Colt Woodsman;1st Issue (1928).

J

Jeff #111

New member
So yesterday I picked up a Colt woodsman 1st Issue made in 1928. That is the original finish and grips. I also got the original box, but I haven't photographed it yet. $750.00. I have a couple boxes of sub-sonic 22LR to shoot through it. Colt didn't beef up the Woodsman until 1932. All the one made before then are target or standard velocity 22LR only.





 
Last edited:
Yes, that is the old backstrap, with the checkered oval. The new type, which will allow use of high speed ammo, has horizontal lines. If you can obtain one of the new type for that grip shape, it will interchange with the old type.

Jim
 
James, what a beauty you have there!



With the old housing you'd be okay shooting cci standard velocity.

Here's one of mine, a 1927 dated with the high velocity mainspring and mainspring housing. Even though it will handle the high velocity ammo, I prefer to only shoot standard velocity out of it.

 
It's a very compact and petite pistol. I also own a Browning Buckmark pistol which I've always considered to be a pretty compact pistol. But when I hold it next to the Woodsman it's looks like a tank.

I have a couple boxes of Winchester subsonic 22 which I will fire through the Woodsman. Believe it or not I actually want to leave it as it is. I'm just happy with my find. I've specifically wanted a 1st Issue Woodsman for several years and this one is way beyond my wildest expectations.
 
Love it! I have a definite soft spot for them.

Just to clarify: This first issue is one of the ones that is NOT marked "Woodsman?"

Edit: I just answered my own question. OP, your pistol is marked "Woodsman." Depending on whom you talk to, some collectors who like to split hairs call that a "second issue," the "first issue" being the original Colt ".22 Automatic Pistol" sans the "Woodsman" name.
 
Last edited:
I love it too.
I have it's almost twin. Slightly newer, I recall from around 1937ish or thereabouts, and not quite as shiny with some rub marks on the barrel.
It has the "horizontal lines" backstrap.
I inherited it from my mother after it literally sat in her sock drawer for 30 plus years.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • woodsman2.jpg
    woodsman2.jpg
    57.4 KB · Views: 888
Lots of Woodsman clones out there...
Hi Standard Letter Series (A, B, C, D, etc), Fiala (w/w-out carbine kit) (also AKA "Botwick Bros" 40 made),
Iver Johnson Trailsman, the Norinco above, the Argentine "Talleres Armas Livianas Argentinas" (TALA),
and the Hartford Arms version...probably a few more I don't know about yet...


Technically, John Moses Browning was the fella who came up with the general design,
which many folks liked...and used...its really fun to research the designs occasionally :)
 
Last edited:
I read a Gun Digest article years ago regarding the similarity between the Woodsman and the High Standard, and, IF I recall correctly, one of the engineers (maybe Gus Swibelius) that worked at Colt with Browning later went on to work for High Standard, did some redesigning of certain Woodsman features and put the gun on the market. Somewhere (maybe the same article) I also read that the High Standard was touted as "what the Woodsman should have been."
 
Last edited:
While the guns are made in very different ways, some of the thinking behind the Woodsman design was carried over to the Ruger .22 pistol.

Also, be careful not to drop a Woodsman; the frames are very thin and can be bent easily.

Jim
 
Gyvel, I can relate to that...the B is easily the most precise pistol I've ever owned...
it points very naturally in my hand and my first "Important Shoot" was due to my Wifey...
who screamed one night, came into the house and said, "Get a gun and go out there and KILL that snake!!"
I grabbed the "B" which I'd just purchased a few weeks before, loaded up, and nailed that sucker with a lucky headshot
(aimed for the head figuring if I was off, he'd still take a vitals hit as he slithered upwards...)
while he was on the move up a treelimb about 15' up...he dropped and expired :)
Happy Wife, Happy Life.

Shortly thereafter, a few range visits cemented its position into my Favorite .22LR pistol :)
Been cleaning it up over the years, the outside was pretty rusty, scratched, & pitted when I first got it...(camo background pic)
but the inside & crown were clean...so now that the Blueing is removed (black background pic)
and am shining it up to a high gloss, then after completion it'll receive a special treatment to help maintain the stainless look :D
Here's an In The Process of Polishing pic...
.22lr-005.jpg


Often contemplated having it Gold-Plated...still thinking about it...
but best to finish the polish job before finalizing that decision...


Oh, and the Fiala had a Carbine Kit, which also could be modded to fit the Woodsman & Hi Standards...
however, doing that requires a Tax Stamp these days...if its not on a Fiala...
H3925-L57193457.jpg
 
I also had that same pistol, and mine was a 1928 build too. I really, REALLY liked it, a whole lot, but I elected to move it on to it's next home because of the dearth of magazines available. I love to shoot and I felt tied down with just the one.

Original magazines for the first series pistols are highly collectible. Triple K made a replacement magazine but I had a difficult time tracking those down also. I am not sure how well the Triple K mag functions, but I was ready, willing and totally unable to get a hold of any to learn about them hands-on.

So I sold my first series and then chased down a second series... and then another. ;) My two Colt pistols now are Woodsman variants, I've got a '52 Challenger and a '55 Huntsman. The Challenger has the shorter 4.5" barrel while the Huntsman wears the longer 6-inch tube.

I do absolutely love them and I prefer the grip angle on the Second series pistols. The time I spent with my '28 First series was memorable, but I'm happier with my two "newer" ones now.

Your First series is gorgeous, it retains far more bluing than mine had. Mine was a joy to shoot and I kept it a bit more than one year, putting 616 rounds through it. I bought a case of Eley Sport specifically for that pistol.
 
Although these are probably just as hard to find now as factory original High Standard mags, the government purchased a bunch of them for the Model HD from a contractor unknown to me; They came shipped in a plain white box with a Federal stock number on them. A deceased friend of mine had a cache of them (he was a retired USAF major and mega-scrounger), but they all got sold as part of the estate. They had no markings of any kind on them. I wish I had the foresight to write down the FSN, but my main concern at the time was getting rid of hundreds of guns and thousands of surplus parts.

I wish I had kept a few. for myself, but, 10 years ago, HS mags weren't that hard to find.
 
NIIIIICEEE!

You can locate on the auction the "horizontal" striated mainspring housing, that will directly interchange with the original "checkered" housing.

Also, was at firat Saturday of the Nationals @ Camp Perry, and the new High Standard compnay was there and offhandedly asked about 1St Gen magazines, was told by the salesman that the magazines for the first edition High Standards were ORIGINAL WOODSMAN bought for Colt, and they have stock new but cost $62.00.

Unfortunately, he did not have them at CP, will be ordering two for my Dad's 1917 edition.


ENJOY!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top