I've had five of the old Detonics Combat Master .45 autos, and all of them were great. The super short sight radius and very quick slide reset time, made them ideal as short range/quick reaction pistols. However, I once SHOT a Canuckistan IPSC Nationals [ in B class ] with a Detonics CM, and I didn't do too badly ... I even beat a couple of guys with race guns. So the Detonics CM pistols are very viable real world/CQB/CCW handguns ... if you don't mind holding on tight.
[;{)
Unfortunately, with MAJOR loads in .45 ACP [ I usually shot a 180 - 200 PF ]I found that the Detonics triple wound recoil spring will only last about 1000 rds. This is to be expected of any really short barreled Govt model pistol, as you are buffering a lot of power in very little space. However, with the Glock design, in the G 26 and G19, I never had any recoil springs wear out [ and I had at least a CASE of HOT IVI 9 MM Ball through the G 26 ]. So, I think the Glock recoil spring design is better in very short barreled pistols.
Even better than the Dedtonics as all around PRACTICAL pistols, were the Blued Commander slide / SS Randall Lemay frame compacts that I built [ about a dozen ]. These had the short butt, similar to the Detonics or Colt Officers Model, but the longer 4 1/4" Commander slide made them non-prohibs. The longer slides also had better sight radius, extending the useful range at least 100 % over the short slide Detonics pistols.
I experimented with several "DOLTS" .... Detonics CM short slides on Commander frames with full sized butt, and Commander slides on Det CM short butt frames. While the size of your hands will have a lot to do with which size butt you can use effectively, and how well the pistol conceals for CCW, I found that the length of the slide was not that important for concealment, but a longer [ Commander Length 4 1/4" ] slide was much better for practical use.
Having owned a G 26, a G 19, and a few G 17 pistols, I have to say my all around favorite for "balance" is the G 19. Just like goldilocks said it best,
"With the G 26, the butt and the slide are, too short", "with the G17 the butt and the slide are too long", But "With the G 19, the but and the slide are just purrrrfect!"
The G 21 I had for a short while never felf quite right in my hands, but the G 21 SF may be my new all around Glock favorite. I balances, just like the G 19, "Just purrfect!"
Of course, as with any other FREE advice posted on the internet,
Buyer Beware,
and
YPMMV
[;{)
LAZ 1
