1908 Colt .380 Pocket Hammerless Pistol

The 1908 Colt .380

Gun collectors would commonly refer to these as "safe queens" because they would spend most of their time in the safe. You wouldn't fire these guns or routinely carry them. These were the last guns that I owned that stayed in the safe all of the time.

The Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless is a .380 variant of the 1903 .32 caliber gun introduced five years earlier. This was the gun that introduced the .380 ACP pistol cartridge (designed by John Browning), still popular more than 100 years later. ACP is an acronym for Automatic Colt Pistol. The .380 ACP is also known as the 9mm Short. The name "Pocket Hammerless" is misleading in that the gun is not truly hammerless, but features a concealed hammer to prevent snagging on clothing.

Serial Number Table

Year of DOM	Begin Serial Number	End Serial Number	Yearly Prod. Totals
1908	1	2299	2,299
1909	2300	4349	2,050
1910	4350	6899	2,450
1911	6900	9499	2,600
1912	9500	12699	3,200
1913	12700	16499	3,700
1914	16500	20999	4,500
1915	21000	27499	6,500
1916	27500	30899	3,400
1917	30900	32999	2,100
1918	33000	33499	500
1919	33500	33999	500
1920	34000	39999	5,000
1921	40000	52999	13,000
1922	53000	60999	8,000
1923	61000	69499	8,500
1924	69500	71999	2,500
1925	72000	77499	5,500
1926	77500	84999	7,500
1927	85000	85999	1,000
1928	86000	94999	9,000
1929	95000	99999	5,000
1930	100000	104999	5,000
1931	105000	108999	4,000
1932	109000	111999	2,000
1933	112000	113999	2,000
1934	114000	115999	2,000
1935	116000	118999	3,000
1936	119000	122999	4,000
1937	123000	127999	5,000
1938	128000	128999	1,000
1939	129000	131999	2,000
1940	132000	132599	600
1941	132600	132600	1
		Total	129,400

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Specifications and Features Include

ACP is an acronym for Automatic Colt Pistol. The .380 ACP is also known as the 9mm Short. The name "Pocket Hammerless" is misleading in that the gun is not truly hammerless, but features a concealed hammer to prevent snagging on clothing.