Detonics Combat Master

[Mainsail]

I was perusing the various State auctions and spotted this low serial number Detonics Combat Master for sale. It was surely a seizure, sticky, dirty, and the hammer was wrong. The hammer was so wrong that when my dealer racked the slide on receipt it bit him good. It came with one magazine, and thankfully it was an original factory (.45 A.C.P.) magazine. Numrich at the time had plenty of Triple K mags so I got several of those.

I found a factory hammer and replaced all the springs and got it running about 80%. I think I could get it to 100% with new mag springs and just some more shooting- I've only put 100 rounds through it altogether. I had it listed for sale but no takers (admittedly I priced it high because I know I will never see another).

 

[Mainsail]

...but I had the top right rear corner of the slide fall off while shooting it. Detonics replaced the slide quickly.

Apparently that was common. I saved this pic from a gun auction that shows the damage (this is not my gun):

This IS my gun, and it looks like it had the same damage and was repaired. It doesn't affect the operation, just a bit unsightly.

 

[Rock185]

Many years ago, one of my fellow officers bought a new stainless Detonics .45 Combat Master. He asked me to go to the range with him to try it out. I was prepared for it to be an inaccurate Jammamatic. Wrong!

There were no malfunctions, and accuracy out to 25 yards was surprisingly good. Years later, I knew two guys who had Colt Officer ACP .45s. Both with chronic malfunctioning issues, even with quality factory hardball. Go figure..

 

[OLDSTER]

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.

Defender is part light weight alloy. Detonics is solid steel.

 

[stansdds]

Many years ago, one of my fellow officers bought a new stainless Detonics .45 Combat Master. He asked me to go to the range with him to try it out. I was prepared for it to be an inaccurate Jammamatic. Wrong!

There were no malfunctions, and accuracy out to 25 yards was surprisingly good. Years later, I knew two guys who had Colt Officer ACP .45s. Both with chronic malfunctioning issues, even with quality factory hardball. Go figure..

I think the Colt Officer's ACP's reliability issues stemmed from Colt clinging to the use of the removable barrel bushing. Detonics ditched the barrel bushing in favor of the reverse recoil spring plug and a barrel with a very large outside diameter at the muzzle end. I think the bushingless design allowed for the barrel to be at a better angle for reliable feeding when unlocked.

 

[BB57]

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.

One of the things that prevented me from getting one back in the day was the reported poor reliability.

——

I had a similar experience with poor reliability in a Colt Officers model about 20 years ago and I came across one the ther day in a local gun shop. It was a long, long way from smooth when manually functioned. It has issues.

Kimber however did get it right with their Ultra carry. I carried one for nearly a decade and shot it at least once a week 50 rounds per session. Even conservatively reducing that to 40 weeks a year that’s 2K per year and 20K total.

After an initial break in of around 500 rounds it was incredibly reliable not just with FMJ but also 185 and 230 gr Golden sabers as well as 185 and 230 gr XTPs. It was also surprisingly accurate. I still own it but it’s semi retired as it’s alloy frame is likely getting close to the end off it’s fatigue life.

One observation I have made with commander and officer frame sized 1911s is there’s no room to mess around with them.

With a full lemgthn1911 there is plenty of slide over run so you’ve foot room for unnecessary items like shock buffers and you have a lot more latitude to install lighter or heavier recoil springs.

On a commander sized frame that slide over run decreases to around 1/4” and you have a lot less margin to play with before you start creating reliability issues.

On an officer sized frame you have no margin at all. Everything is very precisely engineered so don’t mess with it,

Recoil spring life is also critical and on my ultra carry it had an 800 round spring life, so basically 3 new recoil spring assemblies per year.

I also didn’t mess around with magazines but stayed with the stock Kimber mags. Feed lips on a 1911 magazine are an integral part of the design of the feed system and are also point shape dependent. Kimber uses a “hybrid” or “Colt commerical” feed lip design and it works well with most FMJ, round nose, and hollow points. Semi wad cutters can be problematic depending on length and point shape.

Other companies have also gotten it right. I carried an officer model sized Citadel in 9mm for a couple years and it was also extremely reliable. It’s probably the best bang for the buck in a 1911 I have ever encountered.

The Star BM isn’t exactly a 1911 or quite officer model sized but it’s a right sized 9mm 1911 esque pistol that has also proven to be very reliable.

 

[Lonestar57]

I like the little blasters. They have a unique history in firearm development. Way ahead of their time.

MKVI
MKVII / Mag Na Ported

 

[45Smashemflat]

I’ll have to work on a photo of my Kimber Ultra. It’s the all stainless Eclipse model. I’ve found it to be very reliable as well.

 

[BAM-BAM]

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.

Remember reading that series......lots of cool guns and "stuff"!

I went the route of the "cool kids" in the mid 80s;a Colt 1911 CCO; officer model frame mated to a Commander slide. Long gone but came across a Sig C3 about 10 years ago; which is basically a factory CCO.

 

[BB57]

Remember reading that series......lots of cool guns and "stuff"!

I went the route of the "cool kids" in the mid 80s;a Colt 1911 CCO; officer model frame mated to a Commander slide. Long gone but came across a Sig C3 about 10 years ago; which is basically a factory CCO.

That was the appeal for me of a Kimber Custom shop Compact CDP II.

A commander (ish, 4” versus 4.25”) length slide on an officer model sized frame. It was 10 years old a few years ago when I bought it new old stock in a shop where the owner was retiring and liquidating many of his personal collection pistols.

When I choose to carry a 1911 in .45 ACP this is the one.

 

[dsf]

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.

I guess I have to qualify it with an "I heard" that it was to reduce slide weight for proper functioning. I really don't know one way or the other. Carrying "locked & cocked" is correct for a 1911, but the lack of a grip safety - maybe hammer down on a live round was their preferred mode of carry?

 

[dsf]

I have a very early Combat Master and a later made stainless MkVI

Th MkI



Carried it for years. I was working in a liquor store when a fellow tried to steal a bottle. We got into a fight (probably destroyed more than the bottle he was pinching) and he knocked me on my butt. The shirt came open at my waist, he saw the gun and split

This is not the MkVI. With a bit of help I made this up from Caspian parts. Stainless all around with a 3" barrel. Takes Detonics mags.



Much as I like the Defender, Kimders and such I think they all miss the mark on grip height. If someone made an alloy frame with the Detonics height grip it would be a great carry gun.

 

[Mainsail]

I guess I have to qualify it with an "I heard" that it was to reduce slide weight for proper functioning. I really don't know one way or the other. Carrying "locked & cocked" is correct for a 1911, but the lack of a grip safety - maybe hammer down on a live round was their preferred mode of carry?

No, not about slide weight at all. The guy that designed the gun didn't like cocked-&-locked, he liked hammer at the notch over a loaded chamber, so the idea was to bring the hammer to full cock during the draw. The space there is for your thumb.

It's a unique look whatever way you carry. It was recognizable in Miami Vice and Air Wolf TV shows.

 

[A10]

A friend had a friend that was one of the guys who started Detonics. My buddy had an early one, and it was a pretty good shooter, reliable with hardball. Recoil wasn't bad, it kinda twisted in my hand firing it though. I think they were one of the first guns to have duplex recoil springs. I could be wrong.

There were rumors about why they shut down, nothing to share on this site though. Keep in mind it was the 80s.....

 

[Krogen]

No, not about slide weight at all. The guy that designed the gun didn't like cocked-&-locked, he liked hammer at the notch over a loaded chamber, so the idea was to bring the hammer to full cock during the draw. The space there is for your thumb.

It's a unique look whatever way you carry. It was recognizable in Miami Vice and Air Wolf TV shows.

A buddy of mine was a gunsmith at Detonics back in the day. He has plenty of tales to tell. It's interesting to hear inside stories from someone who was there. As to the slide profile, he confirmed it was indeed to facilitate thumb cocking.

 

[Krogen]

A followup to the post above. At the club the other day, my buddy handed me a Combat Master to shoot. It's a work of art! I'm sure that back in his Detonics days, it got some special attention from him.

Two rounds of 230 gr FMJ was all I could withstand! It's a little gun, light weight and hurts like mad! It stung right up my forearm into my shoulder. No doubt, in a defensive situation one wouldn't notice. But, how do you practice with it? I'd never make it through a box of ammo in one session. Beautiful gun, and it hurts on both ends.

 

[Buick]

About the Officers size 1911s...I recently bought a Rock Island Compact G.I. model....it was the most jamming new gun I've ever owned. Perplexed, I finally changed out the extractor with an old stainless Colt extractor I had in my parts bin.....hasn't jammed since.

 

[Photog]

I bought the stainless version. Functioned perfectly and was very accurate for what it was....not a match pistol by any standard....but more than adequate for self defense. I traded it of for a Pre 64 M70 375 H&H. We were both happy with the deal. The gent I traded with then went out and bought another one as he liked the one I traded him very much. The second one was horrible. A lot of FTF, even with different magazines, and accuracy was 10" pie plate at 15 yds on a good day. This was towards the end of the production of these.

 

[zeke]

Always wanted to try a Detonics, but never ran across one . It did inspire me towards short 45 acp 1911s. Then Colt introduced the Defender, Kimber the Ultra and SA the micro. Bought first versions of all three of them.

The Defender was very reliable, excepting the factory recoil plug disassembling itself. Replaced it back with an Ultra plug assembly. The frame rails wear wearing too rapidly for my taste and sold it.

The Kimber Ultra was very reliable and accurate, but wanted something with a ramped barrel. Replaced it with an Ultra II, which is very accurate and carried alot.

The SA micro should have taken the clues from the Defender and Ultra. Was kinda picky, but got it for practice (all steel) and used it till recoil plug holder (probably not right term) sheared off from slide. Eventually replaced slide barrel with longer version.

For my purposes have almost transitioned over to wide meplat coated bullet at standard velocities. Have gotten used to letting recoil "ride up", instead of trying to have absolute control.

 

[kreuzlover]

Well, after reading all the glowing reports above on these small
pieces of gun makers "art", I have to give my opinion, the one I
had was a piece of jamming SH**T! Even with hardball! I got rid
of that **** as fast as possible! Fast forward to 1999, the year I
got my concealed carry permit* There was a fellow in my class that had one, and he sure made the instructor MAD! He couldn't get through one magazine without a jam! The instructor finally told him that he was going to have to either use his, the instructors, or he was going to have to come back another day, he
was holding up the class! I bought a Para-ordinance 10-45, a doublestack 10 shot, with 3 inch barrel, and with hollow points, it
too was a jamming ****! If you shot hardball it would run like a Chevy small block! I quit carrying it, and now carry a full size 1911* I would not be concerned about the 10-45 with hardball, but sure wouldn't carry it with hollow point ammo! Just the opinion of a soon to be 79 year old senior citizen, who has been shooting and hunting with handguns all my life! No Detonic products for this old guy!