Who owns a Colt Mustang?

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bangbang01

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Saw one for $399 tonight.

How reliable is this gun? Will if shoot garbage ammo like the baby Sig or Glock 42? I'm sure it's accurate, but how does it compare to other pocket guns? I've heard it's the cream of the crop.
 
Just make sure the slide to frame fit is good, otherwise it's a nice pistol at a nice price, particularly if it's a Colt.
 
I have a mid-1980's Mustang that I bought new. I cannot remember any ammunition that failed to work but even so, I load and shoot mostly fmj bullets.

I also have a current manufacture, metal framed, Mustang that I bought a year or so ago but have yet to put a round through it foe a number of reasons. I expect it will perform as well as the earlier model.
 
I have one that wont shoot anything reliably. It is a jam-o-matic.

I owned one years ago that I bought new. It seemed fine although I never shot it a great deal.

EDIT; the one I have now, I sort of remember buying at a gun show. It was in a pocket holster and looked like the guy literally took it out of his pocket and put it on the table. At the time, I shot it (as is) and it malfunctioned constantly. I put it away and hadn't touched it since (this was years ago, maybe a decade ago). After seeing this thread, I was sitting here doing nothing so I decided to dig it out of the safe and try to sort it out. I just took it apart and the barrel is badly leaded. I will give it a good cleaning and lubrication and try it in the next few days and see if that was the only problem. Hopefully that's it. I don't see anything obviously wrong with it. It seems almost strange that someone shot this quite a bit, as dirty as it is. Not real common with guns like this.
 
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I have it's slightly bigger brother, the Government model .380 in stainless. It has never skipped a beat with anything I have put thru it.

As do I, an it was my EDC for a while. Mine is an '80's era Colt, and as such, the slide to frame fit is awful... with terrible endplay; that's why I made that comment about checking the slide fit.

I wanted a Mustang for a long time, but the prices shot up when they discontinued production and I moved on.
 
I have one and really like it. I like it more than my sig p238. The sig has better sights. I can’t say I’ve put tons of rounds through it (I own a bunch of small 380s and mostly shoot 9mm anyways) but haven’t had any reliability issues.

Do any of you Mustang owners use it as your edc gun?

If I were going to carry a small 380 as a primary I think the mustang would be a reasonable choice. That said I prefer to carry a more capable gun when possible. This typically means a duty sized gun in 9x19 or when forced to compromise a smaller single stack 9. I often carry a .380 as a BUG. In that role I typically use and LCP.

When the mustang first came out it was ahead of its time and before shall issue made concealed carry as common place as it is. Back then the Mustang was a great smaller carry. Today, with all the small single 9x19 guns it doesn’t get much carry use. In my skinniest jeans or my most European cut suit and fitted shirts I can carry something the size of shield with little issue.
 
I used my Mustang for edc in the eighties and nineties under special circumstances. It served well under the circumstances it was carried under. I elected to retire my 1980's vintage Mustang from daily service and is currently replaced by a Walther PPK. The Mustang is a bit smaller so my plans are to return to it but the Walther is doing its duty well. I kind of prefer the DA/SA of the Walther but it is heavier. I recently purchased a Glock 42 but it has not shown to be reliable as other Glocks, at least as of yet. Also, I am not comfortable with a firing pin with stored potential energy without a manual safety.

I also have an early production P238. Until Sig replaced the main recoil spring with a flat spring, operation was not reliable. Although the flat recoil spring has made y gun kore reliable, I've not decided it is reliable enough. I guess current production P238's are performing well.

With my 1980's vintage Mustang, I could reliably hit a 50 yard gong with the pistol. I'm happy with the Colt version of the the design.

P.S. my P238 never operated reliably with the Colt magazines. The Sig barrel in the P238 cams differently that the Colt barrel in a Mustang. With current production P238, folks say they operate well with the Colt magazines. Do so at your own peril in my opinion.
 
I have a Colt Mustang which I bought new shortly after they came out. Very reliable and soft shooting, especially when compared to a Walther PPKs I also owned at the time. Great little gun for concealed carry though the sights could have been a little larger to make them easier to acquire. Carried it for a number of years til I got a SIG P238. I preferred the more rounded contours of the Mustang and it's nicer trigger but the night sights on the P238 are a definite improvement.

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Very reliable and soft shooting, especially when compared to a Walther PPKs


Amen to that! My brother bought a PPKs, I shot the two side-by-side... that's where I learned the differences between blowback and locked breech. That thing was like shooting a .40!
 
Had a Mustang Pocketlite. Maybe 300 rounds through it, all kinds, never a jam. Frame fit was somewhat loose, didnt have a negative effect on feeding. Used it as an EDC in an ankle rig for 10 years. Only sold it cuz the kids were hungry in the Great Recession.:(

Had a really nice two-tone P238, early production. Maybe 200 rounds downrange. Had exactly 2 stovepipes with cheap FMJ, no other issues. Ran fine with one of my leftover Mustang mags. Sold it cuz I wanted a James Bond PPK.......:(:(

Then got a Ranger/Interarms PPK/S. Looked great, shot like crap. Constant jamming and almost painfully snappy recoil. Tried a spring kit from Wolff, but still wouldn't feed reliably. Sold it, shame. :(:(:(

Now have Colt Govt.380. Great gun, almost as easy to conceal as Mustang. VERY loose slide/frame fit, but once again doesn't really hurt anything. Love it! :):):)
 
NIGHTLORD40K

Had similar problems with my stainless Interarms/Walther PPKs. Found the Colt Government .380 and Mustang to be a much more reliable, accurate, and pleasant shooting experience.
 
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Hopefully not too OT, but I’ve always hoped Sig would offer a 238 the same size as the Colt Govt Model 380. 1/2 inch longer in the slide and a seven round butt length. Love my 238 but I’ve always liked that slightly larger Pistol.
 
Hopefully not too OT, but I’ve always hoped Sig would offer a 238 the same size as the Colt Govt Model 380.

Yes, a return of the 380 ACP Gov't model sized pistol would be nice. While I do like the Mustang, it is a bit small.

Personal preference, I'm not a fan of the squared off presentation of the SIG 1911's and prefer the original, John Browning shape.

I recently got a full size SIG 1911 that has the SIG profile and it is ugly in my opinion. I got the gun because it it chambered in 357 SIG and it shoots great so I'll get over the appearance.

So, I have the same opinion of the P238 and the P938.
 
Gary A

Hopefully not too OT, but I’ve always hoped Sig would offer a 238 the same size as the Colt Govt Model 380. 1/2 inch longer in the slide and a seven round butt length. Love my 238 but I’ve always liked that slightly larger Pistol.

I was just the opposite. Had (and liked), the Colt Government .380 Model but when I heard that Colt was going to make an even smaller version, I sold my Government Model to my brother and began saving my money so I could get the Mustang. To my way of thinking I had already tried a number of .380 autos, like the Walther PPKs and the Mauser HSc, and thought they were somewhat big and heavy for the .380 cartridge. The Government .380 and the Mustang were just right for my smaller sized hand and were very soft shooting, given their size and weight. So when the Mustang was introduced I sold two other guns (one of them being an AMT Backup .380), bought the Mustang, and have been very pleased with my choice for all these years.
 
So when the Mustang was introduced I sold two other guns (one of them being an AMT Backup .380), bought the Mustang, and have been very pleased with my choice for all these years.

I carried an AMT .380 DAO for a while... what a clumsy pistol! Granted, it was better than nothing, but no sights, heel mag release, and an abysmal trigger. In the end, my slide cracked below the ejection port... I sent it to AMT for a new slide, but it quickly moved on when I got it back.
 
Saw one for $399 tonight.

How reliable is this gun? Will if shoot garbage ammo like the baby Sig or Glock 42? I'm sure it's accurate, but how does it compare to other pocket guns? I've heard it's the cream of the crop.

My wife has one, a new production Pocketlite. Beautiful gun. She hasn't shot it all that much, but it has digested all the ammo she's used without a hitch.
 
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Saw one for $399 tonight.

How reliable is this gun? Will if shoot garbage ammo like the baby Sig or Glock 42? I'm sure it's accurate, but how does it compare to other pocket guns? I've heard it's the cream of the crop.
Excuse me, but I have to ask - what is a baby Sig? You have piqued my curiosity. Thanks very much!!!
 
I have a Colt .380 Government model, which is very similar to the Mustang. It is being retired from use, mostly due to my concern for being able to find spares for, what is now, an old pistol.

When I returned to the states I was also quite a distance from my Colt. In the meantime I purchased a Glock 42 that, as mentioned elsewhere, I never "bonded" to. Since then I have traveled back to California and picked up my Colt. However, the idea of replacing it, as an EDC was firmly planted in my mind.

I considered the Mustang. The thing that led me to Kimber instead was the sights. The factory Colt sights on the Government Model are terrible and the ones on the Mustang I saw were the same. The slide from the Government Model, and I would assume the Mustang, can be sent to Novak to have better sights installed; but at that point I am better off with the Kimber.
 
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