Colt model 1908. AKA Vest pocket model.

[old bear]

Stumbled onto this over the weekend and was able to pick it up today.
It’s a neat little pistol with an even neater story. The seller is attending a gunsmithing school at a local community college, and this was one of his required projects for the semester.

The first three photos are what he started with, and the last two are what I came home with. For little money I’ve got my one and only mouse gun.

 

[VaTom]

Nice. Have one just like it. 1913 serial number. Belonged to my grandfather. It needs a refurbish like the one you got. Should be able to look up serial number and see when it was made. Mine is a 5 digit number and I see yours is a six.

 

[old bear]

Tom, per the seller it shipped in 1920. I now have two guns that are older than I am. This one and a 38/44 that shipped in 1931.

 

[DWalt]

Back when I was a kid in southern Ohio, our nextdoor neighbor was a detective on the local PD. He carried a Colt 1908 VP .25, I saw it many times. Quite possible it was the very first handgun I ever saw close up.

 

[Texas Star]

Fred-

It certainly needed that facelift!

You gave it a new life.

 

[Grayfox]

I have one that dates to 1915. Neat little gun. Its been completely reliable and is accurate enough for head shots out to about 10 yards.
Its a perfect gun for those times when you can't carry a gun.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

I have always loved those tiny .25 ACP pistols. Regardless of the criticism of the caliber they go EVERYWHERE. They can be finicky shooters though so ensure that it shoots well and doesn't get ammunition picky or you will have to be picky, too.

I have several guns that are older than I am. A 1931/32 .38-44 is my avatar. This little puppy is from 1944:

At ten feet I believe I would miss with this gun. I know for a fact I can't hit with it at any serious distance. I don't know where the bullets go.......

 

[chief38]

I have both a 1908 in .380 and .25 as well as a 1903 in .32. I did not buy them for SD, HD, target shooting, etc - I just bought them for their excellent quality, excellent design and super cool looks. Anyone into the old Bogie movies or crime/drama movies from the 30's and 40's knows what I mean!

I shoot them a few times a year just for fun. They have amazing triggers and are quite accurate despite their puny service style fixed sights. In all the 30 some odd years that I own them, I have NEVER had one FTF, mis-fire, or any problems what so ever. GREAT little pocket pistols!

Enjoy yours!

 

[tenntex32]

Are the grip panels wood and stained black or are they rubber/plastic?

Now you need a turn of the century vest with a front pocket and a fancy smancy mustache that you can twist with one hand while you pat your guardian angel with the other.

Dale

 

[BearBio]

I've had several and still have one .25. Fun guns and I sometimes pocket carry mine. I figure it is a "contact" defense pistol. Use it to make someone let go of me==stick it in his eye, pull the trigger and run like "heck" before he gets up!

 

[robertrwalsh]

Looks like you did a fine job on that project. I have one of those little guns but I seldom shoot it. .25 ammo is expensive for some reason.

 

[GeoJelly]

More than a little bit off-topic – but I picked up a 1921 Police Positive in .32 this weekend. It is now my smallest revolver – frame-wise - and it is in incredible near-mint condition. LGS owner said there had been some interest but the barrel is marked for .32 New Police which scared people off. .32 S&W Long and .32 ACP fit perfectly. It’s eerie for me to think that my revo and others mentioned above were produced before Hitler came to power!

Edited to add a pic. Virginia is a pretty humid state most of the year. My small mind is befuddled about where some owner/owners stored this little revo for 98 years, in order for it to have just a wee bit of feckling on the lower end of the gripstrap and a bit more on both sides of the hammer.

 

[DWalt]

.32 ACP will work (sometimes) in any revolver chambered for .32 S&W Long. Problem is that the semi-rim is so thin it creates excess headspace and you may get some misfires. You may also experience extraction problems. The bullet diameter is also a little undersized. OK for shooting tin cans and paper, but I wouldn't use it for defensive purposes.

 

[Kurusu]

Stumbled onto this over the weekend and was able to pick it up today.
It’s a neat little pistol with an even neater story. The seller is attending a gunsmithing school at a local community college, and this was one of his required projects for the semester.

The first three photos are what he started with, and the last two are what I came home with. For little money I’ve got my one and only mouse gun.

They are gorgeous little pistols. I don't have a Colt, but I do have the original. FN 1905

 

[Kurusu]

Tom, per the seller it shipped in 1920. I now have two guns that are older than I am. This one and a 38/44 that shipped in 1931.

Most of my guns are older than me.

And I'm 62.

 

[Kurusu]

I have both a 1908 in .380 and .25 as well as a 1903 in .32. I did not buy them for SD, HD, target shooting, etc - I just bought them for their excellent quality, excellent design and super cool looks. Anyone into the old Bogie movies or crime/drama movies from the 30's and 40's knows what I mean!

I shoot them a few times a year just for fun. They have amazing triggers and are quite accurate despite their puny service style fixed sights. In all the 30 some odd years that I own them, I have NEVER had one FTF, mis-fire, or any problems what so ever. GREAT little pocket pistols!

Enjoy yours!

Those are different animals, even if designed by the same genius. Both the .32 and the .380 are Colt model M(so called pocket hammerless, even if they are not true hammerless). The .25 is the Colt model N( so called "vest pocket" and it is a true hammerless).

 

[Mule Packer]

Fred: Congrats on your new acquisition! That's a beauty.

As I mentioned in our conversation, I have a .25 auto that belonged to my dad's somewhat unscrupulous Uncle Vern, an attorney who was disbarred for trying to bribe a jury. It's not a Colt, but a Fabriques D'Armes De Guerre.

Uncle Vern was known for frequenting the various houses of ill repute. I'm not sure if it was for pleasure or if he was visiting with a client. Nevertheless, his pink Cadillac was often spotted parked in the red light district of town. This little gun looks like it could've been easily concealed in the bodice of some cat house madam....but I digress.

When Dad gave me this pistol he said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing Uncle Vern told me when he gave me this gun. Don't ever shoot anybody with it. You're liable to make them very mad."

 

[Kurusu]

Fred: Congrats on your new acquisition! That's a beauty.

As I mentioned in our conversation, I have a .25 auto that belonged to my dad's somewhat unscrupulous Uncle Vern, an attorney who was disbarred for trying to bribe a jury. It's not a Colt, but a Fabrique Nationale D'Armes De Guerre.

Uncle Vern was known for frequenting the various houses of ill repute. I'm not sure if it was for pleasure or if he was visiting with a client. Nevertheless, his pink Cadillac was often spotted parked in the red light district of town. This little gun looks like it could've been easily concealed in the bodice of some cat house madam....but I digress.

When Dad gave me this pistol he said, "I'm going to tell you the same thing Uncle Vern told me when he gave me this gun. Don't ever shoot anybody with it. You're liable to make them very mad."

Fixed it for you.

They are actually quite lethal. But they are not center of mass 7 yards shooters. They are badbreath distance head shooters.

 

[Absalom]

Those are different animals, even if designed by the same genius. Both the .32 and the .380 are Colt model M(so called pocket hammerless, even if they are not true hammerless). The .25 is the Colt model N( so called "vest pocket" and it is a true hammerless).

Colt nomenclature got confused a bit when both the .380 variant of the Colt Pocket Hammerless (originally in .32, from 1903), and the Colt Vest Pocket in .25 became associated with the year 1908, and when someone talks about a “Colt Model 1908” these days, it’s always good to double-check which one he’s going on about.

Originally, the years weren’t used at all. The attached snip from the 1910 Abercrombie & Fitch catalog which offered all three never uses model designations by year (1903/1908) or letter (M/N).

They even throw the .38 Pocket Hammer into the mix, a quite different animal.

 

[Mule Packer]

Fixed it for you.

Kurusu, thanks. I had always thought it was Fabrique Nationale, too, but the actual wording on the gun reads: Fabrique D'Armes De Guerre de Grande Precision.

Then it has something printed on it that I can't make out too well.....something about "Liberty." Fun gun, but definitely not a Colt. Oh, if it could only talk.