Last night we ran into a retired colonel of the national police force while walking our dogs in the park. We've gotten to know him and his wife (also of the police force) since they moved into the neighborhood and we chat while our dogs do what dogs do when given the freedom to do so. Last night, for example, Biscuit found a couple of mangoes under the tree and lay down to enjoy them while Blackie supervised and Roco looked bored. In the meantime, we chatted.

He showed me a video of his son field stripping a Galil, his son was just commissioned an officer in the national naval force. We got to chatting about firearms and I asked him about Colombia's use of the M1 carbine, as I've not seen one n decades and that one was a one time sighting in a small town on the other side of the central Andes mountain range. He mentioned the "San Cristobal", a "carabina" I'd never heard of. Turns out it uses 7.62X33mm ammo, better known to the denizens of this forum as "30 Carbine". He then did a quick search and turned up some pictures of it, like this one:

So when we got back home I did a quick search. Select fire (although semi-auto only also produced) - in the Dominican Republic, of all places! I'd no idea they'd had their own "military industry" of sorts. So I learned a couple things last night. There was an alternative "30 Carbine" shooting 30 Carbine ammo, and it was used by diverse forces in Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean.

"What an ugly rifle." I commented to my wife. "I can't believe you'd say that about a gun!" she replied. "There's a lot of them out there, but they are still fascinating." was my retort. The colonel tells me that there are still some of the old San Cristobals in the arms lockers of the police force, but they don't get used much any more.