Colt 1905 Automatic Rimless Arrived

[CXM]

Strictly speaking, this isn't a 1911 and may not fit here... but I'm posting it anyway... it is a pistol I heave wanted for a long time and was never willing to spend the money to get one... finally I decided they were not getting any cheaper... so I thought I'd go for one...

I'm not a very patient person... I won this gun in an Auction and it took the auction house a while to ship... Still, I shouldn't complain... Rock Island Auctions had sold over 10,000 guns in the auction in which I got this 1905... but as I said I'm not very patient... same as with Christmas... The worst part was watching the UPS site as the package made it's way across the country for delivery...


Here is the 1905





And the other side:





If the weather holds I'll have some more tomorrow.

Thursday 12 July-

Well, the weather is holding... that is to say not raining but I did get a lot of shadows... most of which I was able to improve in Photoshop. So here goes with more pics...

First we have the left side full view... you can see the pistol still has a good bit of original blue left.





Second we have the rear of the right side of the slide... showing the rampant colt in a circle which Colt's only used a few years. On the 1905 all the guns were made with circled colt. You do find examples without the colt... which indicates the slide is a replacement, not an original...

You can see the remaining case hardening on the hammer.

Also visible is the 'fire blue' on the slide release.





Here is another view of the left side showing roll marks and patients





The next shot is of the right side of the pistol. The remaining 'fire bluing' on the extractor is visable.





The Colt 45 AC pistols 1905, 1907 and 1909 all used a locking tab at the front of the slide to hold it on... this was the weak point of the whole design and you often find these guns with cracks at the grip end of that tab. This is usually the result of shooting 230gr 45ACP ammo in the guns rather than the lighter 45AC Rimless loads.





Next we have a right side view of the slide showing roll marks





The walnut grips are attached with two screws on each side screwed into bushings like the 1911, though the 1905 screws and bushings are much smaller than are found on the 1911.





Here is the right grip... the wood has darkened a good bit... you can see some of the original Colt 'fire blue' left on the trigger.




Hopefully these pics will be of interest...




V/r

[Carolinaman]

Hello Chuck,

Congratulations! What a wonderful find!

Chris

[Bob Reed]

Chuck, that COLT is nice! Way ta go pal.

[gt40doc]

Chuck,

Congrats on a nice pistola!!  I have always found these handguns most interesting, but have never "pulled the trigger" and purchased one. There is just something about 100+ year old handguns that intrigue me. I own a 1905 Colt SAA that I dearly love. I handload for it(38WCF), and shoot it on a regular basis. Do you plan to shoot this piece, or is it a safe queen??

[CXM]

Thanks for all the kind comments...

Doc, I do plan to shoot it... Of course it requires special low power loads... I bought some new Star Line Brass I'll use with it so I can identify loads done for this pistol and some 200gr plated RN bullets which should duplicate the original 45 Colt Automatic Rimless ammo.. (CRP I guess?) I'm still waiting for the bullets so I can load up some ammo.

When I bought this gun I had planned to have it cosmetically restored but now I think I'll leave it as is...

So the direct answer is, yes I'll shot it... but not a lot.

V/r

Chuck

Jul 12, 2018 13:35:57 GMT -5 gt40doc said:

Chuck,

Congrats on a nice pistola!!  I have always found these handguns most interesting, but have never "pulled the trigger" and purchased one. There is just something about 100+ year old handguns that intrigue me. I own a 1905 Colt SAA that I dearly love. I handload for it(38WCF), and shoot it on a regular basis. Do you plan to shoot this piece, or is it a safe queen??

[Mister Coffee]

I meant to post in this thread this morning, but I have this annoying thing that I have to do every day for money. Some people call it a job. To me, it's just an aggravation.

Anyway, congratulations, Señor Chuck. That is an awesome example of an important design. I sincerely hope that you will regale us with pictures of fieldstripping this item because I, for one, want to know how it all comes apart.

Cheers, hombre.

[gt40doc]

Chuck,

For some time now, I have been loading the Xtreme 200gr PRN bullet with a "smidgen" of Bullseye powder for my WWl and WWll 1911 handguns. This load works great, and I am not stressing the old warhorses!! If these old guns could only talk!!

[CXM]

Would you mind sharing the load you use?

Thanks

CHuck

Jul 13, 2018 13:15:35 GMT -5 gt40doc said:

Chuck,

For some time now, I have been loading the Xtreme 200gr PRN bullet with a "smidgen" of Bullseye powder for my WWl and WWll 1911 handguns. This load works great, and I am not stressing the old warhorses!! If these old guns could only talk!!

[gt40doc]

Jul 14, 2018 13:28:21 GMT -5 CXM said:

Would you mind sharing the load you use?

Thanks

CHuck




Chuck:

Not at all:   Xtreme 200gr PRN with 3.8gr Bullseye @ 1.255-1.260in. Using this load in my 1911s, I have had to soften up the recoil spring for reliable functioning. In your old Colt, you might need to play around with the load(powder), or swap in a softer spring, if they are available. Since your handgun was set up for soft loads in the beginning, I might suggest that you start with 3.5-3.6gr of Bullseye @ the same OAL as listed above. Let us know how things work out!!  Color me green with envy!!!



Doc

Jul 13, 2018 13:15:35 GMT -5 gt40doc said:

Chuck,

For some time now, I have been loading the Xtreme 200gr PRN bullet with a "smidgen" of Bullseye powder for my WWl and WWll 1911 handguns. This load works great, and I am not stressing the old warhorses!! If these old guns could only talk!!

[CXM]

Thanks... that is about the old target load we used to shoot in bullseye matches in our 'targtet' 1911s using the H&G #68 LSWC bullets.

I'm going to see if I can find a new recoil spring... have no idea how old the one in it is... it might be original. Happily SARCO has a lot of parts.

Thanks again

V/r

Chuck

Jul 14, 2018 15:23:08 GMT -5 gt40doc said:

Jul 14, 2018 13:28:21 GMT -5 CXM said:

Would you mind sharing the load you use?

Thanks

CHuck




Chuck:

Not at all:   Xtreme 200gr PRN with 3.8gr Bullseye @ 1.255-1.260in. Using this load in my 1911s, I have had to soften up the recoil spring for reliable functioning. In your old Colt, you might need to play around with the load(powder), or swap in a softer spring, if they are available. Since your handgun was set up for soft loads in the beginning, I might suggest that you start with 3.5-3.6gr of Bullseye @ the same OAL as listed above. Let us know how things work out!!  Color me green with envy!!!



Doc

[gt40doc]

Chuck,


Numrich Arms might just have something for this old Colt.....and don't forget Wolff springs.   Good Luck!!

[CXM]

Thanks... unfortunately, neither has a recoil spring... Numrich has quite a few parts... but no spring...

I might ask the guys at BHSS if they can custom make a spring.

V/r

Chuck

Jul 15, 2018 14:28:38 GMT -5 gt40doc said:

Chuck,


Numrich Arms might just have something for this old Colt.....and don't forget Wolff springs.   Good Luck!!

[gt40doc]

If the recoil spring is the same diameter as the 1911, then one could purchase a "tune-up kit" from Wolff Springs, and cut them(if needed) to length. Wolff Springs makes everything from 7lbs. up to 20-some lbs. springs for the 1911. I have no idea what the recoil spring in your old Colt looks like, or measures, but I would bet that a good substitute spring could be found. If memory serves(always a question with my brain), Wolff Springs will make you up springs if you have all of the specs......I could be wrong, also.

[CXM]

Your memory is correct... Wolff Springs USED to make springs to order... When the founder died a few years ago, the kids took over and discontinued making custom springs. Still I guess I could call them and ask if they have something that would work...

A telephone call to Colt's might get me the specs for the spring... I'm pretty sure they would not have any in stock...

The spring in the gun feels pretty solid in terms of the effort needed to rack the slide... so maybe is ok... particularly with very light loads...

Thanks for the suggestions...

V/r

Chuck

Jul 16, 2018 13:07:51 GMT -5 gt40doc said:

If the recoil spring is the same diameter as the 1911, then one could purchase a "tune-up kit" from Wolff Springs, and cut them(if needed) to length. Wolff Springs makes everything from 7lbs. up to 20-some lbs. springs for the 1911. I have no idea what the recoil spring in your old Colt looks like, or measures, but I would bet that a good substitute spring could be found. If memory serves(always a question with my brain), Wolff Springs will make you up springs if you have all of the specs......I could be wrong, also.