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Ref. Firearms developed and manufactured in Southern Africa 1949-2000. By Ken Gillie +Alex du Plessis. Credit for this information goes to Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Ass. All rights are reserved. No part of this information may be reproduced, stored, manipulated in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any mechanical, electronic or digital form or by any other means, without prior written permission of the publishers. Any person who engage in any unauthorised activity in relation to this publication shall be liable to criminal prosecution and cliams for civil and criminal damages The ADP pistol was designed by Alex Du Plessis and is named after him. This pistol is the culmination of three years of development, which began in the late 1980s. Prototypes were produced in 1991 and the first production pistols were manufactured in 1992. Both the pre-production model and the first production models were manufactured by Aserma (a division of Reutech Defence Industries) in New Germany in KwaZulu Natal. Later models were manufactured by Truvello Armoury in Midrand Gauteng. Alex du Plessis served in the Rhodesean War and had carried a pistol for many years, as a backup firearm in the Briish South African Police, the Rhodesian Air Force and privately for self defence. This made him realize that most pistols which were availablefor self defence tended to be big heavy and clumbersome and not ideal for concealed carry. He therefore designed the ADP pistol primarily as a concealed carry self defence pistol and as a supplementary backup firearm for police and military personnel. From the outset it was designed for 9mm Parabellum ammunition, which was freely available and universally accepted as adequate for self defence. Most small concealable automatic pistols tend to be of smaller calibres than 9x19 mm. An innovative design was required to addequately cope with the inherent pressures of the 9x19 cartridge and still be compact, light and concealable, as well as being comfortableto operate and fire. To obtain the ideal weight required, the pistol frame was manufactured fromhigh impact polymer, which are more impact resitant than metal and is corrosion resistant. All the metal support components for the barrel and other operating mechanisms within the frame are removable. Thus there are no components moulded into the frame. This allowed for a simple and cost effective moulding process. During the early period when the ADP pistol was being manufactured by Aserma, the the manufacturing process used EN19 investment castings for the slide, barrel support, disconnector, magazine release and slide catches. These were then machined to size. With the exception of the springs, the rest of the smaller components were facricated from metal pressings. This was to ensure they were lightweight, and also for expediencyof manufacture. The pistol grip on the earlier model Mk I frames was straight up and down, with a slight bulge at the bottom of the strap. The model Mk IA showed a more pronounced bulge on the bottom of the back strap and a finger depression on the back of the grip on the front of the trigger guard. In 1998 an improved version of the frame design, incorporating finger grooves was introduced as the ADP Mk IIB pistol. At the same time the new magazine shoe was added to give additional support to the little finger. In addition the extractor was moved down to the centre of the slide behind the ejection port. Aserma manufactured the ADP pistol in both 9x19 mm and 40 S&W. Shortly after these changes were introduced, production was taken over by Truvello Armoury and some of the cast components, such as the slide, were ultimately replaced by fully machined components. Now known as the Mk III, it underwent another major design. It now incorporated a separate, pre assembled breechblock containing the striker, extractor and spring which then mated into a groove in the slide housing and was held there by a cross pin. This model also featured a firing pin disconnector which prevented the pistol from operating until the cartridge is fully chambered. It also allowed for as safety sear to be fitted which would block the striker in the event of the trigger bar slipping off the main sear if the pistol is dropped.this safety sear engage a notch in the top of the striker, thus preventing the striker from firing a round, and disengages when the trigger is sqeezed. All these parts were assembled externally, then inserted into the slide. The Truvelo models were also chamberedfor both 9x19 mm and 40 S&W cartridges. In addition they also introduced a 9 x17mm model. Alex du Plessis further developed a new cartridge for this firearm, which used a shortened 45 ACP case. The new cartridge was named 45 ADP. Only two prototypes of the ADP 45 were produced. In 2004 Truvello announced that they would cease production because of insufficient market demand. This coincided with the introduction of the new Firearm Control Act in south Africa. Manufacturing rights were granted to Italiancompany Tanfoglio, who produced the ADP pitol for a short period and marketed it as the Tanfoglio model P-25. In 2001 the tooling and moulds for the ADP Mk I were soldto Heritage Arms in Florida, USA where they put the ADP pistol in production as the Heritage Stealth. Alex duPlessis went to work for Wilson Combatin Arkansas, USA. While he was there, they put the ADP pistol in production in the USA from 2006 to 2009. The ADP pistol utilizes a gas-delayed blowback action with a fixed barrel. A gas chamber is located below the barrel and gas from the fired cartridge is bled into it, via a small port derectly in front of the chamber. A hinged gas piston, attached to the front of the slide, fits snugly into the gas chamber (this is similar to the gas system used in the Heckler & Koch P7).This system has a number of advantages: The expanding gas from the fired cartridge are bled into the chamber below the barrel. These push on the piston head to keep the slide in the forward position and the breech closed, during the initia high pressure stage after firing. This delays any rearward movement until the pressure has dropped to a safe level. This system acts as a buffer. The gas port from the barrel into the gas chamber is aproxamately halfway along the gas chamber. When the bullet has left the barrel, and the pressure has dropped, the gas piston moves backwards with the slide. When it passes the gas port it compresses the remaining gas into the rear of the chamber and this has a buffering effect, to slow the rearward movement of the slide. The use of the gas retard system allows the barrel to be fixed, giving the pistol excellent accuracy. All ADP models incorporate a striker firing system with pre-cocking. That means the striker is held on the transfer bar, until such time the trigger is sqeezed. The transfer bar then pushes the transfer bar further back to the full cock position, before the catch transfer pulls it down, releasing the striker. As the slide moves back, a raised portian underneath then trips the catch transfer down. This releases the transfer bar, allowing it to re-engage for the next round. Using this striker system facilitated a lower barrel posision in the overall design, and allows the rear strap of the pistol grip to sit higher in relation to the trigger. Because the pistol sit low in the hand, recoil is better controlled and the pistol do not tend to jump up as much as a pistol that sit higher in the hand. The ADP Mk III incorporate a striker block (safety sear) that act as a drop-safety. The ejector is fitted on the left side in the frame and for part of the slide catch assembly. The main return spring is positioned around the barrel. The later model ADP pistols have an ambidextrous safety catch lever just behind the trigger.and the mechanism blocks the trigger. The pistol have a slide hold-open lever activated from the magazine follower, But the slide can not be release by the user, the magazine has to be removed or loaded, the slide can then be drawn back and released. There were improvements made to some components during the production life of the ADP. The early Mk I models had a magazine release at the bottom rearof the frame, which was later positioned behind the trigger. All these early models had the breech as an integral part of the slide with an external extractor. They also had a ninety degree bayonet style plug at the rear of the slide, which retained the striker and spring. This made it easy to replace these parts.In all models, when cocked, the tip of the striker is visible through the rear of the slide, indicating that the pistol is cocked. At some stage during the production, the striker buffer spring was replaced by a polyurethane buffer, which was found to be more resilient. The Mk III pistol underwent another major design change by incorporating a separate, pre-assembled breechblock, containing the striker, extractor and springs. This then mated into a groove within the slide housing and was held there with a cross pin. This allowed for a safety sear (striker block) to be fitted, that will block the striker in the event the trigger bar slips off the main sear if the pistol is dropped. This catch engage in a notch in thetop of the striker, preventing the striker from firing a round and disengage when the trigger is sqeezed. Many of the ADP Mk I pistols with straight frames were retrofitted with the new Mk III finger groove frames and the longer magazine shoes. For the serious collectorvthis may present a problem of originality. The pistol is 160mm long and weigh 572g unloaded. The magazine takes 10 9mm parabellum rounds. There were 50, 9x17 mm pistol, 3000, 9x19 Para pistols and 70, 40 S&W pistol produced. Ref. Firearms developed and manufactured in Southern Africa 1949-2000. By Ken Gillie + Alex du Plessis. Credit for this information goes to Pretoria Arms and Ammunition Ass. All rights are reserved. No part of this information may be reproduced, stored, manipulated in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any mechanical, electronic or digital form or by any other means, without prior written permission of the publishers. Any person who engage in any unauthorised activity in relation to this publication shall be liable to criminal prosecution and cliams for civil and criminal damages

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