Page 265 - 4096-BOOK2

LOT 1282
Highly Desirable First Year Production Pre-War Colt .38 Super
Match Semi-Automatic Pistol with Factory Box and Factory
Letter - Serial no. 16525, 38 Super Auto cal., 5 inch round bbl., blue
finish, checkered ivory grips. Manufactured in 1934, this is a scarce and
highly desirable Colt .38 Super Match pistol with its factory box and a
set of attractive checkered ivory grips. This Colt Super Match .38 pistol
shows the scarce “MATCH” only slide marking, found on pistols from
approximately serial number 15000 to 19000. According to “The Book of
Colt Firearms” by Sutherland and Wilson, it is estimated that only around
3,000 to 5,000 of these Super Match .38 pistols were manufactured from
1934-1947. The included factory letter lists the pistol in .38 Super caliber
with a 5 inch barrel, blue finish, and grips not listed when shipped
to Bolles-Brendamour in Cleveland, Ohio, on 8 November 1934 as a
single gun shipment. These .38 Super Match pistols were manufactured
concurrently with the standard Colt .38 Supers, except they featured a
deluxe, hand honed action and checkered match trigger with a hand
polished super smooth trigger pull. Additionally, they received a highly
polished Colt factory blued finish and all checkered grip panels. The right
side of the matching number slide is marked “MATCH/COLT SUPER .38/
AUTOMATIC” followed by the Rampant Colt motif. The opposite side of
the slide has Colt’s address marking above the patent dates. The serial
number is on the right of the frame, with the middle digit slightly light.
The upper left front of the trigger guard is marked with “W/VP”. The right
side is marked “60/&”, the “&” being a factory rework marking. The blued
barrel has a polished chamber hood, “SUPER 38 AUTO” on the lower left,
and a circled “MB” on the left of the lug. It is fitted with blade front and
adjustable notch rear sights, checkered slide stop, thumb safety, polished
firing pin stop, arched checkered mainspring housing, a wide checkered
hammer, a two-tone magazine with the correct Colt Super .38 markings
on the base, and a pair of very attractive, fully checkered ivory grips.
Includes a factory correct black box with additional “TARGET/SIGHT” end
label and hand numbered to the gun, as well as an additional full blue
magazine with correct baseplate markings. The consignor attributes this
pistol to famed American author John Steinbeck. The creator of such
fiction as “Of Mice and Men”, “The Grapes of Wrath”, and “The Moon is
Down”, Steinbeck acted as a military correspondent during World War
II and Vietnam. While no record of this particular pistol as being owned
by Steinbeck is available, he was known to have gone armed; accounts
suggest that on a few occasions starting in the 1930s he was personally
threatened with violence as a result of his writings and started carrying a
firearm, and available records show that he registered to concealed carry
a pair of 38 Colt Automatics in New York State in the 1940s, with that
application in turn indicating a prior gun license application in 1938.
CONDITION: Exceptionally fine as factory refurbished, retains 97% plus of
the blue finish with some very light edge/cycling wear and almost all the
markings remaining crisp. The grips are excellent with only the slightest
handling marks, attractive lightly aged tone, and crisp checkering.
Mechanically excellent. The box is fine with one separated lid corner and
otherwise mild wear. This is an extremely attractive example of the rare
and desirable Colt .38 Super Match pistol that would make a fantastic
addition to your collection!
Provenance: John Steinbeck; The Tom Selleck Collection.
Estimate: 18,000 - 25,000 263