From the Vault: The Semmerling LM4 Pistol

Steve has wanted to get his hands on a Semmerling LM4 for 40 years, and today his dream becomes reality at Rock Island Auction Co. Designed by Philip Lichtman and introduced around 1979, the Semmerling LM4 is a super-compact, manually cycled, 5-shot pistol chambered in .45 ACP. "Manually cycled" means the double-action, striker-fired LM4 is NOT an autoloader. What looks like a conventional slide is really just the barrel assembly. After you fire a shot, you have to manually push the barrel forward to eject the spent case, and when you pull it backward, it grabs the next round, chambers it, and locks the breech. This operating system presents a problem: As you pull the LM4 from a holster, you could accidentally move the barrel forward and eject the round in the chamber, leading to all sorts of unhappiness in a self-defense emergency. So there's a clever lock to prevent that, which Steve demos for us.

[@jonduncansakurawallknifegarden]

The audio might be corrupted somehow. It sounds a little scratchy for some reason, but I was able to watch and listen, and still enjoyed every minute of it!!

[@joshuaschoonyan3263]

Oh.

[@artmallory970]

Sounds like their mic cord was only half plugged in

[@lowluv72]

Can we finally declare Ian McCollum a national treasure already?

[@DeerHunter308]

When i worked at an Investment Casting Company in the 80s I had the opportunity to talk to the guy behind this gun. We supplied him with the major components for his pistol. In a half hour conversation he gave me an education on the advantages of tool steel. Those days are gone but not forgotten by me at least. In the early 80s, half our investment casting business was forearms. Within a year we had exited almost all of them, due to management being sick of their extremely slow payment of their bills.

[@joshuabessire9169]

I want to see Ian in the Brownell's vault and Caleb and Steve at the BUG match!

[@a.k47-74]

Seconded!

[@EricDaMAJ]

The “Repairman Jack” pistol.

[@ironmikehallowween]

Kind of looks like a COP that was a four barrel 357 magnum, technically a 4 shot derringer I guess. The pistol shown is pretty cool.

[@markpalmer6760]

Old school craftsmanship, what a beauty.

[@tlgeorge59]

A small pump action pistol! Cool.

[@olhemi1]

Nice, I didn't know anyone made them, thanks for sharing 🙂👍☕

[@doughesson]

I remember that one review mentioned that a semi automatic version was designed but the recoil was even more than the manual pump action version.

[@KD-lb9bg]

Rough audio until y'all are saying goodbye, but a great show and tell of a very interesting firearm, Thanks.

[@bobkohl6779]

Mike Harries had one, I shot it twice. They are brutal to shoot. But Mike shot an IPSC match with it.

[@johnqpublic2718]

They broke out the high-fidelity mic for ol Steve on this one.

[@CaliforniaFly]

Thanks for sharing. I think I've seen just one at a gun show in the 70's. It was really a beautiful gun that had to be admired. I didn't even ask to pick it up. I just eyeballed it. I wonder how much it will go for.

[@bobkohl6779]

They're going for about 6K these days

[@CaliforniaFly]

@@bobkohl6779 thanks Bob.

[@82lowe36id]

Very cool. Thanks for the video.

[@natejackson4791]

I enjoy seeing and collecting these type pieces.

[@thomasreilly4345]

Now that was a flash from the past! They were beyond my price range back then, a K frame was barely in my budget. But the Semmerlings were built like a bank vault. Speaking of compact 45s, does anyone remember the Star PD? Or Detonics?

[@bobkohl6779]

Yes I remember both. Detonics solved the chop job problems. Stars weren't that great

[@thomasreilly4345]

Yeah, but for a long time the Star was all that was available for a small .45 Auto.

[@bobkohl6779]

@@thomasreilly4345 that was what the Semeling solved if not for the Detonics.

[@thomasreilly4345]

Yes. That it did, that it did.

[@bernardomontell873]

I would love to have one, did not know they existed till I started reading Repairman Jack novels. Smallest 45 ACP back in those days.

[@bobkohl6779]

Brutal to shoot. Need practice cycling the action

[@bernardomontell873]

@@bobkohl6779 not surprised. The little thing does not have the mass to help with the recoil. But certainly looks cool. Do you have/had one? I was looking for one for a while but found that it is out of my financial reach 😀

[@bobkohl6779]

@@bernardomontell873 Mike Harries owned it and I know the current owner. Would I have one? No. No reason to at 6,000 a pop

[@bernardomontell873]

@@bobkohl6779 yeah, at $6,000 is kind of an expensive toy. 😳

[@scenicdriveways6708]

Cool boomstick, I love it! I owned an AMT Backup .45acp, but I hated it. It had a terrible trigger. JT

[@crabbyturtle1594]

So unique. Thanks for sharing.

[@Friedbrain11]

Cool idea. I like it. A 22 long rifle version would have been great.

[@johnpetry2541]

Back in my early NY LEO days, I knew two guys who wore these working undercover. But not for long. Most UCs switched to PPKs and later to Rohrbaughs.

[@S1L3NTG4M3R]

THANKS

[@bobbioook5612]

Cool thanks 😊

[@ronthompson2366]

Enjoy watching your channel. So here's a suggestion... a Rifle Build Challenge..to ALL THE GUNSMITH SCHOOLS. One from a student and one from a instructor. Brownells has employees who have graduated from several of the schools. So you will be the judge (s). You can fine tune the rules and guidelines. But it should be a wooden stock America classic or old English or Weatherby style... bolt action. It can 1 to 1 or free floating.. bedded and pillared... use say a #4 or #3 contour barrel.. blued not stainless steel... and go from there. Timeline TBD. You can use the channel to oversee the build. Announcement of the winner can be done during the annual Brownells job expo... again Brownells can layout the rules and guidelines. You could also do a custom pistol or revolver build instead or in addition. The purpose... to highlight the variety of GUNSMITH SCHOOLS.. and the relationship between Brownells and the schools. Prize TBD by Brownells. All submissions must be documented and submitted with the documentation plus completed 100 percent at the school. Just a suggestion...but it would be a great opportunity for the schools and the relationship with the schools and Brownells. Plus just bring back a interest in the classic beauty of an actual firearm build.

[@paulbervid1610]

Great video

[@SailfishSoundSystem]

S7 tool steel is used for jackhammer bits. Extremely shock resistant.

[@oldscratch3535]

Its a common steel used in all kinds of tools and firearms. Most of your good quality allen wrenches are S7, as well as chisels, punches, dies, etc. I work for a company that uses S7 for AR-10 extractors. Its easy to machine under the right circumstances, but b/c its air-hardening, if the tool rubs or the material gets too hot then it can alter the hardness and become a nightmare to deal with. We have tons of oil based cutting fluid blasting the part at all times as well as high pressure coolant lines/through tool coolant for things like parting off and boring. The oil circulates through a radiator system to cool it down before returning to the machine.

[@SailfishSoundSystem]

@@oldscratch3535 I figure S7 would be ideal for an extractor.

[@YellowHammer26]

👍👍very unique

[@davidpavely4539]

My dad was a master machinist

[@paleoph6168]

I remember a woman who shares the same name with this pistol. She tried kill a big guy (named Bean, I think) with the said pistol, only to die from an explosion... (OVA reference)

[@Txchickensnake]

Repairmen Jack's carry!

[@rgr3427]

Now thats what I call rec room !

[@albertptran]

Love rare guns

[@maxkurland6413]

I was just looking these things up :) What a coincidence. Apparently, American Derringer owns the rights to make these now, but according to the CEO Elizabeth Saunders, they are currently not in production as of August 2022 based upon a email exchange I had with her.

[@maxkurland6413]

As of August 19th, a new American Derringer Semmerling LM5 in 25ACP will be $755 plus shipping “if and when we get back to (making) them”- Elizabeth Saunders, CEO of American Derringer

[@chuckwoodssr316]

What hand gun shells will work in a 410 wingmaster

[@little_billy]

You gonna bring the coffee guy back? Give him another chance. I know he is family. Looks kinda like you.

[@noonzeeb]

Can you pull a winchester model 71 .348 from the vault ?

[@User-cc6cq]

Knew a guy who had one...

[@frankynodots]

How much are they expecting to get for this specimen?

[@jsmith498]

Why? Just why??

[@elifoust7664]

Police back up

[@AndyCigars]

Audio sounds grainy and raspy on this one...maybe your sound dude needs a new mic.

[@cigarettesmokingman9471]

Really makes no sense to me. Id rather have ANYTHING (excluding only rimfire ammo and only because of its unreliability) that can fire more than once without racking the slide (barrel) each time. I see the art, but not the reality.

[@Osprey78]

Interesting, but no thanks.

[@johnkennedy1506]

That’s not a Glock.

[@johnh4957]

will it take Glock mags?(joking)