I picked up one of the Washington DC assembled D 380's for the wife the other day. She wanted something she could manage around the property that was more than her fathers High Standard Double 9. For those that aren't aware of these pocket pistols, the Gun Control Act of 1968 stopped the importation of small hand guns. Colt already had the 'Junior' from foreign sources so they went into negotiations for a .380 model and they were going to call it the 'Pony'.
Garcia went as far as setting up a place in Washington DC (of all places) to assemble the parts that were to be made in Spain and then shipped to Colt for distribution. Well, somewhere down the line the deal fell through and supposedly only 50 were ever stamped with the Colt Rampant Pony and the rest were sold from the plant Garcia had set up calling it the D 380 and various other names.
They went through several changes over the years (starting in 1972-74 depending on who you talk to) and this is one of the first model ones (minus the pony). They originally had a lanyard loop on the bottom of the frame just to get it by .gov's minimal height but over the years that went by the wayside.
It looks and operates like a 1911 with minor changes to the recoil spring mechanism and the detent on the side of the frame for the slide catch and safety is not there. As you can imagine it is heavy as a boat anchor so I do not expect them to make a come back, but for what they are it is a well made piece of history. Wood checkered grips with medallion and lots of blued steel.
In the end it was passed over to Iver Johnson and went the way of the Dodo. I have not seen their version but I can only imagine...
Garcia went as far as setting up a place in Washington DC (of all places) to assemble the parts that were to be made in Spain and then shipped to Colt for distribution. Well, somewhere down the line the deal fell through and supposedly only 50 were ever stamped with the Colt Rampant Pony and the rest were sold from the plant Garcia had set up calling it the D 380 and various other names.
They went through several changes over the years (starting in 1972-74 depending on who you talk to) and this is one of the first model ones (minus the pony). They originally had a lanyard loop on the bottom of the frame just to get it by .gov's minimal height but over the years that went by the wayside.
It looks and operates like a 1911 with minor changes to the recoil spring mechanism and the detent on the side of the frame for the slide catch and safety is not there. As you can imagine it is heavy as a boat anchor so I do not expect them to make a come back, but for what they are it is a well made piece of history. Wood checkered grips with medallion and lots of blued steel.
In the end it was passed over to Iver Johnson and went the way of the Dodo. I have not seen their version but I can only imagine...
