mm6: I don't agree on the ASP being ahead of it's time. Actually, it was a copy of contemporaries. The hooked trigger guard was the rage back then because of the advent of the two-handed hold on pistols. The dehorning and size reduction was being done by Swenson and Behlert and many other gunsmiths on their custom guns. The sight gizmo was a Guttersnipe sight. But it NEVER caught on or was duplicated or copied by anyone else. Added too much to the bulk of the gun and nobody really saw the need for it. Pocket guns are usually used at very close ranges, so sights are rarely used. It's more a point-and-shoot pistol. Chopped pistols were all the rage for a while. Then S&W clobbered the custom chopped pistol market by coming out with their own version that was cheaper. They reduced the .45 auto down to pocket size in the 4516 and then made it even lighter with the 457S, one of which I own. They shrunk it even more with the Chief's Special in 9mm or .45ACP. The Moder 39 was never known for feed reliability. The Illinois State Police used them for a long time and they had to be worked over by gunsmiths to make them reliable. The alloy frame wasn't happy getting pounded by +P+ ammo either
The ASP was a gimmick pistrol and was WAY ovepriced in it's day. With only 250-300 made, it didn't exactly fly off the shelves
Here's the website with the ASP info:
http://world.guns.ru/handguns/hg147-e.htm
Even if the gun had features that were good for a concealment gun, the ASP was not exactly something that MI6 would have adopted. There were many compact autos that were available back then that were cheaper and more available than an ASP. Ever watch "The Man From UNCLE" on TV? They used a P-38 that was shortened and modified to be select fire (semi or full auto) and took a detachable shoulder stock. The kicker is they were REAL guns. MGM had to get special permits and the guns had to be kept locked up under heavy security unless they were actually being used for the filming.
The UNCLE gun with all the goodies attached:
The UNCLE gun with parts...