Colt
M1917 "United States Property" and "AA" Date: January 31st, 1918 Service Number 29786 |
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The original number of Colt M1917s bought by the U.S. was approximately 154,802 of those approximately 96,503 Colt M1917s were on hand at the end of WWII. This revolver was shipped on January 31st, 1918 along with 8,600 revolvers to the attention of the Commanding Officer at Springfield Armory. This gun was actually refurbished twice, first by Augusta Arsenal in preparation for World War II and then by Colts post World War II. When Colts refurbished it they then added the VP or Verified Proof mark you see pictured below. The M1917 was not originally shipped with this marking. Upon close inspection of the Colts Verified Proof mark it appears it was applied after finish while the Augusta Arsenal mark is under the finish. This in my opinion supports the theory that this M1917 was rebuilt for WWII by AA and post World War II by Colts.
It is documented that the government had M1917s and .38s
refurbished by Smith & Wesson and Colt for a special assignment overseas
in 1949, the
project code name was "EVIL" and is documented in the book "US Handguns of WW II - The Secondary
Pistols and Revolvers, Page 69" written by Charles W. Pate. One of the neat things about
these arsenal and manufacturer refurbished revolvers is they participated in both world
wars and represent a lot of history.
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Left profile |
Right profile |
U.S. Property Mark |
Colt Legend |
Augusta Arsenal mark and Colts Verified Proof mark |
Inspectors Cartouche Lt. Col. John M. Gilbert |
Model and S/N |
Cylinder markings |
Cylinder Crane |
Crane recess |
provisional inspection mark Francis l. Hosmer |
Notice common "627" on crane, crane recess, and cylinder and Hosmer mark on crane recess. |
Click on images for larger image |
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From the T. Moore collection |