The American Rifleman has used the phrase “Dope Bag” at least since 1921, when Col. Townsend Whelen first titled his column with it. Even then, it had been in use for years, referring to a sack used by target shoot- ers to hold ammunition and accessories on the firing line.“Sight dope”also was a traditional marksman’s term for sight adjustment information, while judging wind speed and direction was called “doping the wind.” CAUTION: Technical data and information con- tained herein are intended to provide information based on the limited experience of individuals under specific conditions and circumstances. They do not detail the comprehensive training procedures, techniques and safety precautions absolutely necessary to properly carry on similar activity.Read the notice and disclaimer on the contents page. Always consult comprehensive reference manuals and bulletins for details of proper training requirements, procedures, techniques and safety precautions before attempting any similar activity. ® LLAMA MICROMAX LAMA-GABILONDO Y CIA., S.A. of Vitoria, Spain, has long produced full- Lsized M1911-based pistols in vari- ous configurations, including a new high- capacity compact model in .45 ACP (July 1997, p. 34). More recently, the firm has introduced a new compact .380 ACP pistol having a strong M1911 lineage. The Llama Micromax is a single- action, semi-automatic pistol having a seven-round-capacity single-stack maga- zine, plastic stocks and a black oxide fin- ish. In appearance the pistol looks like The influence of the M1911 design on the nothing so much as a scaled-down M1911, Llama Micromax is seen in its barrel bush- retaining not only that pistol’s profile but ing,grip and thumb safeties,slide stop and virtually all of the signature Government general profile. Unlike the M1911, how- Model design characteristics as well. ever, the Micromax is blowback-operated. The slide rides in rails on the frame, has angled rear serrations and is machined in a pattern reminiscent of the lateral scalloping on an M1911 slide. The tion port and the spring- place on top of the frame. barrel is positioned by a barrel bushing that loaded claw extractor. The Behind the trigger on the also serves to retain the recoil spring plug latter is one of the few departures from left side of the frame is the M1911-style in its tunnel under the barrel. This tunnel, M1911 principles, as it pivots around a ver- magazine catch that is depressed to release which surrounds both the spring plug and tical roll pin, visible in the top of the slide, the magazine. It is not reversible for left- the single-coil recoil spring, is not machined and is tensioned by a small coil spring that handers. The pistol’s plastic stocks, howev- integrally with the slide but is a separate part pushes against its tail. er, are designed for ambidextrous use, as mortised into the slide and silver-soldered The rear sight with its .098"-wide notch both sides have a shallow thumb rest as well into place. is mounted in a dovetail cut in the slide, and as a panel of molded-in checkering. The On the right side of the slide are the ejec- is drift-adjustable for windage. The front stock screws do not turn into bushings but post is .087" wide, ramped for a no-snag directly into threaded holes in the .092"- draw and rounded in front for easier rehol- thick frame sidewalls. LLAMA MICROMAX stering. The sights are painted in the famil- At the rear of the frame the mainspring iar three-dot pattern. housing contains the mainspring, main- MANUFACTURER: Llama Gabilondo Y The underside of the slide fea- Cia., Dept. AR, Apartado 290, E- 01080, Vitoria, Spain tures an M1911-type disconnector IMPORTER: Import Sports, Inc., Dept. track with semicircular disconnec- AR, 1750 Brielle Ave., Unit B1, tor cut and a passive firing pin block Wanamassa, NJ 07712 plunger. At the rear, the firing pin MECHANISM TYPE: blowback-operated, stop sits in a slot in the rear slide semi-automatic pistol face and retains the spring-loaded CALIBER: .380 ACP 1 inertia firing pin. OVERALL LENGTH: 6 ⁄2" 3 BARREL LENGTH: 3 ⁄4" The frame also reflects a strong WEIGHT: 23 ozs. Government Model influence. An WIDTH: 11⁄4" extended, serrated slide stop is ten- HEIGHT: 45⁄8" sioned by a spring-loaded plunger MAGAZINE CAPACITY: seven that projects from the front of a TRIGGER: two-stage, 6-lb. pull SIGHTS: fixed, three-dot system, rear frame-mounted plastic plunger Instead of a spring-steel M1911-style drift-adjustable for windage tube, while a second plunger at the rear of extractor, the Llama Micromax features a STOCKS: black plastic the tube engages a detent in the pistol’s pivoting claw extractor tensioned by a ACCESSORIES: plastic carrying case thumb safety, giving positive stops in both coil spring that bears on its tail. Also vis- PRICE: $258.95 the “safe” and “fire” positions. The ible in this view are the breechface’s fir- Micromax’s ejector is silver-soldered in ing pin hole and the ejector tip (arrow). 44 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • September 1997 blocking thumb safety and trigger-blocking 1 grip safety of the Micromax function as do their M1911 counterparts. Additionally, the Micromax features a slide-mounted firing 2 3 pin block plunger that must be lifted to allow full firing pin excursion and thus ignition. 4 While the Colt Series 80 mechanism employs a trigger-actuated two-lever mech- anism to lift the firing pin block, the 5 Micromax employs a frame-mounted pin that is forced upward to lift the block when the grip safety is depressed. Since this sys- The Micromax disassembles like an tem is not linked to the trigger, it cannot M1911. Here the slide is retracted to align 6 adversely affect trigger pull as can the its disassembly notch with the tail of the 7 Series-80-type trigger-actuated mecha- slide stop, allowing removal of that part. nism. On the other hand, the Llama system, by not being tied to the trigger, may not, in ham-handed types may find that reach too theory, offer as much protection from acci- short, or the trigger guard a little bit too snug The Micromax field-stripped, showing its dental discharge—though seemingly more for their fingers to fit comfortably. (1) slide, (2) barrel bushing, (3) barrel, (4) than any Series 70-type design that lacks a Delivering a quick, accurate first shot recoil spring and guide, (5) spring plug, (6) firing pin block altogether. with the Micromax is easier than with many slide stop and (7) frame. The semicircular As might be expected, the Micromax is other .380 pistols, thanks to its single-action cut in the barrel underlug (arrow) engages field-stripped using the familiar M1911 pro- operation. Our pistol tended to print its the slide stop pin and positions the barrel. cedure, which needs not be detailed here. groups well to the left of the point of aim, Detail stripping is also similar, but not iden- with some brands as much as 12" left at 25 spring cap and hammer strut. It is retained tical. The extractor and plunger tube, for yds. While at first glance this seems to be a by a frame crosspin. The magazine well is example, differ markedly from those of the considerable distance, it is the equivalent of slightly beveled around its edges to facili- original M1911. Detail stripping, however, tate magazine insertion. is not required for general maintenance, and The external resemblance to the M1911 should be left to a gunsmith. continues inside the pistol as well. All the We fired our test Micromax for accuracy major lockwork parts—trigger, hammer, with the results found in the accompanying sear,disconnector and sear spring—are sim- table, and function-fired the pistol with more ply scaled-down versions of the corre- than 300 rounds of mixed CCI, Federal, sponding components of the Government Hornady and Winchester ammunition. We Model, and the Llama generally adheres to observed three feeding failures and several that pistol’s basic cycle of operation. The occasions when the slide locked open pre- Micromax does show one significant depar- maturely (unassisted by an errant thumb). ture from the parent design’s principles, Some fired cases showed bulging, an indica- however; being blowback-operated, it does tion of the lack of case head support. This Seen here are the Llama’s beavertail grip not fire from a locked breech. Gone are the appeared to result from the gun’s generous safety, thumb safety, extended slide stop, M1911 swinging link and radial barrel and barrel throat, itself a feature designed to pro- Commander-style hammer, plastic thumb- slide lugs; and the Llama’s barrel, instead mote feeding reliability. rest stocks and fixed three-dot sights. of being pinned or threaded rigidly to the Firing the Micromax was quite pleasant. 1 frame, as on many other blowback-operat- The Llama’s beavertail grip safety helped less than 3 ⁄2" at seven yds.—a range closer ed .380s, is positioned in the frame by the distribute recoil over a larger area of the to that at which a personal protection pistol slide stop pin, which abuts a semicircular hand and assisted in controlling muzzle flip such as the Micromax would likely be used. cut in the lower barrel lug. (although one test-firer noted that the sharp Moreover, the lateral deviation we noted The safety mechanisms of the Micromax frame edges adjacent to the beavertail would be easily correctable by drifting the echo those of the modern Colt Series 80 pis- abraded the web of his hand).