Are any forum members owners of the Detonics Combat Master. ?
I found this (early SN 7462 ) ca.1977 model a couple years ago. Really nice condition and high quality. Since I originally posted this, I've read more about the Detonics history. They were built for around 10 years by 3 engineers formerly of The Explosives Corporation of America .. When law enforcement really took an interest, the tiny company could not keep up with demand and wouldn't lower quality. Colt had been following the market and were waiting for the fall of Detonics. In the end, Colt apparently circumvented Detonics patents.. And introduced the Colt Officers Model, followed by, some years later, the true Detonics size Defender Model. Anyone else add to the story. ??

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John

Bought one last month. MK I patent pend marked with fish hook hammer. Very accurate gun.

My Buddy Steve carried one.
It was a Commander size 45.
He owned about every handgun on the planet.
But he chose the Detonics.
Me? Revolver Guy that I am, I carried my shorty 66.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Detonics made many different firearms.

From the Combat Master that you have pictured above to Government size Service Master and Commander sized 1911s as well as the Score Master in variations up to 6" guns with and without comps

I have had a stainless 45ACP Combat Master for years. I also had a Military Combat which was essentially the same firearm

Detonics also pioneered the extremly powerful 451 Detonics Magnum, the first very high power 1911 chambering, producing about double the muzzle energy of the 45ACP cartridge

In the early 70s when the Combat Master first came out, it was more than 1 1/2 times the price of a Colt Commander so lots more commanders were sold

I am right now working on a 38 Super Frankengun using a Combat Master top end on a Officers frame. OK truth is I have had the parts to do this for about 8 years now, I just do not have enough time. It was because Metalform graciously added 38 Super Officers magazines to their lineup when I first proposed this project that made it all come together

The Colt Defender had absolutely nothing to do with any Detonics product. The Defender came out about 3 decades after the Detonics Combat Master

If you want to say that the Combat Master and Military Combat had any influence on Colt, it would be in the Officers Model which was one of the competing firearms brought out a few years down the road that employed a similar cone barrel lockup system. It is very easy to get around patents, I doubt that Colt needed to buy anything from Detonics to produce any of their 1911 variations
Detonics was not the Explosives Corporation of America (EXCOA). Three former EXCOA employees formed Detonics with the main goal of continuing in the Explosives industry when EXCOA downsized.

The name Detonics came from Detonate

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"Acta non verba"

I've had a Seattle made Combat Master since about the same time. Has the Essex frame and sleeved Colt NM barrel.

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The gun will feed anything. I used to load a 255 grain H&G semi-wadcutter designed for 45 Colt revolvers and on occasion Speer 265 grain JHP. A handful but ran great.

I have a later made MkVI hiding out of state.

At the risk of wandering off topic a bit, a local gunsmith put together this 3" bbl 45 ACP with a Detonics length grip. I contributed a modest amount of finish work.

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I think the Star PD preceded the Detonics CM by a few years. A bit bigger overall but the alloy frame makes it much lighter.

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I wish to heck someone would make a 3" barrel 1911, alloy frame with Detonics length grip - CBOB'ing the grip would be a nice touch too.

Something I’ve found interesting... the relief on the slide top rear is for easier thumb cocking, implying that it was “designed for Condition 2”. (LOL, flame war alert, popcorn standing by!)

I’ve read (and seen one pic) that on the early ones this cut was considerably shorter and the rear sight was in a more normal location.

Detonics teamed up with Larry Seecamp to produce a set of pistols with matching serial numbers. I think there are about 50 of these sets.

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I wanted one when they first came out, but they were out of my price range. I finally stumbled across this Seattle Combat Master about 25 years ago and the dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse! They wrote it up as a MK V, but it's industrial hard chrome, not stainless. I don't know if it's a factory MKIII, or a MK I that received an aftermarket finish. Either way, I was thrilled to get it!

This was about 3 years before shall issue in Michigan and carry guns didn't have a big following. I added the stags a while later.

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"I also cook."

Nice pistol. I also have a Mk? stainless. Love your stags.

They’re fine pistols. Here’s a link to some interesting info.

Biggerhammer.net - Detonics Pistols

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Thank you. I was going to ask why the rear sight was so far forward.

I'm sure many of you remember Miami Vice.
Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) carried a Combat Master in an ankle holster for a while. That'll make you walk funny!

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"I also cook."

I actually saw not one, but TWO in 38 Super at Tulsa a few weeks ago. Talk about hens teeth!

One was NIB and 3 grand, the other was kind of sad and 1800. I didn't buy either. The guy with the NIB example also had a AMT backup NIB in 38 Super as well....talk about tempted....

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On the Oak Savannah

I have a Mark VII in 9mm I bought new as a dealer in the mid '80s. Notice the sights.

S&WCA 3713

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SWCA #3713

Passing on a totally unsubstantiated rumor however I've read the reason was to reduce slide weight and ensure proper function.

In that scene he fired something like 12 rounds without reloading. Evidently Sonny Crockett was the magic man with firearms.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Perhaps, but you’d think that would be doable without compromising sight radius.

Barbarian-CBX - does yours have a trench sight? Or none at all? Very cool!

It has no sights at all.

S&WCA 3713

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SWCA #3713

To back up to the Backup comment, I had one in .45acp that I had cleaned up, stippled and edc carried a lot until it failed to fire one day on my backyard range. When I tore the slide down I found the firing pin broken. The problem was where it was broken. It started out a 1/4 in ss rod but had a long piece milled out of it for a cross pin to control its length of travel but also had a second cut for a trigger safety. But this cut was through the already milled slot. That is where it broke. Went from 1/4 inch to about 1/8. Talk about a bad design. How could I ever trust it after that? And I really liked it. I ordered a new pin, replaced it and had a gs bud sell it for me at the next local gunshow. Bought a used Colt Detective Spcl for my edc. Guessing the .380 version isn’t as snappy so might not have a weak fp problem.

Yes, the relief at the top rear of the slide was so that the hammer could be cocked on the draw. The original designer might have been a Colt Single Action Army shooter as that is a common technique for Fast Draw competition

It had nothing to do with weight. What are we talking, an ounce or less? If weight was a big concern I think we would have seen an alloy frame

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"Acta non verba"

I was very surprised to see one appear on the Public Surplus Auction website last year. It was looking poorly and not getting many bids, so I threw in my bid and won- if I remember right it was around $400 or so.

It cleaned up nice. I have it mostly reliable but am planning to keep working on it.

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Very nice resurrection Mainsail!

I had a MK I for several years. Our agency would not authorize it as an off-duty gun, so I sold it. I’m now looking to find one in .451 Detonics Magnum. It will be the last piece in my “exotic pistols of the 70s / 80s” collection that I’ve chasing for the last 25 years. Anyone have a lead on one?

Perhaps it was seized/confiscated property?

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Around 1982 or 1983 I bought the stainless version. Accurate and functioned flawlessly. A friend traded me out of it and he liked it so much he decided to buy another. The second one had numerous feeding problems, and was not very accurate. Whether he got a lemon or not, I am not sure as I lost touch with him shortly after he bought the second one. I do wish that I would have kept mine, it was a great little pistol.

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Have Canon, Will Travel

It had a lot of tape residue on it, and given some other info I'm pretty sure it came from an evidence room.

If you note the hammer in the first picture- it was not the original. My FFL friend cycled the slide as a standard check when it arrived there, and got the hammer bite bad enough to draw blood. So I cannot imagine firing that thing with the hammer it had. I found a factory original hammer on gunspartscorp as shown in the last pic.

Fortunately it came with one factory original magazine, as they're pretty pricey right now. I picked up several TripleK mags, but they don't function consistently. Original mags were marked Detonics .45 A.C.P. and the TripleK ones will say Detonics 45 AUTO. NOTE in the last picture how the mag protrudes slightly- that's the TripleK. The factory one sits flush.

Right now it's 100% with the factory mag and Wilson 47Ds, but the TripleKs and some others are still iffy. I'm still working on getting the extractor tension right, but haven't touched it since last summer.

……Nice job!

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.