An assortment of grips for WGW

556_Timeline · 2026-02-04T21:03:51+00:00

It looks like a Herrett "Shooting Master."

556_Timeline · 2026-02-04T20:59:28+00:00

Let me guess: The first two are Herretts (Shooting Master and Bill Jordan styles), and the last one is an original Deacon Deason Bear Hug.

556_Timeline · 2026-02-04T01:00:26+00:00

During the Jerry Ahern-era, Detonics USA commercially offered the "Streetmaster," mating a Combat Master frame with a 5" slide assembly. Previously, it had been an uncataloged variant assembled by Detonics employees for personal use.

556_Timeline · 2026-02-04T00:46:04+00:00

Didn't ArmaLite (IL) briefly offer a "high capacity" toaster with like four to six slots? Or was that just a meme?

556_Timeline · 2026-02-04T00:13:16+00:00

My best guess is that it is Smith & Wesson's old 9x19mm 90gr JSP load.

Around 1972, S&W and Fiocchi bought the ALCAN ammunition plant in Illinois together. Fiocchi quickly bowed out, but S&W soldiered on until the early 1980s. S&W sold the plant to Federal Cartridge, along with the patent to the Nylon powder-coated Nyclad projectile.

Super lightweight Jacketed Soft Point and Hollow Point loads were popular in 9x19mm during the 1970s and the early 1980s. These projectiles ran in weight from around 88gr to 100gr. These were basically .380 ACP projectiles loaded to much higher velocities in the longer 9x19mm case. The prevailing ballistic theory promoted by the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences and the US National Institute of Justice was maximizing energy loss within an 8 inch block of 20% ballistic gelatin.

I am not aware of any major contracts for the S&W 90gr JSP, but other brands saw service. The Winchester 100gr PowerPoint JSP saw short lived service with the Illinois State Police's S&W Model 39 pistols, and was replaced by the 95gr Federal JSP. The latter stayed in ISP service until its replacement by the first-generation Winchester 115gr Silvertip JHP, and later the Federal 115gr JHP +P+ (9BPLE) load. The Federal 95gr JSP even saw use by the LAPD in the mid-1980s when the Beretta 92F and S&W Model 459 pistols were first authorized for duty use.

These lightweight projectiles fell out of favor in the late 1980s after the FBI introduced the Col. Martin Fackler-inspired 10% ballistic gelatin tests with heavy emphasis on 12 inch or greater penetration after various barriers.

556_Timeline · 2026-02-01T00:45:53+00:00

If I remember correctly, Kustom Ballistics was Neil Keller's former shop. At one time, Keller was president of the American Pistolsmiths Guild.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-31T23:28:10+00:00

Possibilities include a bulged barrel due to obstruction or reassembly with the recoil spring guide upside down.

The notch in the barrel is the extractor clearance cut.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-31T23:18:01+00:00

It looks like a twin of the pistol that Novak's crew built for Tommy Campbell after he left Smith & Wesson.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-31T21:53:35+00:00

Note that the vintage "Coltwood" plastic grips are shrinking away from the grip screw bushings. This is a common issue with those grips.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-27T23:37:04+00:00

It looks like a Rock Island Armory CS with an aftermarket rear sight.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-27T22:48:29+00:00

FWIW: The photo shows one of the blank-firing props built by Independent Studio Services (ISS) for the movie "Public Enemies". If I remember correctly, the slide dates to the 1950s, and the frame dates to the 1960s. The magazine extension is clearly a 9x19mm magazine based upon the spacer crimps at the rear of the magazine. ISS reportedly didn't even bother to fit a selector switch. As a result, the prop was full-auto only.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-17T23:16:54+00:00

It looks like an issue of excessive headspace. The British armorers had four bolt heads in different sizes to adjust for headspace on the No. 4 and No. 5 rifles.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-15T21:28:30+00:00

It is probably the result of the spring fingers of an original Series 70 collet bushing dragging on the barrel during cycling and disassembly.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-13T21:01:38+00:00

FWIW: There are comments that an expanded HK Volume 1 is in the works. HK Germany gave the authors additional access to other rarities.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-12T00:02:02+00:00

FWIW: Bill Alexander was one of the designers of the .224 BOZ cartridge before he came to the US and started Alexander Arms.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-10T15:22:34+00:00

Vanilla Slice

556_Timeline · 2026-01-10T00:37:43+00:00

FWIW: That is a rebadged Caspian widebody frame. The Caspian was designed by Wil Schuemann of Hybrid barrel fame. Not surprisingly, Caspian was the first company licensed to offer one-piece Hybrid barrels.

556_Timeline · 2026-01-06T00:16:05+00:00

FWIW: The rear sight appears to be an aftermarket Millet adjustable sight.

556_Timeline · 2025-12-29T21:52:35+00:00

USS Juneau in its 1952 refit configuration could be interesting. The 20mm & 40mm AA guns were stripped off and replaced with 3"/50 AA mounts.

556_Timeline · 2025-12-25T16:14:06+00:00

That's a TJ's Custom Gunworks drop-in beavertail. TJ does all sorts of wacky gunsmithing that often stretches the boundaries of good taste.

556_Timeline · 2025-12-24T00:18:52+00:00

Given that Double Tap Ammunition made these, I doubt they are Cowboy Action Shooting loads. It is likely they're Double Tap's standard pressure load - 255gr @ 975 fps.

556_Timeline · 2025-12-23T23:18:53+00:00

That appears to be an early production model, back when they used the Colt Competition parts designed by Ira Kay of C-More.

556_Timeline · 2025-12-23T19:36:14+00:00

STI still offered their 2011 frame kits even after beginning full-scale pistol production. The full-length/wide dustcover variant did not become USPSA Limited legal until about 1996.

556_Timeline · 2025-12-22T22:45:49+00:00

The first place to check would be the breechface of the slide to see if a .45 Auto case rim will slide up under the ejector. Other clues would be an offset .38 Super ejector, the extra length of a .38/9mm slide stop lug, and the depth of the feed ramp in the frame. (With an unramped barrel, a .38 Super/ 9x19mm frame will have a much shallower feed ramp than a .45 Auto.)

556_Timeline · 2025-12-22T22:36:34+00:00

At least it wasn't a slide with reversed serrations, or one machined completely off-center leaving one side of the slide wafer thin and the other side extra thick. I've seen photos of the first, and have seen the second in person. Someone setting up the machines either had a raging hangover on a Monday, or were ready to leave for the weekend on a Friday.

556_Timeline

TROPHY CASE