Fierce LAR Grizzly 45 Win Mag Muzzle Blast!!

WOW... These Grizzly owners are recoil junkies just like me... I wanna meet these guys! Nice photos... I bet they were really happy at the range that day :)

Cam

Hello Grizzly folks!

I promised I would tell the Grizzly community about the 9mm Luger Grizzly conversion unit, so now here is my account.

I reeceived the unit several weeks ago, but was not able to shoot it until recently.
First here is a picture of the unit compared to the normal Grizzly:


And now the unit installed:


The vendor told me that a company made them back in the 90ies and he had sold roughly 200 of them.
It is a 1911 design just lengthened to fit on the Grizzly receiver.
The finish is somehow rough, not bluing but some kind of paint or varnish.
There are no markings on the whole system except for the proof firing markings.

The magazine is just as tylergnut suggested, a 9mm mag with aluminium hunch screwed to its back..

The barrel is not as thick as the standard Grizzly barrels, so that should explain the need for a different slide.
The bushing is a normal 1911 Govt style with a brazed insert.

I was able to test different factory loads and it was reasonably accurate for my skill.
Should anyone be interested or would like to have other pictures feel free to tell me!

Thats it for now I hope I was able to show you something new!

Ulrich

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

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

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

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.

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?

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 .

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!

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...