Is the ASP a real gun?

Your links are dead, but if you're thinking of a Devel ASP, yes, it is a real firearm; these were "chopped" conversions of S&W autos (usually M39s), which were shortened both length-wise and height-wise, dehorned for concealed carry, and most of the ones I saw were fitted with a weird "Guttersnipe" sighting system, where you looked down a rectangular slot in the top of the slide. When the front "gutter" was evenly aligned (all the way around) with the back "gutter", you were supposed to be on target.
 
Your links don't lead anywhere.

There was a modified S&W 39 called the Asp. It was chopped and had modified sights. The same designer had another modification called the Devel. This is from back in the '70s or '80s.
 
Yes, it's real. Built from I believe S&W 39s, a gunsmith in WI going by "Devel" did this work in the late 70's or early 80's. A 1980's Guns & Ammo had a feature article about the gun. Really small then, but kind of common now. It did have clear grips to view rounds in the mag and a channel for quick sighting on the slide. Someone else may be able to correct my generalities, but that's the short answer.
 
Didn't *&* eventually come out with their own version of this as the 3913 model? Less the custom features, but same size.
 
The ASP is indeed a real gun. It was not converted by Devel however. The Devel M-39/M59 conversions occured in the mid to late '70's. The ASP conversion of the M-39 (and only the "39" series, to my knowledge) were originally performed by a man by the name of Paris Theodore. I believe the name of his company was Seventrees. These conversions were done in the late 1960's and some units were used by various personel in Viet Nam. The unit possesed a sight called the "guttersnipe". An un-orthodox design and difficult to describe, it isn't easy to use if you use normal sights as well. Later production, as late as the mid 1980's, took place in Appleton, Wisconsin, by a company named Armament Systems and Procedures. If you have one, it might be best regulated to collector status. There are much better choices today. No, mine isn't for sale.

Hope this helps

Jim
 
I remember first seeing one of these in a Dean Grennell book back in the mid-'80s. What a neat collection of features for the time (which, I believe, was even before Smith came out with the 469/669 cut-down 59s)! I was sure psyched when one came into the store I managed in '88-'90.

But, that was about the time that Smith came out with the 3rd Gen. guns. As WaltherP99man points out, a lot of the ASP mods were pretty similar to what Smith eventually incorporated in the 3rd Gen. factory guns. Not the sight or the translucent grips/modified mags that let you see how you were doing on ammo (in case you forgot how to count to 8), of course.

So the ASP did sort of a "musical gun" act amongst our store's customers. I fired it while it was owned by a friend of mine. Neat gun, nice triggerwork done to it. squeeze, the Guttersnipe sight was designed for fast target acquisition. Yellow the color of this smiley :) down the middle of it, if I remember correctly. It worked, for fast target acquisition. It was notso-hotso for target practice. Although the ASP was nicely tuned-up, we had a hard time getting 4" groups at 10 yds. Not a one-hole gun.

I agree with Mr. Patch regarding about it being best considered a (reasonably neat) collector's piece. They remind me of how much better off we are in our selection of pistols nowadays than we were even twenty years ago (man, am I getting old!).

If they've got James Bond using it, well . . . it's not like Fleming ever had him packing the best piece available. "[A] brick through a plate glass window", my foot!
 
$500 would be a steal...the last one i handled had a price tag of $1500

jfpatch got most of the history right

paris theodore designed/spec'd out the original ASP as a government contract piece based on the smith m-39...i once worked with a former CID guy who was issued one (this was back in the early 80's). the company was named seventrees which is more recognizable for it's holster designs. ken null's company still makes holsters from those patterns

the asp was composed of serveral "first" which we now take for granted: (the asp came with 3 mags, an IWB and OWB holster and a double mag carrier that retained the mags magnetically)

1. chopped and channeled
2. lightened slide
3. hooked and thinned trigger guard
4. black teflon coating
5. window cut into sides of mags (check mag cap)
6. ploycarbonate stocks
7. ALL checkering and serrations removed, edges beveled
8. mag fingerrest that sloped backwards to accomadate the pinky
9. hammer flush with back of slide
10. "guttersnipe" sight

a) the guttersnipe was a large block, mounted in a cutout on top of the slide.
b) cut into the top of the block was a gutter with the 3 sides narrowing toward the front
c) on each side of the channel was a yellow panel just slightly smaller than the side.

you sight by looking down the channel and letting your eye "instinctively balance" the 3 yellow panels. (sorta like using a ghost ring)

the "devel" was a company started by charlie kelsey. they made more conventional chopped m-39 and m-59...stock sights, wood grips
w/windows, scallops along flats, hard chrome finishes

their market faded when smith introduced first the 469 and later the 3914

gee i've been long winded, sorry i got carried away
 
They actually do show up in some unusual places for a decent price. A couple of years ago, 1999 I think, on this board a poster found one in a gun shop in Pa. for $500. He went back to get it and it was gone. In like new condition they are in the $1200-$1500 range and there is a special edition available that is numbered with the book as a set. I see a guy on the web trying to sell his for $4000, but there has been one available at the Tulsa gun show for the last couple of years for closer to $3000.
 
Gutter Snipe Sights

Hi Squeeze:

The Gutter Snipe sighting system is an option from NAA on their 32 and 380 Guardians. Also, a similar system is being used on the Kel Tec P32, however, the gunsmith who does it calls his version "channel" sights. Unlike the ASP version, the new versions mill a slot in the slide. I have it on my Guardian 380. I don't think of it as a sight. I think of it as a sighting aid.
 
George, that sight system is done by David Clay. He has a shop in the Dallas area. Rich has a custom conversion rifle done by Dave, good work.
 
I bought a NIB one in Los Angeles about 10 years ago for $1100, and sold it about 6 months and 500 rounds later for about $1200.

The guttersnipe sight was good- if that is the only sight you ever used. It required more focus on the TARGET, hard to adjust if your subconscious hears Jeff Cooper saying "frontsight ... PRESSSS".

The clear stocks and cutaway mags were intended to let you keep tabs on remaining rounds, but as a practical matter, I don't recall them being all that useful, and you had to keep the stocks away from cleaning solvents.

They were nice innovative pistols in their time.
 
LASTING IMPRESSION

Remember still the 'feel' of the black finish; warm and soft (had to run 'wayback' program in brain).

Maybe that's why I still love the 3913 LS........
 
I think the cut away mag and the clear grips could be helpful in a shootout and after all these were issue to embassy Secret Service who were subject to be in a shoot out.

Sure, I can count to eight but I might not if I was real busy doing something else. Of course, what people are trained to do is change the magazine to a fresh one at the first chance but if you had only two mags....well then!

PigPen
 
So if you wanted to "build" your own ASP, how best to accomplish it? Sounds like the difficult part would be to re-create the see-thru grips and magazines. I'm sure someone could custom make clear grips, but aren't "original" ASP mags very pricey? I wonder if you could cut side panels out of regular mags, like the Wilson 8 round 1911 mags, to achieve the same effect. Hmmm, project gun gears turning......
 
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