I’m sure there will be some assistance by someone with a reference book handy ( I am 2200 miles from home) but off the top of my head the grips pictured are normal Colt plastic for the less expensive target pistols, the Match Target obviously has aftermarket grips.

 

Mr. Icebear, congrats on a couple of fine S Model Colts! The black plastic thumbrest grips on your 6" Target are proper for the second series Target's as well as the Match Target, 4" or 6". They are a little homely but correct. The entry level Huntsman, offered at the same time, wore black plastic grip panels also, sans the left side thumbrest. The right grip was the same for all models. The right side grip needed a cutout for the magazine release to clear it. Later pistols, with the mag release on the bottom of the grip frame, came with a brownish colored plastic grip set and a more mottled orangeish plastic. Then came the walnut grips in the third series. The walnut grips were often prefered by second series owners but will not fit without some inletting. Thus, a lot of those Woodsman pistols now wear the wrong grips. Your Match Target's grips, while popular in the day, are not correct for its born on date. The composition of the black plastic has turned out to be kinda soft and with time some will warp and look kinda wonky and they wear, mar, and scratch easily. Nice crisp ones are getting scarce but with the condition of your Target being what it is, a scratch or two will blend right in.
I can't recall the makers name of the MT grips right now, but it was common back in the timeframe of the MT's popularity with Bullseye shooters. Nice accurate .22's, that are somewhat unknown and unnoticed today, but with value sneaking right up there they make a smart investment that provides a lot of shooting fun with lower ammo costs. After all, John Browning himself designed them.

 

the wood grips look like a Herrett's type grip,
or maybe Sile,
are they marked on the inside at all??
nice looking, betting they feel good in the hand!

 

I've got the same pistol, but the cheaper Challenger model. Only real difference is the magazine retention. It has a cheaper bottom spring type which I have to adjust as the Numrich replacement didn't fit real well. Someone put a fancy micrometer adjustable rear sight on it - I guess they were after an economy target pistol.

 

Economy target pistol, LOL! I've got a Challanger my pa bought new in '54 and I use it still. Holster wear and a few dents on the bottom of the barrel but still very accurate. A while back I started using CCI Stingers in it and found that ammo to be super accurate. That goes against everything I've ever read or heard about using that stuff. Also zero wear/damage to the slide stop or any other part of that S Model for that matter. Would like to see your 'fancy micrometer rear sight'. Interesting....

 

Sold one 1960s adj.. back sight...shot great..after I picked up match target.
It looks great..

 

I think the wood grips might be Sile also. Look for an ink stamped number on the inside of the grip. I had a pair on my prewar Woodsman for awhile. It did help hold it steady in off-hand shooting which was great because it has a slim barrel. I took them off and put the factory flat checkered grips back on because it didn't fit in my holster very well. That was about 1965 or so. I had inherited the pistol from a great uncle in 1962. I still have it but haven't shot it in years. It has the early "thumb print" main spring housing that's not compatible with modern high velocity ammo like the Stinger. I've only shot standard velocity long rifle cartridges in it.
Regards
Dan

 

Icebear, the opinions posted say enough, I only want to add that the grips on your Match Target are excellent and facilitate the precision on a pistol that, IMO, is one of the best 22s ever produced.More than 20 yrs ago I got the same grips at a gun show, and installed them in my 1951 MT, the combination is perfect, about the gun I can only praise it, I always say that if my house were in flames the only gun I would try to save is my Colt MT, cant be precise but my MT must have in excess of 300,000 rounds with one change of firing pin.
One last piece of advise , you have in both guns the Coltmaster adjustable rear sight, its a perfect item, height correction is easy and you cant go wrong, but windage is tricky and the sight , due to its age, shouldnt be "frozen" in its place, before doing anything first spray it with something that
will free any old lubricant, I say this because the windage mechanism is not strong and when you force it it will break and that rear sight is impo$$$ible to get-my 2cts-

 

I agree I put kerosine on mine days before going to range...to break down harden grease, oil that varnished out in to hardness in the sights adj. my thing the heavier match target spoiled me....so let the other woodsman go $730 it was not heavy enough... bounced when shot....match target stayed put in my sight plane....><> Dan colt Ace 1911 (60s) I had wouldn't shoot with these...

 

+++1 what raul said. Sight is made of a rare form of unobtainium and verrrry rarely are found. I paid $450 for a complete slide from a "Firearms Parts Recycler" and felt I got a screaming deal. Be careful.

 

Raul, DK and Highrider:
Thanks for the information on the rear sights. I'll drip a little Kroil on both of mine, just in case. Probably should do the same for my assorted High Standards, and for that matter any and all older handguns with adjustable sights.

 

Good idea, though High Standards have a simpler rear sight and in my experience stronger that the Coltmaster, an a much easier to get on the market.

 

I noticed something important when I went to put penetrating oil on the sight adjustment screws on my Woodsman pistols. There is a very small set screw on the back of the slide that locks the rear sight in place. To adjust the windage, you must first loosen the lock screw to allow the sight to move. The entire Coltmaster sight moves to adjust windage, rather than just a slide as on most sights. Any attempt to adjust windage without loosening the lock screw is likely to result in a broken or stripped adjustment screw. I Googled around for information on this and found that apparently some early models did not have this lock screw, but the newer ones do. So, I put some Kroil on the lock screws as well as the adjustment screws. I have not yet attempted to move the adjustments, as I like to let the Kroil sit overnight before attempting to loosen the part I've put it on. There is no visible rust around the rear sight on either gun and I have no reason to believe the screws are frozen, but I'm playing it safe with a pair of fairly valuable 65-year-old guns.

The sights on both my High Standards move just fine. I got the Field King quite recently and the previous owner had adjusted the rear sights way out of normal - I don't know if the guy had a problem with the way he held the gun, or if maybe somebody worked on the sight and didn't put the adjustment back, but it was about a foot off at 10 yards. Set the sight back to center and it shot fine. I like the Field King just as well as the Woodsman, really - it has a heavier barrel and a compensator and is just as accurate, if not more so. One of these days I'm going to get either a Space Gun or the Supermatic with the fluted barrel and bridge sight. I see them occasionally at gun shows but the prices for those two models tend toward the stratospheric.

Don't get me wrong - I love shooting my High Standards but the Colt is the ultimate classic in a .22 semiauto pistol.

 

I have a few Colts ,among them a couple of Match Target; you have , as I do,that unique and extaordinary wooden grips on your MT, my second MT has the factory grips
and for it I bought ,decades ago, the "Bakelite Grip Adapter Colt", its a kind of wedge that screws on the backstrap (most of the MT's come threaded on the lower part of the backstrap)
and the grip changes increasing exponentially the precision,I recommend that item because its phenomenal.
Lastly, in both of my MT's there is no locking screw behind the rear sight.

 

Which series are your Match Targets without the lock screw for the rear sight? Both my guns are second series - one built in 1951 and the other in 1952. Both have the screw.

 

Thanks again Raul for pointing out the fragility of the Coltmaster rear sight. After oiling both of mine, the Match Target turned out to be in perfect shape; all the screws turned freely. The lock screw on the Target was very tight, but after a couple of soakings in Kroil I was able to remove it and clean it up. The sight adjustment screws are fine, no problem.

Also, after more Internet research, I may have identified the wood grips on the Match Target. They look a lot like grips made by Lew Sanderson. Not as well known as Herrett or Sile, Sanderson was and is considered a high-quality maker. I'm not dead sure but the design and checkering pattern look a lot like some online photos I found. There's no maker's mark inside the grips.

 

In my MTs there is no locking screw that secures the side adjustment of the rear sight, the oldest IIR is from 1952