Franklin Green Free Pistol

[red9]

The next Rock Island Auction auction has a Green pistol (lot #772). This is only the second I have ever seen offered for sale (I bought the other one). Does anyone have any idea how many Green or Electroarm pistols were made and what their reputation was at the time? This one is s/n 120, mine is s/n 10x. I'm wondering if they started at 100 and went to ?

[Ernie Rodriguez]

My s/n is 219 and I believe made in 1989. I believe the price was in the $700 range depending on what you ordered.

[nvalcik]

Texas A&M used these for their team free pistol and I remember the grips had a ton of packing foam stuffed in them. I have no idea if they still have those. The last time I saw them using them was 1994.

[Guest]

What did this Pistol sell for? I know they are rare but are they expensive?

[sparky]

Texas A&M used these for their team free pistol and I remember the grips had a ton of packing foam stuffed in them. I have no idea if they still have those. The last time I saw them using them was 1994.

The last time I was at Texas A&M, they had some Hammerli 162s. That was back in 2004 or so.

[Rover]

Mandall's Shooting Supply here in Scottsdale had a couple of them they couldn't seem to get rid of. They still had them when they went out of business a few years back. If I recall correctly, they wanted somewhere in the $700-800 range for them. I don't know what they went for at the auction.

I had seen them a couple of times before that. As I recall, their triggers were not that great (for a free pistol) and they had a very upright grip position, no doubt desirable to some. They seemed nicely made, but not fancy.

[wgvette]

message deleted

[22big]

I am curious about what this FP looks like; anyone got pictures to share?

[Ernie Rodriguez]

This is what my Green Pistol looks like. Shilen barrel,bomar sights,modified M54 (Win) action and electronic trigger that is really adj down to 5g. If you like a more conventional raked grip-this is pretty good.

[22big]

Wow!

Great looking pistol. Thank you for sharing the picture.

[visitor]

What did the one at Rock Island Auctions sell for? Anybody know?

[wgvette]

That is a very nice picture of the pistol, one of the best pics I've seen of one. Thank you for sharing.

[red9]

The lot consisting of the Green and a Hammerli model 10? went for $1800 + whatever buyer's premium Rock Island charges.

[Nightdoc]

Gentlemen,

I am new to the forum.

I bought the Green and Hammerli Free pistols from Rock Island Auctions.

The total was just under $2100 including everything.

I am researching the Green design in conjunction with the High Standard Electric Free pistol.

If anybody knows what battery the Green uses I would appreciate the info. I am also interested in Green bio.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

[Nightdoc@aol.com]

Sorry I forgot to add contact information.
I'm getting forgetful.

Nightdoc@aol.com

[red9]

Congratulations. I have a Green owner's manual and will e-mail you a copy. I saw that the pistol was marked Swanwick. I believe that he was an Olympic shooter and coach of the US team at some time.
To the best of my knowledge, there were three post-war US free pistols; I have a Green and a Tompkins (In my opinion, one of theg ugliest guns ever made). I have never seen a High Standard offered for sale. My understanding is that about a dozen were made for the Army pistol team. I have, but can't locate at the moment, an article that indicated High Standard was going to offer them to the public. I wonder what happened and would be interested in any info you have.

[Ed Hall]

I am also interested in Green bio.

Here is Franklin Green's bio at the USAF Shooting Teams page.

Any additional info is also welcome.

Take Care,
Ed Hall
Air Force Shooting Homepage
Bullseye (and International) Competition Things

[Gwhite]

The only Green pistol I ever saw in competition was shot by John Holland, who was the MIT pistol coach for several years. Holland was a talented woodworker, and I seem to recall that he was the one who made the grips for Green, but I could be mistaken. Holland passed away a year or two ago, so I'm afraid the details are gone.

[Ernie Rodriguez]

Prior to purchasing my Green Pistol-I tracked down an old timer(military,I think) last name Greider-don't remember his first name.He was working with Franklin Green in the early days of the Green pistol.He told me that F.G tried different actions,sights and barrels. I don't think we talked about the final product,however he did recall the 50 meter test groups and recalled they "would bring tears to your eyes" He also said he tried to sell the pistol to the military teams with no luck. The price I have on my owners manual said $700.(1989 as I recall)My pistol uses the same battery,as I recall,that the CM84E uses. Years ago (in a gun digest,1956/1961) I recall seeing a H-S free pistol with a fluted barrel-but I don't recall if it was built on a F. Green design and I don't think it was offered for sale to the public.

[Nightdoc]

High Standard made several prototypes also lots of barrels and several triggers.

There was a lot of publicity in 1960, but the pistol never caught on. I have serial number Nine, original blue print drawings from 1959 and some articles. Haven't been able to locate others.

A truly elegant pistol.

Researching for eventual display and article.

Still trying to tie in FG (reputedly the inventor of the electric trigger or at least the first to install one).

Anybody know about when Green started his work?

Any other leads?

jon
nightdoc@aol.com

ps the Green uses a 15 volt camera battery.