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Field Ethos
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By Will Dabbs, MD
Springfield Armory is unique among the modern pantheon of American firearms manufacturers. The company began as a family enterprise selling military surplus back in the 1970s. Early board meetings took place over the dinner table. Today, Springfield Armory produces some of the finest defensive firearms in the world.
Their wares fractionate into two broad categories. Polymer-centric pieces like the Hellion and the Echelon reflect the modern state of the art in tactical iron. Classics such as the M1A, their expansive 1911 series, and now the SA-35 are magnificent examples of the traditional gunmaker’s craft. The SA-35 is a contemporary adaption of the classic Browning Hi-Power service pistol.
The Hi-Power was a collaborative effort between John Moses Browning and Belgian gun designer Dieudonne Saive. Browning obviously gifted his name to the weapon but died of heart failure while toiling at his workbench in Liege, Belgium, in 1926 before the project was completed. Saive finished work on the gun in 1935.
Browning was the most prolific gun designer in human history, holding 128 patents at the time of his death. Saive went on to design the FN FAL rifle, which was no mean feat. They were indeed the dream team of modern firearms designers. Their Hi-Power changed the way the world made combat pistols.
The Hi-Power is an objectively beautiful firearm. The gun’s sleek, almost feminine lines belie a ruggedness that shaped the landscape. The Hi-Power’s simplified short-recoil operating system went on to drive easily 95% of the service pistols on Planet Earth. The high-capacity 13-round box magazine, itself a Saive contribution, served to inspire every modern combat handgun in the world.
As a result, the Hi-Power has seen widespread distribution anywhere people wish to harm each other. The gun was used extensively by both sides during World War II. I encountered it commonly in Israel in the early 2000s. The combination of its trim aesthetic, prodigious magazine capacity, and lovely single-action trigger made the Hi-Power good company in some of the world’s scariest places. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, little was scarier than post-colonial Africa.
During this sordid time, much of Africa was aflame. Distant communist benefactors bankrolled sundry populist uprisings to throw off the ancient yoke of Western imperialism. In short order, the continent of Africa was awash in both weapons and blood. Places like the Congo and Mozambique saw pitiless unconventional warfare and widespread atrocities. Where the world saw tragedy, however, a white Rhodesian mercenary named Mike Rousseau found opportunity.
Rousseau was heavily engaged in combat against FRELIMO guerillas in and around the Mozambique capital of Maputo. FRELIMO enjoyed support from Russia and China and was the dominant political party fighting for independence from Portugal. Portugal had ruled Mozambique for 400 years and was not leaving without a fight. Amid this toxic milieu, Rousseau was a traditional gun for hire.
Rousseau and his mates were clearing the airport in what was then known as Lourenco Marques. The Maputo appellation came later. Most of the mercenary soldiers carried FN FAL or HK G3 rifles. However, for reasons that have been lost to history Rousseau was reduced to his sidearm, a GP35 Browning Hi-Power in 9mm.
Rounding a corner, Rousseau found himself unexpectedly face to face with a FRELIMO guerilla packing an AK-47. The range was about 10 paces. The mercenary soldier instinctively presented his handgun and shot the guerilla twice in the chest in rapid succession. However, these were 115-grain ball rounds. Herr Luger’s FMJ bullets just made tidy little 9mm holes.
The young African not only failed to fall, but he now advanced toward Rousseau with murderous intent. Without much conscious thought, Rousseau reoriented his pistol toward the charging man’s face and loosed a third shot. This bullet struck a bit low, entering the man’s neck and severing his spinal cord. This fight was done.
Rousseau eventually related that experience to Jeff Cooper, an American visionary whose spectral influence drives modern tactical training even today. Cooper incorporated the three-shot drill of two to the chest and one to the head into his curriculum at Gunsite Academy. Everyone who owns a handgun has practiced it. The exercise has ever since been known as the Mozambique Drill in honor of its origins that sordid day in the Lourenco Marques Airport in the war-torn capital of Mozambique.
The Hi-Power carried several designations throughout its long service life. These include the P35, GP35, Grand Rendement, Grande Puissance, and Hi-Power. The Springfield Armory SA-35 was introduced in 2021 and features a variety of subtle refinements over the original.
The SA-35 comes standard with improved sights, a factory-optimized trigger, and a 15-round box magazine that weirdly occupies the same space as the original 13-round sort. No idea how they pulled that off. Magic, I guess.
Those original SA-35 pistols were turned out in a nice mil-spec Parkerized finish. The latest versions are now available beautifully blued. If you are the sort who gravitates toward the classics, this is the defensive iron for you.
The finish is indeed lustrous, not unlike that mystical blue-black space between the stars one might appreciate on a clear night bereft of overcast. The inimitable synergy of deep blued carbon steel and stained American walnut conjures up images of G-men, upland bird hunts prior to the Great Depression, and legions of vanquished Nazis. The new blued SA-35 from Springfield Armory hearkens back to an older, better day when stuff was made by human fingers rather than ubiquitous computerized robots.
The SA-35 fits the human hand like it was born there. Springfield Armory did away with the controversial magazine disconnect safety of the original, so the trigger is simply divine. The gun is thin and svelte enough for everyday carry, yet sufficiently ample for proper control. Running this magnificent piece of old school iron will make your favorite plastic pistol seem positively pedestrian by comparison. The SA-35 shoots straight, and this new blued version is also objectively gorgeous. My example has been as reliable as a mother’s love.
Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. It can also be found in some of the most unexpected places. For example, a great many warplanes are mechanically beautiful. Most tanks, by contrast, are not. However, in the sleek lines of the Springfield Armory SA-35 we find a curious sort of mechanical art. We rabid American gun nerds buy firearms for lots of different reasons. The new blued SA-35 from Springfield Armory actually renders your gun safe objectively more attractive.
The post SA-35 Polished Blued—One Bad, Beautiful Browning appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
Springfield Armory is unique among the modern pantheon of American firearms manufacturers. The company began as a family enterprise selling military surplus back in the 1970s. Early board meetings took place over the dinner table. Today, Springfield Armory produces some of the finest defensive firearms in the world.
Their wares fractionate into two broad categories. Polymer-centric pieces like the Hellion and the Echelon reflect the modern state of the art in tactical iron. Classics such as the M1A, their expansive 1911 series, and now the SA-35 are magnificent examples of the traditional gunmaker’s craft. The SA-35 is a contemporary adaption of the classic Browning Hi-Power service pistol.
Origin Story—the Hi-Power
The Hi-Power was a collaborative effort between John Moses Browning and Belgian gun designer Dieudonne Saive. Browning obviously gifted his name to the weapon but died of heart failure while toiling at his workbench in Liege, Belgium, in 1926 before the project was completed. Saive finished work on the gun in 1935.
Browning was the most prolific gun designer in human history, holding 128 patents at the time of his death. Saive went on to design the FN FAL rifle, which was no mean feat. They were indeed the dream team of modern firearms designers. Their Hi-Power changed the way the world made combat pistols.
The Hi-Power is an objectively beautiful firearm. The gun’s sleek, almost feminine lines belie a ruggedness that shaped the landscape. The Hi-Power’s simplified short-recoil operating system went on to drive easily 95% of the service pistols on Planet Earth. The high-capacity 13-round box magazine, itself a Saive contribution, served to inspire every modern combat handgun in the world.
As a result, the Hi-Power has seen widespread distribution anywhere people wish to harm each other. The gun was used extensively by both sides during World War II. I encountered it commonly in Israel in the early 2000s. The combination of its trim aesthetic, prodigious magazine capacity, and lovely single-action trigger made the Hi-Power good company in some of the world’s scariest places. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, little was scarier than post-colonial Africa.
War Story
During this sordid time, much of Africa was aflame. Distant communist benefactors bankrolled sundry populist uprisings to throw off the ancient yoke of Western imperialism. In short order, the continent of Africa was awash in both weapons and blood. Places like the Congo and Mozambique saw pitiless unconventional warfare and widespread atrocities. Where the world saw tragedy, however, a white Rhodesian mercenary named Mike Rousseau found opportunity.
Rousseau was heavily engaged in combat against FRELIMO guerillas in and around the Mozambique capital of Maputo. FRELIMO enjoyed support from Russia and China and was the dominant political party fighting for independence from Portugal. Portugal had ruled Mozambique for 400 years and was not leaving without a fight. Amid this toxic milieu, Rousseau was a traditional gun for hire.
Rousseau and his mates were clearing the airport in what was then known as Lourenco Marques. The Maputo appellation came later. Most of the mercenary soldiers carried FN FAL or HK G3 rifles. However, for reasons that have been lost to history Rousseau was reduced to his sidearm, a GP35 Browning Hi-Power in 9mm.
Birth of the Mozambique
Rounding a corner, Rousseau found himself unexpectedly face to face with a FRELIMO guerilla packing an AK-47. The range was about 10 paces. The mercenary soldier instinctively presented his handgun and shot the guerilla twice in the chest in rapid succession. However, these were 115-grain ball rounds. Herr Luger’s FMJ bullets just made tidy little 9mm holes.
The young African not only failed to fall, but he now advanced toward Rousseau with murderous intent. Without much conscious thought, Rousseau reoriented his pistol toward the charging man’s face and loosed a third shot. This bullet struck a bit low, entering the man’s neck and severing his spinal cord. This fight was done.
Rousseau eventually related that experience to Jeff Cooper, an American visionary whose spectral influence drives modern tactical training even today. Cooper incorporated the three-shot drill of two to the chest and one to the head into his curriculum at Gunsite Academy. Everyone who owns a handgun has practiced it. The exercise has ever since been known as the Mozambique Drill in honor of its origins that sordid day in the Lourenco Marques Airport in the war-torn capital of Mozambique.
The Gun
The Hi-Power carried several designations throughout its long service life. These include the P35, GP35, Grand Rendement, Grande Puissance, and Hi-Power. The Springfield Armory SA-35 was introduced in 2021 and features a variety of subtle refinements over the original.
The SA-35 comes standard with improved sights, a factory-optimized trigger, and a 15-round box magazine that weirdly occupies the same space as the original 13-round sort. No idea how they pulled that off. Magic, I guess.
Those original SA-35 pistols were turned out in a nice mil-spec Parkerized finish. The latest versions are now available beautifully blued. If you are the sort who gravitates toward the classics, this is the defensive iron for you.
The finish is indeed lustrous, not unlike that mystical blue-black space between the stars one might appreciate on a clear night bereft of overcast. The inimitable synergy of deep blued carbon steel and stained American walnut conjures up images of G-men, upland bird hunts prior to the Great Depression, and legions of vanquished Nazis. The new blued SA-35 from Springfield Armory hearkens back to an older, better day when stuff was made by human fingers rather than ubiquitous computerized robots.
Ruminations
The SA-35 fits the human hand like it was born there. Springfield Armory did away with the controversial magazine disconnect safety of the original, so the trigger is simply divine. The gun is thin and svelte enough for everyday carry, yet sufficiently ample for proper control. Running this magnificent piece of old school iron will make your favorite plastic pistol seem positively pedestrian by comparison. The SA-35 shoots straight, and this new blued version is also objectively gorgeous. My example has been as reliable as a mother’s love.
Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. It can also be found in some of the most unexpected places. For example, a great many warplanes are mechanically beautiful. Most tanks, by contrast, are not. However, in the sleek lines of the Springfield Armory SA-35 we find a curious sort of mechanical art. We rabid American gun nerds buy firearms for lots of different reasons. The new blued SA-35 from Springfield Armory actually renders your gun safe objectively more attractive.
The post SA-35 Polished Blued—One Bad, Beautiful Browning appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...