Colt's 'New Service'...

[St. George]

This appears in the 'Historical Society Forum'.

St. George's Notes XXXV - The Colt New Service...
 

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One thing about folks in the Old West - they weren't afraid of innovation and new things, when it came to firearms.

One of the 'new things' was the Colt 'New Service' revolver that came about in November, 1898 - though you'll see 'Aug. 5, 1884' on the barrel.

That refers to the Carl J. Ehbets patent covering the swingout cylinder.

Standard barrel length is 7 1/2", though 4 1/2" and 5 1/2" are common as are lanyard loops.

It's a large-frame double action, built for large-caliber ammunition, and is 'legal in NCOWS.

Here's a synopsis:

Old Model - 1898-1909 - standard frame - #0 - 21,000

Target Model - 1900-1909

1909 Transition Model - standard and Target - #21,000 - 23,000

Improved Model, standard and Target - 1909-1917 - #23,000-143,000

1909 U.S. Military/1914 British Military - 1914-1917 - #65,000-139,000

1917 U.S. Army - 1917-1919 - #150,000-305,000

Improved Model - standard and Target - 1919-1928 - #303,000-328,000

Late Model - standard and Target - 1928 - End of Production - #328,000 - 356,914

(Sutherland - 'The Book of Colt Firearms'; Graham, Kopec and Moore - 'A Study of the Colt Single Action Army'; Serven - 'Colt Firearms')

This is a 'large' revolver - like the old Model 1878 - and it's doubtful if many saw a lot of holster use as opposed to saddlebag use, since the need to repel attackers was less prevalent by their time of introduction, though activities remained 'sudden' along the Mexican Border.

It was a powerful piece - chambered in .476 Eley, 455 Eley, .450 Eley, .45 Colt, .44-40, .44 Russian and .38-40.

A look at the 'Blue Book' and on the various auction sites will show prices all over the range - so condition is paramount.

If it's parkerized - it's a WWII-refinished piece - if it's 'brush blue - it's a WWI piece, since the military's demands weren't as stringent as those of the civilian purchaser's and a non-reflective surface was pretty desireable.

Other finishes were Colt's commercial blue in use at the time, with a few in nickel, and those early blued guns are quite beautiful, featuring fire-blued screws, hammer and trigger.

Regrettably - that wasn't always a truly durable finish and could be prone to flaking - ala' that od the various .38 D.A. Models 1892, '94, '96, '01 and '03 - resulting in Government refinishes and upgrades.

Though double-action - it has a long, hard trigger pull - and that's with a fitted action, so the hand span needed leaves smaller-sized shooters at a disadvantage, unless it's thumb-cocked.

Do you need one?

Hard to say - but the Old Model was used during the waning days of the Frontier, and the Model 1909 saw active service before we selected the M1911,  and it carried on long after as a powerful revolver for an outdoorsman's use.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[minerotago]

I knew of a bloke who had one in .455. The front sight of these are pretty high and so when it shot 2 inches low at twelve feet he decided to file the front sight down a little to bring the line of sight into line with where the bullet struck so he happily set to with a file. When he had decided that everything might be just right to hit the bulls eye dead centre at 20 yards he took it outside for the first trial shot. He sure didnt need to file anymore off because he now had a problem with shooting a foot high at the 20 yards - he had filed far too much off!

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

When the Imperial government invited canada to participate in the Boer war, the Firtst contingent sailed to South Africa with the Colt New Service model of 1878 left over from the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.  Hasty plans were made to obtain new sidearms for subsequent contingents. 

Accordingly 943 Colt New Service revolvers in .45 were ordered from Lewis Bros. & Co. in Montreal, along with 45,000 rounds of ammunition.  This was Colts largest order until the start of The Great War.  Other units like my son's regiment, Lord Strathcona's Horse, presently an armoured regiment in Canada's regular force, were Imperial regiments and the War Office was responsible for their equipment.  The strathcona' were funded by Lord Strathcona, one of the main financiers of the Canadian Pacific Railroad,  For the regimental centenary in 2001, my son tried to identify the 600 revolvers purchased for the "Straths", but was unable to discover whether they were 1878s or the newer model.  The commanding officer was Sam Steele, and he personally carried a 1896 Mauser, and later attempted to have that pistol adopted by the NWMP.

The NWMP/ RNWMP adopted the Colt New Service revolver in 1904, when 700 of them were taken into service.  Issues were complete by 1906.  At the same time, Sam Browne pattern equipment was adopted.  A later purchase was in .45 Colt for issue to divisions East of Winnepeg

In sevice for 49 years, the Colt New Service was the longest serving sidearm of the force.

Due to a lack of the new stamp, the first lot were stamped NWMP on the rear grip strap.  Until 1920 they were stamped RNWMP, and after that RCMP.  still later the stamp was shortened to MP