After the reorganization, Korth struggled to gain a footing and went through a second bankruptcy process, leaving Janz Technik & Labor with a supply of revolver parts and a bunch of unpaid bills. In the 1990s, Korth’s business model was failing, and the company went through a bankruptcy. Korth manufactured the guns for decades with assistance from various suppliers, including the Janz Technik & Labor company of Malente (about 50 miles North of Ratzeburg), who provided a variety of high quality parts for the Korth concern.
By the mid-1950s, he had founded the Korth company, in Ratzeburg, West Germany to produce the design. In the late 1940s, Willi Korth began his work to design a revolver that would be the best in class. As I whipped out my notepad and pen, he began to fill in the details. Till explained that the revolver in front of me had its roots in the Korth story, but represented a refinement of the design. As I neared the case, I was dumbstruck by the first price tag that caught my eye–it’s not every day that you see a $14,000 price tag on a revolver! I knew immediately that there was something special going on here, and I had to find out more. Till’s welcoming smile encouraged me to stop and talk to him about the revolvers in his display. Thus, I was still on the hunt for current intelligence on the unicorn loader at the 2019 SHOT Show when I locked eyes with Mr. The guns were great, but my search for someone who could provide information on SL Variant production in Germany came up short. The Nighthawk Custom Korths were equally nice, but less artistic, since they were equipped and finished to standards that would enhance their appeal to the American market. In the American gun community, the Korth (pronounced, “court,” in German) revolvers are often regarded as the pinnacle of revolver design, and I certainly enjoyed getting a chance to handle these beautiful guns and talk to the gentlemen who designed and built them. The announcement by the Arkansas-based custom house that they would be teaming up with the legendary German revolver manufacturer to produce a selection of tuned revolvers drew me to their adjoining booths like a moth to the light.Īt the Korth booth, I got to handle samples of the revolvers that I had only heard about in whispered, reverent tones. The mythical beast known as the SL VariantĪ similar search had led me to the combined Nighthawk Custom – Korth display at the 2018 SHOT Show. If there was an SL Variant trail to pick up, the first sign would be located somewhere in this island of lightly-trafficked booths in the middle of the chaotic trade show.
Instead, I was on the prowl for a clue that might lead me to the elusive SL Variant speedloader, whose import had been unceremoniously interrupted years before. To be honest, I wasn’t looking for revolvers as I stalked the German portion of the international zone of the show floor. I was ignorant of the Janz design until I discovered their tiny little booth just a few months ago at the 2019 SHOT Show. From fruitless search, to happy discovery Serendipity also occurs at the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades (SHOT) Show, when you blindly stumble into a quiet, non-descript display booth, and discover the world’s most highly-engineered and precisely-manufactured wheelgun-The Janz Revolver. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines serendipity as “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.” Serendipity occurs when you unexpectedly bump into a long-lost friend, or find a $20 bill under the sofa cushion when you’re fishing for the nickel that just fell between the cracks.
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