When I bought a new six inch Colt match target woodsman in the very early seventies the trigger proved to be a little stiff. However, I dropped the gun off at the Colt factory as prearranged, and the trigger release was beautifully tweaked free of charge. I later fired ten rounds (on rest) into a target at 25 yds. and produced a group under 1.5 inches. The most amazing factor herein is that the ammo used was a complete dukes mixture of types varying in age by over 10 years. I have never fired another hand gun capable of achieving this level of performance. It is such a loss that the mt woodsman was discontinued. I suspect that if this gun (4.5 or 6) were reissued even at a considerably elevated price, the event would generate some very eager response. What do others think?
Match target woodsman reissue.
- Thread starter Clyde RF
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dogtown tom
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I think the price would be too expensive to make it a success.
Colt discontinued the Woodsman line in 1978 because there were cheaper guns that were just as accurate: the Rugers and High Standards.
Neither could hold a candle to the fit and finish of the Colts, but competitive target shooters could care less.
There aren't many folks who would pay $1,000+ to have a copy or reissue of the Woodsman MT when they can buy an original MT for under $800.
Colt discontinued the Woodsman line in 1978 because there were cheaper guns that were just as accurate: the Rugers and High Standards.
Neither could hold a candle to the fit and finish of the Colts, but competitive target shooters could care less.
There aren't many folks who would pay $1,000+ to have a copy or reissue of the Woodsman MT when they can buy an original MT for under $800.
Thanks for the replies. I've been checking the internet, and the $800 mt woodsmans offered tend to be in very so so shape, while some top condition ones are going for $1600+. I don't doubt that there are modern performance equivalents or even surpassers (I have yet to handle one), and performance is still number one, but there are some other variables that may enter into the picture as well. There are probably others like myself that just love the way the woodsman feels in the hand (personal preference), and while function should never take a back seat to any other characteristic, this gun does seem to offer a unique wealth of attributes. There are certain guns (like cars, cameras, musical instruments etc.) that have a special mystique about them having to do with appearance -- in combination with mode of operation. Guns that come immediately to mind in this regard are the python or diamondback, the luger, a tricked out 1911, the Walther ppk or ppks, and above all (to me) the mt woodsman. While some of those mentioned have mechanical issues which should be addressed, the woodsman is a pretty smooth operator. So my hope is that with the used woodsman market being as it is, there might eventually be a reissue of that unique little item that would make a fair number of folks quite happy, even though many would have to stretch a bit in order to be able to number themselves among the blessed.
Pilot...Thanks much for the info. I did a preliminary check, and it does indeed appear that U.S.F.A is planning to reissue the mt woodsman fairly soon in a slightly altered (improved?) form. I will check for further info from the factory tomorrow and post anything I find out which seems to be significant. From what I can tell from their website, this company is quite concerned with detailed quality in a way that can be especially appreciated today.
Deltaboy1984
Member
The 2nd 22 pistol I ever shot was a Woodsman that my Uncle owned. The first was a Iver Johnson target pistol that was my dads trap line gun.
Come-to-think of it, I probably wouldn't like a modern Ruger or Buckmark as much as that Woodsman. The Woodsman is just a slick little .22. I inherited mine when my dad died in '81. Don't know if he had trigger work done on it, but the trigger is a very crisp 2.5#.
jfrey
Member
My FIL has a 2nd gen. MT he won in a raffle in 1951. It shoots very well but Alex Hamilton told him parts are getting hard to find and repairs are expensive. Alex told him to shoot it a little and keep it in the safe a lot. Good advise on these older guns. He keeps that one in the safe and shoots his S&W 41 instead.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
They announced a pre-war woodsman at the 2007 Shot Show and the Match Target at the 2010 Shot Show.
Both are Vaporware so far.
http://ebookbrowse.com/usfa-press-release-woodsman-revised-1-19-2010-pdf-d109632373
rc
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