For Ken Walters and other progressive press admirers...

[John Ross]

Left to right, Star Progressive (38/357 only), Rifle Star (223, 30-06, Belted mag, 45-70, 460 Weatherby), and Willis Tool (Jon Powers) Man-O-War (.50 BMG)

Not shown: Star Universal (44 Mag)

Jon Powers is one of the best machinists I have ever met. He is or was at Willis Tool in Michigan. He developed a .44 Magnum and .45 Colt gas-operated semiauto pistol that looked like an enlarged Colt Woodsman and was a thing of beauty. He made several (how many, I don't know, I think it was maybe a dozen) and sold the patent to IMI which came out with the clunky Desert Eagle (with a TERRIBLY wrong grip angle). John tested one of his Magmatics to destruction and could not blow it up with smokeless powder. He finally did it in with a 240 grain bullet loaded into a case charged with a chunk of ditching dynamite.

In the late '70s and early '80s, after seeing the custom .50 BMG rifles I built for myself and Kent Lomont, he got the .50 bug and scratch built his own falling block .50 BMG rifle. Upon seeing Kent's and my Star Progressive reloaders and our Dillon RL1000 (which didn't work as well as it should have due to less-than-Star machining tolerances, and a clunky auto-index), he designed and built an 8-station circular .50 BMG progressive press for himself. Kent and I fell in love with it and persuaded him to build one for each of us, the second for Kent and the third for me. I don't know if he ever made more of them--to my knowledge there were only the three made. Maybe he made more after mine. I heard Jon's was stolen(!) and Kent's went through a shop fire about 20+ years ago, but Jon rebuilt it. Mine is still as good as the day I received it.

The size of the case makes sizing brass fired in an M2 a bit difficult, so I first size the brass (and then trim it) on a single stage press if I'm using cases that were fired in a machine gun. But for cases fired in my bolt guns with their minimum-spec chambers, it runs like a greased clock doing all steps at once.

I lost touch with Jon about 10 years ago, around the time I had my stroke and got divorced. Hope he's doing well.

 

[swamprat]

I remember meeting Jon at Second Chance many years ago. I remember his pistols and one year he had that 50 cal loader there.
His work was outstanding indeed.

 

[Jellybean]

John, that is about 200 degrees cooler than "cool".

Thanks for the story, I have three of those Desert Eagles and never heard this story before. I would have loved to have seen those ancestors. Also, does the Man-O-War have an auto primer feed?

Thanks.

 

[John Ross]

John, that is about 200 degrees cooler than "cool".

Thanks for the story, I have three of those Desert Eagles and never heard this story before. I would have loved to have seen those ancestors. Also, does the Man-O-War have an auto primer feed?

Thanks.

Absolutely. In the photo, the primer tube is behind the left side of the powder hopper. Not only that, it has a primer pocket swage station.

One bit of evidence of Jon's design brilliance is that in the Priming station, the hole for the priming punch is SQUARE. The punch itself is round. This gives four spots for any debris to fall through and not jam the priming mechanism.

Regarding the Magmatic, I believe Jon made seven of the guns, not "about a dozen" as I said earlier. He was shooting 240s at 1700 and got a big reaction at Second Chance when he split one of the pins in two. This was around 1980 or 81.

IMI was crazy that they didn't just copy his exact design when they bought the patent. I shot the Magmatic and it was great. JD Jones wrote it up, twice I think. Do a search. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures.

 

[Robert Palermo]

One can only stop and admire the old world craftsmanship that seems to be disappearing in todays cnc world. Brings back fond memories. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jellybean]

John, I did a quick search and only found mentions of the Magmatic on forums. One of which was by Jon Powers' son, on a VolksWagon forum from 2001. On another forum one of the posters found a phone no. and address for Jon Powers, that was in 2009.

Anyway, as a long time do it yourself tinkerer, he has my utmost admiration.

 

[John Ross]

John, I did a quick search and only found mentions of the Magmatic on forums. One of which was by Jon Powers' son, on a VolksWagon forum from 2001. On another forum one of the posters found a phone no. and address for Jon Powers, that was in 2009.

The Magmatic was written up in GUNS magazine, January 1981, by Al Pickles. The magazine had a feature article about a Ruger 10/22 altered cosmetically to look like an MP40 or somesuch (I don't have a copy but a friend does--I'll talk to him tonight).

IIRC Pickles wrote that the Magmatic was like shooting a 1911 with Super Vel ammo. I don't know what the load he shot was but the 240s at over 1700 that I touched off kicked a LOT more than any 1911 I've ever fired. I think the Magmatic weighed almost exactly the same as a 6 1/2" 29.

A current business search engine lists Willis Tool of Warren, Michigan as of 2010 as having been started in 1961, having one employee, and revenues of $43,000. I tried the phone number listed and got a recording saying it had been disconnected.

Maybe Jon retired recently. I hope he is still with us. I haven't seen him in over 10 years but he was always a great guy.

 

[Jellybean]

Thanks John, some of the forums mentioned that article and about the recoil being like a 1911 with Super Vels. I used to have several cases of old magazines laying around but had to get rid of them before I could even get started reading them. I'll have to keep my eyes open.

I went back to the VW forum, his son hasn't posted there since 2006 as far as I can tell. It was only giving me the threads he'd started and not all of his posts, maybe because I'm not a registered user. It would let me send him an e-mail, but if he's not hanging around there he'd probably never see it.

 

[ohiococonut]

The Man-O-War is an impressive piece of machinery no doubt. I use a RCBS Ammomaster with lot's of Imperial sizing wax. Resizing range pick up brass fired from the Browning aren't the easiest thing to resize. The name Man-O-War rings a bell but it's been so long ago and I can't recall even seeing one.

Do you recall if the original Desert Eagle that was featured on the cover of (I believe) Gun World in 83' was the original design? I followed the Desert Eagle, from what I thought was it's inception, to the time I was able to get my hands on one in 86'. I still have it in .357. It was before they even had a "Mark" designation or made it in any other caliber. Many years ago I stippled the front grip strap and had JD Jone refinish it in SSK Khrome. I've also got a newer Mark XIX model in 50AE with the .44 cal conversion.
A friend of mine now owns the original Desert Eagle 50AE that was derived from a Mark I in .44mag with the original .510 cut rifling bore. He also has all of the complete documentation, sketches, bullets and brass. It's a neat piece of history to say the least. I was fortunate to acquire a couple of the original cases and bullets for my collection from the second owner before he sold it. The development was an interesting story in itself. It actually spawned the birth of the Mark XIX. It's a unique gun but you're right about the grip angle.

 

[John Ross]

Do you recall if the original Desert Eagle that was featured on the cover of (I believe) Gun World in 83' was the original design? I followed the Desert Eagle, from what I thought was it's inception, to the time I was able to get my hands on one in 86'. I still have it in .357. It was before they even had a "Mark" designation or made it in any other caliber. Many years ago I stippled the front grip strap and had JD Jone refinish it in SSK Khrome. I've also got a newer Mark XIX model in 50AE with the .44 cal conversion.

A friend of mine now owns the original Desert Eagle 50AE that was derived from a Mark I in .44mag with the original .510 cut rifling bore. He also has all of the complete documentation, sketches, bullets and brass. It's a neat piece of history to say the least. I was fortunate to acquire a couple of the original cases and bullets for my collection from the second owner before he sold it. The development was an interesting story in itself. It actually spawned the birth of the Mark XIX. It's a unique gun but you're right about the grip angle.

I confess I know little about the history of the DE and don't recall the '83 Gun World article. A friend has a bound collection of just about every gun magazine ever published and I'll look it up.

I handled a DE when they first came out and the grip angle turned me off. I also don't like picking up brass. My several years of concentrated Auto Mag experimentation 1972-1978 was my only real flirtation with autoloading magnum handguns.

Has anyone necked the .50 AE to .357 in a DE? That would be interesting. Does Remington still make the 150 grain .35 cal Core-Lokt spitzer?

 

[Jellybean]

John, the only necked down version of the .50 AE was the .440 Corbon. It didn't seem to catch on, and I'd think the same would go for a .357 version. Don't get me wrong, I like every caliber and try to explore them the best I can, but the market is a lot more picky than I am.

I've shelved my Desert Eagles for awhile too, I haven't been doing much shooting since my injury and it's pretty much all lead, due to the insane prices on jacketed bullets.

 

[m657]

thanks for the wonderful photos and essay....more....MORE!!!!

 

[ohiococonut]

As Jellybean pointed out, the 44 Corbon is the only commercial round that's been necked down for the Desert Eagle. I don't know if the brass will allow that much shrinkage without wrinkling. A two die set up for forming might work but you'd still need a final sizing die since it is a straight taper case. Then you'd most likely have to ream the necks. I know I've necked the S&W 500 down to 44mag with no problem but 357 might be pushing it a little.

The only oddball cartridge I do remember seeing for it was back in 89' when I went to SSk Ind. to pick up my Desert Eagle. I just had it refinshed in SSK Khrome and I met with JD Jones. He brought out a Desert Eagle he had just finished working on that was chambered in 357/44 Bain/Davis. It was absoultely beautiful, with Rosewood grips, and as finicky as the Desert Eagle is for feeding I was a little surprised he pulled it off.

We talked a little about shooting sabots out of handguns since I was shooting 357's out of my 44 Super Blackhawk at blistering speeds. Apparently the company I was buying them from wouldn't send him any to review. It's just as well, they folded up a year later. I did save one loaded cartridge from back then for my collection.

 

[firearmsunlimited]

John,

Thanks for the photo. I have not seen any of those great pieces of equipment in years.

 

[John Ross]

 

[Jellybean]

Wow, I almost missed this post. Thanks for the pictures John, that is great! I can see the Desert Eagles ancestry in the bolt. I used to qualify with my .41 magnum DE, but I would have actually carried one of those.

 

[grub348]

I remember reading about Jon Powers and his .44 Magmatic. I seem to recall that he resided near Holly, Michigan. Is that a fact or am I just having a senior moment or a flashback to the sixties ?

 

[John Ross]

I remember reading about Jon Powers and his .44 Magmatic. I seem to recall that he resided near Holly, Michigan. Is that a fact or am I just having a senior moment or a flashback to the sixties ?

Warren, Michigan, I think. Don't know if that's near Holly.

JR

 

[grub348]

Warren is about 40 minutes from Holly. I guess that's why I rememberd Jon, I used to live in Warren and now I live near Holly. Funny how the Golden Years brain functions........