The Development Stages of the Janz Revolver

Janz-Revolver The Development of the Janz Revolver

The JANZ company – situated in the North of Germany near Hamburg – had been working for many years with the KORTH company
as a supplier for all parts of pistols and revolver because after an insolvency KORTH had no machines or tools for manufacturing.

Also the JANZ company considered a purchase of KORTH, but since there were no assets ,like machinery, left after the insolvency,
and an exorbitant price KORTH demanded, the idea was scrapped.

A short time afterwards the next Korth insolveny occured under the leadership of Graf Bernstorff.
Now the Janz Company had a large assortment of Korth revolver parts, unpaid bills and a lot of Know-How.

The question now was what should be done? Should the acquired knowledge be used to produce our own revolver?
What should it look like?

 A spec sheet was established with the most important features for the future Janz Revolver:

 1.)    Caliber similar to the Korth Revolver, but in cal .44 Mag (which was NOT a Korth caliber to)

2.)    Trigger system: the best, of course, like the one developed by Willi Korth

3.)    Grips based on the S&W N or L frames

4.)    Practical but beautifully executed surface treatments with technology „Made in Germany“

5.)    All parts hardened and polished with the highest quality

6.)    Pricing to be similar to Korth, based on production of about 100 units per year.

In 1997 the decision was made and the Janz Revolver was born. The last personal apprentice of Willi Korth, Mr. Rene Ganz, was hired and a team was formed for the development and implementation of the new revolver.
By the end of the year a complete set of drawings suitable for CAD- machines was in existence.

In 1998 the first prototype with serial number 0001V was built. At the end of the year the first .44Mag prototype was completed.
After that the cylinder tests, range tests and official proofing tests were successfully completed.
Now the demand for even bigger calibers rose, such as the .454 Casull.

In 1999 a second prototype serial number 0002V with enlarged frame was born to handle the larger .454Casull.
Up to now everything was built as individual custom guns.

In the middle of 1999 to 2000 a change in manufacturing was implemented; from hand building every piece to utilizing the most modern cutting edge CNC machines.

Amongst some of the obstacles that were overcome was the timing. Willi Korth never wrote down exactly how his SA and DA timing worked, so Uwe Janz, the owner of Janz GmbH, who himself is a Master gunsmith and Master precision engineer, painstakingly worked out the modus and had it published in the last part of the Willi Korth book „Willy Korth - Seine Waffen“ (His Guns), Verlag Veith Morgenroth.

From now on the revolvers with serial numbers 0003 to 0006 with all different callibers were created. .357 Mag, .44 Mag, 454 Casull,
all with interchangeable parts.

In 2000 we had the world premiere of the revolver system with one frame and interchangeable calibers from .22l.r to 454 Casull and interchangeable barrel lengths from 2 ½ to 12“. All of this is accomplished without tools in a few seconds maintaining the highest precision.
At that time approximatley 10 units per month were manufactured in serial production.

From 2000 on, a contiuous improvemnet and development program has been implemented to this date.

Following you will find a few Key Points of the difference between the JANZ Revolver and the KORTH Revolver:

1.)    Timing from „Null“ totally re-engineered and therefore eliminated the Korth problem
The Korth problem: When using DA the shot is broken unexpectedly.

2.)    High adjustable front sight, and a stronger frame-top

3.)    Quick change rear sight – suitable for numerous types of sports

4.)    Easy adjustable trigger pull with visible „scale“

5.)    New cylinder lock control with a very light spring action

6.)    Mainspring variable, even hard primers can be ignited easily

7.)    All calibers including up from .22lr to .454 Casull and barrel lengths to 12“ are possible

8.)    The only unique Revolver System with changeable calibers in the world

And a lot of further advantages

Both Uwe Janz and Rene Ganz are both Master gunsmiths and engineers.
Today they are guiding the precision of the Janz Revolver in the spirit of Willi Korth…

Malente, June 2012