TINCANBANDIT's Gunsmithing : Featured Gun: Colt New Service

Thursday, May 2, 2024

Featured Gun: Colt New Service

While reading some of my old posts I realized that even though I restored a Colt New Service revolver, I never did a Featured Gun article on it.

The Colt New Service is a large frame, six round double action revolver.

In the early days of revolvers, the name Colt was synonymous with the term revolver. I think it is important to remind everyone that Samuel Colt did not invent the revolver, they existed before he started building guns, what Colt invented was the mechanism that automated the revolver. Colt's first revolver was patented in 1836, a little more than 20 years later he was working on a more automated revolver, that would cock and release the hammer with a pull of the trigger, what we now call a double action revolver.

Colt's first double action revolver appeared in 1877, that design evolved into what became the model of 1892, which in turn was upsized and strengthened into the New Service in 1898.

Just looking at the gun you can guess it was not designed with target use in mind, it was made to work, specifically as a tool of law enforcement and military. The gun is large, about on par with a S&W N Frame revolver.

When Timothy Mullins wrote the book on the gun he subtitled his work "A Particularly Strong, Heavy Weapon".

Original calibers included 45 Colt, 44-40, 38-40 and 44 Russian, later the 38 Special, 44 Special and 357 Magnum were added.

In 1899 Canada ordered the New Service, chambered in .45 Colt as a supplement to their Colt M1878 revolvers for use in the Boer War.

In 1904 The Canadian NW Mounted Police adopted the New Service revolver.

In 1909 the US Military adopted the New Service as the M1909. The M 1909 had a 5.5" barrel and was chambered in 45 Colt.

During the Great War the New Service was ordered in large numbers by the United Kingdom, chambered in .455 Eley (.455 Webley).

With the US entering WWI, the government adopted a revolver as standard issue, mostly due to the M1911 production being unable to keep up. The guns were chambered in .45 ACP and used moon clips to headspace the cartridges. The designation was M1917 and were built by both Colt (New Service) and Smith & Wesson (.44 Hand Ejector 2nd model).

By 1941 the New Service was discontinued. Colt would not make another large frame revolver until the Anaconda was introduced in 1990.

During the 43-year production run the New Service was available in barrel lengths of 4", 4.5", 5", 5.5", 6" & 7.5". More than 350,000 New Service revolvers were built, they served in every war during its production run.

I first came in to contact with a New Service revolver when a friend brought me one to restore.

Here are the before and after pictures: