The Armi Jager Frontier

The Armi Jager Frontier

This week for Firearm Friday we are bringing you something you don't see everyday. The Armi Jager Frontier Revolver Carbine which is chambered in 357 SA.

And it was made by Armi Jager, otherwise known as Adler Jager, was a German-Italian firearms manufacturer located in the small town of Loano, Italy.

The gun manufacturer was active since the early 1950s, manufacturing semi-automatic .22 rimfire sporting rifles and replica "Western" revolvers. Later it evolved to rimfire and small-caliber centerfire (.32 ACP) firearms patterned after the look of military rifles which at the time were difficult or illegal to own for civilians in Italy. Some of its best-known products were several .22 rimfire versions styled after the M16 rifle,[1] known as the AP-74 and AP-74M; replicas of the Armalite AR-18 assault rifle, known as the AP-75; replicas of the Russian Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle, known as the AP-80; replicas of the British SA-80 bull-pup rifle, known as the AP-82; replicas of the Israeli IMI Galil assault rifle, known as the AP-84; replicas of the French FA-MAS bull-pup rifle, known as the AP-85. The factory sold most of its designs under the trade name Adler. The Armi Jager production saw significant sales in Italy and exports in the United States, earning a reputation as high quality plinking rifles. Ours was something they didn't produce very many of and a type of firearm you don't see produced very much in this day and age.

Firearms production at Jager ended by early 1993, according to the old owner Mr. Piscetta for "lack of skilled personnel". Activity continued though as a gun store and gunsmithing shop located in the town of Basaluzzo, Alessandria province. The enterprise has since changed its name to "Nuova Jager"

The design of the revolving rifle was essentially similar to revolver-type pistols, with a rotating cylinder that held five or six rounds in a variety of calibers from .36 to .64 inches

The first revolving rifle used percussion caps, like revolving pistols of the time. A cartridge (consisting of powder and a lead ball) was loaded into the front of the chamber and then compressed with a plunger that was located beneath the barrel. Once the cylinder's chambers were loaded, percussion caps were placed over the vent nipples at the rear of the cylinder. The weapon was now ready to fire. In addition to being susceptible to chain fire problems, the revolving cylinder design also tended to spray lead splinters into the wrist and hand of the user. Revolving pistols did not suffer from this problem since the user kept both hands behind the cylinder while firing a pistol. Later designs adapted the smokeless cartridge design as technology and innovation moved forward.

Legend has it that dime novelist Ned Buntline presented special order Colt revolvers with long barrels and detachable shoulder stocks to Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and other noted Old West celebrities. Revolving rifles and carbines were among the first effective repeating rifles. Models produced by Colt were carried in the Mexican War and the Apache Wars of the Old Southwest. Despite the popularity of the new lever-action rifles in the Old West, many manufacturers continued to offer special-order “carbine” versions of their popular single action revolvers.