The Colt SCAMP (Small CAliber Machine Pistol) was conceived in 1969 as a replacement to the aging
Colt
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M1911A1 pistol.
Design
The resulting weapon, embodied in a single SCAMP prototype built in 1971, was designed to give an individual operator a huge increase in firepower, with only a slight bump in weight and bulk. Both the pistol, and the unique ammunition developed for the pistol, were shopped unsuccessfully around to the military through 1974. Though people who tested the SCAMP were impressed, no official interest developed. An article in ''Small Arms Review'' magazine reports the prototype remains in the Colt archival vault.
[
Colt design engineer Henry A. Into recalled that they wanted a selective-fire weapon as the basis of their replacement for the M1911A1. Colt designers looked at smallest submachine guns of the day (including the Czech Å korpion vz. 61, and Uzi) and tinkered with making full-auto versions of high-magazine-capacity pistols (such as the ]Browning Hi-Power
The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic pistol available in the 9×19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W calibers. It was based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal. ...
). They eventually settled on an in-house design, Into recalled, which was a gas-operated
Gas-operation is a system of operation used to provide energy to operate locked breech, autoloading firearms. In gas-operation, a portion of high-pressure gas from the cartridge being fired is used to power a mechanism to dispose of the spent ...
, locked-breech weapon with select-fire capability, including three-shot burst.[ The SCAMP's magazine had a similar capacity to a submachine gun, of 27 rounds.
SCAMP was designed to be controllable and accurate to fire. As such, it featured grips patterned after those found on target pistols, a bore set low over the hand to lower the center of gravity, and a burst-fire mode to allow multiple shots without the problem of prolonged recoil.][ There was also a recoil compensator built into the muzzle.
The requirement for accuracy led to the design of an original cartridge for the SCAMP. The .223-caliber rifle round was first suggested, but was found to be too hot for a handgun. The 9mm Parabellum round was also rejected for having a relatively heavy recoil, Into said in an interview. Into also rejected the ]