Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! When Michigan’s Trapper Gun Inc. acquired Watsonville’s Personal Protection Systems in the 1990s, owner Lin “Trapper” Alexiou ambitiously launched his Scorpion conversion kits for Smith & Wesson’s mid-century Model 39 9mm pistol. Trimming the barrel and slide while bobbing the hammer, Alexiou’s customization radically resculpted the aluminum frame too—thinning the trigger guard and erasing factory markings for flawless concealed carry. Further tweaks like checkered grips, snag-resistant sights, and a “Scorpion” etching enhanced grip and draw while sharpening the 1950s-era Model 39’s shooting capabilities. Though understated on the surface, the cumulative changes represented an intensive overhaul hewing to Alexiou’s exacting standards. When Personal Protection Systems dissolved quietly in the 2000s, the imaginative Scorpion conversion kit and its niche audience vanished too.
“Designed by Lin “Trapper” Alexiou of Fraser, MI, the Personal Protection Systems Scorpion took a Smith & Wesson Model 39 and performs a radical “remanufacturing”. The pistol is reduced in multiple dimensions and features a reshaped trigger guard, matte finish with blued small parts, one-piece guttersnipe sight, and polymer grips with silver medallion numbered “005” inlaid into right panel. Includes a fitted hardwood case numbered to match gun, two extra magazines, and twenty-two rounds of ammunition.”
Lot 51: Rare Personal Protection Systems Scorpion S&W Model 39 Pistol – Rare Personal Protection Systems Scorpion Smith & Wesson Model 39 Semi-Automatic Pistol with Case. (n.d.-a). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved December 19, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/2030/51/rare-personal-protection-systems-scorpion-sw-model-39-pistol.
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