modified mod 39 S&W called asp

[Bare Bones]

I was reading an excerpt from the firing line concerning this pistol modification on another ssite. It was actually what initially brought me to this location. A real break for me, as this site provides interesting info and pleasent contributors.

The Asp modification was the work of Maj. George Nonte ( at that time a writer for shooting times; since passed on.) and the holster mfg. called seventrees (Ican't remember his name). The frames were let out to be modified and the final assembly was by George.

I had many occasions to fire these weapons for function during this period of time and, as they were modified, reliability improved greatly. The "combat sight" provided little accurecy beyound fifteen yards, but with a little use you could acquire them very quickly. The clear grips were supposed to allow you to check your loads (rounds remaining?), but I always thought it to be frivoless (sp) and the grips were slick.. The bobbed grip and magazine were functional and, at that time were on the forward edge of innovation. I doubt that there were over a hundred or so ever manufactured.

I hope that this gets to the person who was interested in the information. Any help I can offer copy to this thread...

 

[max popenker]

Well, i thought that ASP was the work of someone called Paris Theodore.
At least, the "guttersnipe" sights, used for ASP, were patended in his name

 

[FP Nunes]

The ASP 9mm combat pistol was the brain child of Paris Theodore. At a time where most handguns were large and heavy, the pistol was small, sleek and powerfull. The concept was way ahead of it's time and was shamelessly copied without so much as a thank you, much less any compensation, by S&W themselves and put into production as the 469, 3914, etc....

Mr. Theodore's designs were way ahead of the big guys and he started the whole compact handgun trend that we still see today. There were over 200 modifications to the Smith and Wesson Model 39 9mm pistol. Each was hand fitted and tested for reliability until it could feed an empty case.

There are scores of threads about the ASP 9mm, Mr. Theodore and later production of the ASP pistol in Wisconsin. A google search should turn up quite a bit. Here is a picture of an ASP 9mm.

For my money, the only one to own is an original Seventrees version of the ASP manufactured in Manhatten. Later versions produced in WI while nice, do not enjoy the history and the cloak and dagger aspect of the original conversions.

A little over 3000 guns were produced with about 10% produced in Manhatten. IMHO Paris Theodore was a genius, a man kind to his friends, and a man that was taken advantage of by the corporate establishment. Sometime ago a short documentary was produced by Mr. Theodore's sons. I hope that it will see the light of day, but in all likely hood probably won't. I can't help but think that Mr. Theodore would prefer it that way.

UNSEEN in the best places....

I welcome any first hand accounts, stories, pictures,etc about Mr. Theodore, the ASP 9mm or Seventrees.