Arms, Armor and Militaria Online

.45 ACP. 3.5" barrel. SN: 2335. Blued finish, checkered hardwood grips. Double action custom compact semi-automatic pistol with removable magazine and numerous custom features. In the early 1970s, when no such thing a Colt 1911 "officers" model existed, the only way to get a hideout sized 1911 was to have one "chopped and channeled" by a custom pistol smith. Enter the Detonics company of Seattle, WA that brought the compact concealment 1911 into its own and made it reliable as well. The guns featured shortened frames, slides and barrels to enhance concealability and the custom upgrades demanded by people like law enforcement officers who relied upon their firearms to to keep them alive. The slide bears the DETONICS .45 mark and the PAT. PEND. mark of the early production guns. Some of the special features include the tapered, cone-muzzle busingless barrel that would become a standard feature on later compact 1911s, a full-length recoil guide rod, a "Commander" hammer, a pinned in place extended beavertail grip safety and a specially contoured top rear to the slide that allowed for easy thumb cocking of a pistol carried in "Condition 2". This machining also pushed the rear sight forward about 1.25" from the usual location, which provided a better sight picture. The pistol includes the fixed notch rear and ramped front combat sights typical of these guns. This example has been further customized by LW Seecamp, the father of the famous "Seecamp" pocket pistol. The pistol includes Seecamp's double action trigger modification to allow the 1911 to be a double action handgun. The frame was modified with the addition of finger grooves and an extended triggerguard more akin to the Smith & Wesson Model 39. It is not clear if this is a Seecamp frame mated with the Detonics upper or if Seecamp modified the Detonics frame. The lower front left edge of the triggerguard is marked LWS for Louis W Seecamp. The pistol is accompanied by a single custom magazine. The Detonics came into its own as a pop culture firearm when it was used during seasons 1-3 of Miami Vice as Detective "Sonny" Crocket's back up gun, worn in an ankle holster. {MODERN}