US 5,062,230 “Pen gun”
- Application
- 07/608,707
- Filed
- November 5, 1990
- Issued
- November 5, 1991
- Status
- Issued; expired
A straight pen-shaped pistol with its parts on one axis.
The inventor and the Stinger legacy
Robert J. Braverman
The inventor named first on both of the 1991 patents behind the Stinger pen gun, and the founder of R. J. Braverman Corp., which gave the design its name. Today his company, R. J. Braverman LLC, is leading the Stinger’s return.
In brief
Firearms designer and entrepreneur
Robert J. “R.J.” Braverman is an American firearms designer and entrepreneur, best known for the Braverman Stinger: a folding pen gun that combines the concealability of a pen with the function of a single-shot pistol.
He filed the first of two pen-gun patent applications on November 5, 1990. Both patents, US 5,062,230 and US 5,062,231, were issued on November 5, 1991, naming him and Isaak M. Shklyarov as inventors and assigned to his company, R. J. Braverman Corp. USPTO, 1991USPTO, 1991
Because the folding Stinger cannot fire until it is reconfigured, an ATF spokesman told ABC News in 2003 that it was classified as an ordinary handgun rather than as an “Any Other Weapon” under the National Firearms Act. ABC News, October 30, 2003Forgotten Weapons, November 22, 2015
His design is part of the history of specialty folding firearms, and he continues to pursue new designs and opportunities for the Stinger.
Introduction
The man behind the pen gun
Robert J. Braverman designed a pistol that could be carried as a pen and fired only after it was folded. He and Isaak M. Shklyarov are named as its inventors on two United States patents issued on the same day, November 5, 1991, both assigned to his company, R. J. Braverman Corp.
Writers and collectors still know the gun by his name: the Braverman Stinger. He is known as “R.J.” and, in many later accounts, as “Bob” Braverman.
USPTO, 1991USPTO, 1991 The Firearm Blog, July 28, 2020Wikipedia
Origins of the design
Around 1990
The Firearm Blog dates his design work to around 1990. The record begins with his first patent application, for the straight “Pen gun”, filed on November 5, 1990. The folding design followed with an application filed on February 8, 1991.
When the patents were issued in 1991 they gave his town as Marblehead, Massachusetts, his co-inventor’s as Boston, and the assignee as R. J. Braverman Corp. of Winthrop, Massachusetts.
At the heart of both filings is the same idea: a working pistol that could be carried as an ordinary pen and would fire only once it had been deliberately changed into a pistol shape.
Patent history
Two patents and a later application
US 5,062,231 “Duel profile pen gun” (the Patent Office’s spelling)
- Application
- 07/653,496
- Filed
- February 8, 1991
- Issued
- November 5, 1991
- Status
- Issued; expired
The folding design: carried as a pen, fired only after the rear housing is hinged down.
US 2004/0088897 A1 “Dual profile pen gun”
- Application
- 10/292,108
- Filed
- November 12, 2002
- Issued
- Published May 13, 2004; no patent issued
- Status
- Published application, abandoned
An improved version of the folding design. It was published but later abandoned.
The 1991 patents in full The 2004 published application and its drawings
Manufacturing and commercial history
From a patent to a name
American Derringer Corp.
Marketed his design as the Model 2 “Pen” Pistol, from Waco, Texas.
R. J. Braverman Corp.
Sold it under the name that stayed with it, the Stinger, from Meredith, New Hampshire. Remcon North Corp. made the guns. In June 1995 Soldier of Fortune reviewed the Stinger Pen Pistol and gave R. J. Braverman Corp. as its maker.
The Firearm Blog, July 28, 2020Wikipedia Soldier of Fortune, June 1995
Stinger Manufacturing Corp.
Revived the design in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Firearm Blog says he helped at first. In 2002 he also filed the application for an improved version.
From the archive
His company’s printed material
The Firearm Blog gives the same Meredith address and telephone number for the company. The Firearm Blog, July 28, 2020
Legacy and recognition
Still catalogued under his name
Braverman “devised and patented” a pen gun that regulators did not treat as an Any Other Weapon.
Forgotten Weapons, November 22, 2015
Forgotten Weapons filmed an example at Rock Island Auction Company in 2015, and The Firearm Blog reviewed the design in 2017 and 2020. Auction houses list the guns as “R J Braverman Corp” and “RJ Braverman Stinger” pen pistols.
Forgotten Weapons, November 22, 2015The Firearm Blog, September 26, 2017The Firearm Blog, July 28, 2020Rock Island Auction Company
Today
The next chapter
The Stinger is returning.
Robert J. Braverman’s company today is R. J. Braverman LLC. It has re-engineered the Stinger for a new generation. A working prototype has been built, the company describes the design as ready for manufacture, and the new design is patent pending.
More than thirty years after his first patent filing, he continues to work on the design that carries his name. The company intends to bring the re-engineered Stinger to market with an established industry partner.
Continue
More of the story
The full history
From the first filing in 1990, through the years of production, to the re-engineered Stinger today.
Read the historyPatents and innovation
The 1991 patents, the 2004 published application and the new application, which is patent pending.
See the patentsThe Stinger Pen Pistol
The design, its makers and the re-engineered Stinger.
See the Stinger Pen PistolThe gallery
Pen pistols, cases, advertising and documents.
See the gallery