2022-C

HF Co. Curved Barrel Extension

An Interview with William Hindin by Hayes Otoupalik

The idea for their manufacture sprang from the historical knowledge of the famous and well-known German Curved Barrels of WW2: The "Vorsatz J", better known as "Krummlauf".

Most of the barrels were marked but a very few were not marked. They were not serialized with a number. The maker's marking on the barrel were: H F Co. These were the initials of the two people involved in the manufacture and sales of these barrels: William Hindin of Bala Cynwyd, Pa. and Steve Fleischman of Malvern Pa.

Why did they make them? Because they could, and they were looking for items to sell to Carbine shooters, collectors, and the possible larger orders that might have come from military and law enforcement agencies.  

About 200 of the 45-degree Curved Barrels and only less than half a dozen of the 90-degree barrels were manufactured. These Curved Barrels were manufactured in the late 1960s and very early 1970s. They were advertised and sold through the pages of Shotgun News. 

They were primarily sold to shooters and collectors. An order for about 25 or 30 barrels was received from Deep River Armory in Texas. Deep River Armory was owned by James B. Hughes Jr. of Houston, Texas. The Curved Barrels were being sent to Israel for testing and use by the Israel Army (IDF) and Israeli Police Forces.

There was no special ammunition manufactured for use with these barrels. However, the magazines needed two springs and two followers inserted in them to handle the recoil from the bolt system. One removed the bottom plate of the 15 or 30 round magazines, then you would take an additional follower and spring and insert it under the first spring and put the bottom plate back in place on the bottom of the magazine. 

Mr. Hindin recollects, that he first test-fired the device it was inside a steel 55 Gallon drum! An interesting observation was made: The recovered bullet, after firing in the device, was smooth on one side and showed rifling on the other.

He did make up some Mirrored Sights for them by using the small World War 1 Bayonet Mirrors, which were attached with a small hose clamp to attach it to the barrel unit. However, he did not offer these for sale with the barrel but told the customers they could obtain these easily acquired WW1 Bayonet Mirrors at the time to attach to their barrels.

The front sights eventually had to be repaired because the key underneath the sight that held it in place would be damaged when shooting with the attached Curved Barrel.

A User’s Guide for the Curved Barrel was never made. Instead, they produced a small sheet that explained the front sight issue and the double springs required for the magazines.

Transcript date: March 14, 2022

Hayes Otoupalik

Anders Strand-Holm.

Further reading:

CCNL 88, 92, 96,127

War Baby Comes Home pg. 794

War Baby III pg. 1648

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