Colt Model 1909 USN DA. 45 Revolver

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varifleman

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Here for your perusal is my Colt .45DA Model 1909 USN revolver Colt serial number 53002 (1911 production date) USN serial number 1002. Looking forward to shooting it and getting the Colt Archive letter. The Colt New Service Model 1909 revolver was developed by Colt to fill a contract from the U.S. Government for use in the Philippines where a large caliber handgun was needed. The development on the Colt 1911 auto had not been completed and a heavy caliber revolver filled the need for a couple of years. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps both liked the new 1909 and each ordered a small quantity with the navy being the smallest at only 1100 guns. In addition to the USN/Anchor on butt strap note the "N" stamp on cylinder rear and frame to denote US Navy contract revolver.
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I should know this but why was the navy interested in this revolver when there was a slew of Colt SAAs around in the same caliber? Was is DA they were after?

Beautiful piece though. The bore is amazing! I bet she shoots well. Thx for sharing your pictures.
 
While the M1892 was faster to load and fire the Army felt that the .38 cartridge lacked the necessary stopping power, most notably in the Philippines, and despite attempts to increase the power of the .38 it was finally realised that a larger cartridge was needed. The Army Ordnance Corps board sought a new pistol to chamber the older .45 Long Colt round. While the Board of Ordnance began a series of tests, in 1904, to discover what sort of ammunition its next sidearm should use.

In the meantime a stopgap measure was needed, despite the reissuing of some older .45 calibre revolvers, it was decided that a new double action revolver in the Army’s .45 calibre cartridge was needed. Colt developed a new larger framed double-action revolver based on their Colt New Army.

The Colt New Service was first introduced in 1898 and would be the basis of the Colt M1909. With the base design of the pistol already in production Colt were able to begin delivering M1909s quickly. The Model 1909 was a large revolver, weighing just under 40oz with a 5.5 inch barrel.

The US Army did reissued some of the Model1873 Colt Single Action revolvers with shortened 5.5 inch barrels during the Philippine Insurrection. However, the 1873 Models were slower to load since each round had to be individually loaded through a loading gate while the Model 1909 with its swing out cylinder was much quicker to load. Also the new .45 Long Colt cartridges adopted to the Model 1909 were a bit larger than the old 45 ammunition for the Model 1873 and thus only three rounds could be loaded into the Model 1873 cylinder.
The Model 1909 was also chambered for the .45 Calibre Revolver Ball Cartridge, Model of 1909, which was dimensionally similar to the original .45 Colt cartridge, but it has a rim that is .03 inches (0.76 mm) wider for a more positive ejection with the use of the swing-out cylinder's star extractor.
The Army, Marine Corps and Navy ordered the Mode 1909s as a stop-gap measure until the new Colt Semi-automatic Model 1911s could be issued in large numbers (most Model 1909s were supplied by Colt in 1911 according to shipping records I've seen).
 
Here for your perusal is Colt .45LC Philippines Model of 1902 serial number 45642. Frame; rear face of cylinder and left front trigger guard bow show inspector mark RAC (a civilian employee of the War Department and was the sub-inspector on the revolvers). The right side of the frame has a "U.S." property mark stamped above the trigger guard bow and the Ordnance inspector's initials "JTT" (LTC John T. Thompson, Chief of the Small Arms Division for the Ordnance Department) stamped just above the top of the right grip and the date "1902" in front of it. The Colt 1902 Philippine Model revolver is a modified version of the Colt 1878 Double Action Army or Frontier model pistol.
The US Army had tested the Model 1878 in 1879, and rejected it – largely because of problems with light primer strikes. Many years later, experience in the Philippines would lead the government to seek .45 caliber revolvers for issue to the Philippine Constabulary. Colt seized this opportunity by fitting a stronger hammer spring to the 1878 revolver, and lengthening the trigger to give the shooter more leverage on the correspondingly heavier trigger. The trigger guard was also enlarged, as necessary to fit the lengthened trigger. This gave the gun a distinct look, which would become popularly known as the Alaskan Model, inferring use with gloves in cold weather. In reality, however, this design was to increase reliability with the aim of making a government sale.

The changes worked, too – the government purchased 4600 of the guns for use in the Philippines in 1902. While many assume that the .45 revolver acquired in response to the Moro fighters’ fighting spirit was the 1873 Single Action Army, it was actually the 1878/1902 (while some SAAs were put into service, this was done by individual officers, and not by government plan).



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I've shoot the Colt 1902 using modern production .45 Long Colt ammo and it shoots very well and accurately. As soon as I get to the range and shoot the Colt 1909 USN revolver I'll post a range report (might be a while since we're experiencing Siberia here right now)!
 
Closest I have to anything like that, S&W 1937 Brazil contract, one of the early shipments I guess because everything is WWI Eagle stamped, U notch rear sight, round front, matching, all 1917 leftovers, kinda neat I guess.
Shoots really well, bore and internals look pristine, exterior looks like it rolled around in the back of a pick up truck for a decade lol, lots of nicks everywhere on the exterior.
Shot it with moon clips with 45ACP, found it kind of labourous, now I just use 45 Auto Rim.
 
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