9.8mm COLT AUTOMATIC

Research notes

The experimental Colt Model 1910 pistol was developed by Colt as a possible replacement for the Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer Pistol and the project dates from around 1908 and continued to around 1913. The metric designation in all probability is an indication that it was developed to compete against Fabrique Nationale in Eastern European markets and Eugene Reising, at that stage a Colt employee, demonstrated it in trials held in Romania and it was also shown in Bulgaria and Serbia. An example of a Colt Model 1910 9.8mm Pistol is illustrated and described on pages 472-473 of "U.S. MILITARY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 1894-1920" by Edward S. Meadows. The 9.8mm Experimental Pistol is a scaled down copy of the very rare Colt Model 1910 .45 ACP Pistol. Winchester manufactured several thousand rounds of ammunition for the 9.8mm, probably for the European trials, but there were only five handguns manufactured. The one shown below is the one with serial number 4 that was listed on the 7th of September 2012 in the Rock Island Auction where it was sold for an eye watering $63,250. Most of the cartridges encountered had the single variation WRACO headstamp and the small ‘W’ stamped on the side of the bullet, although there are unheadstamped versions, which would be the earlier ones. These are encountered in dummy versions as well, albeit rarer. Unfortunately, the 9,8mm did not survive. The world was inching closer to the World War 1 and the European nations it was marketed to did not deem in prudent to start production of a brand-new handgun at that stage. (Erlmeier, Brandt Ref. 144).