Colt New Service
Surprisingly, The Most Popular Colt
The Colt New Service was a great improvement
over the 1878 double action.
Ask shooters to name Colt’s most popular large frame sixgun prior to World War II and most will come back with “Single Action Army,” with more than 357,000 being produced from 1873 to 1941. However, when it comes to the number of units produced, the Single Action Army comes in a very close second to a Colt whose production life actually lasted 25 years less than the beloved Peacemaker.
Targets fired with the .38 Special Colt New Service.
Any questions about the accuracy of this .38-40 Colt New
Service rescued from the bone pile by Milt Morrison?
Winning
The New Service actually overtook the Single Action Army in total production numbers due to the fact that more than 150,000 New Service revolvers chambered in .45ACP with 5 ½” barrels (known as the Model 1917) were ordered for the use of the troops in World War I. At the same time, Smith & Wesson was also producing their version of the Model 1917 using a 5 ½” 2nd Model Hand Ejector. In the late 1950s, when I first discovered the joys of double action sixguns, both surplus models were still readily available, with excellent specimens going for $15. I tried them both and selected the Smith & Wesson due to the simple fact that the grip frame was better suited to my large but short-fingered hand. If the New Service had any drawback, it would be the fact it was definitely made for those with large hands and long fingers.
Collectors now apply special terms to distinguish the various models of New Service revolvers from 1898 to 1941. The Old Model, the name applied to the first 21,000 New Service revolvers, was rather ungainly looking with a straight stovepipe-shaped barrel and a trigger guard looking like it was added on as an afterthought. After the Old Model, approximately 2,000 Transitional Models were offered with mainly interior improvements including a hammer block safety.
Next came the Improved Model, which would go to serial number 328,000, and is the New Service most often encountered. The barrel now had a larger collar where it screwed into the frame, and the trigger guard was also larger and shaped to look like it was actually part of the frame. We can thank the United States Army for the collar on the barrel as all Model 1917s were ordered with the collar to provide a snug fit of the barrel to frame. Designed for better function, it also resulted in a better form. Sometime around 1928, the Late Model New Service arrived with a change in the shape of the top strap to give it a more flattened appearance at the same time the rear sight was milled to a square notch.
In the 1940 Colt catalog, three versions of the New Service were offered. A standard model with barrel lengths of 4 ½”, 5 ½” and 7 ½” and either blue or nickel finish in .45 Colt, .45 ACP, .455 Eley, .44-40, .44 Special, .38 Special, .38-40, and the latest and most modern cartridge, the .357 Magnum. For some reason, barrel lengths for the .38 Special and .357 Magnum were set at 4″, 5″ and 6″. Colt’s advertising read, “The New Service is essentially a holster Revolver for the man in the open — Mounted, Motorcycle and State Police; the Hunter, Explorer and Pioneer. It is the Arm adopted as Standard by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and hundreds of city and state Police Organizations throughout the world …”
The Colt was definitely a sixgun for both outdoor and duty use and it was adopted at the north and south ends of the country as the official sidearm of both the RCMP and the United States Border Patrol. The Mounties chose the .45 Colt, while our officers on the southern border had the New Service in .38 Special.
The largest pre-war sixgun was the now-classic New Service.
Filler-Uppers
I am fortunate to have Colt Compromise New Service Sixguns chambered in .45 Colt, .38-40, .44 Special and .38 Special. My .45 Colt version came around in a somewhat strange way — I found it when I was at a shoot in Texas and although it had a 5 ½” barrel, I wanted it to be made into a Fitz Special with a 2″ barrel and the cutaway trigger guard. I made a big mistake that turned out to be exceptionally positive. The “mistake” I made was to fire it first. It shot so well I decided to leave it as it was.
It had some blemishes on one side, and gunsmith Milt Morrison cleaned it up and re-blued it and it is now not only exceptionally good shooting but also exceptionally good-looking. Milt rescued me on another Colt New Service, this time in .44 Special. When I found it, someone had done a very poor job of installing a Smith & Wesson adjustable rear sight while leaving the front sight alone so it didn’t even shoot close to point of aim. Milt cleaned up the rear sight, mounted a post front sight and re-blued the entire sixgun. I fitted the stag stocks with a Tyler T-Grip and it is a superb Compromise Sixgun.
Morrison also had to rescue the .38-40 New Service. I picked it up exceptionally cheap because someone had used a hacksaw to cut the barrel to 2″ and just left it that way. I just happened to have a gun show-find 5 ½” .38-40 New Service barrel in my parts box just waiting for the right project. Milt installed the barrel, re-blued the entire gun and voila! another great Compromise Colt Sixgun. Even though the last New Service was produced before WWII, they still remain rugged and dependable sixguns today.
