Colt Martial Handguns

Just this morning I read Colt Defense LLC is getting an order from the US Marine Corps for new 1911 .45 pistols. Funny how things change: Colt getting an order now is news, where for nearly a century and a half the word “Colt” was almost (but not totally) synonymous with American military handguns.

The following is a quick list of Colt handguns carried into combat by American servicemen. In the beginning there were cap and ball revolvers: .44 Walkers, three variations of .44 Dragoons, Model 1860 .44s and both versions of “Navy Colt .36s” which collectors call Models 1851 and 1861. Next adopted were cartridge firing single actions such as Colt’s .44 Richard’s Conversion, the ever-famous Colt Single Action Army .45. Then starting in 1892 and running to 1909 the lamentable double action .38 Colts were adopted by the US Army, Marine Corps and Navy.

Although it was a sure bet all American military forces would transition to a self-loading pistol in the early part of the 20th century, twice the US Government had to turn to Colt for stop-gap revolvers. The first time resulted in the Model 1909 .45 Colt. The government even devised a refined .45 Colt cartridge with much wider rim than used in the SAA so the ‘09’s star-type extractor would function flawlessly.

In 1917 President Woodrow Wilson decided to stick America’s nose in Europe’s horrendous war. Not nearly enough Colt Model 1911 pistols existed to equip the rapid buildup of troops. This time Colt was prevailed upon to use little spring steel “half-moon” clips devised by some bright light at Smith & Wesson so that rimless .45 Auto rounds would function in double action revolvers. This resulted in the Colt Model 1917 revolver, again based on the New Service double action. In just a couple of years the government bought over 150,000 Model 1917s from Colt.

The 1911

Model 1911 was of course Colt’s biggest contribution ever to America’s military forces. It was carried as the official sidearm by marines, GIs and sailors for almost 75 years. Of course it must be stressed not all 1911s were produced in the Colt factory. They were also made by a myriad of manufacturers during wartime emergencies. Regardless, the John Browning designed Model 1911 was Colt’s baby.

It’s doubtful if an exact figure can be ascertained as to precisely how many Model 1911s and 1911A1s Colt sold to the government between 1912, when the first were delivered, and 1945 when the last were sent to them. About 1926, at serial number 700,000, the A1 designation was added to the model number when some minor changes were made. In my collection is a Colt made Model 1911A1 made in 1944. Its serial number is up in the 1,600,000 range. According to various sources the last 1911s bought by the government had numbers higher than 2,600,000. But remember, not all of those .45s were made by Colt.

Nor was the Model 1911 the only Colt autoloading pistol bought by the US Government. For many decades it was the habit of our armed forces when an officer was promoted to general rank he had his choice of a Colt Model 1903 .32 Auto or Colt Model 1908 .380 Auto. I wonder if admirals got the same courtesy? Never did I dream of owning one of those, but at least I got to fire one that had been issued to a friend’s father.

This subject of just how many Colt handguns have been purchased by the US Government is fascinating. News reports say the new contract calls for 12,000 pistols. Back in 1847 when the government contracted with Samuel Colt for .44-caliber cap-and- ball revolvers it was for a mere 1,000. Although, the Single Action Army was standard issue for US Army cavalry troops for just shy of 20 years, only about 37,000 were purchased. Compared to that, between the US Navy, Army and Marine Corps about 20,000 Model 1909 revolvers were obtained from Colt, despite its official length of service of only 2 years.

A Million Bucks?

Here’s something else fascinating about Colt revolvers bought by the US Government — their collector prices today. A nice condition Colt .44 Walker is probably worth a million bucks because only about 100 are known to still exist. Conversely one of the Model 1892 to Model 1905 Colt .38s sells for as little as a couple to three hundred dollars. They weren’t held in high esteem in their service days and that stink still seems to be attached to them. Even a decent condition Colt Model 1911 sells for about 10 times more, even though a huge number were manufactured.

If not for replicas it’s likely most of us would never be able to experience firing many types of Colt martial handguns. I was offered a genuine Colt “cavalry” Single Action Army a couple years back at the very reasonable price of $7,000. I turned it down because I’m a shooter first and firing that thing might damage it. Instead I’ve bought a brace of the Colt Peacemaker Centennial .45s. They were made identical to 1870s vintage US Colts, and I can shoot them till contentment with little danger of ruining my investment. Added to them also has been a US Firearms Custer Battlefield .45 that, so far, has never been shot with anything but black powder handloads.

I have originals or replicas of all the Colt military handguns except the despised .38 double actions, and I did own one of them for several years. I don’t have a general officers pistol either but shooting one did spur me to buy an ordinary Colt 1903 .32 and a Colt 1908 .380. So at least I’ve got some idea as to what it’s like to shoot each type. They started out powerful, got progressively weaker and then got powerful again. That’s sort of like what’s happening again — .45 down to 9mm and now up to .45 again.

Colt Single Action Army .45s were not near as powerful as legends have them. The military never adopted a 40-gr. black powder charge as is often written. They used a 30-gr. charge from the beginning. That produced about 750 fps with a 250-gr. bullet. A box of Government 1909 smokeless .45 Colt loads in my collection says it’s rated at 725 fps with a 250-gr. bullet. Therefore it was a step up in 1911 when they settled on 830 fps with a 230-gr. roundnose full-metal-jacketed bullet.

For over a century and a half the Colt factories (under one name or another) sold millions of handguns to the US Government. It’s good to see them getting back in the saddle again.

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