Two Colt New Service revolvers roost in the menagerie here. Both are U. S. military contract guns. The Model 1917 .45 ACP is the comparative trash to the Model 1909 .45 Colt treasure in the collection here.

The Model 1917 here is just a garden variety well used revolver. A Colt Forum expert says that mine was one of 3000 produced in early September of 1918 so it is a mate to the Eddystone Model 1917 Enfield with its 9-18 barrel date I have. It's a good ol' side arm, smooth, slick to shoot and effective. I've fired more rounds though this Model 1917 than any other Colt revolver I have. I've had it many years, since I was young. It's shot a large pile of handloads.

Colt New Service Model 1917 (top) with a Smith & Wesson Model 1917 (bottom).


Colt New Service Model 1909


The Model 1909 was made in relatively small quantities and soon superseded by the Colt Model 1911 pistol. Most of the Model 1909s were sent to the Philippines where they were issued and used in a very humid climate. It's difficult to find Model 1909s. It's doubly difficult to find Model 1909s with any blue finish left. I wanted to add one to the collection for years. They are popular with both U. S. arms collectors and with Colt collectors. I looked over a few brown ones over the years before acquiring one. A good gun club friend had this one all along, but I never entertained acquiring it from him, assuming that it would be inherited. I was surprised to be offered the revolver after he had passed on.

He told me its history after it came into his family. His family lived in San Antonio when he was young and his father was a superintendent of an ice cream plant. He was 13 in 1920 when his father went to the San Antonio Arsenal on an occasion when military surplus arms were being sold and purchased five of the Model 1909 revolvers, intending to arm the plant's nightwatchmen with four of them and bringing the fifth one home as the household gun. He purchased the revolvers for $5.00 each and 500 rounds of military surplus .45 ammunition for them at .01 cents each.

I have no doubt that this revolver was never issued after being shipped from Colt. It was probably kept in stateside stores until it was sold as surplus, one of the few that weren't sent to the Philippines. http://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/colt1909/usarevpage_m1909.htm I'm only guessing, but suspect that its honest wear was acquired over the next 70 years or so as the "household gun" for my friend. He told me stories to go with it and I wrote it all down. The revolver went on trips on the train to the family's ranch in Mexico, west of Victoria where it took all manner of game. It was along for a big family tour of the western U. S. in 1926, highlighted by a trip to Yellowstone, the revolver being toted beneath a seat of the family Willys Knight touring car.

He told of how as a kid in Mexico he unsuccessfully attempted to detonate some dynamite hung from a tree limb by shooting it with the big Colt. The .45 slugs only chipped up the dynamite. So, a Winchester .25-35 was tried. This detonated a stick, the blast knocking both him and his friend Anselmo on their hineys and skinning all the bark off the tree.

I maintained a special fascination for the obscure Model 1909 for years before I ever saw one or knew my gun club friend had one. Only saw a few and never thought one would come my way. This one's blue finish beats the Python's finish and its action is smoother and more finely tuned. Hard to believe it was manufactured as a military weapon with it's fit and finish.

http://www.allworldwars.com/Colt's Double-Action Revolver Caliber 45 1909.html
http://www.scott-duff.com/Revolver.htm

An article on the even more rare Marine Corps variant of the Model 1909. The shooting description pretty much mimics my shooting impression of the Model 1909 or any other New Service I've owned or fired.
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2018/1/9/last-of-its-kind-the-usmc-model-1909-colt/

I once had a 4 1/2-inch .38-40 New Service that I let get away from me years ago. Wish I'd kept it. I love the .38-40 cartridge! This late vintage (1937) Colt New Service in .38-40 showed up at a gun show where I do security work for the promoter friends of mine. Wanted it bad, but didn't "pull the trigger." Only took photographs instead.





Would love to jump off into a firearms collecting tangent and gather in New Service revolvers of all kinds. Life's too short to accumulate everything we would like to collect.

 

Wow, that 1909 is a real beaut, the condition it is in is simply amazing. I do have a thing for Colt DA revolvers and I could easily make that the focus of my collection.

 

The Altamont stocks for my Python came today and overall I'm really pleased. The price was very reasonable, $65 and the workmanship, fit and finish, and quality of the wood are all good.

 

Yeah boy!

Gives the impression of rose wood in your photograph and sure looks better on a Python than rubber.

Purchased from Altamont on a single occasion and was delighted with the stocks. Excellent quality with a good durable finish that has stood up to carry use with no signs of wear so far.

 

Water damage
This Colt was under water for two days. I left a range bag at my cottage with several handguns on the floor of a closet. My cottage never flooded. After a heavy rain I had a drain backup and a little over two feet of water in the cottage. all the homes in my neighborhood had drains backed up.

That was about three years ago. I never took the time to fix up this Colt. Last night I went over the revolver with steel wool and kroil. It's a shame prior to the water damage this Colt was in 99% condition. Now she is a shooter grade. I'll try to refinish the revolver myself. I have some oxpho blue after I remove as much of the pitting as I can I polish the revolver and give the oxpho blue a try.

If the barrel does not come out ok I may replace the barrel. This Colt is a fantastic shooter. I hate to mess around with a barrel swap.

 

Noelekal, I went with the dark cherry finish for my stocks and I agree they almost look like rosewood.

Voere, That's a terrible shame. Your photos look like most of the damage was done to the barrel. I hope it cleans up to your satisfaction and that you don't wind up replacing the barrel.

 

OOOooo.... I'm wounded! Wounded voere, to see your nice Officers Model Match and read of its tale of woe.

Must be a 1960s gun if the stocks are any indication. It fared really well considering it was submerged for two days. Says much about your maintenance habits for you must have kept it wiped down with some sort of preservative. There's a lot of fine finish remaining and visible in the photographs.

 

I am strongly considering this Springfield. Does anyone have any feedback on Springfield Armory? I have found that this pistol fits my hand very well. I have larger hands and the grip extends beyond the heel of my palm. A majority of pistols have shorter grips. There are other considerations as well. I would love to hear your comments.
https://www.springfield-armory.com/products/xd-tactical-model-9mm/

 

Are you looking for a gun to carry or a gun to take to the range? A gun that might be a great carry gun may be a terrible range gun or vice versa. I carry an old Colt Detective Special, and it's great for that because of its snub nose but is a poor gun at the range for the same reason.
I do not personally own a Springfield Armory but I have shot a couple of SA 1911s and they were both quality firearms, so I imagine that the quality would translate to any firearm they build.
I'm old fashioned so take my advice with a grain of salt: there are three things about this gun that would make me pass on it, it's striker fired, it has a polymer frame (I prefer steel), and it has a trigger safety (I think there are much better safeties out there than this one).

 

I have large hands and long fingers but I'm a well known geezer so am not the person to ask. Most modern plastic pistols look too much like this to suit me.



And they have triggers that too closely resemble this ...



... or this in operation.



These are four in the menagerie here that I just don't like. I think I'm allergic to plastic as a firearms component and I loathe double-action-only triggers. I don't even like the aluminum alloy frame on the revolver. Top to bottom: Glock 19 9mm, Smith & Wesson M&P Shield .40 S&W, Smith & Wesson Model 642 .38 Special, Kel Tec P3AT .380 ACP



Here are four I admire and actually am willing to carry. They are all forged (not cast) steel. Top to bottom: Colt Government Model .45 ACP, Colt Detective Special .38 Special, Smith & Wesson Model 10 Heavy Barrel .38 Special, CZ 75 BD 9mm

 

Love those Colts. Ask most Viet Nam Vets why they carry 1911s and they'll tell you 'cause they don't make 46s

 

I always liked the SIG P6 if you can find one. Single stack 9mm, heavy DA semi.

 

No gun collecting as far as investment or anything rare really... gun accumulation ??

I've been dabbling in USPSA and 3 Gun and have stuff to do the gun games with. Revently picked up a second hand Atlas Titan 2011 in .40 that I'm pretty pumped about. HAven't had a chance to get to the range to give it a go, but it's sure a nice pistola!

 

Good eye if recall the colt date to 1966/67. The revolver was sitting in a pistol rug with a sheep skin lining. The pile inside the pistol rug was wet the pile lining is the culprit that ate into the barrel I'll work on the colt over the weekend. These type projects take time to complete. Little by little I will fix this colt up so she will be a presentable shooter grade

 

One of these?



https://atlasgunworks.com/

 

Whew! Those Officers Models will shoot! Pretty certain the Colt Python has nothing on the Officers Model Match for quality and workmanship.

I was in a "shootin' humor" when I used mine to shoot this 10-shot group at 10 yards off hand with two-handed hold. Not sure I could now work up to shooting well enough to duplicate it.

 

Great shooting the officers model I posted is a nice shooter only thing I changed is the rear accro sight with a elliason rear sight at the time I was also shooting 1911's and pythons I wanted the same rear sight on my target guns

You have a very nice officers match revolver. And the shooting skills to make your revolver shine

 

Making some progress the pits were deep into the metal. Here's the results after 60 grit still a long way to go. I need to work my way down to finer grit files and get this thing done. I may rename this Colt PITS I'm amazed that the internal parts are not in bad condition some file wotk and they will be good to go,
Update
Most of the rough file work is done. Time to bead blast and see what I have to work with. Doing this work by HAND IS A PAIN IN THE A.. I still have not touched the cylinder that will be fun. I'm taking my time and work on the revolver little by little.

1/18/19 Update
Getting closer to completion. The Colt is starting to look ok, better than I expected.

 

Yes, and went to shoot it last night... It's quite the shooter!!

 

Never use a file on any internal parts.