[ruskiegunlover]

From a pawn shop. 180, with one mag. The gun has a cracked grip, some slight rust on the mag, and the slide lock is missing the clip that retains it. The finish is thin, but I'll work on that. No arabic on it, but it is blued so I thought it was not one of the recent imports....Am I wrong? The newer ones looked parked......The bore on it looks unissued, literally looks brand new. I ordered the slide lock clip, grips, and two pins for the extractor (it seems to want to back out-a little loose). BUT, the trigger is awesome. Maybe the best of any gun I own....It has virtually no travel at all, and has an extreemly crisp break.....I am shooting it this weekend, think 115 grain WWB FMJ's are ok for it?
I have heard that some of them are dangerous....Is this one of them? It looks like an older import, because its not parked and the finsh could not have worn that much in just a few years.....It is an Interarms Alex. Virginia one......
Really, its very tight and seems to be in great condition. Oh, the safety only works if I am cocking the hammer. I have to cock the hammer and at the same time push the safety in for it to work. Is this normal functioning?

 

[ruskiegunlover]

also, what holster was issued with the helwan in israel? I have never seen one or heard of one. Were they ever imported as surplus?

 

[falm16]

can't help you a lot, but i bought one a few months ago. like yours, mine is blue with no arabic writing. after reading up, seems the early one, with the arabic, are the stronger steel helwans. supposedly, ours are made of softer steel. mine is in like new condition, i bought it of gunbroker for 180. extra parts are readily available on gunbroker and were on e-bay, not sure if they got the boot there or not. i shot mine, safety and all functions worked nice, accuracy was good, had a little more recoil than i'm used to in a 9mm due to the weight. you may have done o.k. if you got it for 180 OTD, but really nice ones come up often on the auctions for that price. let us know how it shoots. i'm looking for a holster also.

 

[ruskiegunlover]

actually, I can see a difference in the blueing on the sides of the slide where the locking blocks engage....Like on a polish tokarev (I have one).....I think this is the area where it was heat treated around the lock up area. Does yours have this discoloration? Its on both sides, about 2 inches long and is darker......On the polish tok they say thats from the heat treating, and my polish tok is a great gun..... Numrich has a lot of parts for it, I just ordered a bunch for mine.

 

[falm16]

no, like i said, mine is like new and the blue is not thin enough to see any different colors. only thing i see is some rough milling marks.

 

[mr44]

marks on a danshway beretta type 1951/helwan these were made after the beretta contract for egypt pre helwan

 

[ruskiegunlover]

well, its the same as my polish tok. It really looks like the heat treating changed something....Its in precisley the same area on both sides, where the lock up area is. I would take a pick, but can't download it. If you've seen a polish tokarev slide you know what I mean. On them, the blueing is darker in a circular area on the slide where the locking lugs engage from the barrel. I hope its a good sign....
Really, I like the thing. But when was it imported? Its not a recent one....Can anyone trace the serial number on it?

 

[mr44]

what are the import markings?????

 

[ruskiegunlover]

It says interarms, Alex VA on the slide along with the serial number on the opposite side. Also says Helwan CAL 9m/m and under that Made in Egypt. The serial number matches....
Serial is 1119***

 

[mr44]

that will date it as interarms stopped in the early 90's

 

[ruskiegunlover]

so, its an older import, and hopefuly better heat treated? Do you have one yourself? If so, how has yours been? Decent? Any issues?

 

[Vulture]

I have one, well had one, my son took it from me thought he should have it. Mine was one of the older comercial imports. When I got it there was a problem with the take down pin, it would rotate under recoil and lock the slide up, I had to install a small screw to hold it in place, then the locking block was peened out some when I got it and would allow the slide to return all the way so I smoothed that up and it functioned perfect. I really liked the gun while I still hade it to shoot, but my son liked it too and asked one day if he could have it, soft hearted dad don't got it any more. Seemed like a nice gun for the price.

 

[ruskiegunlover]

I got my parts from numrich today, fixed the takedown pin with the slide lock clip....Otherwise mine would probably have issues jamming in recoil because it wanted to move around with hand cycling.

 

[minidriver]

Here's another military Helwan that was made after Mr44's. The letters A.R.E on the left slide stand for Arab Republic of Egypt.

 

[ruskiegunlover]

I wonder if they will ever get any more in? Perhaps of a slightly better quality then the last ones?

 

[ruskiegunlover]

hey vulture, on the one you had.....you mention how the takedown pin would rotate under recoil and lock the slide....Was it missing the little steal spring? With the top of the gun off, would the takedown lever come out of the gun freely? They are supposed to have a tiny steal C-clip to retain them in the gun and stiffen them up. Mine was missing this part, and with manual racking of the slide the takedown pin would rotate some. And with the top end off, it would slide out of the frame really easily...Replacing the c-clip fixed it though, and I am curious if you had the same issue with yours maybe missing the clip.......

 

[ruskiegunlover]

I just replaced the extractor/fireing pin retaining pin on my helwan. I have replaced both it and the slide lock clip. The extractor pin was difficult though, as it retains both the fireing pin and extractor. Further, the two pins I ordered from numrich were the same diameter as the one already in the gun, i.e. they were loose too. So, I staked both ends...While apart, I cleaned out all the channels and wiped down the springs which were sooty.....Although, I only have a hamer and punches....no vice, or bench, or anything. I basically had to sit the slide on top of a punch resting on concrete, with the punch covering the lower face of the pin (inside the gun)while the same hand steadied the slide, and pinched the second punch over the top of the slide on the top of the pin. Then, hit the top punch with the hammer with my right hand....It worked, basicaly de-formed the lower area of the pin so it cannot work out the top of the gun.....I am happy, at least I won't be replacing it.....I can't help it, I just like this gun. I wish there was more written on them, or maybe a book...I am looking for another one, with the arabic on the slide, so if anyone know of one drop me a message...