Colt
Mustang .380
Over the years, Colt has made several
forays into the pocket .380 ACP pistol market. Its first offering
was the Model 1908, or Model M, which is still regarded as one of
the best concealment pistols. In the 1960s Colt announced tentative
plans to market the Colt Pony, which was to be a steel-frame derivative
of the Star DK, but those plans never materialized.
In 1983 Colt introduced the .380 Government Model, in many ways
a scaled-down, 21 3/4-oz. version of the .45 ACP Government Model, with a similar
barrel bushing, magazine catch, extractor, firing pin and stop, a plunger-type
firing pin safety, and single-action operation allowing cocked-and-locked carry.
However, barrel lockup was accomplished not by a M1911-style link, but via
an enclosed, integral cam track as in the CZ-75. It lacked many other standard
M1911 features as well, such as a grip safety and removable mainspring housing.
In 1986 Colt introduced a smaller, lighter and somewhat simplified
version of the Government Model .380, the Mustang. While the firing mechanism
was identical, the Mustang design eliminated its predecessor’s barrel
bushing and spring plug. The new gun also featured a dual recoil spring rather
than the .380 Government’s single coil spring, and incorporated a flexible
synthetic full-length recoil spring guide positioned in a hole in the slide
face. The Mustang measured 1/2" shorter in both height and length, was
3 ozs. lighter in weight, and with a five-round magazine capacity, held two
fewer rounds than the Government .380.
The Mustang’s popularity spawned a number of variations.
The Pocketlite, brought out in 1987, used an aluminum frame, thus reducing
total weight by 6 ozs. to only 12 1/2 ozs. The Mustang Plus II made its debut
in 1988, and combined a Mustang slide with the .380 Government Model’s
longer frame for two rounds more capacity. In 1993, the Colt Custom Shop introduced
the Nite Lite .380, a modified Mustang with bar-dot tritium night sights, stainless-steel
slide, a Teflon-coated aluminum frame and a high-capacity magazine with extended
base pad. As recently as 1996, Colt cataloged steel-frame Mustangs in blue
or stainless and Pocketlite models with either blue or stainless slides with
black anodized or gray Teflon-coated aluminum receivers, respectively.
In spite of its small size and light weight, the Mustang is relatively
pleasant to shoot, thanks to good grip frame design and its short single-action
trigger.