world war one pilot handguns

This sort of applies. Author Suzanne Arruda www.suzannearruda.com wrote a series of books about a young American woman in Kenya in the 1920's. Her name was Jade and she had been a nurse in WW I. She was engaged to a RAF pilot, who was shot down and KIA. His friend Sam later became her love interest, and she waned Sam to carry his WWI pilot's sidearm.

I was her firearms consultant (credited as such) on the last few books of the series and we mulled over several worthwhile candidates. She chose a Colt M-1917. It was certainly one of the most likely candidates, and Mrs. A. wanted the Colt name, as she had Jade carry a Winchester.
I want to point out that I was NOT her original source for firearms issues. That was a fellow professor, who clearly had very limited knowledge in that area.

We met at a book signing and I had some suggestions and gave her a copy of John Taylor's, "African Rifles and Cartridges." She appeared to find it of considerable interest.

Jade also carried a knife with a five-inch blade in her boot. I suggested that it might be a Marble's Ideal model or a very similar Remington. But she wanted it to be one handmade by a worker on her father's ranch in New Mexico. So I just visualize it as a copy of the ones I wanted. Has a stag handle.

If you like good African-set adventures during the British colonial era there, give Mrs. Arruda's books a try. She uses many of the same sources that I've consulted for African knowledge and also probed into newspaper stories from Nairobi then for added color.

These aren't just romances. They're valid adventure books that men can enjoy, although your wife or daughter will especially like them. My only reservation is that she has a teen Kikuyu boy character who smells too much like a budding Jomo Kenyatta to me, but I am not a PC person. (One probably has to cater to PC issues to get a book set in colonial Africa published today.)

If you read adventure books, look for Sam's Colt M-1917 .45. He used it once to save Jade from being sold in a slave market.

And that is the sum of what I've contributed to WW I pilot sideams. (I did get a M-1917 Colt at age 16.)

If you read the later books, you'll see my name in the credits. Please don't publish it here or elsewhere on the Net. I sometimes say very frank things here that may upset certain editors, ad managers, or gun and knife manufacturers. That might not bode well for my future publishing opportunities.
 
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Sir Winston Churchill, KG, had a Colt Govt. Model .45 auto that has been mentioned here.

He still carried it at times during W II and tried to get his bodyguard to carry one in lieu of the Webley .32 auto that he was issued. The man preferred the lighter gun.

In 1951, Colt presented Churchill with a new Commander .45. "Man at Arms" did a swell article on Churchill's guns some years ago. Did any of you read it?

Colt may have been thanking him for insisting that his newly formed Commando units in 1940 carry...Colt .45 autos. Those early guns in WW II were bought by Britain, not furnished as Lend-Lease as many later ones were.
 
Bob, I've already used up a foot locker full of swagger sticks just trying to keep Larry in line! - Jealosy will get you no where! I can still fit into my Sea Scout uniform! It does take me a little longer to hoist the main sail, however. Ed.

How long does it take you to 'splice the main brace'?
 
Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey. 1915. These two photo show Commander C R Samson, standing beside a single seat Nieuport 10 aircraft with a Webley-Scott Navy Model 1913 MK1 pistol in his hand about to start on one of his little excursions over the Turkish lines. Commander Samson commanded No. 3 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) Wing, based on Tenedos Island, which took part in the operations at the Dardanelles.
 

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A few more photos to show a 7-pack of Royal Navy issue .455 Eley semi-rimmed self-loading Mark I ammo dated January 30, 1919 and loose rounds with 1917 and 1918 head stamps. This 224 grain cupro-nickel jacketed bullet was produced from 1913 thru the early 1940s and was used with these pistols and the WWI British Contract .455 Colt Government Model pistols. Notice the "Not for Revolvers" warning to prevent this ammo from being used with the .455 Webley & Scott WWI-issue revolvers which used the rimmed 220 grain flat nose .455 cartridge 455 Webley Mk IV introduced in 1912 and the .455 Webley Mk V introduced in 1914. Also shown is the open recoil operated action of this pistol. The Webley-Scott instead used a simple v-shape leaf spring and operating arm. The arm was pushed rearward by the short recoiling slide (pushed back by the backwards forces of expending propellent) and acted against a v-shaped spring nestled in the right panel of the pistol grip. A risky venture, a thin recoil spring packed into the grip alongside the seven round pistol magazine.
As to the magazine, where most modern and successful auto-loading handguns have a follower hold open (a part of hte magazine which rounds are seated on and push upwards until empty) the W&S did not. That means when the pistol fired the last round, the slide simply cycled and returned to battery. No hold open to lock the slide back, alerting the firer to a dry guy.
 

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