a hair high, just at the base of the throat. Good enough, since the
second round didn't go off. Instead, there was a metallic pop! and
the cylinder jammed.
'Got a mechanical malfunction here!' Howard yelled.
He kept the weapon pointed downrange, waiting.
Julio came around the barrier, an eyebrow raised in question.
'Something broke. Cylinder won't turn.'
'I'll get Gunny out here to take a look. So much for your six-for-sure
theory.'
The range master said, 'Sorry, sir, but sooner or later, everything
wears out. You probably put thirty or forty thousand rounds through
this thing over the years, you got to expect it to metal fatigue and
start nickel-and-diming you to death. I can fix it, but it's gonna
take a few days to get the parts and get 'em installed.'
'General will need a leaner,' Julio said.
'Can't have him walking around naked. Why don't you show him the
Medusa?'
Gunny smiled and went to the gun safe. He came back with a Styrofoam
box. On top of it was a little pamphlet.
It said 'Phillips & Rodgers, Inc.,' over a little logo with a reversed
'P' and an 'R' separated by a big 'I.' The words 'Owners Manual' were
under that. Gunny handed Howard the pamphlet. Howard flipped it open
to the first page and saw 'Firearms Are Dangerous Weapons' in bold
print at the top of the page.
He shook his head. That's what came of too many lawyers without enough
to do. A maker had to warn you that a gun was dangerous. What was the
duh-factor there?
Gunny opened the box. Inside was a flat-black revolver with what
looked like ivory grips. It had an un fluted cylinder, and seemed like
a K-frame S&W with a funny-looking squared-off and grooved barrel.
Fernandez took the revolver from the range master
'General, this here is a PR Model 47, aka Medusa.
Three-inch, match-grade, one-in-nine twist barrel, 8620
steel, heat-treated to 28 Rockwell, with a vanadium cylinder at 36
Rockwell. Got a neat little red fiber-optic front sight, and fully
adjustable rear sight. Coated with black Teflon, so it won't rust.'
He handed the piece to Howard. It felt good, familiar, if it looked a
little squarish for his tastes.
'You getting a commission from these people, Julio? And why would I
like this more than my Smith?'
Fernandez grinned widely.
'Well, sir, if we can't get you to use a semiauto, at least we can get
you closer to the current century. These first came out in 1996, I
believe, and they have a big advantage over your antique Smith. They
will chamber and fire everything from an anemic .380 ACP to the hottest
.357 Magnum rounds, and a whole bunch of stuff in between. You can
load it up with any variation of 9mm you can think of--Kurz, Largo,
Long, Luger, Mauser, Parabellum, Steyr, whatever, as well as .38 ACP,
.38 auto, .38 Super, or .38 Special.
Bunch of other calibers will work, too, but the manufacturer doesn't
