View Full Version : Detonics Combat Master
O'Dell
11-22-2011, 03:16 PM
Quick question for you guys. My LGS has a SS Detonics Combat Master that I can get for a decent [I think] price. This is a Seattle gun dating it before 1987 and appears to be in good shape except the the name has been almost polished off the left side of the slide. I don't know the model, but I'm guessing a MK VI. The barrel and feed ramp are good and the recoil springs are strong. It comes with three factory mags. The SN is CR152xx, but I don't know how to date the gun from that. Anyone know anything about these pistols?
getsome
11-22-2011, 03:29 PM
They were known as the Cadillac of small CCW pistols in the late 70's and 80's....I always wanted one since my hero Sonny Crockett carried one on the TV show "Miami Vice" in an ankle holster but even back then they were priced way out of my league...If you can find one in good shape I would grab it up as they will always appreciate in value if it's one of the original pistols...I understand the new company Detonics USA whose president is gun scribe Jerry Ahern is making them again so parts and service shouldn't be an issue... Grab it before I do cause I know where you shop you lucky dog...:D
jocko
11-22-2011, 03:56 PM
can one still get service on a detonics, if need be?
JFootin
11-22-2011, 04:14 PM
Yeah. Bulls-Eye has some nice used guns. Usually at fair market value. I bought a couple of guns from them when I lived in Lilburn.
Bawanna
11-22-2011, 04:19 PM
can one still get service on a detonics, if need be?
Not from Detonics. They are gone.
I did meet and talk to their head gunsmith shortly after they closed up. He did some work on my first Colt Officer ACP. Somehow he got it back together wrong on a first visit, it was series 80 and he had something in the wrong spot. First time I tried to shoot it would not fire. He was pretty broke up about that.
I wish I had a few Detonics myself be a great 401K, whatever that might be.
O'Dell
11-22-2011, 05:26 PM
Not from Detonics. They are gone.
I did meet and talk to their head gunsmith shortly after they closed up. He did some work on my first Colt Officer ACP. Somehow he got it back together wrong on a first visit, it was series 80 and he had something in the wrong spot. First time I tried to shoot it would not fire. He was pretty broke up about that.
I wish I had a few Detonics myself be a great 401K, whatever that might be.
Actually, they have been back in production for four years in Illinois. They're being carried by Gun Source and Slick guns and probably others. The originals were built in Seattle until 1987. Then a new company was formed in Arizona, then Georgia, and now Illinois. I don't care for the new ones - they have a light gray coated frame and a blued slide.
I'm guessing this one is a 1980 build and in pretty good shape except for the over polished slide. The picture isn't of this exact gun but one just like it. The grip is very short - almost a two fingered grip even for my smallish hands.
getsome
11-22-2011, 05:35 PM
Thats NIZE, real NIZE... Go ahead do it, you know you want it!!!!
O'Dell
11-22-2011, 05:36 PM
can one still get service on a detonics, if need be?
As I said in another post they're still being made. A lot of the parts are standard 1911.
jocko
11-22-2011, 05:44 PM
we sold a few of them in our gun dealing days, never had any complaints back then either, course the guys that bought them that I can recall were not shooters either, just buyers of nice gun. When I think about it, it seems that most ofmy customers back then were not shooters but more buyers. certainly by todays standards owners today seem to shoot far more than they did back in the 70's and 80's..
They were known as the Cadillac of small CCW pistols in the late 70's and 80's....I always wanted one since my hero Sonny Crockett carried one on the TV show "Miami Vice" in an ankle holster but even back then they were priced way out of my league...If you can find one in good shape I would grab it up as they will always appreciate in value if it's one of the original pistols...I understand the new company Detonics USA whose president is gun scribe Jerry Ahern is making them again so parts and service shouldn't be an issue... Grab it before I do cause I know where you shop you lucky dog...:D
x2 on the always wanted one, out of my reach at the time history. If I stumbled across a really nice original today, I'd snap it up.
O'Dell
11-25-2011, 01:17 PM
Okay, gang, I pulled the trigger on the Detonics Combat Master today. I cleaned and lubed it and racked a mag through it w/o any feed or ejection problems. The pistol is small, slightly shorter in height than a PM45, but almost an inch longer. It's definitely a two finger grip for me. It's in excellent shape and every part, except the grips, is Stainless steel from the recoil springs to the hammer.
The gun is the easiest 1911 to strip that I've seen. No bushing, no tool, no paper clip - just pop out the slide release, remove the slide, lift out the recoil assy and slide the barrel out the front. Inside everything is shiny and it's easy to see the dirt. It's just as easy as a Kahr.
JFootin
11-25-2011, 02:41 PM
Man, that's a beauty!
gunmut
11-25-2011, 03:38 PM
I had one long ago; is was a 9mm; had some problems with extraction and had to put in a new extractor but it used standard 1911 parts so no problem.
The workmanship was first notch for sure, very nice unit.
Enjoy the new heater:D
jocko
11-25-2011, 05:30 PM
now we just need an excellent report to go alone with this recent addition. I am sure that will follow to.
nice gun really is..
Question: I wonder why that gun did not go over big back when it was being made for everyone to buy?? Course I realize the 1911's are far more popular in style today and for personal carry than back 25 years ago. Certqainly back then we didn't have 2 dozen 1911 makers either to choose from..
O'Dell
11-25-2011, 06:07 PM
now we just need an excellent report to go alone with this recent addition. I am sure that will follow to.
nice gun really is..
Question: I wonder why that gun did not go over big back when it was being made for everyone to buy?? Course I realize the 1911's are far more popular in style today and for personal carry than back 25 years ago. Certqainly back then we didn't have 2 dozen 1911 makers either to choose from..
One reason was that they were very expensive. They were the only compact 1911's on the market and cost over twice as much as a standard Colt or Springfield. In 1990 you could buy a name brand 1911 for $400. the Detonics cost $1200 the same year. You can buy a brand new one today from the new factory in Illinois.
jocko
11-25-2011, 06:17 PM
oh my I am going back further than 1990, I can't remembrer what we sold the detonics for but it never sold for that back when they first came out... I think I remember they were the only sub 1911 back then to ...
Sorta gotta differ with that opinion, jocko.....1911's were very popular for carry with a lot of folks, myself included, back around 30+ years ago when the Detonics showed up.
I believe there were several reasons they they had trouble catching on. First and probably foremost they were expensive as all hell. Then the early ones had some reliability issues which just compounded the traditional 1911 guys' distrust of this strange, new chopped design. And the sights were "mounted funny" which cut the short sight radius even further....I swear I heard that often. Did I mention they were also really expensive, especially for a new unproven gun? I used to catch flak from the traditionalists just for carrying a gun with an aluminum frame.
Also, the Star PD was also on the market back then. It was a whole lot cheaper and lighter, was still "1911 like", and was reliable. A more attractive alternative to the Detonics for those willing to break from the traditionalist herd. I had one of those....had it tuned and decent sights added by an excellent 'smith. It is and always will be the #1 firearm I wish I had never sold.
jocko
11-25-2011, 06:24 PM
and I do remember the way the sights were mounted. It did shorten the sight radius and made the slide look odd to..
O'Dell
11-25-2011, 09:03 PM
and I do remember the way the sights were mounted. It did shorten the sight radius and made the slide look odd to..
The cut-away on the the rear of the slide was suppose to make it easier to thumb **** or to **** by running the gun down your leg. For some reason people liked to carry with one in the chamber and the hammer down, instead of cocked and locked that is popular today. They said that the super heavy firing pin spring would prevent an AD and the Detonics guns did pass the drop test. The claim was that the shorter sight radius didn't matter because this was a close-in combat pistol and not a target pistol. I'm not saying they were right, but that was the thinking 35 years ago. They were popular as police back up guns. There was a rumor that the CIA bought a bunch of the MK VII models and they didn't have sights at all. Sorta like a Colt New Agent without the trench. That could have been an urban legend though.
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