Not long ago I was working as a marketing and content guy for a retail gun store that pretends to be an eCommerce company as well. It was an experience that I don’t care to repeat but did bring some reasonably interesting moments now and again. One of those experiances was speaking with a gentleman that had walked into the showroom with a plastic case that looked like it used to hold a circular saw. When he opened the case, there were a couple of zippered pistol cases haphazardly tossed inside.

He had come into the retail store to see if we were interested in buying any of the firearms that he had inherited from his father-in-law. Since I was the resident gun nerd, I got a chance to look the firearms over and was surprised to find that one of the cases held a three digit Colt 1900 in reasonably nice condition that was probably produced in 1900 or 1901.

What the gentleman wanted for the Colt 1900 was a bit steep for the store, but we did refer him to a shop that specializes in high-end firearms like this one. I did get a chance to snap a couple of photos and handle the rare blaster. I even got a chance to play with the sight safety when I checked to ensure the gun was clear. All I have to say is thank god that they did away with the sight safety, it isn’t even close to intuitive.

I think that if the 1911 had retained the dual link system and the sight safety, it wouldn’t have been in service near as long as it was and the Glock vs. 1911 conversation would never, ever be a thing. While the 1900 was a wonderful starting point for John Moses Browning, it was nowhere near a finished product in my opinion.

Anyhow, enjoy these photos of the Colt 1900 serial number 454.