divine

Accidental Gun Swap

Pretty much anything shooting related

Accidental Gun Swap

Postby flintlok » Fri Dec 29, 2017 6:14 pm

I've been collecting pre 1945 32 Auto pistols of late. The pistols were all nicely built and each one has their individual quirks. My favorite is Colt Model 1903 also known as the Colt Model M. I recently committed to buy an early Model M of 1905 vintage from the local gun dealer. The sales staff unfortunately coincidently listed the pistol on GunBroker and it was sold to another. The gun dealer felt terrible about the mistake. He offered a collectible Colt revolver to me at a discounted price. It's British Contract Colt Official Police revolver in 38/200. In 1941 the UK purchased about 49,000 of these Colts that found their way into the Commonwealth armed forces as well as the London metropolitan police. Subsequently loads of similar Smith & Wesson revolvers went to the UK as Colt changed it's production efforts to other firearms. The British Contract revolvers are scarce in the US. It's the first that I've ever seen. I lost the Model M but I got a rare Colt at a discounted price. I didn't loose a thing on this deal and I'm happy to add the revolver to my collection. If I could figure out how to post picture I would post an image for Coldfinger's pleasure when I pick up the gun next week as a New Year's gift to myself.
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
User avatar
flintlok
Consul Master Hunter
Consul Master Hunter
Moderator
Moderator
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
 
Posts: 14698
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:34 am
Location: Tiverton, RI, USA

Re: Accidental Gun Swap

Postby Coldfinger » Fri Dec 29, 2017 10:38 pm

:mad: :mad:
"Bit of a Meldrew you, int'cha?" Linegeist

With my luck. if there was an award for most pessimistic man in the UK Id never get nominated....
wants sbs to lubricate his finger
User avatar
Coldfinger
Consul Master Hunter
Consul Master Hunter
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
 
Posts: 6140
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:47 am
Location: Teesside

Re: Accidental Gun Swap

Postby flintlok » Sat Dec 30, 2017 2:06 am

Coldfinger wrote::mad: :mad:


If you ever stop by Coldfinger I'll do a mini lend lease and let you shoot it and just about anything else until you can't lift your arms. :grin: :grin: :grin:
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
User avatar
flintlok
Consul Master Hunter
Consul Master Hunter
Moderator
Moderator
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
 
Posts: 14698
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:34 am
Location: Tiverton, RI, USA

Re: Accidental Gun Swap

Postby Ray7756 » Sat Dec 30, 2017 12:14 pm

image.jpeg
To post a pic, when you open the reply to post dialogue box, scroll up till you see the upload attachment box, just click on this and you can add a pic from your comp, simples, like this
Cheers
Ray
User avatar
Ray7756
Hunter
Hunter
 
Posts: 1272
Joined: Wed Jul 31, 2013 6:39 am
Location: Perthshire

Re: Accidental Gun Swap

Postby 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
User avatar
flintlok
Consul Master Hunter
Consul Master Hunter
Moderator
Moderator
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
 
Posts: 14698
Joined: Wed Feb 11, 2009 4:34 am
Location: Tiverton, RI, USA


Return to General Shooting Topics

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Majestic-12 [Bot] and 48 guests