Colt 1909 USMC
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Thanks for all of the great pics, Cass!
I am glad that such military wheelguns have never (yet?) caught my fancy as I have far too many things, already, that have.
I am glad that such military wheelguns have never (yet?) caught my fancy as I have far too many things, already, that have.
Ha, ha! "Yet" is definitely the operative word!!!
I'll post some Colt 1909 Navy pictures. Maybe that will get you hooked.
Cass
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1,962 Posts
thats a great looking set of revolvers , sadly the bug nipped me but i was able to limit myself to a couple more common pieces , yours are harder to come by both in terms of rareity and cost than mine , i will take your lead and post them to stir things up a bit and get a few photos back on the forum ,
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I had a S&W M1917 revolver but I never could get it to work right and finally unloaded it. I have two M1911s and I admit a nice M1917 or M1909 does tickle my fancy.
Do you mean the service number on the butt is 292? What serial range were you told? The serial range on the frame/crane should be 24,000 range for that service number.
Cass
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14,242 Posts
Very nice Cass. Thanks for sharing. Now I want at least one.
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Great photos. Thanks. I'm jealous. I fear my recent M1909 Army acquisition has had its butt marks ground off and has replaced grips, lanyard ring and ejector rod, and has been refinished and the Colt in a C on the frame is awfully hard to see. I assumed a post-service owner did that but am not sure what the status of military rebuilds would have been.
Which leads me to another question. One of the 3 USMC revolvers you have has the hard rubber grips and an old American Rifleman article indicates that the first USMC ones were so equipped but no other reference alludes to that. Plus I'd think the grips wold have to be nonstandard in that the USMC version had a slightly rounded butt. Do you know any details on that?
My revolver is no collector's prize but I figured I'd get one since it was at the top end of my price range although I notice that when you do see them on the net auctions, the super dollar ones don't sell and the ratty ones don't sell either. And I'm talking the far more common Army ones. I haven't seen a USMC or Navy one for sale recently.
Thanks for sharing the pictures. As I say I'm jealous.
Which leads me to another question. One of the 3 USMC revolvers you have has the hard rubber grips and an old American Rifleman article indicates that the first USMC ones were so equipped but no other reference alludes to that. Plus I'd think the grips wold have to be nonstandard in that the USMC version had a slightly rounded butt. Do you know any details on that?
My revolver is no collector's prize but I figured I'd get one since it was at the top end of my price range although I notice that when you do see them on the net auctions, the super dollar ones don't sell and the ratty ones don't sell either. And I'm talking the far more common Army ones. I haven't seen a USMC or Navy one for sale recently.
Thanks for sharing the pictures. As I say I'm jealous.
They are scarce so they can go for a lot. Still they can turn up at lower prices. Here is the first one I bought for $350. Despite its lower condition I won't be selling for that, ha.
I found the holster separately for this one. There were even fewer USMC holsters made than revolvers.
Cass
I found the holster separately for this one. There were even fewer USMC holsters made than revolvers.
Cass
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1,902 Posts
Outstanding rig! 1909s typically are in far less condition and the holster is a rarity, indeed. I've sold several USMC dismounted 1911 holsters at high prices (after the usual BS from amateurs) but in over fifty years, I have yet to even see an original holster for an '09. Glad the rig has a good home!
Could this USMC marked revolver be correct
I have the opportunity to recently shoot a correctly marked USMC revolver in 45 L.C.but note that although the number on the but bottom was in the 650 range when i swing out the cylinder the number on the gate frame is in the 26,000 range. Why is this?
Secondly the wooden grips have been replaced with the usual black rubber grips with the colt logo. Why?
Thirdly the blueing looks good but it may have been reblued.I do not have the skills to know?
The revolver is not in my possession and i did not have the apparatus to take photographs to upload today.
I am tempted to purchase this revolver but the negotiated price has to be considered in the light of these apparent discrepancies.
Advice from Cass and others who have the knowledge to know the possible answers requested.
Thank you.
I have the opportunity to recently shoot a correctly marked USMC revolver in 45 L.C.but note that although the number on the but bottom was in the 650 range when i swing out the cylinder the number on the gate frame is in the 26,000 range. Why is this?
Secondly the wooden grips have been replaced with the usual black rubber grips with the colt logo. Why?
Thirdly the blueing looks good but it may have been reblued.I do not have the skills to know?
The revolver is not in my possession and i did not have the apparatus to take photographs to upload today.
I am tempted to purchase this revolver but the negotiated price has to be considered in the light of these apparent discrepancies.
Advice from Cass and others who have the knowledge to know the possible answers requested.
Thank you.
britrecko:
I didn't see your post until now. The numbers on the frame and crane are the Colt serial numbers and the number on the butt is the service number. On about the first 600 revolvers, the service number did not match the last digits of the Colt serial number. After service number 600, the service number was the last 3 or 4 digits of the Colt serial number. For example, the revolver above with 964 on the butt, has serial number 25964 on the frame and crane.
After these revolvers made it into the civilian market, it was popular to replace the wood grips with the hard rubber grips that came on the civilian New Service revolvers. I did find a spare set once but that would be tough to repeat.
The bluing is tough to say without pictures. Being reblued would reduce the value as you noted. The screws were a "fire blue" that was different than the bluing on the frame and cylinder.
Cass
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