S&W ASP 39 - "First" full power Conceal Carry Pistol.

[Blaster229]

Interesting history. Would love to own 1. Read somewhere only 500 were made and with only 200 left out in the wild.

(waiting for someone to dispute the "first full power CC pistol" title and send this thread into a big tangent) Intentional thread title to see who will bite.

Who would trade one to Cabela's?? Wonder what they traded on?

 

[Bertfish]

Wouldn't have to answer questions about sight alignment given they just didn't put a front sight on it

 

[RFBfromDE]

I call BS.

It's not "full power" if it isn't .45ACP

 

[Biggfoot44]

Someone who inherited it with no clue .

Yes , groundbreaking. The first subcompact- isService Caliber Semiauto . And highly influential . By no less than S&Was introduction of the 3913 which killed it off .

First Full Power Handgun designed/ marketed for CC predates these .

If we're going with 500- is units of semi- custom production, that also was very innovative, the earliest is obvious :

The Colt Fitz Specials . Most common in .38spl , but also in .45 .

 

[4g64loser]

Wouldn't have to answer questions about sight alignment given they just didn't put a front sight on it

It's called a guttersnipe sight. Not common but they have been done by others aside from paris theodore on a very rare basis.its a tapered channel.

This is definitely one of my holy grail guns. Never even held an original but I did get to shoot one of devel sort of copies (nickel instead of teflon coating). Very cool.

 

[Blaster229]

I call BS.

It's not "full power" if it isn't .45ACP

True. Gotta kill the soul too!

 

[Bertfish]

It's called a guttersnipe sight. Not common but they have been done by others aside from paris theodore on a very rare basis.its a tapered channel.

This is definitely one of my holy grail guns. Never even held an original but I did get to shoot one of devel sort of copies (nickel instead of teflon coating). Very cool.

Interesting. So the taper forces you to hold it in plane?

 

[4g64loser]

Interesting. So the taper forces you to hold it in plane?

Pretty much. It definitely took getting used to and is not a precision thing but it did work after I popped a box or two out of my friends pistol. If the shapes look unequal, turn the muzzle towards the "big" side til they equalize.

 

[Cochise]

Detonics for the win

 

[Bertfish]

Pretty much. It definitely took getting used to and is not a precision thing but it did work after I popped a box or two out of my friends pistol. If the shapes look unequal, turn the muzzle towards the "big" side til they equalize.

Yep that's how I envisioned it. Neat idea

 

[4g64loser]

Yep that's how I envisioned it. Neat idea

Definitely some lateral thinking involved in coming up with it. Supposedly to avoid snags during the draw.

 

[Blaster229]

Definitely some lateral thinking involved in coming up with it. Supposedly to avoid snags during the draw.

The 10's of 1,000's of draws I have, I have never had a snag of any sort at all. Never. "Anti snag" packages are an unneeded option.

 

[4g64loser]

The 10's of 1,000's of draws I have, I have never had a snag of any sort at all. Never. "Anti snag" packages are an unneeded option.

Hence the qualifier "supposedly".

I will say that a melt job on a 1911 makes it a lot gentler on jacket liners and other clothing. But I've never had a sight snag on anything that would be remotely useful as a carry weapon.

 

[N3uka]

modified 39-2? How are the 39-2's?

 

[Jerry M]

They were pretty much cutting edge in 1980's. I did have a Devel conversion of a S&W M39. Similar size, with sights, but no see through grips.

 

[johnkn]

Interesting history. Would love to own 1. Read somewhere only 500 were made and with only 200 left out in the wild.

(waiting for someone to dispute the "first full power CC pistol" title and send this thread into a big tangent) Intentional thread title to see who will bite.

View attachment 409451

Who would trade one to Cabela's?? Wonder what they traded on?

Thanks for the thread, it forced me to pull my original, NIB 39-2 out of the safe and hold it for the first time in ~30 years. LOL

Sales tag was dated June, 1975, for the whopping price of $148.50. I had another that I fired on multiple occasions, I don't recall it running particularly well, not sure if it was ammo or gun related....

.

 

[somd_mustangs]

Legacy had one listed last summer:
It was a C&R too Thought about it but that was too much scratch for me.
some good pics.

SOLD - Rare Smith & Wesson 39-2 ASP

8/30/22 - This is a rare S&W 39-2 ASP variant in excellent condition. Produced in the late 1960s, the ASP pistol was the design of Paris Theodore, abstract artist, holster maker and (self-proclaimed) CIA independent contractor. Theodore started out with a S&W Model 39-2, which then had 3/4"...

www.legacy-collectibles.com

From their listing:
"Produced in the late 1960s, the ASP pistol was the design of Paris Theodore, abstract artist, holster maker and (self-proclaimed) CIA independent contractor. Theodore started out with a S&W Model 39-2, which then had 3/4" removed from the front, thoroughly deburred, hammer bobbed, safety and slide catch lowered, fitted with a front recurve trigger guard milled down on the right side, clear grip straps with matching magazine cutouts for seeing remaining ammunition, and the rear sight replaced with the Guttersnipe sight system; a 2 inch long block with a tapered yellow painted trench, which forms a set of three matching trapezoids when properly aligned. Though S&W declined to act on the design ideas, Major Geoffrey Boothroyd, gun expert and inspiration for Ian Fleming's "Q" character, mentioned it in his 1970 book "The Handgun", and John Gardner, Fleming's successor, made the ASP James Bond's sidearm starting in 1984, and through the following 11 novels."

 

[Biggfoot44]

The 10's of 1,000's of draws I have, I have never had a snag of any sort at all. Never. "Anti snag" packages are an unneeded option.

But they were all the rage in the 1970's and '80s . Enough mfgs noticed the numbers of consumers dropping $ with 'smith's for Bevel Packages , that by the late '80s many mfgs had themselves gotten rid of the worst sharp edges , to advertise as a feature .

Nowadays, semiautomatic are expected to not have sharp edges , and the rare one otherwise sticks out .