Colt New Service

[MI2600]

I bought a 1917 Colt New Service, originally chambered in .455 Eley. On the barrel, the last "5" and the "Eley" are X'd out and "Colt" is stamped underneath.
On the right side of the frame, in front of the trigger guard, is a veerry small "Not Made In England". There are a couple of areas that have crossed flags stamped.

I'm guessing the gun was shipped to the Brits during WWI, but does anyone know what the crossed flags might indicate?

 

[Jim K]

You are correct that your New Service was made originally in .455 Webley, which Colt, for some unknown reason, marked as .455 Eley. (Some have speculated that Colt didn't want to put a rival revolver maker's name on the gun, but Eley was OK since Eley only made ammo, not guns. Like I said, speculation.)

The gun was taken into British service and presumably used in WWI and perhaps in WWII also. The crossed pennants are the British military proof/acceptance mark. There should also be a broad arrow property mark if it hasn't been marked out or a facing one stamped to make what looks like an asterisk.

After the gun was sold out of military stores after WWII, it underwent British commercial proof, part of which was the marking "NOT ENGLISH MAKE" which was used from 1925 to 1955 on foreign made guns.

Since it was usual for guns bearing the British military proof not to be re-proved under the commercial proof law unless altered, it is very likely that the conversion to .45 Colt was done in England, though many of those guns were converted here after import. If you describe or picture the actual proof mark, the case length will tell which.

Since the .45 Colt rim is thicker than that of the .455, the chambers could have been counter-sunk (the most common practice) or the rear of the cylinder turned down slightly.

Your gun, if in good condition, should be fine for any reasonable .45 Colt load or reload. But remember that the often wild overloads made up in that caliber should NOT be used in that old Colt.

Jim

 

[MI2600]

Jim, you are correct, it does say "Not English Make" (not what I quoted above) with a border around it. Very hard to read without magnification. There are several stampings on on the cylinder which I've also seen on one of my Victories. Also, there is a crown with "B6" under it and "E" under that.

I have some 255gr cast bullets in .454". I was going to load them with 8gr of Unique, which should be a middle-of-the-road load.

 

[MI2600]

Another quick question. The gun currently has checkered wooden grips with the Colt medallion. Are these correct?

 

[highpower]

Smooth walnut would have been standard on a 1917 Colt New Service.

 

[Old Fuff]

the revolver in question is not a U.S. Model 1917. It was made for the U.K. in 1914-1915. They originally had black hard-rubber stocks. With age they often became brittle and cracked or chipped. During the mid-1920's Colt changed the stocks to checkered walnut, although the use of hard-rubber grips continued until they ran out.

Anyway, during the time these revolvers were being re-imported into the U.S. as military surplus, the walnut stocks were still avilable, and sometimes used on guns that had damaged rubber ones.

 

[Mk VII]

The crossed flags will be a military acceptance mark. It is common for these guns to be altered as the .455 cartridge went out of production. It was not done in England, as evidenced by the failure to reprove as a .45