help needed on a Colt

24" and less, a place to discuss all things handgun related, section 7.3. Long barrelled revolvers, long barrelled pistols and section 5. Overseas contributions are more than welcome.

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Rotnguns
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:11 am
Home club or Range: Parma Gun Club, Parma, Idaho , USA

Re: help needed on a Colt

#11 Post by Rotnguns »

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:
Many jeeps, trucks, and firearms were dumped in the ocean at the end of WW2 by the US govt. to protect American industry from plummeting demand due to a flood of surplus items. There are videos from back in the day of perfectly-fine trucks, tanks, and jeeps being pushed off the decks of aircraft carriers. I suspect many of the donated weapons suffered a similar fate for similar reasons.
Southwest Idaho, USA
Steve12345
Posts: 75
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2020 7:23 pm
Location: South East
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Re: help needed on a Colt

#12 Post by Steve12345 »

I agree with what others have said, it was a donated / purchased gun and the red was to show it was not a British calibre. I wouldn't have had a clue if you had asked me 6 months a go, but have come a cross several different Colt models painted red while researching my 1911 recently.

The attached pic was an example of one that was acquired from the USA by the British Purchasing Commission in 1940, currently in the IW museum. I have seen quite a few others in private collections while looking at forums with the red paint as well.
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Red tip.png
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