{"id":22434,"date":"2026-03-29T20:59:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T20:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/altor-9mm-review-cheap-gun-big-idea\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T20:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T20:59:36","slug":"altor-9mm-review-cheap-gun-big-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/altor-9mm-review-cheap-gun-big-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Altor 9mm Review: Cheap Gun, Big Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/svg><\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>12<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n

The Altor 9mm is crude, awkward, and about as far from a refined carry gun as you can get. That\u2019s exactly why this odd little single-shot pistol makes such a provocative modern echo of the FP45 Liberator, and why its implications reach way beyond the range.<\/p>\n

From Caracas to Tehran: Why Power Projection Still Hits a Hard Wall<\/h2>\n
<\/picture>
This is Eric Slover of TF 160\u2013The Night Stalkers. CW5 Slover earned the Medal of Honor during Operation Southern Spear, the mission to capture the Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife. This freaking dude even looks like a GI Joe action figure. As a fellow Chinook pilot, I couldn\u2019t be prouder. Social Media photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At 0200 on 3 January 2026, a Delta Force strike team descended upon the fortified compound of Nicolas Madura in Caracas, Venezuela, via helicopters piloted by the Task Force 160 SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment). US forces had previously neutralized Venezuelan air defenses via a combination of stealth strike aircraft and unmanned drones. Some two hours later, the Delta operators exfiltrated with Maduro and his wife in custody to face charges in American courts for narcotrafficking. They left behind 55 dead Venezuelan and Cuban security officers. The mission was an unqualified success, one of the most audacious and effective special operations in military history.<\/p>\n

Soon thereafter, there arose a grassroots uprising in Iran against the ruling theocrats led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The radical Iranian government responded with overwhelming force, arresting protestors across the country. Many of those arrested were subsequently executed. The death toll was in the tens of thousands. As many as 330,000 protestors were wounded. Specific details are difficult to ascertain because the Iranian government has imposed an Internet blackout across the country.<\/p>\n

\"Abraham<\/picture>
If you\u2019re a bloodthirsty despot and you glance out your window to see this cruising right off your shores, you\u2019re just screwed. Public domain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I type these words, the US and Israel are engaged in a world-class dustup in Iran. American aviators are flying around-the-clock combat missions, while the US Navy pummels Iranian targets with missiles from warships underway at sea. Most of the Iranian leadership is dead. However, the sordid situations in both Venezuela and Iran have laid bare one of the thorniest issues in modern power projection.<\/p>\n

Deposing a dictator is honestly the easy part. There are rumors that the strike team in Caracas utilized some sort of advanced sonic weapon that debilitated Maduro\u2019s defenders. While we will likely never learn the details, what is obvious is that this was a seriously one-sided fight. Delta swooped in there and whacked absolutely everybody before snatching the Maduros and spiriting them away to the USS Iwo Jima steaming offshore. The real challenge is not toppling the government. It is what to do with a beheaded country after Delta goes home to Fort Bragg.<\/p>\n

\"Tank<\/picture>
This unknown guy was indeed a world-class stud. However, the tanks still won. Fair use.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These same challenges exist in spades in Iran, Red China, Myanmar, and North Korea. There are plenty of selfless patriots willing to fight for their freedom. However, when the government retains a monopoly on deadly force, there\u2019s just not a whole lot that reformers can do to influence that situation. The amazingly brave Tank Man in Tiananmen Square made for some compelling visuals, but the tanks still win\u2013every single time.<\/p>\n

Why Cruise Missiles Aren\u2019t the Answer to Venezuela or Iran<\/h2>\n
\"BGM-109<\/picture>
The BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile means not having to say you\u2019re sorry in all of the world\u2019s recognized languages. Public domain. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A typical Tomahawk Land Attack cruise missile carries a 690-pound unitary warhead and will reach out 1,550 miles. The TLAM cruises at 570 mph, some 100 feet above the surface of the earth. This brilliant machine can be programmed to approach a target from an unexpected direction using a variety of redundant guidance systems. It is a truly amazing thing. The latest versions will set you back about $3 million apiece. We fired more than 720 of them in the opening salvoes of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.<\/p>\n

The TLAM is undeniably impressive, I\u2019ll grant you that. However, I\u2019m not so sure that clouds of hyper-expensive cruise missiles are the answer to the thorny problem of what comes next in places like Venezuela and Iran. I would rather propose that the better solution is a tiny, almost disposable single-shot 9mm pistol from a company called Altor. I bought mine for less than $100. The Altor pistol is the heir apparent to the WW2-vintage FP45 Liberator.<\/p>\n

The FP45 Liberator: The Disposable Pistol That Started It All<\/h2>\n
\"FP45<\/picture>
The FP45 Liberator was an inspired, inexpensive, single-shot resistance weapon intended to be parachuted into occupied territories during World War II. I think it\u2019s time we resurrect that idea myself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In March of 1942, a Polish military attache proposed the concept of a cheap, single-shot handgun that could be inexpensively mass-produced and then air-dropped to resistance forces operating in occupied Europe. The idea was forwarded to the US Army Joint Psychological Warfare Committee and from there passed on to George Hyde at the General Motors Corporation in Dayton, Ohio. Hyde was the guy who designed the M3 Grease Gun.<\/p>\n

The General Motors Guide Lamp Division was tasked to produce Hyde\u2019s design under tight security. The gun was designated the FP45, short for \u201cFlare Projector.\u201d Naming the thing a flare gun was just another handy bit of subterfuge. Individual components were designated the tube, spanner, control rod, and yoke to camouflage the true nature of the weapon.<\/p>\n

The entire project spanned six months and produced about a million copies. Actual physical production ran a mere eleven weeks. Each pistol consisted of 23 parts, including a smoothbore barrel. They cost $2.10 apiece to make. That would be about $39 today. America has its problems, but nobody mass-produces stuff quite like we do.<\/p>\n

\"FP45<\/picture>
The FP45 was designed to be so simple that even a child could use it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While this single-shot gun had to be manually reloaded using a wooden dowel as an ejector, the pistol did carry five spare rounds in the grip. Each FP45 was issued in a cardboard box with the dowel, a cartoon instruction sheet, and ten rounds of ammunition. The FP45 was not a proper service weapon by any means. However, it was the gun you could use in a pinch to get yourself a better gun.<\/p>\n

\"FP45<\/picture>
The manual of arms for the FP45 Liberator was fairly rudimentary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nobody knows how many FP45\u2019s actually saw service, but it wasn\u2019t many. Generals MacArthur and Eisenhower apparently refused to authorize widespread distribution of the tiny weapons out of concern for the difficulties an armed populace might introduce to the post-war pacification process. Vintage examples remain available at a price. Large numbers were supposedly dumped into the ocean off the coast of the Philippines at the end of the war.<\/p>\n

The Vietnam-Era Deer Gun Kept the Liberator Concept Alive<\/h2>\n
\"Vietnam-era<\/picture>
The Vietnam-era Deer Gun was a cheap, essentially disposable last-ditch survival weapon. Very few of these guns ever saw the light of day. Rock Island Auctions photograph.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1964, the US government contracted with the American Machine and Foundry Company to produce a more modernized version of the FP45 for use by irregular forces in Vietnam. Christened the Deer Gun, this 9mm weapon was also an inexpensive single-shot design. However, it was built around a cast aluminum frame with a simple retractable striker. Around 1,000 copies were produced, few if any of which saw service.<\/p>\n

Final cost for the Deer Gun was about $3.95 apiece, which is also about forty bucks in today\u2019s money. The Deer Gun carried three spare rounds and a manual ejector rod in its hollow aluminum grip. The gun\u2019s sole safety was a small plastic clip that secured the striker in place.<\/p>\n

The Altor 9mm: A Six-Part Pistol for the Information Age<\/h2>\n
\"Altor<\/picture>
The Altor 9mm single-shot pistol isn\u2019t much of a gun. However, I would assert it is exactly the weapon we need today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Altor single-shot 9mm pistol is the obvious next evolution of these earlier covert assassination weapons. To be honest, the Altor gun is an objectively sketchy gun. The pistol has just enough influence from trial attorneys to make it cumbersome. However, despite these failings, it really could change the course of history in places like Venezuela and Iran.<\/p>\n

Altor means \u201cProtector\u201d in Latin. The Altor pistol is comprised of a whopping six parts all totaled. It doesn\u2019t even have a trigger in the traditional sense.<\/p>\n

\"Action<\/picture>
The action of the Altor 9mm pistol couldn\u2019t be simpler.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a basic crossbolt safety located in the grip that prevents the striker from being retracted far enough to fire a round. To load the gun, you pull back very slightly on the striker lever and rotate the barrel off. You then slip a single cartridge into the cartridge holder and return the barrel. Rotating the barrel into one of two detent positions acts as a secondary safety mechanism.<\/p>\n

When you are ready to fire, you point the gun in the direction of something you dislike, push off the safety, and manually retract the striker lever. A ramp built into the frame shoves your finger out of the way and releases the striker to fire the round. Reloading is tiresome but fairly straightforward.<\/p>\n

\"Altor<\/picture>
The Altor 9mm single-shot pistol is the obvious evolutionary development of the WW2-vintage FP45 Liberator.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Altor offers the gun in 9mm and .380ACP, both with and without threaded barrels. The metal bits are all cut from quality stainless steel. The polymer frame is some indestructible Information Age wonder material. The nature of the design means you need not keep a stick handy for reloading. The sights are a simple post and V cast into the polymer frame.<\/p>\n

Recoil is surprisingly vigorous. The gun will readily hide in the front pocket of a pair of blue jeans, but I would have to think a bit before I packed it loaded. \u201cBlew His Own Balls Off with a Cheap Single-Shot Pistol\u201d would look pretty stupid on a tombstone. However, the rifled barrel ensures that the gun tracks true at typical intimate close quarters ranges.<\/p>\n

While the Altor pistol would never be my first choice as a defensive tool, it really could conceivably shape the geopolitical affairs of men. While I paid a c-note for my copy, I bet Uncle Sam could mass-produce them for a fraction of that. Even paying retail, that means you could get 30,000 Altor pistols for the cost of a single modern TLAM cruise missile.<\/p>\n

Altor 9mm Specifications and Key Details<\/h2>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Model<\/th>\nAltor single-shot pistol<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Caliber<\/th>\n9mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Other Chambering Mentioned<\/th>\n.380ACP<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Action<\/th>\nSingle-shot<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Capacity<\/th>\n1 round<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Construction<\/th>\nStainless steel and polymer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Safety<\/th>\nCrossbolt safety and rotating barrel detent positions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sights<\/th>\nSimple post and V cast into the polymer frame<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Street Price Mentioned<\/th>\nless than $100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Why the Altor 9mm Matters More as an Idea Than a Fighting Pistol<\/h2>\n
\"Altor<\/picture>
The Altor 9mm pistol, shown here alongside a GI-issue SIG M17, is a suboptimal combat tool. However, it is the gun that helps you get a better gun.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If this were Willsworld (which it most certainly is not), we would airdrop 30,000 of these things into Iran and Venezuela and just let them go at it. An Altor pistol would certainly not be adequate to transform your typical Iranian pro-democracy protestor into a seasoned Delta Force operator. However, it would no doubt make the Iranian IRGC security thugs keep looking over their shoulders as they were rounding up dissidents. The same could be said for Venezuela. A few zillion of these things gifted to an oppressed people equals an instant armed population.<\/p>\n

\"French<\/picture>
The French Resistance gave the Germans fits during World War 2. However, we had to get guns to them first. We face a similar quandary today. Mind that trigger finger, Missy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unarmed folks are slaves. The armed sorts are citizens. The capacity to airdrop Altor pistols in quantity into places like Myanmar or North Korea would instantly create an armed populace, the bane of despots since the beginning of time. I genuinely believe that the answer to Iran and Venezuela isn\u2019t some massive military intervention or even suffocating economic sanctions. I think the solution is actually guns, lots and lots of guns. This innocuous little Altor pistol would be a great first step.<\/p>\n

www.AltorCorp.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/picture><\/a><\/div>\n
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Will is still trying to figure out what he really wants to be when he grows up. However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation.<\/p>\n

Raised in the Mississippi Delta, Will flew UH1H, OH58A\/C, CH47D and AH1S helicopters operationally as an Army Aviator. He is SCUBA-qualified and has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 o\u2019clock in the morning. Will has summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six times\u2026always at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains.<\/p>\n

Will has delivered sixty babies and occasionally wrung human blood out of his socks. He is married to his high school sweetheart and has three awesome adult children. Turn-ons include vintage German machineguns, flying his sexy-cool RV6A airplane, Count Chocula cereal and the movie \u201cAliens.\u201d<\/p>\n

www.word-monkey.com<\/p>\n

Experience:<\/b><\/p>\n

-Professional Writer-thousands of publishing credits for dozens of titles<\/p>\n

-Mechanical Engineer\/Practicing Physician<\/p>\n

-Instrument-rated Commercial Pilot<\/p>\n

-Sunday School Teacher<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes The Altor 9mm is crude, awkward, and about as far from a refined carry gun as you can get. That\u2019s exactly why this odd little single-shot pistol makes such a provocative modern echo of the FP45 Liberator, and why its implications reach way beyond the range. From Caracas to Tehran: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-firearm"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22436,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22434\/revisions\/22436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}