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NFA does not only cover select or automatic firearms but also Short Barrelled Rifles, which is what our semi carbines fall under. Commercial customers like Brinks simply cannot afford to pay $200 tax per gun.

 

The 'M1' Rifle is still in development and Remington will not be able to leverage it in any way with the weight of Springfield Armory and the US government in the way. In any case it was only standardized in the beginning of the year and no serial production has yet occurred. We should expect a great deal tweaking for quite a while based on the precedents of the Krag and Springfield 1903. Both were established patterns and yet the Ordnance Board spent forever fiddling with them. (Historically the M1 at this time is the original 'gas trap' pattern.)

 

Savage wanted us to submit the M1930 for the 1931 trials and we did in fact work up a couple of prototypes in .276 Pedersen the Ordnance Board was not accepting any other entrants than the Garand and Pedersens. Annoyingly it was a 7.22mm bore as opposed to the 7.25mm of or 7x57 and the cartridge had a great deal of taper. This necessitated a different magazine to manage the cartridge. In 1932 we actually bought 4 Vicker-Pedersens form Vickers-Armstrong for evaluation and they are on the same rack in the Kazanlak reference armory as the prototypes. This effort was somewhat acrimonious with Savage management who blamed us for not moving quickly enough without understanding that '7mm' is not '7mm'. Their coolness to the M1933 might be coloured by this.

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You are correct that the National Firearms Act also taxes so called short barrelled rifles but are mistaken about its effect on overall machine carbine sales. While the M1932 with the 12" barrel is indeed no longer an option for private and commercial customers the NFA compliant version with the 18 1/4" barrel is.

 

The 'M1' rifle the US Army's, not Remington's. They are working with the 1931 trials rifle in the original and smaller calibers. I don't see major hurdles with that. 7x51mm is more than adequate for most game and the rifle had passed the trials. It was even approved for production. It isn't in production yet because of the Army's decision to convert it to .30-06. Converting an automatic firearm to a substantially more powerful round is no mean feat and probably the very reason why Remington isn't doing that.

 

It would have been nice had the M1933 done well in the military trials but I'm still hopeful about it's civilian potential. 7mm Mauser is commercially available in the USA. Could you send a handful to Auto Ordnance so they can work on a sporterized version?

Edited by Markus Becker
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Dramatic shootout in the Spanish Embassy in Tankovina between the Ambassador loyal to the government and the Military Attache who declared for the Nacionales. Due to the risk being posed by bullets flying willy nilly, the Gendarmes were forced to intervene which fortunately happened before anyone lost their lives but after four persons were shot.

 

It appears that this has to do with competing arms buying activities taking place in Tankovia. The need to have a policy on the matter is more urgent than ever. Also, what do we do with the Ambassador and Attache once they are discharged from hospital? The Attache has applied for asylum even as his Immunity is being rescinded.

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The Spanish government is recognized as the representative of Spain by the Tankovian government. What legal and diplomatic standing do the Nationalists have? None, they are but plotters who have attempted to overthrow that government in a coup de etat.

 

As far as the Ambassador and the Attache are concerned the shootout is legally none of our business because it did not happen on our territory. Likewise the Attache is no longer on Spanish territory, so unless we have an extradition treaty with Spain he's free to go and we should send him on his way once he can walk.

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The Spanish military coup has failed and turned into a civil war. The rebels have announced the formation of a rival government that controls Spanish Morocco and the smaller part of the mainland. The actual government is preparing for a longer conflict. Since time is of the essence the acting military attache has inquired about purchasing Tankovia's entire stock of surplus small arms. M1916 Mausers, M95/21 Mannlichers and Savage M1915.

 

They also rented the 1921 Thompsons until they can take delivery of their new production M1935. They want machine guns too but the M1931 covered by a confidential agreement with Germany and setting up a line for the M1922/29 HMG would take months and come at the expense of other production including spare parts for the machine guns M2, 08/15 and 30 so that is on hold subtil we get approval from the government.

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  • 3 weeks later...

None at all. I was thinking of the AR as the replacement for the TBD select fire rifle that replaces the M1933. I'm not so certain about 5.56. Sure it would be better than 7*40 but sufficiently better and what else needs to be funded around that time? Anway, no fundamental objections here, just a remark, you decide.

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Like everyone else we get Tier 1 DEVGRU SF mania in an Army that is relatively reservist centric. Most of the budget will be spent on big ticket SF stuff like NV and choppers while units are generally allowed to LARP as they see fit. Which will eventually become a problem but by then the can has been kicked down the road.

 

5.56 is 'NATO' and more importantly full of export potential. As are ARs. Kazanlak (Arsenal) is happy to sell you complete weapons, parts and even OEM for you.

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5.56 is 'NATO' and more importantly full of export potential. As are ARs. Kazanlak (Arsenal) is happy to sell you complete weapons, parts and even OEM for you.

 

 

Has the spirit of Locomotive rubbed off on you? How nice! :) Speaking of, I'll be back to the late 1930s unless you intend to skip the 40s and want to go straight to the present,

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Back to the 30s, we now have quite a lot of money to invest in our modernization thanks to the Great Spanish Sale of 1936. That and the remarkably robust sales of machine carbines in 9mm Largo to several South American countries. I had no idea they were even using that calibre. Even our M1920 Tank-Hahns are selling in that calibre. It's meant we have added a third shift to keep up with demand.

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With the American government now firmly in the hands of the Democratic Party efforts have been made to reduce the tariffs. The USA has negotiated bilateral trade agreements with a number of countries, Tankovia included. Our government has followed up with a more general initiative calling on the signatories of agreements with the USA to reduce trade barriers among each other. There will probably be a conference later this year.

 

 

Firearms news:

 

In the USA the initial rush for pistol caliber carbines is over and sales have stabilized. To stay ahead of the competition Savage is experimenting with moving the action back into the stock to shorten the gun without shortening the barrel and we are working on a new receiver design made from pressed steel.

 

In terms of automatic rifles the market has grown again. In absolute numbers it is nowhere near the one for pump- and lever action gun but it is far bigger than it used to be at the start of the decade. On the lower end you find the delayed blowback rifles by Savage, Winchester and most recently Marlin. They are chambered for .30 Remington and less powerful rounds. On the upper end is Remington’s Model 81 series, typically chambered from .30 Remington to .276. What characterizes all is their modularity. By replacing barrel, bolt and so on the end user can switch from one to any of the other calibers. Magazine are interchangeable among any of the different rifles.

 

And then we have The Most Powerful semiautomatic rifle you can buy, the Auto Ordnance Huntsman II. :) :) It is actually the one that sells least well but the PR value is not to be underestimated. Remington is particularly miffed and keeps insisting that .35 Remington is a larger caliber than the more powerful 7mm Mauser.

 

The M1 Garand was almost redesigned once again. With all the new magazine rifles on the market, the Ordnance Department felt a lot less confident about the clip loading and wanted the internal magazine to be a separate component an armorer could replace with a magazine well for a DBM. To speed up the process they enlisted support for the industry. We strongly advised against compatibility with BAR magazines because the BAR is most likely the next small arm the US military will replace and the magazine design is no longer up to date. At that point the General Staff intervened and ordered Springfield to stop tinkering and start manufacturing. So Springfield and Remington are now making some dimensional changes to the receiver to allow the rifles to be rebuilt for the use of DBM in an arsenal. And if you think news from the USA is good, you have not heard the half of it.

 

The Germans have adopted the MG 34 as limited standard only and thus ordered another batch of MG 13 to amend their production. Th Kingdom of Siam is the latest customers of 200 M1935, a license and technical assistance, meaning we will get a Siamese restaurant in addition to all the Latin American ones. Speaking of Latin America, the choice of 9mm Largo is decided by supply. The Great Spanish of 1936 has continued into '37 and gotten even greater. They keep ordering M1935* in such numbers that almost our entire machine carbine production is in their caliber. If you want an M1935 in any other, usually 7.8mm MC, you need to buy a license and produce the guns yourself like for example Chile and Argentine do. If you can’t, 9mm Largo it is for the time.

 

*and mortars and anti tank rifles.

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Unless the Germans are testing their MG34 in Tankovia, they are supergeheime.

 

The MG Standardization Program is upgrading our existing stocks of Lewis and MG08/15 with M1930(ZB) pattern bipods and functionally identical sights. This reduces the amount of cross training required for user transition between guns. The ZB bipod is vastly superior to both existing bipods.

 

It is also leading into the Standard Tripod for all our MGs using appropriate adapters mounts. We are currently evaluating the DISA tripod as developed for their Madsen LMG. It's a bit fiddly but is quite light and has a buffered cradle that makes it less jumpy.

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Keeping the idea of a GPMG secret from us makes little sense considering we came up with it together when the MG13 was designed and we are known to keep secrets. The MG13 they(and us) are making are medium machine guns like the M1919. No tactical innovation to see here. Move on. What is rather surprising is that they still have decided against LMG and SLR with interchangeable magazines. Did you try to get them interested in an 8mm version of the M1933?

 

And we still got Lewis guns? How about selling them to the Spanish and buying M1930 LMG with the money? The are in 7mm, the Spanish would buy them in a heartbeat. The 08/15s probably too and we would not even have to import medium machine guns.

Edited by Markus Becker
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Danes came with idea of the GPMG before WW1 with Madsen which was used as both light on bipod and sustained fire MG on tripod.

Edited by bojan
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  • 2 weeks later...

1937 is the year of the machine carbine.

 

What was intended as a cheap substitute for bolt action rifles has come full circle. It is becoming the most numerous infantry weapon in both the Spanish government and rebel forces. Police and rear echelon units have their M1921 more often than not replaced with rifles that had been pulled out of frontline service. Even rifle production is being switched to machine carbines/-pistols.

 

Unlike during the Chaco War the role of the machine carbine and machine pistol has not been overlooked or discounted. A growing number of nations have trials scheduled(USA, Poland, Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia) or purchase guns for evaluation(France, Great Britain, Sweden), while early users of the M1921/1922 generally adopt the Spanish approach and have rear echelon and frontline weapons switch places and convert M1921 into M1925.

 

All this means business is good. On top of the exports of various arms Spain has commissioned a design for an anti tank rifle with a magazine. That should be easy enough thanks to all the new employees that have joined the company recently. For example our new technical director Arthur Simsonov* and his brother Julius* the head of the legal department.

 

Back to Spain, among other things the Germans have deployed tanks in support of the Spanish rebel forces. The last few years have seen the introduction of numerous purpose made anti tank weapons, leaving Panzers I, II and even the Stug II more vulnerable than expected. However given that the opposing Soviet made tanks are also very lightly armored that's not a big concern and the Germans are working on a universal tank that can fulfill the roles of Panzer II and Stug II anyway. BTW, could we perhaps supply the Spanish with some of the new High Explosive Anti Tank ammunition to advertise its capabilities to the worldwide market?

 

And last but not least the Siamese have opened a restaurant and it is highly recommended. It's past the Abyssinian one in the second street to the left.

 

 

*recent immigrants from Germany.

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Simson was the only company permitted to make MGs under Versailles.

 

Machine carbines are an excellent weapon for lightly trained conscripts. Fixed battle sights, volume of fire and light ammunition make them more effective than bolt actions. Of course against well trained riflemen, they have to close that distance under fire. Our Spanish business is being undercut by the Bolsheviks.

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The limited range of the 9mm machine carbines/pistols is more of a technical than a tactical problem. Nowadays Spanish infantry squads are not armed with either bolt action rifles or machine carbines but some mix of both* and even rebel forces have enough of the latter to make crossing the last 150 to 100 meters a bigger problem than getting within that distance.

 

The Soviets are competitors when it comes to artillery, infantry mortars and handguns but that's it or has been it so far. Have they expanded their range of products?

 

Last but not least, our military continues to modernize it's inventory. Lewis guns are shipped to Spain as new M1930 (ZB vz.30) arrive from Czechoslovakia and they'd very much like to have our 08/15s too. Which the "domestic" M1931 MMG could replace.

 

 

*more and better one in government forces, except in elite units who have M1933 semi automatic rifles.

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  • 2 weeks later...

BTW, it is time for one or two caliber conversion of the M1933. The Argentinians are getting nervous because of the trials rifles Chile and Brazil bought and with war between China and Japan having broken out recently, I see a market for an 8mm version too. Not just in China. Yugoslavia uses 8mm Mauser too and unlike Czechoslovakia they don’t have a semi automatic rifle program as far as I know.

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Let me show you why we have not moved forward with the M1933 rifle in other calibres despite having had tool room prototypes for several years. Here in Building C is the LMG production line. Although we bought the rights for local production of the ZB30 some time ago, we were in no position to make use of it because of the financial situation. Thanks in no small part to the Spanish windfall, we have been able to finally make use of it.

 

In the interim, we have continued to track developments at ZB and implement our own ideas and user feedback. It was decided NOT to adopt the shortened gas system of the ZGB-33 to ensure backwards compatibility with the M1930 for barrels but the lessons from the British trials was that the finned barrels were essentially not worth the additional machining. We also adopted many of the simplified machining processes and the hydraulic buffer. Finally the sights have been adapted to be similar to our rifles to simplify training. It is now ladder sight with a battle sight when flipped down and the front blades are now identical to the rifles.

 

Over here in the tool room you can see the FrankenMG our chaps are working on. It is essentially a Browning M1919 feed system mated to the ZB30 action. It looks clunky for now. Incidentally the Germans took the Browning system and refined it a bit.

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What is the M1919/ZB30 combination supposed to become? A light weight medium machine gun I presume? We could use the M1931/MG13 instead. It’s not as light as it could be but still lighter than an M1919 with a bipod and fairly easy to produce for a gun with a milled receiver. The 8mm version is currently in production for Germany. Switching some of that to 7mm could be done quickly. Than we could sell the 08/15 to Spain too. The only disadvantage it that we can not export it without German permission until 1941.

 

And I think Locomotive can indirectly help you with the caliber conversions of the M1933. We could produce the M1930 LMG for you. We had extensive experience with machine guns even before many of the Simson management joined our company. But we would have to reduce some other production to free the required production capacity or expand the facilities or do a combination of both. The M1931 and M1933 are high value products individually, the M1935 not so much but quantity makes them lucrative.

 

That is something the accountants need to look at closely.

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Unlike the Germans, we are not looking at a universal machinegun. Rather a belt-fed machinegun for platoon, company level and mounted use with shared components and logistics with the LMG.

 

We have tested the MG13 extensively alongside the ZB30 and it is considered substantially less satisfactory, particularly due to it's lack of a quick change barrel and the lower controllability. It has nothing to do with any prejudice against Lokomotiv, the Dreyse is just not as good. Also the license with ZB is only for Arsenal and not national, though there is no issue with having Lokomotiv as a sub-contractor.

 

Currently Kazanlak is only handling new manufacture of pistols(Tank-Hahn), self-loading rifles(M1933) and now LMG(M1930/37). Legacy systems and arsenal work is in Tankovina under Arsenal(Tankovina). This includes any 'new' production M1912/30 and all MG08/15.

 

There is a gap in the domestic market for vest and pocket pistols that are almost all imported. Also a 9mm Kurz police pistol. The Hahn is a bit chunky for this purpose.

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The MG13 is in service with the Wehrmacht as a belt-fed machine gun for platoon, company level and vehicles, though in the latter role it is superseded by the MG34. The MG13 you tested was an aircraft gun, the version for the infantry has a quick change barrel*. That leaves the lack of parts compatibility with the M1930 LMG. And I doubt ZB will care who makes the LMG as long as the royalties are paid. That will cut into our machine carbine production but Spanish production has increased very much over the last six months and with all the interest on so called sub machine guns we’ll see a lot more competition on the international market.

 

The shortage of domestically produced pocket pistols is a result of the war in Spain. We stopped making the Liberator**. It never sold well here and the makers of the simpler singe action, single stack magazine pistols more often than not made their guns with some parts purchased from us. We can no longer keep them supplied to the usual levels and of course they too sell to Spain what they can. That being said, the Liberator will be back should the police choose to buy it.

 

 

*Quick recap of the MG13 development descibed here and there pages back. The Germans initially intended to design an aircraft only gun but with both German and Tankovian infantry using the 08/15 as a ‘light’ machine gun the joint design team decided an open bolt, belt fed gun made more sense, with the aircraft version not needing a quick change barrel. The Tankovian engineers also kept their German counterpart’s tendency for over-elegance in check giving the gun a blocky appearance because straight lines and flat surfaces are easier to machine. The ‘crude’ looks however offended the tender sensibilities of the German ordnance department who contracted a design for a more elegant version. The MG34, which to no Tankovian’s surprise turned out to be too elegant for mass production. Something even the German ordnance department had to admit, so they went back to the MG 13 and kept the MG 34 only for the next generation of AFV as it’s barrel change is easier to hande in a vehicle.

 

**Liberator pistol: Hammer fired double action Savage Model 1917 in .32 ACP and 9mm kurz(see page 36).

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