Colt 1900 or 1902 ?

[Oyeboten]

Hi Ted,


That second Number is going to be hard to track down I think...


Intregueing in it's having four digits, which may imply it's place in a larger inventory of even more, but, of course, who's inventory? and for what?

No letter suffix or prefix, as some, or even many organizations would have when stamping items to identify them with their ownership and for their accounting.

Other than it implies having been in some fair sized organization's inventory at some point, it is a mystery to me!



Looking forward to your receiving it and posting further images...

[rhmc24]

If the 1734 is of similar font as the s/n, like it might have been put on by Colt, I'd give odds it will turn out to be the slide number.

[JudgeColt]

Did Beverly Haynes make a mistake and print a Colt letter calling this a Mode 1902 Sporting?

I have many Colt letters with errors, some just typos and others significant. For instance, I have a 2-inch Marshal that does NOT have the "M" suffix, yet when the letter came back, Ms. Hoyt had added an "M" suffix to the serial number on the letter. Members here have posted letters on the 2-inch Police Positive Specials (the "Pre-Detective Specials") that shipped in 1926, yet they were identified in the letters as "Detective Special" even when the letter request properly identified the guns. The Detective Special did not come out until 1927, so someone was "editorializing" when the improper name was added.

If the subject gun has the Model 1900 features and not the Model 1902 features, then it is surely a Model 1900.

[tedm]

Colt 1900 3831.jpg

[tedm]

Received the Colt 1900 in the mail on Saturday. There is a filler plug on the sight safety altered pistol. The slide does match "3831". In the above picture the "1276" stamped number does not match the serial number and appears to be done after the pistol was blued. There are two British proof marks on the slide below the circled Colt , but no british markings on the slide. Since there is a serial number below 4274, there is a sight safety altered, there is a shipping date of early April 1902 and yet there is no 1902 patent date on the slide (convex takedown); I believe this pistol should be a Colt Model 1900.