WW1 era handguns. Let's see Em!

[wbaad]

Haven't seen a thread with only WW1 warhorse handguns so I thought I'd throw it up here. Often under appreciated.
I've got quite the herd accumulating.

Top: 1915 smith and Wesson Hand Ejector .455
1915 Colt New Service .455
1914 Colt 1911 .45ACP




Top: 1913 Imperial Tula 1895 Nagant 7.62x38R
1918 Erfurt Luger (East German refurb) 9mm Luger
1912 Steyr model 1911 in 9mm steyr

 

[capp325]

Very impressive collection!

 

[Leviathan024]

Very nice

 

[gewehr76]

Very nice collection
I have 1914 M1892

 

[KotKotofeich]

Nice Steyr there, I've been ogling those for a while, might want to addone to my collection too

Mind sharing a bit of history on the nagant? Refurbished? Better pictures?

I shared this in the antiques section earlier



and with a slightly different neighbour

 

[wbaad]

Nice Steyr there, I've been ogling those for a while, might want to addone to my collection too

Mind sharing a bit of history on the nagant? Refurbished? Better pictures?

I shared this in the antiques section earlier



and with a slightly different neighbour

Awesome collection! I'm jealous of the broomhandle.

I'm not quite sure the history of the Nagant. It appears to have been Arsenal refinished long ago (not typical refurbs of recent) and has wear from use. The Peter the great markings are peened which means it was likely in service in the transition from imperial to commie. Still single action only. A new ww2 era cylinder as well. Been around!

 

[tokguy]

Haven't seen a thread with only WW1 warhorse handguns so I thought I'd throw it up here. Often under appreciated.
I've got quite the herd accumulating.

Top: 1915 smith and Wesson Hand Ejector .455
1915 Colt New Service .455
1914 Colt 1911 .45ACP




Top: 1913 Imperial Tula 1895 Nagant 7.62x38R
1918 Erfurt Luger (East German refurb) 9mm Luger
1912 Steyr model 1911 in 9mm steyr

Your tastes are similar to mine. I've almost the same minus the 1911 and the Nagant.
Tell me, which do you prefer; the Colt 455 or the S & W 455?
But I do have 2 Steyr-Hahns; one in 9 x 19 mm. Expect for the Clays ( Not really a tack driver); it rocks in a Run 'n gun too. Can carry about 120 rds of clipped ammo on you. They are marvelously reliable and simple.

 

[wbaad]

Your tastes are similar to mine. I've almost the same minus the 1911 and the Nagant.
Tell me, which do you prefer; the Colt 455 or the S & W 455?
But I do have 2 Steyr-Hahns; one in 9 x 19 mm. Expect for the Clays ( Not really a tack driver); it rocks in a Run 'n gun too. Can carry about 120 rds of clipped ammo on you. They are marvelously reliable and simple.

That steyr probably looks familiar
I absolutely prefer the smith and wesson for accuracy and feel and reliability. Just overall a much better design, and I am a colt lover!

 

[tokguy]

That steyr probably looks familiar
I absolutely prefer the smith and wesson for accuracy and feel and reliability. Just overall a much better design, and I am a colt lover!

LOL; OK, I remember the funny discolored patch on the slide now. Hope it's working good. And the 9mm Luger is a PITA to source a Gun Plumber to build it, then it's a drop in and shoot BTW
And I concur on the Colt vs S & W too, the Smith is a much finer pistol

 

[deadman]

A couple of mine:

1918:



Another 1918, this one's a Brit:



Two wheelguns in .455:



A couple less than pristine Canadians:

 

[JTF#]

1903 ottoman.


free upload image

 

[ChiliDawg]

1917 DWM 9mm Luger
1916 Franz Herrmann Holster
1918 9mm Ammunition

 

[zibzer]

awesome guns! hope to get myself a little ww1 collection one day.

out of curiosity to the historical folk here what was the most common Canadian handgun during WW1?

as my understanding officers were required to supply their own hand guns and the Webley and 1911 were popular. which one was more popular? or perhaps another handgun?

thanks!

 

[GrantR]

Here are a few of mine ... the "Canadians" -

Canadian Government Boer War purchase Colt New Service revolver (First Model), .455 Eley, shipped 3 April 1900 to Capt. A. Benoit, Department of Militia & Defence Purchasing Agent. via Lewis Bros. & Co. in Montreal (Colt Historian letter), "M&D" marked, would almost certainly have seen service during WWI as well -

One of the 5,000 Canadian Government purchased 1914-production .45ACP Colt Government Model pistols (Colt Historian letter), re-sold to Major W.A. Mitchell, Officer Commanding No. 5 Company, 2nd Divisional Train, Canadian Expeditionary Force -

Smith & Wesson 2nd Model Hand Ejector revolver, .455, 1915, shipped 15 December 1915, to "Canadian Government, Ottawa, Canada" (S&W Historian letter) one of 14,500 such revolvers purchased by Canada during WWI -

Webley Mark VI revolver, .455, 1916 production, personal sidearm of Lieut. Samuel William Seago (and so engraved) who was serving in the 116th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, when he was injured (knocked unconscious and deafened) by shell concussion on the morning of 8 August 1918, the opening day of the Amiens Offensive, in which the Allies (with the Canadian Division in the center of the line) finally broke the German lines, beginning the nearly uninterrupted advance which ultimately resulted in the Armistice on 11 November 1918 -

 

[GrantR]

By the way, zibzer, if you didn't gather it from my post, the most common Canadian-issue handgun during the Great War was the .455 Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector revolver.

A fact not well-known is that, from Confederation, Canada has never adopted any British pistol design as its primary-issue military handgun (... with one "small" exception ...)

Our primary-issue military handgun acquisitions - (invariably when it was "necessary" get something) -

- 1855/6 -.36 Colt Model 1851 percussion revolvers (albeit produced in Colt's London factory)
(The "necessity" arose when the United Province of Upper & Lower Canada was required to undertake more responsibility for its own defence, including arming its Militia, which it began to do under an new Militia Act passed in 1855. This situation arose after Britain was forced to withdraw most of its troops from the self-governing colonies to meet the massive demands of the Crimean War.)

- 1885 - .45 Colt Model 1878 Double Action revolver
(The "necessity" - the 1885 North-West Rebellion.)

- 1900 - .45 and .455 and Colt New Service revolver
(The "necessity" - the Boer War, the first time Canada sent any troops "overseas".)

- 1914 - .45ACP Colt Government Model pistol
- 1915/16 - .455 S&W 2nd Model Hand Ejector revolver
(The "necessity" should be self-evident, from the dates.)

- 1939-44 - .38 Smith & Wesson Military & Police revolver
- 1944 to present - 9mm Browning High Power pistol (all manufactured in Canada by Inglis in 1944 and 1945)
(Again, the "necessity" should be self-evident. Other than having since acquired a relatively small number of Sig-Sauer pistols for issue in limited circumstances, the "necessity" to replace the Inglis has apparently not yet arisen in its 70-plus year service history! )

The "small exception" mentioned above is the .38 Enfield No. 2 Mark I revolver, adopted between the wars by the fledgling RCAF, which acquired 235 of them in 1935, and another 350 in 1937. By the end of WWII a total of about 3,500 Enfield revolvers had been acquired (all destined for the RCAF, as far as I am aware) but the Air Force also got many .38 S&W revolvers, of which Canada acquired a LOT more -well over 118,000 of them according to Clive Law's "Canadian Military Handguns 1855 - 1985" ...

(I am very fortunate to have an example of each of these Canadian-issue handguns in my collection...)

 

[gdawg]

Here are a couple out for an all too infrequent range trip

 

[wbaad]

Here are a few of mine ... the "Canadians" -

Canadian Government Boer War purchase Colt New Service revolver (First Model), .455 Eley, shipped 3 April 1900 to Capt. A. Benoit, Department of Militia & Defence Purchasing Agent. via Lewis Bros. & Co. in Montreal (Colt Historian letter), "M&D" marked, would almost certainly have seen service during WWI as well -

One of the 5,000 Canadian Government purchased 1914-production .45ACP Colt Government Model pistols (Colt Historian letter), re-sold to Major W.A. Mitchell, Officer Commanding No. 5 Company, 2nd Divisional Train, Canadian Expeditionary Force -

Smith & Wesson 2nd Model Hand Ejector revolver, .455, 1915, shipped 15 December 1915, to "Canadian Government, Ottawa, Canada" (S&W Historian letter) one of 14,500 such revolvers purchased by Canada during WWI -

Webley Mark VI revolver, .455, 1916 production, personal sidearm of Lieut. Samuel William Seago (and so engraved) who was serving in the 116th Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, when he was injured (knocked unconscious and deafened) by shell concussion on the morning of 8 August 1918, the opening day of the Amiens Offensive, in which the Allies (with the Canadian Division in the center of the line) finally broke the German lines, beginning the nearly uninterrupted advance which ultimately resulted in the Armistice on 11 November 1918 -

Wow! Love the provenance behind those beautiful guns. Gives them a whole new life.
Thanks for sharing Grant!

 

[zibzer]

Thanks for that info Grant