Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Master of Bullets: The Colt Shooting Master 38spl

Recently acquired this wonderful 1934 vintage Colt Shooting Master in 38spl. Make no mistake, this is a big 38! Noticeably larger than my S&W Heavy Duty but still very finely balanced.

The Colt Shooting Master revolvers were made in the 1920s through the mid-1930s for formal bullseye competition. They were made on Colt's New Service frame with the grip slimmed down both fore and aft, and tapered toward the bottom. The front strap and backstrap were both checkered, as was the trigger face. Actions were "hand honed," and, on my sample, this translates to a super smooth trigger pull free of the "two-stage" feel so common with un-tuned Colt double actions.

The barrel is 6" long and tapers quickly. The front sight is adjustable for elevation and the rear sight adjusts for windage. This particular gun was fitted with a Pachmayr grip adapter at some point, which makes the gun much easier to handle. For someone with much larger hands, the adapter would be unnecessary.

The Shooting Master was a contemporary of the match target revolvers, later to become the Officer's Model Match. I have a 50s vintage Colt Officer's Model Match and it is excellent, though not nearly as refined as the Shooting Master.

Shooting Masters are somewhat hard to come by. This is only the second one I have seen locally, and when I saw it I didn't hesitate

Range trip coming soon, have some vintage Winchester Match Target ammunition (148gr wadcutter) salted away for just this sort of occasion.



Checkered backstrap:



Elevation adjustable front sight:

That's definitely a nice one. I saw one a few years ago for $1100 with a little blue wear, and wanted it but could not swing it. There were very carefully made, maybe as well so as the Registered Magnums. I've seen a couple recently but they were much more.

Very nice score.