Colt Browning - a consistent path to excellence
Pistol "Colt" M1900. Design based on the 1897 patent. A total of 3500 pistols of this type were made. Naval Museum stories. Washington DC, USA
“Petya stopped, turned sideways and, pulling his heavy Colt out of his pocket with stiff fingers, fired the entire clip at his pursuers without aiming.
Large Colt bullets clacked against trunks and benches, kicking up clouds of snow. Spent shells rang out, automatically flying out one after the other to the side.
Petya put a new clip into the pistol grip and again released it all into a cloud of snow that shimmered in the moonlight like a ghost.
"Winter wind" V. Kataev
Large Colt bullets clacked against trunks and benches, kicking up clouds of snow. Spent shells rang out, automatically flying out one after the other to the side.
Petya put a new clip into the pistol grip and again released it all into a cloud of snow that shimmered in the moonlight like a ghost.
"Winter wind" V. Kataev
stories about weapons. And it so happened that John Moses Browning was first interested in automatic pistols based on the removal of gases from the barrel, and up, and not down, as on his 1895 machine gun, nicknamed the “potato digger” for the lever twitching under the barrel. But ... on the pistol, his lever "twitched" from above, while having a rather large shoulder, and, apparently, this was precisely what he, as well as the manufacturers, did not like. Therefore, from the end of 1896 to 1898, Browning, together with the Colt engineer (full name - Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing Co.) Fred Moore, continued to work on a more advanced pistol. Moreover, Browning first developed a new .38 caliber cartridge for him - .38 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), and only then created the pistol for it.
Scheme pistol "Colt" M1900 from US patent 1902 No. 708794
In this cartridge, he used a .357 caliber bullet weighing 6,9 g with an initial velocity of 384 m / s. It was of larger caliber than other designs of the time that were 7,62mm or .308 (e.g. 7,62×25mm Tokarev/7,63×25mm Mauser, .32 ACP, etc.). ). Its speed was also higher than the revolver cartridge .38 Long Colt, the bullet of which was, however, heavier - 8,4 g, but the speed was 230 m / s. Bad reviews of the performance of the .38 Long Colt cartridge during the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902 led to the re-adoption of the .45 Colt cartridge and the fact that the War Department set a minimum caliber for the new military pistol, exactly .45.
Production model M1900. View from the left. This sample does not have a rear sight fuse! Photo http://www.littlegun.be
Production model M1900. Right view. The location of the corrugation on the casing-gate has been changed. It has been moved to the front. Photo http://www.littlegun.be
Meanwhile, already in 1899, the US War Department decided to hold a competition among the semi-automatic pistols that existed at that time and chose the three most promising samples for testing: the Mauser C96, the unusual Steyr-Mannlicher M1894 with a barrel that extends when fired forward, and the Colt M1900 designed by Browning. Prior to this, the prototype Colt 1900 pistol was submitted to the US Department of Ordnance as early as November 9, 1898, where it was reviewed and tested on November 11, along with Borchard, Mannlicher, Mauser and Bergmann pistols. Based on the tests, the council of officers stated that self-loading pistols were not yet sufficiently developed to replace the revolvers in service, but that work on their improvement should continue. A year later, the Department of Artillery from the company "Colt" was requested an upgraded prototype pistol for re-testing. And although Colt could only provide it in January 1900, the new pistol made a strong impression on the members of the commission with its simplicity, ease of loading, high rate of fire and accuracy compared to the same revolvers.
Re-testing began in February 1900 and included tests for accuracy, reliability, as well as a "dust chamber" and a rust test. Much attention was paid to ergonomics, since the pistol was intended primarily for use by cavalry, which meant that it had to be easily controlled while sitting in the saddle.
Interestingly, after accelerated rusting with ammonia, the pistol was frozen so that the bolt did not move. A sharp blow to the edge of the table with the bolt allowed him, however, to work and fire a shot. After the shot, the bolt did not close, but was easily closed by hand, after which all other cartridges worked without failure. Then another 23 shots were fired without any delay. After a total of 5800 rounds had been fired from the pistol, the only major problem identified was a weakness in the connecting pins on the barrel lugs, which the Ordnance Board found easily remedied and suggested that the Model 1900 be field tested. Thus began a long way to improve this model, ending with the creation and adoption by the American army of the truly legendary Colt M1911A1 pistol.
However, the very first Colt M1900 of the year was a fairly perfect pistol that used an automation system with a recoil shutter with a short barrel stroke. The shutter was locked using three lugs in the upper breech and lugs on the inner surface of the casing-bolt. The shutter was unlocked after the shot, when the barrel, after a short backward stroke, was lowered in a horizontal plane on two hinged earrings. In this case, the rear earring was installed under the chamber, and the front at the muzzle. The shutter casing almost completely covered the barrel and the locking mechanism, protecting them, as well as the trigger mechanism, from dust and dirt.
Unlike the then popular Bergmann and Mauser pistols, the Browning pistol magazine was located inside the handle, and not in front of the trigger guard, which not only reduced the dimensions of the pistol and provided it with a good balance, but also significantly reduced its cost. The pistol's magazine held eight rounds of .32 ACP (7,65×17mm), which at the time was considered ample ammunition for six-shot revolvers. A flat transverse wedge was installed in front of the casing-bolt, which fixed the bolt in the frame and served for the convenience of disassembling the weapon.
Trigger M1900 single action with an open trigger. The trigger had a long curved needle, which made it easy to cock it with the thumb of the hand holding the weapon - that is, first of all, it was convenient for the rider. The trigger had a safety platoon that protected the weapon from an accidental shot. The window for extracting the cartridge cases was made on the right side of the casing-bolt. The sleeves are removed from the chamber by the ejector to the right and up when moving it back.
In general, everyone who had the opportunity to get acquainted with this pistol liked it, so the company began mass production of it already at the beginning of 1900. Well, the first pistols under the name Colt Automatic Pistol entered the commercial sale on February 14, 1900.
The Colt M1900 pistol has a total length of 229 mm, a barrel length of 152 mm, and a weight of 992 grams. In the lower part of the frame at the muzzle, a special hole was provided for installing an auxiliary pin when disassembling the weapon. The sights of the pistol consist of a semicircular front sight and a rear sight. Early versions of the pistol were equipped with a safety catch combined with the entire weapon. When arming, the rear sight goes down. In the lower position of the rear of the rear sight, when the safety is on, its protrusion prevents the movement of the firing pin. To make a shot, the rear sight, respectively, must be moved up. The M1900 pistol was produced for quite a long time - from 1900 to 1923.
Pistol M1902 "Sporting". Produced from 1902 to 1908. Photo http://www.littlegun.be
In 1902, a somewhat improved model M1902 "Sporting" appeared, devoid of a fuse at all, and with an elongated "chopped outline" handle. The military model M1902 was distinguished by the fact that it had a safety located on the left side of the frame, and a lanyard carabiner was added to it at the lower rear of the left handle. A total of 18 copies were produced.
M1902 pistol, military model. The pistol was not adopted for service, but was produced in 1902-1929. Royal Arsenal, Leeds
Thus, the first attempts of John Browning to create a military pistol for the American army at the very beginning of the 1900th century were unsuccessful, although the test of the M1902 model of the year ended very, very successfully. But, despite the fact that neither this model nor the 1900 model of the year got into the army, they were mass-produced for many years, entered the market and were in demand on it, although not as popular as the one he created for the Belgian enterprise FN pistol MXNUMX with a lower barrel.
Belgian FN1900 Browning pistol with holster and 24-round 7,65-mm pack. Photo http://www.littlegun.be
To be continued ...
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