52nd Bn CEF Marked Pistols

FNC1

FNC1

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I hope this is the most appropriate forum

I recently aquired this Colt New Service in 455. It is marked for the 52nd CEF, a unit perpetuated by my old Militia infantry unit the LSSR in Thunder Bay.

I am wondering if this is typical of unit markings of handguns in the Great War...if so can you shoot me some pix of markings of pistols that you have with Canadian unit markings. I am guessing that the no 11 means it was the 11th revolver in unit inventory. It came with an open holster also unit marked ( I am told that this type of holster was normally for non infantry units so who knows? )

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Any insight you can give me would be appreciated. Saddle soap for the holster?

Post pix of the markings on your CEF handgun or rifle or send them to me at jclayton@tbaytel.net

Of course if you want to sell me any other 52nd marked pistols or rifles that would be appreciated.
 
Hello,

I have seen a variety of Great War marked pistols and I have never seen one like that. I help run a Military Museum where we have over 250 military firearms from all periods of Canada's History.

In all honesty, why would a Canadian Marked pistol, made in the US, have a British Broad Arrow on it, with out the C broad arrow. Also I have never seen a rack number with the 'No" abbreviation in front of it. Normally its just a rack and company number. Such as: A Coy 11. Or: A 11.

As well I have never seen anything marked 52 CDN Batt. The proper military abbreviation for Battalion in Bn. Back then, I don't think that CDN was a term for Canada. For an example, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion from WW2 was 1st Can Para Bn with Bn rarely being added (can't think up any WW1 ones at the momment).

The holster you have is great. It is a pattern 14 holster desinged for that webbing pattern. It was discontinued in 1916 and most of them had the buckles removed since it did not match the 08 pattern webbing. Its very nice and was commonly issued to Machine Gunners. It really looks like it had that pistol in there forever. It is worth about $125 by itself.

As for its authenticity of the revolver, I really don't know. However, I would not purchase it with out knowing more information. It very well could be that the holster and the revolver were original to each other, and some nefarious character added it to it for value. It could also be something that a vet added years later or a granchild added to remember the history.

Hope this helps,
Cam
 
I wondered about the markings as well however I cannot imagine an individual making the markings so bold looks like the heavy hand of the military there, holster marked as well ( did not show up in the pix so I will post one later showing them )

I am hoping to find another handgun marked the same way, I am trying to get some info from the guy who sold it to the guy who sold it to me.

Joe
 
The brits hung on to these for quite a while after WWI. Mabey it was a gift during WWII and the additional canadian markings added then?
 
Hitzy said:
The brits hung on to these for quite a while after WWI. Mabey it was a gift during WWII and the additional canadian markings added then?
Click to expand...

I rally doubt this. The CEF number system was only in service from 1914 until 1919 upon demobilazation.

Cam
 
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