Timber cruising is basically going through different areas of the woods that are squared off and taking samples of the various types of trees in that area. Then estimates are made of how much of each kind of wood is in any given area. This is a very rough description. I'm not as good at describing it as my Dad is as he used to timber cruise with my Grandfather when he was a young man.
But this required travelling all over the state of Maine and camping out for weeks at a time. Maine's forests are vast to say the least so he was in the middle of nowhere for weeks at a time. A good revolver was a necessity and I'm sure his purchase was very well thought out. I believe he sold a Single Action Army to help pay for it.
I've read many of his diary entries from 1928. It's amazing how many miles he would travel in any given week. They also would go by canoe in a lot of the remote areas. And remember, the roads weren't exactly super highways in 1928!
Thanks for your interest. It's fun to share this stuff.

Thanks to you and all the others that shared their guns and information. Big old gold star for Wyatt Burp for starting the thread. I've really enjoyed it.

Charles

I only have a couple of New Service Colts; both militaries. The first is a 1909, made in 1910. The second is a 1917, made in late 1917. It has the bored-through chambers, requiring the use of moon clips.





For more information on these and other .45 U.S. handguns, you might want to check my article in the 2003 Gun Digest on service .45s of the 20th Century.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

.45 Long Colt.

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

I aquired a 1917 Colt in a trade from a friend who had it rebuilt: ie. new barrel, reblued and timed. In the rebuild the gunsmith replaced the main spring and others inside with springs from a Python. It made a world of difference in the trigger pull. He warned that it might cause light hammer strikes but I have not had any FTF and it is a joy to shoot.

If you don't want to go that route or the expense invest in a therapy ball (I don't know it's correct name) that is used to strengthen the grip and fingers.

The New Service sucks get rid of them (send them to me for disposal...especially the 4 inchers and the Fitz specials) Really they are a great gun for shooting or field carry. All the ones I have had experience with (a few 44 Specials and .45) have all been superb. Sad that Colt offers no DA revolver, they could give the IL Smiths a run for their money pretty easily.

Here's the ultimate in New Service Colts. These are original Fitz Specials that I googled for a reference on real guns converted by Fitz at Colt.

Fantastic revolver colt

A New Service 45 Colt shipped to RCMP October 24, 1940 in next to last shipment as I remember. RCMP # 2559

Only have two , so far.

An original blue US 1917 that I bought at a yard sale for $325. It looked like this.



Found some grips , lanyard and loop , so now it looks like this.



And a rough and reblued on the outside , but prime on the inside 1918 vintage .455 Eley with some markings I need more info on. BTW , the grips are probably worth the $200 I paid at auction!



Since my interests are in US military arms , a 1909 is next on the list.

This was originally .455 Ely, re-chambered to .45 Colt. Made in 1916. It's my favorite of my collection.

I went to my local P&G to look at the model 1 1/2 I posted in the antique section. I left with this New Service.

It is a .45 Colt, the barrel measures just shy of 4 1/2" from the cylinder face. The rampant colt and the barrel markings are crisp. Serial number is: 3255xx. I believe that is 1926 production. The grips are, I believe, real mother of pearl. They have a good heft and don't seem to be any sort of plastic. I am going to replace the grips with some nice wooden checkered grips. I am not a fan of the pearls.
Dave

I think they are really cool, particuarly with Bbl.s cut to snub length. But the frame size is waaay too big for my hands.

Here is mine. Herrett grips and Duracoated. Originally chambered in 455 Ely and was converted to 45 Colt. I love this gun and it shoots like a dream.

Not a New Service, but recently purchased an Official Police in .38 Special on a whim. The trigger is like buttah. Serial # 539692 which, according to the Proofhouse, equals 1928. Has a rounded cylinder release.

Since Babalooie snuck in an Official Police I will add mine.

Four inch made about 1958 NIB when I bought it, with the box.

Five inch and a six inch.

The Official Police(s) are robust .38 Specials. Built on the same frame as the Python and of similar size to the S&W L-Frames. They supposedly can handle the .38-44 factory loads according to older Colt literature. I load them with 158 grain lead SWCs to about 1,000 fps. No pressure signs.

Attached Images

	Official Police 4 inch Flash.jpg (57.2 KB, 60 views)
	Official Police 5 inch 2.jpg (66.1 KB, 54 views)
	Official Police 6 inch 3.jpg (80.1 KB, 56 views)

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

1917 U.S. Property .45...pictured earlier in the thread but with new grips now.

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C & L

1920, .45 Colt, 7-1/2" barrel.
Don

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OGCA Life
NRA Life

Very, very, very nice.

My LGS has a lend/lease on consignment. It has some Brit marks on it. The .455 (something) has been partially erased and .45AR marked for caliber.

I was tempted. The finish is pretty darn posh for a .mil weapon. Lockup is rock solid. What put me off was the timing. The cylinder doesn't lock until the hammer is all the way cocked. Is this normal for Colt?

The Colt has a 2 stage hand to rotate the cylinder into lock up and it doesn't acheive full lock up until the trigger is pulled. This is because the hand stay IN contact with the ratchet during firing. Check it on all 6 chambers both fully cocked and then also with the trigger pulled all the way back.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

The finish is pretty darn posh because it was made to Colt's commercial standards and it WAS NOT a Lend Lease gun. Lend-Lease was a WW II project. Some were sold to Britain for general issue, but many were privately purchased by officers. I've seen them with names and regiments marked on them. S&W's equivalent Triple Lock and MK II .455's also had commercial finishes.

The Colt timing is as you and Joni Lynn described. But it wears sooner than the systems used by Ruger and S&W, and a famous pistolsmith once told a friend of mine that he could hand tune a Python, and it'd be out of time again within as soon as 500 shots! Most aren't that bad, but it makes the point.

The larger ones are said to hold their timing longer than the small ones, like the Detective Special.

The system is flawed, and Colt should have fixed it far sooner than they did, with the MK III, in 1969.

Today, many gunsmiths won't/can't even tune older Colts, and if they do, it costs real money. If you want a shooter, get a Ruger or S&W.

But those old Colts were beautifully made, and otherwise pretty rugged. I've owned some and liked them. I just couldn't handle the timing issue, and many need to have the barrels turned slightly to align the sights. The late Col. Chas. Askins told me that when he ordered Colts for the USBP in the late 1930's, he had to re-sight almost all, and they were New Service .38 Specials.

I asked why he didn't just order M&P's, which would also be lighter to carry. He said that the Colt reps were nice guys, and those from S&W were snobby elitists, and he didn't want them to get the business.

I forgot to ask why he didn't specify Official Police .38's, but he may have wanted to use existing holsters, made for the M-1917, which was the prior Border Patrol issue gun. And he was aware that many times, the revolver was used as a club. The NS made a better club.

Bill Jordan later made the point that it was often better legally to shoot a man than to pistol whip him. A nightstick or lead-loaded "slapper" is a better club and using one won't damage the revolver!

If you intend to shoot one of the Colt's with a 2 stage hand, I recommend putting a bit of grease/lube on both the ratchet and both stages of the hand. That will be a dramitic help in keeping it in time. Running one dry and/or cycling the action fast will cause them to go out of time faster as will end play on the cylinder since it is in hard contact with the hand during firing.

Great revolvers but they require more attention than a S&W or Ruger.

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Lynnie, Professional Pest

Actually, Colt revolvers have some things going for them that comparable Smiths do not.

First, the cylinder rotates clockwise (from the firer's viewpoint). This rotates the cylinder into the frame rather than out of it. The Smith, rotating counter-clockwise, tends to force the cylinder out of the frame. The hand on the Colt is on the shooter's left, preventing the cylinder from moving out of the frame; on the Smith, it's on the right.

Secondly, because the two-stage hand on the Colt maintains pressure on the ratchet, pushing it against the cylinder stop at the moment of firing, the lockup is vault-tight at the moment of firing. Try it yourself. With the gun empty, cock and pull the trigger, letting the hammer down easy with your thumb, but maintaining rearward pressure on the trigger. With your other hand, try to rotate the cylinder in either direction. There's no wiggle whatsoever. With the Smith, you will most always get some play, however minute it might be.

That said, the Colt is a rhymes with witch to properly maintain, tune and perform gunsmithing on. I own four Colt DA revolvers, a U.S. Model 1909, a U.S. Model 1917, a Python, and a Dick Special. All work perfectly, but you can call me lucky.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

I think those that turn their noses up at one make or the other, are really missing out.

The finest from rivals in the 1920's, a .44 S&W Special and a .45 Colt. I love them both!

I picked up a New Service in 45LC today. 4.5" barrel. Proofhouse says it a 1910. No lanyard but a plug. It looks like it was reblued long ago after it was worn in some spots, the rampant colt is faint.

Any idea how cautious to be with choosing loads? It feels tight as a new gun.

Attached Images

WP_000103.jpg (39.4 KB, 37 views)

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>>ARMED LIBERAL>>

Here are 3 of them.

.38 Special





1909 Army in .45 Colt (refinished)





A well worn New Service in 38-40

The NS was built in 1919, has a 4.5" barrel, is chambered in 38-40 and is in museum condition throughout. It's a rather blunt instrument, not at all refined as the Model 58 shown with it, but would be THE gun to carry back in the day.

The other is a Bowen custom Model 58 in 41 Magnum, my vision of the epitome of the fighting revolver.

Keith

here's my factory nickel 1932 .45 Colt with an old newspaper featuring the crowning of that stuttering king in 1937.

Apparently I'm a failure as a photographer. Onliest pic I've got. My favorite model with my 1914 4" 38/40.

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I always take precautions

How did I overlook this thread when it started? I am a big fan of the large-frame (or should I say huge frame?) Colt NS even though I don't have a wide variety of them. I do have two nice 1917s, but I need some in other calibers as well.





The second one looks unfired to me, but I guess it could just be well cared for over the decades.

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David Wilson

I just have one, a pretty decent 1917 model. I saw a pretty nice one
in 44/40 with a 4 or 4 1/2 inch barrel at a good price at a gun show but
didn't grab it and have regretted it ever since.

Attached Images

002.jpg (58.6 KB, 19 views)

Here's a friend shooting my 2 1/2" 1917 in the Mojave Desert. This gun did pretty good lobbing bullets into, or mostly very close to distant targets like 8" diameter rocks by adjusting the dust from the previous shot, Elmer Keith style. For me "distant" was about forty yards in this case.

I have a couple of 1917's.

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OGCA Member.

A New Service 4 1/2 inch barrel in 38/40 caliber shipped October 1902

The New Service was very popular with law enforcement too:

Royal Northwest Mounted Police .455 Eley (1914):



Androscoggon County Maine Sheriff's Dept .357 Magnum (1940):



Texas Dept. of Public Safety .38 Special (1938):



Georgia State Patrol .45 Colt (1937):



U.S. Border Patrol .38 Special (1941):



Best,
Charles

Charles I'm trying to get one of every sidearm carried by my agency. I've been looking everywhere for a GSP Colt. Can you tell me anything about it? How you came by it. Is it marked? I know very little about them other than they were carried. I have also heard there were w Nichol models