MasterPiece Arms of Braselton, Georgia is
producing a line of semi-automatic pistols and carbines that are
similar in design to the MAC series of pistols and
sub-machineguns of years past, with a few improvements to the
design that makes the MasterPiece guns easier to use. Shown here
is their side-cocking .45 ACP carbine. The model shown here is a
closed-bolt blowback operated semi-auto with the cocking handle
on the left side, leaving the top clear to attach a sturdy
Picatinny rail for the attachment of optical sights. The carbine
has a set of rugged fixed sights, but I really like a good dot
sight on such a weapon, and the rail makes attaching a dot such
as the superb Trijicon Reflex
unit quick and easy. The Picatinny rail has a channel down the
middle for use of the aperture rear and post front sight,
without removing the rail.
The MasterPiece carbine wears a fairly heavy
sixteen inch barrel, which measures .885 diameter in front of
the CAR-15 style hand guard. The muzzle is threaded for the
attachment of a sound suppressor, or the muzzle brake that is
offered as an accessory. The barrel is threaded 11/16-16. The
carbine came supplied with one thirty-round magazine, and a
loading tool is also offered as an accessory. The magazine is
contained within the vertical grip, and locks into place
solidly, but has some movement laterally, and should never be
prone to jamming in place. The magazine release is at the
bottom rear of the grip. The safety lever is on the right
side, and rotates 180 degrees from “safe” to “fire”.
The trigger pull is very good on this carbine. It is not a crisp
release, but the pull weight measures only three and
three-quarters pounds, and feels much like a lightened Glock
trigger pull. Very smooth. The skeleton polymer buttstock
is held on with one machine screw, but is very solid, with no
movement at all. Removing the buttstock is quick and easy, and
makes for a more compact weapon. The carbine can be fired with
or without the buttstock attached. However, removing the
buttstock is in violation of Federal law, making the weapon
under the legal minimum for a rifle, which is set by statute at
twenty-six inches. Some Federal prisons are pretty nice, but you
might get sent to one of the facilities that are not so
pleasant, so just keep in mind that it is a felony to remove
that buttstock without submitting the proper paperwork, paying
the tax, and getting BATFE permission to do so.
The overall length of the MasterPiece carbine
measures 31.75 inches, with buttstock attached, and 21 1/16
inches with the buttstock removed. The carbine is fairly heavy,
weighing in at 9.75 pounds with an empty magazine in place.
However, that weight really helps to soak up recoil, and there
is almost no felt recoil when shooting this carbine.
I tried many different brands and types of
ammo in the MasterPiece carbine, and full metal jacket (ball)
ammo is the way to go. The gun would not reliably feed hollow
point ammo, but for a high-performance load, Cor-Bon
Pow’RBall worked perfectly, and grouped accurately from
this carbine. Pow’RBall is a specialty load that has a nylon
ball inserted into a wide hollow nose bullet to mimic the shape
of ball ammo, but offering much better terminal performance.
Pow’RBall will feed in any weapon that will feed ball ammo,
and is the perfect choice for a defensive load in this
MasterPiece carbine. The 165 grain Pow’RBall ammo
averages 1335 feet-per-second from the barrel of the MasterPiece
carbine, and consistently groups under two inches at twenty-five
yards. This carbine loaded with thirty rounds of Pow’RBall
makes for a formidable weapon for close quarters work, being
compact with or without the buttstock in place. The
MasterPiece carbine weighs about two and one-half pounds less
than a Thompson 1927 carbine, fires the same cartridge, is just
as accurate, and costs a lot less. It would be a good
choice for those who want .45 ACP power, but without the recoil.
For details and specifications on the
MasterPiece pistols and carbines, go online to www.masterpiecearms.com.
To order the MasterPiece carbine online, go
to www.galleryofguns.com.
To order Cor-Bon high performance ammo, go to
www.cor-bon.com.
Jeff
Quinn
| To buy this gun online, go to: |
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Cor-Bon Pow'RBall ammo proved reliable and accurate
in the MasterPiece.
Buttstock attaches with one screw.
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