The Navy Arms Company production of Mamba pistols only lasted a few years. The pistol was a poor seller and with the original manufacturers about to be affected by the imposed arms sanctions in South Africa, the right to manufacturing the Mamba pistol was sold to the Navy Arms Company of the US in the early 1980s by Viper Engineering (Pty) Ltd. The Mamba was a high-capacity pistol (15 rounds with possibility of one additional round in chamber), robustly made in stainless steel and with advanced design traits like a curved trigger guard and the highly effective grip. The Mamba pistol is an example of this as it was developed in Rhodesia and later produced in South Africa, being intended for military and police duty. Many weapons were produced in neighbouring South Africa, which was about to have UN-imposed arms sanctions as well. They also exploited their small domestic industry as far as it could, having their engineers come out with many interesting designs that were later developed into functional, commercially viable weapons. In an attempt to procure war materials, Rhodesians bought weapons from illegal traffickers and sympathetic governments. Due to the war, Rhodesia struggled for years against a UN embargo.
Rhodesia in the 1970s was facing an outright rebellion that at the end took the form of a civil war between the white-dominated Rhodesian government, and two rival African factions, ZANU and ZAPU. The origins of the "Mamba" pistol date back to the mid-to-late 1970s in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).