By Michael Shyne
G.R.A.D. Company has recently been marketing a 5 shot double action .22 caliber revolver, concealed within the handle of a knife. We have all seen the colorful and well-done ads in Small Arms Review. An alternative design has been marketed for some time by North Exhibition and Advertisement Corporation in Beijing, China. You know this company as “Norinco”.
In 1995 I was with a group of U.S. businessmen touring China on a mission to better understand strategic defense issues involving America and China. One of our destination points was the Norinco exhibition facility, an immense new building on the outskirts of Beijing, then accessible only by a narrow 2-lane roadway. We were the first U.S. visitors to this new exhibition facility.
Many unique items, ranging from air rifles to anti-aircraft guns, .22 ammunition to artillery rounds and bombs, were displayed. The diversity of Norinco’s product line is astounding. More astounding is the fact that it is, or was then, composed of over 100 individual manufacturing facilities spread out over that immense nation.
One of the unique products that caught my attention was a folding dagger which also contained a concealed device capable of firing three 22 LR cartridges. Its quality was excellent. The fold-ability of the knife blade, though possibly jeopardizing the unit’s overall strength, certainly made it a handy weapon.
This weapon is not a revolver; it holds three cartridges in a chamber unit with three side-by-side barrels. This small chamber unit contains the chambers and rifled barrels. It is easily removable for reloading.
Clearly, this design could be adaptable to other calibers. Unfortunately, importation of Norinco products suffers restrictions. Possibly a licensed importer could import parts of this knife/gun combination and produce the remaining parts in America, resulting in a very simple, well-designed folding unit, a fine example of a registered “any other weapon”. The address of Norinco’s exhibition facility is:
North Exhibition and Advertisement Corporation
7A Yuetan Nanjie
Beijing, China 100045
Phone number:
010:8512244-212 8527570
Fax number:
010:8512244-212 8512418
| This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V5N1 (October 2001) |
