Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 - Dan Shideler - Страница 10

The Mighty(?) 9mm Rimfire

BY PHILLIP PETERSON

Fabrique Nationale, Herstal Belgique, marked “FL 9m/c” with 17.5-inch barrel; Simson Prazislans Karbiner Simson & Co. Suhl with spoon bolt, 24.75-inch barrel marked “Flobert”; JG Anschutz GmbH Waffenfabrik, Ulm, Germany, 21.75-inch barrel marked “Kal 9mm Glatt”; Anschutz Model 1365, German proof marked 1969, 25.4-inch barrel marked “Kal 9mm Glatt.”

(circle) 9mm Rimfire ammunition, 9mm Parabellum cartridge shown for size comparison. Top row, left to right:RWS shotshell, brass/paper construction; Winchester shotshell, brass/paper construction; Fiocchi brass shotshell. Bottom row, left to right: Remington ball cap; RWS ball cap; Fiocchi conical bullet cap.

“You collect 9mm what?”

I get that a lot when the subject of collections comes up. I have been collecting (accumulating, really) 9mm rimfire firearms for about twenty years now. There are seventeen resting in my safe at this time. Many American shooters have never heard of a 9mm rimfire shotgun. They were made as inexpensive “garden guns” and will be found in a variety of action types and makers. While Winchester is the only U.S company that ever made a 9mm shotgun, the Model 36, many famous European gun makers have offered them at one time or another. Most that we see were brought to the U.S. by immigrants or by US servicemen returning from the World Wars.

The name most commonly associated with the 9mm RF guns is “Flobert,” and many sellers describe these guns as such. But a bolt-action or a break-open gun is not a Flobert; a gun may fire a Flobert cartridge and still not be properly termed a Flobert. Flobert was credited with patenting the rimfire cartridge and there is a specific action design that bears his name.

SMALL ORIGINS

The rimfire or Flobert cartridge was invented in 1846 by France’s Louis Nicholas Auguste Flobert (pronounced flow-BARE) and consisted of a primed brass cup topped with a round ball, loaded without powder. These little cartridges were made in several sizes: 4mm, 5mm, 6mm (.22), 7mm, 8mm and 9mm. The rimfire cartridge is Flobert’s biggest and most enduring contribution to the gun world. Using his case and priming design, the 6mm/.22 was developed further in the U.S. by Smith & Wesson and others by lengthening the case and adding gunpowder. The resulting cartridge, the .22 Short, quickly became the most common and widely distributed cartridge in the world. Flobert’s rimfires were originally used in handguns for indoor or “parlor” shooting and soon became extremely popular. Shortly after use of the ball loading became common, ammunition manufacturers started loading Flobertstyle shotshells. These used the ball loadings’ brass cap as a cartridge head but also incorporated a cardboard tube of varying length loaded with shot. Other rimfire cartridges in the 6mm-12mm range were developed during the first fifty years of fixed ammunition but only the .22/6mm and 9mm remain in widespread use.

The unique Carabine Buffalo bolt action over/under 9mm/.22 combination gun.

The various 9mm rimfire shotguns quickly became known as “garden guns” because they were considered ideal for potting small varmints that raided the family garden. In America, they became popular with farmers, who used them to dispatch barn pigeons without blowing hard-to-fix holes in the roof.

A FLOBERT FLOBERT

There is also a firearms design that carries Floberts’ name. My parlor pistol, for example, is a true Flobert in that it has a Flobert action: a single shot with a breechblock that rocks open when the hammer is pulled back. The hammer locks the breech closed at the moment of firing. This arrangement is very similar to the Remington Rolling block action. However, the Flobert design is not as strong and has been made only for low-power cartridges.

Flobert firearms in .22 and .32 caliber rimfire are fairly common in the United States. They rarely have any markings except the word “Belgium” stamped somewhere on the barrel and perhaps the telltale “crown over ELG in an oval” proofmark. Many were low-price imports from Belgium that were sold through Sears-Roebuck and other mail order catalogues in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Prices as low as $1.99 were advertised for these types of guns, most of which were bought by poor farmers who did not have the money to get an American-made gun. When these Floberts survive into the modern era, they are frequently in rough condition. They were, after all, bought as tools and used as such. To make matters worse, this was in the era of black powder cartridges with mercuric primers, a combination that almost invariably led to bore erosion.

Other Flobert guns were brought home by American GI’s from service in WWI or WWII. Among these there were various 9mm shotguns and Rifles.

IT’S NOT A FLOBERT

Yet another single shot design, sometimes mistakenly referred to as a “Flobert,” is the Warnant.

The Warnant system consists of a pivoting breech that swings up and operates the extractor, similar to the U.S. “Trapdoor” Springfield. Part of the hammer locks the breech closed upon firing. There are single shot, side by side, and over/under examples of the Warnant design that are occasionally encountered.

This Anshutz 9mm action shows the U-shaped extractor that rides in a slot beneath the bolt on many 9mm shotguns. This piece is sometimes missing as it can fall out if the bolt is removed.

BOLT ACTIONS

The single shot bolt action is the most common type of 9mm rimfire firearm found. These are usually very simple guns. Some have Rifle sights and some have a simple bead sight; some cock on opening, others on closing. Some have a manual cocking piece. Many do not have a safety. Most have a simple U shaped extractor sliding in a slot underneath the bolt. (Note: Make sure the extractor is present in any 9mm bolt action you might be considering buying.. They can fall out if the bolt is removed and are frequently lost or broken.)

Many well-known European arms makers have offered 9mm rimfire guns in their product line. Germany seems to be the most prolific nation of origin. Some noted manufacturers from Germany include Alfa, Anschutz, Erma, Geco, Muchler and Simson & Co. Other continental makers include Fabrique Nationale and Bayard (Belgium), Webley & Scott (England), St. Etienne (France), Bernardelli and Beretta (Italy), and Husqvarna (Sweden).

While most 9mm shotguns seen in the United States were manufactured between 1900 and 1940, the design remained popular in Europe after WWII and a few firms still produce them today, the vast majority of which are single shots. I have never seen or heard of a magazine-fed 9mm bolt action garden gun.

OUR AMERICAN COUSIN

The sole American-made firearm chambering the 9mm rimfire is a bolt action: the Winchester Model 36. Introduced in 1920, there were about 20,000 units made by the time production stopped in 1927. The Model 36 used basically the same action as the popular Winchester Models 1900, 1902 and 1904 single shot boys’ Rifles in .22 caliber. The action was originally designed by John Browning and has a small bolt handle and short action. It sported an 18-inch barrel and a gumwood stock. Winchester marketed this model as a “Garden Gun” for use on small pests and birds at close ranges. Unfortunately, the Model 36 did not have a definite niche within the U.S. market. In most cases a single shot .22 would have been a better choice for upclose use and a centerfire shotgun would have worked better in the open field.

Other designs of 9mm shotguns include a variety of breakopen actions. Some feature a side lever; others use an underlever. One of my 9mm doubles has an underlever action. I once saw a beautiful French made side by side 9mmx.22 hammerless Cape Gun that had the typical box lock action with lever on top of receiver. It was fully engraved. The owner was not interested in selling. Believe me, I tried.

One of the most interesting 9mm garden guns guns I have seen was the Carabine Buffalo. This was made at St. Etienne, France, in the early 20th century. It is a 9mm/.22 over/under. The barrel is a solid piece with two bores drilled through. The muzzle is oval shaped and the gun has a unique bolt action design. The front section of the bolt covers the chamber end of the barrel and has locking lugs that match lugs on the barrel.

GARDEN GUN?

As previously noted, this European term refers to firearms made for close range control of small pests such as cats, rats, moles, and birds. The effective range of the 9mm shotshell is about 25 feet. These low-powered guns can be used around the yard or inside a barn.

The only ballistic information I was able to find on the 9mm rimfire shotshell comes from the current production brasscased Fiocchi 1-3/4-inch brass shell with a 1/4-oz. load of # 6, #7, #8, or #9 shot. Fiocchi lists a muzzle velocity of 600 fps and an impressive 87 foot pounds of energy. In comparison, the Winchester Super-X .410 2-1/2-inch load lists a half-ounce charge of shot with a muzzle velocity of 1225 fps.

According to an Edwardian English gun writer, the 9mm shotshell was certainly up to its intended purpose:

“With a mini-gun like this it is necessary to start thinking in feet rather than yards. This is not unreasonable for something that might be used around buildings and on farm trackways and lanes, which are only 12ft or so wide.

A starting point was 6ft from the muzzle. At this distance most of the shot was contained in a 3/4in hole. At 12ft the pattern was nice with a 3in circle and at 18ft there was still a good pattern.

At 24ft (eight yards) there was still the potential for bowling a rodent over, but by 30ft the small amount of shot was very thinly spread.”

A RIFLE?

Two of my guns have Rifled bores. The engraved Warnant single shot has deeply cut rifling and one barrel of the underlever double has wide, shallow rifling. As for the 9mm ball loads, I could find no data on any of them. All I do know is that I can see the ball leaving the barrel. Even though many of these guns feature Rifle sights, there is little relationship to where a single ball shot will hit. No grouping at all. You really can shoot these in a basement or parlor. Just don’t fool yourself into believing that doing so will improve your shooting - this is one case in which the gun really can’t shoot better than you can hold.

STILL AVAILABLE

There are still 9mm garden guns being made in Europe. Despite the very small market it seems the old Flobert 9mm will leave a mark in three separate centuries. One model found online at an English shooting website is the Falco, which is made in Italy. This is a break-open single shot that uses a pivoting trigger guard as the opening lever. The gun can be folded almost in half and there is a groove in the forearm for the trigger guard to rest in when the gun is fully folded. They are offered in 9mm and .410. This is similar to a Beretta-made single shot that was imported to the U.S. in the 1970s. Some Falco products are currently imported to the U.S. but not the 9mm shotgun.

Two-barrel garden guns, top to bottom: Warnant system 6mm/9mm over/under, no maker’s mark; Warnant system 9mm side by side marked Mariette Brevete, with Belgianproofed 29-inch barrel, no caliber markings; side by side 9mm underlever break-open action, no maker’s mark, German proof, 23.9-inch barrel, has no caliber markings.

9mm Parlor Pistol. Flobert action, no maker’s mark, Belgian proofed, 8-inch barrel, no caliber marking.

Another current production 9mm shotgun is made in Italy by Vincenzo Bernardelli. They call it a “Giardino,” which is Italian for “gardener.” This is a semiautomatic with a three-round box magazine. It uses a simple blowback action, just like .22 LR Rifles. This model appears in the 2010 Standard Catalog of Firearms with a value range of $100- $600, depending on condition. [Editor’s Note: A fine book! We’re personally acquainted with its author. -DMS] It is in the U.S. catalogs of a few importers and has a MSRP of close to $800, the weak US dollar being mostly responsible for the seemingly unreasonable high price.

HOW MUCH?

There are very few 9mm rimfire firearms listed in the price guides, possibly only the Winchester Model 36 and the Bernardelli Giardino. I have found no evidence that there has ever been a commercial importation to the United States of any bolt action 9mm shotguns. Many here in the U.S. were brought home as souvenirs from WW I and II. Other used guns have been imported recently from Sweden. Some U.S. entrepreneurs bought up thousands of used sporting guns there when citizens tired of the ever-increasing regulation of firearms and sold them rather than go through more paperwork to keep them. Lots of 9mm shotguns were included. I have six guns that came from one importer, including the Belgian Warnant SxS.

9mm bolt actions typically sell in the $150-$400 range with the name brands like Anshutz bringing the most. The Winchester Model 36 has a price range of $225-$750 in the 2010 Standard Catalog of Firearms.

Side by side, over/under, Flobert and Warnant guns are valued mostly as curiosities. Price will be determined by condition, maker, and quality. Single shots generally sell for $150-$300. Two-barrel guns can be $300-2500. A finely made hammerless double could bring a lot more.

LOADING UP

9mm rimfire shot shells are still made by Fiocchi with limited importation to the US. These function fine in the semiautomatic Bernardelli, for which they are made. These shells will fit and fire safely in most of other guns but some have a problem with extraction. The full-length brass sticks in the chamber, requiring extra effort to remove. A cleaning rod from the front works best

The old loads were paper-walled, often with odd-looking floral or leaf designs printed on them, looking something like brass-capped Chinese firecrackers. There are not any paper 9mm shotshell loads currently being imported to the U.S., but some small manufacturers might still produce them for the European or South American market. 9mm rimfire ball caps are currently made by Fiocchi and RWS and are available from specialty importers and retailers such as Midway USA (midwayusa. com), where they’re currently priced at $22.99 for a box of 50.

That seems a reasonable price to pay to keep one of these strange old shotguns shooting. If you have a 9mm garden gun, especially an older one, the best advice is to have it checked out by a competent gunsmith before firing it. Then the only thing you’ll have to worry about are the people who ask you, “What the heck is that?”