we’ve come this far

Well, we have an excuse for being at least one day late; we did not want to make a post on April Fool’s Day… but we did want to make another post to assure everyone that the Fortis Pistol is alive and well, it has not fallen victim to “the Curse”.

Okay, so here is the real deal: Unless you have been living in a cave, in the remote mountain regions of Asscrackistan, you know that there has been an overwhelming surge in the sales and demand for anything firearms related… this demand started last November and curiously skyrocketed around the third week of January, only weeks after we returned from SHOT ’09.

Of course Vltor has a great deal of product that sits at the top of this burgeoning demand, but a lot of folks may not know that there are many goodies under our roof that are not found on the Vltor website – many of these lesser known items are delivered on government contracts and naturally take priority.

So… to be perfectly honest, with the onslaught of orders for existing products, we did push the Fortis to back of the table a bit, but it is still on the table and headway is still being made. Here is a quick update: All of the final design work to the frame has been finished, and the frame is production ready; the grips have been redesigned with a slight change to the “swell” which fills the hand much better (really, really nice); the production barrels are done; and several other little spring/screw/clip things have been finalized.

We have also increased the size of our production facility and have spent many hours designing new fixtures and tooling, we have given a lot of attention to increasing our production ability and we are installing a few million dollars worth of new machinery, most of this with an eye exclusively on the production of the Fortis Pistol.

Rest assured, the Fortis is still going to happen, but also rest assured that the time we temporarily took away from the Fortis has been well spent; we have been able to continue answering the phones, shipping product and most importantly filling contract orders to get essential product to our war fighters.

so finally…

Some official follow up from the SHOT Show!

First off, we had a great show; we brought six pre-production guns to show and they were very well received. The interest in the Fortis seems to exceed our initial thoughts and the feedback we got from show attendees was most favorable and positive.

And then, enter the Internet Forum.

One of the interesting things that we have done with the Fortis Project, is this blog; it is a (nearly) real time glimpse into the development of the pistol, unlike the conventional marketing aspect of releasing a production product to the market with a “there it is, and it is what it is” statement. The down side to this is that it leaves the project open to much more speculation than normal. The Speculators, free to post their ideas on the many Internet Forums, remain largely free of any contradictory facts… that is, until we update this blog – as always, this is the only source of official Fortis information.

Rumor Control:

We are not yet taking pre-orders, the first step towards the Fortis release will most likely be the opportunity to reserve serial numbers – this will be announced on this blog when it happens.

Fortis production is NOT limited to 2,500 pistols… while that is our target goal for the first run, we will continue to make the original Fortis for as long as there is a demand.

The first release of the Fortis is designed to be as faithful to the original Bren Ten as possible, it looks like it does, because that is what the original Bren looked like – we did take some liberty with all silver “Vice” model, which of course pays homage to the unique pistol used in a popular television show.

We have not changed the “lines” of the frame… the guns that were shown at Shot 09 were on pre-production frames and, while nearly identical to the original Bren, these are not what will be used on the production gun. We do have the drawings, designs and prints from the original Bren, and the Standard Model Fortis is a dead ringer in the looks department.

Yes, there will be other models in the future, but future models will be a marked departure from the original Bren Ten – we hope to use the basic design as a springboard to advance the original concept into a more modern design; however, for now, the only models that are being made are the four different designs that were shown at Shot 09.

The four designs that we showed at Shot 09 were the (1) Standard Model, (2) Vice Model, (3) Special Forces Dark and, (4) Special Forces Light.

The short slide version of the Fortis is called the “Special Forces” model because… well, you can probably guess, that is what the short slide version of the original Bren was called.

Yes… the Gunsite Raven will be used on the Fortis, with permission from Gunsite.

The Fortis is very nice to shoot… the ergonomics and design of the pistol make shooting even full power 10mm Auto very controllable and comfortable – the current long slide Fortis weighs 2.25 pounds empty.

The 10mm Auto pushes a 180+ grain bullet at 1200+ feet per second… there are 15 of them in a Fortis magazine.

The Fortis is designed to use standard Witness magazines… we offer the Fortis with a magazine the replicates the look of the original Bren floor plate, but the magazine body is dimensionally identical to the Witness magazine.

The Fortis grip is not wider than the original Bren Ten; in fact, it is… well, here is what our Lead Engineer sent me about this topic: VLTOR has stated from the beginning that the FORTIS will adhere as close as possible to the original weapons as possible – and we have adhered to that fervently. Criticism regarding the widening of the grip area of the weapon is unfounded. In fact, the FORTIS is actually narrower in the grip area than the original weapon. Changes are planned in the grip area to make the ‘feel’ more true to the original, but rumors that we’ve increased ANY dimensions in the grip are untrue. The receiver is perhaps closer to the original than any other FORTIS component, save for the slide-stop for obvious reasons. We are very proud of this achievement, and hope that those claiming that this area is any wider will trust us on this – the new magazine fits with NO change to the grip. Also understand that any and all changes made to components were made for one of several reasons. Either the original part was not satisfactory in performance (the extractor), or did not lend itself well to either casting or CNC machining (IE: sear housing). We’ve tried to employ the highest quality processes throughout, and it shows in the final product. The FORTIS is rock-solid.

The FORTIS is the culmination of 20 years of dreams, 2 years of in-depth engineering and analysis, 9 months of collaboration with those that knew the most about the original guns, and 5 months of manufacturing setup. The results are high-quality parts that are optimized to production, while functioning more reliably in a similar form-factor to the original so that the final product, though very similar in all conceivable aspects, truly is an all-NEW endeavor. We believe that it is this dedication that will be most appreciated by our potential customers, those that want the gun of a man’s man: AMERICAN made, all steel, chambered for a HOT cartridge, plenty of capacity, and the level of quality one would come to expect from us.

Really not much else to say after that… Range testing continues, the Fortis is coming.

Staying the Course…

We just wanted to make a quick update and let everyone know that things are going great. It is no secret that the current climate and associated “gun buying frenzy” has all manufactures and dealers buried with demands… but amazingly we are staying pretty much on track with the Fortis.

Rest assured, the current economic situation will not hamper the development or production of the Fortis. We identified what we thought were shortcomings with the other attempts to bring this pistol to market and eliminated or overcame those concerns from the start; this project was fully funded at the beginning

Check out the picture of the receivers! We are calling these the last of the preproduction receivers… the next time we order receivers, it will be the big order, and that day is not at all far off. Again, thanks for hanging in there, it will be worth the wait.

Fortis Pistol receivers after undergoing final QC inspection and waiting for the machine operations -- by the time you read this, they will be being made into the last run of pre-production guns, the next round will be for delivery!

because you asked…

I was watching a science fiction show on the television this morning… some story about a guy that travels back in time, and how he has to deal with the difficulty of things he once took for granted, being impossible to even manufacture in the past.

The Fortis Pistol Project has been a lot like the premise of that show; it has been an opportunity for us to recreate the past, using today’s technology, and to really learn to appreciate the differences… let me give you an example.

The heart of an auto pistol is the barrel and slide, the fit between the two has to be precise and repeatable; without effecting reliability and function. It has always been the accepted practice to hand fit these parts, or to live with a loose fit – but that was then, this is now.

We continue to design, test and refine the Fortis… and we continue to explore how to best exploit the materials and manufacturing techniques available to us today. Take a look at our newest slides and barrels: by using modern alloys and sophisticated machining and heat treating processes, we are able to produce slide and barrel combinations that are of perfect fit, function and finish – something that quite simply could not have been done, even as recently as twenty-five years ago.

Oh, and of course you get some pictures of the newest slides and barrels…

So, in order to catch everyone up with the Fortis project, let’s take this opportunity to go over some of the more common questions, here goes:

Is the Fortis done? Well, no… but there is a Fortis, and we are down to making small changes – mostly to manufacturing techniques and fewer and fewer to the actual design. We still have some work to do, but more and more, we see the word “when” being replaced by “now that”.

So, when will it be done? We are still shooting for SHOT 09 as the debut of the production Fortis.

Are you taking pre-orders? Not yet… but this will be the first place that we will announce when we are.

How much will it cost? We are comfortable with saying that the standard Fortis will have a retail price of less than a thousand dollars.

How many models will there be? The first release will be of the standard model, this pistol is externally identical to the original Bren Ten, but with several internal improvements – it will be available in several combinations of 10MM or .45ACP; standard or short slide; and light or dark finishes.

What about the magazines? This is the one we get all the time… more than a few of you have figured it out though: we have designed the Fortis to use commercially available magazines from the EAA Witness line of pistols – we will of course offer our own Fortis magazine, but you will be able to use over the counter Witness magazines. Oh, and we have thousands of magazines on the way.

These are really works of art... these are post machining Fortis slides, the detail and precision of these parts is amazing.

 

Some of pre-prodcution barrels... any rumor that we are using a hexagonal bore is just that, a rumor.

The look of the original Bren Ten has not been betrayed.

The Fortis will have its own magazine... the original design of the floor plate is as much part of the Bren Ten look, as the "castle" barrel bushing. Regular, over the counter EAA Witness magazines will work in the Fortis, but we have thousands of Fortis magazines!

Thanks for your support; we are getting closer and closer.
The Vltor Fortis Team

A Short Message…

Hopefully though, long on content.

We realize it has been a while, but this really is a case of “No News is Good News” — Things are moving along just fine. We did want to reassure folks that the Fortis Project is doing well, and share with you an idea of where we are.

We are making a pretty good size run of pistols, all of these are still prototype, but things are working out great!  All of the internal parts are done and we are busy cutting others… we have suppliers for the grips, magazines and every part that we are not making — and as all along, this stuff is as good as it gets.

But heck, talk is cheap… everyone likes pictures; so here are a few, we’ll be putting more up and sharing some more details of the Fortis release soon. Thanks for hanging in there…

Fortis Barrel Bushings... these are great, probably no part captures the look of the original Bren Ten like these "castle" bushings. These are great looking parts!

Here are some of the smaller parts... hammers, struts, sears and more.

Not quite as shiney as the other parts... these are the heat treated pieces of bar stock that are used to make the slides. The pieces of bar stock are rough machined before heat treating, this is what they look like ready to go back into machining.

Again… thanks for hanging in there, and thanks for all of the great comments; we are working to make sure that the Fortis is everything you hope it will be. The Vltor Team.

So… will it have magazines?

Yep… that is just one of the milestones that we have reached and passed in the last couple of months. Before I get into some of the details, I want to say that we took a deliberate setback on our schedule over the last few weeks; if you read that last entry, you saw that we were able to secure all of the original blue prints, engineering notes, designs and data from the original Dornhaus & Dixon pistols – including never released designs.

We chose to use that opportunity to audit all of our designs and ensure that the external appearance and ergonomics of our designs matched the original drawings as closely as possible… they do, the Fortis is a carbon copy of the original Bren.

So, where are we at with building it?

The good news is that we are cutting steel… we have many of the internal parts done, we have developed special tooling and fixtures, have finalized selection of outside suppliers and hard parts for the Fortis pistol are on the bench!

The designs have underwent literally days of Finite Element Analysis, and the results show that the Fortis is strong… the Fortis is more than up to the challenge of handling the full power 10MM Auto cartridge. The slides are undergoing the pre-machining heat treatment and will be on the machine shop floor soon; the Fortis slide is machined from solid bar stock, no casting.

Actually, we have eliminated several cast parts from the original Bren design… with today’s Live Tool and high speed machines, advanced 5th Axis techniques, EDM cutting and other modern manufacturing techniques… it is actually just as fast and cost efficient to make a lot of the originally cast parts from solid stock. Add to this the fact that we are able to select from state-of-the-art materials that were unavailable only a few years ago; and once again, we are quite comfortable saying that the Fortis is the finest pistol made.

Oh, one big question we get… Yes, we have magazines; the .45ACP is a 10 round magazine and the 10MM is a 15 round magazine, the price is no more than you would pay for any current production mag, and availability is not a problem. The only down side is that they will not retrofit the original Bren Ten.

Stay tuned folks… things are starting to move quickly.

So, let’s hear from you…

We are getting so many great comments that we decided to turn the “leave comments” function back on; please feel free to leave your comments, ideas, concerns… good or bad, just please keep it civil.

Sorry for the delay…

It has been far too long since we have updated the blog… so there is really a lot to cover. Things are moving along very well with the Fortis, actually better than we could have ever hoped for.

Our engineering models are done and they have been undergoing Finite Element Analysis for a few weeks now – the results of this testing show that the internal changes we have made are indeed improvements over the original design.

While striving to retain the original appearance and ergonomics of the Bren Ten, we have addressed nearly every internal part of the pistol – the Fortis incorporates many changes and improvements to part design, materials and manufacturing technique.

So, it would seem that the “big news” around here is that we are satisfied with most of the engineering and design work, and we are ready to start prototyping parts… that would seem to be the big news; and would be, if not for what happened about a month ago.

In our search to find out as much as possible about the original Bren Ten, we were able to get all of the original blueprints, engineering notes, designs and drawings – even the design and data packages for never produced versions. There is no way to describe how much this has helped us, we can honestly say now that the Fortis is not just a reverse engineered, slightly modified version of the Bren Ten – the Fortis is the next generation of the Bren Ten! Now, so much more than ever, this is more than continuing the legacy – this is about evolving the “greatest handgun ever made” into the Greatest Handgun Ever… period.

With every step we take, we are picking up more support… we have made some great friends and met some truly wonderful people. There are a lot of great things in the future, and we are honored to be able to make them happen.

Thanks for your support,

The Vltor/Fortis Team

These two screen captures are from the preliminary Finite Element (FEA) studies that have been performed on the slide and receiver components of the Fortis pistol. The colored areas illustrate the distribution of stresses within the components due to impact loading during recoil. The slide and receiver were assembled together and the tests simulated a ‘fixed’ firing event in which there was no recoil allowed. This imparts the maximum impact energy on the components, and quickly reveals areas of concern. These studies have been used to ensure the safety of the pistol under rigorous use, as well as help to determine the causation behind the failures of the original slides and frames. The data collected has been extremely revealing, showing stress risers in places one might not expect at first glance. Extensive measures have been taken to ensure a reliable, durable weapon system.

The 10mm Auto round is indeed a tenacious beast, though by designing the system to the full-house specs of the 10mm the Fortis will thrive where other weapons fail.

Note that these are not representative of final geometry, or performance. The analysis process can be lengthy when investigating such a complex system of components, and these captures are simple illustrations taken from the very first passes made for simulation validation.

The Word is Out…

Today was supposed to be the “official” launch of the Fortis Information Page, but it looks like the blog was discovered a bit early… seems the Google Bots have been busy!

I am turning off the ability for readers to leave comments… this is a decision that is in line with Vltor’s long standing practice of not participating in open Internet discussion forums – please understand that the reason we do this, is that historically any post will eventually turn into a “he said, she said” contest, then open arguing and unwarranted disparaging comments are made, trolls arrive, and soon the intent of the original post is lost forever.

This webpage was created to provide “direct from the source” information about the Fortis Pistol and to keep those interested informed of progress — this is the only source for official information.

Naturally, we want and encourage your feedback, please feel free share you comments or ideas with us! Feel free to email us with anything you want us to hear. Thanks and keep an eye on this page.

The Antithesis of Chaos…

The antithesis of Chaos is generally held to be “Cosmos” — and in our case, Cosmos is the new Finite Element Analysis program that we are using to test the Fortis. Vltor Weapons Systems has brought on some new folks to help out with the Fortis Project, and the investment is paying off well!

As previously stated, we have made some internal changes, in order to make the Fortis more reliable, stronger and safer than the original pistol — currently there are a few computer models that are undergoing repeated testing in computer simulation. The Finite Element Analysis testing allows us to look at areas of potential concern… and we are proud to say is showing us that the changes we have made are indeed improvements.

We are working to make the final refinements to the designs, and we are quite confident that when we move to “hard steel” prototype testing, that real range time will validate the time and cost we have invested in the extensive computer modeling and simulations.

As always… we will keep you posted as things move along — thanks for reading and check back soon!