Category: Gear & Stuff

Why? Why did they choose their gun? Why do they continue training? By Erick Gelhaus

Post author By Grumpy
Post date June 18, 2023
No Comments on Why? Why did they choose their gun? Why do they continue training? By Erick Gelhaus

Why anyone makes the decisions they make is an interesting topic. What are the Whys behind the firearm someone chooses, taking their first class, venturing across the country to train once, and then doing it again?

One of the advantages of teaching at Gunsite is having access to a student base that comes from all over. I recently helped teach an Intermediate Pistol class, Gunsite #350. There were four women in the class, and they agreed to talk to me about this article. Please share this information – you don’t have to be a steely-eyed commando or a barrel-chested freedom fighter to take a class, especially not at Gunsite or most other facilities. Like any other field of study, solid initial training is a good thing. Recurrent training is a must – lest your skills atrophy.

When there’s competition, everyone competes against each other. Megan is shooting against a classmate.

Megan, mom & wife, business owner
She started training once she realized she wanted to adopt a more protective mindset for “my family!” Not enough people were doing that. She absolutely did not want to be a victim.
She chose Gunsite because a friend had been there. After returning home from school, they told her it not only enhanced their mindset but that the class had enhanced their abilities too.
Returning for her #350 pistol class, she liked how she was able to build her skills once immersed in the material by being “here” for several days.

A sense of humor is a good thing in classes. Stuff can break, but she didn’t let it wreck her experience.

Megan prefers the Sig P320 platform, going with the metal frame Scorpion, because of both performance and feel.

Working the roof simulator on a Urban Scrambler run – and getting her hits!

Ashley, wedding photographer, part-time firearms instructor, and retail sales
After being robbed at gunpoint in the United States and experiencing several other “spicey” situations here and abroad, she sought training. A concealed carry permit class opened her eyes to training and the importance of learning when and how to use her defensive tools.
She came to Gunsite based on a co-worker’s recommendation. When asked, Ashley told me she returns because of each instructor’s real-world experience and actual application versus those with just’ book learning.’

Her Canik TP-9 SFX pistol with a Holosun optic.

Her handgun is a Canik TP9-SFX. She’d gone to buy a Glock 34 when she saw the Canik on the rental board at the range. The quality of the trigger was the best she felt of the guns that had come through the store, and its “crisp re-set” sealed the deal. She went with a Holosun optic based on retail cost and co-worker recommendations.

Smith & Wesson M&P CORE 9mm pistol after a shot. Note the spent case in the air.

Christine, trauma surgeon from the Midwest
She described herself now as a competent shooter, not a gun enthusiast. After the 2020 events came to her front yard, she had to consider whether she could use deadly force to defend herself and her loved ones. After making the decision, she began to work with a .22 handgun.
She went to Gunsite because, as a long-time educator, she wanted professional, efficiently & well-presented training because she didn’t want to be “that person who has been shooting thirty years but only learned to shoot 2-3 years ago.”
With her medical background, she wanted a safe training environment because she did not want to worry about being injured or having to treat someone who was hurt.
Her husband started her on an M&P .22 because that’s what was available, and they could buy the ammunition for it. Once they were both comfortable with her abilities, they headed to Gunsite for a #250 Pistol class. A 9mm M&P was available as a rental for the class. Afterward, she found a 9mm M&P CORE pistol at a local gun store and bought it.
She practiced the material for 18 months after the class before returning to take the #350 Intermediate Defensive Pistol course.

She chose the M&P pistol because of its availability. Not only for a .22 trainer but the full-size defensive handgun as well.

One equipment issue for Christine was that her holster was designed for an M&P with a smaller Streamlight pistol light, like the TLR7. Because she was not using a light on her pistol, she had issues with how it fit the holster. The school’s Pro Shop was able to help her out with that.

Utilizing the van on the Urban Scrambler for cover while pieing around it to engage a steel target.

Lissa is a wife, mom, and part-time firearms instructor.
She started training because she wanted to be more involved with running a “The Well-Armed Women/Armed Women of America” chapter. She was concerned about education on pending gun laws. She keeps training to give back to her community. As for Gunsite, she keeps returning because the classes are realistic, relevant, and applicable to her life, not “tacticool.”

Putting in repetitions during the school drills and hardwiring in the optics presentation.

Lissa has put, by her estimate, about fifteen thousand rounds through her Sig M18 over the last two years. She also uses it when teaching. The pistol’s thumb safety was a driving factor for her choosing this handgun. A Wilson Combat modified P320 frame was her introduction to these pistols.

The end of class shoot-off. You have to drop three different pieces of steel, do a speed reload, and then drop a split popper.

Final Thoughts

Four different students with some similar reasons for starting to train. Interesting overlaps and divergences in the Whys behind their equipment as well. Regardless, get your loved ones to good training.

If you are in the upper midwest and you want to support a gun store (and range) that takes training and your rights seriously, consider visiting Fletcher Arms (https://fletcherarms.com).

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Post author By Grumpy
Post date June 13, 2023
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Post author By Grumpy
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Post author By Grumpy
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The Welrod Assassin’s Pistol by William Lawson

Post author By Grumpy
Post date May 20, 2023
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Imagine you’re a World War II British SOE operative. After months of intensive training, you parachute into Nazi-occupied Denmark and link up with a Resistance group. Friendly aircraft occasionally drop goodies like weapons and explosives so you can create merry mayhem among the enemy. Resistance fighters are not as effective as legend would eventually claim, but an
interrupted rail line, disabled locomotive, or blown-up power station causes headaches and ties down troops who could otherwise be at the fighting front.

Sabotage missions are dangerous. The enemy knows valuable targets just as you do, so they post sentries and other defenses. Your latest supply drop included an odd-looking weapon to help deal with those sentries: the Welrod pistol. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) developed the Welrod for just this purpose: killing enemy sentries or high value personnel silently at close range.

Officially designated the Mark I Hand Firing Device, the Welrod was the brainchild of Major Hugh Q.A. Reeves. Reeves was an engineer with SOE’s “Station IX,” which provided specialized weapons and gear for field operatives. Ian Fleming’s “Q Branch” was partially based on Station IX, though the character “Q” does not represent Major Reeves. The code name “Welrod” came from Station IX’s proximity to the village of Welwyn, north of London.

A Simple but Ingenious Design

The Welrod looks ungainly, but the design is elegantly simple. A single stack detachable magazine feeds the bolt action firing mechanism. A rubber sheath encases the magazine since it doubles as the Welrod’s grip when inserted into the rudimentary mag well. The gun uses 8-round Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless magazines for the .32 ACP cartridges. The shooter operates the action via the knurled knob behind the chamber.

The trigger is a simple steel wire that moves straight back on a sliding plate, releasing the striker. The shooter must engage the grip safety to unblock the trigger plate.

The barrel is only 3.25 inches long but has 16 to 20 ports that bleed gas into the surrounding expansion chamber. The integral suppressor makes up the rest of the firearm. The suppressor section contains a series of metal baffles and three rubber wipes. The wipes were initially solid rubber, so the first bullet fired through them punched a hole that sealed up behind it.

The Welrod’s plans and manufacturing history are still officially classified, though blueprints have leaked out. The guns were almost certainly made by the United Kingdom’s Birmingham Small Arms (BSA), though the firm denies it. Just how many Welrods were made is also a secret. Estimates range from 2,800 to 14,000. The varied serial numbers and classified records
fuel the discrepancy.

Interestingly, the first Welrods were the .32 ACP Mark II and Mark IIA. The later 9mm Parabellum Welrod was designated Mark I and Mark IA. No idea why. The Mark I added a trigger guard and moved the front sight back to the halfway point. Again, no idea why they shortened the sight radius on an already accuracy challenged pistol. The Mark I had a 6-round magazine capacity.

The Welrod was designed for covert activity and is easily concealed with the magazine removed. Unless you know what it is, a Welrod without an inserted magazine doesn’t even look like a pistol. Many said it resembled a bicycle pump.

Welrod Specifications

Caliber: .32 ACP (Mark II and Mark IIA) or 9mm Parabellum (Mark I)
Capacity: 8 rounds (.32 ACP) or 6 rounds (9mm Parabellum)
Weight: 42 ounces (empty)
Overall Length: 14.57 inches
Barrel Length: 3.25 inches
Suppressor Length: 11.97 inches
Action: Manually operated bolt action

Using the Welrod

The Welrod’s first four or five shots were the most effective. The action didn’t cycle since it was manually operated. The gun was perhaps even better than Hollywood quiet beyond 15 feet. Its report was impossible to identify as a weapon discharge. This was helped by the initial chambering in the subsonic .32 ACP cartridge, which has been recorded at only 73 decibels. Later models were also made in 9mm Parabellum but are reportedly almost as quiet as the .32 ACP guns.

After ten or fifteen rounds, the wipes no longer sealed and the Welrod sounded similar to a standard suppressed pistol, if perhaps a bit quieter since there was no action noise. The baffles and wipes were easily replaced by unscrewing the muzzle cap, assuming you had extras on hand.

The end cap itself is indented and the muzzle recessed so SOE operatives could place it right up against a Nazi target and fire. Of course, getting that close to a sentry or assassination target might be another matter entirely.

The sights are a simple but effective rear notch and post. They originally had tritium inserts for night use. The Welrod’s effective range is 7 or 8 yards at night and up to 25 yards in daylight. After that, the short barrel and slowed bullet significantly impact the gun’s performance.

A Modern Welrod

Brügger & Thomet (B&T) produces a veterinary pistol, the VP9, based on the Welrod. Chambered in 9mm Parabellum, B&T says the gun is for dispatching injured horses and such in a manner that won’t startle other nearby animals. The gun operates just like the Welrod and is reportedly just as quiet. But the VP9 is much nicer than the Welrod.

The gun probably does a great job not frightening horses or cattle. You, however, do you. The B&T VP9 no doubt requires an NFA tax stamp. Do not confuse this pistol for the H&K VP9, which is something else entirely.

The Welrod in Entertainment

You’d think Hollywood might use and abuse the Welrod in their various spy and war movies, but that hasn’t been the case. I suppose it isn’t surprising since all suppressed Hollywood guns are Welrod quiet and look much cooler in the process. The gun has appeared in a few movies and television shows, most notably, a 2011 episode of Person of Interest.

The Welrod fares better in video games. As one might expect, players of combat shooter games can take the Welrod for a spin and it features prominently in several such games. The Mark II appears in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Day of Infamy, and World of Guns: Gun Disassembly, while the Mark I shows up in Sniper Elite V2, Sniper Elite III, and Sniper Elite 4.

Battlefield V added a Mark I/Mark II hybrid in its June 2020 update. The Mark II also shows up in Insurgency: Sandstorm’s June 2020 update, though it’s mistakenly chambered in 9mm. There are a few other game appearances as well.

A Long Service Life

Extraordinary times demand extraordinary solutions. The Welrod entered service in 1943, which counts as a most extraordinary time, considering the entire globe was immersed in history’s most destructive war. It was a niche weapon, but that niche was important and long-lasting.

The American Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which operated much as the SOE and later became the CIA, soon adopted the Welrod. US special forces and intelligence operatives used the Welrod throughout the Cold War, and the British SAS used it in the 1982 Falklands War. The last reported use was in the 1991 Gulf War.

The weapon’s simplicity and effectiveness make it easy to believe the Welrod is still in service today. And why not? The Welrod is simple and reliable. It goes “bang” when you press the trigger. Well, maybe not “bang.” More like “phffft.” Either way, the sentry never knows what hits him.