First Series Colt Woodsman

[Onomea]

Norinco......

How about that?! Actually, looks like a pretty good deal for a pretty good pistol:

Norinco M-93 Sportsman - YouTube

Tried to find one on Gunbroker but could not. Above YouTube video talks of the Canadian market.

 

[Walter Rego]

Another gun to consider is the Browning Challenger, the 1st series guns that were made by FN in Belgium. They were designed by J.M. Browning's grandson Bruce Browning in the early 1960's who made some improvements to the Colt produced Woodsmans. They are all forged steel, beautifully polished and blued, have an adjustable trigger and do easy barrel swaps to different lengths. They are appreciating in price now but still can be found for less than a similar condition Colt Woodsman. The magazines are very pricey though, if you find one for under $100 consider yourself lucky.

 

[S&W ucla]

The 1st series Sport is one of my favorites. Skeeter Skelton wrote how shooting his Dad's at a young age got him started on a lifetime of shooting. He wrote an article on finding one to replace his Dad's that was traded years ago. Here's one of my favorites- early medium barrel ('33-'34), King sights. I shoot it often

 

[Onomea]

Very nice, S&W ucla! I like King sights, etc. While for collectors (aside from King collectors) they can detract from value, I always think that some guy cared enough about the gun to have the work done at the primo place for the time period. I've seen, on the internet, Sport models with weighted barrels, etc.

Read something, somewhere, where the added King underlug tube had three inserts: lead (steel?), mercury, and aluminum, with the idea being adjust/sequence balance to your liking.

Back in the day, shooters took bullseye seriously.

Any leads on how to read Skeeter's article you reference? E.g., publication/date, or anthology?

 

[mmaher94087]

Onomea, thank you for the Exploded View and serial number dates. I just re-read my post and I believe the SN range needs one more digit; another '1' (one) before the 'x'. I'll need to pull it out of the safe as it was bought new by my father and he was born in 1914. A serial of 11111x (1937) makes more sense. I'll try to post a photo of it.

 

[Capt. F.]

I have two. A 1939 1st issue 4 1/2” target and 3rd issue 6” with adjustable sights.
Pic of my 1st, my 3rd is at home resting in the safe.

 

[S&W ucla]

Any leads on how to read Skeeter's article you reference? E.g., publication/date, or anthology?

There were a few articles in Shooting Times he mentions his first shooting experience with the woodsman. In his book "Good Friends, Good Guns, Good Whiskey" p. 223 he mentions it in "Guns I remember best" August 1978?
A later article was about his quest to find a pre-war sport model like his Dad's.

 

[Onomea]

Thanks, S&W ucla. I think I have that book, "Good Friends, Good Guns, Good Whiskey," in my other house.