Colt Camp Perry

Colt Camp Perry
Production information
Country of origin	United States
Manufacturer(s)	Colt
Production began	1926
Production ended	1941
Technical specifications
Weapon type	Pistol
Caliber	.22 Long Rifle
Action	Single action
Barrel length	8.0in (203mm) 10in (254mm)
Feed system	One

The Colt Camp Perry was a target pistol originally manufactured between the World Wars by Colt. The Camp Perry was named for the Camp Perry shooting range in Ohio, US, and was based on the Officer's Model .22 calibre revolver.

History

Colt began advertising the Camp Perry in 1920, although production did not begin until 1926. When it did enter production, the Camp Perry became renowned for its superior accuracy, largely due to the fact that the "flat cylinder" (which replaced the six-shot cylinder of the Officer Model Revolver) lined up with the barrel better than most other competition pistols of the time.

In reality, the Camp Perry never really caught on, despite it's reputation for accuracy amongst competition shooters. Only 2,500 were manufactured over its fifteen year production run (1926-41), with the majority being manufactured during the later years of production (est. 440 between 1938-41). In modern times, Camp Perry's are very valuable among collectors of Colt products or pistols. The Camp Perry marked with the Seriel No. 1, for example, was auctioned in december 2012 at an estimated value of $95,000.

Design Details

The most distinctive feature of the Camp Perry is the "flat cylinder", in which a single.22 Long Rifle cartridge could be loaded. This cylinder was hinged in the manner of a conventional cylinder, although movement was restricted so that the chamber was only just accessible to load the cartridge. A manual ejector rod can be found on the underside of the barrel, which allowed the cartridge to be ejected after firing.

Otherwise, the Camp Perry reflected the revolver upon which it was based, the Officers Model. It fired using a single action mechanism, had an exposed hammer and 10in barrel (later models had eight inch long barrels). The Camp Perry was manufactured from steel, with some blued, some finished in stainless steel, and others engraved, all to order.

Ammunition

The Camp Perry was only manufactured in .22 calibre, accepting the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. The cartridge was loaded into the "flat cylinder", with only one chamber available, for the purpose of competition.

Trivia

• The Camp Perry was also produced in double action format, although the reason behind this is unclear.
  • This was an option that had to be specified by the purchaser, meaning that double action Camp Perrys were (and remain) incredibly rare.
• The Camp Perry was designed for slow shooting target competitions, where the typical competition required ten shots to be fired over ten minutes.