It’s time for Desert Brutality 2021! This match is a bit different from previous Brutality matches; it required three guns: pistol, rifle, and precision rifle. I chose to enter the Cold War division (all guns dating form 1946-1991) using a couple of French classics: my FAMAS and new FR-F2. For a handgun, I considered a MAB P15, but decided instead to take a risk and use a Manurhin MR73 .357 Magnum revolver. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? Well, let’s see if that was a wise choice…
Accessories
WW1 Rifle Mud Covers: Lebel & Gewehr 98
Given the prevalence of muddy horrible trenches in World War 1, why didn’t anybody design dust covers to protect the actions of their combat rifles? Well, they actually did… and today we are looking at […]
Semiauto Rifles
Gevarm A6: An Open Bolt Semiauto .22 Sporting Rifle
Gevarm, a gunmaking offshoot of the Gevelot cartridge company, produced a line of open-bolt semiautomatic rimfire sporting rifles from the early 1960s until 1995. This is an A6 model, the base type. It is chambered […]
Light MGs
Mle 24/29 Chatellerault
Our friend Joe had the opportunity not too long ago to take out a French Mle 1924/29 Chatellerault light machine gun for test firing. The 24/29 is a quite nice LMG that is definitely under-appreciated. […]
“Ce n’était pas une bonne chose.”
Well, with more revolver practice and thus more hits and less reloads, it would have been better I guess. The FAMAS and the FR-F2 on the other hand were very good choices for the match. The FR-F2 especially cleared its stages and probably doubled the prices for these surplus rifles.
I made a similar choice a few years ago on a steel match, bringing a compact 9mm Smith w 8 rd capacity. Most of the stages were at least that long. I had to reload quite a bit, and in fact, squadmates reloaded mags for me on the clock. Not my finest hour.
As long as everybody had fun it is all good. 🙂
An 8-round revovler puts one not as much of a disadvantage as a six-shooter, but still only about half, what common pistols today have per magazine and their much faster reload with filled magazines of course. Though depending on stage design eight hits may be all you need.
Too bad that you were using American ammunition in a Euro revolver. Since Europe isn’t full of antique revolvers, their revolver loads are much hotter than SAAMI.
The aforementioned problem caused your revolver to shoot high.
Good point. Most of the ammo sold in the USA seems to err on the safer lower pressure side. I guess because of safety concerns and being sued if a gun explodes from too hot a load. Whereas the MR-73 was designed to shoot boxes after boxes of full power .357 Magnum.
So, it was not a good idea…however, it would have been interesting for the Partisan role, as partisans use what they can find, eh?
I never see the ads for this event – where is it and is it open, or invitation only?
It is run by Karl/InRangeTV, and essentially only open to people on his Patreon (at least, it tends to sell out in the early access to Patrons). It’s previously been in January, but moved to November this year – and it has not been held yet at the same site twice.
Dragging the weighted sled, throwing the “bell”. Are your sure this isn’t training for the foreign legion?
Ah, understood.
Revolver shooting 101, Ian: always count your shots. There’s no reason to drop the hammer on a spent cartridge.