with an 18″ carbon steel blade and wooden handle, which is about $15, and my most expensive is a Fox Machio Machete, with a 14.2″ 425 Stainless Steel blade and ABS handle, which costs $86. The Fox Machio is made out of a better steel, which isn’t that important in a machete because they could both lop off a head easy enough, but the Fox Machio would feel better in your hand when you did it because it’s got a nicer handle and better balance. But you don’t need to spend $86 to get a decent machete.

I’ve got the 21″ and 24″ blade Cold Steel Latin Machetes, which are both 2mm (0.08″) thick and made out of 1055 Carbon Steel with a black anti-rust matte coating, which is fine for a machete, especially as they both only cost $18 each. They also have decent polypropylene handles. Although they’re Latin machetes they’re actually made in South Africa and personally sharpened by Nelson Mandela (alright, I made up that last bit). Cold Steel also make Bolo, Panga, Kukri and a heavy machetes, but their best fighting design is their Latin machetes. You can buy sheaths for them for $8 if you want, but I’m a Catholic and the Pope doesn’t like sheaths.

I also have six Condor machetes. The Condor Tool & Knives Company is a great firm from El Salvador. No surprise that a firm from El Salvador makes good fighting machetes. They’re a seriously good firm that have some brilliant designs. The quality are their knives and machetes are pretty good as well and they’re also cheap, which is always a bonus. As well as the machetes I’ve also got the Condor Bush knife, Rodan knife, Borneo Headhunter Pipe knife and Bush Cutlass – love them all.

El Salvador Machete

Condor have range of carbon steel and range of stainless steel machetes. The only Condor carbon steel machete I have is the 18″ El Salvador Machete, which is a lot like the Cold Steel latin machetes in quality and design. The blade is coated in epoxy black powder, it has a polypropylene handle and costs $25.  The rest of my Condor machetes are made out of 420 HC Stainless Steel, which isn’t much different from the 425 Stainless Steel that my Fox Machio is made of.

Condor Combat Machete

The Condor Combat Machete has only got a 13″  blade but it’s 3mm (1/8″) thick, double-edged and spear pointed. It’s also got a really comfortable Ergonomic “PoszeGrip” Santoprene handle. I’ve got it in the Mystic Camo but you can get it in blasted satin or black . It costs $65 and comes with a sheath.

Condor Outback Machete

My biggest Condor machete is the 20″ Outback machete. It’s 2 mm (0.08″) thick like the Cold Steel Latin machetes. Black coating, comes with a sheath and has a high impact polypropylene handle. It’s $75 which is pricey for a machete but this is made out of 420 HC Stainless Steel, so it’s more durable and will last you longer. That said, the Cold Steel machete could still take a head off.

Condor Jungle Saber Machete

Condor Hog Sticker Machete

I’ve also got two Condor machetes with knuckle guards: the 18″ Jungle Saber and 18″ Hog Sticker. My Jungle Saber in Mystic Cammo and Hog Sticker in black. Again, both 2 mm (0.08″) thick and have high impact polypropylene knuckle guard handles. They both cost $70 and come with sheaths. The knuckle guard is a good feature for combat because it offers hand protection and doubles up as a knuckle duster, which is still a valid sabre fencing technique.

Condor Puerto Rican Machete

Lastly, my favourite Condor machete, the 14 1/2″ Puerto Rican machete, 2 mm (0.08″) thick with a hardwood handle and comes with a sheath and black blade. It also costs $70. The reason I like this the best is that it’s similar to the Italian roncola, I can use the curved top edge for hooking and slicing the opponents limbs.

 

Argentinian Paratrooper Knife

Yarará Paracaidista

The Yarará Paracaidista — the Argentinian Brigada Paracaidista IV (4th Parachute Brigade) official combat knife — might not be the best combat knife in the world — alright it’s not even close but  at 220 Argentine peso or Euro 43.84 ($55.78), who isn’t going to buy the Argentinian paratrooper knife?

Despite the lack of quality — the blade is made out of Ac. SAE 6150 (HRC 54-56 ) and a rubber handle, with a cast aluminium hand guard – there is so much to love about this knife. For a start it’s a double edged dagger. It’s also a big chunk of steel. It’s 345 mm (13.5″) with a 5 mm (0.2″), 205 mm (8″) long and 31 mm (1.2″) wide blade. And it’s got a decent aluminium hand guard, which serves as a pretty good knuckle duster. On the down side the finger grip inside the guard is only 87 mm (3.4″), which is tight and the serrations on the top of the top edge are a waste of space.  But what I love about it most is that it’s a throw back to the old WWI trench knives.

 

Fox Predator I Knife

Some of the best knives in the world are made at Via Cristans, 1 33085 Maniago, in the Province of Pordenone of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, in the North East of Italy, by a company called Euro Knives Italia S.r.l., which was  is a subsidiary of the world renowned FOX Coltellerie, established by Oreste Frati in 1977. Euro Knives Italia was founded in 2008 to not only produce Fox knives but to produce knives for other manufacturers and build custom knives. The Spyderco Volpe — which means fox in Italian — was made there, hence the name. They also make knives for Mil-Tac and SOG among others.

But when it comes to fixed blade military knives, there is only one Italian company that you think of — Extrema Ratio — who were set up in 1997 and have earned a reputation  for producing the best combat knives in the world. Nearly every Italian special force and anti-terrorist unit has their own model of Extrema Ratio knife, and the Italian military have the best knives in NATO. Extrema Ratio also make knives for other countries special force units, and they’re privately purchased by soldiers all over the world, which is why they cost so bloody much. The highly regarded ER Fulcrum cost $437.

Fox Predator I

The reason I’m mentioning this — no I didn’t forget what knife I was reviewing — is because the Fox Predator I is a very similar knife of equal quality that only costs $210. The ER Fulcrum, which is also a modern tanto blade, made out of N690Co has a 180 mm (7 1/8″) long and 6,3 mm (1/4″) thick blade, whereas the blade on the Fox Predator I is 180 mm (7 1/8″) long and 6 mm (0.23″) thick. The 0.3mm ain’t going to make that much of a difference when you’re sticking it in someone.

Now some people might think that’s a still a lot to shell out on a combat knife. But $210 really ain’t a lot to pay for a combat knife made by FKMD (Fox Knives Military Division) with a 180 mm long and 6 mm N690Co (HRC 58-60) blade and Forprene handle. Cobalt vanadium stainless steel N690Co is made by Böhler, an Austrian steel manufacturer, who probably produce the best quality rolled sheets and plates in the world. This is a new steel and it’s more widely available in Italy and Germany than it is in the USA, which is why it’s not often used by American knife manufacturers, but it’s a better steel for combat knives than ATS 34, 440C, VG-1, VG-10, 154CM, AUS -10 or S30V.  It doesn’t retain an edge quite as well as S30V but it’s just as resistant to corrosion, even tougher, takes a finer edge and is a hell of a lot easier to sharpen. The Brigada de Operaciones Especiales “Lautaro” (Chilean Special forces) knew what they were doing when they chose this as their official combat knife.

 

Why Buy American?

Made in the USA

Nearly nothing of what I own is made in America or bought from an American company. I couldn’t give a toss about American jobs. Well why should I? I’m not American. So I’m not going to buy cheap American crap for inflated prices. At the moment I drive two motors: a Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce (the company’s) and a Maserati GranCabrio — not at the same time and lets be honest, I’m not going to swap either of them for some crappy GM, Ford or Chrysler. I’d rather walk.

The same’s true with firearms. I’m not denying that some American gun manufacturers make decent guns but they don’t make better guns than Beretta, Benelli, Franchi, Tanfoglio and Glock. When it comes to power tools I buy Bosch or Metabo. Does anyone buy Black and Decker? And with garden tools: I’ve got an Alpina chainsaw and Efco hedge trimmer. I don’t buy American because there are better European products available.

Which brings me to American knife manufacturers, some of them make decent knives but most of them don’t compare to Italian or German made knives, and those that do are usually stupidly overpriced, like Strider knives, who sell their tactical folders from $300 to $625 with most of them around the $500 mark. Emerson and Benchmade are more reasonably priced but they’re still overpriced for what they are. They’re not anywhere near as good as some comparable priced Europeans knives. And as for Gerber and Cold Steel, given that most of their products are made in the China, you can’t really consider them American knives. If I want to buy cheap Chinese crap — a nation of one billion people, and not one of them can make a decent knife — I don’t want to be paying American prices either. At least with Böker, all their Chinese takeaways  are sold as Böker Plus, and they don’t overcharge for them. That way you know when you buy Böker it’s made in Germany.

Most of the forty-five knives I own are made by Italian companies — Beltrame, Beretta, Consigli Scarperia, Extrema Ratio, Fox, FKMD, Lion Steel, Maserin, Piscitelli and Scuotto — and all of them without exception were made in Italy and personally blessed by the Pope. But I don’t just buy off Italian knife makers, I own Böker (German), Eickhorn (German), Glock (Austrian), Sheffield (English), Böker Arbolito (Argentinian), Yarará (Argentinian) and Condor (El Salvadorian), and KA-BAR (American). All of these knives are made in the country of the manufacturer except for KA-BAR, one of my KA BAR knives is made in China, which is little bit hypocritical given that KA BAR trade off their relationship with the US military, and there they are propping up the economy of the People’s Republic of China.