Hey Folks,
My name is Harry and I am the new guy around here. I owned a Grizzly in .45 Winchester Magnum from 1991 to 1994, which I had purchased for myself upon returning from Desert Storm as a young Marine, at the now closed B&B Guns(famous for supporting the LAPD during the Hollywood Bank Shootout, only to have the weapons kept and be left without being reimbursed afterward) in California.
I envisioned her as the ultimate combat sidearm, and to that end I had slowly been customizing her with upgrades like a mag well and micarta grips from Smith and Alexander, and having the front sight drilled and fitted with a tritium insert. The trigger was also cleaned up by a local smith. I had spoken to Mr. Brown in Calif. a few times about his "combat custom" compensated set up designed in collaboration with Massad Ayoob, after reading about it in one of the gun rags of the time, and was attempting to save the $750.00 needed for that at the time, too.
As a side note, when I wasn't able to find properly sized base pads for my magazines to work with the S&A Magwell(combat handgunning and rapid magazine changes), Mr. Smith of Smith and Alexander actually machined me a half dozen out of aluminum free of charge! He refused to accept any form of compensation for them! He was an outstanding gentleman to deal with, and I can only hope he has achieved the level of respect and support in the shooting community he so richly deserves.
Regrettably, when finances got extremely tight, I was forced to sell my beloved pistol, and now years later coming back to it, I'm saddened by it having been discontinued.
With all of that said, I'm strongly considering moving to a Mark IV, in .44 Mag. I'm actually high bidder on one on Gunbroker, as I type this. I'm very interested in learning from owners and shooters how these perform. My .45WM functioned flawlessly, but I'm admittedly a little concerned about the rimmed cartridge in a semiauto platform. My motivation toward the Mark IV has primarily to do with the commonly available ammunition in that caliber, as well as my ability to save a bit in bulk purchase from folks like Ammoman. I know the DE has been working successfully with them, but am very interested in hearing first hand experience from owners on this system. Additionally for those that know, how do the Mk1s and 4s compare side by side? How about shooting characteristics?
Thanks for your time and attention, and to Cam for welcoming me back into the Grizzly community.
Respectfully,
Harry
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2 comments:
Harry:
Call Jim Dolson at 1 361 765 7180. He is the ultimate Guru of the LAR Grizzly's. Tell him Mike I. from New York told you to call him. He's a great guy.
Mike
PS- Your story was great. I had a 45 win mag back in 91.I sold it like it a few years later. Sixteen years later I have another. I have been through at least 25 guns in my life.Looking back the LAR Griz is the best of the heap.This includes guns like Les Baer, Sig, Freedom arms, to name a few.
I have a Mark 4 6 1/2" and I love it. S&A magwell, Grips, 4 magazines. It is alot of fun too shoot. Very reliable. But I have had two breakages but Linda at LAR helped me out. Broken extracter and a broken ejecter. This gun really slings some serious brass. Get one but Don't lose LAR's number. Also, the compensator bushing actually does work with the longer barrel.
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