POTD: The U.S. Colt Match Target Woodsman – A Bullseye Gun in Uniform

Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a bullseye pistol that went off to war. This is a First Series Colt Match Target Woodsman that shipped in November of 1943 as government property.

Colt shut down civilian Woodsman production for the duration, but the Match Target kept rolling because the services wanted them. Something like 3,900 went to the Army and Navy, and the Navy took the bulk. These were never meant to be sidearms. They were teaching tools. A 22 buys you a whole lot of trigger time with a sailor or an aviator for almost no money, indoors, without beating anybody up, and with that heavy slab barrel and adjustable sights nobody could blame the pistol when they missed.

This one moved in a batch of 400 routed through the Army and Navy Consolidating Station in New York and out to the Naval Supply Depot in Oakland. Shipping bullseye guns clear across the country in the middle of a shooting war says something about how seriously the Navy took pistol training, and honestly it makes me think better of them for it.

The Match Target started in 1938 and First Series production wrapped up in 1944, so this one sits near the tail end of the run. A pile of these hit the surplus market after the war, which is how a lot of American shooters ended up with their first real 22 pistol.

Most of our POTDs utilize images from our friends at Rock Island Auction Company, the premier firearms auction in the United States. Take some time to browse their current auctions – who knows, maybe you’ll find a piece of history to take home!

“WWII U.S. Colt First Series Match Target Woodsman with Letter.” Rock Island Auction, www.rockislandauction.com/detail/4097/1268/wwii-us-colt-first-series-match-target-woodsman-with-letter. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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