Page 218 - Auction84-Book3

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LOT 3391
Exceptional Documented Early Production Colt Government Model Semi-Automatic Pistol Manufactured in 1913 with Colt Factory Letter - Serial no. C1878, 45 ACP cal., 5 inch round bbl., blue finish, walnut checkered grips. This is an exceptional, high condition, early Colt Government Model semi-automatic pistol manufactured in 1913. This beautiful pistol is accompanied with an original Colt factory letter dated Oct 2010, showing this pistol was originally sold to Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Company in Chicago Ill. This company was a very well known Hardware business company that was started in 1854 in the Chicago area which was eventually sold in the early 1960s and became the True-Value Hardware company we know today. This pistol was shipped on January 31, 1913 and was in a 25 gun shipment to the noted hardware store and matches this configuration. The pistol has the high polish commercial blue finish with fire blue trigger, hammer, slide lock, safety lock and rear sight that was applied to Colt Government Model pistols until mid-1913 and is fitted with standard checkered walnut grips. The slide has the oval tapered front sight and round top rear sight used on early production Government Model pistols. The frame has the Type III magazine catch lock installed about serial number C380. The pistol has the correct short hammer with sharp rear edge, first style checkered slide stop with the checkered thin thumb piece safety lock, recoil plug with inward punched lip. The top of the chamber has a rough milled finish with the high polished finish on the front end of the all blue barrel. A small letter “C” is stamped on the back side of the barrel hood and lug area, with a small (unreadable) letter proof
on the underside of the barrel. The pistol is fitted with a “key slot” style two-tone lanyard loop magazine. The right side of the frame, ahead of the trigger guard is roll stamped “GOVERNMENT MODEL”. The serial number is stamped on the left side of the frame ahead of the trigger guard. The top of the frame is stamped with “6” and “S” inspection marks in front and behind the disconnector hole. The right side of the slide is roll stamped “COLT AUTOMATIC/CALIBER 45” in two lines below the ejection port. The left side of the slide is roll stamped with the correct two-line, Colt patent dates followed by the Colt Hartford two-line address block. The circled Rampant Colt is roll stamped on the left side of the slide behind the slide serrations.