Joe Survival’s Mark V .50 Caliber Revolver

In the last several years I’ve been lucky enough to see many paintguns of the 1980s and early 1990s resurface, such as the Master Blaster, the Legend / Nemesis, the Thormax Speedmaster, the Auto Sterling and the Mac 1 Pump Twist Dual.
In this article I’ve gathered what I can document on another example of paintball history, a classic paintgun that is a neat example of a possible franchise that never was, the Mark V 50 Repeating Pistol, from the Joe Survival field in Canada.

The main info on this pistol seems to be located on the The SunyJim’s Paintball Club site. This site out of London, Ontario, Canada, offers an informative summary of paintball’s history in a year by year breakdown.  SunyJim also offers a section specifically on the history of the local London scene, which features information on the Unknown Rebel’s, the 1983 National Survival Game Champions, and a lesser known Ontario field, Joe Survival. Find SunyJim’s paintball history page at http://www.sunyjimspaintballclub.2ya.com/

SunyJim’s London, Ontario history page shows scans from the Joe Survival brochure. Joe Survival looks as though it attempted to develop a national franchise of its own, stating, “nationwide” on the cover.

This brochure also offers some insight into the nearly forgotten pistol used at the Joe Survival field, labeled as Joe Survival’s “Mark V 50 Repeating Pistol.”  
Built off the Crosman Model 38 pistol, this .50 caliber revolver may have only been used at the London location, if no other franchise took off?

SunyJim’s site gives dates in 1986 and 1987 to put Joe Survival in perspective with other London, Ontario fields, but the entire span of operation isn’t clear.
Find SunyJim’s complete article on Ontario Paintball history at: http://www.ody.ca/~cwells/london_history.htm

SunyJim writes on that page:
“Glenn and his wife Anita (Logey, Logie?) ran [the Joe Survival] field. Back in those days the game was a survival game, and then later a paramilitary style capture the flag. All the markers were uncommon even for the time [, being] .50 caliber pistols. [Joe Survival’s Mark V 50 was a ] cheap knockoffs of the other popular .50 caliber Crossman 3357s.”

The video above show the double action and revolving cylinder on the Mark V 50. There isn’t much audio, mostly just cocking and recocking the pistol over and over and over.

I originally found out about this pistol after reading through Acrewofone’s thread on mcarterbrown a year or so back. In this thread, Acrewofone showed his findings on the pistol, and the difference between the two Mark V 50 revolvers he’d come across. Find Acrewofone’s post at:
http://www.mcarterbrown.com/forums/dead-zone/229793-updated-rebuilding-progress-mark-v-50-repeating-pistol-found.html

Acrewofone’s Mark V 50 pistols were the only examples I had seen up until a few weeks ago, when Ian Fierling posted a photo of his pistol on facebook.  He later posted it on mcb and I contacted him to see if he’d be interested in trading it. Ian was out of Kitchener, Ontario, about 100 kilometers north east of London.

Ian’s pistol isn’t in great shape but still I consider myself lucky to find an example of the Mark V 50 and I think with a little tweaking and by replacing a couple screws and springs it will recock and shoot.

A forth example of a Mark V 50 also popped up earlier this week. Renick Miller, of Bad Boyz Toys and Aftershock, posted the above photo on BBT’s facebook page along with a few other examples of vintage paintguns (AGA pistol, PG, PGP, and the UK Legend) which I believe came from David Freeman’s collection. Freeman was instrumental to the development to the sport through his partner ship with Jeff Perlmutter in Pursuit Marketing Inc., his initial funding and position as president of Tippmann Pnumatics Inc. and distribution / retail business, Direct Connect.
Find Renick’s original post, which the photo above is cropped from at:
https://www.facebook.com/BadBoyzToyzIL/photos/10152951194467871

Find the photos of the PG, PGP, Splatmaster, AGA and the Mark V 50 pictured above at:
https://www.facebook.com/BadBoyzToyzIL/posts/10152951194522871

And find the UK Legend blowforward at:
https://www.facebook.com/BadBoyzToyzIL/posts/10152951260867871

After seeing a Mark V 50 and what looked like the Joe Survival brochure underneath, I asked Renick if he had a better photo. He sent the picture above which looks like a printout given to Freeman from Paul Safr. I’ve message Paul Safr to see if he has any more history on these pistols. Eventually I’ll ask Freeman as well.

As I wrote above, this pistol isn’t in great shape but will be fun to find grips for and eventually get it shooting. That will not be anytime soon though.

Thanks to Ian Fierling for the Mark V 50, Renick Miller for the photo of the Joe Survival brochure, and Acrewofone for the inspiration.

Find Bad Boyz Toyz online at http://www.badboyztoyz.com/

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