Notes from the gun shop...

I was really looking forward to going to work yesterday.  Not entirely certain why, but I was, so much so I left a little early!  Let's be truthful, I REALLY enjoy working in a gun shop.  I see neat guns.  I can handle neat guns.  I can talk guns, all day, AND I get paid a little bit for doing so.  We are really starting to see some good guns come out of the woodwork.  Sad that people have to give them up, good that others are getting a "shot" at some of them.

.44 Magnum Auto-mag Model 180.  We just don't see these around here.  They are pretty neat guns. 

Conceived by American businessman Harry Sanford during late 1960s as a semiautomatic pistol, similar in power to the Smith&Wesson .44 Magnum revolvers with less recoil and more capacity. The cartridge is based on shortened .308 Winchester case moving a 240-grain bullet to velocities like 1680 fps with a muzzle energy of roughly 1500 ft-lbs. Models 160 and 260 were chambered in .357AMP cartridge.  Prototype pistols were designed by Max Gera for Auto Mag Corporation about 1970.  Auto Mag Corp went bankrupt, replaced by TDE Corp, then more Auto Mag guns were made by OMC Corp and High Standard Corp. Overall production of Auto Mag pistols is estimated at about 9,500 guns between 1971 and 1982.

The Auto Mag pistol is locked breech, short recoil operated pistol that locks using a rotating bolt. Most parts are made from stainless steel.  Trigger is single action, with exposed hammer and frame-mounted manual safety.  Fully adjustable sights are on all of the many variations of easily interchanged Auto Mag barrels, with or without sighting rib, with various lengths and profiles.

Then we also had a Wildey semi-auto pistol chambered for the .475 Wildey Magnum. I've never gotten to hold one of these before. This is one BIG pistol. The girth of the grip frame is greater than that of the Magnum Research Desert Eagle.

The Wildey Pistol features a patented gas operating system. Six small holes in the barrel tap off gasses to power an air-hydraulic piston which pushes the slide rearward, ejecting the spent cartridge, and operate the rotary bolt. A gas regulator (see photo above) is located on the barrel just in front of the piston. The regulator can be adjusted to regulate the flow of gas allowing the pistol to shoot everything from heavy hunting loads to light target loads. This patented gas operated system greatly reduces the felt recoil. And the gas regulator is easy to adjust.

The .475 Wildey Magnum Cartridge

The Wildey pistol was introduced chambered in .45 Winchester Magnum. This powerful 45 is basically a .45 ACP lengthened .300". Both cases are the same .476" diameter. To build an autoloading pistol that would fire bigger bullets a new case was needed. The 30-06 case was no help. True the .44 Auto Mag pistol was based on this case but case diameter is .470". The .284 Winchester case caught Wil Moore's eye. The .284 is a rebated rimless case. The rim diameter is the same as the 30-06, .473" but the body of the case is wider with a max diameter of .500". Perfect! Wil cut down the .284 case to the maximum length of the .45 Winchester. After inside neck sizing the case took a .475 diameter bullet.

Ballistic testing would prove Wildey J. Moore had developed the most powerful pistol cartridge. Best of all his Wildey Pistol design was rugged enough to shoot this cartridge and the patented gas system would help the average shooter deal with recoil.

Today if you really cared to, you could convert .284 brass to .475 Wildey Magnum but the availability of commercial brass allows you to spend time on more enjoyable things like shooting this powerful cartridge, the .475 Wildey Magnum.

Then, surprise of surprises, we have one of the recently most demanded firearms, the Kel-Tec PMR30. I was beginning to think that I'd never see one. I guess I'm not as impressed as some are. It must be my mental orientation. I still carry a 6-shot revolver, Browning High Power or Colt .45 ACP for self-defense. Still it is neat to see one.

The boss man has all these on auction at GunBroker.com.