Thanks for joining us on another TFB Wheelgun Wednesday, where we look at the world of revolvers, past, present and future. This week, we’ll take a look at one of those futuristic but practical story arcs with Uncle Fudd’s latest wheelgun project, the Magnetron Kimber. Uncle’s handiwork started with a Kimber K6s revolver, with the goal of modifying his gun to mate to a magnetic holster, while retaining a practical and fun aspect. Let’s take a peek into one of the visages of Uncle Fudd’s future of wheelgunnery.

Wheelgun Wednesday @ TFB:

• Uncle Fudd’s New Space Force 6
• Futuristic Space Cowboy Revolver
• Civil War Lever Action Revolver
• The “Other” Gatling Gun
• Colt 1851 Navy Revolver Attributed to Wild Bill Hickok

UNCLE FUDD’S MAGNETRON KIMBER K6S

For those not yet familiar with Uncle Fudd, we’ve featured his work here before (top two links above), as he enjoys modifying revolvers to give them a futuristic or unique aesthetic while keeping them fully functional, which certainly turns some heads at the shooting range. His latest Magnetron Kimber build is a little less science-fictiony than some of his other designs, but it could still fit right at home in such a film.

The main aspect of the Magnetron Kimber is focused on a special barrel shroud made of acetal plastic, which gives it a unique look, while also altering the dimensions of the Kimber to be able to work with a homemade holster that holds the gun in place until needed. Uncle Fudd laid out his goals for the initial design:

So here’s the plan:

1. Spend more time than I’d like to admit “designing” in Powerpoint
2. Start with a 3″ Kimber K6S DASA
3. Add a Delrin shroud to the front
4. Add a couple of spare rounds in the shroud
5. Hack up a Glock red dot mount to make it fit on the revolver and secure a Holosun micro red dot
6. Build a magnetic, quick-draw holster to secure this puppy on the hip

This will be a first holster build for me and the first time working with industrial-strength magnets. I’m excited to see how it goes. If it works, it’ll be a very minimal holster that securely holds the revolver. If it goes poorly, it’ll be dangerous and un-drawable.

That basic and lighthearted plan was set in motion five months ago, and just like any other mad scientist’s plan, it had some hiccups along the way. Uncle Fudd’s Magnetron Kimber plan included several firsts as mentioned above, as well as working with the plastic shroud, which he had to make a second time after removing too much material. Once his second barrel shroud was complete, he capped the muzzle with a metal motor shaft coupler and added a two-round Hoptic Quiver to the shroud. One of the nice things about the style of magnetic holster he would build is that a little more projection from the side of the gun didn’t matter since it wouldn’t be going into a normal holster.

Mounting the Holosun Red Dot sight seems like it was one of the more straightforward tasks of the Magnetron Kimber build, but certainly not without a lot of work as well. Uncle Fudd described his plan:

I’m planning on using a Holosun 407K red dot and my plan to mount it is pretty simple:

1. Buy a replacement rear sight for the K6S
2. Buy a mount for the Holosun 407K
3. Destroy both with a combination of dremel and knock-off drill press
4. Permanently attach them so that together they make a legit K6S red dot mount

Here goes nothing…..

The above image shows the replacement rear sight shaved down flat to accept the now flat red dot mounting plate. The plate had already come with a dovetail to fit into the rear sight dovetail slot of a Springfield XD, however, Uncle Fudd had to remove it due to the unconventional rear sight design of the Kimber K6s. The single screw mates the plate to the rear sight.

The last part to fabricate was the holster, in which would house the magnets. Uncle Fudd again returned to a block of acetal plastic as a base to mount all the components to, as well as protect the trigger. Once the magnets were in place, the plastic base and magnets were covered with heat shrink tubing. However, he found that the pull of the magnets was too strong for a smooth draw of the gun. He decided to add a thin copper sheet over the magnets to reduce the pull, and then re-applied the heat shrink wrapping.

Uncle Fudd wrapped up his final entry of the build and described his challenges:

It’s taken more than 5 months from design to final assembly. I’ve learned a ton about working with magnets and acetal plastic. I also pushed myself on this build to a higher finish quality on all components. Some items that seem very simple, like a basic square block of plastic, are very difficult to finish well with basic hand tools.

I’m pleased with the final result. This may be my favorite build to date. Thank you all for following along. I hope you learned something as well or at least got inspired to undertake a project that will challenge your abilities.

Uncle Fudd’s Magnetron Build Links:

• The Build Part I – Mounting the Red Dot
• The Build Part II – Starting the Barrel Shroud
• The Build Part III – Barrel Shroud Shaping
• The Build Part IV – Barrel Shroud Shaping Cont.
• The Build Part V – Barrel Shroud Mount & Quiver
• The Build Part VI – Barrel Shroud Done (?)
• The Build Part VII – Starting The Magnetic Holster
• The Build Part VIII – Finishing the Barrel Shroud
• The Build Part IX – Finishing the Magnetic Holster
• Build Complete

I’d like to thank Uncle Fudd for sharing his project with us, and I’m always curious about what he’ll cook up next. You can follow all of his progress of the Magnetron Kimber build in the links above that have many more photos and some more detail about the difficulties that went into it. You can also view his other projects at UncleFudd.com.

What do you think about Uncle Fudd’s Magnetron holster and revolver build? Is this more futuristic, or more practical, or is it a perfect blend of the two? Has he inspired you to customize one of your guns?