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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  COLT PISTOL MODEL 1905 .45 SN# 5973
Maker/Manufacturer:	BROWNING, JOHN M.
Date of Manufacture:	1911
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1382
Measurements:	OL: 8" BL: 5" 33.5 oz. unloaded

Object Description:

COLT PISTOL MODEL 1905 .45 SN# 5973
Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. in 1911 - Standard Model 1905 .45 Rimless Smokeless Colt semi-automatic pistol. "High polish" blue finish; casehardened hammer. Two piece checkered walnut grips with diamonds around the ferrules. Fixed sights. No safety device on this model. Weapon weighs approximately 32 1/2 oz. 7-round detachable box magazine feed. Equipped with M1911 type magazine - original magazine missing. Approximately 6,210 M1905s were manufactured from 1905-1911. Specimen is not cut for a shoulder stock.

Markings:
Frame: 5973/Colt factory proofs
Triggerguard: VP in triangle. W.
Slide: PATENTED/APR. 20. 1897. SEPT. 9. 1902. DEC. 19. 1905. COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO./HARTFORD, CT. USA. Rampant Colt in circle. Right side: AUTOMATIC COLT/CALIBER .45 RIMLESS SMOKELESS.

Weapon transferred to the Museum on 3 April 1933. At that time weapon was appraised at $13.19 and listed as "unserviceable."

Notes: "...Minor improvements were made, and then in 1905 the US Army decided that a .45 pistol was desirable (they had reverted to using .38 caliber revolvers but had found them insufficiently powerful during the Philippine Insurrection), and Colt developed a .45 rimless cartridge, and a new pistol to go with it. It was the same design as the 1902, but it had no safety device and the army were, understandably, reluctant to accept it." - Ian Hogg

"The Philippine Insurrection convinced the US Army that .45 represented the minimum caliber for any future sidearm. Colt promptly set about designing a suitable automatic. The resulting .45 rimless cartridge proved to be less powerful than was desirable, but eventually led to the .45 ACP. The .45 1905 type pistol was offered to the US Army, but only 200 were acquired for evaluation in 1907. The Hartford production line produced only 6,000 in the six year life of the gun." - Ian Hogg & John Weeks

"The Spanish American War and the experiences with the Moros in the Philippine campaign taught a lesson about stopping power or the lack of it. The United States Army was convinced that they needed a powerful handgun cartridge. This led Colt to the development of a .45-caliber cartridge suitable for the semiautomatic pistol. The Model 1905 and the .45 Rimless round were the result. In actuality, this cartridge was not nearly powerful enough to satisfy the need, but it led to the development of the .45 ACP. Colt believed that this pistol/cartridge combination would be a success and was geared up for mass production....This model was not a commercial success for Colt - possibly because it has no safety whatsoever except for the floating inertia firing pin." - Ned Schwing

"...So the bush war against them (Moros) goes on fiercely, and when they show a remarkable resistance to being annihilated by what weapons the Army possesses, field commanders plead with the Ordnance Department to give them something more substantial than the .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol the Colt factory in Hartford has been producing since 1902. Ordnance turns the job over to John M. Browning, the country's chief designer of guns, asking him to produce a weapon capable of stopping a Moro warrior cold. These tough fighters have shown an annoying disposition to use their bolos even when they have absorbed one or two .38-caliber bullets. This challenge to Browning's genius produces first a .45-caliber bullet, around which he designs a gun, and shortly Hartford is turning out the Colt .45 automatic pistol, which not only destroys Moros but becomes standard military issue in 1911." - Tebbel

"Colt Automatic Pistols require no introduction. From the day they were placed upon the market the demand has so increased that to-day they are known and used in every country on the Globe. Accuracy, reliability and durability, increased velocity, penetration and rapidity of fire, have gained for these arms a place unprecedented in the Fire-Arms world. In the new Model, caliber .45, we offer a weapon of tremendous effectiveness....Loaded with smokeless powder only, the cartridge ha
See, GUNS MAGAZINE, "The 1905 Colt .45 ACP: This dead end began a legend," by Joseph R. Novelozo, March, 2007.

References:
Ezell, Edward C. HANDGUNS OF THE WORLD. Stackpole Books. Harrisburg, Pa. 1981.
Flayderman, Norm. FLAYDERMAN'S GUIDE TO ANTIQUE AMERICAN FIREARMS...AND THEIR VALUES. 6th Ed. DBI Books, Inc. Northbrook, Il. 1994.
Goddard, William H.D. THE GOVERNMENT MODELS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLT MODEL 1911. Andrew Mowbray Incorporated. Lincoln, R.I. 1988.
Hogg, Ian. PISTOLS OF THE WORLD. 3rd Ed. Rev. DBI Books, Inc. Northbrook, Il. 1992.
Hogg, Ian. THE STORY OF THE GUN. A&E Books. St. Martin's Press. N.Y, N.Y. 1996.
Potocki, John. THE COLT MODEL 1905 AUTOMATIC PISTOL. Andrew Mowbray Publishers. Lincoln, R.I. 1998.
Schwing, Ned. STANDARD CATALOG OF FIREARMS. 6th Ed. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 1996.
Tebbel, John. AMERICA'S GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR WITH SPAIN. Marshall Jones Company. Manchester Center, Vt. 1996.
Wilson, R.L. COLT: AN AMERICAN LEGEND. Abbeville Publishing Group. N.Y., N.Y. 1985.