Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Colt Woodsman ?

I've shot match targets, targets, & sport but can't remember one key thing about them. Do they function well with various brands of ammo? Like their feel & the 4.5" round barrel model would make a nice trail gun, if they aren't ammo finicky.

I've got a couple Hi Standard Supermatics that are wonderfully accurate & easy to shoot well, but only with just a very few brands or types of ammo, & are heavy. My 41 Smiths seem to function with just about anything, but are heavy as well.

For a trail gun nothing much maters over dependability with various brands of ammo. Accuracy only maters if the gun has fed the round in the first place. Do the Colts feed?

mine do........

Gunzo: I have shot Colt models of pre-Woodsman, Targetsman, Huntsman, Woodsman, Aces, Colt 22 and Challengers, amongst all these pistols they have all fed properly and reliably.
I only wish I had never (in the distant past!) sold ANY of the many Colts I owned.
I am down to just a few currently owned pistols of the Colt Woodsman series (and one Pre-Woodsman).
Bottom line is I think they are wonderfully reliable with the better quality hollow-points I have shot through them, over the decades.
By coincidence I bought a mint, as new, in the box, 4 1/2" barreled Colt Woodsman last month over in Ennis, Montana - I paid SO much money for it I would not even consider using it "on the trail".
For a "trail gun" I suggest you look into buying one of the aforementioned (and much less expensive!) "Colt 22" models.
For investment purposes I would then go with a nice condition Colt Woodsman.
Just my opinions - hope it helps.
Best of luck to you with whichever you go with.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I shoot the chit outta my 'investments'.......

Ditto. I do have one specimen, a post-war series 1, which won't cycle 100% with standard velocity ammo. Don't know why, and it frustrated me until I simply stuck with high vel stuff (which it happily shoots more accurately than the slower stuff anyway), and life is good.

Standard barrel shooter grade 3rd models with a few nicks here and there are probably too high simply because they've got a prancing pony on them, but one can be had for a lot less money than a heavy barrel Match Target can. Maybe affected a bit by the gun value slump. That fact is partly what got me looking at them again. The MT never impressed me as target grade when compared with the big Smiths & High Standards. But in the standard weights is when the Colt shines as a field gun IMO.

I have both Colt & Kimber 22 conversions for the 1911, just boxed them up & put 'em on the shelf. Not satisfied there.

I've got a few Ruger MkII's, just can't seem warm up to them. I don't know, just searching for the perfect everyday 22 handgun.

Thanks for the replies.

I've had a few and currently have a 1951 2nd Model "Sport" that is in excellent shape but has been fired some and carried a lot. I have fired about 300 rds of W-W hollowpoints in it (what I use in "carry" .22s) w/out any jams or FTFs. Gave my son a near-new in-the-box 3rd Model "Sport" that I'd shot about as much with the same ammo, plus some other brands of hollowpoints w/no glitches. He hasn't had any either, but I don't know what he feeds his.

It isn't easy to find "shooter grade" Woodsman for a reasonable price, but not impossible either. I live in CA where any Colt is in high demand and the Woodsman family especially because they are all (regardless of date of manufacture) C&R. That means they can be "imported" into CA and sold by dealers just as if we lived in a free state! But you can still find a decent one for around $600 with some lookin' and dickerin'. They are well worth the search.

I shoot "Stingers" and "Velocitors" in my Ruger MKII, but not in the Woodsman. They seem a little hot and might wear the gun faster than I want. Great out of the Ruger w/6" bbl. and my 16" Contender Carbine, tho!

I would have thought that the last few years of Series 3 pistols are still too new to qualify for C&R status.

nope. all....

All models of the Woodsman got "special dispensation" from the ATFE some years ago, so even the latest ones are C&R, Gary. (Apparently they are less of a danger to the Republic than, say, my Ruger .22 auto....).

Bought a Browning Buckmark 22 a couple years ago. Wanted a cheap beater for the truck and it is big enough to require a truck to haul it around. Shoots anything. Nice trigger. Great sight picture. Wish they made same pistol in smaller lighter pocket version. That said, regret selling my Woodsman 22s. My current pocket 22 is a 2" S&W 63.

Citori: Check out a Walther PP in .22 LR. Good balance between size and shoot-ability.

I would be looking at some offerings by Ruger or Browning. If dependability is No1 then you can certainly put more faith in a new gun than one 50 to 70 yrs old. Some of these new models have much better hi-viz sites. If you can't see it you cant hit it. Right?

Just to be a contrarian pain in the Butt. Accuracy does matter and you can clear a jam but you cannot get a POS shot out or abused gun to hit. And rimfire targets of opportunity are often small. Sometimes very small.

As for the ammo. In any hunting gun I own. any type weapon. I select the best performing ammo and stick with it. That might be mini-mags in a tough new gun. If the accuracy was there. If not, I might try some std velocity loads.

That is like telling a guy that likes vintage leever marlin/winchester rifles to buy a frigging BLR, just because it's 'newer'.....

Huh. Well I'llbedamned. Didn't know that.

No it is not, You can still buy NEW 1892, 94 or 86 today What if the the buyer WANTS a 7mm08 lever? Then what do you tell him?

Now is the Op up to replacing all the springs and extractor on a 70 yr old gun?

Naturally all the talking heads do no even mention if the colt has a feed ramp. Does it? No mention. The Hi Standard does not. BTW, HiStd is my all time favorite 22pistol. My best is better than my M41. I do not whitewash the story. There is no feed ramp and magazine tuneup is critical. Also slide spring has to be strong to prevent frame damage. I can deal with it. Well, OK, a colt expert can rebuild, repair and tune up the pistol too. So what is the OP asking? Is the highly popular and most copied 22colt any good? Kinda has to be does it not?

I am under Dr. orders to walk every day. I usually carry a handgun and walk the woods. Once the OP gets beyond the asking stage and starts the walking stage, he will find accuracy is everything.I estimate 99% of all game encounters are decided in the first shot. Or wait a while for another ONE. Success or fail on that first shot. A follow up is typically after enough time to cock reload and involves a walk up closer. The old iron sites can work. Hi viz, can help.

We are answering the wrong question, including me talking about springs or magazines.

Yes

Yes.

Yes. He is asking specifically about Woodsmans. Thanks for being here.