I just got the 2007 Gun Digest, and there are several pages on a concept (that is all it is) for a new gun design combining (you guessed it) the frame of an auto pistol and the cylinder of a revolver. The designer calls it the "Au-Ver" a combination of the words "AUtomatic" and "revolVER." Nicely colored pictures, but another non-solution to a non-problem.
The design is very complex. Apparently there are two "models" (i.e., concepts - apparently no models have actually been made outside a CAD program). One uses a spring which is wound up to turn the cylinder, the other a conventional hand. Cocking the SA hammer and other functioning comes from a short (1" or so) slide at the back, driven by a gas piston. There is no provision for reloading the cylinder in place. A fired cylinder is ejected, like a magazine, and replaced by another. Cylinders appear to be bulky, and both larger and heavier than magazines, while containing fewer rounds.
Off hand, I can't imagine anyone actually putting real money into producing such a monstrosity, but then the Dardick gun made it to limited production. My opinion is that the designer needs to get a real job.
The big mystery to me is why the editors of Gun Digest thought the idea was worth a significant chunk of the book. Or maybe they figured it would start discussion and sell books. In that, they have likely succeeded, as this post shows.
Jim
The design is very complex. Apparently there are two "models" (i.e., concepts - apparently no models have actually been made outside a CAD program). One uses a spring which is wound up to turn the cylinder, the other a conventional hand. Cocking the SA hammer and other functioning comes from a short (1" or so) slide at the back, driven by a gas piston. There is no provision for reloading the cylinder in place. A fired cylinder is ejected, like a magazine, and replaced by another. Cylinders appear to be bulky, and both larger and heavier than magazines, while containing fewer rounds.
Off hand, I can't imagine anyone actually putting real money into producing such a monstrosity, but then the Dardick gun made it to limited production. My opinion is that the designer needs to get a real job.
The big mystery to me is why the editors of Gun Digest thought the idea was worth a significant chunk of the book. Or maybe they figured it would start discussion and sell books. In that, they have likely succeeded, as this post shows.
Jim