According to gun writer Gary Paul Johnston:
Mr. Richard Swan, inventor of the Swan Rail, which was adopted as the Mil-Std-1913 rail, and was nicknamed the “Picatinny” rail, passed away at home in his sleep the night of July 3rd after an illness.
Dick Swan also designed numerous mounting systems for the U.S. Military from the early 1990’s to the present, many of which continue to be used and copied through the world.
Tags: Dick Swan
RIP
Never heard the name until today but his legacy will live on for centuries to come. F.
Never knew Dick Swan personally, but Big Mike knows everyone and goes everywhere!
Dick, thanks for helping us those many times and being a “teacher.” Surprised you went in your sleep because you were quite a fighter. But now you can finally RIP…
Semper Fi
Dick was a key inovator in the development of a Service worthy Modular Weapon System (MWS). But as the military’s requirement became more specific for light weight and simplicity, he kind of lost the bubble on the program and became very bitter…and others took the lead with their original ideas (Reed Knight’s) and were hugely successful. His “contribution” to the eventual Picatinny Rail spec (very much understood and over-stated elsewere in pubs) was much more his personal efforts to ensure Picatinny engineer’s like Stan Studal did not spec-out his throw-lever products with their final demensions…in effect, Stan was more influened by the then existing rail on the Army’s M24 than the Swan Sleeve…
Is it true he sued Mark LaRue for use of #17 in a product description?
Sadden to hear this. They always did right by us and our condolences to Brian and all the Family. Sharon is also missed Greatly. Rest In Peace.