-An
Interview With Johnny Rowland-Info Line
-An
Interview With Johnny Rowland-
Johnny
Rowland's TV broadcasts on C-band satelite are now defunct due to
lack of funding after 11 years of broadcasting. Seems
the firearms industry didn't have the fortitude to support them with
advertising funding.
This interview was conducted in 1998.
Don't throw away those big C-hand Satellite dish antennae just yet. Readers of The Independent American will be happy to know that a gun friendly TV show exists on C-hand that features issues like gun safety, gun legislation, and news from the gun industry.
The man directly responsible for pushing gun friendly programming onto air waves once owned by a hostile media is Johnny Rowland. Johnny Rowland, besides heading The Shooting Show, and The Gospel Show satellite TV programs, and the Thinking Right national radio program, is also working hard on creating a gun friendly national satellite network. Johnny Rowland, ever working as he is in effort to present the truth about gun ownership. kindly agreed to take time to answer some questions on issues that we thought readers would take an interest in. The following is an interview.
TIA: Mr. Rowland, you are making quite a name for yourself among shooting enthusiasts, and the firearms industry with your national radio program, and your satellite TV programs, not to mention your breakthrough with the .460 Rowland cartridge. How did you get started in the shooting sports. and firearms industry?
Johnny Rowland: I have always been a shooting enthusiast. Living out here in the country, as I do, there has always been a need for guns, and I learned gun safety at an early age. It is something that I grew up with. and something that I have enjoyed throughout my years. I still carry a gun all the time. Having been on television for a long time, there are some nuts out there that television personalities need to be aware of. Not concerned, but aware. Plus, where I live, people put out animals, like dogs. and other types of animals that become feral, and sometimes they have to be dealt with. In recent years, we've had some of the Florida panthers come back into our area, and they're not afraid of people. Guns have always been, and always will be a part of my life.
About ten years ago. we started our Shooting Show program. At that time, there was no other television program devoted to the positive side of shooting, or anything, for that matter about shooting. We believe that our television program was very well received by people, though not from the major networks, who, of course, would certainly not air us on their programming schedules. However, we were still able to go ahead with our project, though we didn't have anyone who would support us, and we were able to build a quality television program over these years and we were able to keep it on the air.
Over the years. I did a lot of experimentation with different guns on the show and I noticed that a 10mm cartridge would fit in a .45 ACP magazine. Forgive me if I'm getting ahead of myself, as I'm telling you how I came about the idea for the .460 Rowland cartridge.
TIA: That's Fine. I'm sure readers will want to know all about it.
Johnny Rowland: Well, on The Shooting Show, I've had a chance to handle, and shoot just about everything imaginable that goes bang, from black powder to machine guns these many years on about four hundred television programs. Given that, and counting many. many trips to gun museums, trips to shooting ranges, and talking to many fine experts in the firearms industry, my working knowledge of historical guns, and theories, and different concepts of shooting and launching projectiles became pretty extensive and, of course, it didn't hurt any that I had some mechanical engineering classes in college, and had a pretty good understanding of the metals utilized in guns, and geometrical functions, and simple and complex machines. It occurred to me that the 1911 style gun is the neatest package, as far as handguns go, from the way the gun points, to the reliability of the design. I was always wondering why it couldn't be stepped up in power. Several years ago, we had a 10mm gun that we were testing for The Shooting Show, and I didn't have a spare magazine for the gun and I happened to notice that the 10mm magazine looked a lot like the .45 ACP magazine in size, so I slipped a 10mm cartridge in the .45 ACP magazine and it fit. In fact, the .45 ACP magazine made a better 10mm magazine than the one that came with the gun, because it let the cartridge ride higher in the magazine so the slide gets a better shot at it.
Anyway, I noticed in comparing a 10mm to a .45 ACP that the 10mm case was longer than the .45 ACP case. It seemed odd that the 10mm case was longer, but still fit in the .45 ACP magazine, it was because the bullet was seated deeper. That made me think to myself and I said, why couldn't we improve the strength of the case, and lengthen the case slightly so it wouldn't chamber in a non-modified gun and look for ways that we could still up the power on the .45. I began to research this and I began to talk to people in the firearms industry, and began to present this to them and to ask them why this couldn't be done. They would tell me how the 1911 style handgun wasn't nearly strong enough. I, then, would bring up the big Grizzly handgun, which certainly had more power, but it was also much more massive, and in the case of the Desert Eagle, it was also a much more massive gun to accommodate the power of the cartridges it utilizes.
Well, I was then somewhat more discouraged, but I kept thinking that it was a great idea. I wanted to stay with the 1911 platform, because it is such an easy gun to carry. Its profile is flat, and its easier to carry when getting in, or out of a vehicle. I just kept fiddling with my idea, and kept talking to a number of firearms experts around the industry, people I knew, like Jim Clark, of Clark Custom Guns, who has been a good friend for many years. We talked about how we could go about putting a more powerful cartridge in the basic 1911 platform. I told them my ideas about a stronger case, and a longer case requiring a different barrel/chamber. This way the longer case wouldn't chamber for a gun that wasn't modified.
I talked to Starline Brass and discussed my concept with them and they agreed to make some specially made, heat treated cases to my specifications. They sent me a few cases that I further worked on, and we hit on a length of .957 of an inch as the overall case length. We did this because the case was then a sixteenth of an inch longer than a regular .45 ACP. It wouldn't fit in a regular .45 ACP chamber, so we had those cases and I again ran my experiments.
We kept increasing the spring tension in the 1911 till we got it up pretty high and the gun was becoming difficult to rack the slide back, because it had so much spring in it. We had the cartridge running at 1300 fps with a 185 grain bullet, and what we've done, we had a cartridge similar, at that point to a .45 super, but it would only fit in a gun that had been properly modified. Well, there's already a .45 super, and my idea was to take this cartridge up to a higher notch, so I was talking with Jim Clark, and we discussed the possibility of compensating the barrel. So we immediately built a compensator, and it increased our velocity slightly, but mostly it changed the way the gun worked, and actually, recoil was just gone away.
Once we had our prototype cartridges running at 1300 fps with 185 grain bullets everything was looking good. The cases looked good. We had certainly changed the function of the gun, so then, we decided to see what we could do. I set as a goal, to really have a hit cartridge, or a powerhouse, my objective was to equal or exceed, a .44 magnum being fired in a 4 or 5 inch barrel revolver. That was my intended goal at that point. We knew the gun was holding up fine, everything was working. We then backed down on the spring pressure. We didn't need the ultra stiff spring because of the compensator.
Now then, and this is real important and we are pursuing a patent on this. We do have our .460 Rowland trade mark, as you are probably aware. This is our trade mark, we are going to protect it. The compensator in most guns has the function of lessening recoil. That is not the first function on our particular application. Our application uses the compensator to keep the slide, and barrel locked together for a longer period of time, so the gun cant unlock until the pressure drops. This exercise is what enabled us to really go for the full potential of what the cartridge could do. We got Accurate Arms to run some pressure tests for us, and assist us on some load information, and we found that we were within acceptable magnum cartridge pressures similar to other magnum cartridges. As we continued to run our experiments, we found that as long as a good quality 1911 style gun is locked up, as long as that slide is locked to the barrel, it has strength comparable to a bolt action rifle, and no-one seemed to know this. We certainly didn't know how strong the gun was. Browning’s philosophy, [ John Browning, designer of the 1911 style semi-automatic sidearm.], and you can document this, was to build something as strong as it needs to be and then double it. That was his fine philosophy, but he built the original 1911s to function with a low pressure cartridge, so what we had to do, was instead of trying to work around Browning’s original intent, we completely changed the geometry of how the gun worked. We changed the sequence of how the gun unlocks. This is what the compensator does. It keeps the barrel and slide locked together for a longer period of time till the pressure drops and then the gun will unlock normally. That was the real breakthrough we achieved, and we found that we could get .44 magnum performance from a much lighter, much smaller package than a 44 magnum revolver, and we achieved several side benefits. One of which is, we get .44 magnum power with about half the perceived recoil you get from a comparable .44 magnum revolver, and about half the noise. Our cartridge, due to an extremely efficient volumetric combination doesn't make nearly the noise, has almost no muzzle flash, and has much less recoil than we'd expect.
TIA: If a reader wanted to buy a weapon chambered in the .460 Rowland cartridge could he, or she do so?
Johnny Rowland: Yes, Here at the Shooting Show, [see side bar 1 for the address], we sell kits with the .460 Rowland barrel that a person very easily drops into the 1911 style gun. The kits for the full size guns, [Colt government models, and clones], are doing extremely well in sales. Also, we now have kits for the Colt commander series the compact Kimbers, the compact Springfields, and other compact 1911 designs. We even have converted a Colt officer's model, and it works great. We also convert Smith & Wesson 625s and Ruger blackhawks with the .45 ACP cylinders. Dan Wesson is making a factory revolver chambered in our .460. We also have an AR-15 conversion which really makes the AR-15 into a real gun, if you ask me.
TIA: This sounds like a very impressive cartridge.
Johnny Rowland: In actuality, it is the most versatile handgun and carbine cartridge that's ever been. We didn't have a clue when we were developing the cartridge that it would have a ballistic combination that was not known to exists, and that's what we really discovered. This was a package that no-one had ever done before. It was a discovery as much as a development, because nobody knew that a 1911 was nearly as strong as it is when properly managed. Nobody knew about this particular powder and cartridge size combination.
TIA: Very fascinating. Besides developing the cartridges, you have also developed a satellite television program. which has been on the air for about ten years now.
Johnny Rowland: That's right.
TIA: What made you decide to start a television program, and how were you able to bring that into being?
Johnny Rowland: Well, there was not a shooter friendly program on TV at that time. There has been others that have come along since ours. I like to think that we paved the way for them, but still, we do some things that no-one else has. We talk about firearms safety, and the proper use firearms and firearms history but we also get into firearms legislation, which we are very concerned about. We have also started our own action shooting discipline as a part of our Gun owner's Rights Association, [GRA], that we started in conjunction with our Shooting Show. Our GRA shooting discipline is different than IPSC or IDPA in that we think it is more realistic, as we use different power factoring concerning the shooter's choice of weapon caliber in the shooter's score. We also think we have more realistic scenarios in our discipline than in some of the others. As far as doing TV shows. I have had a long background in entertainment for many years.
TIA: Oh, tell us about that.
Johnny Rowland: Well, I've been in the music business for many years and had some national success in that particular arena, and I've been doing public speaking for many years, and I just decided that it would be a good idea if we could launch a television program, because television is the most powerful communication media that's ever been invented. I felt like if we could show how guns are properly used, then people wouldn't be afraid. For example, there are no single action revolvers that can shoot thirty or forty times like you see on westerns without reloading. I mean,there aren't any assault guns or machine guns that can shoot hundreds of rounds from what appears to be a twenty or thirty round magazine without reloading. That's ridiculous, and it gives people the wrong impression so we show people how guns really work. We show them that guns are just machines, not some evil instruments. We thought this was so important, and still do. It is at least as important today as it was when we started the, [Shooting Show], project that is properly showing how guns work, and essentially, who we, as gun owners really are. We have been very successful at reaching people with our shows.
TIA: Part of your concern in creating your TV and radio programs is the political climate now facing firearms owners. Many politicians now in office are openly hostile to the freedoms enjoyed by Americans. What do you believe are the most significant issues now facing firearms owners due to this situation?
Johnny Rowland: The most significant thing is global gun control through your United Nations. This is the thing we have most to worry about, because there is among the people who make international law, a drive on to disarm civilian populations world wide, and they're not concerned about our Constitution. They just want control. They know, I say they, I mean the internationalists know, they can never have their world wide police state as long as there are armed civilians, and especially here, in the United States. They know they can never have complete control until the population of the United States is disarmed.
TIA: Yes, very true. You've mentioned before that you've organized a grass roots gun owner's rights organization. Tell us about that, and how readers can join the GRA.
SIDE
BAR 1 Information
to join The GRA, The Shooting Show support group or The Gospel Show,
or The Thinking Right Radio Program, as well as how to purchase a
.460 Rowland gun kit can be had by writing: The
Shooting Show 327
Irvin Rowland Rd. Dubberly,
LA 71024 or
go to www.theshootingshow.com
TIA: Good. I know the readers will want to tune into your TV and radio programs. Tell us how we can do that if we don't have a big dish C-band satellite system.
Johnny Rowland: You can get our programs over the internet. We were the first full length TV show on the internet. That's at www.theshootingshow.com. You can also listen to our radio program over the internet through our site. You can listen to our radio program on the American Freedom Network. Many radio stations around the country take their programming. [The TV programs are no longer being broadcast, but can still be viewed at www.theshootingshow.com. The Radio Programs can be heard from Monday to Friday at 3:00PM to 5:00PM ET at satellite G-10 transponder 2 audio 5.58 narrow, or at www.americanfreedomnews.com. Check out the web sites for local and short-wave radio stations as well.]
TIA: Mr. Rowland. you are doing a fabulous job in protecting the freedoms of Americans. Thank you for talking with us. Do you have any closing remarks?
Johnny Rowland: Well again, I'll add what was said earlier. We have to get more people involved in our struggle. We have to get more women involved. We have to get more hunters, more people that have been somewhat casual in their view of our Bill of Rights. Mostly, there's a lack of information getting out to gun owners about what can be done and there are a number of things that can be done to fix this mess. The bad news is, we're not going to fix it over night, but we've got to start turning the ship around. We have to. If we don't we're not going to have any guns left in civilian hands here in the United States. We've got to start scoring some points if we're to have any chance in the game.
TIA: Thank you again.