April 27-30, 2021 Extraordinary Firearms & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/27/2021
The final developmental stage of the “machine gun shotgun” carried out by John Anderson, this Pancor Jackhammer was built with heavy-duty parts to handle the repetitive firing of 12 Gauge 2 - 3/4” shotshells as a machine gun. Heretofore an unknown prototype, this rare piece of firearms history is offered through Morphy’s exactly as produced with no firing pin ever having been installed into this gun. The MK3 fully automatic shotgun was developed by John Anderson to be a close combat weapon based on his experiences with friends during the Viet Nam war, where he found that the pump-action shotguns used by the military were difficult to load and took far too much time when engaging in jungle warfare. This appealed to the U.S. Navy as a close assault weapon system. His solution was the MK3, more popularly known as the Jackhammer. The Jackhammer cannibalized elements of various firearms and put them together to form a bullpup revolving select-fire shotgun. The magazine is a cylinder with very distinct cuts reminiscent of the Webley-Fosbery and utilized a pin on the operating rod to rotate it. The barrel utilizes a tapered breech which sinks into the magazine, forming a gas seal similar to the Nagant revolver, that is broken by the firing sequence, where gas releases the barrel and blows it forward, allowing the operating rod pin the perform a half-cycle to the next chamber, and then the recoil spring drives back, letting the operating rod pin complete the cycle to the next chamber and letting the barrel reseat in the cylinder, ready to fire again. The sight is a simple peep sight at the rear and post in the carrying handle. Receiver is marked, “JACKHAMMER SPS SERIAL NO JH MK3-A2 PANCOR CORP., AUSTIN, TX. USA 12 GA. CYLINDER BORE USE 2 3/4 IN. SHELLS ONLY.” CONDITION: Overall appearance and finish is extremely fine to near excellent original factory finish with some occasional handling marks and slight wear to grey patina at the high edges. Rotating magazine also has some loss of finish at the high edges. This gun is non-functional, yet IS registered as a live, fully transferable 12 gauge machine gun. It is best for the new owner to decide whether to leave this gun as it is, or to complete it into a firing condition. Bore remains mint unfired. This is a machine gun shotgun, and registered as such in the NFA registry. THIS IS A NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT ITEM AND REQUIRES BATF APPROVAL PRIOR TO TRANSFER. THIS ITEM IS FULLY TRANSFERABLE ON AN ATF FORM 3 OR 4. JWK 2021-04-015
CORRECTION: Great news! The consignor has decided to include the original custom built Pancor Jackhammer case with this lot as well as copies of documents providing valuable provenance for this piece. Documents include: design drawings, statement of work, correspondence for the use of the Pancor Jackhammer for the "Total Recall" film, commitment of interest from the US Navy, correspondence and commitment by Dupont Corporation, testing reports from the H.P. White labs, letters from O.F. Mossberg & Sons indicating their desire to market the Jackhammer, and brochure packet with photo negatives. The inclusion of these documents and box greatly enhance and document this historic piece.
Manufacturer
Pancor Corporation