[TheTinMan]

Just picked up this 1959 Model 357 with a 6" barrel yesterday:

It's 1960 Officers Model Match (.22LR) cousin I got in July was lonely:

Then there's the 1937 Officers Model 38 which shoots like a dream:

And the Model 1917 (delivered to the U.S. Army in June of 1918) which started my insanity:

Is my situation hopeless?

 

[Seventh Fleet]

No you're perfectly normal it's the folks who don't love and appreciate fine firearms that have the snakes in their head and I'm not talking about Pythons either.

I have a few fine old Colts, a 6" Army Special in 32-20, a Colt Officers Model Match 6" .38 Spl and an unfired Colt 6" .22 Frontier SA revolver. I'd love to have a 1917 Colt military like yours, to go with my S&W 1917 military.

7th

 

[Whatsinaname181]

you could knock the hair off a woodpeckers arse at 100 yards with that pistol lol

 

[DaveH]

They are gorgeous, and of course marked with the magic word- Colt.

 

[tmuenster]

Thanks a lot, pal. Just when I thought I had all the firearms I needed, you go and post pics of some revolvers I had not even considered. It is a sickness and I am starting to feel ill.

Very nice set of revolvers you have there.

 

[Lennyo3034]

This is not going to help you get over your addiction:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2802899#Post2802899

 

[TheTinMan]

This is not going to help you get over your addiction:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2802899#Post2802899

Actually, I'm OK with Colt revolvers right now. If I came across a pre-WWII Officers Model Target for a reasonable price (not bloody likely) I'd snatch it up, but I'm not excited about post 1960 Colts. The snake-name guns are pretty but the prices are CRAZY.

OTOH my itch to build an AR-15 still hasn't been scratched...

 

[Butch O'Hare]

It's NOT a problem!

To answer your question: No, it's not a problem, it's a great collection!

 

[TheTinMan]

Oh no! I just discovered that Colt made a special target version of it's New Service revolver from 1931 to 1941 in .45 ACP.

I don't need a S&W Model 25, I NEED a Colt Shooting Master!!!

 

[bmcgilvray]

Love old classic Colts and maintain a stable of good, bad, and ugly shooters.

Here's a Model 1909 New Service that I acquired from the owner whose father bought it from the San Antonio arsenal in 1920 for $5. He bought a total of 5 of these, 4 for arming night-watchmen at his company and 1 for himself. He also bought 500 rounds of military .45 Colt ammunition for one cent each. My friend was 13 at the time and pretty well appropriated the revolver, shooting up most of the ammo.

The top photo was enlarged from this photo. Can you tell it was a partly cloudy day? The quality of the blue finish on this revolver beats any Python ever made for clarity and depth. The pre-World War I Colt products had the finest blue finish of all.

Butt markings

Barrel markings

 

[bmcgilvray]

Here's an Army Special from 1925. Most of these were produced in .38 Special. The Army Special was renamed the Official Police in 1927. This one is a bit different in that it's chambered for the .41 Long Colt.

It's my latest Colt. I've had it just about a year now. I saw a nickel plated 4-inch Army Special .41 Long Colt in a pawn shop 35 years ago and it intrigued me. I watched that revolver for most of a year, thinking about getting it and then one day it was gone. Finally scratched the itch.

It groups quite nicely with factory ammunition a fact that belies the .41 Long Colt's reputation for mediocre accuracy.

 

[TheTinMan]

Went shooting yesterday and the Model 357 exceeded my expectations. The single-action trigger is FANTASTIC! The double-action trigger is almost as good as a tuned Smith & Wesson. Oh, and it's accurate.

Might have to start buying .38 caliber bullets in bigger lots - that was just plain FUN!

bmcgilvray - That is one beautiful old New Service. I hadn't seen a close up of the "dancing colt" from that era before and I love it.

 

[M14E2]

Well , might as well keep the pony's prancing!

My 1960 Python #96XX

1954 .357

1917 .45 when I got it for $325

today

1918 New Service in .455 Eley , rough on the outside but nice on the inside

Got autos?

Mk.IV Ser.70 custom

1960 & 1965 National Matches

Commanders

Match Target .22

Even a 1908 Pocket .25

 

[bmcgilvray]

M14E2; you're sure keeping the ponies prancing with that lot. I like 'em all! That M1917 with the Jay Scott grips looks exactly like a New Service .38-40 I once had that had the exact same grips installed. Let it get away like a fool and have regretted it ever since. Just looking at yours is painful.

Don't have time for a lot of photos but here's a 1957 Officer's Model Match that's a sho'-'nuff shooter for me.

Here's both ends of the Colt line-up in the first decade of the 20th Century, the gargantuan Model 1909 shown with a teeny Colt New Pocket .32 Long Colt Transition from 1905.

A recent photo of a Gold Cup I purchased new in about 1982. The pistol dates from 1979. I had it out just the other day with some 230 grain FMJ roundnose handloaded with Unique.

 

[M14E2]

A 1909 is on the top of my Colt list. Never realized they were polished and blued to the standards yours shows.

 

[bmcgilvray]

This 1966 Detective Special has taken to riding in my pocket quite a bit since I retired. I like Smith & Wesson revolvers the best but prefer the Detective Special for carry duty with casual wear and no covering garment rather than any J-Frame. My very favorite revolver of all is a S&W Model 10 Heavy Barrel.

A garden variety 1953 Official Police acquired from the batch of ex-NYPD guns that R.M. Vivas had some years back. Features the officer's badge number on the back strap.

Model 1917 that is probably the Colt revolver I've shot the most. It's been around here for many years and is fun to shoot.

 

[bmcgilvray]

In the good, the bad, and the ugly this 1913 Army Special in .38 Special is the ugliest. I got it to learn on and rehab'ed it mechanically. It's a nice old shooter now but was a mess. It will always look like a mess.

The home "gunsmithed" hammer nose.

The loose firing-pin battered frame, hog-wallowed bushing, and ugleeee...primers after shooting.

More ugly primers fired from this revolver. Every one pierced.

The other side of the revolver and a group (group, you say?) fired at 10 yards. Shows the optional electrical tape grips.

After the rehab. A bit better group as it wasn't so hair-raising to shoot when it didn't pierce primers.

It's still ugleeee....!

 

[bmcgilvray]

Tin Man;

You really don't have Colt-itis really bad yet. You sure did come up with some nice Colt Models so far though. I'm working on a guy to try to get a 6-inch 3 5 7 like yours. I'd love to have an Officer's Model Match .22 to go with my OMM .38. Any pre-war Colt is way cool. Your Model 1917 Colt looks nicer than my old beater.

Digging out more photos this evening. I don't even have Colt-itis as bad as some of those folks over on the Colt forum.

Here's a couple of Police Positive Special revolvers in various degrees of shabbiness. Both are in .38 Special. Top revolver is really shabby and dates from 1921. Bottom revolver is a bit better and dates from 1914. Both shoot fine. The Police Positive and Police Positive Special revolvers were elegant little revolvers of a handy size for holster or for home defense.

Here's another fairly bad looking Police Positive .32 from 1914. This one shoots a treat though. When using the same ammunition, it is more accurate and gives higher velocities over the chronograph than a sparkling clean Smith & Wesson .32 also kept around here.

Here's a well-used Single Action Army from 1905. This one's in .38-40 (.38 WCF).

Here's a fairly uncommon one, a Banker's Special. The .38 Special chambered Detective Special was for lawmen. The Banker's Special, chambered for .38 Colt New Police (.38 S&W), was for wimpy bankers. I can say that since I retired from banking. This one shipped to the Tufts-Lyon Company in Los Angeles in March of 1932.

 

[bmcgilvray]

This revolver was a surprise for me. It's a Colt New Navy in .41 Long Colt. I got it off of GunBroker as a parts gun to break down for parts to work on a .32-20 New Navy I'm trying to rehab. It suffered from a bad auction description and poor photos so went for cheap. When it came in it was much nicer in appearance than expected. It was mechanically first rate and with a fine bore. It was produced in 1901. A great many of these old Colts suffered from the ravages of the corrosive primers of the era. I didn't have the heart to break it up for the action parts. It was the first .41 Long Colt I ever shot and it shot great.

By the way, there is no good reason for the now obsolete .41 Long Colt in today's market but it still would make a thumping good self defense round with it's blunt 200 grain bullet traveling at 750 fps. Some handloads take the slug to 900 fps but I'm not going there in this old wheezer.

This is the sad little New Navy mentioned above that remains in the "hospital" awaiting parts. These New Navy revolvers are very scarce in .32-20 chambering. Since the .41 above wasn't pressed into service as a donor it's been more of a chore to collect parts to get this one back in order. Only one small internal part is lacked and it'll be ready to shoot. It suffered from a missing bolt, missing ejector rod head, 3 broken springs and a hammer that had the firing pin ground off. Wonder if it was turned into a kid's toy sometime back in the Depression. Bore is only fair with sharp lands but fine pitting throughout.

Here's a run-of-the-mill Python from 1978.

 

[TheTinMan]

bmc - thanks so much for sharing your photos. I admire your courage to go inside old Colt revolvers - seems to me that every part has at least three different functions and I've been told that 2 swipes of the stone too many can ruin one of these great guns.

While the Model 1917 started my Colt revolver "problem", it wasn't my first Colt. At the bottom of this pic you'll see the Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless in .32 ACP that my grandfather carried in his pocket while patrolling the Maine coast for submarines during WWII.

Don't worry - that one's going to stay in the family!