Theo Crabalar

Main Headquarters at the moment for the Elven Bureau of Investigation. My main point of investigation; https://x.com/TheoCrabalar This is what I want to grow the most; https://www.twitch.tv/theocrabalar I'm also at: https://www.instagram.com/theocrabalar/ subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoCrabalar/ Discord: Currently under works

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better go to bed right now, I gotta wake up for a shooting competition tomorrow in 4 hours

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Making the internet a better place.

As my part of trying to make the internet a better place, I'm currently posting more compliments to people's posts on twitter (yeah, I'm still calling it that) that I really like.

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EA Playtester for Battlefield process

EA has put up a playtester program, and with the announcement that the next Battlefield game is being worked on heavily, right now, signing up for this program is a great opportunity to maybe get your foot in the door for this. The link to the website is; https://ea.com/playtesting If you are interested in Battlefield specifically, select shooter as your biggest interest and then, but there might be other things that interest to you.

I suggest being completely honest with the data you are providing, as that gives the clearest feedback to the developers.

For the option of participating in accessibility-feature testing, I chose no as I am able-bodied and that my feed back in that process would either be redundant or unnecessary, I also want to make sure that those who are more qualified can do that. Happy hunting, I hope future games get the good feedback it deserves

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.30 Super Carry: What? Why? How?

What: The new cartridge .30 Super Carry, as the name implies is definitely geared to towards concealed carry. It offers lighter, softer recoil, and higher capacity than guns in 9mm or .380 ACP. Why? Because people will always want to have the most advantage on their side possible.

How? By accidentally copying 7.63 French Longue. and loading with slightly hotter powder.

Speed in general seems to be slightly more than the speed of the sound barrier, which makes suppression easier, but still not optimal due to the speed.

Big Blue, aka Smith & Wesson has two pistols in this caliber. Like the micro compact called the Shield Plus OR, which is certainly an interesting angle and optimized for concealed carry. Optics ready, small, high capacity, all around a smart plan.

Another offering from Smith is the Shield EZ in .30 SC. The EZ series is optimized for shooters who aren't that used to shooting yet. A slightly bigger grip, a mechanism to make it way easier to cock for people with arthritis or similar issues. This is where I think the new caliber might shine, offering defensive capabilities in a more toned down cartridge for new shooters.

Another interesting gun take I'd like to one day take for a spin is the Nighthawk Customs. Night hawks gun is based on the venerable 1911 design.

While they have an absurdly high cost compared to other handguns on the market, they price is reasonable when you remember that it handcrafted in the USA. I would argue this makes for more of a competition or range toy than an actual defensive or duty gun. In many precision pistol sports, .30 cal is usually the minimum for the big bore categories, but also sometimes small enough to be considered smallbore, depending on the discipline and organizing body. this allows you to compete and train at a high level, when you usually carry a "full-caliber" 1911 or 2011 on the daily. And somehow, completely out of left-field, god damn Hi-Point of all companies beats everyone to the punch by offering the first long gun in .30 Super Carry. And somehow, completely out of left-field, god damn Hi-Point of all companies beats everyone to the punch by offering the first long gun in .30 Super Carry.

While still a "generic" Hi-Point Carbine, it does offer you to only have to think about buying one caliber, and a really low price point. The Hi-Point carbines have their own flaws, but they are easy to oversee when you remind yourself of the MSRP. It will be interesting to see how this goes in the future and what other guns we'll end up seeing in this caliber. Considering also the current advances in 3d printing and DIY firearms, one could also wonder if this will lead to new firearms in a similar category to the Vz 61 but now adapted to modern times with modern ammunition, or other new exciting previously unthought of designs.

I hope this caliber takes off and isn't a complete dud.

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MGS4s quirkiest gun, the Race Gun

So, in Metal Gear solid 4, there's a gun dubbed the "Race Gun" also sometimes known as the "Ricochet gun"

In gameplay terms, this gun does less damage per hit than the Glock 18 - 300 dmg, whereas the Race Gun does 200 dmg. Despite using a cartridge that's rated for higher pressure. The game's way of explaining it, is that it's using reduced charged ammo. In reality, you would also need to change spring weights as well, to ensure reliable cycling. This design of a double-stack 1911 pistol with a 2 piece frame, is usually referred to as a "2011" pistol. Technically that term is owned by a another manufacturer of double-stack 1911s with 2 piece frames, but "2011" is generic enough in my opinion.

So the race gun. What kind of racing is it for? It's optimized for IPSC Standard and USPSA Limited division. Judging by the baseplate of the magazine being flat and running paralell to the slide, it mimicks guns that has to fit within the Standard division box in IPSC.

This particular looks to fit the USPSA Limited Division slightly more close. The main point behind USPSA Limited / IPSC Standard, is that you can have a very conventional gun in 9x19 or bigger, and it has to fit within a box, without that many funky additions like a ported barrel, optic, muzzle brake or really large magazine. The 2011 pistols are the current domineering guns in these divisions, but we are seeing more different guns rise up in the top levels of competitions, Nils Jonasson represented Canik with a striker-fired pistols in Limited Division at the previous United States Practical Shooting Association's (USPSA) National Championship in Limited Division.

These guns are usually chambered in .40 S&W as that's the minimum caliber to fit the require for what is called "Major" power factor. The benefit is that for hits that are outside the center, but still on target, you will get less punishment for sloppy precision. The downside however, is more recoil and less capacity. This will really bite you in the ass in shooting events with high round counts, forcing you to reload more often. The gun in the game however, is supposed to be chambered in .38 Super also known as 9x23mm.

So, what we do we gain by using this cartridge instead? If you look really close, .38 Super / 9x23 has slightly less of a taper than 9x19. The cartridge can also be roll-sized to slim down the cartridge slightly more to make sure you get more cartridges in the same magazine. So not only is 19 rounds a realistic capacity, I would argue the should have 1 or 2 more rounds, perhaps even more 3 more rounds considering how some people are tuning springs and magazine followers. IPSC Standard Division does not limit your magazine by number of bullets, but in actual length, that way, it's up to the competitors and equipment manufactures to see how hard they can squeeze.

What is the military/law enforcement application of such a pistol?

The benefits are very clear. You can use higher capacity magazines, more precise guns for more precise shots increasing the range of how far a sidearm would be useful for the soldier/operator. A better trigger as well allowing for the person pulling the trigger to be more confident in their equipment. We are also seeing more and more police agencies and law enforcement departments allowing officers to personally use 2011s and red dot equipped pistols.

For the MGS4 Race gun in particular, the base gun is obviously by the historic Streyer-Voight Infinity. Currently, as of writing, to order a gun, you must go through their consultation, which costs $1000, this is on top of their guns in general starting at $4500, so that means you are looking at $5500 before you even have picked a color.

This does give you a pistol of incredible craftsmanship which will last as long you take care of it. So yes, despite the quirkiness of it, it's a highly realistic gun and with modern machining quality only increasing and becoming more affordable, we are likely going to see even more of these pistols in the future. Images shamelessly stolen from IMFDB.org

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Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake hope and dreams: Part one

THE LADDER. That's it. I hope they don't change a single thing about the ladder scene.

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Tips and gear for helping new shooters:

So, you've decided to help introduce your partner, sibling, friend, comrade, cousin, whoever to shooting and guns. This is from the perspective of an intro to shooting as hobby, not as a defensive measure or tactical military or militia training. That kind of shooting has different trains of thought that I will be straight up honest and say that I don't feel qualified to instruct about. I prefer to focus on shooting as a sport, and how fun it is.

I also prefer to introduce people to shooting with one firearm at a time, and usually not more than 3 new shooters per instructor. If you only feel comfortable doing things 1 on 1, then that's okay. A calm and comfortable instructor, usually helps keep the new shooter also calm and collected. When it comes to how young a new shooter can be, I'll let that be up to you, but seriously think about if you are capable of safely instructing them.

A rule of thumb I recently heard "Only give instructions to people for as many seconds as their age is" So if you are instructing a 12 year old, you got 12 seconds. If you are instructing a 40 year old, you got 40 seconds. I focus on telling people what matters. If the person you are instructing is using the wrong terminology, let them do so as long you understand them. If they call it bullets and clips instead of cartridges and magazines, let them. You understand what they mean. While telling people about intricate details about the guns and sharing is fun, telling your friend about the differences between a Turkish Mauser and an Argentine Mauser, really doesn't matter to begin with, let that kind of fun nerdery wait for later.

Here's my guide on how to introduce new shooters based on having been an RSO for a youth program and volunteering at the range for intro courses with pistol shooting. Some of these routines might change on your circumstances, range rules, laws, etc. Think of these more as guidelines.

Here's how I usually open, I explain how we unpack firearms and what routines we have around that. Our routine is to open the box enough to see where the barrel is pointed, then if necessary, change where the barrel points, so we can make sure the barrel always points towards the targets and a safe direction when handling the firearm. This is a nice opportunity to re-iterate that the gun should always be pointing in a safe direction.

The we put the firearm down, the barrel pointed in a safe direction, with a chamber flag inserted, and magazine outside of the firearm.

I also explain what commands we are going to be using on the range, and what each of them mean, this of course also differs on where you are, how your range operates, etc. The next step we discuss is loading the magazine of the firearm we'll be using. I show how to do it, away from the firearm. I explain every move I do, if the magazine has loading tabs, like Ruger MkIII, MkIV, etc mags, I explain that and demonstrate in front of them and let them try. If someone fails at anything you just instructed, calmly tell them what they did wrong, and show again how to do it properly. Expect that they will forget everything you tell them and that you will have to tell them everything multiple times, if you can, try explaining in different ways. Emphasize what can be a safer and more comfortable way to do things. Remember, calm and comfortable. Yes, I also apply this to flagging. Over-reacting and screaming at people is not an efficient way to teach people.

If you are instructing on anything more powerful than .22lr, I would advise to load only one cartridge the first time. Then we move onto loading the magazine into the firearm. Next we move onto racking the bolt or pulling the charging handle or slide depending the gun. I also explain how we never put down a loaded firearm. I now usually explain how to do a proper trigger pull, I often boil it down to "try to pull the trigger as slow as you can"

I then explain how the sight picture works. This depends on what firearm you are instructing on. I describe most often how it works on a handgun with regular iron sights for bullseye shooting.

After they've fired a few shots, help correct grip, stance, technique, and so on. From here on out, you are free to explore and can indulge in all the nerdy, delicious details you want to share. Remember, if someone doesn't want to keep shooting after they have tried, that's okay. Different people like different things. Here's some gear I use and recommend to make instructing easier;

Trainingsights.com has transparent overlay cards you can use to illustrate sight picture. I've used the regular A4 sheet size for about a year now. They are brilliant if you are often explaining sight picture to people (you can totally just draw similar enough shapes to convey what you mean with a sharpie or pen on post-it notes, but the transparent overlay sheets are really nice to use) My favorite "trick" with these transparent overlays, is holding them right over the target, showing clearly how a complete sight picture is supposed to look. It feels sorta telling someone the answer to a question they've just been given, it usually drives up the successfactor by a pretty significant margine in getting them to hit the target.

Electronic hearing protection: to make it easier to talk without needing to take ear on and off all the time. This goes both ways, it makes it easier for you hear what your friend is say, and it's easier for your friend to hear what you are saying. It still blocks out loud noises. I have a pair of Walkers that I have as loaner ear pro for my friends who don't have their own.

Foam single-use ear plugs. When shooting loud guns indoors, or loud rifles, I usually double up and use these in conjunction with electronic hearing protection.

Table / bench: Somewhere to put down the gun in-between checking targets and strings of fire. As I mentioned earlier, comfort is key, and not everyone is able to hold a gun for prolonged time the first time they are at a range.

Chamber flags: to clearly demonstrate to everyone that the gun is empty

Suppressors: They reduce noise and recoil, and are a worthwhile investment to reduce the noise. Many new shooters can be scared if you show them an AR in 5.56 with a 7" inch barrel and muzzle brake indoors. A suppressor doesn't make it movie quiet, but it certainly mellows out the sound enough to not make very unpleasant. Remember to still wear hearing protection even if you are using a suppressor.

Shooting glasses; Especially if shooting at steel targets or shooting a suppressed AR These are some of my tips and tricks, none of the links here are affiliate or any way of monetary compensation for me, I just want to help others to help friends get into shooting because I think shooting is really fun. (I'm stealing some images for illustrations, I don't wanna bother taking pictures at 2am when I'm writing this :p )

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PHYSICAL RELEASE of the MASTER COLLECTION CONFIRMED

This is amazing to know for the future and preservation of this amazing franchise. Confirmed on Twitter today by Konami UK after an inquiry by Metal Gear Informer on Twitter. Yes, the whole exchange is this picture. I'm saving it here for posterity's sake and spreading the news because I know some other people are smart enough to stay away from the hellsite that is Twitter.

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New Browning Hi-Power upgrades from Apex Tactical

Apex Tactical has now finally released new magazines and a mag well for the brilliant Browning Hi-Power (also fits the Springfield SA-35) I can't wait to buy some of these and test them out once I can afford to buy more 9mm again.

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Perfect Dark - JOANNA by reiq

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Modernized XM9: A Metal Gear Solid 2 thought project

This portrayal of the XM9 is now 21 years old, how would we modernize it for use in 2023 and beyond? Let's start with the base gun. The original is a Beretta M9 with an added on manual lock-up from Knight's Armanent Company.

I honestly think with modern suppressors, and ammunition, we can forgo the manual slide lock solution, even tho the Hush Puppy Project exists and they do slide lock conversions for Glocks and M&P slides. Then we can move to an off-the-shelf solution for a pistol; For the proper modernization but keeping the style, I'd look at the Beretta pistols as modified Ernest Langdon at Langdon Tactical Technologies

These particular variants offer the lowest possible mounting of the red dot sight we'll be adding. And comes with suppressor height sights as standard that will allow co-witness through the red dot in the miraculous case that your 2 year battery life unexpectedly craps out on you. For the red dot sight, a Trijicon RMR seems like the go-to option. It is the option that all other optics are measured against.

For in-game purposes this would make aiming easier in first person perspective for newer players as no knowledge of how regular iron sights work would be needed. Just a red dot would be needed. For regular third person view, that's where the Surefire x400v comes into play. It is the venerable Surefire x300, the go-to pistol light, but in IR, and with IR laser capabilities. This allows for even more use of the infrared goggles you can find in-game.

The Beretta pistol makes for an interesting host for pistol suppressors. Due to the movement of the barrel during firing, there is less or no need for a booster or Nielsen Device, allowing you to have a lighter suppressor. And for the kind of use this is intended for, less weight is really important. This also allows for a suppressor that isn't as specialized as the can used on the original XM9, this would allow for the same suppressor to potentially be used on whatever 9mm carbines or SMGs that could appear in the game.

Close to my idea, as built by user Greg Bell on Pistol-Forum.com

So yeah, that's my thoughts on how to reimagine what I think is a pretty iconic gun for the Metal Gear franchise.

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Original Tactical Weeb: Bill Ruger

Bill Ruger, also known as one of the biggest fudds in the firearms industry, could also be argued is a proto-weeb of the highest order.

In the 1950s, he made his first pistol in .22lr, called the Ruger Standard, based on the design of the Japanese Nambu pistols.

While having features similar to the German P08 Luger pistol, making it very marketable based on the Lugers reputation, as that was currently seeing success as a competition pistol in Europe after the war.

Now taking a hard right, seeing classic anime, such as Evangelion, making a habit of referencing or showing German culture, we are currently realizing that the perfect blend of American industrialism, German aesthetics, and Japanese innovation is now a solid tradition. So, to celebrate this blend of culture, I'd recommend spending the weekend plinking with a Ruger MkIV or 22/45 topped off with some prime Japanese optics;

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The possibly easiest movie gun clone build: Tenet Service Handgun

With today's modern gun culture being more friendly towards having just plain' ol fun, or LARPin (Live-Action Role Play), we have seen a rise in people openly talking about and doing movie gun recreations. Sometimes, these guns are fantastical creations requiring an insane effort, full gunsmithing knowledge and being a high quality prop maker, and depending on your level of commitment, also requiring federal permits, be it for shortening the gun, suppressors or full-auto.

But let's play on the other side of the spectrum, I want a cheap, solid, reliable, useable movie replica, without breaking the bank, and I'll be doing a tiny spin on it for my own purposes, because what's the joy of having a gun like this if you can't also shoot it and have fun?

Let's figure out what we need for the Tenet Service Handgun, and then slightly modifying it for the purpose of USPSA Limited/IPSC Standard division.

Through out the movie, we keep seeing Tenet operatives use Glock 19s with threaded barrels. By using Palmetto State Armory's website as an indicator, the starting point here is about $600 for the pistol itself.

From looking around and using the amazing website IMFDB (Internet Movie Firearms Database) as a resource, we can discern several details pretty clearly

Here, we can can clearly see that it appears the barrel seems to have silver/grey color to it. KKM Precision is known as one of, it not the best manufacturer of drop-in barrels for the Glock pistols. Their suppressor threaded stainless steel finish barrel for a Glock 17 is currently $250

And the gun appears to have standard factory Glock sights. Those are garbage, so we'll find a different set of sights for it. Realistically as well, a modern high end agency such as Tenet, would replace those sights

Again, using PSA's website, Trijicon three-dot night sights are $130

Assuming your gun came with at least two 17 round magazines, let's buy one more magazine, just to have a backup. That's another $30'ish at PSA's website. Now, let's get a three-pack of Arredondo's +3 extensions. This will give us the ability to in competition start with a 20+1 capacity while still fitting in the box for IPSC Standard division. That's another $75

Other base pad options exist, but these are made for min-maxxing in the Standard division, and they have a solid reputation for working properly. Now, the pieces de resistance, which is totally unnecessary, but I'll advocate for it anyways. A quality trigger. Yes, I said I wanted a clone, but I also believe I want the gun to be fun to actually shoot, and for Glocks, a better trigger matters a lot. Assuming you are building the gun on a Gen 5, I'd take a look at Timney or the new Glock Performance trigger. If you are using a Gen 3 or 4, then look into Apex, Agency, Pyramid or whatever trigger you enjoy. I'm very partial to Agency's glock trigger. This can run you anywhere from $100 to $300 depending on how you go, let's say $200 for ease of math. So, with the current list: $600 The gun, Glock 19 or 17

$250 KKM threaded barrel

$130 Trijicon night sights. $30 Extra magazine

$75 Basepads x 3

$200 Trigger. $1285 total, before belt and holster. Provided you want to be movie accurate, you can get this down to $850 with just the barrel and a gun. Even less if you shop used and go for a shiny threaded barrel, not specifically a KKM, but I will recommend that one due to it's reputation.

Now of course, some of these details can be skimped on depending on how you want to do it. This is my theoretical outline for it. The most important part is to have fun. Personally, I already have a SilencerCo barrel, good enough trigger, and enough mags. So when I pull the proverbial trigger on this project, I'll maybe just reinstall the factory sights or buy a cheap set of Truglo sights to replace the red dot mounting plate I currently got. I might also leave the small Magpul magwell I got on the gun since it makes the grip fit my hand so much better.

I hope to see you end up thinking about movie gun clones as much as I do.

All pictures from the movie gleefully stolen from IMFDB.org and, the greatest source for firearms in movies, tv, and video games.

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Guns we never got to use in Metal Gear Solid 2

So, instead of gushing over how amazing MGS2 is, let's get down to brass tacks and immediately nerd out over what we didn't get. First off, let's start at the beginning. Olga Gurlukovich, the woman who's the sole reason I start making monkey noises when I see a woman in super baggy pants with suspenders hanging down. She carries a PSS pistol;

The PSS is a silent semi-automatic pistol, this pistol gets tossed overboard before the player can get a chance to use it. If in use by the Gurlukovich mercenaries, we could imagine it would be a pistol with very scarce ammo, but also highly effective, being semi-auto. Probably considered a lethal option to the XM9.

Next up, we have the NRS2. No good in-game picture available, so a picture of the real thing will do;

This highly unusual knife gun, which is fired with the blade pointed towards yourself. For gameplay, this could probably be used for focus on close quarters fighting, but with a possibility of shooting at something in the distance without needing to swap weapons. It would certainly be an interesting option that could make gameplay varied.

Next up, the Colt Single Action Army revolver.

"This is the greatest handgun ever made. The Colt Single Action Army. Six bullets. More than enough to kill anything that moves." It's clear that MGS3 figured out, holy shit, this gun is cool and we need to let the player use it. Especially, with how they added gameplay features to it, they decided to give the gun the ability to ricochet bullets so you can trickshot your way through Tselinogorsk. The same mindset in MGS2 could have made for some really interesting choices considering all the fancy indoor areas and hallways. There's also no proper magnum handgun for the player in MGS2, so if you want a handgun that can blast away common enemies in a single shot to the chest, this could have been it.

Sergei Gurlukovich himself pulls a Makarov on Scott Dolph during the tanker chapter. This would been a basic sidearm for the mercenaries and is understandably cut, it's a gun that it's difficult to make exciting for the player as it would performed the same as the USP, but lower capacity and no laser and no silencer. Then again, it could have been added purely for variety's sake. Which is always good to make something feel vast and a real universe.

"Laugh and grow fat" This one would be interesting in-game for the player. Provided it would be somewhat controllable for skilled players, and sharing ammo with the USP, it could be a hog for churning through your ammo and low range, but if used up closed, you could definitely do some solid bursts of damage. What magazine the gun would have, would definitely help decide if you could bursts a few enemies before reloading, or needing to reloading between every enemy.

This is another special one. It's already very special that a russian mercenary group would use a western shotgun such as the SPAS-12. It also features a combination pump and semi-automatic mechanism. This could in theory allow the player to change the firerate. Who knows for what purpose, there could be some video game logic like how they can only use the really powerful ammunition with a pump-action, and have the less damaging ammo be spammable with the semi-automatic mechanism. Or, they could skip that and make the shotgun be only pump or only semi, and then focus on how it works in that way. It definitely opens up a world of weird gameplay options.

Here's a weird one, a rail gun. MGS2 is a stealth game. I realize that, and I really like it. But it really suffers in the department of being able to do things at a distance outside of set pieces set up for sniping. It would definitely be a New Game Plus type of gun, maybe given out for playing through the game while helping or tranq'ing birds, not killing them. It would definitely be a great gun for taking out bosses. It was later implemented in Peace Walker, but required quite the team effort to use it efficiently. Clearly, the developers also loved this magnificent piece of art and weaponry in game.

Here's another fun one. Assuming it would be a counter to the M4 later available in-game, the AN94, could possibly given the hyper-burst option, making it fire two rounds per trigger press in an insane fire rate. Looking at how the gun has a light or laser mounted onto it's front gas port/gas block, it looks really close to be able to be used by the player already.

Here's a gun that is really known for being cut content. The French FAMAS. How it made it's way to the tanker or plant would be difficult to imagine considering it was supposed to be only for the genome soldiers in Alaska in MGS1. It would occupy the same purpose as the AKS74u and the M4 as well, so it wouldn't add anything new to the player, but it would feel familiar for returning MGS1 players. While not correct, the gun could have had a three round burst to differentiate it, like how it does in Counter-Strike 1.6 which is what I really know it from, form these days.

The FN P90. What a wonderful PDW. Again, another gun that's understandable that we don't have access to, as it wouldn't contribute much, but would also clutter an already weird to navigate inventory. It's equipped with the original old red dot sight, so in first person view, that would actually be very different for regular players of first person shooters with iron sights from these days.

Here's a really weird one, the SPP-1M Underwater pistol. Wait what? So in the original design of MGS2, there was an even greater focus on the underwater parts of the gameplay, even more fighting. Which explains why someone would suggest adding an pistol focused on underwater fighting. Probably also related to the cut Dead Cell member who went by the name "Chinaman" who was an olympic level swimmer, and if Vamp's boss fight wasn't annoying enough, I can totally see the need for a gun in that section. There is leftover code in the game that suggest this got quite far in development for player use, the gun itself as far as I know, don't have a model in-game.

And here for the last firearm that should/could have been available to the player. The M203 grenade launcher. It's very clearly shown off in several cutscenes, being used by both the Navy Seals when confronting Fortune, as well as Snake Plissken;

How this would be utilized in-game would be interesting. Could definitely be a very viable boss-encounter weapon with it's full-auto capability from the M4, and then being able to somehow quickly switch over to using the grenade launcher. So in conclusion, many of this firearms were considered, but when we think about it, we can also clearly understand why much of it was cut, so there would be less work to do on bland equipment, so the developers could rather focus and shine up all the equipment that is actually interesting gameplay wise.

Most images blatantly stolen/copied from IMFDB.org, MetalGear.fandom.com and Wikipedia.

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I really wish my father didn't look at me the same way Mikhail Kalashnikov looks at the L85

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Is the Browning Hi-Power relevant today?

The venerable Browning Hi-Power, arguably the very definition and first of the so-called "Wonder Nines" from when double-stack 9mm handguns started hitting the scene. Developed for the French Army Pistol Trials of 1935 where the requirements were to be able to hold more than 10 rounds and kill a man at 50 meters (55 yards) The GP35, Grande Puissance meaning "High Power" in French was the name given as it had such immense firepower of being able to hold 13 rounds of 9x19 parabellum, which was quite hefty in those days. But this isn't Forgotten Weapons, this is just me rambling and double checking with the Wikipedia page that I'm right.

Today we'll be looking at what the BHP brings to the table in modern terms.

For actual shooting, we can start with how the trigger is mushy, like pushing your finger into almost frozen wet sand. God knows how many pounds that trigger pull is. And that is after removing the magazine disconnect which makes the trigger pull significantly lighter. Yes, this gun comes originally with a magazine disconnect, which makes it so that you can't make the hammer drop if you pull the trigger without a magazine inserted. The magazine disconnect can be easily removed, but it's reduces your out of the box readyness and is an unnecessary hassle in the modern day. And modifying the trigger today requires a steady hand and a file, far from the modularity and ease which comes with say a Glock 17. The magazines are also another peculiar quirk for these guns. 20 rounds and bigger magazines have been made, but have fallen out of fashion, so they are quite difficult to find now. For my own journey of BHP ownership, I happened into a 20 round magazine one time and sold it again before I knew better, never to have seen one available again. The original magazine capacity is 13 rounds. Today, I'd argue the standard capacity of the pistol is 15 rounds, provided you use modern produced MECGAR magazines. They appear to be identical, except, with a shiny finish and a shortened follower making up most of the effort to increase capacity, which makes the modern magazines still seat flush like original magazines, but you end up with a +2 boost in capacity which is real nice. MECGAR also makes +2 basepads for their pattern of BHP mags, which now bump you up to 17 rounds of capacity, which makes you now reach something resembling modern capacity. Still requires seeking out these mags and basepads in specific, whereas for a Glock 17, 17 rounds is your standard. G17 magazines will in expensive areas run you about $45 / €45. MEC-GAR BHP mags + the extension gets you to $99 / €99, and there's very little of extending the magazines even further. So again, the BHP has fallen to wayside. The hammer bite of the gun, can be a turn-off for some, and a turn-on for others. My second BHP has a no-bite hammer installed from when I bought it used. It removes the issue, but it's yet another $100/€100 part that you don't even need to think about today.

With my kinda big hands, I still get a slight marking from the hammer when I fire in excess of a 100 rounds a day. As for disassembly, I can never agree with myself if I'm putting in the recoil spring upside down or not. Meanwhile with a modern handgun, like an M&P or the Glock, it can't be installed that wrong. Now depending on which model you have, you might be stuck with a fixed front with, which means you can't install your favorite fiber optic front sight that easily. And if you want a red dot, as far as I know, no one makes a red dot mounting plate for the BHP. Some companies do cut BHPs for optics, MKIII Firearms in Las Vegas have put out plenty of good work on their youtube and instagram of them doing fantastic work on BHP pistols, but again, this is custom work, we prefer user-serviceable out of the box solutions here. Any modern 9mm pistol today will either have optics plates available, have an optics ready variant available or in some cases even come with the dot already mounted. My person BHP sights look like they are cut out of a toilet paper tube someone stuck on top, requiring two screws to be adjusted if I want to adjust windage. Now, for the modern day, we see more and proliferation of equipment to make fighting and shooting in the dark more easy than ever before. On a stock BHP, you don't get night sights, you can't mount a gun light, you can't mount a red dot nor light. Meanwhile modern bargain bin sketchy turkish import pistols will have those features, showing how basic and necessary they are today.

Threaded and or ported barrels are also a specialty item, yes, they are out there, but you are going to be looking quite a bit more and dealing with longer wait times.

Are you a left or a righty? If you are left handed, you better start practicing even more to be right handed. As far as I know, the magazine catch is right hand only (left side of the gun) and so is the slide release. The safety can be modified to be ambidextrous tho.

Holsters. So for a Glock/M&P/Sig 320, you are going to get holsters out the wazoo for ever possible solution and operation.

For a Browning Hi-Power, I can't even recall ever seeing a kydex holster. This severly limits you in how you can carry the gun. Surely, there are specialty shops who can custom make you that kydex holster with the Taylor Swift pattern on it for your BHP, but it's still not an off the shelf solution. I personally use a Bianchi M12 or a Hogue Powerspeed holster whenever I'm out on the range with my BHP.

And with the advent of chassis based pistols like the SIG P320, or the new modularity of the Glocks with the 45 and 47 pistols being or being close to full size, but using G19 recoil spring assemblies, allowing you to mix and match slides, so you can perhaps nestle that compensator tighter, or run a short slide for a faster cyclic rate but still a full size grip for use with an optic. Out of all of these options, on the Browning Hi-Power, you get nothing. Again, custom jobs are possible, but now we are reaching into really far out there territory where people rarely go.

As for the rails. Yes, the Recover Tactical sleeve/frame/grip thing exists. But it looks butt-ugly and crashes with your style. I also don't know about any holsters that will fit it. (running a Black Hawk Omnivore holster) might circumvent this issue.

The tiny safety as well, yes, after market safeties are available. But Due to the weight of the trigger pull, you could almost pull the logic of revolvers and argue that the safety can be completely deleted. But what about FNs new gun?

You are still left with a very barebones gun missing many features. And the new BHPs have even less of an aftermarket since they are re-engineered to be slightly better, leading you to unfortunately distancing yourself from what is already an established aftermarket for the BHP.

But what about Girsans gun?

They seem interesting, but with foreign imports that add features, holster compatibility seems like an afterthought that hasn't hit them just quite yet.

What about Nighthawk?

I ain't got that kinda cash, fam.

What about Springfield?

I have very little experience with them, but they seem to fall in the same category as the old ones and the new ones from FN, still a barebones gun.

Conclusion:

If you think the Browning Hi-Power is a cool pistol and you want one as a historic relic or a range toy, I am 100% supportive of it. But as a modern duty/combat pistol, it is surpassed in every single way by the most basic of low budget handgun. I am after all on my second Browning in the journey that is ownership of slightly out there handguns. I shoot my 1977 produced gun in competitions still and thoroughly enjoy it despite all of it's glaring flaws.