1st Year 3-Digit Colt Commercial ACE .22 LR Semi-Automatic Pistol, 1931 C&R

Sold for $7527.30

This is a very early Colt Commercial Ace. The development of the Ace began in 1915 as Colt attempted to create a .22 caliber pistol based on the 1911 Government model design. The first Ace was assembled in December, 1930 with regular production beginning in April, 1931. Fewer than 11,000 were made through 1941, including those assembled from parts on hand in 1947. While the intent was to produce a .22 version of the Government model, the Ace has a 1/4? shorter barrel, functions as a blowback rather than tilt-barrel and has significantly less recoil than the Government model, as compared with the later Service model Ace.

This is a particularly early example, serial 266, from the first year of production. The pistol retains the vast majority of its original finish as well as a serial-matching slide, making it one of the more desirable examples around. Between the scarcity of the pre-War Ace pistols, this example’s three-digit serial number and high condition, this will take a prized place in even advanced Colt or rimfire collections. If you can bring yourself to shoot it, it should also still prove a quality target pistol.