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Another Model M

Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:50 pm
by bigfatdave
I'm not a big fan of Colt in 2014 - but Colt in the first few decades of the 20th century is a different story.

Behold, a second Colt pocket hammerless, made in 1916:
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In much nicer shape inside than my other one, which has been refinished sometime since 1911 when it was made, and has a bore that looks like a sewer pipe. (it shoots accurately, though)

Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 2:37 pm
by blue68f100
For almost 100 yrs old it looks pretty good.

Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:37 pm
by bigfatdave
Agreed! The other one looks good outside until you look for details, sadly many markings are blurred or indistinct after the refinish done who-knows-when by who-knows-who.

Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:43 pm
by charlesb
I've had a few 32's, but I've never had a nice Colt yet. Sure is a pretty gun.

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:01 am
by bigfatdave
I imagine it will look nicer after a good cleaning and hand polishing. Maybe an application of "Renaissance Wax", too.

Had to make the choice between shooting it or cleaning it today … so I gave it some lube on the rails and off to the range we went!
It shot quite nicely with three different types of 32acp/7.65mm ammunition I had floating about. As does the older one.
(by the way, yes, you CAN hit a silhouette every time at 15 yards using one model M in each hand, and it IS as much fun as it sounds like)

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:06 am
by Bullseye
I have always admired the style and design of those Colt pocket pistols. You have a very nice looking pistol.

R,
Bullseye

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:07 am
by ruger22
The .32 was the Model 1903? I would prefer a new Model 1908 to the new Mustang. Dillinger liked the '08.

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:20 pm
by charlesb
Have you got it cleaned up and polished yet? - Was hoping for another picture.

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 1:04 am
by bigfatdave
Been slammed with work, both model M are sitting dirty in the lockup with desiccant nearby.

Intend to pretty them both up and take pix

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 7:04 pm
by charlesb
No big rush, I'll keep an eye peeled. - I've always been interested in the Colt pocket models. I like the early large frame Colts in .38 ACP too.

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 2:05 am
by bigfatdave
charlesb wrote:No big rush, I'll keep an eye peeled. - I've always been interested in the Colt pocket models. I like the early large frame Colts in .38 ACP too.
I had a chance to handle/ogle a Colt Pocket Hammer in 38acp when I bought the latest model M, I'd never seen one in the wild before.

Impressive, but not what I think of as a pocket gun.

It was at least 4x the price of the model M I bought, I included "a chance to check out that 38acp Hammer model" in the deal and got a quick demo on a VERY cool & expensive gun.

Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:25 pm
by bigfatdave
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The "older" one (to me and from factory) has the black rubber grips (and was refinished at some point)

The "newer" one (to me and from factory) has walnut (?) grips with the medallion (and has most of a century of pocket wear)

I cleaned them both up, wiped them down with some BreakFree LP, and applied a very thin coat of Obenauff's.
Outside of improving my lighting or photography skills, this is about as good as they're going to look short of real finish work.

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:45 am
by greener
Very nice

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 8:09 pm
by charlesb
Those are beautiful, elegant firearms. Thanks for the pictures, they look great.

Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 3:42 pm
by ruger22
I've always wondered why we sometimes want two (or more?) of the same gun. Just because we like 'em, I guess.

With my pairs, I don't gain anything from one over the other. Both handle and shoot the same.

For the Bearcats, one reason was the slight possibility I could later afford to send one off to add adjustable sights or even a caliber conversion.

On both Bearcat and Sentinel:

Two would divide the wear and tear (cheap excuse, one would outlast me ten times at my age).

Two provides a spare in case one suffers that rare catastrophic failure or barrel ring. Or one is in the shop because of a more minor problem. That's a fair reason, I guess.

With two, I could buy a fancy two-gun holster rig and a white ten gallon Stetson.... :shock: ..... ( I have a Stetson, but it's a straw Panama).

At least my LCRs are different calibers.