NEW! - Jeffersonian

A NECKED-DOWN .45 ACP
THE POTENT
.41 AVEIGER
By Russ. Gaertner
The consensus of most semi-auto experts
is that.4() or .41 is the best caliber
for a big-bore handgun.
This diarpeter combines the stopping
power of big bores, with the superior ballistics
of smaller calibers. That's on the
receiving end.
For the shootf!r, .41 means l70-to
220-grain bullets at higher velocities and
muzzle energies, but less "felt" recoil than
the .45 ACP. Advantages are easier control,
faster repeat shots, better practical accuracy,
and deeper, straight-line penetration:
A host ofgood reasons, whether your
interest is self-defense, IPSC (International
Practical Shooting Confederation)
competition, bowling pin matches, or silhouette
shooting and hunting.
No. .40 or .41 caliber semi-auto round
has been generally available to those
shooters who like the idea. The most
publicized of the new breed is the Bren
The basic kit contains a match-quality
barrel in either stainless or chrome-moly
steel with a fitted barrel bushing and link, a
set of Pacific reloading dies, and a h.eavy
duty hammer spring for use with rifle
A new kit for about
$235 converts .45 autos
to this new caliber
and beefs-up muzzle
velocity and ene·rgy.
primers. The barrel can be ordered either
as a drop-in unit or made oversize for bestaccuracy
fitting.
J.D. JONES 'BRAINCHILD'
My first comment when I heard of the:
.41 Avenger was, "Why didn't I think of
that?" Once you've seen the little .41 case,
10 (10 mml AO caliber) with a straight- it seems obvious, but so do a lot of other
walled case firing a 200-grain bullet ~t up firearms inventions-including John
to 640 foot pounds of muzzle energy from Browning's famous .45 automatic.
a fiv.e-inch barrel. Production of the Bren The .41 Avenger is the brainchild of
10 is promised soon. ." J. D. Jones, one ofour most able handgun
N ow. we have a new conversion kit writers. More than just a writer, however,
(made by SSK Illdustries) which does "J. D." is a pioneering designer, having ineverything
the others have promised. Op- vented the JDJ series of "hand cannon"
tions are available to convert either a Colt cartridges for the Contender, (also pro­
Combat Commander or any of the stan- duced by SSK Industries, ofwhich "J. D."
dard ,45 autos to .41 Avenger, a necked- is president). These are super-magnums
down .45 ACP round.·
for silhouette shooting and the biggest of
AMERICAN HANDGUNNER . JANUARYIFEBRUARY 1983
big-game. "J. D." founded Handgun Hunters
International and edits its paper, The
Sixgunner.
When the kit arrived, my first problem
was to install the new barrel in a .45 auto.
Most standard guns will require no fitting,
if the drop-in kit is ordered. Fortunately,
my barrel was the oversize type in chrome
moly, because I wanted to get a good bead
on accuracy. Fitting the barrel turned out
to be so easy and the results so fine that I
believe many shooters can do the job
themselves, if they have an accurate, tight
.45 to convert. Or, they can have a
gunsmith do the job, the resulting gun
being well worth the added cost.
I decided to put the barrel into an oldmodel,
well-worn Colt Gold Cup .45,
which has a Bo-Mar sight rib and still
shoots close to one-inch groups at 25 yards
from a machine rest. The barrel could not
be pushed into the slide because the barrel
extension, or tang, was too wide. The tang
was narrowed with a fine-cut needle file by
keeping the sides ofthe tang parallel to the
link, until the barrel slipped into the slide
with the locking lugs fully meshed. The fit
was still tight (the tang was a bit long), so I
shortened it with a hard Arkansas stone.
The barrel then dropped easily into the
slide.
The barrel/slide assembly was run onto
the frame, leaving out the recoil spring
guide and spring. The barrel bushing in
the kit would have needed fitting to the
slide, but the old bushing gave a nice fit.
But when the slide stop was inserted, the
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