Colt model 1900
| Colt model 1900 | |
|---|---|
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|
| general information | |
| Country of operation: | USA, Chile |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | John Moses Browning, Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co. |
| Manufacturer country: | United States |
| Production time: | 1900 to 1929 |
| Model variants: | M1900, M1902 Military, M1902 Sporting, M1903 Pocket Hammer |
| Weapon Category: | gun |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 229 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 1.0 kg |
| Barrel length : | 152 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : |
.38 ACP ( .38 smokeless rimless ) |
| Possible magazine fillings : | 7 (in M1902 8) cartridges |
| Ammunition supply : | Bar magazine |
| Closure : | Swivel run |
| Charging principle: | Recoil loader |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Colt Model 1900 is a self-loading pistol that was developed in the United States. Its designer was John Moses Browning .
History and technology
The pistol functions as a recoil loader . It was the first of its kind to be fitted with a slide , an essential assembly of pistols to this day. The specially designed .38 COLT AUTOMATIC cartridge , marked on the weapon as CALIBER. 38 RIMLESS SMOKELESS (not to be confused with the shorter and much weaker .380 ACP ) was too strong for a simple ground lock . The barrel and breech slide are locked by combs that snap into grooves inside the slide. When moving back together after the shot, the barrel is pulled down and unlocked in parallel by a chain link articulated to the front and rear of the handle frame. This arrangement was invented and patented by Browning in 1897 (US Pat. 580,924, Apr. 20, 1897); they and later variants are named after him as the Browning system . In the 1900 model, the visor serves as a safety device, which blocks the firing pin when folded down. Attempts with a safety device that was operated with the thumb on the left of the slide and blocked the firing pin were not continued. Later versions only have a safety catch on the tap as a safety device. The magazine of these first Colt automatic pistols held seven rounds and the barrel length was 6 inches.
With the Colt M1902 Military , a slide catch and a lanyard eyelet were added, the magazine held eight cartridges and the wooden handle shells were replaced by shells made of hard rubber. The 1900 model was continued as the Colt M1902 Sporting in the number series of the M1900. In addition, a Colt M1902 Military with a magazine capacity of eight cartridges in a new series of numbers and a Colt M1903 Pocket Hammer with a 4.5 inch barrel were launched.
All of these weapons caught the interest of the American military. The Army and Navy witness offices ordered a few hundred copies, but rejected them because it was criticized that the ammunition was not strong and large enough. They set the caliber requirement at .45 inches (about 11.4 mm). In addition, the safety catch on the tap was described as insufficient.
meaning
The weapon was not a great commercial success, but the way it was constructed proved significant in the development of handguns. The solutions introduced here have been taken up and modified many times, but their basic form has proven to be effective to this day. The designer himself provided an example of this. Browning continued to think about the bid for the military pistol and heeded the specifications for ammunition. He used cases from standard army rifle cartridges, shortened them to 23 mm and provided them with .45 bullets. In an improved form, the .45 ACP cartridge was later developed for a newly developed pistol in this caliber, the Colt Model 1905 Automatic Pistol . Various prototypes were developed from this weapon by 1911, which eventually led to the orderly pistol of the armed forces of the United States, the Colt MODEL OF 1911 US ARMY .
Only a little more than 3500 units of the original M1900 were produced by 1903, after which it was replaced by the M1902 Sporting in the same number series. The first M1900 pistols had flat wooden handles, later these were replaced by corrugated shells and hard rubber became standard from serial number 2450. In the pistols manufactured up to mid-1901, the safety lever, or the visor, was directly in front of the hammer. In the lower, secured position it blocked the firing pin, in the upper position the rear sight milled on it was visible, which indicated that the pistol was ready to fire. Due to the small number of copies and their technical importance, these first examples are coveted collectors' weapons.
literature
- VISOR 07/1992
- Ian Hogg : Military Small Arms of the 20th Century . Arms & Armor Press, 1982, ISBN 0-910676-87-9 .
- THE GOVERNMENT MODELS, the Development of the Colt Model of 1911 , 1988 by William HD Goddard. ISBN 0-917218-24-8
