Smith and Wesson’s 1970s Escort pocket pistol
In 1968, the Gun Control Act cut off the flood of small mouse gun semi-autos pouring into the country from Italy and Spain, which left a vacuum in the market that domestic maker S&W was all too eager to fill. They did this with a small 6-shot .22LR dubbed the Escort.
You see, the problem started just after WWII.
Introduced in 1950, Beretta came out with the Model 950B Minx pistol in .22 rimfire. A single-action semi-auto with a 2.38-inch tip-up barrel, it had an overall length of 4.5-inches. It was a very handy 9.5-ounces empty. Compare this today to the revolutionary small Ruger LCP of 5.16-inches overall and 9.5- ounces, and you see why the 950 was a hit almost immediately.
In a .22 Short version that packed a seven shot single stack magazine, the 950 was called the Jetfire. Its was by far the best received of the model and had the best sales history. Over the years, it was available in either heavy blued or bright nickel finish, and with either plastic or wooden grips.
These guns killed the domestic production of pocket pistols and Colt’s Junior, a line of small .22LR and .25ACP hammerless guns, was about the only U.S. made competition at the time.
In 1968 when the Gun Control Act cut off imports of small framed pistols with ‘no sporting purpose’ the Italian-made Jetfire was banned from import as were German Walther PPKs and a host of cheap knock offs from Spain and Italy made by FIE, Tanfolio and others.
While Beretta and others scrambled to find domestic gun makers to crank out their cut off Euro-guns under license, Smith grabbed one they already had on the shelf.
