LLAMA MINIMAX 45 LAMA Was the Victim of Some Very Unfortunate Timing with Its IX-C Lautoloader (October 1994, P

Dope Bag is compiled by Staff and Contributing Editors: David Andrews, Hugh C. Birnbaum, Bruce N. Canfield, Russ Carpenter, O. Reid Coffield, William C. Davis, Jr., Pete Dickey, Charles Fagg, Robert W. Hunnicutt, Mark A. Keefe, IV, Angus Laidlaw, Scott E. Mayer, Charles E. Petty, Robert B. Pomeranz, O.D., Jim Supica, Charles R. Suydam, A.W.F. Taylerson and Stanton L. Wormley, Jr. CAUTION: Technical data and information contained herein are intended to provide information based on the limited expe- rience of individuals under specific condi - tions and circumstances. They do not detail the comprehensive training procedures, techniques and safety precautions absolutely necessary to properly carry on ® LLAMA MINIMAX 45 LAMA was the victim of some very unfortunate timing with its IX-C Lautoloader (October 1994, p. 58), a large-capacity .45 that arrived just in time for the enactment of the Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act. Fortunately, with some astute prod- ding from its U.S. importer, Llama rebounded with the MAX-1 (June 1995, p. 52), a single-stack M1911 type that cor- The Llama Minimax 45 is a com- rected many of the shortcomings of previ- pact .45 ACP autoloader that ous Llamas and that was priced to pick up comes on the heels of the ill- some of the business opened up by the timed IX-C large-capacity .45 auto. import ban on Chinese-made M1911s. Now the Spanish maker has responded to the current craze for smaller carry pistols with the Minimax 45, a pocket-sized .45 that carries forward many MAX-1 fea- 11 tures. With its 3 ⁄16" barrel, the Minimax ranks in size between the 31⁄2"-barreled 1 Colt Officer’s ACP and the 4 ⁄4"-barreled Commander (and Llama’s own IX-O). Magazine capacity is six, and the Minimax, like other Llamas we have tried, will accept aftermarket M1911 magazines, style modified rowel including the extended 10-round variety. LLAMA MINIMAX 45 hammer. The back The supplied matte-finished steel magazine edge of the grip safe- has witness holes up to the maximum MANUFACTURER: Llama Gabilondo & ty, which was quite capacity of six rounds. Cia., Portal de Gamarra 50, 01013 sharp on the MAX-1, Vitoria Alava, Spain was better rounded this time out. The slide The Minimax’s steel frame has a IMPORTER: Import Sports, Inc., Dept. squared and grooved trigger guard, a fea- AR, 1750 Brielle Ave., Wanamassa, stop is extended, but the thumb safety has ture some might find retrograde, since NJ 07712 a conventional contour. rounded guards have come back in fashion MECHANISM TYPE: recoil-operated The grip panels are the thick rubber recently, but the shape is subtle and not semi-automatic pistol units we found so objectionable on the CALIBER: .45 ACP overly recurved. 1 large-capacity Model IX-C, but here and on The beavertail grip safety from the OVERALL LENGTH: 7 ⁄4" the MAX-1 they are just comfortably hand- BARREL LENGTH: 311⁄16" MAX-I is included, as is the Commander- WEIGHT: 35 ozs. filling. The magazine housing is curved, WIDTH: 17⁄16" HEIGHT: 51⁄16" MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 6 TRIGGER: single-stage, 6 lbs. pull SIGHTS: three-dot with rear drift- adjustable for windage PRICE: $408.95

Disassembly follows the usual M1911 principles. After ensuring the pistol is unloaded, remove the extended slide stop (l.) and move the slide forward and off the frame.Then lift up the pistol’s recoil spring guide (r.) to allow easy removal of the con- centric recoil and buffer springs.

42 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • June 1996 of exceptions. The extractor is pivoted in table, and function-fired with AIM, Black the fashion of the Browning Hi Power. In Hills, CCI, Hornady and Remington place of the familiar M1911 recoil spring ammunition. There was a single failure to plug is a reverse plug that rests against the feed the last round of a magazine, but oth- back side of the dust shield. Its front is erwise there were no failures of any kind attractively contoured to blend with the when we held the pistol normally. muzzle end of the slide. We were able to induce failures to fire A recoil spring and buffer spring sur- by pulling the trigger with a very light grip round a full-length guide rod that passes that failed to depress the grip safety, then through the reverse plug. The barrel is belled at the muzzle to fill the space normally occupied by the barrel bushing. Both the steel The plunger at the right of the disconnec- frame and slide are fin- tor actuates the Swartz safety system that ished matte black, a allows the firing pin to move forward only treatment that looks when the grip safety is fully depressed. quite purposeful but that though it takes a bit of effort to notice that rubbed off easily on in its shortened state. wear points. The slide is in the style introduced with Disassembly fol- the MAX-1, with the rib that was a feature of previous Llama autos deleted and the front of ACCURACY RESULTS the slide scalloped in the man- While the Minimax .45 was comfortable enough with the .45 ACP loads we tried in ner expected on M1911s. The .45 ACP Vel. @15' Smallest Largest Average sights are a two-dot rear drift- Cartridge (f.p.s.) (ins.) (ins.) (ins.) it,it proved to have the very annoying habit of tossing empties in the shooter’s face. adjustable for windage and a CCI No. 53967 901 Avg. 4.00 6.75 5.69 white-insert front that provides 230-gr. TMJ 30 Sd a dot-dash-dot pattern. Hornady No. 9111 893 Avg. 4.17 7.00 5.71 Llama’s M1911-type pis- 200-gr. FMJ 12 Sd tols use the Swartz safety sys- 3-D No. B45JHP 864 Avg. 2.83 4.75 3.99 tem (January 1976, p. 30). It 185-gr. JHP 32 Sd uses a rod passing upward Average Extreme Spread 5.13 through the right rear of the Five consecutive 5-shot groups from 25 yds., fired from frame to press up a plunger in Ransom Rest. Abbreviations: Sd (standard deviation), the slide that, in its normal posi- TMJ (total metal jacket), FMJ (full metal-jacketed), JHP tion, prevents the firing pin (jacketed hollow-point) from moving forward. Taking a normal grip on the pistol extends this firing pin safety actuator, lows M1911 principles, with a few modifi- allowing firing. cations. When removing the slide, be sure Should the pistol be dropped, the actu- not to touch the grip safety, which will ator will snap back into the frame, permit- extend the firing pin safety actuator, lock- ting the safety device once again to prevent ing the slide. Remove the barrel by first taking a tighter grip and pulling the trigger firing. The safety is retained by the sear pin pulling up and out the recoil spring guide again. This yielded very light firing pin hits and has no effect on trigger pull. It is, how- and springs, then allowing the plug to drop that would not fire the chambered round. ever, inconvenient when shooting the pis- rearward out of its place. The barrel then is It is difficult to visualize a real-world tol from a Ransom Rest, since the actuator free to be drawn out the front of the slide, equivalent of this, except possibly for a par- effectively prevents slide removal when M1911-fashion. tially disabled shooter who probably extended. The Minimax 45 was fired for accuracy wouldn’t choose a .45 anyway. The slide is M1911-like with a couple with results shown in the accompanying Compact autoloaders are often quite

The barrel is flared at the front to occupy the space where one normally would look for a barrel bushing (l.).The extractor is pivoted like the Brown- ing Hi Power rather than following the M1911 pattern. In place of the M1911 recoil spring plug is a reverse plug that rests against the rear surface of the slide apron. A tab on its top closes the space under the muzzle for a more conventional look.

AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • June 1996 43 accurate, but the Minimax 45 was an excep- or several hundred rounds of firing, but On the credit side, we found the tion to that rule, providing quite mediocre many pistols shoot much better than this out Minimax comfortable to shoot, even with grouping. In several cases, this was because of the box. heavy loads. Here its fat rubber grips are an the first shot of a group hit well above its One of the Minimax’s most annoying asset. Once we got used to it, we liked the fellows, suggesting incomplete seating of traits was a tendency to toss empties direct- dot-dash-dot sight pattern for speed shoot- the locking lugs into their slide recesses. ly into the face of the shooter. This is a pis- ing, though we found it less desirable for We dealt with this by slamming the slide tol that really reinforces the importance of close aiming on bullseye targets. firmly into battery. This unorthodox proce- wearing shooting glasses. While a gun- The Minimax 45, then, is a pistol that dure made groups rounder, but still didn’t smith experienced with M1911s would shows some potential for the defensive user, produce impressive accuracy. We suspect readily correct this, a new shooter would but that requires a bit more development to lockup could be smoothed by a gunsmith find it very disconcerting. smooth out some shortcomings. KIMBER MODEL 84C RIFLE

Kimber has moved up from its bread-and-butter .22 rimfires to a new series of short-action center-fire rifles. One of the most inter- esting is the Single Shot Varmint with a fluted stainless barrel.

ESPITE enough ups and downs for a now is restricted to .17, .222 and .223 Rem. soap opera, Kimber has proven to be KIMBER 84C The line includes the Model 84C Da name that just won’t die. It seemed Classic, with controlled-round feeding the firm was down for good after a second MANUFACTURER: Kimber of America, from a five-shot magazine, the 84C Inc., Dept. AR, 20365 S. Green bankruptcy, but it reemerged in 1994 under Mountain, Colton, OR 97017 SuperAmerica, which adds AAA claro wal- the financial wing of distributor MECHANISM TYPE: bolt-action rifle nut, hand-cut checkering and ebony fore- Nationwide Sports. While the initial inten- CALIBER: .223 Rem. (tested), .17 Rem., end tip, and the 84C Custom Match, the top tion was to concentrate on the Model 82 .22 .222 Rem. of the line with French walnut. The supply sporter, the firm took on a successful offer- OVERALL LENGTH: 423⁄4" of that wood limits availability of the ing of sporterized 96 and 98 Mausers, and BARREL LENGTH: 24" Custom Match. WEIGHT: 7 lbs. has shown M1911-style .45 automatics and 1 Our sample rifle was the Single Shot TRIGGER: single-stage, 2 ⁄2 lbs. pull the prototype of a long-action center-fire RIFLING: six-groove: 1:12" RH twist Varmint, equipped with a 24" fluted stain- rifle based on the Australian Sportco 44. STOCK: Claro walnut: length of pull, less barrel. The receiver is closed on the bot- Before taking the leap to the .30-’06 137⁄8"; drop at heel, 7/8"; drop at comb, 1" tom, so the magazine parts are deleted and level, Kimber has reintroduced the short- PRICE: $999 the stock left flat in front of the trigger action center-fire Model 84. This was pro- duced in a bewildering array of wildcat calibers during earlier corporarate incarna- tions,generating a whole collector field,but

The receiver is essentially tubular, with a recoil lug that is dovetailed below the front ring and secured there with a socket set screw. Other 84C variants are The bolt head follows the pre-’64 Win- equipped with five-round magazines. chester Model 70, with a non-rotating claw extractor and a slot for the fixed ejector.

44 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • June 1996 The two-position safety (l.) blocks the trigger when rotated to the rear. The bolt stop button (below) is conveniently located at the right rear of the receiver.

guard. The fore-end flares sharply from it out too far deactivates the rifle’s safety. around the stock screws. These prevent 11 1 1 ⁄16" to 2 ⁄2" to provide a wide surface for The trigger is adjustable for overtravel, overtightening of the screws and return the firing from prone, bench-rest or bipod sup- pull weight and sear engagement. action to the same spot every time the ported positions. Overtravel is limited by the top screw at the screws are snugged up. A sheet of typing The Model 84 bolt could be thought of front of the trigger housing, pull weight by paper could be passed between the barrel as a miniaturized pre-64 Winchester Model the bottom. Sear engagement is regulated and its channel in the fore-end. 70, with a non-rotating claw extractor and by a Torx socket screw at the rear of the The trigger guard is the squared-off ver- fixed ejector that protrudes through a slot housing. The Torx pattern was selected, no sion used in the rimfires rather than the at the bottom left of the bolt face. Unlike rounder model specified in the Model 70s on either side of the 1964 other Model 84s, and the pistol divide, there is no mechanism to control grip is capped in metal. overrotation of the bolt, but given the The Model 84C was fired Model 84’s short stroke, there’s proba- for accuracy with results shown bly no need for one. in the accompanying table, and In the event of a pierced primer, gas function-fired with Black Hills, is vented out a hole in the bottom of the Hornady, PMC, Samson and receiver. This would go out the maga- South African military ammu- zine in other Model 84 Models; its path nition. There was one failure to would be much constricted in the Single fire the surplus ammo, although Shot Varmint. A ring on the cocking the primer seemed well-hit. piece shroud prevents gas moving back This was our first encounter along the lug raceway from exiting with the Hornady VX ammuni- toward the shooter’s eye. tion, and it lived up to its claim The fore-end flares abruptly at the front of the action. to provide .22-250 velocities Some found this a good blend of form and function, from a .223 rifle, though accu- while others would have liked a smoother transition. racy didn’t equal results from more conventional loads. We liked the Kimber’s fixed ACCURACY RESULTS ejector, which made it easy to keep empties on the bench, and .223 Rem. Vel. @15' Smallest Largest Average Cartridge (f.p.s.) (ins.) (ins.) (ins.) found its relatively light weight appealing for ground hog Black Hills 3317 Avg. 0.59 0.96 0.77 52-gr. HP 25 Sd shooting where walking is required. Some might prefer a Hornady No. 8325 3811 Avg. 0.97 1.46 1.14 40-gr. VX 53 Sd synthetic stock, but those who like the warmth of wood will Samson 223-11CM 3339 Avg. 0.41 1.07 0.77 55-Gr. SPBT 7 Sd find the Model 84C an attrac- tive choice. Average Extreme Spread 0.89 The rifling origin is protected by a muzzle crown that is both dished and recessed. It Five consecutive 5-shot groups from 100 yds., fired from sandbags. Abbreviations: Sd (standard deviation), HP would take some doing to nick this one. (hollow-point), VX (Varmint Express), SPBT (soft-point boattail) The receiver body is tubular; the recoil lug is dovetailed in at the front and secured by a set screw. The trigger assembly is doubt, to discourage the idle tinkerer. screwed to the receiver rear and connected The fluted stainless barrel tapers from to the two-position safety button by a rod .97" at the receiver to .65” at the muzzle. and spring that pass through a shaft at the The crown is both dished and recessed for rear of the trigger assenbly. maximum protection of the rifling origin. This is tapped for a hex socket screw The sample rifle’s Claro walnut stock that blocks the trigger when the safety is was checkered in a point pattern at 18 lines rotated rearward. Turning the screw all the per inch. Like other Kimber rifles, it is pil- way in prevents trigger movement; turning lar-bedded with aluminum bushings

AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • June 1996 45 BROWNING LIGHTNING BLR

Browning has changed the receiver of the BLR rifle to aluminum for a big weight saving over the previous steel- receiver model.The rifle’s name is now Lightning BLR.

HE Browning BLR center-fire lever- That model (April 1991, p. 56) also action has been around for a almost introduced a new bolt that combined six T30 years, and has gone through sev- locking lugs in a single row with a bolt body eral configurations. gear-shaped in cross-section. It also saw the It was briefly manufactured by TRW in introduction of a new finger lever that Cleveland between 1966-68 after that auto- incorporated a separate gear rack spring- motive-parts company finished making loaded to dampen the impact of overeager M14 rifles for the U.S. military. Production operation. The rack also featured a cam then migrated to Fabrique Nationale in lever at its top front that provided some ini- Belgium, which made the gun 1970-71. All tial extraction force to help prevent gear subsequent BLRs have been made by stripping in the event of a swelled case. Miroku in Japan. In all these changes, the BLR retained When introduced (February 1971, p. a straight-gripped buttstock and a Western- 48), it was immediately identifiable by a style fore-end with barrel band, retained by bulbous detachable magazine and a receiv- a tenon threaded into the receiver. er contoured inward at front and rear to The detachable box magazine holds three And it was something of a load, with an 7 mm Rem. Mags., four standard calibers all-steel receiver. like the .30-’06 or five .223 Rem. cartridges. Now Browning has decided to freshen rounds like .222 Rem., .223 Rem, .22-250, up the BLR a bit, and the result is the BLR .243 Win., .257 Roberts, 7 mm-08 Rem., Lightning. As the name implies, the .284 Win. and .358 Win. Lightning is a bit lighter than the Model 81 In 1981, the BLR’s appearance was con- BLR, thanks to an aluminum receiver. Our siderably improved by a new slab-sided 7 mm Rem. Mag. was still no featherweight receiver and a magazine box that was more at 7 lbs., 12 ozs., but that’s almost a half- nearly flush with the receiver bottom. pound lighter than the steel receiver ver- Caliber choices were still restricted until 1991, when a new long-action model allowed chambering for the .270 Win., 7 BLR LIGHTNING mm Rem. Mag. and .30-’06. MANUFACTURER: Miroku Firearms Mfg. Co., 537-1 Shinohara-Nangoku City, Kochu Pref., Japan IMPORTER: Browning, Dept. AR, 1 Browning Pl., Morgan, UT 84050 Unlike Old West designs that use a series MECHANISM TYPE: lever-action rifle of levers, the BLR uses a rack and pinion CALIBER: 7 mm Rem. Mag. (tested), to move the bolt. Its locking is by a rotat- .270 Win., .30-’06 (long action); .223 ing bolt head that engages a steel insert. Rem., .22-250 Rem., .243 Win., 7 mm- 08 Rem., .308 Win. (short action) OVERALL LENGTH: 447⁄8" mimic Old West designs. All things BARREL LENGTH: 24" Weatherby were popular at the time, so it WEIGHT: 73⁄4 lbs. used a multi-row arrangement of eight lock- MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 3 (4 in standard ing lugs at the business end of a cylindrical calibers, except 5 in .223) TRIGGER: single-stage, 6 lbs. pull bolt that was shuttled back and forth by a 1 RIFLING: six-groove, 1:9 ⁄2" RH twist rack-and-pinion system. SIGHTS: bead front, open rear Apparently, the BLR was conceived as adjustable for windage and elevation a competitor for the Winchester Model 88 Browning has dispensed with the barrel STOCK: American walnut: length of pull, 1 (a rifle that had only a couple of years’pro- tenon and outside band of previous guns 14 ⁄4"; drop at heel, 1"; drop at comb, 1" duction left), since it was chambered ini- and reduced weight by attaching the fore- PRICE: $608.95 tially in .308 Win. and later in other short end to a dovetailed boss below the barrel.

46 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • June 1996 sion. The short-action model for cal- An extra safety margin is provided by the ibers in the .308 Win. class weighs just pivoting hammer spur. Pressing it forward 1 6 ⁄2 lbs. takes it out of line with the firing pin to help The weight-reducing effect of the prevent firing should the gun be dropped. aluminum frame is mitigated a bit by ple gun’s was perfect for iron sights but a the fact that the buttstock now has a bit low for a scope. round-knobbed pistol grip and the The BLR Lightning was fired for accu- fore-end, while losing its barrel band, racy with results shown in the accompany- is considerably more bulbous than the ing table and function-fired with Federal, previous gun’s. Hornady and Winchester ammunition and The fore-end tenon also is gone, with a variety of handloads. The only mal- replaced by a stud dovetailed into the functions suffered were a couple of occa- bottom of the barrel. This is the sions when the magazine balked at being wood’s only connection to the barrel; shoved home and one double feed. there is plenty of clearance between We’d never tried the steel-receiver 7 mm the two parts. Rem. Mag. BLR, but have fired it in .270 The basic operating system remains the spur to the firing position, so no thought is and .30-’06, and there is a distinct step up same. The BLR could be thought of as a required to take it off safe. in recoil with the lightweight 7 mm Mag. hand-operated semi-auto rifle, since the The magazine catch is a lever located It’s not in any way out of line for hunting bolt head and body work in much the way inside a generous pocket at the junction of purposes, but a long session at the bench is they do in the AK-47 or AR-15. As the bolt the fore-end and receiver. Large or gloved no picnic. moves forward into engagement with the fingers should have no trouble finding it. It is possible to keep the BLR on the steel locking insert in the front of the receiv- The detachable box magazine holds four shoulder while operating the lever, but it er, a pin inside the bolt body moves up an rounds of everything except .223 Rem. takes a shooter who can disregard the S-shaped track in the bolt head, turning it (five) and 7 mm Rem. Mag. (three). onrush of the bolt that stops just short of the counterclockwise to lock. Steel bushings in the top of the receiv- eye. We found this a bit disconcerting at After firing, the lever is lowered, draw- er are drilled and tapped for scope mount- ing the bolt body back and rotating the bolt ing, while the supplied metallic sights are head clockwise to release it from the lock- a ramped brass bead front combined with ing insert. At the same time, a small hook an open rear sight adjustable for windage

ACCURACY RESULTS The BLR always has been one Recoil is a bit more brisk with the new 7 mm Rem. Mag. Vel. @15' Smallest Largest Average of the most accurate lever- lighter version of the BLR than it was with Cartridge (f.p.s.) (ins.) (ins.) (ins.) actions, giving away little in the old style, but most will find the easier that line to bolt-action rifles. Federal No. P7RE 2844 Avg. 0.88 2.53 1.95 carrying in the field more than makes up. 165-gr. BTSP 11 Sd first, and ignoring it took some extractor withdraws the spent case from the Hornady No. 8059 3001 Avg. 1.77 2.66 2.23 139-gr. BTSP 15 Sd concentration. chamber. A plunger ejector on the left side Feeding was quite smooth, of the bolt face tosses it out once the finger Win. No. S7MAGA 2799 Avg. 1.41 2.34 1.79 despite the length and belted 160-gr. STBT 38 Sd lever is lowered sufficiently. rim of the 7 mm Rem. Mag. We The gold-plated trigger blade rides with Average Extreme Spread 1.99 were fortunate enough to have the finger lever, preventing pinching as the Five consecutive 5-shot groups from 100 yds., fired from the .308 Win. Savage Model 99 lever is closed. The lever must be closed sandbags. Abbreviations: Sd (standard deviation), in-house at the same time, and completely for the trigger to contact the sear BTSP (boattail soft-point), STBT (Silvertip boattail), Win. (Winchester) it seemed to us that the lever inside the receiver. stroke of the BLR wasn’t all Most of us would tend to regard the that much longer than the lever-action rifle pretty much idiot-proof, Savage’s, despite the extra length of the 7 and the original BLR had a conventional and elevation screwed into the BLR’s barrel. mm cartridge. style hammer. In the early 1970s, however, The sample rifle’s stock was of a The Lightning BLR, then, seemed to us the firm prudently added a tilting hammer straight-grained medium brown walnut a useful freshening of a proven, though spur that can be pressed forward and down with checkering in a bordered point pattern somewhat ponderous, lever-action design, at the half-cock, taking it out of line with at 16 lines per inch. Length of pull is a rather making it a bit easier to carry afield. It gives 1 the inertia firing pin. long 14 ⁄4"; this is no ladies’and junior gun, left-handers, traditionalists and other lever The natural motion of the thumb or bolt at least in the long action. We also would gun fans a rifle that gives up little in power retracting the hammer resets the movable have preferred a bit higher comb; the sam- and accuracy to bolt-actions. AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • June 1996 47