Colt 1908??

[Cosmoline]

Found a nice and rustless Colt 1908, mfg. circa 1911 or so. Blue is mostly nice patina now. I have little experience with these pistols, though I like the 1903 Hammerless. Asking price is $200 with original grips. Probably needs a tuneup. I need a backup mousegun, and this looks real classy, but is it just too old?

 

[Mike Irwin]

Even with mostly patina, that's a pretty darned good price for a 1908 with no pitting.

If the barrel is in good shape, I'd say grab it.

If it's one of the 6,000 or so made with the barrel bushing, from 1908 to 1910, GRAB IT.

 

[Cosmoline]

Thanks for the tip! I'm not sure about the SN. I didn't write it down and there may have been another digit in there.

 

[Old Fuff]

I once knew a British SAS officer that like the “Colt model M†over all other pistols in its class. He pointed out that it was thin, didn't have any projections that might snag when drawn from deep concealment, and most important of all – had built-in cartridge guides (much like a Winchester lever-action rifle) that guided the round into the chamber, rather then the magazine lips. As a consequence he felt it was more reliable then others.

 

[dsk]

He must have been talking about a different pistol. The Colt Model M uses the mag feed lips to guide the round into the chamber. There is no cartridge guide.

A Colt M1908 in excellent mechanical condition makes a great backup gun. Just make sure everything works properly.

 

[Old Fuff]

DSK:

I respectfully disagree ….

The cartridge guides are built into, and are part of, the ejector.

 

[dsk]

Well alright, I guess those are considered cartridge guides. My response to your comment was more because I got the idea you were saying the magazines didn't have feed lips. I guess if I had looked at my M1908 before replying I would have better understood what you were talking about.

 

[Old Fuff]

I’ll compromise ….

The magazine lips do guide the cartridge to a degree. I think the guides are a sort of “suspenders plus a belt†sort of thing. But obviously Browning was trying to build in a little extra insurance on a critical feature. My friend, who was a Major in the British SAS was very experienced with about any handgun you can think of, and in it’s class he preferred the “Model M†(as he called them) over any other pocket automatic, including the Walther. This surprised me, but I have owned several Colt Pocket Automatics and they were all good feeders.

 

[Erich]

Always liked those.

That seems like a pretty good price to buy, whether you need it or not.