I'm so impressed by this little Colt

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oldcolts64

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Shown with my Gov't for comparison. This little automatic is so well built. Made in 1919.
 

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It's a Colt 1908 model in .25 acp. FN/Browning make a ditto version. They are often termed a "vest pocket" pistol. Better than nothing in a pinch.

.02. David. :)
 
Colt 1908 Vest Pocket.

I finally broke down and bought one last year. Simply a fantastic, reliable, well made pistol. Mine is absolutely fantastic to shoot and I even occasionally CCW it. Yours looks in great shape with plenty of blue and case hardening left for a gun made in 1919.

Mine was produced in 1919 as well and is in similar shape as yours.
 
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Everyone should have one of J Browning's masterpieces although i must admit it sits in the safe most of the time. Beautiful made pistol.
 
I have one that I received for free! :) That's a long story but it was in great condition when it was given to me and it still is! :cool: Wouldn't even think about parting wit it?
They are great little handguns and fun to shoot. I use to carry mine for CCW when nothing else would fit the occasion. Carried for many years until I purchased my LCP. ;)
 
The Colt 1903 was originally produced in .32 acp. Five or so years later the 1903 was produced in 380. Some refer to the 380 as the Colt 1908 but this gun is really the 1903. The vest pocket in .25 acp is really the Colt 1908 imo.

.02. David. :)

Ps. Boogie.. They are different but both designed by JMB.
 
When I play with my Baby Browning I shoot 50 grain 780 fps ammo. While I would not think of carrying the little pistol I believe Hornady makes a hotter round in .25 acp -- 1100 +/- fps. These guns might make a good purse piece.

.02. David. :)
 
A face to face confrontion with a 1908 Colt is something i would care to skip if on the recriving end. I have seen all to many wounds and deaths contributed to this puny little cartridge. One case a fellow boasted to his family he would kill himself and proceded to shoot where his heart was (approximately in his drunken stupor). When I arrived I found him lying on the floor "dead". A check of the corpse revealed a pint bottle of whiskey in the breast pocket containing the spent bullet, when the whiskey ran down the front of him he thought it was blood so he fell to the floor.:eek: He went to the looney bin for a 72 hour visit.
 
My brother had one stolen out of his VW Bug door pocket in a hotel valet parking garage in Monterrey, Mexico around 1961. :mad: :(
 
I've had an '08 for thirty years, and have never fired it.
I take it out every year for a field strip cleaning, then back in the box.
My hands are large enough that I worked on an oddball grip, holding the gun in my weak hand with the trigger finger around the trigger guard, then essentially gripping my hand with my other hand, squeezing the trigger with my strong-hand finger.
Seems to work better than a conventional two-handed grip.

The '03 and Vest Pocket '08 are mechanically very different.
Even though the former is called "hammerless" it's really a concealed hammer, while the '08 is striker-fired.
 
A check of the corpse revealed a pint bottle of whiskey in the breast pocket containing the spent bullet, when the whiskey ran down the front of him he thought it was blood so he fell to the floor. He went to the looney bin for a 72 hour visit.
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That must have been some Hard Liquor. :D

I don't have a Colt but do have a Beretta 950BS. What a cool little gun. I have no problem with it for a SD pistol when nothing else will fit. And if you can line the tiny sights up that little dude will lay them in a nice group at 7-10 yards.

A man (Bob) that owned a gas station my dad had an account at looked out of a small window that looked into the front room of the gas station just in time to see a thief reach over the counter and grab the cash box. Bob opened the door door and told him to set it on the floor while he held him at gunpoint with a 25 acp.

The thief set the box on the floor then raised up with a knife in his hand and ran toward Bob. Bob emptied the gun in him. He dropped at his feet dead.The next day Bob was No Billed by the grand jury. He stopped on the way home and bought a 357 mag.

The notoriety caused him to close the gas station. But down the road he opened a used car lot a year later. He used that gun (357) twice more to kill robbers at his used car lot.

While a 25acp may not be much it can and has done the job. Are there better guns and calibers? Yes just about all of them. But I wouldn't feel completely unarmed if that was all I had.
 
Given the obvious limitations of the cartridge, the Colt .25 is the absolutely best of the small vest pocket pistols (there were dozens of imitators from every gun-making country in the world, but the Colt is the best). "Back in the day" (to coin a phrase) such little guns were often carried in the front pocket (also called a "watch pocket" from the other device carried that way) of a man's vest. The main drawback of the .25 caliber (also the .32 ACP) is the small rim, which can cause problems in feeding. Until he learned from Luger, Browning never thought of a true rimless cartridge supported on the case mouth and kept using semi-rimmed cases.

Jim
 
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