S&W ASP 9mm: Dated curiosity or serious carry gun?

[Murdock]

Thirty years on, is there anybody who regularly carries and uses the ASP? Should it be a safe queen as its collector value rises, or does it have practical value compared to the generations of carry guns that have evolved since Paris Theodore produced his innovative modification of the S&W Model 39?

[Shadi Khalil]

If I owned one I would defenitly carry and shoot it. How could you resist? Its a awesome set-up and nobody has one...

[sanzo87]

i would so carry it if i had one.

[armoredman]

If you can use it well, go for it. Always wanted one of those as a collector, but I don't believe in guns you don't shoot!

[Wildalaska]

It deserves to be carried.....

Seriously Murdoch folks rely (allegedly) on such firearms gems as Tauri and Bersi you think an ASP won't do the job?

WildilovethemAlaska TM

[Dave85]

I would carry it, but open carry. I couldn't bring myself to hide it!

[44 AMP]

How could it be any less effective and efficient that it was when new? I got a chance to handle one once, and it was a very nice feeling gun for the size, but that particular one had a gap between the top of the grip and the frame, and it could kind of pinch sometimes, so I wasn't crazy about it. Probably should have bought it when I had the chance, but .....oh,well....

[Murdock]

I would carry it, but open carry. I couldn't bring myself to hide it!

Chortle!

[SDC]

I'd love one, but I probably couldn't bring myself to shoot it, and I'd spend my time gazing at it ("The Precious is MINE, ALL MINE!").

[ninnoichi]

I'd like to preface this with the statement that I own two ASP 9mm pistols (the standard Wisconsin model) and I adore them. I look forward to the opportunity to add a Quest for Excellence model at some point; but that remains for the future at this point.

When I bought them, I regularly carried either one or the other of them. I find they still define what I look for in a smooth handling firearm. My standard load was the Federal Nyclad 124gr, since it would shoot to the same point of aim as 125 plain vanilla lead reloads, the Marshall study showed good stopping ability for the 124gr Nyclad, and the standard pressure load was less stressful for the alloy frame.

Aside from the cost and difficulty obtaining replacement parts, the only real contraindication for carrying an ASP is a claim I heard (which I have not verified) that when the S&W M39-2 was cut down to create the ASP, the hard anodising was not replaced on the alloy frame prior to the application of the Teflon-S finish. If this claim is true, then there is some weakening of the frame. For reference, the claims were made by a gentleman purporting to be the proprietor of Bulman Gunleather, in case you would care to investigate this allegation yourselves.

That being said, I still love the ASP and would love to obtain the intellectual property rights to the design; but I have failed to discover who owns it.

[Murdock]

It is my understanding that Ken Null, the leather crafter who made the original leather goods for the ASP, owns much of the intellectual property of Seventrees. Whether this extends beyond the leather goods to include the ASP pistol I don't know.

[B.N.Real]

Very cool side panel setup so you can see the mag capacity easily.

Great looking handgun.

[18DAI]

If I could afford one, you bet I'd be carring an ASP! Actually, I wish I could afford the double mag pouch, with magnets to hold the mags in, that Seventrees made for the ASP!

Superbly thought out pistol, IMO. I carry it's descendant, the S&W 3913. Stake my life on that pistol. Reliable, concealeable, and accurate. Regards 18DAI.

[jrothWA]

the bottom of frame was cut to reduce heigth the frame rails I believe were never cut. The slide was reduced at the front and a spherical ball bearing was used to make the new bushing, front sight was lost and replaced with the tapered gutter sight,e.g.: wide @ rear narrowing to front.

The ASP was a "faint dream" of mine to own, especially working & living in NE Ohio when Devel, Corp., was operating.
I CPL the 39-2, what a delight.

[shurshot]

The gun looked even better in person at the Biddeford Gun show this past weekend. A classic carry gun (and a keeper), to be sure!

[Murdock]

Thanks, Shurshot for the compliments and for stopping by at the show. Glad you enjoyed seeing the ASP. A handful of people (usually with grey in their hair) stopped by who actually knew what an ASP is, one or two were actually owners, and a couple had some interesting bits of info that I did not know about the guns. For instance, that there were buffalo horn grips made for them.

Would anybody have a photo of an ASP with buffalo horn grips?

[eastbank]

i had one years ago and liked it,but i was offered a hugh profit to sell it and i did. i now have a S&W 3913 and i like it just as well, maybe a little better. eastbank.

[Murdock]

Eastbank, having carried and used both, which features of your 3919 do you like better than those of the ASP?

One of the stories in the ASP legend is that Paris Theodore went to S&W with an ASP to try to interest them in his ideas, and they brushed him off, only to use his basic concepts later. Many see the 3913 and 3914 as concrete examples of that. I'd be interested to hear what you think about your 3913, and why you like it (aside from the much more reasonable price! )

[KyJim]

As far as carrying it and shooting it, I'll paraphrase what I've seen posted here before:

An unfired gun is like being married to a beautiful woman and never making love to her.

[Murdock]

An unfired gun is like being married to a beautiful woman and never making love to her.

One of the other interesting things about the ASP is that there is supposed to be no such thing as an unfired one. Reportedly, all were function fired up to a few hundred rounds apiece to ensure total reliability before they left the shop.

Besides, there was no way I wasn't going to check out that funky Guttersnipe sighting arrangement.

[SDC]

Where does it print in relation to the Guttersnipe sight; do the rounds hit in the middle of the end of the "gutter", or above the panels?

[Murdock]

Shooting at a cardboard silhouette at 7 yards, using FMJ ball ammo, and following the operator's manual advice to not focus hard on the sight, but instead kinda have it in the periphery of one's vision, the gun seemed to print about 3" above point of aim. In other words, looking over the sights the gun hit about where I was looking. I suspect that faster ammo would hit a bit lower.

I guess I could carefully bench the gun and try again; when I first shot it we still had two feet of snow on the ground and that would have been too much trouble.

Working with the Guttersnipe sight made my think of Ayoob's Stressfire logic, where he states that in a fight it is almost impossible for a person NOT to focus on the threat. When I'm going fast I seem to use conventional open sights in a manner similar to the Guttersnipe's recommended method. Maybe it's just spillover muscle memory from everything else I shoot? Needs more investigation.

[Sarge678]

Ok fellas, you say you want to know about the ASP and for that maqtter just want one, Well almost 31 years ago I received my ASP. I had picked up a very ugly M-39 with lots of edge wear and light surface rust but as new otherwise for $50. I sent off the pistol and a check for as I recall about $310.00 and about 13 weeks later I received my “new” ASP or as we referred to it as “A Small Pistol”.

The package contained the basic weapon w/ semi clear whitish grips. A set of Cape Buffalo Horn replacement grips w/a lexan insert so the rounds would still be visible.
An info packet and manual, Hip holster made by Safariland, Shoulder holster, ankle holster and ankle holster mag carrier for 2 mags., magnetic 2x mag carrier that snaps on/off belt. I also had a total of 4 magazines. 3 have the elongated ASP logoed little finger something to hold onto plus 1 extra mag that was flat bottomed and leather covered for max conceal while in hip holster. That is the mag I used 99% of the time as in the weapon. The only thing they had available –at the time- that I did not get was their 14k Gold lightning logo tie tac. Well it was an extra $99 but now I wish I had one.

Anyway I put the white grips into the way oversized leather zip case w/ ASP logo. And never saw it again. My X wife I had gotten that same year trashed the case, white grips, shoulder holster and ankle mag carrier holster during our 2004 divorce + a ton of other goodies but why tell about those as I would get sick again.

I was told by ASP staffer that at that time the bulk of the ASP’s were made for mostly CIA, DEA etc. I was 31 and had just come off two very tough and bad years where I had worked for many years but had just retired to the quiet life of a City Cop for a town in North Texas that is now the 69th largest city in the US.

I carried the ASP until I retired and about five years ago bought several of the new ASP sized .45’s that back in the day we could only dream of. And yes I still have it and no I won’t or my son would in all likely hood shoot me if I tried. He says he expect to inherit it along with all of my carry weapons.

The ASP was never shot all that much, well not compared to my full size carry when I could carry either a 1911 Govt. or Commander LW. The log shows only Three thousand some rounds of 9mm where as my Govt. Model logged 55k over the same life time.
I can also say I never had any kind of a jam and never shot less than 98%.
The Guttersnipe sight takes just a bit of getting use to but no more that fifty rounds before it became almost second nature. The ASP is also extremely comfortable to carry and shoot with either hand. Well that’s about it unless someone has one of their “Quest” boxed sets for sale as my son confided he would like to inherit one of those also.

[Bill DeShivs]

"Hard" anodizing is a surface treatment, and adds nothing to the frame strength.

[armoredman]

What is the Quest version, never heard of that one?