Gordon's Carbine [Black Hawk Down] - The Delta Colt 723 - 733

This episode was brought to you by Slate Black Industries. For M-LOK grips and accessories, visit slateblackindustries.com. Like many people out there, I've come to learn about these two rifles from the film Black Hawk Down. And when the film came out, I was a young teenager growing up in Hong Kong, and I thought that it was a very exciting film. My perspectives have changed since then. I've gotten a little older, I've gone through the army, I've gone through deployment, and I'm not going to act like I were a ranger on ground or a delta operator back then, but the scenes look a little different. Like the aerial shot of rangers going down the alleyway looks strangely familiar, like drone footage of our soldiers when they were defending our base against a V-bit attack that opened the perimeter for suicide bombers to come in. The scene with the old man carrying a dead child looks strangely familiar, like the old Afghan next to me as our medical people were working on his two and five-year-old because they stepped on landmines digging irrigation ditches to grow crops. These two rifles have names, Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon, and war is hell. Welcome to Ninehole Reviews. Today we talk about the 90s delta operator's choice of rifle, the Colt Transitional Models 723 and 733, specifically the Gordon carbine, and how they are the grandfathers of the modern-day American duty carbine. Master Sergeant Gary Gordon's carbine became a pop culture icon in the film Black Hawk Down, as it was ID'd as one of the two helicopter snipers rifles in that ill-fated scene. But there is much more leading up to this moment in history. The Oppresso Liber is a motto of the US Army Special Forces, to liberate the oppressed. As a descendant of the OSS in the World War II era, the US Special Forces doctrine is to infiltrate behind enemy lines, train, and subsequently enable the local populace in fighting. While subversion tactics were the OSS's primary mission of the era, they also sparingly took direct action against the enemy. Post-Korean War, the world witnessed an increase of proxy wars, unconventional conflicts and terrorism. The US saw great value in deploying their newly formed clandestine troops to fill direct roles with Vietnam as the initial testing ground, and with the change of scenery came the adaptation of new weapon systems. The jungles, guerrilla fighting, and most of all the 7.62x39's versatility was initially met with the sounds of submachine guns, M1 carbines, battle rifles like the M14 and SLR, and later the M16. But as the war went on, it was more and more common to see Tiger Stripes Commandos paired with XM177's or Kar-15's. It had a 10 or later an 11 inch barrel with a 4.5 inch moderator at the end. This reduced the flash, but most importantly it made the carbine sound more like a Kalashnikov than it did an M16 or an AR-15. Both characteristics harkening back to the In the next decade, Delta was formed with the influence from the British SAS. These units focused on direct counter-terrorism, clandestine operations and other exciting activities, and had steered the modern US Special Operations Forces units into a more direct action role. The experimentation with weapon systems continued. The MP5 was still king for short-range engagements in CQB, but it was apparent that the AR-15 carbine was a much more adaptable weapon system to an unpredictable operational environment. The major downfall of the XM177 was reliability in different climates and a decreased muzzle velocity. Both of these were massive problems. Reliability for obvious reasons, but the decreased muzzle velocity was an issue for 556, especially since the low mass cartridge relies on its high velocity for range and terminal effects on the targets. As the 90s approached, Delta refined its preference of primary carbines to the 14.5 inch barreled Kar-15 with aimpoint red dot sights. The 14.5 inch barrel increased the dwell time to ensure reliability and remedied many XM177 issues. It was still short, lightweight, low recoil and fast in close quarters. And for some instances, suppressors were also added as dictated by mission requirements. Introducing the Gordon carbine. The actual suppressed Delta carbine is a Colt 723 with a 14.5 inch barrel sleeved inside of an Opsync 30 cal suppressor with 5.56 baffles installed. This keeps the suppressed firearm short, incredibly quiet, and negates any short barreled issues. We opted to pursue the Colt 733 pattern rifle with a 12.5 inch barrel and an Opsync 12 model pattern suppressor, the Allen Engineering AEM-5. And if you were wondering where you'd seen the 733, it would be even shorter and lighter without the suppressor. Enough dwell time for reliability with only around 100 or less feet per second loss velocity when compared to the M4 type barrel, but capable of flush mounting an Opsync suppressor for a short overall link. The lower gas input into the system also generates less felt recoil. Furthermore, the suppressor is able to add gas back into the system if needed for adverse environments. And at least for my Gordon carbine, the gas exits via the ejection port and not into my eyes via the charging handle. The model 723 and 733 were transitional models between the M16A1 and A2 era. One could see the Canadian C7 type upper with the most notable A1 fixed sights, with the A2 forward assist and a brass deflector. The A2 lower receiver is another signature of the 723-733 commando carbines, with a two position collapsible stock that could shorten it to a 28 inch overall package. I should point out that Brownells' Retro-Line CAR-15 stock felt like the Colt Fiberlite stock, but allowed me to splash some paint on without the guilt of defacing original parts. As early users of the Red Dot Sight, Delta focused on CQB fundamentals and the carbine reflex sight. I sighted the Red Dot Sight at 200 and the Iron Sight at 400 to maximize my carbine's range capabilities. I'm still able to shoot close range with proper Red Dot Sight holdoff. The Allen Engineering AEM-5 from my Mk12 kit is the exact same suppressor minus the markings, so this is a good representation. I had a gunsmith Mike from 19 Charlie Tactical fabricate and install a Mk12 type collar to center the AEM-5 instead of the original collar system from the 90s. I intend on running my Gordon carbine hard, so I prefer a more rugged single piece collar system than an irreplaceable two-piece collar system seen on this very period correct clone. I am running the most commonly found Allen Engineering Muzzle Brake. The Muzzle Brake interfaces better with the suppressor and acts as a replaceable first blast chamber. I opted to use an Aimpoint Comp M2 rather than the irreplaceable vintage Aimpoint 3000 to 5000, which would be more error correct. I do not prefer pressure pads with poor wire management. While duct tape was used during the 90s missions as a field solution, over a long duration it tended to get sticky and zip ties would snag the surefire where the thumb switch would suffice for me. Finally, the weight. At 6.8 pounds empty and 7.9 pounds suppressed and loaded, the shooter was faster and more nimble with this weapon than any M16 or full-size battle rifle. And if you're wondering what a 55 grain projectile would do through a 12.5 inch barrel at 100 yards. We measured in the 9 shot group at 2.361 MOA with a 4 MOA Comp M2 Red Dot. So how does it perform up close? Let's go check. So bone stock trigger, the short forend, got the AEM 5 on there. Definitely a center mass grouping, five, six rounds just outside in the Charlie zone shooting, you know, pretty much as fast as I can shoot a bone stock trigger, but also tracking the dot very predictable. The dot was pretty much just floating between here and here, here and here, here and here. And in this range, when you're taking into account the offset, the height overboard, a shot where your reticle is about right here, that's going to be right in the A zone. So all things considered, not bad. I do think that when we strip off the AEM 5, I think we're going to see things tighten up when you depreciate or eliminate the back pressure coming from the can, despite the fact that it has some added weight to help with recoil on the front of the gun. The Opsync brake is pretty darn awesome for recoil control, so we'll get to see. Forgot I was shooting a stock trigger there for a second. A little bit of a slow start, but things picked up very nicely. As anticipated, almost all very dead center grouping. And one over here in the Delta zone, that's 100% on me. As I started the string, I overdrove with my shoulder the gun and the muzzle back across the target, put it right over there on the edge. But much tighter center mass grouping than what we saw out of the AEM 5. The Opsync brake, absolute monster of a brake in terms of its effectiveness. Really wouldn't anticipate that when you look at the technology that's out there today for muzzle brakes with, you know, all these different ports and this and that. Just a nice basic port on the Opsync is phenomenally effective. So overall, when you lose the suppressor off of this setup, I mean, this thing, this weighs nothing. Everything, just ultra light on it. So if I go to balance on the front pin, it's biased to the rear. Balance on the magwell, so it's right about here is where the balance point is with the light on the gun. Generally speaking, a short barrel like this with a carbine length system, there is a lot more recoil on this setup than out of say like a 20 inch rifle length AR. But when you're talking about things in perspective, there's still very little, it's still extremely controllable. And the maneuverability component that you get out of having such a short front that's so lightweight. So many of the modern units that we shoot today, the AR platforms like the Mark 18, just a general short barrel rifle or standard rifle that has quad rails, M-LOK accessories, PEQ units, large lights, pressure pads, etc. The front ends of the guns get so much heavier. A lot of that stuff is required for the application that it's intended for that it's being put on and it's an extension of the modern technology that has improved what the weapon system can do. But it's still very interesting to get something that's so lightweight, so different and pointable, and just see how it runs. Now this really does represent kind of the difference between what I typically like to shoot, the more modern kit, and something that Henry's more attracted to. Something with a little bit more nostalgic value. The Delta carbine would live on, directly influencing multiple generations weapons development for the US military as the M4 carbine takes over the M16 rifle. Aimpoint red dots would be adopted into general issue items, and the railed interfaces would replace handguards for the ease of mounting accessories. This was the father of the modern day US duty carbine. We'd like to especially thank Mike for the work done on the Gordon carbine. He's helped me cut and crown and adopt the collar for the barrel use, and make sure that there were no gassing issues. We'd also like to thank our friend JT who helped us with research and supplied images of some of his rarer parts that were more period correct. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you on the range. 56, 15 light 2, 1 Victor, 2 FACS, recon 1, over.