Yup!

Regarding the .450 AK, Johnson told me he regretted designing the case as he did as he said it took quite a bit of action work to get the rounds to feed 100% reliably. He said if he had to do it all over again he'd simply neck up a .348 case to .458 and call it good.

Also, remember that in those days the .45-70 was almost dead and the availability of .458 bullets was nothing like what it is today. So he was sticking his neck out a bit into the dark. He actually handmade bullets from turned .30-06 cases with molten lead cores. He said they worked well.

As for the Fifty, the only one he ever made, he said he fabricated a barrel band out of a Winchester 94 band and then lost the screw at some point and just wrapped the thing in electrician's tape and left it at that!

RIPP: He was! I really regret I didn't make the drive and meet up with him. He loved talking about AK, rifles, hunting and Back in the Day.