Posted 9 years ago
were
(229 items)
I have this Colt da 45 and need some information on it's history , age? It says US Army on the butt plate.
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Posted 9 years ago
were
(229 items)
I have this Colt da 45 and need some information on it's history , age? It says US Army on the butt plate.
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Looks like a Colt Model 1909.
Made as a stop gap to replace the .38 revolver. They were only made for a few years as the M1911 Automatic replaced it.
Production numbers are about 20,000. Cannot see markings or serial #s. There are spurious examples as it is a desirable military weapon.
scott
Is this the 1917 Mod. ? When the Colt .45 auto. was adopted by the gov't. the supply was slow coming so Colt & S&W made these .45 acp cal. revolvers to fill the gap. You certainly don't give markings other than "U.S.".
I cannot tell/ don't know the visual difference (or know if there is any) between a M1909/ M1917-- do you buss?
I do know the butt should have the model year on it though!
scott
Mon, me not know ! The diff. is probably to slight to notice from 1 pix. I do know that a lot, if not most, were dumped on the AAC & were being issued to pilots thru WWII. Guess they figured that if a plane went down, why give the enemy the .45 auto. !
My understanding is that the Model 1917 revolver was the same as the 1909 revolver except that it was adapted to fire the .45 ACP round in half moon clips. The original Model 1909 fired the rimmed .45 Long Colt. Looking at the gap at the back of the cylinder, I'm thinking this is the 1917. I stand ready to be corrected.
Blunder, I remember being told that the revolvers went to airmen because the powers that be didn't think .45 ACP brass should be flipping around the inside of the aircraft. I don't know if that's true (or why a pilot would be firing his revolver from an aircraft in flight!). I think most of the 1917s ended up with MPs on stateside duty, soldiers and watchmen guarding facilities in the States, etc.
It's true that it's not good to have things rolling around down there where the rudder bar/pedals, pulleys, cables etc. are & they even made a cage for catching empties from automatics . Of course empty mags. & half moon clips were the same hazard. With WWII & closed cockpits, that reasoning didn't hold up but the policy persisted.