Make: Colt

Model: 1905

Serial Number: 1001

Year of Manufacture: 1906

Caliber: .45 ACP

Action Type: Single Action Semi-Auto Pistol with Removable Magazine

Barrel Length: 5”

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a blade fixed to the front of the slide. The rear sight is a rounded-top “U” notch dovetailed into the rear of the slide.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are two-piece checkered walnut with smooth diamond patterns around the grip screws. The grips have even light handling wear with a few scattered light marks. The left panel has darkened with age and oil, the right is a little ighter in color. There are no chips or cracks. The checkering is well defined. Overall, the grips are in Very Good condition.

Type of Finish: Blue

Finish Originality: Original

Bore Condition: The bore is gray. The rifling shows wear, but is generally well defined. There is erosion and pitting scattered through the bore. In this writer's opinion, the bore rates about 5/10.

Overall Condition: This handgun retains about 25% of its metal finish. The right of the slide flat has what appears to be "NK" hand-scribed behind the ejection port. The slide has mostly worn to white or gone to a light patina. There is some good blue finish on the frame flats below the slide. The grip areas are mostly worn to white. The bottom of the dust cover has finish mottled with areas going to a patina. There is scattered light oxidation and infrequent minor erosion. There are some light nicks and small scratches. The action shows operational wear. The screw heads range from sharp to lightly tool marked with strong slots. The wedge still has its indexing stud. The firing pin is still the original bronze. Overall, this pistol is in Good condition.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We did not fire this handgun. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This pistol comes with a single 7-round magazine, a tooled leather belt with holster and double magazine pouch, and a Colt Archives letter. The letter indicates that this pistol was shipped to M. Hartley Company in New York, New York on June 19, 1906 as one of five guns of the same type in the shipment.

Our Assessment: The Ordnance Department of the U.S. Army convened a board of two men, Capt. John t. Thompson and Maj. Louis A. La Garde to determine a minimum handgun caliber for use by the U.S. Military in 1903. In 1904, a month before the report was released, Union Metallic Cartridge Company received “figures for the proposed ctgs.” and began work on cartridges. Shortly thereafter Colt set to work experimenting on a .45 caliber pistol based on their 1902 Military model. U.M.C. came up with a rimless .45 cartridge that they were producing by April 1905. Meanwhile, Colt had John M. Browning try to figure out how to handle the stresses caused by higher powered cartridges using the M1902 pistol as a baseline.

By May 1905, Browning had applied for a patent covering a new barrel design with locking lugs on the bottom to lock it to the frame. In 1907, Army tests began on guns from 8 different manufacturers, which was narrowed down to Colt’s Model 1905 and pistols from Savage and Luger. Changes were requested, and Colt came up with a prototype of the new Model 1907 by September, 1907. Further modifications resulted in the Model 1911, perhaps America's most famous service sidearm.

Although the M1905 wasn’t adopted by the Army, they were made and sold commercially. The oil polished mirror finish Colt put on the pistols, with a fire blue or case-colored finish on the smaller parts, made them very desirable. This M1905 pistol was made in 1906, the second year of production. It retains some original finish, a fair bore and strong mechanics. This model, along with its M1900 and M1902 predecessors, is a must-have amongst Colt collectors as being the first of the large framed Colt semi-automatics. As only 6,210 of the M1905 pistols were made, they become even more desirable with every passing year. We expect the collectors of Colt autos are going to be very interested in this pistol. Please see our photos and good luck!