US Colt Model 1895 New Navy British Proofed .38 Revolver 1904 ...

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Here for your perusal is my Colt New Navy Model 1895 .38 Long Colt serial number 225854 1904 production which after USN service received British proofs; maybe shipped to UK during WWI or a WWII British Purchasing Commission bought pistol? The butt is marked "U.S.N" with an anchor, ".38 D.A.", "S" in triangle, "No / 15 / 478 / J.L.S. / 225 / 854; 15478 is the Navy Property Number; J.L.S. is Lt J. L. Sticht USN inspector for Colt Model 1895 .38LC revolvers 1895-1904 and 225854 is the Colt Production serial number. . 724568

#1 · Jan 25, 2021 (Edited) Here for your perusal is my Colt New Navy Model 1895 .38 Long Colt serial number 225854 1904 production which after USN service received British proofs; maybe shipped to UK during WWI or a WWII British Purchasing Commission bought pistol? The butt is marked "U.S.N" with an anchor, ".38 D.A.", "S" in triangle, "No / 15 / 478 / J.L.S. / 225 / 854; 15478 is the Navy Property Number; J.L.S. is Lt J. L. Sticht USN inspector for Colt Model 1895 .38LC revolvers 1895-1904 and 225854 is the Colt Production serial number. . 724568

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10 Sort by Oldest first Oldest first Newest first Most reactions #2 · Jan 25, 2021 (Edited) This one was also passed to Britain, where it turned up recently. This is #225940 with the navy number 15706, which shows there is no sequential correlation between the two.

The proof mark on yours was probably added when it was disposed of after the war. The .767 chamber length shows it has been proved for .38 S&W. #9 · Jan 31, 2021 The proofing was on the right side of barrel, and not on the underside. That's different. Then the proofers made it clear that it would handle (and was proofed with) a British 380 cartridge. Show more replies 0 Reply #3 · Jan 25, 2021 The proofs on the first one are London proofhouse post-1953 commercial proofs. The 4 tons are interesting; the .767 case length shows that the proof load was the standard British .38, but that was normally proofed at 3.5 tons, the 4 tons being found with 1.15 cases for .38 Special. The second one does not appear to have post-service commercial proofs, so it must have left service not through sale to a regular dealer, but informally. The .38/380 on the barrel was a marking required according to 1941 Army Council instructions on foreign guns which had been converted to the standard British .38. Since the OP‘s guns was proofed in this caliber, it was also converted and should have gotten the stamp too. But it was inconsistently applied. It‘s even found on some S&W revolvers in .38 S&W which didn‘t need converting at all. I don‘t think there are good records, but supposedly very early in the war, before S&W production of the British Service model, later to be supplied in great quantities under Lend-Lease, spooled up, batches of these old .38 DA Colts from storage by the Naval Reserve were shipped to Britain as a stop gap measure. I suspect both these belong among them. #4 · Jan 26, 2021 So if i want to shoot this pistol should I use this .38 Long Colt Black Powder ammo which I already have and which chambers perfectly in the cylinder; .38 S&W smokeless ammo or what? 724690

#5 · Jan 26, 2021 You can, though the cases may swell somewhat if, as the evidence appears to indicate, the chambers have been reamed (often roughly, without the finish reamer being used). I load .38 S&W cases; in the absence of available supplies of a .361 bullet a hollowbase bullet, or just wadcutters loaded out to the COL, gives acceptable results. On the 10th July 1941, Lt-Col Ransford, the Director of Small Arms and Ammunition at the British Purchasing Commission, reported to London that he had, (either in person or by proxy, it doesn't say) viewed (without firing) in a U.S. Naval store 12,000 Colt .38 D.A. revolvers with 6" bbls. He accepted 8613 and rejected 3447. He reported that they had been packed since 1920 and that the actions were 'sticky'. They would require thorough cleaning and regreasing before issue and he was arranging for this to be done. A considerable quantity of spare parts were also lying in store and he thought that about 60% of the rejects could be made serviceable with the spares plus cannibalisation and he was arranging for this to be done. Mine has a different number scratched into the inside of the grips, perhaps that was the bit they cannibalised. I tried it with jacketed .380 MkIIz ammo made in 1966 and found accuracy to be 'acceptable' at 10yds and 'good enough for the purpose' at 25yds. #6 · Jan 27, 2021

Mk VII said: that he had, (either in person or by proxy, it doesn't say) viewed (without firing) in a U.S. Naval store 12,000 Colt .38 D.A. revolvers with 6" bbls. He accepted 8613 and rejected 3447. He reported that they had been packed since 1920 and that the actions were 'sticky'. They would require thorough cleaning and regreasing before issue and he was arranging for this to be done. A considerable quantity of spare parts were also lying in store and he thought that about 60% of the rejects could be made serviceable ...... Click to expand...

I certainly hope the gentleman had help. I do like revolvers, but can you imagine sitting in some Navy depot, generally not the coziest environment, and examining 12,000 of these clunkers, each carefully enough that you can not just sort out the bad ones, but also ascertain which ones might be salvaged with what parts? The horror ... 0 Reply #7 · Jan 30, 2021 Perhaps my 1895 Navy pistol was sent to UK under this program: 725356

#8 · Jan 31, 2021 Up to June 3rd 1942 the American Committee for Defense of British Homes shipped 6,337 revolvers of all types and calibers. A very few of these may have been lost due to enemy action. In addition to the above, The Committee did steer in the direction of the British Purchasing Commission, 13,763 revolvers. These were mainly .38 DA revolvers and a few .45 DA revolvers. Records in the National Archives in London show orders for 12,824 revolvers which were initiated by the Committee, of these 424 were .45 the balance being Colt DA .38 revolvers with 6 inch barrel - except possibly 600 Colt .38 DA revolvers where no barrel length is given and a further 1800 that are simply referred to as .38 S&W - which may have been made by Smith & Wesson or simply S&W calibre. MKVII's example would appear to be one of the 8613 revolvers referred to above, which is amongst the quantities listed in the contract record ledgers.The date of this order is 16th June 1941. Obviously, the figure of 8613 is different o the numbers in the contract record ledger in London, however the latter is not always entirely accurate. I would take the figure of 8613 as the definitive figure plus any that were in fact refurbished - if any. In addition to this may be the 600 Colt .38 DA's and the 1,800 .38 S&W's whatever they may be. On top of this are the 425 Colt .45 DA revolvers. Either way Colt DA.38 revolvers which are British ordnance marked, are relatively few and far between, making them a desirable example to have in a collection. Regards AlanD #10 · Jan 31, 2021 In all likelihood the donated firearms ended up being issued to the home guard, or not issued at all. Most of the Lend-Lease weapons were either very lightly used or in unissued condition. When the Lend-Lease weapons were sold off beginning in the early 1950's, some 1911A1 pistols were still in their original factory shipping boxes. The rifles had dinged up stocks, but the metal was still excellent. #12 · Jan 31, 2021 But you have to distinguish between the donated guns, many if not most of which were obsolete, and the Lend-Lease guns that were new production to British orders. The 1911s aren’t typical because they were never general issue and only used by some specialist troops like Royal Marine commandos. On the other hand, of the Lend-Lease supplied British Service variant of the .38 S&W Victory, more Allied troops ended up armed with those than with the original British Enfield and secondary Webley revolvers combined. These were so well used that most that came back here post-war ended up converted, cut down to snubbies and nickeled; unmolested original-finish specimen aren’t easy to find, even though (including the pre-Victory) close to 600,000 were made and sent over. Show more replies 0 Reply #14 · Jun 29, 2021 Here's the Colt Archive letter with shipping information: 742884

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