Colt Officers Model Target .22lr, or "you can't have everything"

[Shear_stress]

Well, finally got my hands on a neat old left-handed wheeler I found online. It's a Colt Officers Model Target, 3rd issue, in .22LR. Serial number is 50xxx, which puts production in early 1948. Grips probably came off a 50s vintage gun, but they beat the original plow handles hands down. At first glance this Colt looks in nice shape for a 62-year old gun.






But, then I cracked open the cylinder and saw this:



The cylinder carries up just fine now, but it's hard to imagine how it ever could have been that out of time. There should be a special place in hell for those who dry fire rimfire revolvers until they peen the cylinders. What kind of bureaucratic hoops do you need to jump through to add an eighth deadly sin? Get some forms notarized? Start a petition? Write my congressman?

Oh well, time to grab a few boxes of ammo and blast some paper.

 

[MMCSRET]

There exists in our universe(dammit) a class of people that should never be allowed to even suspect that Colt ever built fine hand guns, let alone put their hands on one!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guillermo]

WOW!

 

[Shear_stress]

There exists in our universe(dammit) a class of people that should never be allowed to even suspect that Colt ever built fine hand guns, let alone put their hands on one!!!!!!!!!!

I'd been tempted to return the thing to the seller, but I'm conflicted. The rest of the revolver is nice and chambers and fires no problem.

 

[Walkalong]

Yea, it's a pisser when sellers don't show obvious damage, but like you said, the rest is in great shape, it shoots fine, and you wanted a shooter, not a collectible. Very nice old gun except for the stupid abuse.

I recently took a chance on a OMM .22 LR (later model tahn yours) "re-chambered" to .22 Mag. The gun had the right grips and was 98% except for being converted. That enabled me to get it for a good price, so I took a chance. The first time I shot it I could barely get the brass out. arghh! Fortunately, with some careful working and polishing of the chambers, it now shoots great and cases extract smooth as silk.

Tough call as to keep it, or make the seller take it back. I know the feeling.

 

[Shear_stress]

It's funny, but I almost wonder if those peening marks are deliberate. I just can't imagine how a .22 could shoot itself out of time in such a way. Plus, you'd think if the hand suddenly broke or something there would be a couple of dings, not a continuous sweep of peening. Also, the marks would be the same on all the chambers.

This gun does have a "star" stamped on the cylinder face. Is that a sign of a factory rework of some kind?

 

[Shear_stress]

Update: Well, she sure shoots well. No lead shaving and accurate as all get out.

 

[joed]

I have the same gun from 1930 which is the first year they were made public. It's a great shooter an will outshoot any of the S&W .22 rf revolvers I have.

Almost have a feeling those marks are deliberate. Mine has a very tight chamber and I even took it back after I bought it. The gunsmith told me he could loosen it up but the gun would not be as accurate. That may be the reason for what was done to yours.

 

[Publius1688]

I have a Colt Officer's Match in .22LR that my Uncle found in the woods north of Baton Rouge when he was in high school, in the late fifties.
It looks ---rough---. Pitted, you name it. But he, and I now, have taken good care of it since, and it's almost boring to shoot. POA every single time. Over and over again. It shoots better than I can. Quite a testament to American firearms.

 

[SaxonPig]

Such peening is ugly but usually doesn't affect function.

 

[SwampWolf]

I'd been tempted to return the thing to the seller, but I'm conflicted.

Any conflict I'd have would largely depend on how much I paid for it in the first place.

 

[TonyT]

I love those early pre and post WW II Officers Model Targets - they are really great guns. I have a pre WW II model, the OM Special and OM Target.

 

[Shear_stress]

Any conflict I'd have would largely depend on how much I paid for it in the first place.

I gave five bills for this revolver. Prices for these things are going up but aren't to the point where I can easily overlook those marks for what I paid.

 

[Walkalong]

Prices for these things are going up

Sure are.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=172321607#PIC

 

[bannockburn]

Shear stress

Those marks do look strange; almost as if someone had chiseled them there for some unknown reason. And the well preserved condition of the gun would seem to indicate that the gun did not suffer from any other sort of abuse or neglect. Maybe some of the Colt experts here could shed some light on this situation.

 

[Shear_stress]

Those marks do look strange; almost as if someone had chiseled them there for some unknown reason.

That's the sense that I get. I wonder if joed is on the right track and those marks are there to aid extraction from tight chambers. The other marks around the extractor star look like someone went to some effort to align the extractor. Maybe they needed to relieve the chamber counterbores after they found they couldn't get fired cases out of the thing (?!)

As Saxon Pig pointed out, deliberate or not, none of these things adversely affect how that Colt groups. It is a dream on the 25 yard line.

 

[SwampWolf]

As long as it shoots ok, I wouldn't worry about it.