Novak is a famous pistolsmith, whose Low-Mount sight has become legendary in the shooting fields. He has been customizing pistols (mainly M-1911s and Browning Hi-Powers) since many years. Here, you will find a description of a gun he produced for the FBI's Hostage Response Team (HRT) Request for Proposal (RFP 6564) of April 1994.

This RFP was asking for a pistol to replace the Browning Hi-Powers used until then by the HRT, and it was specifying a ".45-caliber, single-action, high-capacity semi-automatic pistol". Most of the large manufacturers participated in the selection process, along with a few pistolsmiths. For unknown reasons, all the big manufacturers exited the tender, leaving the game open to three, well-known pistolsmiths, namely Wilson, Les Baer and Cylinder & Slide. All three submitted samples of the proposed pistols to the FBI commitee, based on the Canadian Para-Ordnance frame. Unfortunately for Wayne, the job was finally offered to another pistolsmith.

This is the story behind the HRT pistol, and it was the specs of the pistol that attracted the attention of Kevin E. Steele of Guns & Ammo, who send his own Para Ordnance P-1345 to Novak, with the instructions to build a clone of the HRT pistol.

The pistol that Novak produced for Kevin, can be seen here. The following specs were defined for the HRT pistol :

• Semi-auto, single-action .45 ACP pistol
• Steel frame and slide
• Commander-style exposed hammer
• Frame-mounted ambidextrous safety
• Firing pin safety
• Disconnector to prevent out-of-battery firing
• Half-cock hammer notch
• High-ride beavertail grip safety
• Double-column magazine (12-13 rounds)
• Overall length 9 inches
• Weight less than 48 ounces
• Barrel length between 4.75 and 5.25 inches
• Fully ramped, match quality barrel
• Polished feed ramp, throated chamber
• Match-fitted barrel bushing
• Enlarged ejection port
• Pistol deburred for concealed carry
• W.D.Birdsong's "Black T" external finish
• Wayne Novak's Lo-mount sights

As you can see from the pictures, Wayne Novak did an excellent job, the job differing from the specs only in that it features a normal, one-side thumb safety, and not the ambidextrous one requested by FBI. I personally believe that the specs of this pistol are the best, one could think off. Actually, this is the ideal pistol for carrying, that's why I devoted this section to it.

I wish I had more pictures of Wayne's work, but unfortunatelly, his WWW site is not so equipped. Actually, I wish I could get a pistol like that for my own use!!!

Here are some more pictures of this fine firearm.

The pictures and information for this page, were obtained from Guns & Ammo article, written by Kevin Steele, in January's 1995 issue.