Meteorite used to make guns
JEFFERSON TWP — Cabot Guns’ newest 1911 pistols are out of this world — literally.
The firearm manufacturer later this year will unveil a mirror image set of pistols made from a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite.
“We wanted to raise the bar again,” president Rob Bianchin said in a news release. “The pistol set will be a modern work of functional art and the ultimate set of luxury guns.”
The set consists of twin right and left handed 1911 style semi-automatic 45s, tentatively set to be called “The Big Bang Pistol Set.”
The company said it previously introduced pistol grips made from meteorite, but the new set will use the meteor for a majority of the pistols including the slide and frame. Some parts of the guns must be steel so they can work as functional firearms.
“It’s both romantic and fascinating to imagine that this meteor traveled across the heavens for 4 billion years before landing on Earth and is now being transformed into Cabot pistols,” Bianchin said.
Cabot Guns last year acquired a 35 kg portion of the Gibeon meteor, which was discovered in 1838 in the sub-Saharan part of Africa now known as Namibia.
Cabot Guns will display a sampling of gun components made from meteorite this week at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas. The Big Bang Pistol Set will make its public debut in May during the NRA annual meeting and Convention in Louisville, Ky.
The pistols likely will be sold at auction. The company said it has been offered $250,000 from a collector based on concept but estimates the value could be from $500,000 to more than $1 million.
The meteor is believed to have landed on Earth during prehistoric times.
The company said the Gibeon meteor is considered the “Cadillac of meteors” due to its composition and aesthetic pattern.
Tiny portions of the meteor have been used by jewelers such as Rolex, but the scale and complexity of the pistols are ambitious, the company said.
