Page 258 - 4092-BOOK2-FLIPBOOK

LOT 1268
Outstanding Documented Colt Military
Model 1905 Semi- Automatic Pistol with
Factory Letter - Serial no. 5653, 45 ACP cal., 5
inch round bbl., blue finish, checkered walnut grips. This exceptional Colt
Model 1905 .45 Automatic pistol was manufactured in 1911, the final year
of production for the Model 1905 pistol. This pistol is accompanied by a Colt
factory letter which shows that it was part of a two-pistol shipment to William
Read & Sons of Boston, Massachusetts, on August 26, 1911. The pistol has the
late spur hammer with border-less knurling, half-moon shaped front sight and
round-top rear sight. The two-piece walnut grips have flat top checkering. The
slide, frame and barrel have a high polish commercial blue finish. The seven-
shot magazine is blued. The rear sight, trigger, slide lock, ejector spring and
grip screws have a fire blue finish. The hammer is color casehardened. The
right side of the slide is roll stamped: “AUTOMATIC COLT/CALIBRE 45 RIMLESS
SMOKELESS”. The “45” portion of this unique “factory error” roll die stands out
in that Colt, in their well documented frugality, modified a Model 1900-1902 .38
Auto roll die in order to complete their production run of Model 1905 due to the Model 1911 production looming. The left side of the
slide has the fourth style marking which consists of “PATENTED/APR.20.1897.SEPT.9.1902.DEC.19.1905.” in two lines followed by “COLT’S
PT. F.A.MFG. CO./HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A.” in two lines. The circled Rampant Colt trademark is roll-stamped on the left side of the frame
behind the grip serrations. The left side of the slide is stamped with the serial number above the trigger guard bow. The Colt triangle/VP proofmark is stamped on the upper left side of the trigger guard bow and a “W” assembler’s mark is stamped on the lower left side of the bow. This gun is pictured and described on page 48 of “The Colt Model 1905 Automatic Pistol” by John Potocki.
CONDITION: Excellent. The barrel and frame retain 98% plus of the bright original high polish blue finish. Nearly all of the nitre blue finish is present on the trigger, screws and pins; the rear sight has 75% of the fire blue finish. The hammer retains nearly all of the muted case colors. The slide retains nearly all of the factory refurbished blue. The grips are excellent plus with minimal wear. Nearly all of the blue finish is present on the magazine. Mechanically excellent. This is a great looking example of a very desirable Colt Military Model 1905 military semi- automatic Pistol.
AS PICTURED AND DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK THE COLT MODEL 1905 AUTOMATIC PISTOL BY POTOCKI
256 Estimate: 9,500 - 16,000