Colt 1908 .25 Hammerless

K

keithj999

Inactive
I've just joined and I'm looking for some help. I inherited the pieces for a nickel plated Colt Hammerless .25. It was missing the springs and I ordered them from Numrich and I'm having trouble reassembling it. I've gone through the posts and I've looked at various schematics and my favorite line was "not easy to get back together". I have some questions and I'm hoping I can get some help.
First the the Sear, Saftey, Trigger & Magazine Catch spring I received is straight, where as the one in all the diagrams I've seen is in the shape of a "J". It sits on the Sear and Connecter fine but it doesn't seem to do anything to the Grip Safety.
Second the Satefty Disconnect I recevied has a small flange, it seems to fit in the groved fine.
Most importantly, when I assembled it, it would cock but not fire. I don't think I'm installing the Grip safety correctly. The top of the Grip Safety sits under the Sear and I don't see how any forward movement would release the Sear. Without the slide it appears that the Sear is riding above the Connector.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. My goal is to get this into working condition so I can take it into the woods with me. Based on the serial number I believe its manufacture date ins 1919.
I am a newbie so I hope I've posted in the right spot.
 
First, the sear spring definitely is a V (or J) shape; the short end acts as the magazine catch spring and the grip safety spring. If the one they sent you is straight, it is either broken or the wrong spring, so return it for the correct one. Make sure to refer to their Key # 23, Item # 167960.

IIRC, the grip safety does indeed sit under the sear, but the sear has sort of a shallow upside down U shape so that when the grip safety is pushed in, its tip moves into that hollow and allows the sear to move down, releasing the firing pin.

HTH

Jim
 
Jim thanks for your quick response. I shot off an e-mail to Numrich asking them for the replacement, although I checked my bill and the key and part number matched the diagram. It probably explains why I had trouble with the magazine catch. Can you explain how the Safety Disconnector works? Does it rest infront of the Connector?
 
I assume you are talking about what Colt calls the Safety Connector, which most of us call the magazine safety. If so, it fits in its own slot which runs parallel to the bore above the connector (trigger bar).

(Note that the pistol did not have a magazine disconnector until 1916 (around 140000), so not all those guns have it.)

Here is the way it works. The safety connector is installed before the connector; it goes into its slot round end forward and slanted side down. It is spring loaded from a small coil spring and plunger inside the recoil spring guide; you can see it sticking out if you look. If the plunger is not there, but the safety connector is, either the recoil spring guide has been replaced by an earlier one or something is broken.

Anyway, the plunger goes through the hole into which the end of the recoil spring guide sits, and pushes the safety connector back. The slanted surfaces on the safety connector push down the connector, disconnecting it from the sear so it can't move the sear.

When the magazine is inserted, it pushes the safety connector forward against the tension of the spring and plunger and that allows the connector to rise and engage the sear.

You can't easily see this with the slide off unless you put the recoil spring guide in place in the frame, then you can watch the safety connector work.

Jim
 
Jim, thank you very much. It wasn't making sense to me because the recoil spring guide I have dosen't have the little nub at the end to apply pressure to the disconnector. There a hole at the end of my recoil spring guide the would easily accept a small rod that could activate the disconnector. Now I have to decide if I want the Magazine Safety to work. Hopefull, Numrich will send the right Sear Spring and I should be in business.
 
A little misunderstanding here. The "nub" that operates the magazine safety is not just a pin, it is a plunger with a small spring behind it. In other words, the mag safety is not operated by the recoil spring, it is operated by its own spring. The spring and plunger are a permanent assembly in the later type recoil spring guide and normally are not available separately. I think a good gunsmith should be able to fit new ones, but the cost would be higher than just buying the right recoil spring guide.

Jim
 
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