Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! The MAC Stinger is a tiny .22 LR single-shot pen gun devised in the 1970s by Military Armament Corporation’s Mitch WerBell III. Just 3.25 inches long and weighing 2.25 ounces, this aluminum tube passed as a writing utensil but packed a surprise. To fire, one unscrewed the base to cock the internal striker then loaded a .22 round before screwing the barrel back on. With no sights and brutal recoil, its effective range was virtually point-blank. Intended for spies and special operators as a last-ditch “alternative to suicide,” the absurd Stinger came with accessories like custom suppressors and a garter holster. Classified as an AOW, fewer than 100 were produced. While WerBell dreamed it could replace survival cyanide pills, the Stinger’s comically poor ballistics and accident-prone ergonomics rendered it more dangerous to its user than any foe.
“With extra barrel, leather fob, and clear plastic case. NOTE: This weapon is registered as a National Firearms Act (NFA), AOW (Any Other Weapon). Although NOT a fully automatic weapon it is still controlled like a NFA weapon that is registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, (BATFE) under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44 and 27 CFR part 478.”
Lot 4130: Two Class III/NFA AOW Single Shot Pistols – B) Military Armament Corp. SSSW Stinger Class III/NFA AOW. (n.d.-bg). Rock Island Auction Company. photograph. Retrieved November 30, 2023, from https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/1034/4130/two-class-iiinfa-aow-single-shot-pistols.
