Colt 1908 Vest Pocket question

tyr_shadowblade

tyr_shadowblade

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
12,653
I'm not on any gun forums so I'm hoping I can get an answer here from someone who is very familiar with the workings of the Colt 1908 Vest Pocket .25 pistol.

Question: when the striker is down on an empty chamber, how difficult should it be to rack the slide and recock the striker?

I understand that it should be more difficult than racking the slide when the striker is cocked due to the extra spring pressure, but it seems to take a heck of a lot of force to get it past the sear. After that it works fine -- the slide moves back and forth easily and it fires beautifully without jamming. I oiled the sear spring, striker spring, and recoil spring and it hasn't seemed to have made much of a difference. Is this a common issue with these pistols?

Thanks.
 
It's been twenty years or so since I had one apart. Is it really striker-fired or does it have a concealed hammer like the .32 Pocket Auto? Concealed hammer single actions will exhibit the behaviour you have seen.
 
Question: when the striker is down on an empty chamber, how difficult should it be to rack the slide and recock the striker?
...
Is this a common issue with these pistols?
Click to expand...

It is not overly difficult on mine.
 
I had one apart 6 months or so ago, and to be honest the only thing I remember about them is the trigger. They're not that hard to take apart, just pop the grips off and take the slide off, then flush it with Gun Scubber, could be old grease or someone used WD-40 on it years ago and it's starting to gunk up.
 
I haven't had one in several years, but I think M67 has nailed it. It could just be years of grung and pocket lint mixed with old lube.
 
Well, a week ago I oiled the heck out of all the springs and let it soak in. That seems to have helped quite a bit. Last week when the striker was down I could only pull the slide partway back before it wanted to stop. Now it cocks a lot easier. I was worried something might have been broken and replacement parts are expensive for these things. Thanks.
 
gunsprings.com has a replacement recoil and striker spring kit for 8 bux.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
Well, a week ago I oiled the heck out of all the springs and let it soak in. That seems to have helped quite a bit. Last week when the striker was down I could only pull the slide partway back before it wanted to stop. Now it cocks a lot easier. I was worried something might have been broken and replacement parts are expensive for these things. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Did you dissassemble the pistol or did you just oil what you could see? It sounds like the springs are gunked up, the oiling you gave them is freeing them up enough to work properly. If you didn't do it already, it wouldn't hurt to degrease. There isn't a lot of room in the reciever for everyhting to move, so if you have dirty, gunky, springs with dust and debris all over them, it'll snag and it sounds like there's so much crud it's siezing a bit.

Here's a diagram picture I found of the pistol with all the parts out:



They're small, but they're simple to take down.

Also, I've always treated the 1908 like a 1911 when it comes to oiling. Put a good lube on the rails (Slip 2000, Lucas Oil lube), and put some on the barrel and guide rod. The springs don't need lubed if they're squeaky clean. Maybe lube the side of the sear and the trigger rails if you really want to (but go lightly).

On a side note, I've heard these were far from the perfect pistol. They were known for jamming and not being sound mechanically 100% of the time. This is what I've heard, but I've never fired them and have no personal experience.
 
M67 said:
...On a side note, I've heard these were far from the perfect pistol. They were known for jamming and not being sound mechanically 100% of the time. This is what I've heard, but I've never fired them and have no personal experience.
Click to expand...

I've never heard that. The last one I had looked like a wet cat, but it functioned perfectly and was amazingly accurate if you took your time. As long as the mag and springs are good and you feed it ball ammo it should be 100%. I wouldn't be afraid to carry one.
 
Everything seemed to look fairly clean, but my eyesight isn't the greatest. Sear spring is a leaf rather than coil spring. I recall 2 other guns over the years that seized up, but oiling the mainspring made them work again and they seemed fine after that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top