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Colt New Service .45 Colt Army Model of 1909

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  • varifleman

    Member
    Jul 12, 2012
    55
    26
    Cripple Creek VA
    Here for your perusal is Colt New Service .45 DA Colt Army Model of 1909 serial number 30443 which was 1 of 750 shipped to United States Government Commanding Officer Ordnance Depot Manila, The Philippines on June 17, 1909. Army Inspectors of Ordnance R.A.C (Rinaldo A. Carr) is visible underneath barrel; on back of cylinder and left side of frame and FB (Col Frank Baker) is seen on left side of frame.

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    satx78247

    Member, Emeritus
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
    Jun 23, 2014
    8,479
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    78208
    Here for your perusal is Colt New Service .45 DA Colt Army Model of 1909 serial number 30443 which was 1 of 750 shipped to United States Government Commanding Officer Ordnance Depot Manila, The Philippines on June 17, 1909. Army Inspectors of Ordnance R.A.C (Rinaldo A. Carr) is visible underneath barrel; on back of cylinder and left side of frame and FB (Col Frank Baker) is seen on left side of frame.

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    varifleman,

    Your NICE Colt's model of 1909 was ORDERED by Major General Joe Wheeler when he was GOVERNOR GENERAL of the Philippines during President Theodore Roosevelt's administration as the Model of 1878/1902 & then improved as the Model of 1909.

    In the WWI era the Model of 1909 was declared to be "obsolete" by the US War Department & the several thousand Model of 1902 & 1909 revolvers were sold/given away to various Philippine officials & at least 1,000 revolvers were sold to DEL MONTE PINEAPPLE COMPANY to arm their private guard force.

    In the early 1930s, DEL MONTE, INC declared the 1902/1909 revolvers "surplus to company needs" (Del Monte replaced the older revolvers with Colt & S&W Model of 1917 revolvers in .45ACP.) & put the "surplus'' revolvers in storage "until a decision on their final disposition can be made".
    NO DECISION was ever made on 'disposition" & the ''obsolete revolvers'' were stored in a warehouse & FORGOTTEN.

    When WWII broke out & the Philippines fell to the Japanese, a USAR Major of Engineers named WENDELL FERTIG refused to surrender, proclaimed himself to be a Brigadier GENERAL & GENERAL, COMMANDING of US FORCES in the PHILIPPINES (USFIP) & thereafter started organizing a guerrilla force to fight the Japanese.

    As "GEN Fertig" had so few weapons & ammo to fight the Japanese (1LT, USFIP Raymond R. Wiles, who was actually a CPL of USMC, said after WWII that the total number of firearms in the "inventory of USFIP" on 01JAN42 was about 25 assorted military/civilian rifles, 2-3 shotguns & about 5 assorted handguns"), he sent out "scouting teams" to locate any sort of weapons that the Japanese had NOT seized & "dumped into the ocean".
    (1LT Wiles also said that the USFIP started out with 41 rounds of rifle ammo - MOSTLY .30-06, 11 shotgun shells & 23 rounds of "assorted pistol ammunition".)

    BG Fertig's scouts found the Model of 1902/1909 Colt revolvers in a Del Monte plantation warehouse & started MAKING ammo for the "obsolete revolvers".
    (By 1943, it was commonly said in the Philippines that anyone who was armed with a Colt's Model of 1902/1909 was a "commissioned officer, warrant officer or a very senior NCO of USFIP".)

    When the Philippines was liberated, USFIP was "disorganized" by GEN MacArthur's staff & it is said that most of the "obsolete Colt's revolvers" soon "mysteriously disappeared" & it is also believed that numerous former personnel of USFIP ''took their revolver home'' at ETS.
    ADDENDA: The Philippines after Liberation decreed that ALL enrolled members of USFIP were "confirmed in their USFIP ranks", regardless of previous rank/rate. MOST personnel were promoted by one rank & awarded medals for valor in combat against the Japanese.

    ALL enrolled USFIP fighters were also formally DECLARED to be HEROES OF THE PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC, regardless of former position or previous nation of origin/military service.
    (NUMEROUS members of USFIP were USMC/USN/USNR, rather than US Army or were "3rd country nationals".)

    I hope that this "TRIVIA" may be "of interest" to you.

    NOTE: GEN Macarthur was ANGERED that Major Fertig had "promoted himself to Flag rank" & had Fertig retired as a COL, USAR in January 1946, though he was ''recalled" during the Korean War.
    (Until Fertig's death in March 1975, he was sometimes a "civilian faculty member" of the US Special Forces School at Ft. Bragg, NC.)



    yours, satx
     
    Last edited:

    Polkwright

    Active Member
    Mar 3, 2021
    293
    46
    Houston, TX
    Since it's refinished you might as well shoot it. Mine was a good shooter but I could never get comfortable with the double action, the gun is just too big and the trigger reach in DA is way out there. It's not like I've got tiny hands either. But single action was fun. Ultimately because it is so huge I traded it off.

    A lot of people see these and mistake them for 1917's that have been converted to .45 Colt.
     

    satx78247

    Member, Emeritus
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
    Jun 23, 2014
    8,479
    96
    78208
    Since it's refinished you might as well shoot it. Mine was a good shooter but I could never get comfortable with the double action, the gun is just too big and the trigger reach in DA is way out there. It's not like I've got tiny hands either. But single action was fun. Ultimately because it is so huge I traded it off.

    A lot of people see these and mistake them for 1917's that have been converted to .45 Colt.


    Polkwright,

    In the 19th- early 20th centuries the VAST majority of ''precision shooting" was done SINGLE ACTION (When I attended NCTRPA in 1970, we still did a LOT of shooting on the range, SA & from a kneeling/sitting position from a covered/concealed position, like from behind of the front end of a patrol car.) & thus the 1878/1902/1909 revolver's size/weight was NOT that much of a problem.

    NOTE: Even at my age (74YO) & with "NOT THAT GREAT" vision, I would bet that I could all six .357 rounds of JHP, single-action , from my 1960s Colt's PYTHON, into a playing card size target from 25M, while "covered & mostly concealed" & KNEELING/SITTING behind the front end of my old prowl car.

    yours, satx
     

    varifleman

    Member
    Jul 12, 2012
    55
    26
    Cripple Creek VA
    Thanks Satx for the interesting info on the Phillppine Colt 1909s. I got several boxes of original Frankford Arsenal .45 1909 ammo for the pistol dated 1912, 1913 and 1914.
    Among the boxes of Frankford Arsenal issue ammo was this box of 20 blanks dated May 23 1914. This blank ammo was apparently used to accustom Cavalry horses to the sound of gunfire.
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    The latest dated live ammo boxes are dated January and May 1914.



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    satx78247

    Member, Emeritus
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
    Jun 23, 2014
    8,479
    96
    78208
    varifeman,

    BTW, BG Fertig's forces routinely MADE the .45 caliber cases from BRASS, COPPER & BRONZE CURTAIN RODS (that were "found"/repurposed in vacated homes) & at first made the bullets from lead plumbing pipes.

    After two raids upon Japanese motorized convoys, USFIP had PLENTY of Japanese service firearms, mines & ammo for pistols/rifles/MG & even artillery pieces in a large enough quantity to equip a BRIGADE of guerrilla fighters .
    (One successful ambush of a convoy yielded over SIX THOUSAND Japanese rifles, 9 HMGs, an artillery piece & an unknown number, but HUGE quantity, of service ammo.= There was so much ammo/mines/explosives seized from that one convoy that over 100 "bearers" had to be recruited from a nearby Filipino town.)

    yours, satx
     

    varifleman

    Member
    Jul 12, 2012
    55
    26
    Cripple Creek VA
    Took the revolver out to a friend's range and shot some 40 rounds and the old Warhorse performed flawlessly and was spot on every time. Yes, tight as a drum and a real hoot to shoot! Since this range has only metal targets no photos but next time will have photos of paper targets at another range. Used this modern factory loadedTwo boxes 250 gr lead flat nose lead and 240 Gr RNL . As noted these are light loads seller used in his 1873 Colt SAA and Winchester 1873.
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