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help needed on a Colt

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2020 1:13 pm
by AL8
a friend of mine was asking me if I knew why a Colt new service no 341170 would have about 3/4 of the barrel painted red.
The paint looks old
As a guess I wondered if it was to mark it as a training piece or maybe only suitable for reduced loads.
I believe it was made around 1937
Interested to hear opinions
Thanks

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2020 2:55 pm
by glevum
What calibre is it?

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2020 4:34 pm
by andrew375
Probably to indicate that it is not chambered for British service ammunition. I've seen the same thing on M17s and Lewis guns that were in. 30-06.

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 3:09 pm
by AL8
glevum wrote:What calibre is it?
.45(LC)

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 9:59 pm
by Sim G
Which makes perfect sense for the reasons given above.

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 10:46 pm
by channel12
In the very early years of the war the American people "donated" miscellaneous arms to the UK. These ended up being issued to the Home Guard and as said above would be marked to show they were not a British calibre. This was especial important with the Pattern 1914 and the Model 1917 rifles, the 30-06 M17 being marked with a red ring around the handguard.

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 3:37 am
by rufrdr
channel12 wrote:In the very early years of the war the American people "donated" miscellaneous arms to the UK. These ended up being issued to the Home Guard and as said above would be marked to show they were not a British calibre. This was especial important with the Pattern 1914 and the Model 1917 rifles, the 30-06 M17 being marked with a red ring around the handguard.
The arms were actually privately own donated and not coerced arms. Not only were standard small arms donated but also binoculars and even some Thompson Submachine guns came from American civilians. The hope was they would be returned and some were but most were not. An article in the American Rifleman stated that many were dumped at sea at the end of the war by the UK government. I'm guessing that action occurred because accurate records were not kept of who actually donated the arms

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 7:51 am
by Blackstuff
rufrdr wrote:
channel12 wrote:In the very early years of the war the American people "donated" miscellaneous arms to the UK. These ended up being issued to the Home Guard and as said above would be marked to show they were not a British calibre. This was especial important with the Pattern 1914 and the Model 1917 rifles, the 30-06 M17 being marked with a red ring around the handguard.
The arms were actually privately own donated and not coerced arms. Not only were standard small arms donated but also binoculars and even some Thompson Submachine guns came from American civilians. The hope was they would be returned and some were but most were not. An article in the American Rifleman stated that many were dumped at sea at the end of the war by the UK government. I'm guessing that action occurred because accurate records were not kept of who actually donated the arms
Yet another shameful page in Britains relationship with firearms. :cry:

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 7:53 am
by Ovenpaa
I have a Savage Model 23D .22 Hornet here that is a pre war model with a broad arrow stamp that makes me think it was one of the donated rifles that actually managed to escape the clutches of the war department come the end of the war.

It shoots very well.

Re: help needed on a Colt

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2020 12:17 pm
by dave_303
Blackstuff wrote:
rufrdr wrote:
channel12 wrote:In the very early years of the war the American people "donated" miscellaneous arms to the UK. These ended up being issued to the Home Guard and as said above would be marked to show they were not a British calibre. This was especial important with the Pattern 1914 and the Model 1917 rifles, the 30-06 M17 being marked with a red ring around the handguard.
The arms were actually privately own donated and not coerced arms. Not only were standard small arms donated but also binoculars and even some Thompson Submachine guns came from American civilians. The hope was they would be returned and some were but most were not. An article in the American Rifleman stated that many were dumped at sea at the end of the war by the UK government. I'm guessing that action occurred because accurate records were not kept of who actually donated the arms
Yet another shameful page in Britains relationship with firearms. :cry:
This was a private venture by a group of American Firearms owners. Most of what arrived was often broken or so obsolete that it would have been of no tangible use.
Many saw it as a worthwhile opportunity of getting rid of a old knock about.

The fact that these weren't issued to the HG was for 2several reasons.
1) simplify the chain of supply, too many calibres would have been impossible to supply, the HG by mid 41 was fairly well armed, but lacked ammo.
2) By having nonstandard arms the HG opened itself up to being seen as partisans rather than a legitimate military force. Meaning should an invasion occur (it wouldn't and would have failed with 72 hours, but that's a whole other topic) the Guardsmen could be held up and shot (something the Germans were already threatening)
3) After the pike fiasco in the early in the war the Government were conscious of what they equipped the HG with so as not to cause insult and a drop in morale in an organisation that was playing an increasingly vital role in guarding facilities and AA batteries so as to free up the regularly army.

Finally, being ditched at see was more pragmatic than spiteful. Almost all of them had no return address and at the end of the war the government had more important things to concern itself with than a few thousand guns with no return address.

The reality is that lobbyists in the states have churned up a narrative to suit their agenda that the Brits actively eschew gun ownership.