D.W. King sights on Colt Shooting Master

[TheTinMan]

I recently picked up a Shooting Master 357 made in 1940 with King's front & rear sights. I think I understand how they work but I'd hate to twist the wrong screw. The rear sight looks like a Smith & Wesson rear sight. I'm guessing there are both windage and elevation adjustments on the rear sight. Anyone know for sure how these sights adjust?

The revolver also has a Cockeyed hammer that you can see in that pic.

And NO, I'm not going to show you the entire revolver

(Apologies for my poor photography. The gun needs to be cleaned and waxed too.)

 

[.357magger]

WOW.

Regardless of the nice King upgrades, congratulations on acquiring what is, IMHO, THE Colt pre war to obtain. The sights and hammer are just icing on an already delicious cake.

I must admit I'm jealous. Simple as that.

I've chased a 357 Shooting Master for a long time, got really close a couple of auctions, but haven't scored yet.

Thank you for sharing it.

(only thing you're missing in your thread is MORE PICS !!!! )

 

[TheTinMan]

I took a couple more pics of the Cockeyed hammer:

It was difficult to find a good angle to show the shape of the modified hammer.

 

[swagmeister]

Very nice old Colt!!! Hard gun to find, especially in that condition and with those modifications. Thanks for showing.

 

[lestert357]

Beautiful Colt! Are you sure the front sight is a King? It looks very similar to the factory front sight on a Colt OMT from that era….pictured below.

 

[TheTinMan]

Beautiful Colt! Are you sure the front sight is a King? It looks very similar to the factory front sight on a Colt OMT from that era….pictured below.

No, I am not certain that the front sight is from King's. And yes it does look similar to a 1936 Colt Shooting Master 38 front sight. However, there are some differences:

The screw heads look different to my eyes. Then there's the empty hole in the Shooting Master 357 front sight. Perhaps it had a custom front sight earlier but someone has "restored" it with a Colt front sight? You may be able to see the nice, bright blue in the screws/pins on the Shooting Master 38 that only shows on the front pin of the 357.

Oh! If you like the newer Shooting Master 357, here is the 1936 Shooting Master 38:

 

[TheTinMan]

Lestert357 was kind enough to point me to a copy of a 1939 King Gun Sight Company catalog.

The price of a Colt Shooting Master with their "Super Target Revolver" treatment was $72.50. That included a ventilated rib, micrometer rear sight, quick detachable front sight, hand honed action and adjusted trigger pull.

Just a "plain Jane" Shooting Master was $52.50. The cockeyed hammer cost $5.00 more. My King Semi-rib micrometer rear sight cost $10.00 including fitting. The front sight on this gun did not come from King; however, I'm guessing that it had a quick detach front sight that got detached somewhere along the way and another front blade was fitted.

And King sold everything! Revolvers, pistols, rifles, holsters, ammo, scopes, shot shell reloading presses… if it had to do with guns they sold it.

Thank you Terry!

Chip