by flintlok » Sun Dec 31, 2017 5:54 pm
Alas, I got my pistol and due to some confusion on my part it is not a British Proof WWII Colt Official Police Model. The gun was in a case next to a WWII Smith & Wesson Lend Lease Victory model and when the dealer said lend lease I though that he was talking about the Colt.
What the pistol is and what I did by is a Colt Model 1895 as best a can figure. It could be an earlier double action 1894 or 1892 upgrade revolver but the serial number in the 16,000 range places it in early 1895. It was a US Navy issue model and has the appropriate navy marking and inspector's stamp. What's interesting is that the Navy also stamped a rack number on the the frame at the base of the grip. The naval rack number is 5799. There was a similar US Navy Colt 1895 that was recovered off of the battleship Maine that was sunk in Havana Harbor and used as an excuse to start the Spanish American War. The the ship likely blew up due to a coal bunker fire that lit off a powder magazine really didn't seem to matter. The recovered revolver was presented to Theodore Roosevelt who later carried it on San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders. His pistol has a naval rack number of 5770. The rack numbers and serial numbers are no indication of who got what and there are no records to positively identify where the guns were assign once they arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The rack number simply indicates the period of issue. It seems I lost out on a WWII Colt to get a bona fide Spanish American Navy issued Colt 1895. It's still a good swap in my opinion.
The faster I go, the older I get.
"I am with you Flintsy ." SidebySide
Flintlok, I think you're dead right....."The Dogge"
" when an American comes on the forum .....and then gets a bit upperty ..."
token yank