Ideal value of Colt .22 caliber Long Rifle

Question
Hello Mr. Doug my name is Christina and I recently was given a Colt .22 caliber long rifle Woodsman Hartford, Ct. handgun and was trying to figure out an ideal value of it! The serial # is 11950-6. I know that you can't give me an exact value without visually inspecting it, but it would be neat to know a little history about it!! Thank you so much for you time....Have a wonderful day! :)

Answer
Christina,

Check the serial number to insure that you have it right.  All the Colt Woodsman pistol serial numbers since 1947 ended in a "-S".  Could the "6" you reference in your question be an "S"?  SInce I will assume that it is, the gun you have was made in 1948.  

The Colt Woodsman has been a very popular design which was manufactured by Colt between 1915 and 1977 when production of the model ended.  It was produced in three different series.  The first series was 1915 to 1947, the second series was from 1947 to 1955 and the third series was from 1955 to 1977.

Each series had a Sport Model with a 4-1/2 inch round barrel, a Target Model with a 6 or 6-5/8 inch round barrel, and a Match Target Model with a heavy, flat sided barrel. For the first series Match Target that flat sided barrel was 6-5/8 inches in length, while in the post war versions it was either 4-1/2 or 6 inches.

There were also three very similar economy models during the post war years only: the Challenger, the Huntsman, and the Targetsman.

The following checklist will help you determine which version you have:

If it is marked Challenger, it is a second series.
If it has a push button magazine release just behind the trigger guard, it is a second series.
If it is marked Huntsman or Targetsman, it is a third series.
If the magazine release is at the heel of the butt, AND the pistol has an S at the end of the serial number, it is a third series.

I'm pretty sure that yours is a second series, but the list above will help you confirm that.

Depending on the condition, if is is a second series, it might be worth between $300 and $400.  These are very popular with a lot of folks that want to own a little piece of Colt history as they are more affordable that the larger caliber Colts out there on the market.

Hope this gives you a little background and helps you out...

Regards,

Doug Little