ltwguns.com

Bought this one recently off the internet. In the ad the seller listed it as having been built by "Hogue". Seeing the trigger guard and keeping in mind the sellers fair price I sent off my money and kept my fingers crossed. I am pretty pleased. It has seen a lot of rounds down range and parts have replaced but I think with a new barrel and either matte blue or Tripps HC it will be back in form.

Serrated slide top
Checkered rear of slide
Checkered front strap
Swenson ambi
Trigger guard squared and checkered on front
reprofiled ejection port
Swenson style barrel positioner

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Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

Well, that's certainly a neat find, from what sounded like a gamble!
I like it.

Nice find Gary. Other than the wear much of your gun looks just like mine. Only mine was only built 6 months ago...

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Ted

Cool, Gary. That coulda been my old Hoag from the late 70's, except mine had a S&W rear sight. I sure wish I'd kept it. I've been thinking I should call Mr. Hoag and see about having him build me one.

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shop.HarrisonCustom.com
www.HarrisonCustom.com

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

Does anyone know if Hoag keeps records of his work? It would be interesting to know the history of the Colt.

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Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

Pardon my ignorance, but I've heard of Swenson's barrel positioner, but know nothing about how it works/what it does.
So- How does it work/what does it do?

What I know of it I learned from Jason's posts on Swenson.

http://louderthanwords.us/forum/viewtop ... ht=swenson

http://louderthanwords.us/forum/viewtop ... positioner

I believe in theory it assures the chamber area of the barrel comes to rest at the same positon after each cycle. As to how well it works I would defer to any of the smiths. I have never fired a pistol with the feature.

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Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

My old Hoag pistol had one. It was a Colt Commercial that Mr. Hoag accurized as part of his work to the piece. He retained the original Colt barrel, fitting a oversize Micro bushing, welded up and refit the barrel hood, welded up the lower lugs and installed the positioner.
The positioner was a small chip of steel that was welded to the inside of the slide, just to the left of the ejection port, about .200" back from the front edge of the port. When in battery, the positioner limited how high the barrel would lift into the top lugs. Modern match barrels typically have top locking grooves machined to a lesser depth than factory GI spec barrels and the top depth of engagement is established there.

These techniques were utilized to get a snug lock up at the rear of the barrel and was SOP for the day. A few years later, oversize match grade barrels were readily available and these methods were discontinued.

Several of the old-time 'smiths used these techniques (and variations) beside's Swenson. I restored and upgraded an old F. Bob Chow bullseye pistol last year and left Mr. Chow's work in the accuracy department intact. He limited upper travel by sliver soldering a strip of shim stock in the rear slide groove.

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shop.HarrisonCustom.com
www.HarrisonCustom.com

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

I see. I had something pictured in my mind that worked like the Pachmayr accuracy mod- the one that ran beneath the slide's recoil spring tunnel.
Very interesting. Thanks.

John I kind of wish this one had K smith sights. I love the old school look of SW sights on a Colt auto. Does anyone know when this style of Bo mar came into being? I am guessing this gun at the mid - late 70's due to the lack of Hoag or other grip safety.

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Gary Eastridge
http://www.randgfirearms.com

Neat piece! I picked up a Nastoff on much the same type of gamble.
I'd guess that gun is more of an 80s build based on the cut for the Bo-Mar. Since it doesn't have a beaver tail and is plated, my guess is that it was left off even though Hoag had them at that time. The hammer is cut back for that. Of course it could've been sent back for the Bo-Mar later.

Gary,

That is a great find. The old school guns have some strange appeal. Even though today's materials and processes are better in many ways, it's hard to get the same feeling that you get when you handle a true classic. I think the fact that most of the parts were hand made and aftermarket components were scarce made them truly unique. Your collection is getting really nice. Congrats!

~Jim Keeney

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"I'd rather die on my feet than keep living on my knees." - Emiliano Zapata, Mexican Revolutionary

I agree.
I passed on a Behlert mini-BHP several years ago because it didn't look that good. When I came to my senses and realized that everything had been HAND MADE, and the fanciest tools available were probably an oxy-acetylene torch and a lot of files, it looked different to me.
I went back for it, but someone with more sense than I had already got it.

I learned my lesson.