My new acquisition

Hello all ,

My first experience handling a Grizzly was in 1991 when myself and three friends walked into a gun shop in SE Connecticut and saw one chambered for 45 Win Mag with 3 complete conversion kits ( 10mm , 45 ACP , .357 Mag ) . It also came with all associated reloading dies , empty brass , bullets , etc . …… a set – up ready to go .
I don’t remember if this particular Grizzly was a MK I , II , IV , or V …… I do know that it was blued . ( does anyone know what years the II , IV and V were made ? )

I did not have the $800’ish amount in my pocket at the time and left the store with the intended items I originally went there for .

Well , I kept thinking about that Grizzly set-up for a couple of days and sleepless nights . Four days later I went back to that same shop and it had been adopted already ………….. I was bummed .


Fast forward 17 years and 5 children later to the present day , and I had another one fall into my lap . I just picked up my first LAR Grizzly and I’m as excited as a puppy discovering his reproductive organ for the first time .

As you can see , it is a MK I with a blued finish ( click on the image to see a larger photo ) . It comes with a factory muzzlebrake , a couple of extra recoil springs , a couple extra sets of recoil spring guide rods , an extra extractor , four factory magazines , Millet open sights with the orange front post , the factory bushing wrench , ( 500 ) .45 Win Mag cases – half of which are factory primed and un-used , the factory pistol box and all paperwork , and last but not least – a B-Square scope mount ….. all this for $685


A quick call to LAR I learned it was made April 8 , 1987 ……

I do have some questions …. Please excuse me if they have been asked in the past .

1) Are the grizzlys chambered in 45 Win. mag. prone to frame battering ? … I thought that I read something along those lines .
2) Where can I find replacement recoil springs ? … the stouter , the better . Wolff ?
3) How can one decipher if conversion kits are for the MK I ?


Thanks in advance …..


Glen

Holsters For The LAR Grizzly Win Mag!!

I get many inquiries about holsters for Grizzly pistols... and as you all know... they are VERY hard to come by!

Well, our luck has changed... My good friend Lynn Tompkins of Frontier Leatherworks in PA is now offering several custom holsters and belts for the LAR Grizzly Win Mag. You can see just a few of the initial designs below. Please visit his website at: www.frontierleatherworks.com and support my new Grizzly friend. I cant wait to get mine!

Shoot Straight,

Cam

Seriously considering a Mark IV...

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

LAR GRIZZLY Ad and Order Form...

I have never seen one of these before... I thought Grizzly fans would be interested. Note where they are still advertising the 9mm Win Mag and the 9mm Lugar as well. This must be really early in the Grizzly history.

If any one else out there has any Grizzly memorabilia... I would love to get it on our blog site. Let me know!

Thanks,

Cam

The Roar of the LAR Grizzly Win Mag

I received an email from a gentleman describing his frustration in finding a good place to shoot his LAR Grizzly WIn Mag. He had just moved to a new town and was searching for a shooting home. This story is hilarious and illustrates just how incredibly powerful these handguns really are. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did...

Cam

"I began looking for a range where I could shoot my magnums (both pistols and rifles). However, most of the outdoor ranges either do not permit firearms with compensators or muzzle porting (disturbs adjacent shooters) or do not have suitable target distances for this cartridge (either 21 feet or 100 yard ranges). I then tried indoor ranges, but many would not allow any magnums, and those that did quickly banned me from shooting my Grizzly there.

I vividly recall the events at one range in particular. Since I had already been banned at others, I specifically asked permission to shoot my L.A.R. Grizzly 45 Win Mag at their range. The range officer looked at me and laughingly said, "Hell, son, we let 'em shoot 44 Magnums in here all the time, so you go right ahead." When I entered the range, most of the lanes were filled with local police department personnel shooting what I guessed were 9mm rounds. I took my time to setup, run a target down range, load and insert my magazine, and then take aim at the target. Blocking out all the non-stop "pop" "pop" "pop" sounds from the 9mm gunfire around me, I gently squeezed the trigger. As you undoubtedly know, the ensuing pressure wave and brilliant muzzle flash were substantially greater than those of the more modest 9mm cartridges in the range. Suddenly, I realized there were no "pop" "pop" "pop" sounds and the range was eerily silent. I put my Grizzly on the bench and stepped back to look down the line and every one of the police officers was looking at me. I waved and smiled, then stepped back into the booth, picked up my Grizzly, and squeezed off another round. As the muzzle flash faded, I watched one of the eight-foot fluorescent light bulbs fall from the overhead fixture and shatter in my lane. Just then, I felt a strong tapping on my shoulder and looked back to see a man excitedly signaling me to stop. I unloaded the Grizzly and followed the man to the office, where he began cursing at me for bringing that @#$*% canon in his range. About then, an assistant entered the office to report one of the deflector plates in my lane had sustained damage. The excitable man then identified himself as the owner and stated I was liable for the replacement costs of the damaged deflector and the fluorescent light. However, I challenged the owner and explained that I had, in fact, specifically asked one of his employees if I could shoot my L.A.R. Grizzly 45 Win Mag in the range and the employee said, "Hell, son, we let 'em shoot 44 Magnums in here all the time, so you go right ahead." After confirming my story, the owner told me I would not be held liable for the damages, but I could NEVER bring that @#$*% canon back to his range."

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

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.

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 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

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