Yesterday I made it to the range with an old friend. Over the last year or two he has been a life mentor of mine and now I’m teaching him how to shoot. He has some cool old guns.
His favorite (and mine) is an old Colt Mustang of 1980’s vintage. It’s an all steal .380 ACP, single action, single stack gun and weighs substantially more then today’s ultra light, ultra compact .380s. This old gun will hold up with any of the new .380s on the market (Ruger LCP, Sig P238, or Kel-Tec P3AT).
Its size is about the same as a Ruger LCP or Sig P238. Someone had a Sig P232 .380 at the range and the Colt was smaller. Being a single stack pistol in .380 the grip and slide are really skinny. Grip length was just long enough for me to get a two-finger hold on the gun. The Kel-Tec is too small for me to do that. I think the grip length is perfect for someone with big hands. The slide is skinny, but there are a lot of controls on it. The pistol is essentially a scaled down 1911 so there is a single sided thumb safety, traditional 1911 magazine release, and a slide stop.
Shooting the little gun was great. The two of us put over 100 rounds through it in an hour or so. It had a couple malfunctions. After about 70 rounds and the third failure to extract, I took the gun apart and gave it a close inspection. First thing I noticed is the gun hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. My friend said he has owned the gun for almost 20 years and never cleaned it! I quickly wiped it down and left a little lube on it. The gun malfunctioned again after another 10 rounds. So I took out the extractor and looked at it. Bottom line the extractor needs to be replaced. Remember this is a 25 year-old gun, so some worn parts are expected. We put it back together and continued shooting.
The first time I handled the gun and shot it I knew it was something I would carry. The sites are really small, but useable. I had no problems keeping groups at less then a fist size at 10 yards. My normal carry Glock 19 9mm I can do silver dollar sized groups. Not bad for a subcompact pistol. The biggest surprise was how much fun it was to shoot. The little gun isn’t punishing. I shot a Ruger LCP .380 and it bites enough that I didn’t enjoy shooting it. I have to hold onto it and be conscious of recoil. The Colt was easy to hang onto and didn’t kick anymore then my Glock.
The single action trigger was heavy but crisp. It had a distinct break and was easy to manipulate. I think it would have been much better if the weapon were cleaned. Without much recoil the little gun was just fun. As a defensive pistol is could be shot fast.
Some people say the Sig P238 was a copy of the Mustang. It sure looks like it to me. But I think the original is better. These little pistols are really amazing. If you don’t mind carrying the extra weight and like a single action gun, I’d get one of these “antiques” over the new guns.
One of the best things may be that Colt says they are re-introducing the gun as the Mustang Pocketlite with better manufacturing techniques. It is also coming with an aluminum alloy receiver so it will be lighter could be better.
Stay Safe,
Ben