varifleman Posted January 27, 2021 Share #1 Posted January 27, 2021 Here for your perusal is my Colt New Navy Model 1895 .38 Long Colt serial number 225854 1904 production which after USN service received British proofs; maybe shipped to UK during WWI or a WWII British Purchasing Commission bought pistol? The butt is marked "U.S.N" with an anchor, ".38 D.A.", "S" in triangle, "No / 15 / 478 / J.L.S. / 225 / 854; 15478 is the Navy Property Number; J.L.S. is Lt J. L. Sticht USN inspector for Colt Model 1895 .38LC revolvers 1895-1904 and 225854 is the Colt Production serial number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottz63 Posted January 27, 2021 Share #2 Posted January 27, 2021 Very cool! Navy marked Military guns are hard to come by. Nice find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Keith Posted January 28, 2021 Share #3 Posted January 28, 2021 Ditto to what Scottz63 said, interesting it spent some time in Britain, I've not heard about US pre-WW I era handguns purchased by England during any of the emergencies. But never say never. It is possible is was purchased privately then made it's way back to the states. Very nice find. Thanks for posting it. BKW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorin6 Posted January 28, 2021 Share #4 Posted January 28, 2021 Pretty neat. I have one M1894 (original), and two M1896s, one has been rebuilt prior to 1901, and one in excellent working condition but most of the marks are very faint thanks to too much cleaning. These were well used, and rebuilt multiple times. I assume that some made it to England during WW1, it might be useful to see if the markings can be traced to that era. Thanks for putting it on display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varifleman Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share #5 Posted January 30, 2021 Maybe it was sent to the UK under this program: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spagg Posted January 31, 2021 Share #6 Posted January 31, 2021 Nice find with Navy markings. Very nice catch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Keith Posted January 31, 2021 Share #7 Posted January 31, 2021 21 hours ago, varifleman said: Maybe it was sent to the UK under this program: Excellent Post! That is very plausible. I seem to recall reading arms in this program were collected up post war and destroyed. BKW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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