In the '60s and early '70s Glen Slade's was pretty much to go gun store in Houston. When the Escort was discontinued, they simply piled them up behind one of the counters with a price in the $40 range. The pile remained unreduced for several months. Eventually they disappeared. I asked if they had sold and was told that those that remained had been purchased by another dealer who just knew they would become valuable collector's items. I've often wondered how long it took for him to make his money back.
They did work with the proper ammunition. At the time, the usual hideout gun for police in the Houston area was a Baby Browning in a second handcuff carrier. By '74, the GCA of 68 had made the little Browning expensive and difficult to find. I know several men who found the Escort to be an acceptable substitute.
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