A Budischowsky TP-70 ??? What is that ??? Never heard of such a thing...NOW WITH PICS

shooboy

shooboy

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So I'm at my buddy's gun shop when I spy some incredibly gorgeous wood grips on this little stainless .25 auto-loader. Yep, it's a Budischowsky TP-70, priced at just $219. What a sweet little piece, wish it had been a 22lr. What's the deal with these things ??? Shoo
Here's some pics of the little guy....
016.jpg

017.jpg
 
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but shoo,,, they do come in .22

under a different name.."Norton TP-70 / .22 LR Automatic Pistol / Americarms Miami Fla."
 
They were imported for a while by American Arms Co. and went by the company name "Norton" as well, but I believe were Slavic in manufacture.

They also made a little TP22 that was a 22LR based on the Walther design. I have one and though carrying it in a pocket destroyed the baked on (?) finish, the little double action .22 shoots great and is very reliable and compact.

Looked at the Budischowskys years ago at a few gun shows, and handled a few, but never owned or shot one of the little .25's. Made well enough, and I think the .25's were stainless while the 22's were not.
 
Budischowsky TP/70 .22 LR Cal.

They were both Stainless Steel constructed with black plastic grips, at least the one I own is. I had one as a BUG back in the day until I found it to be unreliable, still have it with box, paperwork, etc. For some reason I seem to remember it reminded me of miniature Mod. 1911 Colt but I haven't had it in my hand for study in years.
 
The original USA mfg were made in Michigan and marked as such. They went out of business.
Don't know anything of the later marked products.
I think some earlier imported guns were sold here before the GCA68 cut off importation.

They had functioning problems in alot of cases.
The metal wasn't all that tough in the ones I saw and parts deformed rather quickly. Those were Michigan made guns.

See them at a show once in a while. A nice condition one w/ the box and papers is usually priced around $350. Don't know if they sell for that or not!
 
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2152hq said:
The original USA mfg were made in Michigan and marked as such. They went out of business.
Don't know anything of the later marked products.
I think some earlier imported guns were sold here before the GCA68 cut off importation.

They had functioning problems in alot of cases.
The metal wasn't all that tough in the ones I saw and parts deformed rather quickly. Those were Michigan made guns.

See them at a show once in a while. A nice condition one w/ the box and papers is usually priced around $350. Don't know if they sell for that or not!
Click to expand...

Thanks 2152hq, this one was in great shape and was one of the Michigan made ones. I'll get a picture of it tomorrow, you have to see the grips on this thing..... Shoo
 
Those look like 'Russwood' grips. Usually marked on the inside if they are. Were very popular in the 70's and 80's. Might still be in business(?). Shop was in E. Aurora,NY near Buffalo. Russ Maloni was the guys name.

Nice looking pistol!

>
>
Is that serial number '049' ?
 
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2152hq said:
Those look like 'Russwood' grips. Usually marked on the inside if they are. Were very popular in the 70's and 80's. Might still be in business(?). Shop was in E. Aurora,NY near Buffalo. Russ Maloni was the guys name.

Nice looking pistol!

>
>
Is that serial number '049' ?
Click to expand...

Thnks2152hq, The number is 049, I'm guessing that is the serial number, Shoo
 
Please post the number of the shop. This was made in my hometown of Mt. Clemens and i would like to get it for that reason.
Thanks.

Never thought i would ever actually want a .25.
 
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I've got a consecutive set 2409 and 2410. I haven't had any experience with them being undependable. Mine both function flawlessly. The only problem I've had is they fire .25 ACP, which may not be the most effective round. They are a very good pocket pistol for summer use.

Compared to most other tiny autos, its great. I've even got an extra mag - 3 total.

I've never seen aftermarket grips for them. I think the plastic looks cheap, but I wouldn't trade for oversize wood. The advantage of the gun is its small size.

I see them fairly regularly at gun shows. Prices have been as low as $200, which was really tempting, to as high as $300, which was not. I always sober up and wonder what I'd do with a 3rd one.
 
My brother has a little TP22, and has carried it for probably 30 years. It's a great little gun! That one you're looking at is awful pretty, Shoo, I'd probably have to get it on looks alone! Besides, I have about 100 rounds of .25 at the house and nothing to shoot them in. It's almost a crime to have ammo without a gun to go with it!
 
Interesting. That's another made-in-Michigan gun (the Bauer/Fraser/RB Industries being the other) I'll have to look for.
 
The Michigan made Budischowski's were made by the 'Norton Armament Corp' in Mt Clemens, Michigan.
They were heavily involved in defense type armament mfg contracts.

Norton had several other off-shoot businesses,,all under the direction of guy by the name of Paul Norton Van Hee (Jr?). His wife was involved in the businesses also.
Van Hee was charged and convicted in Fed count in the 70's of either selling or attempting to sell some sort of military veh to Spain or Portugal.
He got a few years probabtion out of it IIRC, but it ended the string of his businesses & the mfg of the Budischowski at Mt Clemens.

American Arms of Miami mfg them next I believe.
The original was made in Germany by Korriphilia (sp?) as the TP70 but the GCA'68 stopped importation. Enter Norton Armament at that point.
Edgar (Edward?) Budischowski was the guns designer.

A search on VanHee might give more info about the Mt Clemens location of Norton Armament Corp.
 
Michigan, home of the once automotive Big Three, is the intellectual home of "planned obsolescence" ---products designed to fail or at least fall out of favor quickly. This may explain, in part, this product's defects, and also why Detroit is becoming a ghost/waste land, and why the state's economy is in the tank..
 
The late gunwriter Maj. George Nonte loved these guns and wrote about his very often. I have never owned one so I can't comment, but have seen several and they seem to be very well made guns.
 
I would hope these sort of flaws aren't typical of the make (photo from an old GB auction):

2dwg85i.jpg
 
-db- said:
I would hope these sort of flaws aren't typical of the make (photo from an old GB auction):

They were investment cast production IIRC. It was very common the see not only rough unpolished surfaces on hard to areas like this, sides of the trigger guard and along side the trigger guard where it meets the frame, some of the small parts like the rear sight, etc.

It's also very common to see tiny voids in the castings in the major parts frame and slide.
Other small production makers from the same time (70's, early 80's) had the same problems using investment cast parts.
Crown City Arms 45 frames come to mind quickly.

BTW,,the (old?)address for the Norton Armament Corp was 41471 Irwin, Mt Clemens, Mich. 48043

From an old owners manual a friend owns. He told me you should be able to find the manual printed out on the net also.
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