Tweaking his own Colt Model 1900, John Browning coughed up a beefy longslide autoloader in .38 Automatic Colt Pistol, marked “.38 Rimless Smokeless” on the slide, to make sure the cartridge was easily differentiated from something that ran on black powder.
The result was the Colt M1902:
Boom.
More in my column at Guns.com.
This beautiful .38 Colt M1902 military model pistol, serial no. 38109 was formerly the property of one Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, KStJ DL.
Lot 1025 Holts Auction 20th September – F A . Via Invaluable
Complete with a 6-inch barrel it had and a Webley “been left with Doyle’s London solicitors in 1921 when the Firearms Act first became law. It appeared Sir Arthur did not trust the authorities. The pistols were stored in the solicitors safe deposit box and appear to have been forgotten when he died in 1930. It was only when a rationalization of the various deposits was undertaken in 1974 that the weapons were found and sold.”