Marko Kloos
Moderator Emeritus
I just picked up a Detonics Mk.I from a fellow THR member in a trade. These pistols were the proverbial cat's meow as carry pieces back in the 1980s, and the forerunners of the currently popular subcompact big bore handguns.
It's basically a chopped-down 1911 frame, with a grip that's even shorter than a Colt Officer's Model. The slide is stepped down at the rear, with the rear sight mounted well forward of the slide end, to allow rapid thumb-cocking. It also gives the Detonics a chopped, business-like look. The barrel is a bushingless, coned 3" affair. The Detonics magazines hold six rounds, and standard 1911 magazines will fit and function in the Detonics (although they'll stick out of the bottom).
The Detonics Combat Master was the first serious "street-fighting" subcompact 1911, and it had a pretty good reputation in its day. They are very well put together, and tend to be very reliable with both FMJ and JHP ammo, being designed from the start to feed JHPs reliably.
This little gun has a *lot* of punch for something so comparatively small. The Detonics was ahead of its time, and it can still hold its own against current-day subcompacts.
Range report to follow...
It's basically a chopped-down 1911 frame, with a grip that's even shorter than a Colt Officer's Model. The slide is stepped down at the rear, with the rear sight mounted well forward of the slide end, to allow rapid thumb-cocking. It also gives the Detonics a chopped, business-like look. The barrel is a bushingless, coned 3" affair. The Detonics magazines hold six rounds, and standard 1911 magazines will fit and function in the Detonics (although they'll stick out of the bottom).
The Detonics Combat Master was the first serious "street-fighting" subcompact 1911, and it had a pretty good reputation in its day. They are very well put together, and tend to be very reliable with both FMJ and JHP ammo, being designed from the start to feed JHPs reliably.
This little gun has a *lot* of punch for something so comparatively small. The Detonics was ahead of its time, and it can still hold its own against current-day subcompacts.
Range report to follow...