MatthewVanitas
Member
Greetings. Been storing up random observations about Iraqis and guns, as update to my previous post on the subject.
When I first met the local head of the ING (Iraqi National Guard, formerly known as the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps), he carried a Star Super B 9mm pistol, pretty much identical to the one I used to own back in the states. After we started equipping his unit with firearms confiscated from a nearby major city, he stopped wearing his sidearm, and started asking us to find him a good quality confiscated 9mm.
After a while, we convinced him that we were unlikely to find him a decent pistol anytime soon, and he went back to wearing his Star, but in a new cordura shoulder holster. Since the CPA started issuing new Glocks in cordura shoulder holsters to all the cops, Iraqis who don't have Glocks have started buying cordura shoulder holsters for their Maks, BHPs, etc. It's quite the fad.
However, recently I saw him carrying a new pistol. When he showed it off to me, I was horrified to see it was a cheap 9mm blow-back, poorly parkerized, under the name "Gold Star". Safety was a lever where the mag release would be, and the mag release was in the heel, Euro-style. It felt like a High-point, and I presume it's cheaply made in 2nd World somewhere. I really hope he didn't trade in his Star to buy it.
We had actually acquired one pistol, a Llama .32ACP single action, along with some loose S&B and Gecco ammo, and some unmarked steel-case. I had no mags for it, until one day the S-2 shop gave me a bag of mixed junk, knowing I was into the whole reissuing program. Along with some needed Mak and BHP mags, I found two Spanish .32 mags that fit the Llama perfectly, and several small-frame holsters. A couple were junk, but there was one nice cordura shoulder holster, one simple brown belt holster, and one ornately carved leather shoulder holster, with "Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma" engraved on the strap button. They were pretty beat up, but I managed to revive the leather with shaving cream and Vaseline. So now we have some pretty cool gifts for anyone we take a fancy to.
I've added a Brit-issue FAL to our "familiarization fire" collection. FA variant, with the FA switch being _way_ the heck over from safe and semi. I imagine that's to make it a very deliberate motion to go FA.
Our translator had been bugging us for a pistol for some time. We gave him the same explanation: that pistols were hard for us to get, as everybody wants them to give to their favorite Iraqi allies. He wanted something concealable to take on vacation to his hometown, to protect himself from muj or carjackers. We compromised on a sawed-off shotgun, since he said an AK was too big to conceal. Should be a handful, but he's a crusty old guy. Fought the Persians for years in the 1980s in a Commando unit, until he was wounded in urban fighting. Spent the rest of his career teaching small-arms classes. His record really helps his credibility as a translator, so I make a point of summarizing his resume when we meet new people. Veterans of the Iran-Iraq War are held in high esteem here.
I'll try and get some photos of the leather up some time later, and will definitely get some picks of our salty translator with his 'gauge, as soon as I can convince the boss that it's a go.
Just more random stuff. No crucial tactics given away, no named-names or locations. Just random little gun-buff observations. Take care, -MV
When I first met the local head of the ING (Iraqi National Guard, formerly known as the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps), he carried a Star Super B 9mm pistol, pretty much identical to the one I used to own back in the states. After we started equipping his unit with firearms confiscated from a nearby major city, he stopped wearing his sidearm, and started asking us to find him a good quality confiscated 9mm.
After a while, we convinced him that we were unlikely to find him a decent pistol anytime soon, and he went back to wearing his Star, but in a new cordura shoulder holster. Since the CPA started issuing new Glocks in cordura shoulder holsters to all the cops, Iraqis who don't have Glocks have started buying cordura shoulder holsters for their Maks, BHPs, etc. It's quite the fad.
However, recently I saw him carrying a new pistol. When he showed it off to me, I was horrified to see it was a cheap 9mm blow-back, poorly parkerized, under the name "Gold Star". Safety was a lever where the mag release would be, and the mag release was in the heel, Euro-style. It felt like a High-point, and I presume it's cheaply made in 2nd World somewhere. I really hope he didn't trade in his Star to buy it.
We had actually acquired one pistol, a Llama .32ACP single action, along with some loose S&B and Gecco ammo, and some unmarked steel-case. I had no mags for it, until one day the S-2 shop gave me a bag of mixed junk, knowing I was into the whole reissuing program. Along with some needed Mak and BHP mags, I found two Spanish .32 mags that fit the Llama perfectly, and several small-frame holsters. A couple were junk, but there was one nice cordura shoulder holster, one simple brown belt holster, and one ornately carved leather shoulder holster, with "Great Seal of the State of Oklahoma" engraved on the strap button. They were pretty beat up, but I managed to revive the leather with shaving cream and Vaseline. So now we have some pretty cool gifts for anyone we take a fancy to.
I've added a Brit-issue FAL to our "familiarization fire" collection. FA variant, with the FA switch being _way_ the heck over from safe and semi. I imagine that's to make it a very deliberate motion to go FA.
Our translator had been bugging us for a pistol for some time. We gave him the same explanation: that pistols were hard for us to get, as everybody wants them to give to their favorite Iraqi allies. He wanted something concealable to take on vacation to his hometown, to protect himself from muj or carjackers. We compromised on a sawed-off shotgun, since he said an AK was too big to conceal. Should be a handful, but he's a crusty old guy. Fought the Persians for years in the 1980s in a Commando unit, until he was wounded in urban fighting. Spent the rest of his career teaching small-arms classes. His record really helps his credibility as a translator, so I make a point of summarizing his resume when we meet new people. Veterans of the Iran-Iraq War are held in high esteem here.
I'll try and get some photos of the leather up some time later, and will definitely get some picks of our salty translator with his 'gauge, as soon as I can convince the boss that it's a go.
Just more random stuff. No crucial tactics given away, no named-names or locations. Just random little gun-buff observations. Take care, -MV
