For this iteration of the “Custom Challenge,” we’re looking at the Robocop Auto 9 and Dirty Harry’s well-known .44 Magnum revolver. When I was in high school there was a mechanic that lived down the street from our house. He had a small shop that would make a hoarder feel right at home. There were massive piles of parts for a multitude of projects existing in every conceivable stage of completion. Behind his small desk and just visible over a stack of dusty papers was a metal sign that read, “Shall I Rush your Rush Job before I Start the Rush Job I was Rushing when you Rushed in?”
I think of this sign every time I talk to Chip “Cheeto” Pierce and Nakia “Nacho” Jackson at Outlaw Ordnance about a Ballistic magazine Custom Challenge. But, admittedly, they love it.
The Robocop Auto 9 — A Taurus Transformed
RoboCop’s Auto 9 pistol was based on a full-auto Beretta 93R, but because everybody hates paperwork and nobody raised their hand to take a year’s pay cut to buy one, we decided to start this issue’s challenge with a Beretta clone: the Taurus PT92.
The most striking feature of the Ballistic Auto 9 is the compensator/flash suppressor/awesomeness multiplier fixed in front of the slide. Completely custom and designed from scratch, Outlaw machined this accessory out of billet aluminum and engineered it to slide right over the accessory rail. It is held in place by a bolt drilled through the front of the triggerguard.
“From the very beginning we weren’t sure. Putting on an attachment like this often takes months of R&D, and when you test fire, you tear it up,” Nacho explained. “We were a little challenged in getting it done on the first attempt so we could hit the time frame.”
Outlaw also machined the new rear sight completely in-house from aluminum. “There is nothing like it on the market,” Chip said. “But the sights line up perfectly, like from the factory. It’s dead on.”
Once all the accessories were finalized, the factory logos and stamping were removed from the slide, and the OMNI Crime Prevention Unit and Ballistic badging were added. Outlaw finished the pistol in Armor Black Cerakote.
I don’t know about you, but just looking at the Ballistic Robocop Auto 9 makes me want to round up some no-good slimy punks.
Dirty Harry S&W Model 29
The design process for every Outlaw Ordnance engraving project starts with research—lots of it. Normally the conceptualizing process to release a new gun takes more than three months. In this case, they had about three weeks.
When they got the theme for this challenge, Outlaw had one of their designers start the process right away. “The guy literally went home and watched all the movies and compiled the data,” Nacho explained. “All the quotes, images, slogans, everything he could find.”
All this info is then fed to the design team, who starts the process of building the digital files that will ultimately direct the CNC machines. The process involves a lot of back and forth, however. “Everything that happens in the design department doesn’t necessarily work in the machine department,” Chip told me over the phone. “They will go back and forth until everything fits, then the gun is cut.”
It takes an artist’s eye to get the level of quality that the crew at Outlaw achieves. It also helps that the co-owners have done it all in regards to the build process.
“When we started this company, Chip and I did everything from sweep the floors to do the taxes,” Nacho said. “There is not a machine in the building that we don’t know upside down, inside out, and backward.” This gives them the ability to understand the process to the point they understand sometimes what might not look great in the mockup, will look great once the process is finished, and vice versa.
What we see here in beautiful relief is Dirty Harry in his epic silver-screen career: Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool, complete with all the Harry Callahan quotation goodness.
Outlaw lasered the gun over the factory finish, then hand sanded before a clear Cerakote finishing. It is a masterpiece, right down to the sanded grips with custom Outlaw Ordnance medallions.
Take Them Home
One thing both Chip and Nacho were adamant about was that we make sure to let the readers know how much they appreciate their whole team. “We have 40 employees that work hard here every day,” they said. “These guns go through a lot of talented people, from the armorer to the painter to the guy who sanded it.”
It’s always nice to have an appreciative boss … just ask Inspector Callahan.
If you want a crack at winning either one of these head-turning classics, please fill out the form below. If you’d like to purchase the stock guns, check out smith-wesson.com and taurususa.com. And if you have personal guns you’d like to have customized, please visit outlawordnance.com.
This article is from the April/May 2021 issue of Ballistic Magazine. Grab your copy at OutdoorGroupStore.com.
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