Colt Mustang, Series 80, 380acp

The Colt Mustang .380 pistol appears to be a modernized rebirth of the 1920s Star HN .380 containing both the modernized safety and beavertail grip of the more modern (1950s) Star HK .22 (built on the same frame) pistol but combined with Colts Series 80 firing pin safety and a wrap around slide.

That being said, the Colt Mustang itself has been copied many times. Both Sig and Kahr currently market knockoffs of the Mustang. Colt briefly ceased manufacture of the Mustang, but reintroduced it in the 2005 timeframe. Originally the Mustanges were availablle in both blued steel and stainless steel. The blued steel versions were dropped from the Colt line in the early 1990s Today there are now polymer versions and also alloy versions. Colt no longer marks their guns as Series 80, but the series 80 safety is still there on both the Colt and the modern copies by other companies. Both double and single action only versions exits. Versions with fiber optic sights and versions without.

I am happy to see the firing pin block safety survived the cloning process as having a small pistol that won’t discharge if it is dropped is a distinct advantage IMO than having a pistol which when dropped goes off and sends a bullet in a non-controllable direction.

The pistol is about the smallest practical package one can fit a multi shot 380 semiauto into. Most people find the small grip size does not allow placement of all 4 fingers on the grip. None the less the gun is a potent last ditch defense weapon capable of being well concealed until needed. With proper ammunition and maintenance I personally find the design to be both reliable and reasonably accurate at 15 yards or less.

In this video I show and fire one of them.

Your comments are welcome.