briansmithwins
Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2005
- Messages
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(I figured that this is a book that purports to be about a rifle and most of my gripes are about technical inaccuracies so it kinda belongs in the rifle forum.)
Posted this review over at amazon.com. I gave the book 1 star as it may still be useful for fire starting needs or as toilet paper. H
Kahaner's book reads like it was written by a person that started 'knowing' the conclusion they wanted to reach and didn't worry about fact checking or research overly much.
The first couple of chapters that discuss technical or mechanical detail are rife with errors:
-p16 'Many regular rifles, like the M1 Garand, the mainstay of U.S. troops during World War II, came in both full-length and carbine versions.'
The M1 Garand was only ever issued as a full length rifle. There was a M1 Carbine, but it's mostly cosmetically related to the Garand.
-p21 'Kalashnikov... used a "short stroke" piston to push back the bolt and eject and load another round.'
The AK47 type rifle uses a long stroke gas piston to operate the weapon. Additionally, the power for loading comes from the recoil spring, not the gas piston.
-p23 'The bolt rotated widely, making it easy for the round to find its proper place in the chamber., Think of trying to poke a pencil into a hole. It would be much easier if, when you got the pencil tip near the hole, even slightly askew, you rotated it.'
The bolt on AK pattern rifles does not rotate until the cartridge is almost completely chambered. The mechanism that Kahaner describes is interesting, but it's not implemented in any self loading firearm that I'm aware of. Maybe he should apply for a patent.
-p23 'designing components with looser tolerances, more space between parts.'
The author is confusing tolerance with clearance. A tolerance would be: Make this steel rod 10mm wide, it can be up to .01mm either fatter or skinnier than 10mm. That the steel rod is going to fit in a hole 12mm wide has absolutely no bearing on the tolerance, just the clearance.
-p30 'added a new trigger assembly component that increased the 'cyclic rate' during automatic fire'
The hammer delay actually slows the cyclic rate by introducing a delay into the hammer's fall.
-p35 'The FAL and its successors went on to be adopted by Britain, Belgium, Canada, and other NATO nations- all except the United States-'
I'm sure the (West) Germans would be surprised to hear this, since they developed and issued the G3 series of rifles. So would the Greeks, Turks, Norwegians, and Danes, all members of NATO and all G3 users.
-p40 'This eliminated the gas piston, and getting rid of a part is always a plus for a weapon.'
The gas piston in the AR15 series is formed of two parts, the piston is the back half of the bolt and the gas cylinder is formed by the interior of the bolt carrier.
I haven't gone thru the rest of the book with the same level of detail nor do I care to. If Kahaner writes that sun comes up in the east, I'll get up extra early and check myself.
BSW
Posted this review over at amazon.com. I gave the book 1 star as it may still be useful for fire starting needs or as toilet paper. H
Kahaner's book reads like it was written by a person that started 'knowing' the conclusion they wanted to reach and didn't worry about fact checking or research overly much.
The first couple of chapters that discuss technical or mechanical detail are rife with errors:
-p16 'Many regular rifles, like the M1 Garand, the mainstay of U.S. troops during World War II, came in both full-length and carbine versions.'
The M1 Garand was only ever issued as a full length rifle. There was a M1 Carbine, but it's mostly cosmetically related to the Garand.
-p21 'Kalashnikov... used a "short stroke" piston to push back the bolt and eject and load another round.'
The AK47 type rifle uses a long stroke gas piston to operate the weapon. Additionally, the power for loading comes from the recoil spring, not the gas piston.
-p23 'The bolt rotated widely, making it easy for the round to find its proper place in the chamber., Think of trying to poke a pencil into a hole. It would be much easier if, when you got the pencil tip near the hole, even slightly askew, you rotated it.'
The bolt on AK pattern rifles does not rotate until the cartridge is almost completely chambered. The mechanism that Kahaner describes is interesting, but it's not implemented in any self loading firearm that I'm aware of. Maybe he should apply for a patent.
-p23 'designing components with looser tolerances, more space between parts.'
The author is confusing tolerance with clearance. A tolerance would be: Make this steel rod 10mm wide, it can be up to .01mm either fatter or skinnier than 10mm. That the steel rod is going to fit in a hole 12mm wide has absolutely no bearing on the tolerance, just the clearance.
-p30 'added a new trigger assembly component that increased the 'cyclic rate' during automatic fire'
The hammer delay actually slows the cyclic rate by introducing a delay into the hammer's fall.
-p35 'The FAL and its successors went on to be adopted by Britain, Belgium, Canada, and other NATO nations- all except the United States-'
I'm sure the (West) Germans would be surprised to hear this, since they developed and issued the G3 series of rifles. So would the Greeks, Turks, Norwegians, and Danes, all members of NATO and all G3 users.
-p40 'This eliminated the gas piston, and getting rid of a part is always a plus for a weapon.'
The gas piston in the AR15 series is formed of two parts, the piston is the back half of the bolt and the gas cylinder is formed by the interior of the bolt carrier.
I haven't gone thru the rest of the book with the same level of detail nor do I care to. If Kahaner writes that sun comes up in the east, I'll get up extra early and check myself.
BSW