Any Colt New Service Fans Out There Besides Me And Gizamo?

[reddogge]

Here's mine, a Model 1917 New Service.

 

[Texas Star]

There is a gun made in 1928 pictured in this thread, and it does have the rounded cylinder release.

I guess it could have been retrofitted, but I'm almost sure that I found 1928 to be the date of the change.

 

[Texas1941]

Sentimental Dreams

Factory originals.

I, too, think the change to the rounded latch was late '20s.

Thanks for the reply. I've seen similar grips once or twice over the years and assumed, incorrectly, they were after market customs.

I keep coming back to this thread and looking at the pictures of the lovely revolvers, especially yours.

Dreams of an old bullseye shooter, I guess; but I keep seeing some man in brown duck trousers, a Pendelton shirt (pack of Luckies in the pocket), wearing a beat up Montana crown hat, with one of these beauties in his hand. He's standing there flat footed with his off hand in his pocket and SHOOTING, just like God intended.

The man and the pistol were part of the times, and those times are gone. But I'm glad some of the pistols remain.

Charles

 

[Onomea]

Thanks for the kind words.

There was a thread in the prewar revo section some months ago by a member who inherited his grandfather's 7 1/2" NST in 45 Colt, along with the shoulder holster. He even had documentation in his grandfather's letter or diary as to exactly when he got it, IIRC. It was a working gun, his grandpa being an outdoorsman. Your comments reminded me of it. Very fun thread. You should try to dig it up!

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
I have two. A New Service in .45 Colt and a Model 1917 in .45acp.
My question: How do one shoot double action?
Both have double action trigger pull that is HEAVY!
Jimmy

Top: Single Action Army .45 Colt
Second: Colt New Service .45 Colt
Third: Colt Model 1917 .45acp
Fourth: Colt Combat Commander .45acp
Fifth: Colt Targetsman .22LR
Sixth: Colt Frontier Scout .22RF
Seventh: Colt Trooper .357 6"
Eighth: Colt Trooper .357 4"
Ninth: Colt Official Police 4" .38spl
Tenth: Colt Agent .38spl

 

[Wyatt Burp]

Thanks for the kind words.

There was a thread in the prewar revo section some months ago by a member who inherited his grandfather's 7 1/2" NST in 45 Colt, along with the shoulder holster. He even had documentation in his grandfather's letter or diary as to exactly when he got it, IIRC. It was a working gun, his grandpa being an outdoorsman. Your comments reminded me of it. Very fun thread. You should try to dig it up!

That was Twaits. I'll ask him to join the coversation.

 

[Muley Gil]

"My question: How do one shoot double action?
Both have double action trigger pull that is HEAVY!"

I carried a Colt 1917 as a police duty weapon for awhile. To ease the trigger pull, I put a 1/4" drill bit between the leaves of the mainspring and cocked the hammer.

Heavy isn't too bad, as long as the action is smooth.

I shot a 99% on a police qualification with that old '17.

 

[twaits]

That was Twaits. I'll ask him to join the coversation.

I'll post a picture and a link to the thread in a bit. Right now all the computers at work are screwed up due to an upgrade...

Here's the link with all the info:

http://www.coltforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21492

 

[wlmccann]

Muley Gil. PM sent your way.

 

[Texas1941]

twaits, thanks for the link. Great post. Looking at the revolver and the holster he selected, it seems likely that your grandfather put a great deal of thought into the purchase. This was probably not an impulse buy.

That adds what I think is an important aspect to all the excellent revolvers in this thread. Some of them were likely purchased by men of means, to whom the cost ment little. But most of them almost certainly represented a considerable investment to the men who bought them. These were top of the line revolvers and were priced accordingly. There were less expensive options available.

Put it this way, I'm not sure what a timber cruiser does, but it sounds suspiciously like hard work. His opinion of that Colt must have been high indeed for him to part with the serious coin involved.

 

[twaits]

twaits, thanks for the link. Great post. Looking at the revolver and the holster he selected, it seems likely that your grandfather put a great deal of thought into the purchase. This was probably not an impulse buy.

That adds what I think is an important aspect to all the excellent revolvers in this thread. Some of them were likely purchased by men of means, to whom the cost ment little. But most of them almost certainly represented a considerable investment to the men who bought them. These were top of the line revolvers and were priced accordingly. There were less expensive options available.

Put it this way, I'm not sure what a timber cruiser does, but it sounds suspiciously like hard work. His opinion of that Colt must have been high indeed for him to part with the serious coin involved.

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.

 

[Texas1941]

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

 

[PALADIN85020]

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

 

[semperfi71]

.45 Long Colt.

 

[4330Inroute]

"My question: How do one shoot double action?
Both have double action trigger pull that is HEAVY!"

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.

 

[senecaap]

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.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

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.

 

[george and rose]

Fantastic revolver colt

 

[Toyman]

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

 

[mkk41]

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.