Handguns from the 80's/90's that didn't make it.

[kaaskop49]

About 1981 I fired a friends squeeze cocker HK p-7 9m/m and I thought for sure that would be the wave of the future and make a lot of other guns disappear.

How about that tiny .45 acp pistol that wasn't semi-auto, you pushed the slide forward with your offhand thumb to cycle a round. Now that's "thinking outside the box"

Hi Farmer! That .45 pistol was the Semmerling, if I'm not mistaken. I believe it dates back to 1969 and it sold for the princely sum of 1,000 dollars (!) in 1969. Even to this derringer fan, this gun was an oddity, requiring a second hand to reload from the 4-round magazine.

The HK P-7 was not a bad gun. It pre-dated the wonder-nines, fired from an 8-round, later 13-round, magazine, and was not much longer than a 2" bbl revolver, when all LEOs carried wheelguns. A police officer friend of mine carried one off-duty and swore by it, not at it.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

 

[prplbkrr]

And now that we are old and grey w/ a lil' extra money, who wouldn't want an Auto Mag. I think those are the coolest looking guns ever made, bar none.

 

[Old TexMex]

And now that we are old and grey w/ a lil' extra money, who wouldn't want an Auto Mag. I think those are the coolest looking guns ever made, bar none.

Now that's a little earlier my Dad had one made of chrome moly and I wish he'd hung on to it. Sure turned some heads at the range with that thing roaring and shining like a diamond in a goats ***.

I did see an auto mag II .22Magnum at a show not long ago. passed on it.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

For about 10 minutes in the 1990's a company called American Arms Inc. out of Kansas City made a cute little .22 pistol that was sorta a cross between a PPK and a 1911. It was called the PK-22 and it was designed by ERMA. Build quality was not exactly stellar, but I kinda wanted one for a cheap plinker. They "exited the market" before I could bring one home....

 

[PR24]

Daewoo DP51 K5. Weird 'fast action' system. Typical Daewoo quality....uh, not so great.

 

[wbraswell]

What was the deal with that M1A-like Ruger that never went into production?

 

[pharmer]

I had a SS Sterling M 400 in .380 acp. I liked it but it was as big as a browning P35 and had a part that was both hold open and ejector with a tiny flat spring. I haven't seen one in 20 years. The company went OOB without ever making the D/A .45 they promised. Joe

 

[raljr1]

A Raven .25 auto. My wife liked it and wanted it so I bought one for her. Probably about the worst gun to buy a woman, but hey, it was cute and shiny....it's still laying in the safe.

 

[Tex1001]

For about 10 minutes in the 1990's a company called American Arms Inc. out of Kansas City made a cute little .22 pistol

That pistol's internals were the basis of a series of pistols by Erma. I have a CX22 that is externally identical to a PPK. I bought it in 1981. It has German import and proof stamps. I've often wondered how they got them imported. American Arms took over the design. They also had a miniaturized model of a Walther P38. My PPK clone is a great knock around gun.

_______________________
I don't have Alzheimer's- My wife had me tested.

 

[cmort666]

Daewoo DP51 K5. Weird 'fast action' system. Typical Daewoo quality....uh, not so great.

A friend's [Korean] wife has one. He bought it for himself, but she liked it so much, it ended up with her.

I'm not a fan of DA/SA autos, but it overcame that by having a version of FN's "fast action" hammer mechanism. As I recall, it can be carried cocked and locked as well.

I believe they're back under the name "Lionheart". You could certainly do worse for a CCW gun.

 

[cmort666]

What was the deal with that M1A-like Ruger that never went into production?

From what I heard, it couldn't even meet Mini-14 standards of accuracy without cosmetic changes that Bill Ruger didn't consider PC.

A lot of people don't remember him or his lurch into appeasement of gun banners, refusing to sell thirty round Mini-14 magazines to mere "civilians", among other acts of collaboration.

With him gone and Ruger selling AR platform guns, the XG-1 (as I recall it being named) is a dead letter.

 

[cmort666]

The HK P-7 was not a bad gun. It pre-dated the wonder-nines, fired from an 8-round, later 13-round, magazine, and was not much longer than a 2" bbl revolver, when all LEOs carried wheelguns. A police officer friend of mine carried one off-duty and swore by it, not at it.

They did have certain quirks however.

If you squeezed the cocking lever but didn't shoot, then released it, it made a <crack> that was loud as snapping a chicken bone in half. That's what turned me off.

A gunsmith friend (built the minigun from "Predator") told me that if you shot lead bullets through it, lead fouling tended to build up in the gas port to the point where it would launch the slide off the front of the gun due to over-pressure.

Still it was an interesting gun. I recall that a while ago, a bunch of the ex-police guns from Germany came in surplus.

 

[PR24]

A Raven .25 auto. My wife liked it and wanted it so I bought one for her. Probably about the worst gun to buy a woman, but hey, it was cute and shiny....it's still laying in the safe.

If you chuck it hard enough, it may hurt the perp with a 'head shot'.

 

[Checkman]

Wow! The list is so long. Guns that never caught on enough to continue production;
I thought they were ok, but apparently these never 'caught on' enough that anybody thought they should continue producing them: Colt Python, Anaconda, Agent, Detective Special, S&W 610, 620, 60 no dash, Ruger MkII...

Just kidding. I know this isn't what the OP meant...or is it?

No, but that is pretty funny.

 

[datatech2550]

The original poly framed, striker fired handgun.

The HK VP-70Z

Yes, even HK has dropped an ****.

 

[italiansport]

Well since no one else brought one of these up here's my vote for perhaps the most useless pistol ever offered during that period. And I believe this bulky dud was supposed to be a concealed carry gun!! How about a 4 barreled 357 Magnum("Derringer"). IMO: This thing is so bulky you'd be hard pressed to conceal it while wearing a parka!
Jim

 

[BC38]

Star - Firestar, Ultrastar, Megastar, 28, 30, 31

The Firestar M43 was the "New Pistol of the Year" in Guns & Ammo 1991. I have one and its a great little gun. About the same size as all the new "wonder nines" - but a lot heavier since it is all steel. Of course that weight really tames the recoil so it's actually a pleasure to shoot. If it were DA as well as SA I'd carry it a lot more.
Too bad they couldn't keep the company afloat...

 

[CH4]

The 80s firearm abortion that comes to my mind is Colt's Double Eagle. A perfect example of someone with too many spare parts, too much spare time and no taste.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Star pistols........Actually their model B was a very nice single stack 1911 style compact pistol. Star parts were not interchangeable with std. 1911 parts.

 

[JM4151]

Guns that never made it

Two guns that never made it was the Smith & Wesson Escort, which was a 22 cal small semi automatic. I had 2 and they were both junk, not reliable.
The second gun that I had that was unreliable was the Walther TPH. Would not fire reliably in double action mode. A nice looking gun, small size for easy concealability, looked like a small PPK. Inter-arms in VA was the importer and they replaced my little gun 5 times, until I said enough. Sometime in the 1980's somebody wrote a book about Walther's and he did a chapter on the TPH. After reading it, I was convinced that he never touched or held a TPh much less shot on or reviewed it. I still have the paperwork and his bull s!!! book