ASP, Devel and 3913

[legelegel]

The first were the "ASP" (Paris Theordore) and the "Devel" (Charles Kelsey), both ahead of their time. ASP was an acronym for Armament Systems and Procedures, Inc. I'm going to assume Devel was short for "development." Maybe some else can tell us where the word "Devel" truly originated from.

I remember seeing the gun magazine ad for the "Devel" conversation of the S&W Model 39-2. I believe the cost was $300.00 about 40 years ago. Boy howdy, did I want to send them my money and my S&W Model 39-2 at the time, but never did it. A quick check around the Internet and I see the competed Devel asking prices are over $3,000 today.

The Devel was a big improvement over the ASP with its fixed barrel bushing and the narrowing of the trigger guard. However, I liked the Devel with the hole in the hammer that I saw on the Internet.

From the ASP and Devel came Smith & Wesson's best ever semi-automatic pistol, the Model 3913.

We owe a lot to the two men that got us to so many small 9mm pistols today.

I have the S&W Models 39-2, 639, 915 and 3913LS (8+1) (28 oz.) and the Kel-Tec P-11 (10+1, 12+1, 15+1, 20+1, 30+1, 50-1) (14 oz.). It should be noted that a 17rd magazine designed for the S&W 5900 series models will not fit into a Kel-Tec P-11.

This is my 3rd attempt to post a discussion of the development of small 9mm pistols. This is all that I am trying to do here. Hopefully, I have got it right the third time around. I certify that these are my words and not the words of others.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Use to be a guy in eastern Pa. who chopped Browning HPs and IIRC 59s into compacts.........also Novack had input into the 3rd gen guns.......

The second gen guns moved the Smiths auto's forward...... but they felt like a 2X4 in your hand........ so close but for many just missed the boat.

Every gun rag for 3-5 years had a story and pictures of these "hot rodded" 39s and 59s...... a lot of us were really ready for the 3913 and 6906 when they hit the market.

 

[Arik]

The first were the "ASP" (Paris Theordore) and the "Devel" (Charles Kelsey), both ahead of their time. ASP was an acronym for Armament Systems and Procedures, Inc. I'm going to assume Devel was short for "development." Maybe some else can tell us where the word "Devel" truly originated from.

I remember seeing the gun magazine ad for the "Devel" conversation of the S&W Model 39. I believe the cost was $300.00 about 40 years ago. Boy howdy, did I want to send them my money and my S&W Model 39-2 at the time, but never did it. A quick check around the Internet and I see the competed Devel asking prices are over $3,000 today.

The Devel was a big improvement over the ASP with its fixed barrel bushing and the narrowing of the trigger guard. However, I liked the Devel with the hole in the hammer that I saw on the Internet.

From the ASP and Devel came Smith & Wesson's best ever semi-automatic pistol, the Model 3913.

We owe a lot to the two men that got us to so many small 9mm pistols today.

I have the S&W Model 3913LS (8+1) (28 oz.) and the Kel-Tec P-11 (10+1, 12+1, 15+1, 20+1, 30+1, 50-1) (14 oz.). It should be noted that a 17rd magazine designed for the S&W models 5900 series will not fit into a Kel-Tec P-11.

This is my 3rd attempt to post a discussion of the development of small 9mm pistols. This is all that I am trying to do here. Hopefully, I have got it right the third time around. I certify that these are my words and not the words of others.

Disregard I was wrong

 

[legelegel]

I just found that Kelsey named his company after a Scottish phrase that means a devilish strike or blow.

See a very informative article about Charles Kelsey written by Sarah Coppola of The Austin American-Statesman on November 14, 2004 which was titled, "Charlie Kelsey Remembered."

 

[adwjc]

Bam-Bam,

Was that Austin Behlert? I remember reading about his custom work back in the day.

Back in my PD days, I carried 39s, 59s and then a 469, later a 6906. All great pistols in their time.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Bam-Bam,

Was that Austin Behlert? I remember reading about his custom work back in the day.

Back in my PD days, I carried 39s, 59s and then a 469, later a 6906. All great pistols in their time.

That was him...... never could justify the cost back then...... for what was an interesting experiment...... and

IIRC the cost of extra magazines; Oh my...... the cost of 4 more extra mags could almost buy you a S&W...... and I didn't want to spend a grand or more on a one off gun and only 2 mags.