Artillery drum range report!
 

OK guys..A good Friend here in Yuma, Bill Baumbeck and I took a new Numrich Arms drum and loader out of it's package this afternoon. I was impressed right from the start. Both items are very high quality. Finished in a gloss black paint? The loader is very smooth in operation. Good strong spring. Nothing is in the white or straw finished seperately like an original. It's all black. The handle seems to be cast? There are mold lines along the sides. The body appears to be folded sheet steel. The mag locking spring works well and smoothly.
The drum is really a thing of beauty. VERY close to an original in so many ways. It has the same gloss black enamel paint finish as the loader. It is B/N marked. The loader has no markings. The quantity numbers spaced along the rim are correct..not like the rusty repro loaders that we have observed for the last few years. I could go into great detail about many things..construction details etc but would rather not here. One thing I will mention..it has NO serial numbers front or back. This fact alone will help seperate this drum from an original.
Next it was time to load. I slipped the loader onto the drum and it fit like a glove. locked right in. I used some of my reloads so as not to make my test too easy. FMJ 9MM loaded with 4.8 grains of Red Dot powder. All 32 rounds loaded up smoothly. There was no getting in 33..when I hit 32 it stopped. I unlocked the lever and was ready to head out to shoot. The lever lock worked very well. Locked into it's slot and when tension was placed on the handle it popped right up to release it.
Bill and I made a short drive out to the edge of the bombing range to test fire..I used my old Mexican shooter beater..a 1916 DWM 4 inch. Barrel is pretty much shot out but it is a sure feeder. Spits out bullets with regularity.
I seated the mag into the pistol and tugged on it to make sure it was properly in place and fired off 15 rounds. Had a jam I am pretty sure was the fault of a slightly overlong cartridge. `Kicked it out and fired off the rest. SUCCESS! A working drum!
One thing to consider is that this was right out of the box. I didn't oil it..just loaded and fired it. I am all kinds of pleased with this set. The price is one any Luger collector can afford and initially the quality seems impressive. I can't say what might happen after 500-1000 rounds. All I know is it works first time out.
This will open up a new experience for many collectors who always wanted a working/shooting drum but didn't want to buy one for $1500-2000 with a $500-1500 loader.
I have no affiliation with Numrich Arms and the sale of these drums..but I highly advise anyone who wants one..or who thinks they might want one in future or even if you have no use for one now..BUY THIS! Your crazy if you don't. It's the ONE Artillery accessory that has been a long time coming but now it's here..That and you can use it on any Luger 4-6-8 inch.
On an aside..it WILL affect the original drum and loader market. There is a segment of collectors who mostly like original items and I am one of those but considering the good price and the fact that they are high quality and work. It will fill a very necessary niche, those who want to load and shoot a drum at a reasonable price.

good news thanks for the report now I just sit back and wait for ammo to get back in stock.

Thanks Jerry!

Pix would be VERY cool...

Good Review
 

Glad it seemed to workout for you. I see they are sold out already, but I guess more will come in.
That company has a "wish list" for items out of stock.
I had this on my "wish list" since 11-13-2012 and got the email on 4-14-13 that the drum and tool were in stock, so I guess they will let you know when more come in if you signup.
For the price maybe they could be used for repair parts.
Have a nice day!
joej1947

Joe, It's odd that NA says nothing about being sold out but rather this item is no longer available?

Joe, It's odd that NA says nothing about being sold out but rather this item is no longer available?
__________________
I just assumed they were soldout.
joej1947

I just assumed they were soldout. I guess there could be other possibilities though..If they are soldout I can only hope they gear up for another run!

One other thing I could mention..NA included a disclaimer and return sheet with the drums. It says in short how unreliable original drums are known to be..MYTH! Original drums are reliable as all get out from my experience..and if you are dissatisfied in any way return the drum for a full refund! NO exchanges..only a refund is offered.
I am very impressed with all of this..the quality and the refund offer from NA. If the opportunity arises in the future I will not hesitate to do business with them, NA Corp.

I ordered one last night as soon as I saw the range review. It took my order so I assume that one is on the way.
dju

My guess is that they will not be offered for sale again, and if they are, I would expect the price to at least double. I think this was a trial run but it turned out they were too expensive to make.

Hi:

I doubt it, with the new New York 7 round magazine ban!

Sieger

After all this, it's a shame that it doesn't include a dust cover for the mag.

Numrich doesn't manufacture most of the things they sell (unlike the old days)... they buy them other manufacturing sources.

They don't have to receive them, store them or sell them in the State of New York in order to vend them outside of the state. They can take orders online, and have their supplier drop ship them to the customer, so I think the 7 round mag limitation is no limitation for GPC... they will continue to sell them if they have a good chance of making a profit selling them.

I agree that if they sold out of the first run, they probably will never go down in price... up maybe if the demand is high. Just my two cents...

Let's look at the reality of supply and demand..Say they ordered and sold 30-50 drum & loader sets. They could very well have saturated the present market. Making the price higher makes no sense. The second batch they get in stock at a higher price would sell much slower with the market satisfied.
Numrich has many thousands of items in stock which costs a lot of money. They want items to move. They made a profit on the first batch..no one ever went broke making a profit. I suspect they will be offered again with not much change in price.
One thing..with a loader for every drum there will be a glut of loaders on the market for years to come!

There are no import markings on these mags and loaders. Therefore we must assume they are US made. I think the manufacturer made a sbort test run, then realized his manufacturing cost was too high, and is now considering whether to continue production at a much higher price or to discontinue production altogether. IMHO we have probably seen the last of these unless somehow production can be outsourced to China.

Aaron, That's a lot of assumptions to make! There is no requirement to put a country of origin on these that I know of. No other magazines have a marking like that unless it were for advertising.

The quality of the magazines and loaders I inspected was very high but my bet is that they were made in China..certainly NOT the USA. Not at that price. You have to remember the Chinese are very adept at making Kalisnakov rifles ,100 round magazines etc. already. They have been doing it for decades. I would guess the Chinese make an AK47 for $400 so a set like the trommel mag & loader? Piece O cake.

Jerry, I believe it is federal law thst all imports have to be marked with the country of origin, whether it be bananas, automobiles, or toothpaste. Either these are US made or they violate the law.

Aaron, I don't believe that myself. There are many non edible items that are not marked or are marked on packaging that is easily removed from the item. There is always a way around the law. I would bet my last dollar these are NOT American made. The quality, packaging and price scream China.

On another note..I have made 2 drums available to a well known expert who will be taking these apart for a close inspection to get a good look inside. He will also lube them for shooting and see what lube is in there now. When I did my range test it was out of the box, load it up and shoot. While the drum operated well I sensed it could use some lithium grease here and there. I will be interested in his report and will post it here.

Okay Jerry, let's bet an Inn N Out burger payable at the next Yuma gun show. If they
turn out to be imports you win.

Hey Aaron! Your on! A free meal for ole Jer! Do I get fries with that?

Yep! And the tip is included too.

I called to see about making an order or getting to do a back order. I also had a long wait; was told that item is discontinued. I asked about in a few months and she kept saying: item is discontinued.
Jack

See Jerry? Just what I claimed!

See Jerry? Just what I claimed! Aaron OK..which claim are you claiming..they one where you claim these are made in the USA? Or the one where you say there won't be anymore offered?

If I am reading all this right Jack asked about in a few months and she kept saying: item is discontinued. I talked with a rep the other day and he said call later when they are again in stock.

I think depending on accurate information from a phone rep is like believing a politician..none of them know what's going on.

Don't forget about our bet..I'm working up an appatite for a big ole burger!

Well, I got mine. Looks good, exactly as Jerry described. However I've not had a chance for a range test, so I'll defer for now.
dju

I wanted to see the range report before I dropped the coin on one of these sets. Now that I see they are a good thing, they are sold out/discontinued. Just my luck.

G57

Too bad you weren't aware thst they were returnable with no questions asked. This was an absolute win win situation.

Aaron,

I didn't see that written anywhere the the description, had I know that, I would have pulled the trigger on one without a second thought. Lets just hope they get some more.

G57

I had a chance to take mine to the range tonight. Sort of a rush deal so not a lot of time for problem-solving.
First of all it will not accept my normal 115 gr. FMJ re-loads because of length. They are at, as I recall, 1.132" OAL. The drum would not accept S&B 115 FMJ either, but would take Federal hollow points, so that's what I used.
At the range it would frequently not push the next round up into position fast enough. Sort of glitchy feeling, usually would pop one up in time or with light tapping. The last 15 rounds or so did feed correctly however.
Sometimes the spring plate/cover would show a slight gap along the lower edge. I tightened the axle bolt and that seemed to help.
I loaded the drum prior to leaving home and didn't have extra (short) ammo, so no reloads were possible at the range.
Back at home I took it all apart and used some white Lubri-Plate grease sparingly around the inside of the drum, but the actual drum spring is enclosed and not easily accessible. I also noticed that the wall thickness on the mag body was way thicker than a nickle plated WW1 mag. that was handy for comparison. Especially in the feed ramp area.
I squeezed some reloads down to 1.062" OAL and they seem to now fit the mag. body, however manually cycling them thru the drum and gun suggested that they were still slow to advance/feed.
I'll work on it as time allows and keep you all posted.
At this point I have considered returning it for a refund, but will probably keep it and try to sort it out. It does have a way-cool factor and may become a personal challenge. I do worry about breaking something and ending up with a pile of worthless parts with no spares available.
dju

the follower is the only thing I see breaking anytime soon. But I bet theres a metal guy or two round here that could help out. Also mine works way better when you release the mag tension once you done loading. Can you believe it?

:roflmao:

Lugerskewl:
Can you use any standard length ammo in yours?

I do some video on YTube , the trommels work well even with lead bullet .
I only use my reload cartridges in standard length : 29mm

I used Pvp Or Pmp ,privassi ? Its all I could find at walmart and seemed to work well once I released the spring.