.38 caliber problem solved?
OK, I am thoroughly confused. I don't know of any Colt DA revolver that was called the 1899 model. The Navy revolver was the Model 1889, and the Army revolvers were the Models 1892, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1901 and 1903. The Marine Corps model was the 1905. All were chambered for the .38 Long Colt. As far as I can determine, no Colts were made for .38 Special prior to 1904.
Jim W., there is a lot of confusion about .38 ammo in that period. In 1889, Colt developed a new swing cylinder revolver chambered for .38 Long Colt and .41 Colt. The Navy adopted it as the Model 1889 in .38 Long Colt. It was the first Colt swing cylinder revolver and had no cylinder notches, being locked by the hand. Contrary to Colts before or since, the cylinder turned counter-clockwise.
At the time, the .38 LC used a heel type bullet, with a diameter of .375-.380 (measured specimens per Suydam). Frankford Arsenal drawings show .376. This round was known commercially as the .38 Colt Navy.
A new version of that gun with two sets of cylinder notches and a cylinder revolving clockwise was adopted by the Army in 1892. At that time, the Army decided on a cartridge with an inside lubricated bullet, but with the same case dimensions. This meant a bullet diameter reduction to .353, again going by FA drawings. Suydam cites measured specimens ranging from .342 to .357, with two FA specimens being .350 and .351. That round was known on the commercial market as the .38 Colt Army.
I was thinking that Colt changed the barrel and throat dimensions with the new model, but that was an error on my part. Smith may be correct, but my sources indicate that Colt went to the small barrel diameter (.357) in 1904. I have no reason to doubt Smith's statement about an intermediate dimension, but I cannot confirm it from other sources.
Now here is the interesting part. FA went to the small bullet diameter in 1893. All contracts for the old heel bullet ammo had been terminated by 1897, and contractors also went to the new size. So Spanish American and Philippine ammunition would probably have been the new type bullet, but the revolver bore diameter was not changed until 1904.
So, for the Spanish American war and Philippine period, troops were armed with revolvers of a .365 (at least) groove diameter, firing government-made issue ammunition with bullets as small as .350 or contract ammunition with bullets as small as .342. (Hollow base bullets were made at FA, but not until 1909.)
I wonder if at least some of the complaints about inaccuracy and lack of power of the .38 revolver in the Philippines were due to issuing the wrong size ammunition? Even with a lead bullet, there would have been gas blowby and failure to grip the lands.
But don't mention this to anyone. If you do, Michael Moore will make a movie blaming the "ammunition scandal" on Dick Cheney and Halliburton.
Jim