Looks like a Beretta 92 — but it’s not!

If you’ve ever shot a Glock 18 (the full-auto 9mm version) you probably have a semi-permanent smile engraved on your face. We can argue about whether it has any value in the real world, but we can’t argue that it’s about as much fun as you can have. Okay — mostly as much fun as you can have.

But, it’s out of the reach of most of us due to those pesky laws about machineguns, not to mention feeding the damn thing. But Maxsell has come to the rescue with the Jackal, a “non-gun” but one working just like the real thing. Based on a Beretta 92, this full-sized metal pistol looks, feels and acts just like a real Beretta, but it shoots a special blank, looking like a 9mm case with a plastic wadcutter in it. You load, function and fire the gun just like a real one, but this one has a selector switch on the port side saying “S” for safe, “F” for semiauto, and the magic “A” for full auto fun. At about $300 MSRP, it ain’t cheap, but it does sort of give you a real machinegun you can actually own and fire and is of very good quality.

I’m not sure, but I’ll wager it fires about 1,200 rounds a minute or even a bit faster. Two or three quick bursts are about all you can get out of a magazine unless you’ve got a lightning fast trigger finger and can get off of it before the mag empties. We found we just kept loading it, shooting it, grinning, then loading it and shooting it, grinning, then  … well, you get the drift.

Check out this uber-realistic Walter 99. That’s a blank gun!

Like Real Ones

Vico Confino, Maxsell’s president, said some police agencies use this new generation of blank-firing guns for training, and Hollywood uses them in the movies. Most of the guns actors are seen blasting away with are actually replica guns firing blanks. You can see from the pics our sample guns mirror the real versions so closely it’s tough to tell them apart. It makes sense to use something like this instead of “real” guns in training or role-play so there is no possibility of any accidents with live ammo, since live ammo simply won’t chamber. There’re lots of models, with many typical police-type guns duplicated. Most are semiauto, and there’s even a nice selection of revolvers looking exactly like classics from S&W and Colt.

Check out www.americanhandgunner.com and click on the Web Blast link to see the Jackal in action in our garage. There’re only two problems with this fun gun. First off, you can’t stop until you’re out of ammo. Second, you have to clean up the brass when you’re done — and it does fly everywhere! I told Vico I’d send the guns and remaining blanks back when we were finished with the test. Guess we’ll just be sending the guns back.

For more info: www.maxsell.com, (800) 332-2343.

The magic lever that makes it go full-auto.

The blank ammo is high quality and the
guns functioned flawlessly with it.

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