Medusa revolver

I'm Interested...pic's? condition?

I keep checking back here every few months or so...If BarbieZ can get lucky then so can i :)

...Just dont want to challenge her 8 year looking record, i'de be happy to underachieve there ;)
 
My Sincerest Apologies

I owe the The Firing Line and Forum fans a huge apology for being a non-correspondent. I've spent the last year getting used to the idea that I'm no longer working in the space program (Thanks Obama!). After driving to NASA every day for the last 30 years, I was having a hard time with not being able to find another network manager position. My wife said "Get over it.", and I'm slowly getting used to the idea.

I owe a lot of people a letter and hope to catch up as quickly as possible.

OK, something for you to ponder. A Medusa carbine! And, yes I do have 100 yard targets of .380 around 6 inches.

Stay tuned.
~Jonathan
 

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3 more pictures.

1st is my favorite large caliber handgun, a Ruger P&R .50 AE with a short barrel converted to 5-shot. Extremely accurate heavy recoil, match-grade barrel.

2nd is a very heavy recoil 10" .50AE stainless conversion.

3rd is what a factory comp looks like. Vented up and slightly backwards. Very civil. This was to show BarbieZ what the porting looked like.

~Jonathan
 

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Comments for BarbieZ

Neat pics of a 6", 4", and 2 1/2" Medusas. Did you realize you own about 1% of our entire U.S. production? The pic of the comp is to show you how the factory comp looks. I don't recognize the one you have. Anyone?

~Jonathan
 
Thanx!

The first of these pictures is a prototype on a Mod 19 S&W. This was a very short stroke plate gun which won a local Bianchi Plate Match in Katy, TX. Incredibly fast lockup and target reacquisition. Major or minor caliber.

The second pic is a prototype, a Modified S&W 25-2 in .45 ACP. Modified to also shoot 45Mag in double action. The first thing I did was chop down a 3" pine tree with one shot (I don't know what the limit is). Very accurate in either caliber.

The third pic is the port I designed for my new barrel. The recoil of the 45Mag was cut down to that of a 44 Special.

I'll post more later.

~Jonathan
 

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I wonder if jwphillips could make one of those cylinders for a Blackhawk or a Securtiysix, I don't have a Smith & Wesson .357, or even a cylinder/crane conversion?

Good to see you back, and sorry about your job problems.
 
Medusa Carbine

A combination of 2 of my weaknesses...the Medusa (she will be mine, oh yes) and thumbhole stocks.

Looks like fun to me!
 
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Linear

David Moore is one of the last true gunsmiths on planet Earth. He was 18 when his father told him there was such a thing as "replacement parts", but not until he'd been making his own for 4 years (he still does). That was 45 years ago. He told me he would make me a stock for the new carbine out of a single chunk of American walnut. I picked it up 2 weeks later and it was perfect! Isn't it gorgeous? I guess you can tell I'm still amazed after all these years.

~Jonathan
 
medusas!

Hi Jonathan,
Sorry about the job loss, Hope something comes up for you soon!
With that said, WOW that carbine is beautiful! I live in south Florida, and
have only seen 4 of the revolvers (3 are mine) and heard of one other for sale. I am currently trying to acquire a blackhawk in 50ae done by P & R it is very nice!
 
BarbieZ

Thanks for the condolences. As a contractor, they weren't paying me half of what a NASA engineer makes anyway. Gives me more time for shooting.

Did you see my posting of the two 50AE revolvers? This is an extensive mod that requires a new cylinder, hand, extractor and tube, barrel, and threshold for pain. The shorter barrel kicks a LOT less than the longer one and is very accurate. The extra 3 inches in the barrel produces a huge amount of pressure due to powder burn duration. We converted Gary Paul Johnson's Ruger .44 Hunter to a 5-shot about which he wrote an article about 6 years.

Now Gary is a big boy and very experienced in shooting big bores. He was prepared for heavy recoil, but not like this. Grabbing the stock wooden grips hard with both hands, the revolver recoil rotated the frame around and dug the hammer spur into his forearm. He put the revolver down and went out to buy ballistic gloves and rubber grips. I'm not sure he ever had it ported. He told me he can shoot a box of ammo and then has to wait 3 days to recover. I feel the same way. The little one I can shoot all weekend.

One added benefit was that since you could never use the original cylinder again, the old one makes a great pencil holder!

I also forgot to tell you that the .45Mag (6 shot) mod went on the Blackhawk, but the 5-shot .50AE was done on the Super Blackhawk (Hunter).
 
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Thanks for the response.
It will be awhile before I will be able to talk my buddy out of his 50Ae. He teased me for a couple of years with the 2.5" before I found something, he was willing to part with it, to get. The only reason he traded it was because I had the other two.
The 50ae has the shorter barrel on it, so I am glad it will be shootable.
How many of the carbines did you make? There again the gun is a piece of art.
These revolvers are with out a doubt my favorites!
Happy shooting!
 
I enjoy the hell out of my 4.62" Bowen Ruger SA Longhunter conversion in 50AE. Recoil is brisk but not unmanagable. Preferable to one of my FAs in my least favorie load, 454 Casull. Dave
 
WOW, I'm glad I discovered this thread. JW, that's an incredible firearm, and an awesome idea. I'm a sucker for odd/unusual, and I've just had to add another gun to the "bucket list".

That carbine takes the cake though, it's possibly one of the most beautiful firearms I've ever seen. I've always wanted a revolver carbine, but no one made one(until Rossi recently). Add to that the mutli-caliber capability, and.... oooooooh, I get the shivers. :D I'm interested as to how you got around it spewing hot gases without either, A) a "blast shield", or B) using a gas seal like the m1895 Nagant.

Also, kudos for being willing to answer our questions, that's not something you find very often. I'd love to learn more about these. If you get a website up and running, please let us know. And, if you ever get back into producing these, I want one.
 
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JK, it's my understanding the Medusa was successful and that the patent was bought by Colt (just before they essentially left the revolver market)!

I've been told by a distributor in Europe that FN is making the Medusa M47 again and that they are available new there. But I've not verified this.
 
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