While muscling our way through the throngs packing the SHOT Show, we met up with Manos Phoundoulakis and his lovely wife Kelle. Attentive Armed Intelligentsians may remember their business, hotcaliber.com, which we highlighted back in May just in time for Mother’s Day. They’re the makers of silver and gold jewelry cast from fired bullets…well, the ones that don’t shatter on impact, anyway. It takes firing about a hundred bullets – brands and calibers are a closely guarded secret – to get a useable sample for casting. . .
Manos and Kelle were plying the aisles promoting their growing business, showing off their newest limited edition creations. And Manos isn’t just the artist in the family, he’s also an experienced shooter, having held a Massachusetts CCL since Michael Moore weighed only 300 pounds. He must be a glutton for punishment, though, because he’s now running his gun jewelry empire from the firearm-friendly idyll of Santa Monica. Thank goodness for e-commerce, eh?
That’s Kelle, above, modeling one of Hot Caliber’s latest designs in sterling silver. In addition to creating his own necklaces, bracelets, key chains, earrings and more, Manos is also collaborating with wickedzippo.com for a Hot Caliber version of one of their customized classic lighters.
So if a pair of Magnum Stag links might be just the thing to keep your French cuffs firmly secured without screaming GUN to your firearms-phobic friends, check ’em out.
OK, the lighter is cool, but the paracord work is just sloppy.
Hard to tell from the pic, but there’s a .45 cartridge on the end of the cord.
Isn’t most of that lead? Is that something you’d want to be handling on a day to day basis?
No, they make a wax mold from an actual flattened bullet, then cast them in sterling or gold.
Oh, very cool.
The lead bullet is used only to create a mold and then discarded. The mold of each bullet is cast in solid sterling silver or gold and remains 100% lead free.
I’m not much for any kind of tchotchkes, but these are kinda cool.
No Manos, the Hands of Fate jokes yet?
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