Colt M1900.
Thinking about the person of John Moses Browning, the image of Colt M1911 - a known forty -five is touched in front of our eyes, which is his most famous and probably the most successful work.
However, not everyone knows, that Mr. Browning did not develop only one self -tribute pistol, and even more so he did not develop only one firearm.
He dealt with different weapons - short, long, machine, self -tribute, He had many ideas, And the fruit of one of them is the topic of today's article containing a description and summarized model history 1900 - one of the predecessors of Colt M1911.
Browning began work on the construction of self -automatic and automatic weapons in the years 90 19th century. When the CKM Colt Model entered the production 1895 focused more on the development of a short weapon structure. W 1895 year tested the first gun, which worked on the basis of the drainage of powder gases, The construction was not particularly successful, However, a year later, Browning started testing a new prototype based on the principle of short recovery of the barrel.
The prototype was presented to a representative of Colt, who bought the license for this pistol.
General Daniel in. Flagler - the head of the US Army Service agreed, for which Colt sought.
The trial commission recognized Browning's structure as promising and innovative, but still requiring refinement. At that time, the searches for the successor of the M1892 revolver (Colt New Army DA). W 1899 another series of tests began. In addition to revolvers, the Mauser C/96 pistols were also tested, Mannlicher M1894 and an improved Colt M1898 prototype. COLTA M1898 was considered the best construction, But the military demanded to conduct life attempts.
19 February 1900 the first endurance attempts took place ? They were delayed with them so long, Because access to ammunition .38 ACP, which was produced in a small circulation was difficult, The first test was to launch 900 Carboners by series after 50, with a break for cooling after each series.
The next tests were carried out 22 mark.
When giving up more 900 The shots broke the axis of the rear connector connecting the barrel with the skeleton and the barrel was damaged.
Repair was made and the tests were continued.
When the next one was launched 558 the bullets again broke the axis of the rear connector, and then the front axle. One pistol was handed over 5800 shots, and the commission's report assumed, that the pistol would probably stand the other so much.
A simple and reliable construction was appreciated, not very susceptible to external factors such as weather conditions, kurz, mud and similar. The undoubted advantage was simple operation and decent rate. Colt M1900 was a self -tributary weapon.
Principle of action based on a short barrel jet.
Castle locked with three bolts, unlocking by lowering the barrel. He shot a cartridge .38 ACP.
Trigger mechanism without self -control with a chopped shuttle mechanism. Outer cock. An interesting solution played the role of the fuse, namely the basis of the bow tie, which, after leaving, blocked the needle (The last copies did not have any fuse). To protect the gun, it was required to pull the tap and press the bow tie ? Then you could leave the tap. Colt M1900 was powered by a replaceable one, single -row box magazine with a capacity 7 cartridge, placed in the grip. Magazine hook in the lower part of the grip.
Basic technical data:
Kaliber 9mm
Cartridge .38 ACP (9 × 23 mm SR)
Single -row box magazine, na 7 pieces of ammunition.
Total length 228,6 mm
Barrel 152,4 mm
Weapon mass 0,992 kg.
Now maybe a small summary of what exactly 1900 it is - this is such a genesis of self -tributant short weapons, without which we could not enjoy the next models of Browning pistols. He is far from perfection, But at the beginning of the 20th century it was an innovation.
