I had the opportunity to visit Rock Island Auction again to check out the guns they have up for sale in their December 2014 Premier Auction, and put together a big batch of videos, which will be publishing daily between now and the auction itself (which is the weekend of December 5th, 6th, and 7th). I hope you enjoy the opportunity to see some of these very rare firearms – and if any of them really click with you, you can join in the bidding and take them home yourself!
We’ll kick things off with this is a factory prototype of the Colt’s entry into the Offensive Handgun Weapon System as requested by US SOCOM in the early 1990s. It featured a rotating barrel locking system, double action trigger system (with manual safety and decocker), and single stack 10-round magazine. Only about 30 were ever made, as military testing resulted in the H&K USP being chosen for further refinement instead of the Colt design.
Having been a 1911 fan since my hands grew to fit a Gov. Model, I’ve always been curious as to why a rotating breech/barrel lock system didn’t replace the link system.
As an automotive repairman, I’ve replaced more sealed alternator sized bearings than I can remember, and they did more twisting than a pistol ever would with several generations of G.I.s!
Charles J. Jolidon had an interesting patent for a rotating barrel M1911 variant that was granted in 1921. The fixed nose piece held the cam, and of course, would have been handy for attaching accessories like a sound suppressor.
https://www.google.com/patents/US1382197
That was earlier than Obregon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obreg%C3%B3n_pistol
Just not sure how well that bushing would stand considering the mechanical load. Obregon in contrast drives barrel from block mounted in frame, just like Beretta.
J M Browning, himself patented a rotating barrel design as one of a series of three sequential number auto pistol patents issued to him.
The other patents in the seqence were for:
the barrel dropping on parallel links, which eventually evolved into the 1911
and a “Burgess Shale” invention which used gas to actuate a toggle.
The Browning gas-operated pistol scheme was roughly an inverted version of the M1895 “Potato Digger” piston.
The Slovakian manufacturer Grand Power has an interesting suppressed rotating-barrel pistol system called the K100 Whisper. Commentary picked up here and there and video clips indicate that they designed a booster (or Nielsen device) which in addition to the usual range of motion simply allows the suppressor body to rotate in relation to the barrel, or rather not rotate with the barrel. I seem to remember that this attachment threads on to the barrel like normal but then has some tightening system to further resist being worked off. I wish that one of the US manufacturers would produce something similar.
A fixed mount accepting the muzzle of a rotating barrel sounds good but, after some
use, dirt and fouling may rise considerable resistance for barrel movement both rotational and reciprocal directions.
Anyone remember the Colt All American 2000? In typical Colt fashion, they bought the rights from Reed Knight and Gene Stoner around 1990, then their in house team totally trashed the design and when they released it a year or two later it was a total disaster. Massad Ayoob said of it, it’s sad and ugly with pathetic accuracy. Maybe the original Knight/Stoner design should be revisited.
Yup: https://www.forgottenweapons.com/colt-all-american-2000-video/