Shipped on 29 October 1900, this pistol falls in the second to last shipment sent from Colt to the U.S. government general storekeeper at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Colt produced only 250 of these scarce pistols under contract for the United States Navy, all of which were shipped in the fall of 1900. These automatic pistols were the pinnacle of firearms technology at the time and were ordered by the navy to test the feasibility of the automatic pistol as a seafaring weapon. The left side of the slide carries the two-line "BROWNING'S PATENT" marking and the two-line Colt address arranged in two blocks, with the circled Rampant Colt following behind the serrations which are at the rear of the slide. The right side of the slide is marked with the "AUTOMATIC COLT/CALIBRE 38 RIMLESS SMOKELESS" caliber designation. The right side of the frame is marked with Colt's production serial number, which ran from 1001 to 1250 for the contract. The left side of the frame bears the U.S. Navy inventory number "U.S.N. 171", these numbers corresponding to the serial numbers, they ran from U.S.N. 1 to U.S.N. 250. The left side of the trigger guard has the "B" inside a triangle proof and the right side has the iconic trident navy inspection mark. The pistol is fitted with a blade front sight and notch rear sight in its original "sight safety" configuration, a checkered spur hammer, a pair of smooth walnut grips, and a full nickel magazine marked "PAT'D SEPT.9.1884" on the base.

Excellent, retains 97% plus of the original bright high polish blue finish, 90% plus of the original vivid case colors on the rear sight and hammer, and 85% plus of the original nitre blue on the trigger with some scattered light handling marks and edge wear, and crisp markings. The grips are very good with some minor dings and scratches scattered throughout. Mechanically excellent. An exceptional and scarce piece of U.S. Navy and Colt history that will not be found in many of even the most extensive Colt automatic collections!