RIMFIRE AND SCATTERGUN REVAMP

In the years following World War II, a number of unique rifles were developed for survival use by downed pilots and aircrews for the U.S. military. Not intended as fighting weapons, they were more or less designed to help a downed pilot or crew forage for small game. One of my favorites has always been the M6 Aircrew Survival Rifle.

This was a superposed combination of a rifle barrel mounted atop a shotgun barrel. The rifle was chambered in .22 Hornet, and the shotgun was designed for a .410 shotgun shell. Each barrel measured 14 inches in length. The M6 could be folded in half for compact storage with nine rounds of .22 Hornet and four shotgun shells (the original loadout specs were two bird loads and two rifled slugs) stowed in the buttstock. It was made by Harrington & Richardson under contract with the Army’s Ordnance Corps and was designed by Lieutenant Colonel Franklin S. Allen. More thought went into this simplistic design than you might think.

For one thing, it’s probably