A Nurse with a Gun

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Prototype Colt Defender

Photos of a prototype Colt Defender at auction show how Hartford struggled to contain the 45 round in a small, lightweight, reliable package. Thankfully, the extended slide stop with a hex screw in it, and the one screw wooden grips were abandoned.

It seems Colt thought about a blued finish and a different name for their bushingless little concealed carry pistol as well. They were stuck on the one screw grips for some reason though. This version, dubbed the Colt Compact, never made production.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why can't they just have brought out a BLACK Colt Defender and pat themselves on the back? I already like everything else about it...

12:59 AM  
Blogger Chaz said...

Back in 1997 at the IDPA Inaugural match in Columbia, Missouri I handled and shot the pistol that Bill Laughridge of Cylinder and Slide had built, which Colt later copied to build their Defender. His little gun was super nice, it worked just fine, and he didn't monkey with the silliness that Colt appears to have done in their quest to build their own version. Don't know why companies like Colt have to go through all those gyrations to re-invent something that innovators like Bill manage to accomplish on their own in their shops. Must be make-work for their gunsmiths.
If you want a small .45, might want just to buy one from Cylinder and Slide and get the best right out of the box.

2:30 AM  

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