Bart's has a Gyrojet for sale

[Lazylion]

very cool

 

[Lazylion]

would want to use it too much

 

[somd_mustangs]

What?

These are indeed rare and well worth the $750 if it's in decent shape but purely as a collector item as ammo is very hard to find and at $50-$75 per round, a tad expensive. If ever a modern gun deserved to be C&R it's this one

The first model (137) didn't even have a barrel, just guide rails (hence the holes along the side of the "barrel"). Smooth bore stainless steel liner on production models until the GCA of 1968 forced going to 12mm and rifled barrels. The rifling was just scribe lines to satisfy the letter of the law.

Some day I'd love to shoot one just for the hell of it.

See http://www.gyrojet.net/

 

[Armadillofz1]

Pretty sure the same GJ pistol has been making the rounds for the last few decades. I see it pop up from Time to time.

 

[brewergeek]

Here you go:


Some day I'd love to shoot one just for the hell of it.

See http://www.gyrojet.net/

I'd like one just to casually say "...and here is my ROCKET PISTOL!" but at $50 a round, not sure I'd fire it too often.

 

[DocSavage]

I'd love to have a Dardick revolver... Trounds are way cool!

 

[Skins_Brew]

I wonder if there is a way to make your own ammo?

 

[somd_mustangs]

I wonder if there is a way to make your own ammo?

As far as I know many have tried and all have failed. It seems simple enough but the size, placement and angle of the exhaust ports are critical. It requires some pretty precise machining and experimentation - MBA themselves went through a myriad of designs and had all sorts of problems with quality control, and frankly never did get it to work reliably. There's a guy that's been trying to make a production round - called the "Death Wind" project - using a redesign with the ports at the front of the round for stability. By definition having the ports at the back makes it unstable and having even a slight imbalance in port size/angle/blockage will cause the round to go haywire.

http://www.deathwind.com/project.htm

BTW - if you look at the "wadcutter" version of the round, the nose is at the same angle as a drill bit - easier to machine out the insides for the propellant that way

 

[planktonadbc]

In spite of not having ammo, you can always watch Sean Connery as James Bond in "You Only Live Twice" and practice storming Blofeld volcano with it. :-)

 

[byf43]

Back in '79 Realco Firearms had both the Gyrojet and an AutoMag in their showcase.

They were priced at $350.00 each. I shoulda bought both of 'em!!!!!!!

(Not the pistol at Realco!)

 

[dancnr]

Does anyone know the stats on the ammo? Like velocity and energy? In theory would it have anything like the energy of a regular pistol round?

 

[Mark75H]

Does anyone know the stats on the ammo? Like velocity and energy? In theory would it have anything like the energy of a regular pistol round?

After it has time to accelerate, yes ... at point blank no ... I'm guessing there was some 'sweet spot' where energy and accuracy crossed

 

[marquis708]

Man that is a monster! It can shoot in outer space or under water. It picks up speed as it goes further distances. If you shoot someone up close 2-3 feet, it may bounce off of them.
If it wasn't for my wife, I would go buy that one. I like it a lot.

"God Bless America as she surely needs it right now".

 

[somd_mustangs]

Does anyone know the stats on the ammo? Like velocity and energy? In theory would it have anything like the energy of a regular pistol round?

There were dozens of different projectile designs, but here's the data on the most common used in the pistols - 13 mm "round nose" copper with 4 port exhaust:

Projectile weight = 185 gr
Max velocity = 1250 fps at ~40-50' downrange
Energy = 700 ft-lb
(from MBA literature/propaganda)

By comparison a typical .45ACP 230gr at 850 fps yields 370 ft-lb, a .44 magnum probably 1100 ft-lb. So it had the oomph.

Unfortunately there never really was an "accuracy" sweet spot due to variation in manufacturing tolerances and quality control - the inherent design required everything to be "just so" and it was not unlike firing a torpedo but without the guidance. Penetration at optimal range was apparently very impressive, based on an informal test in Vietnam which probably isn't suitable to discuss here. Up close, not so much. Since it was originally conceived as a light-weight throw-away for CQB ala the FP-45 Liberator, not a raging success. MBA was very good at marketing though and tried to turn a sows ear into a somewhat hairy purse by offering it to the public labeled as a rare experimental pistol, and with presentation cases, etc. making you feel part of a special club if you bought one (kind of like now I guess!). It really is a very interesting story even if it's not a practical weapon system as it sits ... however, MBA provided gyrojet-based flares for aviator survival kits for years. They may still be made under license, not sure.

Somebody please go buy this one from Barts so I don't have to drive up there
There's also a Mark II Model C (12mm) with box on GunBroker right now for $1350.

 

[strider07]

Does Walmart stock ammo for that one?

Try a hobby shop, get some Estes HD ammo

 

[Ragnar]

I've kept meaning to post this. Here is the Gyrojet that Bart's has. I took this picture a couple weeks ago.



Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[somd_mustangs]

Thanks!
The tag says it's a Mark II Model C which is the 12 mm made after 1968 GCA. The serial number isn't on the "census list" of known guns so I'll pass it along.
Looks to be in pretty good shape. Great deal, BTW, as far as market price is concerned. If it's clean and mechanically sound you'd be hard-pressed to find one for less than a $1000.