Colt Army Revolver? - 38 Colt

[chickenstripe]

Does anyone have a good resource for information on the turn of the century (19th to 20th) double action colt revolvers.

I have a Colt revolver with lanyard loop, 38 Colt stamped on the 6" barrel, and partially under the lanyard ring/loop is 1903 and Army. The lanyard ring appears to be an add-on or afterthought because the ring is installed over the stampings. I've been researching this off and on, and have never seen any of them that have all of the markings, etc. that this pistol has. Has been a member of the family for a while, and even has the GI holster.

Any info would be appreciated.

[Dframe]

Try coltforum.com If you can post some pictures over there they will provide you with more information than you can possibly use.

[218bee]

Looking through "Standard Catalog of Colt Firearms" its kind of vague but did find a few tidbits............Model 1894/1896 Army....Model 1901 same as 1894 with addition of lanyard swivel...Model 1903 identical to 1894 with smaller bore dia (?) 9.068mm and modified grip. under 1892 it states 38Colt and 41Colt were original chamberings and later came 38S&W and 32-20, don't know if that applies to yours. Look for patent dates may help also if you have a serial number go to PROOFHOUSE.COM and sometimes you can research the serial number ther by specific model it may tell you what range of serial numbers go with what model numbers, aint used that site in a while but I believe they have Colt on there.

[Urny]

I think you need a copy of "A Study of Colt's New Army and Navy Pattern Double Action Revolvers 1889 to 1908" by Robert Best. I bought my copy from the author at the Big Reno Show in April of 2007. A web search might turn up other sources. Every time I associate with NVCurmudgeon something great like this book comes home with me. My revolver is very late production with the front of the frame shaped like the later Army Special or Official Police models.

[Urny]

A word more. According to Mr. Bests' book, your revolver will have the smaller .357" groove diameter, and be intended to take the .38 Special cartridge, though the barrel marking was not changed from earlier production. The Army purchased two lots of Model 1903 revolvers in serial number ranges 200,xxx-209,999, and 240,xxx-242,4xx. Total purchased seems to have been 12,500 pieces.

I slugged my civilian model and found the groove diameter to be .365". Having never slugged an Army or Navy model, I can't say if their tolerances are so generous. Hope these small bits of information of are of some interest to you.

[Harry O]

[QUOTE=218bee;624802]Model 1903 identical to 1894 with smaller bore dia (?) QUOTE]

The early versions of the 41 Long Colt DA revolver had a 0.408" dia groove diameter. They were later (approx 1903) reduced in size to 0.401" to match the tooling of the more popular 38-40. It probably also helped the accuracy a little, but the bullet/groove diameter was still a mismatch.

I did not know that the .38 Long Colt version was changed in diameter. I was also not aware that the pre-1909 versions were available in .38 Special. I have never seen one, and I have looked at a lot of them. The 1909 (and later) versions were available in both .38 Long Colt AND .38 Special. They were NOT the same gun, however. The barrel diameter and cylinder were different.

The 1909 (and later) versions used the same size frame, but the internals were COMPLETELY different (for example, the side plate is on the opposite side, the cylinder rotation is opposite, etc). I doubt that any piece in the earlier one fits the later one.

[Urny]

Harry, if I am reading Mr. Best correctly, the reduced groove diameter, which originated with the 1903 model, was intended to allow the use of .38 Colt and .38 Special ammunition in the same firearm. Apparently there was only one chambering and Colt was attempting to take advantage of the greater power of the Special cartridge. My revolver happily accepts .38 Special cases loaded with Lyman 358477 boolits to an overall length of 1.490", but gives much better accuracy with Hornady swedged hollow base wadcutters seated flush, over 2.0 grains Trail Boss or Red Dot.

In the book Mr. Best invites comments and new information at

Robert Best
P.O. Box 5174
Concord, CA 94524
ColtDAGuy@prodigy.net

[Harry O]

Every 1892 through 1909 Colt DA revolver that I have handled and/or shot will chamber both the .38 Long Colt and the .38 Special. In fact, with short enough bullets (125gr or lighter), you can chamber a .357 Magnum in these guns. I have never done it, but I imagine that if you shot it, the gun would come apart in your hand.

Every 1892 through 1909 series I have looked at has a straight through chamber in the cylinder. It will chamber the .38 LC, .38 Special, and some .357 Magnums without problems. It is much more difficult to check the bore size on a gun laying on a gunshow table, but the ones that I have been able to check all have approx 0.375" groove diameter. They do vary more than newer guns, but I have not measured one as small as 0.365".

I will bow to the historian that has access to Colt records, however. If there are ones out there that size, my bet is that they are very rare and most people won't have one. That includes most people who ask about it here.

PS: Every hock shop I have ever went into has one or more 1892 though 1909 Colt DA revolvers in their glass cases. Most are ratty. Most are cheap. Probably 90% of them are labeled as .38 Special on the tag the hock shop owner also puts the price on. The barrel does not say that, though. I honestly don't know if ALL the hockshop owners know that what they put on the tag is not true, but I am willing to bet that a lot of them know the true caliber and have decided NOT to put that on the tag. It would scare off the potential purchaser (gang banger).