These guns joined my collection in a package deal of Colts and Smiths late last year, and I'm finally getting around to putting them out for inspection. I already have a 1908 hammerless in the safe, but it's an almost unfired government GO model that I hesitate to take out for simple recreational shooting. I still need to find a somewhat beat up but functional .380 for that.
The following guns will be just fine for .32 and .25 range trips, however.
This is 357359, a .32 manufactured in 1920 according to the tables.
And here is 318634, a smaller gun in much better shape that was assembled in 1922. The case coloring on trigger and grip safety is absolutely luminous.
Despite its spotty exterior, the 1903 has a shiny bore and smooth action. There is no evidence of rust or pitting on the frame under the stocks or on the underside of the slide. The 1908 VP is even less troubled inside and has only a couple of minor spots on the left side of the frame below the slide. It took me hours to get this one clean, as a prior owner had hit it in every available aperture with a grease gun. The top of the magazine, the rod and spring pocket in the slide, and the hollow below the striker were packed with what looked like bearing grease. It's almost as though the owner was expecting to find a zerk fitting and just shot the grease in where he thought it might be expected to go when he couldn't locate one.
I've pretty much always been a revolver guy and still mostly am, but I am finding new appeal in the older semiautos produced by both Colt and S&W. At the same time I got these two I also picked up a S&W 1913 .35 auto in a condition that is intermediate between these two. What can I say? That gun shows supremely accomplished engineering and production in service to a deranged design. No wonder it was not a commercial success.
The following guns will be just fine for .32 and .25 range trips, however.
This is 357359, a .32 manufactured in 1920 according to the tables.
And here is 318634, a smaller gun in much better shape that was assembled in 1922. The case coloring on trigger and grip safety is absolutely luminous.
Despite its spotty exterior, the 1903 has a shiny bore and smooth action. There is no evidence of rust or pitting on the frame under the stocks or on the underside of the slide. The 1908 VP is even less troubled inside and has only a couple of minor spots on the left side of the frame below the slide. It took me hours to get this one clean, as a prior owner had hit it in every available aperture with a grease gun. The top of the magazine, the rod and spring pocket in the slide, and the hollow below the striker were packed with what looked like bearing grease. It's almost as though the owner was expecting to find a zerk fitting and just shot the grease in where he thought it might be expected to go when he couldn't locate one.
I've pretty much always been a revolver guy and still mostly am, but I am finding new appeal in the older semiautos produced by both Colt and S&W. At the same time I got these two I also picked up a S&W 1913 .35 auto in a condition that is intermediate between these two. What can I say? That gun shows supremely accomplished engineering and production in service to a deranged design. No wonder it was not a commercial success.