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Mexican-American Billionaire from New York Funds ‘Tennessee 11’ to Push Gun Control Agenda via ‘Citizen Solutions’ in 2024

The foundation created by Mexican-American “social entrepreneur” and billionaire Daniel Lubetzky is funding a group called the “Tennessee 11,” which seeks to pass a red flag law and other gun control legislation this year in Tennessee.

The 2024 session of the Tennessee General Assembly is scheduled to convene in Nashville on Tuesday, January 9.

According to his personal website, Daniel Lubetzky was born in Mexico City in the late 1960s and came to the United States with his family as a teenager.

In 2004, Lubetzky is the founded the snack company Kind LLC. It was reportedly worth $5 billion when the company was sold to Mars Inc. in 2020. When the company was under his management, Lubetzky was named a Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship by former President Barack Obama and his administration’s Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker.

His foundation received its tax-exempt status in 2017, and a federal tax filing from 2021 indicates the Lubetzky Family Foundation has offices at 3 Times Square, also known as the Thomson Reuters Building, in New York. The Lubetzky Family Foundation spent nearly $3.5 million in 2021, when its eight highest-earning employees were each paid more than $100,000, and collectively were compensated $1,294,410.

Lubetzky’s involvement in Tennessee politics comes through a group called Citizen Solutions, which is a project of Starts With Us, which in turn is a project of the Lubetzky Family Foundation. Citizen Solutions seems to exist to spread awareness of the suggestions made by the Tennessee 11, a group of 11 Tennessee residents affiliated with Citizen Solutions.

The Tennessee 11 apparently met for the first time in September, when the group held a “solution session” in Franklin.

In October, the Tennessee 11 announced eight proposals for new laws, regulations, and initiatives they claim would contribute toward the prevention of gun violence. Among the proposals, according to a press release by Citizen Solutions, are calls for Tennessee to pass a red flag law, which would allow courts to order the temporary suspension of an individual’s right to bear arms, require Student Resource Officers (SROs) be trained in “mental health first aid” and “trauma-informed care,” and create “an incentives-first approach to gun ownership rights and responsibilities.”

Another proposal includes Tennessee investing resources to prevent traumatic childhood experiences that could potentially precipitate gun violence.

The Tennessee 11 also proposed laws or regulations requiring Tennesseans obtain a license or permit to carry a handgun, though the group noted, “the TN11 reached a majority but not unanimous consensus on this proposal and now asks the public for feedback.”

In November, the Citizen Solutions “opened a public feedback platform,” according to The Daily Beacon, which reported the activists “are encouraging [University of Tennessee] students to give feedback on the proposals” made by the Tennessee 11.

On the Citizen Solutions website, the activists claim their gun control proposals were drafted by “Tennesseans with very different perspectives.” Citizen Solutions also bills itself as “an ambitious civic experiment empowering Americans to counteract the extreme voices dominating media and politics by elevating the will of the people.”

However, several of the activists who comprise the Tennessee 11 appear to be partisan, and some worked for the Democratic Party or are former Democratic political candidates.

One of the Tennessee 11, Brandi Kellett, is an Associate Professor at Lipscomb University, and her “areas of scholarship focus on culture, memory and faith as a resistance to oppression in the African disapora across the Americas,” according to her university biography.

Arriell Gipson, a Memphis Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for Shelby County Clerk in 2022, is another member of the Tennessee 11. A profile for her campaign revealed she is “the committee chair for the Mayor’s Young Professional Council, Violence Prevention and Criminal Justice Reform Committee, First Vice President for the Shelby County Young Democrats, a graduate of Leaders of Color, Organizing for Action, New Memphis Leadership Institute, and The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.”

Another member, former Tennessee state trooper Mark Proctor, wrote in a guest column for The Tennessean in August that “stricter gun regulations save lives.” The Tennessee 11 member specifically argued in favor of a “[s]trict permitting process” and new legislation to “[k]eep guns away from the wrong people.”

Therapist Adam Luke joined the Tennessee 11 from Columbia, Tennessee. In October, Starts With Us published a lengthy statement from Luke on social media. Luke lamented, “When we talk about guns, there’s so much division. Either we’re attacking traditions or we want people to be in harm’s way.”

He urged Tennesseans to “have that bigger discussion of recognizing that what you’re feeling is legitimate, but sometimes our feelings alone aren’t the only information we need to be taking in.” While Luke seemed hesitant to support a red flag law in his statement, the group’s proposal to “[a]llow courts to temporarily remove someone’s firearms if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others based on certain criteria showing they are at risk of committing violence” had the unanimous support of the Tennessee 11.

While Lubetzky funds the Tennessee 11 through his New York-based Lubetzky Family Foundation, he is also an Inaugural Board of Directors member for the controversial Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL notes Lubetzky is the recipient of awards from the World Economic Forum, Skoll Foundation, Conscious Capitalism, and Hispanic Heritage Foundation.

It remains unclear if Lubetzsky’s efforts will bear fruit after a significant push for gun control failed in 2023, when Democrats were joined by Governor Bill Lee (R) in calls for restrictions following the Covenant School shooting.

Red flag legislation was unsuccessful during the regular session in 2023, and though Lee called a special session for the Tennessee General Assembly to pursue gun control initiatives, the governor did not back a red flag law proposal for a second time. Ultimately, no gun restrictions were passed during the special session, and Lee recently signaled that he does not intend to push for red flag legislation in 2024.

– – –

Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. 

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Springfield Armory M1A Loaded Walnut shooting

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PANZERFAUST — THE STORY OF GERMANY’S “TANK FIST” By Will Dabbs, MD

In the throes of World War II, a weapon emerged from Germany’s war machine, earning a fearsome reputation from the American and Soviet soldiers alike. The Panzerfaust, a crude yet deadly anti-tank weapon, transformed the battlefield with its potent ability to penetrate armor. This article unravels the story of this humble device that armed even the least experienced German soldier with the power to destroy the mightiest tanks.

infantry soldier with panzerfaust
A Finnish soldier armed with a Panzerfaust is stalking a Soviet tank near Vuosalmi on July 26, 1944. Image: Finnish Defence Forces

The old vet was decades out from war. He had since enjoyed a successful career in business, raised a family, and just generally made the world a much better place. Asking him to relate his experiences in Europe during World War II clearly took him back to a very different place.

german sergeant teaches soldiers how to use the panzerfaust
On the Eastern Front, a German sergeant teaches his soldiers how to use the Panzerfaust to attack Russian tanks. Note the tall sight and how the launcher is held in the armpit. Image: Polish National Digital Archives

His mind remained as sharp today as it had been in 1944 when he arrived in Europe. He rendered a reasoned opinion about the effectiveness of American small arms. He respected the M1 Carbine for its modest weight and maneuverability and revered the M1 rifle. They all revered the M1 rifle.

german soldier in ukraine during a training exercise with the panzerfaust
In southern Ukraine, this German soldier fires a Panzerfaust during a training exercise in the Spring of 1944. Image: Polish National Digital Archives

There really was only one M1. We call it the Garand, but they generally didn’t. The M1 Carbine was the carbine and the M1A1 Thompson was the Thompson, but the .30-06 semi-automatic battle rifle designed by John Cantius Garand was the only M1. What was surprising, however, was his take on the enemy weapons he faced.

operation panzerfaust
During Operation Panzerfaust, German Waffen-SS soldiers stand outside the Hungarian guard barracks in Buda Castle in Hungary. The man on the left holds a Panzerfaust. Image: Polish National Digital Archives

We are enamored with the StG44 and MG42 for their groundbreaking design, and rightfully so. The terrifying ripping sound that the MG42 made as it cycled at 1,200 rounds per minute got this man’s attention as well. However, the one German weapon he held in highest esteem was the Panzerfaust.

damage to tank from panzerfaust
A Finnish soldier inspects a hole in a Soviet Union tank made by a Panzerfaust during the Continuation War, July 20, 1944. Image: Finnish Defence Forces

It’s tough to imagine how junky modern war is. Industrial nations pour themselves into war production and simply blanket the battlefield with weapons, ammunition, and gear. In this case this man said his unit captured German Panzerfaust antitank weapons by the unopened crate. He made a point to keep a handful of these handy little monsters in his jeep at all times.

finish soldier prepares to engage a russian tank
A Finnish soldier prepares to engage Soviet armor with a Panzerfaust during July 1944. Image: Finnish Defence Forces

By 1945 Axis tanks were not the omnipresent scourge they had previously been, and Allied tanks, tank destroyers and fighter bombers were forever on the prowl for the big German cats. However, the Panzerfaust was just the ticket for making an unannounced entry into an occupied building. If your mission is to seize a defended structure from a determined enemy the last thing you want is to knock on the front door. This old vet said that captured Panzerfausts would reliably blow a hole through stucco or plaster that was adequate to admit grenades or even assault troops. He said they burned through dozens of the things and loved them.

Details on the Tank Fist

Panzerfaust literally translates to “tank fist,” and it was one of several desperation weapons fielded by the Germans in the closing months of World War II to blunt the Soviet juggernaut and the increasing threats on the Western Front. First developed in 1942, as Germany’s fortunes waned, the combination of low cost and ease of training made the Panzerfaust a mainstay of the final defense of the Reich in 1943 and beyond. In Normandy, the Panzerfaust accounted for 6% of the Allied tanks knocked out in combat. By war’s end, when the battlefield was dense with poorly trained Volkssturm units, that number climbed to 34%

finish soldiers armed with panzerfaust
A Finnish Panzerfaust team moves into position to attack a Soviet tank on August 5, 1944. Image: Finnish Defence Forces

The prototype Panzerfaust was code-named Gretchen (“Little Greta”). The technical appellation was faustpatrone or “fist cartridge.” The casual observer could be forgiven for presuming the Panzerfaust was a rocket launcher. However, it was really more of a recoilless gun firing a projectile from a disposable tube. The design was a study in simplicity.

soviet isu-152 destroyed by a panzerfaust
A Finnish tank hunting team claimed this kill of a ISU-152 with a Panzerfaust. Image: Finnish Defence Forces

The warhead contained a shaped charge comprised of a 50/50 mix of TNT and trihexogen explosives. Fitted to the warhead was a wooden dowel adorned with folding sheet steel fins that deployed when fired. The round was shipped attached to a simple steel tube. Propellant was otherwise unremarkable blackpowder. The Panzerfaust came in four different sizes. Each variant was designated by its expected effective range.

The first model, the Panzerfaust 30, weighed 11.5 lbs. and burned 3.5 oz. of blackpowder propellant. The warhead moved at 30 meters per second and had an effective range of, you guessed it, 30 meters. The Panzerfaust 30 would burn through 200mm of steel armor, or just shy of 8”. The Panzerfaust 60 weighed 13 lbs., burned about 4.5 oz. of black powder, and traveled at 45 meters per second. The Panzerfaust 100 weighed 15 lbs., burned 7 oz. of powder, and traveled at 60 meters per second.

german soldier aims a panzerfaust
A German soldier prepares to fire a Panzerfaust on an advancing Russian tank in southern Ukraine during December 1943. Image: Polish National Digital Archives

The Panzerfaust 150 sported a redesigned warhead that could accept a fragmentation sleeve to improve its anti-personnel effects when it would explode. Though 100,000 copies were produced, none were known to have been used in combat.

panzerfaust and panzershreck carried by finnish troops
Finnish troops armed with both Panzerfaust and Panzershreck weapons return from hunting enemy tanks. Image: Finnish Defence Forces

A prototype Panzerfaust 250 developed at the end of the war used a reloadable launch tube with a pistol grip but never went beyond the design stage. It is believed it could penetrate thicker armor in addition to other upgrades. This weapon served as the inspiration for the Combloc RPG-2 that was subsequently widely exported.

Firing the Panzerfaust

The Panzerfaust did not have a trigger in the classical sense. In its place was a lever just behind the warhead that was squeezed to detonate the boost charge. When the operator was ready to ignite the boost charge, he cradled the weapon underneath the armpit and used the simple pressed steel sight to align the warhead.

panzerfaust sight
The Panzerfaust sight is clearly visible in this photo of a soldier practicing with the anti-tank weapon. Image: Finnish Defence Forces

The Panzerfaust 100 had holes punched into the folding sight marked 30, 60, 80 and 150 meters along with luminescent paint to make the launcher easier to use at night. Most launcher tubes had the words “Achtung. Feuerstrahl.” printed on the side which translated to “Beware. Fire jet.” The backblast that came out of the rear end of the tube was considered dangerous out to about two meters.

german soldier teaches vokssturm volunteers how to fire the panzerfaust
A German officer explains the use of the Panzerfaust to Volkssturm volunteers in early 1945. Image: Polish National Digital Archives

Though I’ve never had the pleasure, I’ve read that firing the Panzerfaust in combat was a serious gut check. The thing was fairly imprecise on a good day, and the huge plume of white smoke produced by the propellant charge invariably attracted a crowd. It took some proper stones to get within 30 meters of an enemy tank screened by infantry and touch one of these puppies off. However, the warhead was undeniably effective when it did connect.

starker feuerstrahl
This Panzerfaust is labeled “Starker Feuerstrahl” which roughly translates to English as “a strong jet of fire.” Image: Finnish Defence Forces

Despite the crudeness of the design, the beyond-armor effects of the Panzerfaust, particularly in its later versions, was undeniably impressive. Where the American 2.75” bazooka typically punched a roughly half-inch hole in armor plate, that of the later Panzerfausts was about five times that diameter. Subsequent spalling and incendiary effects were distressingly horrible. I once met an old vet in the VA who had lost a Sherman to a Panzerfaust. He had great respect for them.

Panzerfaust Legacy

The Panzerfaust was the classic desperation weapon. Churned out in vast quantities in a vain effort to slow the inexorable Allied tide toward the end of World War II, the Panzerfaust was not important so much for what it was as for what it became. Yes, it did stop many a Soviet tank and caused more than a little concern for Allied tank crews. The German antitank weapon caused many crews to improvise supplemental tank armor in the field: from sandbags to welded iron and steel additions.

volksturm armed with panzerfaust anti-tank weapons
Members of the German Volkssturm stand with Panzerfausts near a defensive barrier on March 10, 1945 in Berlin. Image: Polish National Digital Archives

The technology spawned by the German infantry weapon inspired the M72 LAW, the AT4, and the infamous RPG-7 AT weapons developed after the Second World War. In so doing, the Panzerfaust changed the face of modern war.

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A Victory! All About Guns

Somebody hit the jackpot there!!!

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MODEL 83 .500 WYOMING EXPRESS REAL PISTOL POWER WRITTEN BY JOHN TAFFIN

The .500 WE shows its family relationship to the same basic guns in .454 and .475.

 

This is a Potently Powerful Package. It can be Pleasurable or Painful, it comes at a Premium Price, and it’s even Purty. It’s the latest candidate for the title of Perfect Packin’ Pistol. The cartridge it houses is Proprietary and the sixgun itself will last in Perpetuity. This Phenomenon is the latest sixgun/cartridge combination from Freedom Arms, the .500 Wyoming Express. Perfect Packin’ Pistols are highly Personal and very dependent upon the Perception of just what is Perfect and quite often dependent upon the user’s locality. For anyone looking for the most Power Per Pound of Packing weight, this is it!

Since 1983, Freedom Arms has been producing the finest single-action sixguns to ever come from a factory. In the early 1980s, Wayne Baker and Dick Casull came together to produce not only the finest single action ever manufactured but the most powerful as well. That sixgun was the Freedom Arms .454 Casull. Both the sixgun and cartridge were destined to change the sixgunning
scene drastically. The .357 Magnum had arrived in 1935 heralded as the world’s most powerful revolver, unable to be handled by mere mortals. Twenty years later the .44 Magnum arrived pushing a bullet 100 grains heavier at the same speed of the early .357 Magnum loads. As a teenager I fired an early 4″ Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum with Remington factory loads and from my perspective then, I could not see any way I could ever handle one. It was a long learning process as I grew older.

While our early heroes were experimenting with heavy .44s in various forms, Dick Casull was experimenting with the .45 Colt. Casull started using heavy loads in the then new solid head .45 Colt brass in Colt Single Actions. When he soon discovered his loads where too heavy for production Colts, he started making his own fiveshot cylinders.

It did not take long to get past the safety factor and he soon decided to build his own larger, stronger revolver. He not only entered new levels of sixgun power he also disproved the old myth of .45 Colt brass being weak. However, when his .454 Magnum became reality the .45 Colt case was lengthened to prevent any of these heavy loads entering the chambers of older .45 sixguns, especially black-powder guns where the results would be decidedly disastrous.

 

FA X-Draw holster, Sparks belt and Von Ringler carrier.

The Beginning

 

In the 1970s a very few .454 Casull chambered five-shot revolvers were produced by North American Arms, however it remained for Wayne Baker to form Freedom Arms and really begin producing what is now known as the Model 83 revolver. From the very first, these premium quality, five-shot, stainless steel sixguns were built with the best materials and exceptionally tight tolerances to be able to handle the power of the .454 Casull. In those days it was not easy to convince many writers to even try the .454. It gives me great pleasure to have been one of the first to spotlight the .454 as well as provide extensive loading data in Handgunner in the mid-1980s. It took awhile for the shooting public to discover the .454 and Freedom Arms went from a vault full of sixguns looking for owners to a back order situation. Handgun hunters especially, went for the .454 in a big way.

Freedom Arms did not stop with the .454 Casull-chambered Model 83. They soon offered their premium revolver in .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum and even the greatest of all cartridges, the .22 Long Rifle. A very few were even chambered in .50 Action Express. While Freedom Arms was producing those first .454s, John Linebaugh was experimenting with even larger calibers first using cut down .348 Winchester for his .500 Linebaugh (see The Sixgunner in this issue), which was followed up by the .475 Linebaugh using .45-70 brass. In the 1990s, Bob Baker of Freedom Arms took a good look at the .475 for chambering in the Model 83, however the rims were too large to fit the five shot cylinders of their production revolvers.

Baker experimented with the .475 by reducing the diameter of the parent .45-70 brass rims and found the cartridge would perform exceptionally well in the Model 83. However, he did not wish to produce a revolver for which shooters could not obtain factory loaded ammunition or at least factory brass of the proper dimensions. When loaded ammunition arrived from Buffalo Bore as well as factory brass from Starline, the Model 83 was chambered in .475 Linebaugh and to this day sixgunners still argue over which is more powerful, the .454 or the .475 Linebaugh. My answer in these types of situations is always “Buy ’em both!”

The next natural step up in caliber was the .500. However, this cartridge is so large that even by trimming the rim it was impossible to make it fit the Freedom Arms cylinder without also altering the cylinder ratchet. Baker hit on the answer and showed me the cartridge nearly two years ago. Meanwhile, Baker spent a long time experimenting with loads, tweaking the brass, and as he reached the top level of power possible with the new cartridge, he told me “I’m getting too old for this!” That should tell you something about the power possible in the new .500 Wyoming Express as Bob Baker handles the .454 Magnum like it’s a .44 Special.

To solve the problem of cylinder size the Wyoming Express uses a belted case. Baker says of the new cartridge: “The .500 WE is a proprietary cartridge of Freedom Arms, Inc. using a 1.370″ length belted case. The belt provides reliable head spacing on a small shoulder which was required to work in the Freedom Arms Model 83 revolver. It also uses a .500″ diameter bullet with a maximum nose length of .395″ which gives a maximum overall cartridge length of 1.765″.

The cartridge was designed to not only get outstanding and predictable ballistic performance but to also minimize forcing cone erosion, thereby extending the useful life of your Freedom Arms revolver. This is done by matching powder column length, powder volume and bullet diameter to an expected range of bullet weights, velocity ranges and pressure levels.

Notice a couple of things here when comparing the .500 Wyoming Express to the .500 Linebaugh which inspired it. The .500 Linebaugh uses a large rim, the .500 Wyoming Express head spaces on a belt. The .500 Linebaugh brass is 1.400″ while the .500 WE is set at 1.370″. Bullets are not interchangeable with the .500 Linebaugh using .511″ diameter bullets and the .500 Wyoming Express designed for the use of true 1/2″ diameter bullets.

 

Left to right: .500 WE, .50 GI, .50 AE, .500 S&W Mag.

Strong Spirit/Weak Flesh

 

When Bob Baker first provided me with his experimental loading data for the .500 Wyoming Express with 350- and 370-grain bullets at 1,600 fps, 400s at 1,500 fps, and 440s at 1,400 fps (Freedom Arms will supply this data with their revolver) I remembered his
comment of “I’m too old for this!” I responded with “How do you think I feel with about two decades on you?” I knew there was no way I was about to be able to handle the heaviest loads in the .500 Wyoming Express. Twenty years ago, maybe; today, no way!

My heaviest loads just topped 1,200 fps and while manageable in a 71⁄2″, scope-sighted Model 83, they were brutal in the relatively lightweight 43⁄4″ version. The heaviest loads I used in the Perfect Packin’ Pistol 43⁄4″ Model 83 was the Cast
Performance Bullet Co.’s 440-grain Hard Cast Gas Checked LBT over 19 grains of Blue Dot for 1,201 fps in the 71⁄2″ version and 1,143 fps in the short barreled PPP. In the latter I was able to put three shots in 7/8″ at 20 yards and there is nothing I
am ever likely to encounter in the game fields I cannot take cleanly and completely with this load.

As I was testing both sixguns, my loads, and myself with the .500 Wyoming Express I thought of Elmer Keith and Tom Ferguson. When Keith finally got his much awaited .44 Magnum after 30 years of urging of manufacturers on his part, he reported in 1957 he had fired 600 rounds the first year; I fired more .500s than that from the Freedom Armsrevolvers in three days.

When Ferguson tested the .500 Linebaugh many years ago he fired a one-shot group and said that was enough. Both were smarter men than I am! Believe me even with the “lighter” loads the .500 WE recoils more, much more, than comparable revolvers chambered in .44 Magnum.

 

The middle 5-round “group” was fired by t he .50-g r. Sierra.

20-yard groups.

Test Guns

 

My pair of test guns were a brand new 43⁄4″ Freedom Arms Model 83 chambered in .500 Wyoming Express and my 71⁄2″ Model 83 .50 Action Express which was returned to the factory to have a second cylinder fitted in .500 WE. While it was there I had Freedom Arms fit an SSK T’SOB scope base as there is no other I will trust with really hard kicking revolvers. For a scope I chose a Leupold, as I’ve had excellent results with their products on hard kicking sixguns and single shot pistols for more than two decades. In this case the choice was one of their silver, 4X long eye relief scopes mounted with three rings on the T’SOB base.

Any Model 83 originally chambered in .50 AE can be retrofitted with a .500 WE cylinder, however at least at this time Freedom Arms is not offering the .50 AE cylinder as an option with the .500 Wyoming Express.

Freedom Arms is also offering the .500 Wyoming Express brass in plastic cartridge boxes holding 64 rounds as well as RCBS loading dies. The carbide three die set includes a special die setting gauge which is actually a washer which will place the carbide sizer at the proper position to not engage the belt on the cartridge case when full-length sizing. This washer is placed on top of the shell holder and the sizing die is then screwed down until it meets the washer. Once this is accomplished there is no danger of squeezing the belt, which would result in poor head spacing and possible misfires. Freedom Arms recommends seating and crimping in two separate operations so it would be handy to have a second sizing-crimping die.

For my loading of the .500 Wyoming Express I used four hard cast gas checked designs, Oregon Trails’ 370, and from Cast Performance Bullet Co. came 370, 400, and 440 LBT bullets. For jacketed bullets my choice was Sierra’s 350 JHP and 400 JFN. These were originally designed for the .500 S&W Magnum and when seated normally in the center of the cannelure that serves as a crimping groove will protrude from the front of the Freedom Arms cylinder.

I was able to use them by crimping at the very top of the crimping groove, however Sierra will be offering .500 WE versions with the cannelure set a little higher. Even in my hands the .500 WE has proven to be exceptionally accurate. The scope-sighted 71⁄2″ version is an excellent choice for the hunting of big, heavy, mean, nasty critters, while many will find the 43⁄4″ version to be the Perfect Packin’ Pistol. Should I dare to roam among mean nasty critters looking to end my sojourn here I would certainly load it to full horsepower. If needed, I doubt I would even feel the recoil! I like ’em both.

For more info:
Freedom Arms, P.O. Box
150, Freedom, WY 83120,
(307) 883-4432,
www.freedomarms.com

Leupold,
14400 NW Greenbrier Pkwy,
Beaverton, OR 97006,
(503) 646-9171
www.leupold.com

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All About Guns You have to be kidding, right!?!

Guess that I am going to the Gunshop in the morning

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Original Springfield Trapdoor Officer model meets original Ideal 45-70-500 tool

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The Yangtze Incident – Britain’s Last Battle in China 1949

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OLD WEST CCW BOOT GUNS AND BABY DRAGOONS WRITTEN BY MIKE “DUKE” VENTURINO

TOP: Colt Richards Conversion .44 with barrel snubbed to 3″.
SECOND FROM TOP: Colt Sheriff’s Model .44-40 with 3″ barrel.
THIRD FROM TOP: Merwin & Hulbert .44-40 with 3.5″ barrel.
BOTTOM: S&W Model 1881DA .44 Russian with 4″ barrel.

The Colt Baby Dragoon .31 (bottom) was a scaled-down version
of the huge 4-pound Colt Dragoon .44 (top).

 

Hollywood would have us think that back in the “Wild West” every man went about his daily affairs packing a big sixgun in a leather holster on his belt. NOT! Drovers, Frontiersmen and Indian Scouts likely did, and of course Texas Rangers and all sorts of other lawmen certainly carried handguns openly.

Not so town and city dwellers. Pocket pistols were a hot item in the Old West. Town dwellers and well dressed travelers also packed iron, at first actually in pockets. As the trend progressed to bigger and more powerful they were often concealed in a holster under a coat. Consider this; Colt and S&W alone produced well over a million concealment-intended handguns between 1848 and 1900. That’s amazing considering the population of the United States in that era.

Concealable handguns were so hot an item that it’s a fact when Sam Colt got his firearms-manufacturing business up and running the second time in the late 1840s, one of his first concerns was coming up with good “pocket pistols.” That was in 1848 and those little babies were only .31 caliber, and five-shooters to boot. Collectors even call them Baby Dragoons, after the huge 4-pound horse-carried Colt Dragoon revolvers they were based upon. Even by modern standards a Baby Dragoon was light at only 22 ounces with a 4″ barrel.

 

Lawmen certainly went openly armed. This turn of the century Texas Ranger was named Jules Baker. Photo courtesy Herb Peck Jr. Collection.

Merwin & Hulbert offered their Pocket Army .44s with twin barrel sets.
They were 3.5″ and 7″ and could be changed in seconds.

Cowboys and outdoorsmen likewise went openly armed.
Photo courtesy Herb Peck Jr. Collection.

The Bad News

 

That was the good news. The bad news was they were punch handicapped. With really hot loads, they were popping to break 700 fps with a 48-grain round ball. In foot-pounds of energy that’s sort of in-between a .22 Short and .22 Long. After those five pipsqueak charges were fired it would take an experienced shooter about 10 minutes to get them up and running again. The gun had to be broken into three pieces for reloading. I doubt if many wayfarers gave up their Bowie knives upon buying a Baby Dragoon.

But get this — Sam Colt sold 15,000 of those little .31s in only a year or so and then upgraded to a Model 1849. It used the same frame but with a loading lever beneath the barrel. Reload time was cut at least in half. Hear this too. The Colt factory turned out more than 325,000 of them before production ceased in 1873. That’s 24 years. It took Colt 68 years and several government contracts to produce 357,000 Colt Peacemakers. Who says people in the old days didn’t carry concealed?

Those gun-toters weren’t stupid either. They knew the little .31s were puny. Using the rebated cylinder design Colt eventually put five-shot .36 caliber cylinders on the little Model 1849 frame and called them Model 1862s. (Collectors named them Pocket Navy and Pocket Police depending on their exact configuration.) Those would push an 80-grain round ball all the way to 850 fps. That brought pocket pistol power up to .32 ACP ballistics. Things were humming then.

 

This Colt Richards Conversion may be snubbed off, but it would still
look dangerous from across a card table.

These are Model 1862 .36s. Front is Pocket Police. Rear is Pocket Navy.

Metallic Magic

 

Now think in terms of metallic cartridges. S&W actually got their business up and rolling in the 1850s and 1860s with concealed-carry-type handguns. This was their No. 1, which actually was the introductory vehicle for the .22 Short. Between 1857 and 1881 they sold over a quarter million of those itsy-bitsy little SAs.

Today’s cowboy-action shooters would be perfectly happy with those puny popguns. Heck they even try to make their big .45s recoil like .22 Shorts. But, back in those days when you didn’t smoke up your assailant’s sorry butt with the handgun, a knife fight likely commenced. People really wanted more power from their CCW guns.

For that reason, in 1876 S&W introduced the .38 S&W cartridge for pocket handguns and the revolver introduced along with it has always been known as the Baby Russian. (Gun people of the late 1800s sure liked that “baby” moniker.) It was so called because the design was scaled down from large frame revolvers the company was making for the Russian Government. A year later Colt came up with their idea of a concealed carry, cartridge firing handgun and this one was even DA! The Colt Model 1877DA was made in .38 Colt and .41 Colt calibers. Somehow they then became dubbed “Lightning” and “Thunderer” respectively.

None of these new concealed weapon calibers struck like lightning. The .38 S&W had loads with 145- to 150-grain bullets over 14 or 15 grains of black powder, while the .38 Colt load used 150-grain bullets over a whopping 19 grains of the same. The .41 Colt was loaded with 200-grain bullets and about 21 grains of black powder. None of these loads could have given over 750 fps, even from a long barreled revolver. Still they were better than a .22 Short. At last people started leaving the Bowie knives at home.

 

These mid-sized concealed. concealables were introduced in the
1870s. Top to bottom: Merwin & Hulbert Pocket .38, Colt Lightning
.38 and a Colt Thunderer .41.

The rise of trouser belt loops actually made it possible for larger more powerful handguns to be holstercarried while These mid-sized concealed.

Early concealment handguns were meant for pocket carry.

Little Big Guns

 

Another trend in CCWs got started circa the late 1870s and early 1880s. That was when gun-toters began packing short-barreled versions of big revolvers in holsters under their coats, instead of a diminutive one in their pocket. A for instance would be the so-called Colt SAA Sheriff’s Model with 3″ barrel and no ejector rod or housing. By this time S&W was also making its SA New Model No. 3 with short barrels, and their Model 1881DA was simply the No. 3 adapted to a DA trigger mechanism. It was common with 4″ barrel.

Why the change about that time? Because trouser belts for men became common. Now, I’m no expert on Old West clothing, but my seamstress wife does have some antique pattern catalogs from that era showing men’s pants starting to have belt loops Hence there was finally something to hitch a revolver holster onto without giving obvious notice the wearer was packing iron.

Old West gunmen were also known to have gunsmiths aid them in their quest for concealable handguns, and also to find innovative ways to pack them. For instance around 1881 El Paso City Marshall Dallas Stoudenmire was known to pack a Colt Richards Conversion .44 with its barrel shortened from 8″ to only 3″. Then he had a special leather-lined pocket built into his trousers to house it. By the 1890s shoulder holsters were common. Reformed outlaw John Wesley Hardin was packing either or both a Colt Lightning and S&W Model 1881DA in
such a rig when he was gunned down in an El Paso saloon.

 

After its five tiny round balls were fired the Colt Baby Dragoon .31 had to be dismantled to three pieces for reloading.

As concealed-carry handguns got more powerful, fighting knives got smaller.
Left: Colt Baby Dragoon .31 & Steve Brooks Bowie knife. Right: Colt Sheriff’s
Model .44-40 with dagger by unknown maker.

Other Ideas

 

Some companies got downright brilliant about concealed-carry and self-defense handguns. Merwin & Hulbert for instance offered a Pocket Army .44. It was a normal-sized sixgun and much too large to carry in a pocket. But, they offered the option of two pre-fitted barrels. One was 7″ long and the other 3.5″. They could be switched in a matter of seconds. The idea was for the long barrel to be worn openly on the trail, and then the short one replaced for concealed carry. Then M&H took matters one step further. The revolver’s butt came to a point called the “skullcrusher” for when altercations became more intimate. Wouldn’t lawyers have a field day with that now?

Over the years I’ve managed to add an assortment of Old West concealed carry weapons to my shooting collection of handguns. A Baby Dragoon .31 and both versions of Model 1862 .36s are from Colt’s second generation of cap & ball revolver production of the late 1970s and early 1980s. There’s also an S&W Model 1881DA .44 Russian, a Merwin & Hulbert Pocket Army, and a Colt SAA Sheriff’s Model. Both of those are .44-40s. Some years back I even went to the trouble of having Wisconsin gunsmith Kenny Howell build me a facsimile Richards
Conversion .44 with snubbed-off barrel similar to Dallas Stoudenmire’s favored concealed sixgun. It’s in the original .44 Colt caliber.

The little S&W No. 1s and Baby Russians have eluded me so far but there is a “Baby” Merwin & Hulbert .38 in my collection that is of similar size and power to the S&W Baby Russian. Also, about this time someone is likely thinking, “What about derringers? The dummy is forgetting them.” No I’m not. I’ve just never been interested in them, and won’t blow smoke up your wazoo and say someday I’ll do an article covering derringers. Somebody else can do that. This is a revolver article.

 

The puny Baby Dragoon .31 penetrated two 7/8″ boards and lodged in the third.

The point of a Merwin & Hulbert’s butt was called “The Skullcrusher.”

Duke’s Opinion

 

So here’s my take on Old West concealed-carry handguns. The little .31 caliber Colts were better than nothing, but if you had to take on someone with one you better hope they weren’t wearing a lot of clothing or a heavy leather vest. I shot mine into a baffle box and it went through two 7/8″ pine boards and lodged in the third. I think it was these pipsqueaks that gave rise to the legends
of pocket bibles or a sheriff’s badge stopping a bullet. Ditto in spades for the S&W No. 1 .22 Short.

The S&W Baby Russian and M&H .38s were a great step up. They were still compact enough to actually be pocket-carried, and yet have a modicum of pistol power. There are plenty of accounts about wounds from guns like that causing death from infection days or weeks after a gunfight. Unfortunately, often it was the bad guy that expired weeks later while the good guy was beaten or knifed to death at the scene. They weren’t stoppers.

That leaves us with the short-barreled, big-bore revolvers meant to be holster-carried. Actually they were pretty good self-defense handguns. The .44 Russian would have had a 246- to 255-grain bullet over 23 grains of black powder. From a 3″ or 4″ barrel that load gives 725 to 750 fps. The .44-40 load would have a 200- grain bullet over a full 40-grain charge. It was snorty! Even from a 3″ or 3.5″ barrel it will break 800 fps. If none of that impresses you “modern” guys then just think again. In terms of muzzle energy those ballistics pretty much equal a .45 ACP from one of the compact Model 1911s.

Personally, if I had been walking the streets of a tough town in the 1880s, and had my choice of what to carry concealed, it would be a toss up between the S&W Model 1881DA .44 Russian, or the Merwin & Hulbert .44-40. The Colt Sheriff’s Model .44-40 is attractive but it would be my third choice just because of the slow reload factor. Both the S&W and M&H offer simultaneous cartridge extraction.

And then I would have slipped an S&W or M&H “Baby” .38 in a pocket for backup — and had a knife in my boot too. And if you were a bad guy after me then, you might keep in mind I might have a good friend nearby equally ready. Like Clint Smith says, “Always cheat, always win.”

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