40s or 50s Conversion Unit?

[gkitch]

A good friend brought his conversion Unit by to show. He bought it from a fellow about 4 years ago for $250. I told him he did well and that it was likely made in the late 40s, but that is just a guess. How close was I?

[gkitch]

Here is another pic

[JudgeColt]

I do not believe that any Conversion Units with the Coltmaster rear sight, such as the one on this Unit, were shipped in the early Post-War black box as shown. That said, it might be possible that Colt used up the supply of black boxes during the transition to the dark brown pebble grain box with the dirty gold label, so maybe a few Units with the Coltmaster rear sight were shipped in this style of box. The Coltmaster rear sight appeared in about 1948, along with the dark brown box.

The literature shows a Unit with the Stevens rear sight, so it is probably the same vintage as the box, but is probably too early to have been shipped with the Unit pictured. However, again, that might have happened during the transition period.

The literature may have a date code on the back page. Please check there and report what you find, if anything.

The box alone is worth over $100, and the literature is worth something more (how much more dependent on the date code), so the purchase price was a steal.

How is the magazine floorplate marked?

[gkitch]

My friend bought it from a guy who said it had belonged to his father. Odd that a non-collector would have mismatched a box and unit at any time. I'm suspecting that this is indeed a transitional piece.
I looked at the back page and could not find a date code.
I've asked my friend to join the forum and provide some more pics.

[colt22dotcom]

The early postwar .22 conversion units with the Coltmaster rear sight did indeed come in a prewar type purple box. I have owned several and presently own one.

There is a way of roughly dating the boxes by the information shown in the instructions in the inside top lid. I don't recall the details, but IIRC the prewar boxes had components numbered 1 through 8, the very early postwar boxes had one of the components deleted by simply pasting white paper over the listing of the removed item, and somewhat later the printing was modified to list only components 1 through 7.

JudgeColt, Kevin Williams, and others will probably know what component was in the prewar box but not in the postwar box.

[gkitch]

The early postwar .22 conversion units with the Coltmaster rear sight did indeed come in a prewar type purple box. I have owned several and presently own one.



JudgeColt, Kevin Williams, and others will probably know what component was in the prewar box but not in the postwar box.

I'm guessing it was a bushing? Second guess would be a slide-stop?

[FlightRN]

Good Day All,
I am the owner of this conversion unit. First, I'd like to thank everyone for helping me identify the history of this piece. I'm unsure of was it should look like but could the date code be "Form A217" This was on back/lower right corner of the instruction pamphlet. Let me know if I'm looking at the right place.

The mag is marked " COLT CAL. 22 L.R. "

Best Always,
Michael

[kwill]

Did someone knock? It was the bushing that was left out of the list of parts on the inside of the lid. This unit probably shipped in 1946-1948.

Regards,
Kevin Williams

[colt22dotcom]

Good Day All,
I am the owner of this conversion unit. First, I'd like to thank everyone for helping me identify the history of this piece. I'm unsure of was it should look like but could the date code be "Form A217" This was on back/lower right corner of the instruction pamphlet. Let me know if I'm looking at the right place.

The mag is marked " COLT CAL. 22 L.R. "

Best Always,
Michael

The Form A217 shown is post-WWII. "COLT'S MANUFACTURING COMPANY" rather than "Pt F.A Mfg Co". I'm going by memory on the exact wording, but close.

[JudgeColt]

The early postwar .22 conversion units with the Coltmaster rear sight did indeed come in a prewar type purple box. I have owned several and presently own one.

Boy, this Oldtimers is really getting to me! I too have such a Unit in my own collection, which I had forgotten. (I always wondered if the box was the original. I now believe it is. It has no literature.) However, my magazine has the "Service Model Ace" stamping on the floorplate instead of the style quoted by FlightRN. I suppose there could be a transition in magazine styles as well.

The Form A217 shown is post-WWII. "COLT'S MANUFACTURING COMPANY" rather than "Pt F.A Mfg Co".

Now that I see the name style on the literature on the later picture, it is clear that the literature is Post-War, even though the Stevens rear sight is shown. That lends support to the probability that the box is the original to this Unit.

Do you think there were any Units with the Stevens rear sight and the CMC style name?