The Lee Jurras Howdah is Back



In the mid to late '70s Lee Jurras brought out his Howdah pistols in a limited edition series. For those not familiar with the Howdah pistol, it was a handgun carried by tiger hunters in India. They hunted the tiger from an elephant's back and and it was not unusual for a tiger to attack the men riding atop the elephant. When that happened the Howdah pistol, in a large caliber, would either kill the tiger or at least get him off the elephant. Lee developed the original Howdah in 5 of his own large calibers and chambered them in the Contender.
A few months ago, knowing Lee was very sick with cancer I spent a couple of days with him. Lee has been a good friend and a mentor to me since the early '70s. While we were talking about our various hunts we mentioned his Howdah and Lee said he would like me to bring it back. I gladly agreed as the Howdah was a unique handgun. He also asked me to include my 356 GNR as one of the calibers as Lee liked that caliber a lot. The 356 GNR is a bit small but Lee wanted it in the line up so it is there. I set out to do the development of the Howdah as close to Lee's original as I could. Lee got to see the prototype pistol less than a week before he died of cancer. Lee approved of the gun and we are happy to build the gun in his memory.

 

Lee passed away on April 24th, 2017.


There will be 6 calibers starting with the 356 GNR, then in order, the 375 GNR #2, 416 GNR, 440 GNR, 450 GNR and 476 GNR.

We plan on building 10 of each caliber, 60 guns total. Each gun will be numbered and have Lee's Lion's head logo on the sideplate and our logo on the other side.

The Howdah is based on the Thompson Center G-2 and Encore. The 356 GNR is available on either frame but the rest of the calibers are based on the Encore. The barrel lengths are 12" or 14", your choice. The grip and forend are hand made from exotic woods or from Mongolian stag. You have your choice of a short forend or a full length forend as shown on the prototype. Each gun comes in a walnut presentation case for an additional price. The guns are full custom with custom sights, front and rear. For those that reload, we have the dies for each caliber in stock. If you don't reload, there is a company that will load your ammo for you. 


This will be a limited edition handgun and delivery time will be approximately 6 months. The Howdah in the caliber, barrel length and number, in the presentation case will be priced at $2195. To order you can e-mail me or call me at 928-526-3313 and I can take down your order. We get a 1/3 deposit with the order.