One of the great Carbines of all time, The Spanish Destroyer

Status
Not open for further replies.
indy1919a4

indy1919a4

Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Messages
1,706
Location
Orlando Fl
Picked this up Garage Sailing, a very nice little 9mm Spanish Destroyer Carbine.. Maybe one of the greatest gun names & crests of all time..

At the range and she shoot flawlessly, We tested out several different off the self 9mm parabellum rounds, all worked. Both ball and hollow point. So that is a nice little advantage of a bolt action 9mm carbine over a Semi auto..

And to be fair it is almost a Mauser... :)
2z3z69t.jpg




14npgeu.jpg

Not mine but better picture of the crest

25a0e4f8a9435cea3712f3227530d337.jpg
 
Some were chambered in 9mm Para. I had a chance to buy one 30 years ago so chambered for $150. I passed at the time because I was trying to accumulate some handguns. I would love to find another. May I ask what you paid for it (just to inflame my envy a bit more)?
 
indy1919a4 said:
Picked this up Garage Sailing, a very nice little 9mm Spanish Destroyer Carbine.. Maybe one of the greatest gun names & crests of all time..

At the range and she shoot flawlessly, We tested out several different off the self 9mm parabellum rounds, all worked. Both ball and hollow point. So that is a nice little advantage of a bolt action 9mm carbine over a Semi auto..

And to be fair it is almost a Mauser... :)
View attachment 863469




View attachment 863470

Not mine but better picture of the crest

View attachment 863471
Click to expand...
Always thought these were neat, but never snagged one. Awesome garage sale find!

I know a guy who has a bunch of extra Destroyer mags if you need some. They are marked Largo, but I think the Para. guns used the same mags. PM me if you want his info.
 
Nice carbine for uses the cartridge will suffice. Small critters (smaller than deer) house defense, general plinking. I was interested many winters ago; never saw one in real life. Good catch.
 
So cool! What a great name.

The vast and overwhelming majority of carbines produced, and all those purchased by the Spanish government, were chambered in 9x23 (9mm Largo). There was some export volume, predominantly to Latin American markets, in 9no Parabellum and, allegedly, but never seen, 38 Super.
 
I owned two largo,s and was not impressed, pretty rough operation and seemed pretty cheaply made. quart cans at 50 yards were easy to hit, but not my idea of a defence rifle.
 
25-20 WCF said:
Glad you are getting good accuracy with the wrong ammunition. The Destroyer is chambered in 9mm Largo, not in 9 mm Parabellum. The latter is 4mm too short. CRF saved you.
Click to expand...


Appreciate your concerns, but this is marked one of the 9mm parabellum models. There was also a 38 auto model.. And believe it or not there was at least one 38 super.
 
commygun said:
Some were chambered in 9mm Para. I had a chance to buy one 30 years ago so chambered for $150. I passed at the time because I was trying to accumulate some handguns. I would love to find another. May I ask what you paid for it (just to inflame my envy a bit more)?
Click to expand...

I got this as a bit of a deal in the 300 range.. I believe the seller was pricing this is as 9mm largo model.. To be honest i picked it up and committed to buying it I assumed it was the 9mm largo. Only later did I see it marked parabellum.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
Always thought these were neat, but never snagged one. Awesome garage sale find!

I know a guy who has a bunch of extra Destroyer mags if you need some. They are marked Largo, but I think the Para. guns used the same mags. PM me if you want his info.
Click to expand...


Many thanks for this offer, I am touched, but have enough. Have looked and looked and have not seen any magazines made for the parabellum or the 38 acps. But I had no feed issues using the largo magazines. So I have a feeling that no one felt the need to make special magazines for the odd calibers..
 
In my serious Largoista days I had three Destroyers at different times. Sold the last one about a year ago. The carbine was a good idea and fun to shoot, but I eventually put together a replacement NEF Handi Rifle package with better sights and a custom rebored barrel that would safely fire 9mm Largo as well as .38 ACP/Super (and 9x19 in a pinch, carefully headspaced on the extractor.)

NEFNickelSuper.jpg

A word of advice: enjoy shooting your Destroyer but don't hotrod it! The bolt looks strong, but it has a serious design weakness. The deep groove for the extractor collar is between the rear locking shoulders and the bolt face. The steel is surprisingly thin there and can become a failure point.

Also if you decide to get extra magazines, buy more than you need because you may find about one in four won't fit properly. The triggerguard/magwell was a rather crude casting and a common area of dimensional inconsistency.
 
Last edited:
commygun said:
Some were chambered in 9mm Para. I had a chance to buy one 30 years ago so chambered for $150. I passed at the time because I was trying to accumulate some handguns. I would love to find another. May I ask what you paid for it (just to inflame my envy a bit more)?
Click to expand...

I wanted to ask the Parabellum model you saw did it say "9mm Parabellum" or did it say "9mm Bergmann" with bergmann lined out and Parabellum stamped underneath..
 
Dave DeLaurant said:
In my serious Largoista days, had three Destroyers at different times. Sold the last one about a year ago. The carbine was a good idea and fun to shoot, but I eventually put together a replacement NEF Handi Rifle package with better sights and a custom rebored barrel that would safely fire 9mm Largo as well as .38 ACP/Super (and 9x19 in a pinch, carefully headspaced on the extractor.)

View attachment 863495

A word of advice: enjoy shooting your Destroyer but don't hotrod it! The bolt looks strong, but it has a serious design weakness. The deep groove for the extractor collar is between the rear locking shoulders and the bolt face. The steel is surprisingly thin there and can become a failure point.

Also if you decide to get extra magazines, buy more than you need because you may find about one in four won't fit properly. The triggerguard/magwell was a rather crude casting and a common area of dimensional inconsistency.
Click to expand...


Your handi rifle may be a nice reliable design.. But they do not sport a boss crest. :)
 
I first read about the Destroyer Carbine in a Shotgun News article many years ago. The guy was a guide and used to gun to kill an occasional Elk. I can't swear to it but I believe the Destroyer was used as a guards gun in the movie "Devil At 4 o'clock" but could never confirm it with the IMDB data base.

Dave Delaurant your Handi reminds me of the Handi I had in 357 with a 16" barrel and open sights I let my bud talk me out of. He loves it. And is not interested in selling it back. Its a heavy, chunky little thing but shoots like crazy. He put a monster scope on it and literally shots the tacks out of the corners of the targets at the local range at 25 yards.
 
You got a nice one. I have one that hardly looks used. It's 9mm Largo. I got a couple hundred Starline cases for it and loaded Remington 115grn HP. I had a couple K of them I bought bulk from Midway for my 9mm Marlin camp carbine. Fun little gun to shoot. No problem hitting clay pigeons at 50 yds 90% and 70% or so at 100yds. Your lucky you found a 9mm Para so you can just buy inexpensive bulk packs. Shooting 9mm Para in a Largo isn't dangerous but it can eventually break the extractor.
 
Ratshooter said:
. I can't swear to it but I believe the Destroyer was used as a guards gun in the movie "Devil At 4 o'clock" but could never confirm it with the IMDB data base.

.
Click to expand...

I do not know... you had me going, that would be cool.. But I think its a Lebel carbine.. Now you do not get many clear shots of it.. mostly the guard is pushing the prisoners with it..



Skip to 32.00 you can see that the rifle does have a cleaning rod.. As far as I know, no Destroyers had cleaning rods.. and this one looks offset like below
birth1.jpg

Also if you go to 46:00 you can see the distinctive Lebel sling ring .

But it is hard to really see it.. There is a promotional still available.. but that is kinda cheating.. :)


4oclock.jpg

You know seriously, the guard is shoving the prisoners with it so much, I will lay you odds the thing is a rubber copy.. I just do not see Frank Sinatra's & Bernie Hamilton's agent wanting to see their clients all bruised up for the sake of realism.
 
Last edited:
Good catch Indy. You can also see the gun at the 6:30 time mark. I have only seen this a couple of times on TV and never made it past about 20 minutes in. I may have to watch the whole thing now that I googled the story. And I think you are correct on it being the Lebel Carbine.

There have been a few discussions on the forums about a 9mm bolt action. I think its a great idea and am jealous of your find. I do have a Marlin Camp Carbine and really enjoy shooting it. What surprises me is that as popular as the M-1 Carbine is why no one has ever made a handy little bolt gun for the round or even a single shot H&R like the other posters rifle? I know Marlin made the Levermatic in 30 carbine. I nearly bought one but could not reach a working deal with the seller.

Back when surplus ammo was so cheap it would have made sense. But maybe its only weirdos like me who would even want one. I sure like my little Marlin lever in 357 though. Thats the last rifle I would ever sell.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

MatthewVanitas
  • Locked
Spanish 9mm Largo Destroyer carbine?
Replies
6
Views
4K
Hand_Rifle_Guy
H
Panzerschwein
  • Locked
9mm Bolt Action?
2
Replies
33
Views
5K
GarrettJ
GarrettJ
F
  • Locked
Spanish 1895
Replies
7
Views
561
Mr_Pale_Horse
M
F
  • Locked
New .223 carbine?? Help....
Replies
12
Views
934
lmccrock
L
D
  • Locked
Argentine Mauser carbine
Replies
11
Views
871
Cosmoline
C
Back
Top