A question for the SERIOUS Colt collectors
I am looking to buy a Colt Camp Perry .22, a rare single shot revolver. It was manufactured with 8" and 10" barrels. The Blue Book of Gun Values says "add 25% for 8" barrel. The "2005 Standard Catalog of Firearms" (Gun Digest books) says "add 100% premium for 10" barrel" Obviously, one of these sources is wrong! Colt wants to charge for production numbers information, which I may end up doing. But first I thought I woul try the "experts" to see if anyone knows which is the rarer of the 2 barrel configurations....(possibly in an older Colt book by R. L. Wilson?) This is a tough one, I know, so much thanks in advance for any info
Marv
Marv
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I can only tell you what Flayderman has in his "Guide". 2,525 total production, ( both barrel lengths between 1920 & 1941 ). He values both barrel lengths equally, between $450 & $1,100 depending on condition. 
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Marv,
I'm certainly no expert by any stretch of the imagination,but here's what the Gun Traders Guide (2003) has to say;
Camp Perry Model Single-
Shot Pistol,First issue.............NiB $1619 Ex $1295 Gd $881
Built on Officer's Model frame.Caliber;.22 LR(embedded head
chamber for high-speed cartridges after 1930).10-inch bbl.,13.75
inches overal.Weight; 34.5 oz.Adj. target sights.Hand-finished
action.Blued finish.Checkered walnut grips.Made 1926-34
.....................................................................
Camp Perry Model
Second Issue.......................NiB $1400 Ex $1150 Gd $800
Same general specifications as First Issue except has shorter hammer
fall and 8-inch bbl.,12 inches overall.Weight: 34 oz.Made 1934-41.
(About 440 produced.
Hope this helps,
BW
IT'S WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEMSELVES THAT MAKES THEM AFRAID.0 -
This is not too tough, as the Camp Perry is farily well doucmented in Wilson/Sutherland's "The Book of Colt Firearms." I also have considerable personal experience with these guns.
According to Wilson/Sutherland, total Camp Perry production was actually 2488. Serial numbers 1 through 63 were experimentals, and production of the 10-inch actually began in 1926 at 101. In 1934 the barrel length was reduced to 8-inches. According to the serial number chart in Wilson/Sutherland, the serial range began in 1934 at 2150 and in 1935 at 2190. That means the 8-inch MAY have begun somewhere in that 40 pistols. (Not necessarily as I shall explain.) The last serial number in 1941 was 2525, so the maximum number of 10-inch guns could be about 2090, and the maximum number of 8-inch guns could be about 375, IF the charts are right.
I think comparing those two probable produciton figures should tell you that the Standard Catalog and Gun Trade Guide are WAY off! (Backwards I would say. I find the Standard Catalog and Gun Traders Guide next to worthless. The Blue Book is not a lot better for some Colts either.) I actually believe there are more than 375 8-inch CP pistols. About 500 is an often accepted figure, but that may also be low as I shall further explain.
One of the reasons I question the serial number charts (which are intended as guides only) and question the accepted wisdom is that my 8-inch CP has an 18XX serial number and was shipped as a single gun shipment on December 12, 1934 to Keokuck (the letter says Keokick), Iowa. (I bought it about 50 years later in nearby Davenport, Iowa. It did not get far from "home.") If my 8-inch CP is the first 8-inch and all thereafter were 8-inch guns, that could mean as many as 650 to 675 8-inch guns. My guess is that, typical of Colt, the serial numbers will not be shipped in sequence, and you would find 10-inch guns well into the supposed 8-inch serial number range, and 8-inch guns well back into the supposed 10-inch range, such as mine. Based on Colt production techniques, such wide variations are probably even more common with such low production. I believe that is why 500 is the often accepted 8-inch production figure.
Whether it is 375, 500 or 675, that is not a lot of guns to survive 3/4 of a century. Any gun with production under 1000 is rare by my standards. (The 2488 total produciton is rare by my standards.)
I assume you know that the 8-inch guns have the short action for quicker hammer fall. The hammer is only about half way back when fully cocked. The 10-inch guns have the same long hammer fall as any of the E and I-frame revolvers.
I would suggest a factory letter for any CP that you buy. (The guns are certainly valuable enough to justify the $100 cost.) Without a letter on my 8-inch, I would not have known where it was first sold, and how close to "home" it still was half a century later. For what it is worth, my 10-inch in the 6XX range was shipped March 5, 1927 as a single gun shipment to Saint Louis, Missouri. 1927 was the highest production year, with about 750 (according to the charts) being made that year. In the last years, production was about 50 pistols per year.
Good luck in your search. If you get one, you will enjoy the questions about how the "cylinder" works, being flat and all! I always answer "Fine!" and then, after the puzzled look continues for a while, explain and demonstrate how the "cylinder" is really the breech block connected to the barrel, and how the whole barrel and "cylinder" swing out to the left side for loading, just like a revolver cylinder.
I hope I have provided some useful information on these unique pistols. If I may be of further assistance, please contact me.0 -
'Any gun with production under 1000 is rare by my standards." COME ON, EVERY BODY HERE KNOWS THAT ANY PRODUCTION UNDER 10,000,000 IS "RARE", "VERY RARE" IS ANY THING LESS THAN 5,000,000. 0
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