Zen .45 Kendo Special

The Zen .45 Kendo Special is a high-performance, small-production run of handguns that went into production beginning in YE 42 after Ishikawa Kendo¹⁾ licensed the design off to Zen Armaments. The original weapon is a heavily modified Zen Armaments .45 Caliber Pistol and thus it shares a lot of internal parts with its better-known sibling. It is a powerful, though justifiably large, weapon designed for when stopping power is an absolute must.

The Star Military of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia and National Police Force of Nepleslia have opted to put this firearm on their lists of available firearms, while certainly still fewer in number than their more commonly fielded siblings of higher renown, the number of these in-use is by no means something to laugh at.

The Zen .45 Kendo Special is an extremely fine-tuned weapon capable of firing Nepleslia’s favourite caliber, the .45, as well as the larger-cased .45 Kendo Express round without any retooling required. It has an extremely simple mechanism, though the simplicity is often overshadowed by its breath-taking performance.

Though it lacks the notoriety of weapons such as the Zen Armaments .45 Caliber Pistol, it is still spoken highly of in the right circles of firearms-enthusiasts as a weapon designed by a Yamatai-born Nepleslian that can stop even the scariest mutant dead in its tracks.

Manufacturing and production information.

• Designer: Ishikawa Kendo
• Manufacturer: Zen Armaments
• Name: Zen .45 Kendo Special
• Nomenclature: Ze-W6-1A
• Type: Chemical Projectile Propulsion
• Role: Magnum Precision Pistol
• Length: 11.5 inches, 29.2cm
• Weight: 3.6lbs, 1.6kg

The Zen .45 Kendo Special is a rather simplistic handgun, even if big and somewhat bulky. It is made from nickel-plated Durandium Alloy featuring a wraparound-style grip constructed from vulcanized rubber with the words “Kendo Special” printed into the right side in blocky text. The barrel extends a noticeable bit from the front of the slide, with several notches cut out of its top. These notches functioning to help partially counter the weapon’s recoil and reduce muzzle climb, achieved by venting gasses upwards with each round fired.

On the finer, more functional side of things, both the front and rear of the weapon’s slide features deep and distinct striations to improve grip when attempting to rack back the slide. The hammer and trigger feature similar texturing. The handgun’s bull-style barrel has a spiral-style fluting to increase surface area.

Instead of the six fluted slits the standard model carries, the variant used by the Star Military of the Democratic Imperium of Nepleslia and National Police Force of Nepleslia features twelve circular holes milled into the top of the barrel²⁾, marginally increasing the strength of the barrel and the consistency of its kick as the gas is now directed through finer vents.

Information related to how the weapon acts when it is fired.

• Muzzle Flash: A gout of flaming gasses both out the end of the barrel and through the ported slits in the top of it.
• Retort: A loud, thunderous bang followed by a supersonic boom for hotter loads.
• Effective Range: 49 yards, 45meters for .45 Gryzun - ~100yards, ~91meters for .45Zen/.45Nep - ~273yards, ~250meters for .45 Kendo Express
• Rate of Fire: As fast as the user can squeeze the trigger in rapid succession.
• Recoil: Weight and the compensated barrel make .45 Zen, .45 Nep and .45 Gryzun rounds more than manageable – though even with these design choices, the recoil can kick back rather hard when firing a .45 Kendo Special.

Information related to the weapon’s available calibers and capacity.

• Ammunition: .45 Zen, .45 Nep, Yeger Armaments .45 Gryzun, .45 Kendo Express
• Purpose: Tier 1, Light Anti-Personnel – Tier 2, Medium Anti-Personnel depending on ammunition.
• Round Capacity: 8+1

Information pertaining to how the weapon functions when fired.

• Firing Mechanism: The Zen .45 Kendo Special is a simple roller-delayed, blowback-operated handgun with a double/single-action trigger. The heavy trigger-pull attached to it means that the weapon may be safely carried chambered and de-cocked with the safety off if the owner so chooses. A carefully weighted spring around the bull-style barrel pushes the slide forwards after each time it recoils backwards. Overall, it is a breathtakingly simple and reliable design for such a potent pistol.
• Loading: A small, round, reversible grip-mounted magazine release sits behind the handgun’s trigger mechanism, releasing the spring-loaded magazine and letting it fall free so that it may be replaced. The weapon’s slide locks open when out of ammunition and is released with a small, ambidextrous paddle above the trigger mechanism.
• Mode Selector: N/A
• Firing Modes: Semi-Automatic
• Safety Mechanism: A simple ambidextrous safety/decocker switch on both sides of the slide’s rear controls whether a plate between the front of the hammer and the rear of the firing pin obstructs the mechanism from firing or not. Flicking the safety on when the hammer is back safely decocks the hammer without engaging the firing pin.
• Weapon Sight: The Zen .45 Kendo Special uses a time-tested three-point sight setup with embedded fibreoptic/tritium elements for improved visibility, though the rare version with a brass bead in the front post and luminescent paint on the rear prongs can sometimes be found.
• Attachment Hard Points: A removable rail runs along the underside of the weapon’s frame, allowing the addition of aftermarket accessories and a plate near the adjustable rear sights can be removed to mount optics in its place if the owner desires, even a specific scope mount is available for larger optics systems.

This pistol uses a rather barbaric, though rugged and more than effective, method to bridge the gap between the regular .45 Zen/Nep ammunition it can fire and the heavier .45 Kendo Express ammunition. The shorter .45 Zen/Nep magazines have a bit of extra material running up their spine that fills out what would otherwise be a cavity if a Styrling Silver Special .45 Caliber magazine was used. Said magazines can be easily modified with some quick welding/soldering and grinding to work with this pistol, though they are unlikely to be as nicely made as the official Kendo Special magazines, which feature staggered witness holes in the sides to quickly check the remaining ammunition at a glance.

The Zen .45 Kendo Special is available from any good, and more than a few bad, Nepleslian gunshop, even if in fewer numbers than more popular .45 pistols. It is occasionally exported from Nepleslian borders when foreign firearms enthusiasts take interest, though is understandably less common outside of Nepleslia.

• Zen .45 Kendo Special: 1,500 DA³⁾

Various spare and replacements parts can be acquired from any gunstore that runs Nepleslian merch. If a customer is willing to be brave enough, some internals such as the hammer from a Rokheus & Surma H36-1, magazine release from a Styrling Silver Special .45 Caliber and various other small parts from a Zen Armaments .45 Caliber Pistol can be used for repairs.

List of officially supported aftermarket attachments for this weapon.

• Uncut, threaded barrel: 200 DA
• Standoff muzzle device: 80 DA
• “Meat tenderizer” Standoff muzzle device: 120 DA
• Pressure activated laser-pointer grip: 250 DA
• Custom wooden grip: 450 DA
• Transparent polymer grip: 15 DA
• “Box” Red dot sight: 500 DA
• Red dot sight: 130 DA
• Scope mount: 100 DA
• Zen Kendo 4-34x56mm “Arbalest” Scope: 300 DA
• Multispectral Marksman Scope: 600 DA
• Removable stock: 45 DA
• 8 round magazine, .45 Zen/Nep: 20 DA
• 8 round magazine, .45 Kendo Special: 15 DA
• 12 round magazine, .45 Zen/Nep: 25 DA
• 12 round magazine, .45 Kendo Special: 20 DA

Pricing chart for this weapon’s available ammunition types.

SirSkully created this article on 2020/05/14 07:28.

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