Colt 1908 Hammerless - "Shanghai Municipal Police" - Opinions?

capercanuck

capercanuck

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This was posted under another forum, without response. I thought maybe those interested in older handguns might be able to help.

I'm cleaning out the safe and this is a pistol that hasn't seen a round thrugh it in 10 years or more.

I think a S&W revolver is in my future and I plan on trading or selling the Colt.

My question is, would this piece be more attractive to a collector or a shooter? It's in nice shape. It's marked "Shanghai Municipal Police". How old does a firearm need to be to be considered antique?

Link to Information from Colt:

http://www.coltautos.com/mmsmp13.htm

I'm sure they're out there, but I haven't seen any other ones myself.

The slide is at Epps right now having the extractor replaced. Other than that it's nice!

Thanks for any information!

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Isn't it a 12(6) prohibited? 32 ACP with a too short bbl?
If so it's value will probably be lower as your average gun owner / collector can't obtain it.
Which is a shame as it seems like a nice piece.
Unless I'm mistaken; in which case, good for you.
 
Hi

Nope, the 1903 was in 32, this is a 1908, which is chambered in 380, its restricted, not prohibited.

I guess that kind of relates to my question, 380 is readily and cheaply accessable. This might be a nice shooter for someone, but the limited "SMP" marking might appeal to Colt collectors.

Ill keep searching.

Thanks
 
How cool would that be!

Ive been doing some searching, and my pistol still has the original walnut handgrip (apparently), which is rare. I never really paid much attention to this piece until recently.

It appears its more a collectors piece than a shooter.

Mike
 
If you have a barrel more than 4 1/8 th inches, 105 plus millimeters. Very few were made with this length barrel.(Good for you if yours is- increases the value considerably)
I love these guns. here is a pic of ours.( Ours are the earlier FN.)
Note the Lanyard stud on the "Baby" FN.
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janice
 
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It is a prohibited firearm due to barrel length even in .380ACP. I work with a local museum here on PEI that has one and it's a great little gun. There aren't a ton of them around - I believe Marstar has one listed for sale still for a ridiculous price. Ours is serial number 88479, rack number 670.

Yours appears to have the correct magazine as well, which was different as it had viewing holes toward the front sides as well as on the spine. This was to make sure the ammo wasn't being sold under the table and replaced with dummy rounds. Certainly an interesting period and interesting gun. You are correct in guessing it is more of a collector's piece than a shooter, particularly as they were in a pretty unforgiving environment and poorly serviced.

Send me a PM if you want to unload it or want more info and we'll see what we can do. You can read more about them here,
http://www.coltautos.com/mmsmp1.htm
This is the first contract info page, there are a few other pages for the other contracts on that site as well.

(Janice - that is an FN made 1905 that you have, a nice and handy little gun as well! They were identical to the Colt 1908 Vest Pocket Model. Very nice pair of Sauers also.)
 
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yep it's definately prohubited, not restricted. sorry for the confusion on my part.

i believe its all original. i guess the walnut handgrips sometimes split and were replaced. mine are original i believe.

and two steam, mine is a colt, not fn. the colt was also manufactured in 32, with model number 1903.

and doc zoid....yeah i was reading about the magazines, and the fact that the original ones were produced with holes in the front of the magazine, so a clip with live ammo was readily available. this is turning out to be an interesting little pistol.


thanks for everyone's replies!
 
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