Tag Archives: sirkis

Research

More on the Sirkis SQP

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sirkis sqp

I bought a copy of the Guns Handgun Annual 1985 article on the Sirkis SQP in the hopes of learning more about it. I was not disappointed!

The article confirms that it was indeed a squeeze-cock gun (versus just a front grip safety). OAL was to be seven inches, with a barrel just a tad under four inches (so, more like the Walther PP than the PPK). The action was direct blowback, much like the SD9, but this version had a bolt hold open. Caliber was 9mm with a 9 round capacity. The grips were supposedly rubber instead of plastic.

Perhaps more intriguingly, there were plans for tritium night sights and a 22lr kit. The article also claims that the SQP and SD9 were in production simultaneously. I find this hard to believe, since I think Interarms would have imported some back when they got in the SD9.

Research

IMI 945 Compact / “Black Horse”

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Just to be clear: all images in this post are from Modern Gun magazine, August1994. I use them without permission, and will remove the images if requested by the rightful copyright holder.

945 compact

There are many mysterious Israeli handguns out there, but besides the semi-infamous 9mm IMI revolver, another difficult one to track down is the “Black Horse”. There’s a grand total of one reference to it online, and a somewhat grainy picture that seems to have been taken from a visit to the IDF History Museum in Tel Aviv. (My need for a trip to Israel grows and grows…)

But, thanks to a tip from a helpful commenter, Daniel Watters at TheGunZone, I’ve finally hunted up some more information on the gun, and it’s not what I was expecting…

Continue reading IMI 945 Compact / “Black Horse” →

Reviews

The Sardius SD9

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IMG_1191

Nehemiah Sirkis designed a lot of interesting guns, many of which I don’t talk about much on this blog because they were designed and manufactured in the United States. This is no sin – remember that Browning did most of his best work with Fabrique Nationale in Belgium – but they are somewhat outside the scope of my collecting activities. Sirkis designed a lot of interesting rifles (including some Kimber .22s and the new IWI Dan sniper rifle), but his fame in the United States is generally from his pocket pistols – the Intratec CAT 9, the Cobra Patriot 45, and the Detonics Pocket 9.

But, he also designed one other pocket pistol that made it to the US – the Sardius/Sirkis SD9, manufactured by Sirkis Industries in Israel. It’s a real oddball gun… which is what makes it so interesting.

Continue reading The Sardius SD9 →

Research

Sirkis SQP

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I was doing some research on some of the less-known Israeli handguns, and ran across a picture of the Sirkis SQP. This is from a scan of the “Guns Handgun Annual 1985” magazine.

sirkis sqp

As you can see, the SQP has a Walther PPK-esque profile, with the addition of a squeeze cocker ala the HK P7. It is certainly a somewhat prettier gun than the Sirkis SD-9, and might have made a decent carry piece if it wasn’t too heavy (which was the SD-9’s ultimate downfall). Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of the magazine to see what they said about it.

Nehemiah Sirkis is still alive (he designed the IWI Dan rifle), so it might be time to reach out to him and get some more details about some of his guns that we never quite saw.