Hello from Austria!

Norway is not the only nation in Europe where Grizzlies roar!

I was hooked on the Grizzly pistol in 2005 shortly before www.grizzlypistol.com went offline. After I had bought my own (in 45 WM and 45 ACP) , I was able to get some spare parts and a 357 mag conversion unit from the most trustworthy JD from Texas. Thanks Jim should you ever read this! But as time goes by and ammunition is not getting cheaper I looked around for an inexpensive caliber.... But looking at the Grizzly there is none....

After looking through innumerable websites and after losing all hope I found something that startled me. There in the price list of an arms dealer I read: Conversion unit for Grizzly Mk I 9mm Para. Complete with slide. Exactly what I was looking for, so I acted at once. I tried to contact via email. The response was not very satisfying ("we have it in storage but dunno where, no photos etc"). I tried to contact via phone (some of the helpers I talked to did not seem to know what I was talking about and the boss was always absent). That was mid 2007. When I told Cam about this find he said he would be interested in getting more infos about it. As for now I have been able to recontact the gun dealer and buy one of the conversion units.
I await it within the next week or so. I will certainly post some info and pics about it once I hold it in my hands. That is it for now and I hope I did not bore you too much with my story.

But I do have a question: As there will only be one magazine shipped with the conversion unit, and replacements are almost non existant if at all I want to give it a try and craft one myself. To avoid buying wrong equipment please tell me if a standard 9mm colt style mag can be inserted into the Grizzly? Is it the same width? Is the hole for the magazine catch at the right place? Would it be possible to use it by adding lenth to it at the backside? Any help with this matter is greatly appreciated.

Ulrich

Parts.

Guy's I have talked to Bar Sto Machine and they can and have made stainless match grade barrels for the Grizzly. The cost is in the low/mid $300 range. I had had the pleasure to fire a 6.5" bar sto barrelled 45WM Grizz before and it is way more accurate at 100 yrds!

I have also talked to John at www.carboncreations.com and I have a set of rare factory walnut grips I am willing to send to him as a pattern for some fancy cool looking grips. Check out his web site and look at the grips, if you like the look contact John and let him know your interested and maybe we can get him to make a mold from the grips I have. He says if he feels there is an interest in this product he will make them.

Don

Grizzly spare parts

In the past I've seen folks looking for spare / re-placement parts for the Grizzly line of pistols [ ie ] slidestops , extractors , how were these parts made and what type of machine would be needed to make these parts again , also the libality , patent infregiment and any other area that needs to be concidered ? Paul grizzly45win@yahoo.com

WTB Lar Grizzly mark1 parts etc

I am Interested in Buying reasonably priced LAR Grizzly Mark1 Parts and conversion units especialy a 357 slide stop please Email with items and prices etc to waymore_1@yahoo.com

Sounds as if you have the best calibers for this pistol , I only have .45 Winchester Magnum as this is the most usefull round here in Alaska , yet I understand that the 10mm can be very effective when loaded to the orginial F.B.I. specs . Is your Grizzly full hard chrome , blued , parkerized or two tone ? Short or long barrel ? Old style beavertail or new ? In the near future I'll place a photo of my collection of Grizzly's here as soon as I have the proper system to do it.

Hi from Norway!

I'm the proud owner of a Mark I, in caliber 10mm Auto, which is fitting for an european, born with 10 fingers and used to metrics.....

Mine came with two magazines, and have been sparingly fired, as the ammosituation in 10mm has been hard around these shores.

I have a box of original Norma loads, I got hold of a few boxes of Winchester loads recently (they where expensive, just like the Norma!), and just a short while ago I got a case of 1000 Partizan loads, manufactured in the former Yugoslavia, in Serbia to be specific. These was quite cheap, about on par with 9mm Para around here (easily double of what you pay).

The gun came with two extra caliber kits: 357 Magnum and 45 Win Mag, but so far hasn't been fired much: only the 357 has seen a bit of action, and that dinged up the brass, which is kinda discomforting.

Anyone with good tips on how to fix that?

Mark 4 barrels

I was wondering if the Mark 4 barrels can be interchanged with either barrels from a Mark 1 or a Mark 5?
Thankyou
Jim

Loading .357 Magnum Magazines For LAR Grizzly

Wow... I thought I had seen it all... I have never had any trouble loading my .357 magazines for my Grizzlies, but apparently it was a problem at some point. I just picked up a Grizzly that I purchased from an indiviual online and I found this little peice of paper with these instructions on it. Interesting...

The gun was great! New in the box parkerized in .357... it even had the original bill of sale from 1995 with it.

How The 1911 Design Works...

Here is a link to some diagrams that will help you understand how a Grizzly or 1911 design pistol actually functions How M1911s Really Work. This may shed some light on how a barrel bushing compensator is in fact effective to a degree.

GRIZZLY RECOIL COMPENSATOR

I appreciate Paul's post about the compensated barrels. I have only seen one of them ever... I always wanted to find another one and now I am not so interested. Does anyone know how many pistols were ever shipped with a compensated barrel.

The other question I have is... how effective is the barrel bushing style compensator? I can feel the difference, but it doesn't seem dramatic... Is there any data regarding their true effectiveness?

First Year Grizzly Win Mag Price List

I was able to get my hands on a "first year" pricw list from L.A.R. I find all of the Grizzly Win MAg memorabilia to be very interesting. I hope you guys do to!

Wouldn't it be nice if these guns were still being produced. I understood that LAR experienced overwhelming response to the offering of these pistols. It would be nice to know the real story of their demise. I have heard rumors that LAR at one time got in some trouble with issues and/or lawsuits revolvong around some government contracts and shortly after that they discontinued production of the pistols.

Does anyone know the real scoop?

ORIGINAL GRIZZLY WIN MAG COLOR BROCHURE!

I happened to purchase a Grizzly Mark I awhile back from an estate sale and was lucky enough to find all of the first year marketing materials tucked away in the bottom of the original box. These are scanned images of the front and back of the "original" Grizzly sales brochure. Note the pre-production serial number. I thought it was really a neat find! Hope you enjoy seeing it.

Please remember that you can view any picture on this site at full size by simply clicking your mouse on it.

Thanks for supporting our blog...
Cam

Grizzly Win Mag Pistol Barrel Porting

The following is a letter included with a Grizzly .45 Win Mag Pistol with a 6.5 inch Barrel I own . I'II enter it exactly as its written -----------------------NOTICE --------------------------Dear Customer , Please note that the Barrel on your Grizzly Win Mag Pistol has not been ported. After substantial testing , we have found that the ports hampered accuracy and velocity. Also , the test revealed that the recoil with or without the ports were not that noticeable. Accuracy and Velocity far out weigh the recoil advanatge prompting us to eliminate the ports. Thank You, L.A.R. Manufacturing Inc.

Purple .45 Grizzlies

I have a .45 Grizzly Winchester Magnum that is purple in colour , its in the very low A000100's serial number ranges , I' ve been told that the colour is a phenomenon caused by the amount of silicone in the metal and then the reaction in the blueing process . Next blog will be a factory letter included with one of my Grizzlies stating the reasons why the factory elimated factory ported barrels .

L.A.R. 45 Grizzly Win Mag pistols

I have always used the acronym L.A.R. when decribing the .45 Winchester Magnum pistols , as I did'nt realize all the outher facts as to the orgins of this pistol , so in the future I''ll refer to them as .45 Grizzlies .

caculations

Perry , when you said you did the caculations for the L.A.R. , what did you caculate and how did you know what to caculate , say for the 45 Winchester Magnum , what was going on in your mind ? Where do / did you start and how did you know what to start with , numbers , pressures etc . Paul

Grizzly Holster Molds

I`ve always been a big fan of magnum autos from the early Mars automatic to the .44 Auto Mag and the Grizzly Win Mag. Over the years I`d fired a few like the Desert Eagle which struck me as ungainly and heavy for their caliber (the .50AE may be the one exception). The safety was also hard to reach with the firing hand which to me makes it useless for personal protection against dangerous critters etc. What I wanted was a magnum class auto that was easily packable and had good ergos. A .357 Coonan wasn`t the answer,a 10mm has just as much power. It had to be a big bore. Enter the Grizzly! I finally came across a Mk1 in .45WinMag with the 5.4" barrel. It was all I hoped,a high quality pistol with big power in a nice flat package about the same weight as an N frame S&W. Now all I needed was a good holster or two....yep...that`s all...
A thorough search of holster sites on the web turned up exactly ZERO holsters. It fit in one of my Bianchi X-15 shoulder rigs but I wanted a molded to fit belt rig that would minimize it`s bulk and weight. So I started calling custom holster makers. Most would have been more than happy to make one..IF...they had a dummy (or real) Grizzly to mold the holster to. These dummy or molds are generally cast from aluminum although some of the newer ones are hard plastic. Only 2 or 3 companies make them though and they`ll only make them for popular guns. Bummer. Never being one to give up easily I decided to see about having some made.
The wife of a friend of mine it an accomplished artist and sculptor. In the last few years she`s started taking completed sculptures and moldign exact copied out of hi tech plastcis made by a company called Smooth-On. They molding techniques are so good that if done perfectly they can actually reproduce the fingerprints on an object! Now we`re talkin! I approached her about doing some holster mold dummy guns and after a little persuasion she agreed. Now,part of this process is to submerge the original object in molding goo which then sets up like hard silicon based Jello. I don`t have to tell you how getting that stuff into the lockwork would suck and I was more than a little nervous about having my baby go through the procedure. They use a special type of oil bases clay to fill holes like the barrel but I was concerned that the thin liquid could get in around the ejection port,side of the hammer etc. My solution as to grease the lockwork and sensitive areas of the gun then wipe off the excess. The normal mold release would take care of the big outside areas like the slide and frame. Finally the day came and there were problems. The grease seemed to have a reaction with the mold material and the mold came out imperfect. Some areas were crisp and perfect,reproducing litte details like the head of the windage adj. screw,the serial number and the raging Grizzly logo etc. Other areas has an lightly curdled texture to them and there were a few small air bubble inclusions. The gun was a slimy freakin mess! Oh man...it took 3 days or evenings to clean all the glop out of it. I shudder to think how bad it would have been without that grease in there because the pink mold material still got inside the gun! Close examination showed that oil soaked up by the parkerizing over the years hay have reasted with the mold agent as well as the grease despite the fact that it was "degreased" with alchohol before the process began. The results were one mold that experienced core shift and ended up thicker than actual size and one that is accurate within .015 or so with the aforementioned texture and air inclusion issues. The texture is no biggie,this is just being used to wet mold leather. Only a few of the inclusions would be an issue. I filled and sanded those out with PC7 putty. There`s no way I`m putting my gun through that process again and she invested a LOT more time in it than expected and she wasn`t at all happy with the end result. As an artist she was put off my the little imperfections ie. it was ugly to her. So we`re at the end of the road and I`ve got one usable holster mold/dummy gun. I contacted a few holster makers and decided on the one I wanted to make my new holsters. That`s pretty much where my story ends. He was supposed to have a 2 or 3 month lead time and I`ve been waiting close to 6 and still no news. Maybe time to try another holster maker. When the time comes I`ll make sure to post an update here so that anyone else who wants a Griz holster made can have it done while my mold is still at their shop. Mark Savitske

Grizz Regrets...

It's like selling one of your children man... I sold my favorite Grizzly a couple of months ago and I am in full-scale seller's remorse now. I still can't believe I did it. I posted three Grizzlies for sale on line hoping to sell one or two of them and keep the other. Like an idiot, one of those guns was my favorite... I figured it wouldn't sell because it was priced a couple of hundred bucks more than the other two. WRONG... it sold in just a day or two!

It was a two-tone 5.4 inch in 45 Win Mag. It was also outfitted with a Smith & Alexander mag well and smooth rosewood grips. I much prefer aftermarket grips to the original Pachs that come on the gun... I don't care what anyone says, they just feel way bigger to me with the wrap-around strap. Anyway, I am working on my other "shooter" Grizzly in 45 Win Mag to set it up the same way. I sure miss her... below is a picture... if you see her, say "hi" for me.

Cam

Arnett Patent System Grizzly Technology History

At the time when LAR Mfg. Co. was manufacturing the first batch of pre-production prototype Grizzly Pistols for me under License, we needed barrels for them.

I was then serving as an in-plant Consultant to LAR (since I had invented the technology and licensed it to them), and I had the most complete knowledge of what the desired end result was to be. I suggested to 'Robbie' that he order barrel forgings from Crucible or Carpenter [if I recall correctly] since they were the only barrel forging available that were made of "4150GM" (Government Modified) steel - the strongest barrel steel then affordably available for the purpose - with a "grain size Five or finer".

He didn't really know if the gun would sell, so apparently to hedge his risk, he got some .45 caliber Douglas rifle barrel blanks from which about six (?) Grizzly Pistol barrels were made. They were properly dimensioned and heat-treated, so far as I am aware.

We were testing one of the first batch of commercial Grizzly Pistols made, to see if, and when it would destroy itself from just being fired. We had put about ~5,000(?) factory WW 45 Win Mag loads through it and saw no dimensional or other changes in the firearm, so we decided to try some WW 45 WIN Mag Proof loads. Just a couple was not enough!

I had suggested a design for a Lexan polycarbonate automatic proof-firing chamber that held the gun so it could be fired safely by an operator from outside the box. They built one and we began the test.

At about the ~1,200th(?) Proof round fired through that one pistol, the gun jammed with the slide retracted partially frozen in that position, the brass was intact, everything else was fine. Upon examination, I found that the barrel had split longitudinally! I inspected the situation and disassembled the gun. I took photos. Nothing was wrong with the remainder of the pistol in any way.

The split barrel was sent to a testing lab in SLC who determined that the barrel steel had (if I recall correctly) "between 0.10 and 0.12 points Sulfur" in it. I still have the split barrel, the lab report, and the photos in my papers.

As most gunsmiths know, some barrel makers use "re-sulfurized" barrel steel to make them easier to machine. But the higher than usual sulfur content also makes them slightly less strong than a barrel made with less sulfur (i.e. 0.02 - 0.05 points). When used in a rifle barrel, with a normal large "pressure-reinforce" area over, and ahead of the chamber, they are plenty safe and work fine. But when turned down to the dimensions of the Grizzly pistol barrel, heat-treated to a very hard condition, then subjected to the firing impact of ~5,000 commercial 45 Win Mag loads, and ~1,200 45 Win Mag Proof loads, under high, repeated impact, the high sulfur content can cause crystallization, and the barrel may split. [I have all the exact numbers in my Log books which are in storage, so I'm giving you 'best recollections' here]

That prompted LAR to order the forged barrel blanks(!), and there was never another incident of that type - so far as I am aware.

None of THOSE barrels were ever supposed to be shipped, obviously. However, I suppose it's possible that someone who didn't know any better may have put the remainder of those barrels with other parts and sold them as firearms. I don't know.

If you want, if you have a split barrel, you could send it to a testing lab and have them analyze the steel. If the sulfur content is high, then it may be one of those barrels.

Hope this helps.

Perry Arnett - sole conceiver, designer, inventor, patent holder (#4,253,377), engineer, and licensor of the Grizzly Multi-caliber Magnum Semiautomatic Pistol and its Arnett Patent System Multi-caliber Conversion Units, and other related technologies.

If I may be allowed to set some of the record straight here, since there seems to be some confusion about some of this:

I solely conceived the conception, - that is, the conception of using the "Browning Lock" (as embodied in the 1911-A1 pistol), to create a Multi-caliber, Semiautomatic Magnum Pistol that would safely contain the pressures and forces in the 45 Win Mag, and other major magnum caliber cartridges, and to turn that conception into a firearm that could be affordably made, and sold at a price that would allow others to enjoy that firearm;

- since my first patent for Multi-caliber Conversions (#4,253,377) had already just issued, this conception of the Grizzly Pistol, and the resulting technology, and the products resulting therefrom, were ALREADY COVERED under my patent at the moment of their conception!;

- I performed the math and physics analyses, the strength of materials, I hand-built the first fully functioning prototype Grizzly Multi-caliber Magnum Pistol (#PP001), and I hand-held-fired the first prototype in my own hand;

- I determined the materials, and heat treatments required; designed, engineered and specified the fits, finishes and tolerances; sizes, shapes, features, contours, appearance, ergonomics, function, name, etc., for the production products;

- I drafted the patent application, filed the patent application through my patent attorney [M. Wayne Western], and was awarded the patent (#4,253,377);

- I directed the taking of the first Grizzly product brochure photos for North American Manufacturing Co. at a guy's house in Provo, Utah, AND the subsequent photos for LAR - which were done under my direction by Tim Hatfield, a professional photographer, behind a barber shop, outside, in Cedar City, Utah;

- I personally wrote ALL the Grizzly and Multi-caliber Conversion Unit product brochure text and verbiage, and all of the Grizzly Owner's Manual; I personally edited all the text, and whatever errors of grammar or syntax there are, are mine! My friend, Dennis Rowley, helped with the layout of those first brochures, and he did the layout of the draft Owners Manual largely by himself.

- the Grizzly Logo [the raging bear] was designed at MY request, by a college art student then attending SUU in Cedar City, and was licensed by me to LAR as part of the Technology Transfer License Agreement package;

- the 'Grizzly' trademark, (even though filed by LAR), is owned by me, as it was also transferred to LAR from me as a part of the Technology Transfer License Agreement package;

- I showed the Grizzly Magnum Pistol and Multi-caliber Conversion Units at various gun shows; took ~$300,000 worth of orders for it and Conversion Units from Ellet Bros. ALONE, in 1981(?), at the NASGW show in Denver; I still have their green computer fan fold printouts...

- I initially licensed the technology to North American Manufacturing Co. in Spanish Fork, Utah, [owner, Frank Talley], who, after about six months, was cordial enough to return the License, since they were then engaged with new military projects, and were unable to proceed further with it at a pace he and I thought it deserved;

- So, in a conversation with my then tax attorney [Jim Arrowsmith], who happened to also be the tax attorney for LAR, he introduced us, and I consummated a Technology Transfer License Agreement with LAR Mfg. Co. of West Jordan, Utah. I then worked with them at their request, in their plant, for about 14 months as an Inventor/Manufacturing Consultant on the manufacturing and marketing of the Grizzly Pistol Technology Licensed Project.

In my 2,500 volume technical library and other papers, I have all the original engineering calculations and bent corners and highlighting on engineering texts.

My signature is on the patent. The patent is issued to me as "Sole Inventor".

My signature is on the first Technology Transfer License Agreement with NAM Co., and on the second with LAR.

My signature is on all the ~50 or so, Machine Drawings for Grizzly Magnum Pistols and Multi-caliber Conversion Unit parts - in all their variations [through about 1986].

My signature is on all the Manufacturing Change Orders issued from inception through about 1986.

My signature is on the [few] royalty and License Fee check (copies) I was paid and cashed.

More than 50 of my friends, neighbors and family were around during the time I invented the Grizzly Pistol and its Multi-caliber Conversion Units; lots of others in the gun business: Herm Bockstruck of WW (deceased?), Terry Paul, Jeff Talley, Harry Wind, Peggy Stein, Dean Grennell, Bob Milek (deceased), the nice folks at Ellet Brothers, Golden State Castings in Ogden, Utah, etc.; my oldest son, Aaron, who was the second person to fire the 9mm Win Mag prototype Conversion Unit - when he was about 10!

Those who know, KNOW...! The rest is history (or garbage...).

I'm pleased to see and hear about all the folks who like the Grizzly!

I did my damnedest to make the Grizzly Interchangeable, Magnum Multi-caliber Semiautomatic Pistol the finest big bore handgun ever produced. (You would never believe how much time I spent doing the math, revising, and re-revising the tolerance-stacks on the manufacturing drawings so that:

a) the relevant parts would fit together as tightly, smoothly, and as accurately as possible, thereby giving out-of- the-box, match grade accuracy, while,

b) being able to be manufactured at a cost that would be acceptable, affordable and profitable - so that ANY slide made could be mated to ANY receiver made and ANY barrel and ANY bushing, and the resulting accuracy would be Match-grade! - WITHOUT ANY hand fitting [I DID THAT!] - and that the proper materials selection, and proper heat-treatment of those materials would allow these parts to retain that high quality fit, essentially, forever.

These were all done on an HP 41CX hand-held calculator, (remembering that this was before cheap computers and electronic spreadsheets were common in manufacturing plants.)

I only hold two patents (self-funded), but the Grizzly Multi-caliber Pistol technology is but one of the more than 300 OTHER new product and process inventions I've conceived, designed and/or built since I was 17.

I've owned a small company specializing in new product development and innovative machine design for factory automation since 1985. Now I do a bit of free-lance machine design, manufacturing consulting, and lots of inventing....

FWIW: I have a 37 page Enabling Patent Disclosure for a new technology and series of products I call "The Last Rifle Technology" - since it embodies ALL the features which, if one owned THIS rifle, he'd never have to, nor want to own another; - the key aspect of which is that all 'variables' that might cause a miss at extreme range are 'digitally compensated for', thus insuring first round hits that might otherwise not be able to be taken.

Probable military contracts possible; serious inquires invited.

Sorry for the length. Thanks!

Perry Arnett

Vintage LAR Grizzly Brochure...

This is a brochure that LAR used to promotet the Grizzlies in the late 80's. If anyone has a differetn version of any of their materials or paperwork... we would love to see them.

A big thanks to Perry Arnett (the inventor of the Grizzly pistol) for contributing to our blog... what a rare treat!

Arnett Patent Multi-caliber Conversion Units

Hi,

Just a few comments about the 9mm Win Mag cartridge and the Grizzly Pistol Conversions for it.

I’d had a custom gun shop from about 1968, and had read all the magazines and had attended some gun shows. I’d also built and exported specific caliber conversion units for 1911-A1 pistols to Italy in 1979. Between about 1975 and 1979 there were reports in the press that there was only ONE Wildey Pistol, and that that one pistol was the one that had been shown at all the Shot shows for the previous five years or so.

It was also reported that W-W had manufactured 1 million rounds of both the 45 Win Mag and the 9mm Win Mag cartridges - for which there was as yet, no firearm that would shoot them (other than a few single shot Thompson Contenders).

It irked the hell out of me that there were all those rounds of new ammo sitting in warehouses for which there was no firearm!

So, since I had already been building Multi-caliber Conversion Units for 1911-A1 pistols in caliber's 38 Special Wadcutter, 9mm Luger, 30 Luger, 9mm Long, 38 Super, etc., (none of which required replacing the slide), I knew that I could build conversion units in the 9mm Win Mag caliber if I could build a firearm with a magazine well large enough to accommodate the 45 Win Mag Cartridge. Since what I knew best (at the time) was the Browning Lock, I decided to see if I could design and build a safe and functional firearm that would handle BOTH the 45 Win Mag AND the 9mm Win Mag cartridges INTERCHANGEABLY, without having to replace the slide - which I did. I knew also, that if I could build a firearm that would take those two cartridges interchangeably, then I could add as many other caliber conversion units as the laws of physics would allow.

I developed both the 45 Win Mag prototype P001 Pistol, and the 9mm Win Mag prototype Conversion Unit for that pistol simultaneously.

So, that’s why the 9mm Win Mag cartridge is important to the Grizzly Multi-caliber Semiautomatic Pistol; it was the 'conceptual driver’ that made the new technology have market value.

One gun writer later complained in a magazine article, that he had "only" been given by LAR, five boxes of 9mm Win Mag ammo (250 rounds) with which to critique the 9mm Win Mag Grizzly Pistol Conversion Unit.

What he didn’t realize is that I developed the 9mm Win Mag Conversion Unit in the P001 prototype pistol FROM SCRATCH, and had only 42 rounds of white box ammo with which to do that! Of those 42 rounds, I used only FOUR rounds to prove the concept in its entirety; i.e. feed, fire, extract, eject, safely, and functionally. The first round was fired statically by use of a device I created to purposefully lock the slide and barrel to the receiver so that they would NOT open after firing.

This device was created for the 45 Win Mag cartridge, but was also used to test the 9mm Win Mag. [...that device, incidentally, I consider to be one of my most creative concepts... I’ll try to take some photos of it and put them up here if you’d like. ] The second round was hand placed in the chamber, and the slide was allowed to recoil and extract/eject normally after firing. The third round was allowed to be fed from the magazine. DONE! [When you have few resources, you do the math and engineering well first...] I had previously drilled and dumped the powder from one 9mm Win Mag cartridge and had done some extensive manual feeding and extraction tests, but other than that, that was it!

It was with some of those remaining 42 rounds that I demonstrated the P001 and the 9mm Win Mag Conversion Unit to NAMCo.

When I first demonstrated the P001 to North American Manufacturing Co. in their indoor range in Provo, Utah, both the 45 Win Mag and the 9mm Win Mag cartridges were new cartridges. When the gun functioned flawlessly in MY hands (duh!), they wanted to shoot it too, so I let them shoot it, and it was but a short time after that they asked for a license to manufacture. They told me that they had had numerous firearms prototypes come to them but when they were tested, "they were all dangerous, they blew out extractors" and the like, and "none ever worked right". When my P001 Grizzly Pistol in 45 Win Mag, and its Conversion Unit in 9mm Win Mag BOTH worked flawlessly, INTERCHANGEABLY, in THEIR hands, they were impressed!

When I showed the Grizzly Pistol and the 9mm Win Mag Conversion Unit for it the first time at the NASGW Show in Denver in 1980?, buyers flipped because there was a gun that could fire BOTH the new cartridges that Winchester had, and for which there were reserves of ammo, but for which there was at that time, only one gun - the one prototype Wildey Pistol.

The 9mm Win Mag cartridge has one other unique quality: I’ve been told over the years by body armor manufacturers that they test their products with various caliber's at various distances starting with the lowest power cartridges first. When their body armor will withstand 'everything else’, the last test they give is with the 9mm Win Mag cartridge, since it seems to have a unique capability for penetration that other cartridges like the 357 Magnum do not. They’ve told me that the 9mm Win Mag cartridge penetrates better than any other cartridge, and that the next best penetrator is the 45 Win Mag! [this is old info from about 1988 or so, so it may not be valid today...]

I love that cartridge, and in fact, I built a 9mm Win Mag Browning High Power at one point - which was later stolen. But it worked fine while I had it. THAT was the rats ass! All the marvelous qualities of the P-35 but in the magic caliber of the 9mm Win Mag. The 9mm Win Mag would also make a superb SMG cartridge in an M1 Carbine-size (or smaller) weapon.

Interestingly to me, the folks at North American Manufacturing Co. saw immediately that the potential for the new technology was in the multiple sales of Conversion Units, once a customer had bought the Pistol itself (which was my original marketing premise). LAR, on the other hand, seemed to have a different view, and wanted to sell only the Pistols - or so it seemed.

Different strokes...

I developed ~10 different calibers of Conversion Units for the Grizzly Pistol (9mm Win Mag, 45ACP, 357 S&W Magnum, 38 Special RN, 38 Special WC, 9mm Luger, 38 Super ACP, 30 Mauser, 30 Luger, 380 ACP, 9x18 Ultra Police, 9mm Long, and was working on a few others...). LAR chose to market only those that they did. The 10mm’s and the 50’s were not out yet, then. Since the 45 Win Mag is more powerful than the 44 Magnum, I saw no need to make a Conversion Unit for it; LAR did, later - my mistake? Walt Wolff was kind enough to build some special recoil springs for me of long (Grizzly Pistol) length but with very low strength, so the slide would move with the low recoil-impulse calibers.

I figured that if a guy bought the Grizzly Pistol in a ‘major’ caliber, then as time went on, he might want other lessor calibers for various other uses - but he’d always have the major caliber for serious work. Like the ad for California almonds; "just a conversion unit every other year"...

I designed and built a Multi-caliber SMG in about 1980 that fired both 45 ACP and 9mm Luger calibers interchangeably, that I displayed in LAR’s booth at the World Military Expo in Las Vegas in 1985?. I had offered this technology to LAR and they were interested in it at one point, since it had generated LOTS of interest from various countries at the show. During the show, Robbie asked me how much I was going to "soak them" for a license..., but the manner in which the question was asked told me they weren’t interested (nor was I), so the subject was never brought up again..

I later was solicited by the government of India between 1990 and 1994, to transfer that Multi-caliber SMG technology to them under a very detailed cross-licensing arrangement. They changed Prime Minister, so that ultimately did not happen, either.

This interchangeable, Multi-caliber SMG is written up in the T. B. Nelson book series, Volume 7, I believe, under "Red Mountain Arsenal, Parowan, Utah" (that was me). Nelson wrote me asking for some photos and other data but I never got back to him... Again, this Multi-caliber firearm was covered under my 4,253,377 patent at the time of my conception of it. I built two working prototype interchangeable-caliber SMG’s in less than 33 days, one round, one square, specifically using only junk yard junk for materials (other than the barrels which were rifled).

Both worked fine.

It may have value in the next few years - who knows?

Thanks,

Perry Arnett, inventor

LAR Grizzly Paperwork...

I have been looking through all of my old paper work and I found two more pieces that LAR used to ship with the Grizzly pistols. One is a short company history and the other is a list of testimonials. I also have one of their old color brochures that I will try to scan and post in the next couple of days. The reason I am posting these items is so that a Grizzly owner could reproduce all of the documents that would have originally come with his gun. If you have the box... this would make a nice package. Sure... they wont all be original paperwork.. bu it's better than nothing ;-)

LAR Grizzly Conversion Units...

One of the most common Grizzly questions I hear is: "what calibers did they make conversion kits for?"

I will take my best shot to answer that here... As far as I know, they made the conversion units for the Mark I in .357 magnum, .45 ACP, 10mm, and .357-.45GWM. I always thought that the .357 mag was the most popular conversion but many tell me that the most popular was the .45ACP. I have been told that they also made a few units in 9mm WM, and my friend Jim in Corpus Christi Texas, who I consider to be "the" authority on Grizzly handguns, swears that he saw one once in .40 S&W.

I have heard people say that they never actually made a conversion for the .45 Win Mag because that was the standard caliber. But you could order the gun directly from LAR in any caliber you wanted. My best friend ordered his in 1989 in the .357 mag caliber and later they were more than willing to sell him a conversion in .45WM. As for the Mark Vs, someone else is going to have to help me out. I have seen conversions for them in .45WM, .44 Mag, and their original standard caliber of .50AE. I am not sure what conversions were offered for the Mark IVs... can anyone shed any light on the subject?

Grizzly Diagrams...

Here are a couple of quick reference diagrams for Grizzly pistols (click on them to enlarge). As you will see they are basically a Model 1911 in every way... just some of the pieces have been stretched and/or beefed-up to handle the size and recoil of larger magnum calibers. I will try to get some better scans of these in the near future.

Please note the link in our "links" section to the right. This will take you directly to a downloadable version of the entire Grizzly Hangun Owner's Manual. We are looking for the list that Grizzly once put out showing which parts were standard 1911 and which ones were different... if anyone has one... please scan at decent resolution and send to me at: cam2@towerprinting.com.

Thanks mucho...

Grizzly Ad Circa 1988...

The ad pictured below was also used as a promotional flyer by LAR for a few years. I was told that it ran for the first time in 1988... if anyone know any different please let me know and I will update this info. Seeing this old stuff is exciting to me. If anyone out there has any more Grizz memorabilia... please let us know.

Just an FYI... if you click on any of the pictures in this blog... they should pop-up in your browser at full resolution.

I'll post more as soon as I can...

Welcome Grizzly Enthusiasts

Hello,

My name is Cam (short for Cameron) and I am a recoil junkie. If it barks fire and makes big holes... I love it!

I have been a Grizzly handgun lover since my first experience with this awesome product back in 1989. I took a bit of a forced vacation from shooting after my home was broken into in 1990 and all of my guns were stolen. When I did finally return to shooting sports, I was so sad to learn that my favorite pistol had been discontinued back in 1999 and I have been on a mission to resurrect interest in these Grizzlies ever since.

I have been in contact with many Grizzly owners and enthusiast over the past year and decided to start this blog so that we can all share. I will be launching an official Grizzly owner's website in about two months (by the end of March). I will be scanning some vintage Grizzly paperwork and literature to post on this sight soon. In order to keep the smuts and nuts off of this blog... it will be by invitation only to begin with. If you would like to be added as an author/contributor to this blog... please send a request to Cam Stewart and I will send you an invitation to join.

I will be posting additional info each day for the next week in order to get things rolling.

The picture below is me shooting a two-tone Mark I with a 6-slot compensator in 45 Win Mag. These bad boys can really get someone's attention at the range!

Thanks so much for viewing this blog and good shootin'

Cam