Nice little Colt 1908N vest pocket

boss281 · Feb 13, 2020

Retired LEO asked me to disassemble and test fire her grandfather's .25 gun. She surprised me with this gem. I love these old pocket pistols...appears to be a period correct holster as well.

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TheOriginalMexicanBob · Feb 13, 2020

Nice...those little Colts are schweet! When in Arizona last week I almost bought one at a pawn store that had all their guns on sale. The asking price was definitely worth it the fact I had already bought two handguns elsewhere that same day kinda made my wallet a bit on the empty side.

boss281 · Feb 13, 2020

I'm going to do a bit of research and see if I can find a fair value, although she said she wanted to keep it.

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Melnic · Feb 13, 2020

Those things are neat. I"ve collected a few 32acp pistols but have stayed clear of 25s. Its a shame cause there are alot of affordable ones out there.

mawkie · Feb 14, 2020

I'd swag value at $450-500 if you want to make her an offer. I'd put it out there and ask her to kindly consider you when she's ready to let it go to a new home. Can't hurt to ask!

somd_mustangs · Feb 14, 2020

$400-$500 was my gut feeling too, plus whatever the holster may be worth.
Some of the old well-known holster makers can be collectible/valuable (Heiser etc).

Prices are all over the place for these, and it's highly condition-dependent.
A really nice one (98+%) can close on $1k, esp the earlier high-polish. A rough one may be as low as $200-ish.
Add a clean matching box, or something special about it (factory nickel, post-WW2, etc) and it goes up significantly.

boss281 · Feb 14, 2020

As instructed I cleaned it thoroughly after a full disassemble, lubed and test fired one magazine. Bullseye was two hand 5 yards, 2 to the lower left were weakside hand grabbing off a bench. One failure to feed, suspect magazine (slight crush on one side).

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somd_mustangs · Feb 14, 2020

The correct original mags aren't cheap, that's one drawback of these and the Model M.

TheOriginalMexicanBob · Feb 14, 2020

Triple-K makes magazines for them but that brand has always proven problematic with reliability with most all their product line. But...they are available inexpensively.

boss281 · Feb 14, 2020

somd_mustangs said:
The correct original mags aren't cheap, that's one drawback of these and the Model M.

no kidding, $150+...

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somd_mustangs · Feb 14, 2020

True enough... they list for $40, probably find them cheaper on evilPay etc.
I haven't bought an original but seen them in the $80-120 range so it's a toss up.
The two-tone, pinned base is going to be a little harder to find.

somd_mustangs · Feb 14, 2020

boss281 said:
no kidding, $150+...

asking isn't always getting

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr..._sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1&_fosrp=1

boss281 · Feb 14, 2020

somd_mustangs said:
asking isn't always getting

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr..._sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50&LH_Complete=1&_fosrp=1

Nice, I will let her know!

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2ndatrades · Dec 24, 2020

Did you end up getting that beauty? I love my vest pocket and you can readily find .25 ammo.

boss281 · Dec 24, 2020

No, I went up as high as $400 but I didn't push because it was a family item passed down to her. Frankly, it gave me a lot of pleasure to disassemble, thoroughly clean and test fire to ensure it had reliability. She seemed to appreciate that.

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MaxVO2 · Dec 24, 2020

boss281 said:
Retired LEO asked me to disassemble and test fire her grandfather's .25 gun. She surprised me with this gem. I love these old pocket pistols...appears to be a period correct holster as well.

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***Wow, that's a real piece of history right there! I know someone who collects pocket pistols like that and he mentioned mags were expensive and hard to get. There is a similar looking Browning brand .25 that looks very similar to that Colt that I have had the opportunity to use at the range. It seemed well built and fitted and did not seem like a cheap gun for its day.

The pistols I have seen like this are a bit smaller than my carry Glock 43, which fires 9mm rounds. There have been several on consignment at our local gun stores over the years. Always cool to see one with the original holster and paperwork. The nicer ones were closer to $800-$1000 from what I remember, and they didn't stick around for long.

Thanks for sharing

2ndatrades · Dec 24, 2020

Good on you, I feel the same way about family heirlooms. Would have been a shame to take it out of the family. Very lovely piece of history too. My family only has 1 real heirloom firearm (grandfathers police revolver) and I would be devastated if it left our family.

TheOriginalMexicanBob · Dec 24, 2020

I purchased this little Colt .25 several months ago. I sent for an Archives letter from Colt...found out it was originally blued so it was plated sometime after leaving the factory. I didn't pay much for it so all is good.

antco · Dec 24, 2020

Awesome little gun. This thread reminded me I've had a old NIB Colt .22 short "Junior Colt" sitting in its original packaging on top of the fridge for the past year or two. No model number but made in Spain, blued, wood grips. I even have the warranty paperwork, never filled out. Bought new by my great uncle. One of my cousins I believe has the other one.

TheOriginalMexicanBob · Dec 24, 2020

Those little "Colt Jr." pistols were made for colt by Astra. Not bad little pistols. Once the 1968 GCA went into effect they couldn't be imported any more so Firearms International in the US made them for Colt...identical pistols just different maker.

Nice little Colt 1908N vest pocket

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