There's just something about the little Colt Model M pistols that clicks with me. A couple of years ago I found this early Type I, manufactured in 1904. It was in excellent condition but the finish was almost completely gone in several places. The trigger was a bit, well, crunchy is all that comes to mind. Otherwise it was in near new condition. Since the finish wasn't offering any protection, I wanted to have it refinished. And then, thoughts of an updated Model M started rattling around in my head. What to update?
The thumb safety design leaves a bit to be desired. They're either too loose or too tight, and the pad is so small that you can't engage it without eyeballing it, and when it's disengaged, it's so thin that your thumb basically can't feel it.
The sights were too small. In bright light, and if you have all day to line them up, I suppose they're okay. In dim light...not so much. I've read of at least one smith who had installed improved sights on these little pistols, so I knew it could be done, but I was worried anything that might be readily available would be too large and would look out of place on the pistol.
That crunchy trigger was a concern. I think it must have been some old lubricant of some kind in amongst the ignition parts that had probably petrified. The first time I shot the pistol it sounded like a piece of peanut brittle being snapped in two. It sounded better after the first shot, but it was still on the rough side. Really, really rough.
I've got freakishly large hands. The pistol just didn't quite fit my grip without feeling awkward. If the front strap would have been as little as 1/8 to 3/16" longer, it would have been fine.
Some kind of texture on the front strap and grip safety texturing would be nice. All I could think of was the possibility of some vertical serrations, but I wasn't sure if they would look out of place on the little pistol.
I wanted some nice stocks for the pistol, but try as I may, I couldn't find any I liked. Eagle Grips makes a pretty nice set of checkered rosewood stocks that I've installed on a couple of my other little '03 and '08 pea shooters, but they were too thick for my liking, they show very little grain character, and the screw escutcheons were some flavor of bright metal which just doesn't look "right" to me.
There were a host of other little custom touches I kept thinking about. I knew some would fit the design, but I was afraid others wouldn't. So, I had a couple of updates that I knew I wanted but just couldn't figure out how they would be best implemented. So, I fired off an email to Ted, and asked if he had any interest in helping rehabilitate the sad little pistol, explaining the couple of things I'd like to have updated, but explained that I had never seen any of them implemented and that I just didn't know what would look right and what wouldn't. Ted's response was something like "Oh yeah, I've got a few ideas in mind already."
That was all I needed to hear, so I went ahead and fired the pistol off to him. He called about a month ago to tell me he was starting on the pistol and he reviewed my concerns to make sure they hadn't changed. They hadn't, so he said he'd get to work. The pictures show the result of Ted's obviously considerable work.
She'll be going with me to the farm tomorrow for some much anticipated range time. I might even have to sneak up there this evening. The pictures really don't do the pistol justice, but it's the best I could do without setting up a bunch of lights. Maybe Burton will have mercy on me and post a couple of better pics.
-Matt
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