What is this thing attached to an old Colt?

[JimmyTheDentist]

Howdy folks!

A neighbor handed this to me and asked what it was. I told her I’ve got no idea.

It was in a box of stuff from her recently deceased father . . . who was about 82.




The frame is a Colt.


There is no barrel. No original cylinder assembly. The crane has been replaced. Looks like the hammer/nose has been replaced/modified. Top strap has been drilled and tapped.


The most blatant modification is that the cylinder has been replaced with a big hunk of what looks to be stainless steel which houses a firing pin . . .

Pull the trigger and the hammer falls on a rod that runs through the steel block. This extends the pin past where you would normally find the forcing cone. I assume it then strikes the primer of the round that must have been seated directly into the barrel.

There are no markings on the modification anywhere as far as I can see. And the serial number on the replacement crane does NOT match the serial number on the frame.


I imagine it would be possible to only load one round at a time. And there’s no ejector . . . so it looks like the only way to remove a spent case would be to pry it out of the barrel. While firing, how would you prevent the round from falling backwards out of the barrel?


What’s the point of this thing? Is this some guy’s design project? Maybe it was used for designing barrels? Or for working-up custom loads? Or is this an item that was mass-produced by some company someplace?


I’m completely ignorant about older revolvers. I’m not super-interested as it's not mine to fix up . . . but just out of curiosity is there a way to find out, definitively, what sort of Colt this used to be? The closest I can figure, from fartin’ around on the interwebs, is that maybe it’s a 1917 or a New Service?


When I punch the serial numbers from the frame and the replacement crane into the Colt customer service webpage I get a bunch of not overly useful information. The proofhouse web site is only marginally more helpful . . . manufacture of both pieces may be from 1919 but I don’t trust that.


If anybody here can shed some light on any of this that would be most appreciated.


And, in any event, I sure do hope you all have a wonderful Columbus Day.

Thanks much!

Jimmy the Dentist

[Walkingwolf]

Not positive but that appears to be a block used to keep the frame from twisting while removing, and installing barrels.

[fryboy]

wow ....if a case was put in where the barrel went it would more than likely stick out enough to be manually pushed out , if the block locks in place it would hold the shell in place .. just for grins does a 410 shell fit it ? or mayhaps just the head ? i'm for some reason thinking a signal/starting gun ( but that's just a swag )

[paralaska]

I think I've seen one of these before . . . It was a single shot. The barrel was chambered for the round as in a rifle . . . I'm gonna do some research, but i'm pretty sure that's what it is . . . Seems you could screw in different barrels for different calibers if the firing pin is center fire . . .

[Greg S]

It looks as if smeone made a copy of an old Colt Camp Perry Model. This looks similar but as stated, the cartridge would have to be chambered in the barrel. The Perry model was in 22 lr with a 10" barrel.



http://www.coltfever.com/Camp_Perry.html

[Guesser]

Single shot breech block?? Kinda reminds me of the Ruger Hawkeye from the early 60's that had a roll out breech for the 256 Winchester Magnum.

[baogongmeo]

A part of someone's homemade Camp Perry model?

[Nueces]

There was at least one article in one of the old gunzines, maybe 50 years ago, about this single shot conversion of a Colt 1917. This was before the TC Contender came out, of course. These guns could be had mail order for less than $30. All sorts of surgical ideas were applied to them at the time.

[Tackleberry41]

Sure looks like a home made set up, where you could shoot different cals by screwing in a different barrel, tho imagine it would be limited to lower pressure rounds. Maybe the original gun was going to be to much to fix so they decided to make...something out of it. My friend may make fun of some of the 'weird' guns I bring around. Tho not to much at the 1911 I built from a rust pitted frame he was going to toss in the trash. Or my 'pirate gun' as he calls it, Rossi single shot pistol that came in 45/410, that was near worthless until I did a barrel stub in just 45 colt and is shockingly accurate. Wish I could find another barrel to stub in 38/357 or similar.

[Scharfschuetze]

Yep, a single shot modification to the Colt. Note the firing pin that goes through the block to fire a round chambered in the barrel.

Ruger made a similarly breached handgun based on the Blackhawk revolver chambered for the 256 Winchester Magnum in the late 60s. I believe it was called the "Hawkeye." Should 'a bought one when nobody wanted them. I haven't seen one in years.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I recall seeing a black & white photo back in the 1960`s in a gun rag, possibly the NRA Rifleman, of a shooter in a bullseye stance holding a revolver very similar to this item. At the time I thought it an odd firearm to be using for target shooting.Robert

[kywoodwrkr]

Looks like W. Ruger didn't have an original idea with the Hawkeye doesn't it!

[labradigger1]

Training/starter pistol?
Maybe put a primed empty 38 or 45 colt case where the barrel used to be?

[Dutchman]

1969 NRA Gunsmithing Guide has the article on this conversion. Pretty cool overall.

Dutch

[Crank]

Love it! Somebody got the itch to make a home-brewed "Hawkeye" using a DA Colt. I would agree that it appears to be a Colt New Service frame. The thing to look for, is there a serial number and markings on the bottom of the grip frame? If so, that is the serial number location for the 1917 model, if the only number is inside the window of the frame, it is a commercial New Service (unless someone "sanitized" it to remove the US property markings). The fact that it once had a lanyard in the bottom of the grip doesn't count for much, as many commercial guns had these also. A neat piece of creative work, I wish I was lucky enough to find something that unique.

Mark

[runfiverun]

hmm I got a few spare Dan Wesson barrels kicking around here.
matching one to something like this would offer a pretty good chance at a super accurate single shot pistol.
and if the threading were done right or a bushing was used it could easily be made into a switch caliber pistol.

[MtGun44]

Single shot conversion, partially completed.

[pietro]

.

Colt, S&W, Ruger, & others made similar single-shot target pistols - which were all the rage, 50+ -odd years ago, when Bullseye shooting was the only game around ((except for International & Olympic shooting).


.

[M-Tecs]

Since it has a firing pin in the block it's not a copy of the Camp Perry model. On the Camp Perry model the block and barrel is one piece. It is a copy of the Ruger Hawkeye without an ejector. The Hawkeye was chambered for the .256 Mag in the barrel and it had a firing pin in the breachblock. A friend of my dad had a Hawkeye. I got to shoot it in the early 70's.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Have never seen one till now ! I admire the ingenuity of whoever did that. That would be a fine answer to the "silly" idea that one revolver is plenty for personal use.
Mike in Peru