Handguns that didn't stick around

Don't know a website, but the HK P7 is one of them.....I love that design - the only one of its kind....


MODS- sorry about the pic size; please resize as necessary

Resources to check:
-Ian from Forgotten Weapons on Youtube
-Tim from Military Arms Channel on Youtube also has some cool retro guns

-Gun buyers guides and Gun Bibles from specific years will list different various models sold by manufacturers. You could use the process of elimination going through the old catalogs. I did when I was a kid in the 90's and wish I still held on to them for vintage nostalgia reasons.

There's a couple of other sites that I can't remember off the top of my head that have some decent info on military sidearms and it looked like it was complied in the 90's.

Here's another website (russian): http://modernfirearms.net/ru/pistolety-i-revolvery/

List of handguns off the top of my head:
Smith 3rd gens
Ruger P-series
Colt 2000 all american
Star/Astra brands
Daewoos (now imported as lionheart)

The Grendel line comes to mind. I have the P10, a blowback, polymer-framed .380 with an internal magazine loaded through the ejection port. The P30 was the predecessor to the designer's later Kel-Tec PMR-30.

Smith 3rd gens
Ruger P-series
Star/Astra brands

Those are all good pistols that I own. At this point in time they offer extreme value for the money spent.

JeeperCreeper said:

List of handguns off the top of my head:
Smith 3rd gens
Ruger P-series
Colt 2000 all american
Star/Astra brands
Daewoos (now imported as lionheart)

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Stay away from that one! The 2000 All American is arguably the gun that killed Colt. Total dog.

Wow, this brings back memories. I'm probably just a few years older than you, so much of this stuff was coming out just as I was old enough to start buying handguns myself. This was an interesting time because it during the federal AWB period, but also in the same period many states were passing new laws changing from may issue to shall issue carry permits. So, lots of new carry permits were being issued, but there was still a 10 round magazine capacity. As a result, the trend was to smaller, lighter carry guns; or to larger calibers in mid and full size guns.

Alongside the big caliber full size / smaller caliber subcompacts new gun development, there was huge demand for Glocks, 3rd Gen S&Ws, Beretta 92s, SIG P226s, and anything else that had decent availability of pre-ban mags over 10 rounds.

The 1911 was in resurgence on the bigger caliber side. This was when Kimber really established themselves, and when they were arguably making their best pistols. Springfield Armory was making their V-xx ported barrel pistols. The Glock 26 and 27 were a big deal then. Seecamp pistols and the similar NAA models were popular. Even with the private citizen 10 round mag restriction everyone was still trying desperately to catch up with Glock on service pistols. This was the time period when the Steyr M9/M40, S&W Sigma, Walther P99 / SW99, and HS2000 (now Springfield Armory XD) entered the market. I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting, but hopefully those models will jog someone else's memory. Surplus Russian and Bulgarian Makarov pistols were very popular then too.

On the revolver side S&W and Taurus were in a race to build the smallest lightest 5 shot .38s and .357s. Titanium and Scandium were the rage. Taurus had a wide variety of brightly anodized colors of Ti frames. IIRC, this also the period when the Raging Bull was first released, which was a big deal since it was the first DA revolver in .454 Casull. IIRC, surplus Nagant revolvers started hitting the market in the early 2000s as the supply of surplus Makarovs started drying up. The early 2000s also saw a big release of used S&W model 10s and similar service revolvers onto the used market as corrections departments and security companies finally followed LE and started switching over to semi-autos en masse.

Again, I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of stuff, but hopefully what I've posted will jog some other memories.

Colt revolvers. A lot of fun stuff killed by the Clinton AWB. Ring of fire guns. Not a handgun but not far off either were the Ruger lever action and semiauto pistol cal carbines and marlin camp series. 10" Ruger mk pistol.

Some stuff disappeared for good reason...Bryco, Jennings, etc. Some disappeared leaving us wondering why, and some were just ahead of their time.

The Colt 2000 All American is so (in)famous that it has had its own Wikipedia article since about 2007.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_2000

Steyr GB

Benelli B76
Steyr GB (see VA27 beat me to it)
Intratec TEC-9
MAC-10
Detonics 1911
TDE Auto Mag
AMT 1911
AMT Back-Up
Randall 1911
HK VP70
HK HK-4
High Standard .22s
Sterling
Mauser
Bernadelli

bannockburn said:

Benelli B76
Steyr GB (see VA27 beat me to it)
Intratec TEC-9
MAC-10
Detonics 1911
TDE Auto Mag
AMT 1911
AMT Back-Up
Randall 1911
HK VP70
HK HK-4
High Standard .22s
Sterling
Mauser
Bernadelli

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A lot of those pre-date his 1990 starting point. Your age is showing. "Technically" High Standard (also AMT) and Detonics are still around....

https://detonicsdef.squarespace.com/
https://www.highstandard.com/22lr-target-pistols-c-25_66.html

walnut1704

I know that some of those pre-date the OP's time line but I just felt a little nostalgic for the "lost" guns of the '70s and '80s too.

I go back farther evidently. MBA Gyrojet, Wildey, Automag, Dardick, Whitney Wolverine, and many others.
No gun killed Colt. They committed suicide when they quit making most of the guns we wanted and loved like the small frame 38s, the .357, Trooper, Woodsman, Officers Model, and on and on. Thought the had the world but the a$$ with all the government contracts for M16s. Granted, most of those guns were pretty labor intensive but Smiths were also and they've kept pace. Oh, forgot the Colt Cadet and Cowboy single action.

CZ 40 B.

Don't forget the Thunder-5, back before the Judge.

GarrettJ

Don't forget the Thunder-5, back before the Judge.

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Actually that was one I was hoping to forget! The Pachmayr grips were the final crowning touch to a gun that looked like it had been cobbled together from a bunch of leftover parts. Makes the Taurus Judge and the S&W Governor look positively brilliant!

bannockburn said:

GarrettJ



Actually that was one I was hoping to forget! The Pachmayr grips were the final crowning touch to a gun that looked like it had been cobbled together from a bunch of leftover parts. Makes the Taurus Judge and the S&W Governor look positively brilliant!

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My immediate thought when I saw that photo. 1911 hammer, mp5 safety, colt DS barrel, and a pile of ugly rivaling something that rhymes with clock.

Oh, look up 90's movies on IMFDB!!!

Might refresh your memory

If this topic were posted few years from now I wonder if the Chiappa Rhino would make the list...?

GarrettJ said:

Don't forget the Thunder-5, back before the Judge.

View attachment 776259

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At least that one is immortalized in a movie ,"Three Kings" , and spawned a successful line of revolvers by Taurus.

Does the S&W 53 fit in here?
I had a Wildey 45 Mag. Too big for my hands. Still have the cartridges.

Anyone remember the medusa revolver? Was capable of firing a whole list of different rounds. Seemed like maybe a good gun for a pilot's bailout evasion gear. Never got my hands on one.