The CIA's Deer Gun • 83 means of a cocking knob and trigger unit. The only safety was a plastic ring that slipped over the cocking knob, acting as a collar to prevent it from falling on the cartridge primer if the weapon were discharged accidentally. This collar also doubled as a front sight, to be slipped off the cocking knob and attached to The legendary ordnance designer the barrel before firing. Russell J. Moure, shown here with a After examining and ballistic knife, developed the Deer Gun testing Moure's protoon a CIA contract. (Photo courtesty of type, the Agency ordered Jack KrcmaJ 1,000 pistols, issuing AMF a developmental contract for $300,000, quite a bit higher than the original price of less than $4 per weapon. il 'These were developmental weapons, which meant our research and prototype costs had to be recovered," explained the former AMF officer, who was on the Deer Gun project with Moure. "These costs were high, but if we'd gone into mass production the projected figure of $3.95 could have been met." Each pistol came packed in a plain white polystyrene box along with three rounds of 9mm ammunition, sterile of any markings (i.e., head stamps). The box also contained a four-color, cartoon-style, wordless instruction sheet that visually and in detail instructed the user how to operate the weapon and upon whom. The cartoon instruction sheet depicted a generic guerrilla using a Deer Gun to shoot an enemy soldier, who was wearing a Soviet hammer and sickle arm band. Ironically, the only identifying mark of any kind found on the weapon, its container, or the instructions was that arm band. Of the weapons delivered to the CIA, approximately 150