OLDSTER
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Any one else own one of these beautiful pistols. Detonics Combat Master .45acp. Made from 1977 to 1987. Very high quality pieces. Blued version dates from 1979, and Stainless version from 1981
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Detonics Combat Master
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Barbarian-CBX
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Me! Me! Detonics Combat Master Mk VII in 9mm.
David Sinko
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Are these actually reliable? I owned an early Colt Officer's Model and it was the single worst and most unreliable pistol I have ever owned. It forever soured me on the 1911 and I will never own another one. Did Detonics figure out how to get it right?
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I'm interested in this, as well.
Those are well-made pistols, but my experience with 1911s is 4" bbl and up.
Someone musta figgered something out, because the market now is polluted with 3" 1911s.
I’ve never owned one, but I kind of became a fan of them by proxy. Back in the ‘80s I read “The Survivalist” series by Jerry Ahern. It was the preferred pistol of John Rourke, the protagonist. Ever since then, I’ve wanted one, but never came across one other than on gunbroke. If I found one at a gun show, I’m sure I’d buy it.
OP
OLDSTER
Member
Detonics, unfortunately could not keep up with demand (mainly from large law enforcement ), so in 1987 the Seattle and Bellvue factories closed. Voila; you have the Colt Defender.
OP
OLDSTER
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I remember studying up on them for a few days back about 20 years ago. An interesting pistol.
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They're alot heavier than a Defender!
I was surprised at the weight when I handled one. Seemed to be a quality piece, though. Funny rear sight.
I happen to have a springfield micro compact 3' bbl.45 cal .Cant makew it jameats every thing from ball to flying ashtrays.It absolutely amazed me
when i got it second hand.I have had it for 12 years without a problem ,wish they still made it Liked it so much I put a set of ivories on it.I think the problems with the 3"bbl 1911 brought sbout the captive dual recoil cprings.I also have Fusion Bantam with a 3"bbl.
when i got it second hand.I have had it for 12 years without a problem ,wish they still made it Liked it so much I put a set of ivories on it.I think the problems with the 3"bbl 1911 brought sbout the captive dual recoil cprings.I also have Fusion Bantam with a 3"bbl.
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Model 15-4ever
Member
"We were selling every gun we made, so we had to go bankrupt."
More likely Detonics folded on account of the usual suspects: mismanagement; loss of key personnel and/or skilled workers; high debt accumulated; changing market demand; raw materials issues (inconsistency of supply and/or price); end product priced beyond demand.
NMPinNYC
US Veteran
Any one else own one of these beautiful pistols. Detonics Combat Master .45acp. Made from 1977 to 1987. Very high quality pieces. Blued version dates from 1979, and Stainless version from 1981
I picked one up somewhere years ago, wanted to add to my "Miami Vice" series of firearms when that was a "thing". Still have a couple of 645's, 4506's, the Detonics, an S&W snubbie, but no Bren Ten <grin>. Sad to say I've never sent a round down the tube of the Detonics, but plan to do so someday, and already have a "service pack" of Wolff gunsprings awaiting it prior to range time.
Do you love yours?
inspcalahan
Member
So I only have experience actually shooting just one of them. It was a seizure gun used during a robbery and we converted it over for issue as a backup gun. I had it issued to me when I was doing a good bit of plainclothes work and carried it cross draw when seated in a vehicle on surveillance. It was comforting having such a large caliber yet small gun holstered but could be hands on, as miscreants walked up to, around and along side the vehicle you are seated in for long periods at a time. The holster was an Andrews Carjacker model, appropriately named.
As for shooting it - it's a handful! The weight helps and mine was very reliable with ball or Federal HST duty ammo at normal get off me distances. I used a Wilson Officers size magazine, instead of the normal Detonics magazine, simply because the gun didn't come with one. Never had a malfunction, although I'd say I only put a few hundred rounds through it in those years, not thousands like I would a normal duty gun.
Mike in Reedley
Member
I’ve had three. The first one was about 1983, great gun. I sold it to buy something else. The second one was about 1986. Accurate, but I had the top right rear corner of the slide fall off while shooting it. Detonics replaced the slide quickly. I carried it in an ankle holster and have the knee surgeries to prove it. Again as a young cop, I had to sell one thing to buy another, so it went away.
The third one was about 2003 and it was an older blued model. By then I had much better choices for off duty/ back up carry (3913) so it sat in the safe. A non-LE buddy just had to have and kept throwing money at me.
They were old school cool, but there’s much better choices. They’re heavy, only have a magazine capacity of six and have quite a bit of felt recoil. They were basically a custom conversation (the first ones were milled down Colt slides), so any major part repair/replacement is going to be a major problem.
The third one was about 2003 and it was an older blued model. By then I had much better choices for off duty/ back up carry (3913) so it sat in the safe. A non-LE buddy just had to have and kept throwing money at me.
They were old school cool, but there’s much better choices. They’re heavy, only have a magazine capacity of six and have quite a bit of felt recoil. They were basically a custom conversation (the first ones were milled down Colt slides), so any major part repair/replacement is going to be a major problem.
Baltimoreed11754
Member
I have a Detonics Combat Master and a Colt New Agent. The Detonics has a softer felt recoil to me.
45Smashemflat
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The odd rear sight arrangement was to facilitate thumb cocking. I don’t have a Detonics (not from lack of shopping vs budget) but I do have a Kimber Ultra Eclipse from the late 90s that scratches that itch for now.
hdfinder47
Member
Me! Me! Detonics Combat Master Mk VII in 9mm.
A friend had this in 45ACP - always liked it. IMO makes a statement with no sights. Kinda like a custom V-Twin with no speedometer.
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You're my hero. I always wondered how Sonny Crockett pulled that off...
"We were selling every gun we made, so we had to go bankrupt."
More likely Detonics folded on account of the usual suspects: mismanagement; loss of key personnel and/or skilled workers; high debt accumulated; changing market demand; raw materials issues (inconsistency of supply and/or price); end product priced beyond demand.
Likely a combination of insufficient production capacity, management, and Colt introducing their Officer's ACP in 1985. Colt, with their mass production capability, was able to churn out plenty of copies of their re-imagined version of the Detonics Combat Master. Colt also had a huge network of dealers to showcase and sell their firearms.
45Smashemflat
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What about the .451 Detonics? Anyone have any experience with that loading?
